would conclude, and we think not without a good degree of reason, that in advancing still farther to the South, we would, probably, find the country agreeing with the description which our informants have given. The fact that there are so few foreigners in that portion of the country leads to the opinion that there is little inducement for them to settle there. Were it otherwise we might be sure of finding Americans, at least; for there is no country of considerable extent upon the earth's surface, which offers either pleasure or profit, where some of our adventurous countrymen are not to be found, unless their entrance is prohibited by the laws, or prevented by opposing arms.
Between the Northern and the Southern arms of the Bay of San Francisco there is a range of high lands commencing, which, after running a short distance in a South East course, trends away to the South, until their general course is about parallel with the coast. They separate the waters of the Southern arm of the Bay of San Francisco and those of the Bay of Monte Rey, (the Rio San Buenevantura [sic]) from the St. Wakine or Rio San-Joaquin, which, as we have said, empties into the Northern arm. Trending again to the East they probably intersect with the California Mountains, South of the head of the San Joaquin, bounding its valley on the West and South, and giving rise on one side to the tributaries which come into it from those directions, and on the other, to the Eastern tributaries of the Rio San Buenevantura, and to some other smaller streams which rise South of this and empty into the Ocean.
The soil of the Valley of the St. Wakine, along the river and its tributaries, is very rich, and consequently favorable to agricultural productions. These fertile strips make up a great portion of the valley; but beside these there are extensive tracts of barren land laying back be-
