by the Sacramento Hills, join with the spurs of the California Mountains and form the Northern boundary to the habitable portion of the Province.
The Southern arm of the Bay of San Francisco is surrounded by a belt of level land, which, on the North side, is six or eight miles in width, and very fertile. Francisco or Yerba Buena is a small town situated on the point of land South of the entrance of the Bay, and has a population of about two hundred. The land upon which it is built rises gradually one mile from the Bay, and descends gradually the same distance to the Ocean; and its situation, for a commercial town, is generally considered to be the best and most advantageous in California.
The country South of the Bay, and between the St. Wakine and the coast, is also diversified with mountains and valleys. The mountains are high, and some of them are barren. The valleys are fertile, from three to four miles wide, and from forty to fifty long. Their course is from South East to North West; and the streams, by which they are watered, empty into the Bay. Further South, the streams rising in the California Mountains, South of the head of the St. Wakine, run West, and empty into the Ocean. They have rich valleys four and five miles in width, covered with grass and clover, and separated by high mountains; some of which are covered with forests of Red Wood and scattering Oaks, and others are barren. Among the barren mountains, in many places silver is found in abundance; but little or no attention has ever been paid to it, and none of the mines have yet been worked. The Ore is said to be of good quality and easily obtained. This part of the territory is well watered, and affords some good sites for machinery.
