mouths, from which are emitted gusts of steam, gas, and smoke, which attest the unquenched fires below. The deserted aspect of its surroundings, the volcanic cones which lift their beetling heads thousands of feet above the sterile scene, all lend an aspect of desolation, well entitling this cauldron to the name of the "Dead Sea."

It would be well to notice here that one sign of life, and one only, is visible in this lake. In summer a small fly deposits its eggs upon the oily surface; soon, millions of small, whitish worms float thereon, drifting in windrows upon the shore, when they are gathered by the Indians, who make them a staple of food and consider them a luxury.

GUADALUPE LAKE-Is situated in the extreme western corner of Santa Barbara county, a little less than one mile from the Pacific ocean. It is a long, narrow sheet of water lying in a valley, extending in a westerly and easterly direction seven miles, and is about one mile in width.

BUENAVESTA LAKE.—This lake is in the Tulare valley in Kern county, eleven miles from its western line. It is nine miles in length and four and one-half miles in width.

KERN LAKE.-Directly east of Buenavesta lake, and connected by a narrow strip of water of about four miles in length, is Kern lake; its course being east and west, about eight miles in length and three and a-half in width. Both this and Buenavesta lake are connected by streams with Tulare lake, which is about forty-three miles north of them.

DRY LAKES. From the western line of Los Angeles county on the Pacific ocean to the eastern boundary line of this State, in the centre of Inyo county, a distance of two hundred and twenty miles, thence southerly to the extreme southern boundary of the State, at the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers, a distance of three hundred miles from Inyo county, and embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and the southern portions of Kern and Inyo, there is not a single lake of any size, although this area contains sixty thousand square miles, or more than one-third of the area of the whole State. The Sierra Nevada mountains are lost before they reach this tract, which, on its eastern line, is a dreary waste of alkaline plains and jagged volcanic peaks. A great portion of this area was at some remote period covered with water, as the numerous beds of dry lakes attest. There are eighteen of these lake-beds now dry in this tract, with an area of sixteen thousand five hundred square miles, including Death Valley, in the western corner of San Bernardino and the south end of Inyo county, and twelve miles from the eastern State line, embracing an area of forty miles in length and ten miles in width, a great portion of which is one hundred and fifty feet below the level of the sea, an ash-bed of burning sands and alkali dust.

CHAPTER XVI.

Rivers-Bays-Harbors-Bay of San Francisco-Puget soundFort Point-Straits-San Quentin-Islands-Seal Rock-Cliff House Sea-lions-Golden Gate: origin of the name.

RIVERS.

IN the whole coast line of California of seven hundred miles there are no rivers of any considerable magnitude or navigable importance, except the Sacramento and San Joaquin, and they empty into the Bay of San Francisco and have their outlet through the Golden Gate.

SACRAMENTO RIVER.-This is the principal navigable river in the State; its source is high in the Sierras, in the northern part of Shasta county, fed by innumerable streams which dash wildly through deep cañons and mountain gorges, falling more than five thousand feet in five miles. After reaching the lower agricultural country, it flows in a meandering stream of considerable magnitude, skirted by willows, oaks, cottonwood, and sycamore trees. In its serpentine windings, it passes through the counties of Shasta, Tehama, and Colusa, forming the county line between Sutter, Yolo, Sacramento, Contra Costa, and Solano, where it empties into Suisun bay, then into San Pablo bay, and through the Bay of San Francisco to the Golden Gate. Its general course is from north to south from its source to Sacramento City, which is about two hundred and forty miles; and from Sacramento to San Francisco about one hundred and twenty miles, its course is from east to west. Steamers drawing three feet of water

run from San Francisco to Sacramento, and those drawing fifteen inches run from Sacramento to Red Bluff, in Tehama county, two hundred and forty-seven miles from San Francisco.

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER.-The source of this river is in the Sierras, in an opposite direction from that of the Sacramento, and in the extreme eastern part of Fresno county. Its course is from east to west, and for its first fifty miles it is fed by a number of mountain streams, which are of great volume and rush in precipitous descent through dark and frowning cañons. Passing through the western part of Fresno county, it reaches the fertile San Joaquin valley, through which it passes directly in the centre of Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin counties, finally emptying into the Sacramento at Suisun bay. Steamers drawing five feet of water run upon this river to Stockton, at the head of tide navigation, one hundred and twenty miles from San Francisco, and boats of lighter draught ascend much higher up the river.

FEATHER RIVER.-This river has its source in the rugged Sierras, in Plumas county, and is fed by numerous crystal streams which leap in wild cascades down abrupt descents through Plumas and Butte counties, until it reaches Oroville and Marysville: thirty miles below the latter it joins the Sacramento. Steamboats of light draught run from Sacramento to Marysville, a distance of fifty miles. The general course of the stream is in a southwesterly direction. The beds of this stream and its tributaries have produced millions of gold. It is not navigable.

YUBA RIVER.-This river, which empties into the

Feather river at Marysville, has its source in the Sierras in the eastern part of Nevada county, and near the eastern boundary of the State. Its course through Nevada and Yuba counties is among deep ravines and gulches, and over the repositories of millions of gold. It is not navigable.

AMERICAN RIVER.-The American river, so famous in early days for its gold deposits, has its source near Lake Tahoe in the Sierras. It runs almost due west, and forms the line between the counties of El Dorado and Placer. It is a dashing stream, often passing through deep ravines and dark, shady forests. Running through the lower portions of Sacramento county, it winds slowly through the plain until it meets the Sacramento just above Sacramento City. It is not navigable.

There are a number of rivers emptying into the San Joaquin, having their source high in the Sierras, and running over and through deep gorges and cañons toward the south, and averaging from one hundred to one hundred and twenty miles in length; many of them are of great beauty and volume: among these are the Cosumnes, Mokalumne, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced.

KING'S RIVER.-King's river is a stream of much volume. Its source is in the Sierras in the eastern portion of Fresno county, and south of the San Joaquin. For the first fifty miles it rushes over precipitous rocks and mountain gorges; striking the Tulare valley, it courses sluggishly through the tule swamps until it empties into Tulare lake. This river is about ninetyfive miles in length.