Mendocino County

History

History of Mendocino County California - Alley, Bowen & Co., San Francisco, 1880

HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY

GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION AND AREA-DERIVATION OF NAME-TOPOGRAPHY-GEOLOGY-SPRINGS -TIMBER-CLIMATOGRAPHY, ETC., ETC.

        MENDOCINO COUNTY is bounded on the north by Humboldt, Trinity and Tehama counties; on the east by Tehama, Colusa and Lake counties; on the south by Sonoma county; and on the west by the Pacific ocean. The territory embraced within the above described limits is very extensive, comprising three thousand five hundred square miles, and two million acres of land. It has about one hundred miles of coast line, along which there are a host of bights, bays, and landings which add much to the prosperity of the section, as they afford ample opportunity for exporting all the products of that portion of the county. It would seem almost as if the matter had been arranged by an omniscient power, for the heaviest articles of export,—lumber, wood, ties, etc., are produced nearest the coast, while the lighter products are confined to the interior. These coves and inlets will be fully described in the body of the work.

    DERIVATION OF NAME.—This county derives its name from Cape Mendocino, which lies to the northward of its northern boundary only a few leagues. The cape was given its name by the famous Spanish navigator of the 16th century, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who discovered it in 1542, while on a voyage of discovery along the Pacific coast, and named it in honor of the " illustrious Señor Antonio de Mendoza," the viceroy of Mexico, and the patron of the voyageur. This name once attached to the cape retained its grasp till this section of the State was divided into counties, when, naturally enough, one of the counties was named in honor of the old, old name, that had come down from far back of the Spanish regime in California.

        TOPOGRAPHY.—Mendocino county lies upon the coast of the Pacific ocean, which bounds it on the west. Its extreme length in due north and south course is eighty-four miles, and its largest breadth is sixty miles, covering an area over three thousand five hundred square miles. By the United States survey it has ninety-eight townships of thirty-six square miles each, which in situation may be divided between its three great geographical sections, as follows: The Eel river country, forty-nine townships; Russian river, seventeen townships; and the coast, thirty-two townships. Eel river has its source in the center of the county, and along the line of Lake, Colusa, and Tehama counties, which bound Mendocino on the east. This grand, wild and ever-flowing stream waters but little arable or bottom-land in this county in proportion to the immense area it drains. Hundreds of miles of its tributaries flow through rocky gorges or lave the base of steep, open hill-sides of rich grazing land, with miles upon miles of their length without enough valley for the foundation of a cartway. Having its sources in the summit of the Coast Range, with the snows of Sanhedrin, Mount Hood, Hull Mountain, Yola Bola, and the Trinity range to feed it, its waters are cold, clear and rapid, flowing freely all summer.

        ROUND VALLEY is the principal valley in the Eel river section. It is situated in township 23 north, 12 west of the Mount Diablo base line and meridian, being one hundred and forty-four miles north of San Francisco, and forty-two miles west. It is due north of Ukiah, the county seat, distant forty-two miles by compass, and sixty-five by the traveled route. The valley is surrounded by low ranges which divide it from the middle fork of Eel river which in its course flows from its eastern, around its southern and western boundary, and receives the water from the valley at its southeastern limit. Its extreme length is six and one-half miles, and its width four miles, with an arable area of about twelve thousand acres varying in soil from the rich, black clover-sod, to the gravel beds deposited on its eastern side by a large inflowing creek. Some years ago the waters of its creeks spread over the surface of the ground during the winter, they having no channels, and we recollect having seen the mowers running where the water was fetlock deep to the horses. The creek immediately adjoining the same field now has a channel twelve feet deep and fifty feet wide.

        The best land of the valley is occupied by the United States as an Indian reservation, five thousand acres of valley land being fenced in at the north end of the valley and in use for cultivation and pasture. The present year the Reservation has over eight hundred acres in grain, the major part of the work being done by the Indians, of whom there are about eight hundred, old and young, now on the farm.

        Owing to the lack of mill facilities, grain raising, as an industry, has remained of secondary importance to grazing, to which latter purpose the most of the valley lands are devoted. The center of an immense grazing country, were but a large flour-mill established there, the valley would become the center of supply for a region of country forty miles square.

        EDEN VALLEY is upon a tributary of Eel river, and lies about ten miles south of Round valley. It is principally owned by Townsend & Cary, of Sacramento, who by purchase have acquired title to ten thousand acres of grazing land, of which their Eden Valley ranch is the center. The valley is about a mile in length and half a mile wide, and is the home of two families besides the Townsend & Cary ranch.

        LITTLE LAKE is the next in size of the Eel river valleys, and is about three miles square, or more nearly round, containing, but for the annual overflow from the winter rains, about five thousand acres of arable land. It is twenty-two miles northwest from Ukiah.

        SHERWOOD VALLEY lies northwest from Little Lake ten miles. It is a long narrow valley, only one farm wide, with outlying flanks in different directions, with but a few hundred acres of arable land all told.

        LONG VALLEY is thirty-six miles north and eighteen miles west from Ukiah, and sixteen miles west and a little south of Round valley. Like Sherwood, it is a long narrow strip of level land in the mountains, seldom more than one farm in width, with here and there nooks running up the inflowing creeks. Cahto, the principal one of these is a fine detached valley of two hundred and fifty acres of very rich land, once a lake, until drained by artificial means.

        These four constitute the valley land in the Eel river country, making in all not over one township of arable land out of forty-nine. The hills are all of good soil, of the black, rich vegetable mold, producing more feed to the acre than the grazing land of the Russian river section. The ridges are are all so high as to be covered more or less with snow in winter, some of the higher ones having six and eight feet on them last winter. The general direction of Eel river and its tributaries is northwest, draining the country to within ten miles of the coast, and flowing through Humboldt county to the bay of that name.

        RUSSIAN RIVER heads in Potter and Walker valleys, and flows southerly through Mendocino to Sonoma county. Having no snow to feed it, its bed is often dry in summer in many places, yet the water is ever flowing under the gravel, next the bed-rock or clay subsoil underlying the alluvial, or made soil of all our mountain valleys. The main Coast or Mayacmas range, divides it from the waters flowing by way of Cache and Putah creeks to the Sacramento, and from Napa river. The ridge of this range runs in nearly a north and south line from Eel river to Cloverdale, with scarcely an important break in it, some fifty miles. And yet a low gap at Blue Lakes affords a fine passage for a railroad from the waters of the Sacramento to Russian river and the coast, or into Eel river, Humboldt and Oregon.

        The Russian river water-shed in Mendocino is forty-five miles long and about twelve miles wide, and covers an area of about seventeen townships. It is about two-thirds productive of grasses, grain, or valuable timber, the other third being waste land or chemissal. The principal valleys are Potter, Redwood, Walker, Ukiah, Sanel, and Knight's valley. The first is seven miles long, northwest and southeast, and contains about four thousand acres of good land, and as much more of second-rate. Ukiah valley is some nine miles long and in extreme width three miles, narrowing to one ranch at each end. The soil of all the valley is either a rich sandy river loam, or a black vegetable mold called clover land, not being adobe, either bearing heavy crops of grain; corn or hops. Fields have averaged one hundred and twenty-five bushels of oats, ninety bushels of barley, and a ton of hops to the acre is not unusual. Snow scarcely ever falls in the valleys, and then only lies a day or two. The deepest known in the Russian river valleys being six inches. The extremes of heat and cold are one hundred and fourteen degrees and thirteen degrees. The warmest summer being 1876, and the coldest winter 1879-80. The usual range is from one hundred and four degrees to twenty-two degrees.

        The coast section is watered by numerous streams that rise in the ridge west of Russian river, and flow westerly until within a few miles of their mouths, when they turn nearly due west to the ocean. This is a distinguishing feature of the Gualala, Garcia, Alder, Elk, Greenwood, and even of the Nevarra's south fork. They all run more or less during the summer, the Garcia especially having quite a strong stream through the dry season. These streams have narrow deep gorges with but little bottom-land, and that little exceedingly fertile; the Garcia bottoms being considered the best land in the county. North of the Nevarra river, comes Salmon, Albion, Big, Caspar, Noyo, and Ten-mile rivers, whose general course is westerly, and having similar characteristics as to their steep gorges and little bottoms. The country along the sea-coast generally consists of level benches between the rivers from Garcia to the Nevarra. North of the latter and south of the former it is more or less hilly. In some places the gorges of the streams are absolutely frightful to contemplate, the Mal Paso grade being about half a mile long, and the gorge then crossed on a bridge ninety feet high and one hundred and ten feet long. The coast section is heavily timbered nearly to the ocean with redwood, red and white fir, oak of several varieties, and madroña. In the gorges are to be found alder and laurel, and occasionally the nutmeg tree and yew. Along the coast are alluvial benches varying from a half mile to three miles in width, which are exceedingly fertile from the washings of the ridges, the soil being of a black, rich vegetable mold, light and friable, and in places twenty feet deep. On this ground are raised the fine potatoes which market under the name of Humboldt and Cuffeys Cove. The climate of the coast is very equable, the mercury usually ranging between fifty and seventy-five degrees, though the extremes of thirty and ninety degrees are sometimes touched. Immediately on the ocean banks high winds and fogs alternate, but back a few miles both are tempered by the sun or broken by the timber, and the most delightful climate of the world is found. Anywhere in the county, apples, pears and plums luxuriate, except when exposed to the direct blasts of the northwest trade-winds on the ocean bank. In the interior all other fruits do well, save apricots, which are often caught by late spring frosts. Heavy fogs mark the coast during the summer months, and heavier rains may be looked for from October to May, eighty inches having fallen in 1877-8.

        The Eel river section also has much fog, and heavy rain or snow, while the Russian river section receives but little fog and less rain than the other two portions, but yet enough for crop purposes, twenty-one and thirty-four one hundredths inches having been the lightest fall, and fifty-four inches the heaviest in any one year during the last seven years. No data beyond that is at hand.

        The county is thus divided into three great sections, diversified in physical characteristics, climate, and occupations. The predominating industry of the coast section is lumbering, with somewhat of agriculture and stock-raising; Russian river country predominating in agriculture, with some lumbering and stock-raising; Eel river almost entirely given to stock and wool, with a little agriculture and lumber. Were there only railroads connecting the interior with the coast, the county would develop wonderfully, and double its capital in ten years. There are in the county two hundred and twenty-four thousand six hundred and four acres enclosed, and fifty-four thousand two hundred and forty-eight acres in cultivation. Our product of wool in 1880 amounted to $500,000; stock sold, $100,000; forty million feet of lumber was produced, and one million four hundred and fifty thousand shingles. The grain and potatoes shipped cannot be stated, but must amount to thousands of tons, besides the butter, hides, cheese, furs, etc., sent out.

        GEOLOGY.—There is, perhaps, no subject in the whole range of scientific research so fraught with interest, and so sure to yield a rich harvest to the investigator as the study of the earth's crust, its formations and upbuilding. In this, the careful student and close observer sees more to prove the assertion "that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," than can be found on any written page. Indeed, it may be well called a written page—a tablet of stone on which the finger of God has written, in letters of life and death, the history of the world from the time when the earth was "without form and void," until the present day. What a wonderful scroll is it which, to him who comprehends, unfolds the story of the ages long since buried in the deep and long forgotten past! In wonder and amazement he reads the opening chapters, which reveal to his astonished gaze, the formation of the igneous bed-rock or foundation crust on which, and of which, all the superstructure must be built. The formless and void matter is slowly crystallizing into that peculiarly organized tripartite mass known now as granite, than which there is no more curiously formed thing on earth, and none could be better adapted for foundation purposes than this adamantine stone. Silica, spar and mica, three independent substances, all crystallizing freely and separately, each after the manner and under the laws which govern its special formation, are so indissolubly united in one mass, that the action of the elements for centuries is scarcely perceptible, and the corrosive tooth of time makes but a print upon its polished surface during ages.

        From this page we turn to the one above it, for be it known that the geological book is arranged so that its primary pages come at the bottom. Here is found incipient life, in the form. of trilobites, polyps, various classes of mollusks, together with worms and crustaceans. Near the close of the page there is found the record of fish also. All through the page is found descriptions of the primal vegetable life which existed on the earth in the shape of sea-weed and algae. The entire face of the earth was then covered with water, for this was before the decree had gone forth which said, " Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." What an era of storms and tempests that must have been! No continents nor even islands, against which the angry waves could dash in their mad fury. What tides there must have been! But all this great commotion was necessary, for enough of the great granite body had to be dissolved and eroded to form a body of matter several hundred feet in thickness in the lowest places.

        Another page is turned to view, and here is to be read the fact that the sea was full to overflowing with fish. And now the dry land had appeared, "and the earth brought forth grass." Here was the beginning of vegetable life in the world, other than that which grew in the sea. Animal life has now advanced to the vertebrate, and vegetable life has been ushered into the world. Great earthquakes now begin to occur, and mountain ranges are formed. Storm and tempest rage much as in the last age, and erosion is going on rapidly, and detritus is forming layer after layer of the rocks now classified as belonging to this geological period. What cycles of time, as measured by man's chronology, transpired during this age no one can tell, yet to man, if it could be told to him, it would seem to be not a time, but an eternity.

        The unfolding of the next page reveals to man, the most useful as well as wonderful epoch in the upbuilding of the earth's superstructure. It is now that the great coal-fields are formed, from which man, in the due fullness of time, is permitted to draw his supplies of fuel for all purposes. How wonderfully is the munificence and wisdom of God exemplified in this one age in the world's formation! Quite large areas of land have now been elevated above the surface of the raging Devonian sea. The native heat of the earth radiating continuously, expanded the water into vast volumes of mist, which floated upward till it came in contact with the cooler stratas of air, when it was precipitated to the earth in grand old thunder-showers. The atmosphere was charged with heat, and burdened with moisture and carbonic acid. These were conditions most favorable for the development of a gigantic and profuse growth of vegetation, and the surface of the earth was covered with such a forest as the mind of man cannot conceive of. Centuries rolled by, and at last large masses of these trees had grown up, fallen down and formed themselves into interminable and impenetrable jungles. Then the continents began to exchange places with the seas, and water covered the great forests so lately in the full flush of their exotic pride. Then the silt and sand formed great bodies of shales and slate-stone upon the top of the forest, and the weight of the body of rock and earth pressed it till it formed into the mass we now find it, and the process of solidification occurred and stone coal was the result. In accordance with the laws of the correlation and conservation of forces, the great coal-beds are only immense reservoirs of heat in a latent state, only awaiting the proper conditions for development and application to the uses and advantages of the human family. Could a man have seen the process of coal making going on, away back in the almost twilight of the early dawn of the earth's existence, he would naturally have asked, To what use can that brittle, black material ever be put ? Too fragile for building purposes, and too hard and sterile for agricultural economics, and yet evidently designed by the All-wise Creator for some beneficent purpose. But to-day the answer is written on every hand in letters of living light. The sunbeam charged with heat, comes from the bosom of that great source of light and beat, and assimilates itself with the great body of vegetation, then everywhere so rife. Ages roll on, and that sunbeam and its brothers of that day, have long since been forgotten. The fullness of time has now come, and a race of beings inhabit the earth, which existed only in the will and mind of the Infinite One at the time of the upbuilding of these great coal measures. These creatures are called men, and they are delving far down into the deep recesses of the earth. For what are they searching amid the dark chambers and along the gloomy passages which they have burrowed out in the bosom of the earth ? We follow and find them with pick and drill, dislodging a heavy black substance, and sending it in cars to the surface of the ground. We follow it as it passes from hand to hand. Do you see that happy household band gathered around the cheerful hearth, while without the storm king rages with all the fury of a demon ? Hark ! do you hear the clank and whir of machinery, which comes from those buildings, affording employment for hundreds of needy men and women, keeping the wolf from the door, and even making them happy ? Do you see that train of cars speeding over hills, through valleys, and across plains, bearing with it a host of people, hurrying to or from their avocations of life? Do you see the mighty steamer which plows the ocean's crested main from port to port, from land to land, bearing the wonderful burdens of commerce in its capacious maw? Yes, you see them all. You hear the pulse and throb of the mighty engine which drives all these wonders on to success, and which is so conducive to man's happiness and best good. But did you ever stop to think that away back, ere time was, almost, the agent which was destined to perform all these marvels, was garnered away in God's great storehouses ----- the coal-fields, and that to-day we are reaping the full fruition of all these centuries. How grand the theme! How the heart should echo his praise for his wonderful goodness to the generations of men!

        The next page upward reveals to us the fact that reptiles, frogs and birds, came into existence, or rather that the two former developed into the full vigor of their generation, while the latter was introduced for the first time upon the scene of action. It is not our purpose here to make any close inquiries into the origin of animal life, and shall use the word developed in relation to the introduction of a new series of animal life, as being eminently proper, but not as having any reference to the Darwinian idea of development, although the day has already dawned when the human race will accept the truths of that theory, let them be ever so contradictory to what is now taught. For our purpose one theory is as good as another. The fact is that in the carboniferous or coal period there are no traces of birds at all, and in the next age we find their footprints on the sandstone formations. Whence they came we know not nor do we care. They were of gigantic stature evidently, for their tracks often measured eighteen inches long, and their stride ranged from three to five feet ! Another phase of animal life was developed in this age, and that was the mammal, which was an insect-eating marsupial.

        Another page is laid open for our perusal and on it we read that the race of reptiles reached their culmination in this age, holding undisputed sway over land and sea and in the air. They were very numerous, and their forms exceedingly varied and strange, and their size in many cases gigantic. Some kinds, like the pliosaurus, plesiosaurus, and ichthyosaurus were sea saurians, from ten to forty feet in length; others were more like lizards and crocodiles; others like the megalosaurus and iguanodon, were dinosaurs from thirty to sixty feet in length; others like the pterodactylus, were flying saurians; and others turtles. The megalosaurus was a land saurian and was carniverous. This is the first land animal of which there is any record, which subsisted on the flesh of other animals. The pterodactyl was one of the most wonderful animals which ever existed on the face of the earth. It had a body like a mammal, wings like a bat, and the jaws and teeth of a crocodile. It was only about one foot long.

        The next page does not reveal any very marked changes from the last. The same gigantic reptiles are in existence, but on the wane, and finally become extinct during this era. The vertebrates make a great stride forward towards their present condition, while all the leading order of fishes are developed just as they exist to-day. Up to this time the fish had not been of the bony kind, but now that peculiarity is developed.

        We have now perused the great book of Nature until we have come up to those pages which are everywhere present on the surface of the earth. Figuratively, we may consider this page divided into three sections; the first or lower of which contains nothing in common with the present age, all life of that day having long since become extinct. The second section contains fossils, more nearly related to the present time; from ten to forty per cent being identical with the living species. In the third section the percentage of similar species runs from fifty to ninety. The continents of the world had assumed very nearly the same shape and outline which they maintain at the present time. Sharks reached the height of their glory in this age, while the reptiles assumed their true form of snakes, crocodiles and turtles. For the first time in the history of the world is there any record of snakes, and how far they preceded man will remain for the reader to determine from what follows further on. Birds were the same as at the present time so far as they went. The mammals of this age are the chief objects of interest, not only on account of their great number and the extended variety of forms under which they appear, but especially because this period marks the time of the introduction of the true mammals on the earth. The sea and estuaries, though rich in animal life, no longer furnish the most prominent representatives of the animal kingdom; but in this period the mammals assume the first rank. But it must be here stated that none of these species lived beyond the close of this age. These animals inhabited the upper Missouri section in great quantities, and comprised the mouse, rhinoceros, a species similar to the horse, tapir, peccary, camel, deer, hyena, dog, panther, beaver, porcupine, musk deer, deer, mastodon, wolf and fox. How like a dream it seems that these precursors of the present races of mammals should all be swept out of existence, still when we come to know what wonderful climatic changes occurred at the close of this period we will not wonder any longer. Not only were the "fountains of the great deep broken up and the rains descended," but the continent sank deep below its present surface, and a great sea of ice from the north swept over its face, bearing death and destruction to all living creatures in its path. This was the glacial period, and its results are written on the next page.

        This page reveals a wonderful mystery ! The throes of death were the travails of birth, and that condition of things which swept from the face of the earth an entire animal kingdom, paved the way for the existence of a higher and fuller life, even man himself. Hitherto the earth had been in a process of incubation as it were—" the Spirit of the Lord had brooded over the earth," and this was the finality to it all. This was the long winter of death which proceeded the spring of life. This is known as the drift or boulder period, and its phenomena are spread out before us over North America. The drift consists of materials derived from all the previous formations, and comprise all stages from the finest sand to boulders and fragments of rock of gigantic size. When the vast sea of ice came crushing down from the far away home of old Boreas an inestimable quantity of rock was caught in its giant clutch and ground to powder. Others were rolled and polished till they were as smooth as glass, while others were fastened into the body of ice, and carried along miles and leagues from their native ledges. Throughout the Mississippi valley are numerous granite boulders, but no known ledge of it exists nearer than the Northern lakes. As soon as the continents had risen from their depressed condition and the icy era had subsided, wonderful to relate, life sprang into existence in a fuller and stronger condition than ever before. The vegetable and animal life of this age was the same as to-day, except the mammals, which, strange to say, passed away almost entirely at the end of that era. The elephant during that period was about one-third larger than the present species, and near the close of the last century one of these monster animals was found imbedded in the ice on the coast of Siberia in such a state of preservation, that the dogs ate its flesh. Among the many pictures which this fertile subject calls up none is more curious than that presented by the cavern deposits of this era. We may close our survey of this period with the exploration of one of these strange repositories; and may select Kent's Hole at Torquay, so carefully excavated and illuminated with the magnesium light of scientific inquiry by Mr. Pengelly, and a committee of the British Association. In this cave there are a series of deposits in which there are bones and other evidences of its habitation both by animals and men. The lowest stratum is comprised of a mass of broken and rounded stones, with hard red clay in the interstices. In this mass are numerous bones, all of the cave bear. The next stratum is composed of stalagmites, and is three feet in thickness, and also contains the bones of this bear. The existence of man is inferred at this time from the existence of a single flint-flake and a single flint chip. Water seems to have now flooded the cave, and the next stratum is composed of stones, clay and debris, such as would naturally be deposited by water. But the strangest part of it is, that this flood-stratum is rich in relics of its former inhabitants, yielding large quantities of teeth and bones of the elephant, rhinoceros, horse, hyena, cave bear, reindeer and Irish elk. With these were found weapons of chipped flint, and harpoons, needles, and bodkins of bone, precisely similar to those of the North American Indians. This stratum is four feet in thickness, and in one spot near the top there is a layer of charcoal and burnt wood, with remains which go to show that human beings had been there, and prepared their food for eating by cooking it, and it also proves that the knowledge and use of fire was known far down into the early dawn of man's existence on earth. It is to be borne in mind that this is all anterior to the present state of affairs, and that all the animals mentioned as contemporaneous with these primitive men have long since passed out of existence, and may not the race of men to which those people belonged have passed away also, and another race sprung up in their stead the same as other races of animals have developed to supply the place of those passed away! These are questions worthy more than a hasty glance. Another layer of stalagmite now appears to have been formed in which are bones, having the same characteristics as those mentioned above, only the jaw-bone of a man with the teeth in it was found. Now a wonderful change occurs. The next stratum is black mold and is from three to ten inches thick, but in it are found only evidences of modern times, both in the relics of man and beast. The bones of the animals are of the orders which exist at the present time, and the relics of men extend from the old Briton tribes before the Roman invasion up to the porter bottles, and dropped half-pence of yesterday's visitors. How long a time transpired between the last visit of the first race of men who knew this cavern, and the first visit of the old Britons is hard to even guess. That it was many ages none will dare to question.

        We now come to the last page of the great geological book which records the present era of the world's history, which is preeminently the age of man. That man existed previous to the present order of things, there can be no question, but it remained for this period to fully develop him in all his glories and powers. The dark night of winter with its snows and ice, before whose destructive and frigid breath all things which had lived on the earth had perished, including primitive man, had passed away, and the whole face of the earth was smiling, and rejoicing in the spring-time of its new existence. The seasons were fully established, and summer's suns and winter's ice assumed their appropriate offices in the grand economy of the earth. The seed-time of spring and the harvest time of autumn followed each other through the cycles of centuries with never a change. The earth was all virgin soil and very rich and productive. The air was fresh, bracing, and free from all poisonous exhalations.  All nature was complete. Animal life had again covered the world, and all was ready for the crowning effort of Nature—man. Far away in Western Asia there was a land favored far above all the countries of the earth; so much so, that it could truly be called a paradise. It was a table-land, at the head waters of the rivers that flow into the Uxine and Caspian seas, and the Persian Gulf. Its climate was healthful and bracing, with enough of variety to secure vigor, and not so inclement as to exact any artificial provision for clothing or shelter. Its flora afforded an abundance of edible fruits to sustain life, and was rich in all the more beautiful forms of plant life, while its clear streams, alluvial soil, and undulating surface, afforded a variety of beautiful scenery, and all that would go to make up the sine qua non of human existence. It was not infested with the more powerful and predacious quadrupeds, and the animals which did inhabit the region had nothing to fear, for man was originally purely vegetarian in his diet, and in this paradise man found ample supplies of wholesome food. His requirements for shelter were met by weaving bowers of the overhanging trees. The streams furnished gold for ornament, shells for vessels, and agate for his few and simple cutting instruments. Such was man's estate in the first days of his existence; but the eternal laws of progression soon forced him out of his primitive bowers into huts, and thence to houses and palaces, and the end of that progression is not yet. And the human race has a future before it which, if it could be seen and comprehended at one glance, would cause the heart of man to stand still in wonder and astonishment.

        We will now pass to a consideration of the geological features of Mendocino county. Geologists all recognize the fact that the entire coast range of mountains is of comparatively recent formation. It is very probable that when the chronology of the Bible began, this whole section was under water, and the eastern shores of the Pacific extended far up the sides of the main Sierra range. Slowly the western side of the continent arose from beneath the flood waters of the ocean, volcanic action thrust the ranges of mountains and hills to their present altitudes and outlines. Our California soil is full of alkaline and saline matter, showing that the day is not far past when the salt sea water covered it all. The adobe soil so common here, is but the slimy sedimentary deposit of such an era. No traces of striation appear on any of the mountains or boulders, hence it is evident that at the time of the glacial period these mountains were far beneath the level of the sea. No tree that grows in the forests of the Coast Range would carry us back more than a thousand years, and the majority do not extend back over three hundred. Volcanic action has been very recent indeed, for the craters are still bare, and the courses of the streams of lava as they flowed through the country are still easily traceable, and the ashes remain about in the same condition as when belched forth from the heart of the earth, not enough time having yet elapsed to allow them to assimilate with, and become soil. Hot springs burst forth from beds of lava on every hand. The Geysers of Sonoma county are a very striking example, and no place on the Pacific coast is more fraught with interest to the scientific student, and none so well repays a visit from the tourist and pleasure-seeker. The Vichy hot springs, a few miles east of Ukiah City, well up from a bed of lava charged with sulphur, soda, and iron, coming evidently from the region of some long since extinguished crater. A wonderful exhibition of volcanic action can be seen a few miles east of Booneville, in Anderson valley, on the road leading to Ukiah. Here an immense volume of lava and ashes has been deposited, and has rushed southward over the face of the country, leaving traces of its pathway, still plainly discernable to the present day. The same evidences are to be found on the road leading from Cahto to Westport, and it is to be inferred that it is a part of the pathway of the same lava stream. Whence it came is at present unknown, but its source could be easily traced out. A large percentage of the rock forming the mountains of Mendocino county, are of volcanic origin, being comprised mostly of trap, basalt, and volcanic tufa. It is true that along the ocean shore the rock is mostly of a sand­stone formation, and is easily worn away by the action of the waves, making great caverns. At the Point Arena light-house can be seen a fair sample of the action of the water on this soft sandstone. About one hundred feet from the extreme point, there is a hole in the earth, which extends down to the level of the sea, connecting with a tunnel which opens into the ocean. This sandstone formation has, at some period of the earth's existence, been thrown upon its edge at an angle of nearly ninety degrees, and some of the strata seem much softer than the others, and these soft seams wash out and form the caverns spoken of above. Gradually the cavern is worn out entirely across a point, and then it becomes a small island, entirely detached from the main-land. There evidently was a time when Point Arena extended as far into the sea as what is now known as "wash rocks;" but gradually, year after year, has the soft rock succumbed to the action of the waves until nothing but a reef remains to mark the site of the former headland. All along the Mendocino coast are to be seen these little islands; and a beautiful result of this action can be seen a few miles south of Point Arena, where the entire rock has been washed down to about tide level, and the beach, if it may be so called, presents the appearance of a deeply furrowed field.

        Another wonderful and interesting phase of wave action is to be found in the long stretch of sand beach extending from Pudding creek to Ten-mile river. The ocean margin was originally low and marshy here, and the sands of the sea began to be washed out upon the beach, and to be swept back into the interior by the winds. There is a strip of about ten miles of this beach, and the bed of sand extends back from the sea from one to three miles, and will average a depth of perhaps fifty feet. This gigantic dune is traveling now at the rate of several rods a year, covering up trees, fences, and houses, in its onward and remorseless march. One great peculiarity about it is, that at times a peculiar white sand will wash up, which forms a crust as hard as rock, and a team and heavily laden wagon can be driven on it the same as on a floor of marble. But this only lasts a day or so, when it is covered with a coarse, loose brown sand. Whence comes this great volume of sand, and why it should creep out from the bed of old ocean at this particular point, are questions which puzzle the brain of the scientist, especially the phenomenon of the hard white sand.

        Another interesting geological occurrence is the formation of great boulder beds, which are sometimes met with, a striking example of which occurs on the road south of Willitsville, along the southern Walker valley grade. Here, a huge mass of boulders, extending in size from marbles to several feet in diameter, have been formed into one solid mass almost as hard as rock itself, the interstices being filled with a slimy clay, which seasoned as firmly as water cement, which indeed it was in point of fact. But the question may arise, Whence came these boulders ? Evidently they were formed by the action of the water, as they are of a kind similar to the rock in the adjacent mountains, and present no striations, hence could not have been the result of glacial action.

        Passing from the general to the special geological features of Mendocino county, we will name and describe the various minerals to be found in its borders:

        Coal of a good quality has been found in at least two sections of the county, viz.: In Sanel township, near McDonald's place, and in Round valley. The out-cropping of the vein in the latter place was from six to ten feet in width. Could this coal be easily marketed, it would yield a great amount of fuel. It is, however, similar to all the coal on this coast, lignite or brown; and as it does not occur in the carboniferous formation of the earth, it can hardly be called true coal. It is as one born out of due time. The days for the formation of true coals had gone by when this coast was developed to the right conditions for the formation of a coal-field, hence the coal here is not coal at all, in the full sense of the word. It is hardly probable that a rich vein of true coal underlies the upper formations, for if such were the case, in all of the upheavals and eruptions which have occurred on this coast some traces of it would have been revealed ere now.

        Petroleum, which is very nearly allied to coal, has been found quite extensively in several places in the county. The first vein located was at Point Arena, which was in 1864. This vein was so rich with petroleum, that several gallons flowed from it daily. At Usal there was also a large vein of it discovered in 1865, but as no permanent work was done at either of these places, it is to be presumed that the oil did not flow in paying quantities.

        Quicksilver.—This metal has been found in small quantities in some portions of the county, and it stands to reason that there should be quite large bodies of it, especially near the eastern border, as the mountain ranges there are so closely allied with the ranges of Napa and Lake counties in which it abounds. This metal usually appears in the form of cinnabar, which is, in its composition, 81¾ grains of quicksilver to 18¼ grains of sulphur. When it occurs free from sulphur it is said to be native, and the Rattlesnake mine, in Sonoma county, between Cloverdale and the Mendocino county line, is an example of such a mine. In this place the pure globules of mercury are interspersed through soft talcose rock.

        Borax.—Borate of sodium is found in much of the mineral spring waters of this county, but the amount is not great enough to pay for the reduction.

        Umbers and Ochres.—These mineral substances, used extensively for painting purposes, occur frequently in the county. Red Mountain, above Cahto, is composed of terra de Sienna, and could be worked to good advantage.

        Petrifactions.—Petrifactions are very common all over this coast, yet strange to say, fossils are not so common as at the East, especially in the Mississippi valley. A wonderful geological and chemical transformation occurs in the process of petrifaction, and it is well worthy the careful study of any one to observe the peculiarities of the operation.

        Argentiferous Ores.—Silver bearing lead is quite common in several portions of the county, and will yet be quite an industry. Silver also occurs in connection with copper, an example of which was the ledge located in 1863, in Sanel township, known as the Independent.

        Copper.—Copper has been found in several portions of the county, both in composition with other ores and in a native state. In the ledge above referred to—the Independent—the ore yielded forty per cent of copper. There was a fine lead of it opened near Point Arena, in 1863. From some cause it has not yet been discovered in quantities large enough to pay for working it.

        Iron.—This useful metal is found all through the mountains of this county, the ores consisting mainly of chromic, which is found on the southern border of the county, where the rock is mostly serpentine, hematite, magnetic and titanic. No iron mines have, however, been worked to any extent in this county, from the fact that fuel is too scarce at home and it is too far to freight the ore to the city.

        Gold.—Gold in quite large quantities has been found in this county, and from time to time there have been periodical gold excitements. This metal occurs in quartz and in gravel, and in sulphurets. It is quite probable that a time will come when the gold mines of this section will be very successfully worked.

        Platinum.—This most rare of all the metals of earth, which enters at all largely into our economics, has been discovered in this county near Calpella. It is probable, however, that it will never yield enough to pay for working.

        Plumbago.—Rich specimens of this mineral have been discovered in the county, but in no paying quantities.

        Sulphur.—This substance is to be found in composition with other minerals and in solution in mineral springs.

        Soda.—This mineral is to be found in the form of carbonates, sulphates and chlorides, in several combinations, and in all mineral waters.

        Lime.—Sulphate of lime (gypsum), carbonates and magnesian lime are found in small quantities all over the county.

        Manganese.—The peroxyd of manganese occurs in its massive form in several localities, and it could doubtless be worked to good advantage.

        Other Metals.—Tracings of many other minerals and metals are to be found upon a close analysis of the waters and soils of the county, such as aluminum, chromium, etc.

        MINERALS.---Of the six hundred simple minerals which have been discovered in the earth's surface, only nine form any considerable portion of it. These are quartz, feldspar, mica, limestone, hornblende, serpentine, gypsum, talc and oxyd of iron. Of these quartz, or silica, is the most abundant of all, comprising at least three-fourths of all the crust of the earth. In the granite it forms one of the three elements, in all the sandstones of the world it constitutes the sole element, and in all the soils and vegetables it forms a large percentage. Quartz crystallizes beautifully, and is found in all shades imaginable, owing to its ready union with foreign substances. The red shades are the results of combination with the oxyd of iron ; the purple has manganese, or perhaps cobalt, as the coloring matter. In Mendocino county the very waysides are strewn with gems, in the shape of quartz crystals, which would cause the heart of the specimen hunter of the Eastern States to leap for very joy. The boy, listlessly driving his cows home from pasture at nightfall, hurls beautiful and glistening jewels after them, little caring for their loveliness. The more highly esteemed varieties of quartz crystals are the amethyst, rose quartz, prase, smoky and milk quartz, chalcedony, carnelian, agate, onyx, jasper and bloodstone. Most all of these varieties occur in greater or less amounts throughout the county.

        Feldspar.—This is one of the elements which enter into the composition of granite, and is quite common in other forms, though not at all approximating quartz. When decomposed it forms a clay well adapted to the purposes of pottery and brick-making, which is known in commerce as kaolin. Spar is not found in any great bodies in Mendocino county, although it is scattered throughout the whole of it.

        Mica.—This is the third element in granite, and is discerned from spar and quartz by always being crystallized in flakes, and is usually black, forming the black specks observable in most of granite rock. There is little or no mica in Mendocino county, as far as is known ; although it would be but natural for there to be quantities of it.

        Limestones.—There are no very extensive bodies of any sort of limestone in Mendocino county. The same, however, may be said of the most of California, with the exception of Santa Cruz, Marin and Solano counties. Marble is the most valuable form of limestone, though not at all the most useful.

        Hornblende.—This is a tough mineral, generally dark colored, and occurs in all volcanic rock. It is found in large quantities all through the mountains of Mendocino county. It is not useful for any of the general economic purposes.

        Serpentine.—This mineral, in a coarse, massive form, occurs in large bodies in the mountains of Mendocino county. It is, however, a brittle rock, and of no particular use to man, except some choice varieties, like verd-antique, which is not found here.

        Oxyd of Iron.—This is the matter which is commonly known as iron rust, and which gives color to almost all the stones and clays which come under our daily observation. In the red sandstone or the yellow clay the coloring matter is the same. In the red brick, or the yellow " settlings" on the rock over which the water from a mineral spring has passed, the color is alone attributable to the oxyd of iron. Iron, however, seldom occurs in a body as purely the oxyd, hence in this form it is not found in this county.

        Granite.—Strange as it may appear, although the entire surface of Mendocino county is covered with mountains, yet the eruptions did not extend deep enough, or were not sufficiently violent, to expose the bed-rock of the universe—granite. In fact, but little granite is to be found along the coast counties. In Marin there is an outcropping at Point Reyes and at Tomales Point, and in Sonoma county at Bodega Head, but not north of that in the State, so far as known at the present time.

        SPRINGS.—The springs of Mendocino county are a marvel, and to write of their beauty and usefulness, would require the pen of a poet. They may be divided into three general classes, as follows: Pure cold water, cold mineral water, and thermal mineral water. Of the first there are thousands and thousands. Every hill and mountain side teems with them, and the weary traveler and his thirsty beast find streams of pure water, cool and fresh, gushing from the wayside banks, and gathered into troughs for his convenience. The flow of these springs vary from a few gallons a day to barrels per minute. The largest flow, perhaps; in the county, is from the spring, the stream from which crosses the road a few miles north of Cloverdale, on the new toll route to Ukiah. The amount of water which comes pouring forth from this place, is something wonderful to contemplate, and what is more strange, the yield seems to be always the same. Winter's flood nor summer's drouth seems to have no appreciable effect upon it.  Whence comes all this grand body of pure water which is yearly poured from the mountain sides of Mendocino county? No one knows.  It is evident that the fountain head is far away from the outlet, and far above it also. The snow melting on the far away Sierras, must be the grand center of supply, and when we come to contemplate what a wonderful system of channels and veins there are in the surface of the earth, and how perfectly they all work, it is a fit subject for reverential meditation. How it gushes from the rock, in its pure and crystalline beauty, glittering and glistening in the sunshine as it dances down the hillside, refreshing and cheering the thirsty world, making the flowers to spring up in their glorious grandeur, making the grass to put forth its greenest shoots the whole year through. What a glorious mission on earth has this spring of water! To man, and beast, and bird, and tree, and shrub, and grass, and flower, and fruit—to all that exists on the the face of the earth, it proves a grand, glorious, inestimable boon.

" From the rock amid the desert,

Gushing forth at God's command,

Streams of water, pure and sparkling,

Laved and cooled the thirsty land;

Hearts were cheered and eyes grew brighter,

Pleasure thrilled in every vein;

Even age forgot its weakness,

While it drank and drank again.

O, the spring forever flowing,

Life and health and hope bestowing!"

        As stated above, the mineral springs are divided into two general classes, cold and thermal. Each of these classes have quite a number of representatives in the county. Of the former there is a very nice one about one mile southwest of Ukiah, near the residence of Mr. D. Gobbi. This spring contains a smaller percentage of mineral than some others, yet it is present in quantities sufficient to be appreciable. Peroxyd of iron, sulphur and magnesium seem to be the principal minerals contained in it, and it is very palatable and refreshing as a drink. Another spring of this character may be found on the road leading from Ukiah to Booneville, which is more strongly impregnated with minerals than the last mentioned. This one contains about the same ingredients as the first, with a goodly supply of carbonic acid gas, which makes it a sparkling, grateful beverage. In all of these springs there is more or less of the salts of sodium, but they are not characteristically soda springs, although they are so called generally. There are several other such springs all over the county, many of which doubtless have not yet been discovered.

        Of the thermal mineral springs, the Vichy, situated three miles east of Ukiah, afford an excellent example. There are two of them, each of a temperature about equal to blood heat. The mineral elements of these springs are about the same as those mentioned above. Unfortunately, no chemical analysis has been made of any of the mineral springs in the county. The water is a delightful temperature for bathing purposes, and possesses, doubtless, excellent remedial qualities. Another example is the Orr spring, situated west of Ukiah a few miles. The water in this spring is quite warm. There are other springs of this nature in various parts of the county, every one of which will prove to be a healing fountain, and will, when properly appreciated, become favorite places of resort for the ailing and diseased from all parts of the Union.

        TIMBER.—Mendocino county is so preeminently a timber section, that an extended description of the timber belts of the Pacific coast, taken in connection and compared with its own timber belts, will not be without great interest to the readers of this volume. Mr. A. W. Chase, in an article entitled " Timber Belts of the Pacific Coast," published in the Overland Monthly in 1874, gives such a clear and comprehensive view of the subject, that we cannot refrain from quoting quite extensively from it in this connection. "Commencing at the southern boundary of California, we find the great coast counties of San Diego and Los Angeles almost destitute of timber of any description, except the planted orchards. The few scattered oaks in some of the valleys, are not sufficient to supply even the immediate neighborhood with fuel, which is therefore brought from Santa Barbara and other points to the northward, the oak commanding as high as $16 per cord in the city of Los Angeles. A great deal of willow, which grows along the streams and in the marshy places of that section, is used for fuel. In that mild climate, where fuel is used principally for the preparation of food, this light wood answers every purpose, and even better than coal or oak. On the island of Santa Catalina grows a stunted tree, called sour wood.  This timber is very soft when cut, but rapidly hardens by exposure, and at last attains the firmness of iron-wood. It is often used for such portions of the small vessels plying along the coast as require durability, such as tiller-heads, blocks, etc. Once properly introduced, this wood might supply the place of some imported varieties.

        There is said to be a growth of pine and fir on the mountains back of Los Angeles, but at a great distance, and so inaccessible, that it will probably never be utilized. Going northward, we find back of Santa Barbara a few scattered groves of live-oak, but of so inconsiderable an extent, as not to merit the name of timber belt. Such as they are, however, they furnish fuel sufficient for the uses of the inhabitants, and even for export to Los Angeles. It is a pity that the groves should be cut, as, besides adding to the beauty of the landscape, they, no doubt, make the difference in rain-fall between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, which is in favor of the former. These scattered oak groves are found in the valleys till we reach Point Conception, when they cease. From thence to Point Cypress, the north point of Carmel bay, the coast line is destitute of timber, if we except a few scattered redwood trees on the crests and flanks of the high hills behind San Simeon, marking the southern limit of the redwood belt. At Point Cypress is found the beautiful tree known as the Monterey cypress. This, although a great ornament to a garden, is not extensively used at present for lumber. Point Piños, the next point northward, is heavily wooded with a species of pine, valueless, however, on account of its limited extent and inaccessibility. Passing the scattered oak-groves of Monterey, we come next to the fair beginning of the great redwood belt of the coast, extending northward from the vicinity of Santa Cruz to Crescent City, in Del Norte county, including Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties. These redwood trees along the coast are known as the Sequoia sempervirens, and have been the principal source of lumber for the past quarter of a century or more. Great inroads have already been made into these mighty forests of the coast, as can be seen along the streams of Mendocino county, especially within easy sailing distance of San Francisco, and a great proportion of the available timber has been converted into lumber and sent to market. There is, however, an immense belt of this redwood extending from Russian river northward, and just in off the coast a few miles. Mills are located at all the available points, and the work of lumbering is being pushed vigorously along, and the annual lumber product is something marvelous to contemplate. Under the head of 'Mills and Milling,' will be found estimates of the lumber yield of Mendocino county. At all these mills from year to year, the logs are becoming further removed, hence the expense is greater and the work more difficult, and one of two things must ultimately happen, viz.: either the price of lumber must appreciate, or the mills must cease operations. As the demand for lumber will always preclude the latter event, the former must result, except, of course, when the supply is greatly in excess of the demand and the market thus overstocked. The logging district is very extensive indeed, and the opportunities for opening new districts are very great, so that the supply of lumber cannot be appreciably diminished for a number of years to come yet. There are immense bodies of redwood extending from the Gualala river northward to the Eel and Mad rivers, back from the coast a few miles, in which the sound of the woodman's ax has not yet echoed or been heard. There is an immense belt back of Trinidad. Thence northward the redwood becomes scattered, until we reach the vicinity of Crescent City. Back of this place and covering the low lands, once evidently overflowed by the sea, between Pelican bay on the north, and Crescent bay on the south, is an exceedingly heavy body of this timber. It extends up the flanks of the lower spurs of the Siskiyou mountains, which here put down to the sea, and ceases at an elevation of about one thousand two hundred feet above the the tide. Many of these trees have a diameter at their base of thirteen or fourteen feet, and the average run of saw logs would be from six to eight feet.

This redwood belt abruptly ceases in the valley of Smith's river, a few miles south of the Oregon boundary, and from thence northward it is unknown as a forest tree, though a few clumps are found over the Oregon line. Although to a casual observer the redwood appears the same wherever grown, yet there is a marked difference in the quality of that from different sections. Even in the same district some groves are valueless, while others, not a mile distant, yield clear lumber. The tree, for instance, that grows in low or swampy ground is apt, from excess of moisture, to be swelled or hollow-butted, and to have more or less of rottenness and defect; while on rolling land and the slopes of the mountains the trees will be solid and free from blemish. Again, the timber cut from the lower end of the belt contains a greater percentage of refuse and less clear lumber than that from Humboldt, Trinidad or Crescent City. There is a variety of the Sequoia sempervirens back of Crescent City that is quite peculiar. The tree is of the ordinary size and leaf of the common redwood, but the wood itself is white and remarkably free from knots and imperfections.

        When the redwood grows in swamps and other moist places, there sometimes forms on its outside a remarkable excrescence, called 'redwood fungus.' This appears in the shape of a huge knot or wart on the tree, and is a growth of the bark, not having any distinct grain. When cut into slabs this knot shows a mottled, deep-red color, filled with little 'bird's-eyes,' remarkably beautiful, and bearing a high polish. When cut into veneers, it is used for panel-work on billiard-tables, etc., and commands a high price in the market. In the northern redwoods one frequently sees bunches of ferns and trailing plants growing on these knots, the fallen leaves lodging on the protuberance having in time created a soil. These little air gardens are very beautiful. Sometimes a redwood tree will take a twist or curl when young from some accidental cause, and this continues as it grows older, and in due time forms 'curly redwood,' exhibiting when sawed, a succession of spiral whorls in the grain. This variety is very  fanciful sometimes, and is much sought after for ornamentation. Redwood is very durable in the ground, and is much used for fence posts and bridge mud-sills on this account, but does not endure atmospheric exposure nearly so well as some other varieties of wood. It will not bear a heavy strain, being in a measure quite brittle, hence is not adapted to ship-building or other purposes where lightness and strength are desired in combination. In the early days, however, a number of ships were constructed from it at Fort Ross by the Russians, one of which is still alive. This lumber has been exported with profit for some years to South America, the Pacific Islands and Australia.

        We have next to consider the different trees that, commencing with the redwood belt, grow in the same climate and soil, and in some instances, as with the red and yellow firs, the laurel and oak, extend beyond it. Of these the two which extend the fartherest south are the laurel (Oreodaphne Californica) and madroña (Arbutus Menziesii.) The former is found in the sheltered valleys as far down as Santa Barbara; but on the lower coast rarely attains any size. As we go northward, the tree increases in diameter and the wood in beauty. The laurel requires a rich soil and plenty of moisture for its proper development, and we accordingly find it growing on the river bottoms in groves and patches—never in forests, like the coniferae. The gnarled and twisted trunks, and the glossy deep-green leaves of this beautiful tree make it very ornamental, and were it not for the great length of time required for its growth, it could be introduced advantageously as a garden shrub, or an ornamental lawn tree. It bears a small oily nut of a strong aromatic flavor, which is sometimes used as food by the northern Indians. The laurel is an evergreen, but has an annual flow of sap, which is quite an important fact to be taken in connection with its preparation for ship-building, or other use where it will be exposed to the action of moisture. The proper time for cutting is during the months of September, October and November. If cut before or after these months, the wood is liable to decay, also to be attacked by a small worm, but when cut in the proper season, and when water or dock seasoned, it is fully equal to any Eastern oak. The knees for the United States war steamer Saginaw, were made of this wood, and were obtained from Black Point, Marin county. The steamer was constructed in 1864, at Mare Island, and upon being dismantled some years later, it was found that while many of the timbers were perfectly sound, others had entirely decayed. This instance is often cited as a case in point to show the unreliability of the wood of the laurel, but it is really no criterion, for it will be remembered that that steamer was constructed during the rush and excitement of the heat of the Rebellion, and she was needed for active service immediately, hence ample time was not taken to fully prepare all the timber as it should have been. Now, however, that its peculiar characteristics are known, and the proper treatment of it perfectly understood, it is rapidly growing in favor as a substitute for Eastern oak, and will eventually practically supplant it in our markets.

        The beauty of laurel as a fine wood for cabinet purposes has been demonstrated in San Francisco, by the elegant finish of several buildings fitted up with it, also the paneling and wainscoting of steamboats and cars. Its infinite variety of figure and shade from the fine bird's-eye obtained from the knots and corrugations to the clear yellow of the straight tree, make it particularly pleasing. The dark figures in the wood are obtained by subjecting it to the action of salt-water; the tanic acid then in combination with the salt produces the wavy spiral lines and stains. Some of the most beautiful figures are obtained from the roots and the feather-like figures from the 'crotches'—that is where the limbs join the tree. Laurel bears a very high polish, but it has to be carefully treated and well seasoned to prevent warping. It is, therefore, generally veneered on some light wood When well seasoned it forms a very good material for wood-carving, having no decided grain, and being tough in texture. Should the wood ever become as fashionable as black-walnut for furniture, it will prove a valuable article of export. Some of the largest laurel on the coast grow on the Klamath river, in Del Norte county. It is found also on all the small streams north of this, and in great quantities on the Coquille, in Oregon. The local name, or rather misnomer, for the wood by the Oregonians is 'myrtle.' The northern limit of the laurel belt seems to be Coos bay, although it is found in small quantities on the Umpqua.

        Growing in the same belt with the laurel; but usually preferring the hill­sides and tops, to the more fertile valleys, is found the madroña (Arbutus Menziesii). This tree, so aptly named by Bret Harte, 'harlequin of the woods,' is one of the most striking objects of our forests. It is rarely found growing straight, the trunks are usually twisted into every conceivable shape. The peculiarity of the bark, which peels off in thin strips, and seems to consist of several layers attracts the eye at once. It is smooth and yellow in young trees, but changes in the old to a deep madder-red. This is the thin outside layer, and when that scales off the inside layer appears green on the tender shoots, and yellow on the older wood. The bark shedding process occurs in the spring and early summer, and is a very marked peculiarity of the tree. The madroña bears a small red berry, which is a favorite food for the wild pigeon. The leaves are large and have a glossy green appearance fully as rich as the magnolia. On the lower coast it seldom attains a diameter to exceed more than two feet, while the most of it is far under that, but on the Rogue river of Oregon there are several extensive belts in which some of the trees attain great size. The wood is not extensively used at present for any purpose, although it has a fine grain. It is similar in color to maple though darker, but does not bear the high polish which laurel will, and is objected to by cabinet-makers on account of the fact that it checks very easily, and is hard to season.

        Growing in the same belt with the laurel and madroña, but extending beyond them, being found in large groves on the rich bottoms of the Columbia, is the soft or Oregon maple. The first trees of any size are on the Klamath river; from thence northward the alluvial bottoms of all the streams emptying on the coast contain groves of maple. The tree is identical in appearance with the soft maple (acer rubrum) of the East, and the foliage in autumn assumes the same gorgeous tints so often admired by travelers. The wood is white and quite tough, and while it will take quite a high polish it will not equal the laurel in that respect. It is soft and easily worked, but not especially beautiful, excepting when the wood of a tree has taken a wavy or spiral form, when it is called 'curly maple,' and is much prized for choice furniture or other veneering. The maple growing in damp spots frequently has the fungi, or excrescences of the bark and wood, spoken of above as occurring on the laurel and redwood; and when a perfect piece of this can be found it is quite valuable, being curiously marked with little bird's-eyes or lighter and darker spots.

        Growing on the bottoms of the Klamath and Smith's rivers in California, and the Chetko, Rogue and Umpqua rivers in Oregon, is found a variety of white ash. The uses to which this valuable wood is applied are well-known, yet very little effort has been made to utilize the ash lumber of the Pacific coast, though large quantities of it are imported yearly from the East. The few who have tried the native wood say that it is 'brash'—that is, lacks toughness and elasticity. It is just barely possible that the reason for this judgment lies in the fact that the timber so far used has come from the upper Willamette valley, where it was grown removed from the influence of sea air. It is a well-known fact that timber used in ship-building, oak, for instance, is of far greater value when grown on the sea-coast, than when grown far inland. Whether the sea air acts on the growth of the wood found on the coast streams so as to retard it, and thereby increase its toughness and pliability, or whether the rich, loamy soil of the interior inclines the trees of that section to rank, coarse, fibrous growth, is a question, but the fact is conceded by all. It is then to this cause, probably, that the comparative disfavor to the native ash is due ; but very little of that grown on the Klamath or other rivers mentioned above has ever found its way to the San Francisco market. Some little, however, is cut for local consumption, and is considered by the country wagon-makers, where it is used, as fully equal, if not superior, to the imported article. Although the supply is limited, yet enough of this ash lumber could be obtained to meet the demands of our coast markets without importing it from the East.

        Also growing in the redwood belt, but extending far beyond it, being found as high as Alaska, is another valuable hard wood, the northern yew, (Taxes brevifolia). This is the slowest growing tree of the coast, and the trunks rarely attain a large size, a diameter of fifteen inches at the base being very rare. The tree is identical with the English yew, planted principally in old graveyards in that country. It has a gnarled and twisted trunk, foliage and bark not unlike redwood, and bears a red berry. The wood is very close and compact, and of a dark red color, and its qualities are great toughness and elasticity, with ability to bear a high polish. The Indians of the northern coast use it exclusively for their bows, and those of Alaska for their clubs and carved instruments. It darkens with age and use, getting eventually as black as ebony. It was quite fashionable for furniture a few hundred years ago in England, and those pieces which remain in a state of tolerable preservation to this day present a very sombre appearance. This wood has never been introduced into the San Francisco market, and could only be obtained in small quantities, yet it is believed that it would supply the place of some of the more costly imported varieties for small articles of use or ornament.

        We will next refer to the coniferae, which grows in the great timber belt of the Pacific coast, proceeding north first from the redwood belt. The white spruce (Abies alba), and the black spruce (Abies nigra) is first found in quantities back of Crescent City, in Del Norte county, California, and it grows in low, swampy spots, and has a sparse foliage and thin bark. It is especially remarkable for its spreading roots which, when properly hewn out, form excellent ships' knees. The lumber obtained from the spruce is tough, white and inodorous, and forms a good substitute for the more costly cedar and sugar pine, but owing to the fact that it is not easily worked, can never supplant them. Spruce is found growing in low places from Crescent City to the Columbia river, and the principal supply of the San Francisco market comes from the latter place. Of the two the white variety affords the finest lumber.

        The next timber of importance, south of the Oregon line, is the fir, of which family there are three varieties, the white (Picea grandis), red (Abies Douglasii), and yellow (Abies Williamsonii), the last named being the most valuable, and the first nearly worthless. The red fir has, perhaps, the widest geographical distribution of any of the coniferae of the coast, being found as low down as Russian river, and forming the great forests of Puget sound, whence it is exported under the name of 'Oregon pine.' It makes an inferior quality of lumber, though very tough and substantial for coarse, heavy purposes, such as building-frames and the like, where it can be protected from the dampness; and it can be produced in such large quantities that it occupies a very prominent place in our markets. The red fir is a stately tree, with foliage of dark green, and small cones, and while it grows to a great height in favored localities, its diameter is never as great as that of the redwood. It prefers the slopes and ridges of the mountains to the low land, and is found in the lower coast counties of Oregon, growing well up toward the summit of the Siskiyou mountains. The bark of the red fir is rough, but close and compact, and it is chiefly by this sign that it is distinguished from its congener, the yellow fir, the bark of which latter is loose and scales off when rubbed.

        The yellow fir is the best of the species, and affords a fine clear lumber, close-grained and dressing remarkably well. It is rarely brought into the San Francisco market, and when by accident a tree of this variety is cut on Puget sound it is confounded with the common or red fir. It is found in small quantities in Mendocino county and above, but not in groves of any importance until latitude 42° is reached. There are fine groves of it back of Crescent City, on the Rogue river, in Oregon, and back of Port Orford in the same State. The red fir, as before remarked, extends far northward, and is especially abundant on Puget sound. This great forest belt, however, has suffered from the fires which every season sweep over it. There is a district of coast from the Umpqua river northward nearly to the Columbia, where the mountains are covered with bare trunks and strips of a heavy growth of timber. From the sea these mountains present a curious appearance, the bleached tree trunks showing white and producing the effect of a mist or cloud hanging over them.

        We now come to the consideration of the most valuable belt of timber on the coast line proper, namely the white or Port Orford cedar. This tree is exceedingly handsome in appearance, being usually thick at the base and tapering gradually upward. The foliage is a bright, lively green, yellowish towards the tips of the slender sprouts, flat in shape, and drooping from the top downward. The seed pod is very small and has a winged barb, not unlike the maple. The bark is in color a light brown, resembling redwood, but does not attain to nearly its thickness, while the wood is white, soft, of even grain and very odorous. It is rarely if ever affected by rot, seasons quickly, and when seasoned never warps. It is used extensively for inside finishing and for boat-building, and is especially valuable for linen closets, the resinous odor being a sure preventative against moths. White cedar commands the highest price of any of the soft woods grown on the coast, and ranks in the market next to sugar pine, which latter, being a tree grown only in the interior in any considerable bodies, does not come under the head of timber belts on the coast. This variety of cedar does not grow in a compact body, like redwood, but in clumps or patches, interspersed with firs. Its geographical range is the most limited of all the coniferae of the coast, being first found in scattered clumps and widely apart on the Klamath and Smith rivers in California, next in a small body on Rogue river, Oregon, and only assumes the character of a timber belt back of Port Orford. It is then found on the plateaus back of the coast line, and on the head-waters of the streams until we reach Coos bay, its northern limit. The Alaska cedar, some specimens of which have reached the San Francisco market, is a different tree, the lumber being denser, of a yellow cast, and possessing more of the working qualities of the fir than the Orford cedar.

        The inflammable character of the bark and wood of the cedar renders the timber particularly liable to the ravages of the fires which sweep annually over Oregon. Many thousands of acres of this valuable timber have been thus destroyed, and the principal supply now comes from Coos bay, where, however, from fire and cutting, the quantity of available cedar is being rapidly diminished. There is a fine body on the Coquille river, but owing to the difficulty of passing the bar at the mouth, which is shallow and unsafe, very little has ever been shipped from that place. This cedar will, however, as the demand increases, find an outlet through Coos bay, by means of a canal and railway, or by the way of Port Orford by means of a tram­way or railroad. The cedar is a tree of comparatively rapid growth, and as

the fires do not seem to have destroyed the seeds buried beneath the light soil, it is probable that a new growth will in time spring up to replace the old, which may be utilized by the next generation if not by this. In some of the districts back of Port Orford there may be seen acres and acres thickly covered with a heavy growth of young cedars which have sprung up since the fires of 1865.

        In view of the immense destruction of this as well as the less valuable timber belts by annual fires, it seems to be the duty of the general and State governments to devise some method of preventing them. Were they started from accidental causes, or from spontaneous combustion, this would be impossible; but too often they proceed from willful carelessness on the part of settlers. A man wishes to clear a potato patch of a few acres, whose total yield would not equal in value a single cedar tree, but the fire set to his brush-pile spreads through the woods, perhaps hundreds of miles, and may only be checked by the fall rains. Often the careless hunter leaves his camp-fire burning. It spreads among the dry leaves, communicates to the bark of some resinous tree, and soon the whole forest is on fire, the flames leaping from tree to tree, and the strong northwest winds spreading the flames far and wide. In some instances, the woods are actually set on fire; sometimes by hunters who wish to rid the forests of the underbrush, and sometimes by herders, who wish to burn off the fallen leaves so that the fresh grass can grow uninterruptedly. There is, we believe, a law in existence in reference to this subject, but it is practically inoperative, and very mild in its punishment. Neighbors will not inform on each other even if they know that a fire was originated from design, and it would be difficult to secure conviction for the offense. This law should be amended, the provisions made very stringent, and a person appointed by the government to ferret out, and make a prompt example of these incendiaries.

        In the enumeration of the more important timber belts, mention was omitted of several varieties, which, although valuable in themselves, yet are not extensively utilized. Of these, the principal are the white or chestnut oak, (Quercus densiflora) the poplar, alder, chittim-wood, bearberry, dogwood, crab-apple, etc. The first named, chestnut oak, has a wide range, and is usually found growing in company with the coniferae. On the northern coast it is frequently found in large groves on the mountain slopes. It has quite a stately growth in Oregon, frequently attaining a height of one hundred feet, and a diameter of two or three. The bark is extensively used all along the coast for tanning purposes. There is, however, a prejudice against the wood, as it is said to rot easily, and to be brittle. That this is the case with the trees grown in the hot interior valleys, is undoubtedly true. Further experiments with timber grown near the coast may demonstrate that, like the ash, it attains a denser fiber, and is less liable to decay when exposed to sea air. Timber grown near the coast, of this variety, is close-grained, white, and tough. The poplar and alder are found on the banks of all streams north of latitude 41°, and in great quantities on the Columbia river. The wood of the former is light, tough, and is scentless, and contains no resinous matter, hence it is much used for staves, being especially adapted to sugar or syrup barrels, and for the manufacture of churns and butter firkins. The alder has some of the same qualities, but decays quickly. The chittim-wood is a small tree, with foliage not unlike dogwood, and grows from latitude 40° to 43°. The wood is a bright yellow, is very tough and light, and is the favorite among farmers for stirrups. The bearberry grows quite large in the same latitude, but is only valuable for the medicinal properties of its bark. The dogwood and crab-apple are found on the banks of the streams in the same latitude as the former.

        The red cedar, a variety of the cupressus (cypress) family, is found growing in the same latitudes as the white, but extends farther northward. It is usually found scattered or in small clumps, and is valueless for lumber purposes, owing to the numerous limbs. The sugar pine, the most valuable of the soft woods of the Pacific coast, is sometimes found in scattered groups on the summits of the mountains near the coast, but rarely grows in any quantities until a distance of at least fifty miles from the sea is reached. The main forest bodies of the coast-line are comprised under the redwood, cedar, and fir families, and these timber belts will play a very important part in our commercial prosperity during the next score of years. There will come a time however, sooner perhaps than even mill owners will allow, when our supply must seriously diminish. No one who has witnessed the immense destruction of timber in cutting for a mill can have any idea of it. This is especially true of. the redwood forests. Towering to such an immense height, and having a large diameter, when this tree is felled it not infrequently crushes others, and on striking the earth shivers large portions of it into waste wood. The fires alluded to before, are a potent agent for the destruction of the timber, and the prediction may safely be ventured that there are men living to-day, who will see a large percentage of our lumber brought from the distant shores of Alaska."

        As all the coniferae which grow in California are represented in Mendocino county, we append the following list, more as a matter of reference than anything else, feeling that it will serve a good purpose for all of our readers who are at all observing of the different trees which grow in their county:—

        1. Picea nobilis, a magnificent tree, growing up to two hundred feet in height, flourishing principally in the Shasta mountains. It has dark green leaves, which appear silvery underneath. It yields excellent timber, and is cultivated largely in Europe for ornamental purposes, being grown there from the seed.

        2. Picea amabilis, a similar tree, growing especially near Truckee, where large forests of them exist, called by lumbermen red fir; it has, however different cones and lighter foliage than the fir.

        3. Picea grandis, a fine tree, rising up to two hundred feet in height, called by lumberman white or balsam fir. The lumber is, however, not much esteemed, being soft and coarse-grained; but it is exceedingly handsome as an ornamental tree.

        4. Picea cracteata, perhaps the handsomest of all conifers. It is found growing in the Santa Lucia mountains, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. It is a tree of surpassing beauty, and highly esteemed in England, where young trees of this species are growing. The seed is extremely valuable, on account of the fact that many years pass by before the cones become perfect and produce seeds capable of germination. There is in San Luis Obispo county a grove of one hundred of these trees, worth a trip any time to see. Nowhere else are many found. Unless this grove is protected it will soon become extinct, as no young trees are growing in it. The tree would seem to have ceased to reproduce itself here. It must have aid and protection. No one has laid eyes on the handsomest cone-bearer who has not been so fortunate as to look up at the Picea cracteata, the beautiful tree, as they call it in Europe, where they consider it a rare gem.

        5. Abies Douglasii, a most valuable tree of California, growing easily in almost any soil, excellent for timber, and found largely in northern California and north to British Columbia.

        6. Abies Menziesii, and seventh, Abies Williamsonii, grow chiefly in northern California. The lumber is used only for rough purposes, and is not very valuable. The first four are of the true firs, while the fifth, sixth, and seventh are the spruces of the coast.

        8. Pinus Lambertiana, the sugar-pine, the grandest tree of the country, cultivated in northern Europe now largely because of its excellent timber qualities, and most of the growth there is from seeds sent from here, especially from British Columbia, and by the Hudson Bay Company during the last twenty-five years.

        9. Pinus Jeffreyii, a beautiful pine growing especially thick near Carson, Nevada. It is esteemed highly in Europe because of its foliage, its usefulness for lumber, and its applicability for ornamentation, and because it will grow upon the meanest soil. It reaches an average height of one hundred and fifty feet. It is one of the hardiest of evergreens. It has large cones, with pyramidal hooked scales.

        10. Pinus Coulteri, found only in the Coast Range; rises about sixty or seventy feet; distinguished as having the heaviest cones of any of the family of conifers.

        11. Pinus Manchesteri, named after the Duke of Manchester, who discovered it in the Yosemite valley. Botanists believe it to be only a variety of Pinus ponderosa. It has, however, larger cones.

        12. Pinus tuberculata, a small evergreen found mainly in the Shasta mountains. The cones do not, often, open for years, and in order to get out the seeds a high degree of heat has to be applied, such are the resinous qualities of the cone.

        13. Pinus insignis, the Monterey pine, one of the handsomest of the whole species. It has beautiful light green foliage, which is too tender for Europe, where it fails under cultivation.

        14. Pinus ponderosa, or heavy wooded pine. It is the pitch-pine of the mountains above the altitude of four thousand feet.

        15. Pinus monticola, grows at an altitude of from six thousand to eight thousand feet. It is a tall and erect sugar pine, and is used largely for railroad ties because of its durability.

        16. Pinus aristata, grows rarely in California. It is called the awned cone-pine. Some of the trees are to be found near the Calaveras Grove. It reaches fifty or sixty feet in height.

        17. Pinus contorta, an exceedingly tough wood, and does not rot. It has recently been introduced into Europe. Douglas found it on swamp ground on this coast, near the ocean. It is found in many northern parts of the continent. It is very hardy.

        18. Pinus edulis, a small tree found largely in the lower country, and yielding edible nuts.

        19. Sequoia gigantea, the big trees of California. Its synonym is Wellingtonia gigantea, and it is also known as Washingtonia gigantea. The cones are described as about two inches long, ovate, terminal, solitary, and with numerous prickled stipitate scales. The honor of the discovery of the great trees is in dispute, as is also the derivation of the name sequoia.

        20. Sequoia semperviren. This is the half-brother of that last named, and is the redwood tree of the coast.

        21. Libocedrus decurrens is the California white cedar. The trees grow very large, reaching a height of two hundred feet. It is excellent timber for use underground. Many of the trees are affected by dry-rot.

        22. Cupressus fragrans, or the fragrant cypress. It grows principally in Oregon, and is there called the ginger pine, because of its aromatic flavor. It is a fine wood, and is used largely in the best furniture in Oregon.

        Of all the trees mentioned in the foregoing pages let us now look and see what ones are indigenous to Mendocino county. Beginning with the coniferae, the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) naturally and rightfully heads the list. The geographical extent of this tree in Mendocino county is from the Gualala river on the south to the northern boundary line, lying along the coast and extending inland from five to twenty-five miles. There was originally quite an extensive grove of them in what is now known as Redwood valley. This is the only known body of them lying east of the Russian river or the series of valleys extending north from its head. Redwood grows in heavier and more extensive bodies in this county than any other tree. In fact the county lies in the very heart of the great redwood belt of the Pacific coast. The next coniferae in importance for its usefulness is the yellow fir (Abies Williamsonii), which grows all through the redwood belt, and extends eastward in clumps and groves to the county limits. It makes excellent lumber and several interior mills work on it principally. It grows tall and straight in Mendocino county, reaching the height of two hundred feet, and making a very stately tree. A congener, white fir (Picea grandis), grows right in the heart of the redwood forests on the coast, and is a much more beautiful tree in appearance, growing lithe and straight to a lofty height, and having a beautiful smooth light-colored bark, not so very dissimilar to the ash tree. The stranger going for the first time into a redwood logging camp wonders that such fine specimens of treehood are passed by and left standing by the woodsman, and is more surprised when told that the beautiful tree is very coarse grained, and that one year's exposure is sufficient to rot it almost completely. This tree extends well over the county in groves and separately. Another congener is the red fir (Picea amabillis), commonly known by the name of Oregon pine. This is not so generally spread over the county as either of the other two brothers, it being confined mostly to the coast, and growing best in the redwood belt. It is not considered as good lumber here as it is farther north, although it is prized for its toughness, but not for its durability or fineness of grain,—in both of which qualities it is sadly lacking. Of the remaining coniferae the sugar pine (Pinus Lambertiana) is by far the most important, and in fact it is the only kind of pine of which any use can be made at all. As stated above, this is the choicest of all the soft woods which are produced on the Pacific slope. Its fiber is compact and its grain fine, while it works very easily, and beyond the fault of season "checking " is altogether a desirable lumber. It is used principally for doors, sash, blinds, counters, shelving, and similar purposes. While it does not grow to any great extent in Mendocino county, there is quite a body of it about ten miles east of Point Arena on the ridge of the mountains lying between the north fork and the main branch of the Garcia river. In the course of time it will probably become accessible to the Garcia mill, and thence find its way to market, but at present it cannot be reached to any advantage at all. The trees are as large and make as good lumber as the Sierra mountain product. A few of these trees are scattered along the mountain spurs all along the Mendocino coast. The last of this family of trees which we will mention is what is locally known as "bull pine" (Pinus Coulteri), the scraggy, worthless pine-tree growing down on the mesas facing the ocean shore. The wood of this tree is not available for any purpose except kindling-wood or, cheap firewood; and is being piled up and burned off the land to get rid of it. No attempt is made to make lumber of it as the trees do not grow to a sufficient size for that purpose.

        Of the other varieties of trees which grow in Mendocino county the chestnut oak (Quercus densiflora) is the most important, and affords quite an income yearly. It is that variety of the oak which yields the tan bark of commerce, and is very familiar to all residents of the county. It seems to thrive best in the redwood belt, and, as is said above, it is generally to be found growing in company with the coniferae. In this county but little use is made of the wood after the bark is stripped from it. It makes quite a fair quality of firewood, but it hardly pays to ship it so far. It is not thought worth while to prepare it for market in any other shape, and it is not known whether it would be suitable for economical purposes or not; but it is to be presumed that it is not so considered by the woodsmen themselves or it would be put upon the market in that shape. The laurel, (Oreodaphne Californica), is a wood much prized, and some very fine trees of this grow in Mendocino county. It is scattered pretty much all over the county, and will eventually be a staple article of export, when the demand for it will justify the labor and other expense requisite to get it to the San Francisco market. The live-oak (Quercus virens) is the most prized of any of the oaks which grow in Mendocino county, for its wood, not for lumbering purposes, however, but for firewood. It is considered the best wood for fuel on the coast, and always commands an advanced price in any market where it is offered for sale. It is to be found on all the mountain sides in the county, and as the most of the county is comprised of mountain sides it stands to reason that the trees are pretty generally diffused over the country. There are several other varieties of oaks, such as the black oak, valley oak, etc., none of which are, however, of any importance either for lumber or wood. Probably the widest diffused tree and of least value in Mendocino county is the madroña (Arbutus Menziesii). Go where you will the madroña meets you on the wayside, until its face becomes so familiar, that should you miss it for a mile or two, and come suddenly upon it you gaze with kindly eyes, somewhat as you would upon a long-lost friend. There is a tree, the soft maple, (Acer rubrum) which grows in Mendocino county, and is not seen in the counties south of it. It extends northward and is found in large bodies in Oregon. It is a beautiful lawn or avenue tree, and there can be nothing more lovely than the multi-colored leaves of a grove of maples in the autumn season, after " Jack Frost" has touched them with his icy brush, and changed the sombre chlorophyl to the bright-hued colors of the rainbow. Another rare tree for California, the chestnut, (Castanea Californica), is found occasionally in Mendocino county. The tree has every outward appearance of the Eastern chestnut, of which every person reared east of the Alleghany mountains has such fond childhood reminiscences, but the nut is a great deal smaller. It is encased in a bur just as competent to prick the barefoot of the small boy out chestnuting, as its congener at the East.  The writer is not aware that there are any other trees of this kind in California growing wild in the forests. A few of them can be seen on the road­side just north of Sherwood valley, between there and Cahto, and south of there also. Quite a considerable alder (Alnus) grows along the streams of the county, and on the low flat lands. It is used for nothing except light summer firewood. It is never exported, as the shipper would come out badly in debt on each cargo. There is an occasional white ash (Fraxinus alba) and rarely a white poplar (Populus alba) growing on the mountain sides, but not in any bodies at all.

        Passing from trees to shrubs we find the manzanita growing everywhere, its bright red bark and deep green leaves contrasting beautifully, and producing a charming effect on the landscape. Here and there in clumps and clusters, the buckeye (Aesculus pavia) grows all over the county, and in the time of blooming they make the air in their vicinity redolent with rich odor. Another shrub which is the chief of all flowering shrubs in the county is the wild oleander, (Rhododendron Californicum). This is described by Volney Rattan in his " Popular California Flora " as follows : "R. Californicum, Hook, is a large evergreen shrub, with large bell-shaped rose-purple flowers; a true Rhododendron; probably not found south of Mendocino county." The beauty of these flowers cannot be described, they must be seen to be appreciated. The shrub sometimes attains a height of twenty feet or more, and is laden to the bending of the limbs with great clusters of roseate flowers. But the shrub of all shrubs in the mountains of Mendocino county is the chemissal (pronounced sheméese). Go where you will and there is chemissal to the right, left, fore and aft of you, and it grows so thickly that a mountain sheep cannot get through it. It must have been on the top of a chemissal mountain where the patriarch Abraham was sent by the Lord to try his faith, at least such a mountain would be a good place to find a sheep fastened by the horns.

        There are other trees and shrubs growing within the limits of Mendocino county, but those of major importance have been mentioned and described. Another shrub is the wild hazel, which is perhaps not found south of Mendocino county. The writer has given the subject a great deal of research and is convinced that for all practical purposes all the trees and shrubs of importance have been touched upon, not with the master hand of a professional botanist, but rather by a close and careful observer of facts and things as he passed by the wayside. Months would be required for the former, while weeks suffice for the latter.

        SOILS.—The soil of Mendocino county is characteristically mountain, or in other words, that kind which is formed by the direct action of the soil-making machinery, so to speak, of a mountainous region. There may be said to be three classes of soil here, viz.: argillaceous, adobe and loam, and in all of these there is more or less of sand and cobble stones. The first named is quite widely diffused, and is found on all the mountain sides, and is, of course, not very prolific; trees, shrubs and grasses growing only indifferently in it. Adobe is to be found on the hillsides and in the valleys. It is much given to land-sliding in the winter season, and gives much trouble in the way of obstructing roads. It is not apparently so rich here as in some of the other counties of the State where it predominates, but is considered very fair wheat and grazing land. The loam is the best of all soils in the county, and is found on the mesas fronting the ocean, and along the rich alluvial river bottoms of the county. In it all manner of fruits and vegetables thrive very well indeed, and in fact anything that will grow anywhere, will grow in the rich soil of the beautiful valleys of Mendocino county. There is a peculiar "half-and-half" kind of soil which predominates on the "second bottom," or benches of land lying at the foot of the mountains, which is known locally as "manzanita soil." It is composed of clay, adobe and loam in spots, with here and there an alkali or "scald" spot. It grows a most excellent quality of wheat, but not much can be said of the quantity. Ukiah City is located on just such soil, while just to the east, beginning in the very suburbs, lies the true valley, but with adobe soil in it. In all mountainous sections the effect of water is to carry off the lighter particles of richer loam to the valleys below, and perhaps far away near the mouths of the streams, while the heavier, coarser materials are left, and those soils which do not wash away easily; hence near the foot of the mountain we find boulders, further away cobble stones, and further on coarse gravel, then fine until the margin of the stream is reached, where there is a fine bed of loam. Should there be a body of adobe or clayey soil near the foot of the mountain, the most of it will be found still there, as the water rushing in madcap torrents from the gorges of the mountains to the river in the valley below, can have but little effect on it. There is a small amount of another kind of soil in this county, which, though forming no considerable portion of the soil of the county, must not be overlooked: This is the bog or peat soil, formed by the decaying vegetation in the swamps of overflowed and tule land in Cahto and Round valleys, and perhaps in other places in a limited amount. This soil is composed of decayed vegetation, guano, detritious and sedimentary deposits from the overflow of streams, mixed with a large percentage of preserved roots, the principal preservative agent being tannic acid. This is the richest soil known in the county, and the yield of grain and vegetables from fields of this character is simply marvelous.

        WATER-COURSES.—There are no navigable streams in Mendocino county, and none of any great importance, except for purposes of drainage and whatever use they can be put to for driving logs to the mills. Beginning at the southwest corner of the county we find the

        Gualala River, as a part of the boundary line between Mendocino and Sonoma counties. This river had originally a, very beautiful name, being called Valhalla, by the Germans who at one time owned the Rancho de Herman in Sonoma county, and being so called after the beautiful stream of that name in their own Fatherland. But, unfortunately, everything had to be in accordance with the Spanish ideas of things in those days, and the musical Valhalla was twisted into Gualala, and has now dwindled down in the vernacular of the residents of that section, to " Wall-holler." This stream has its origin in the western portion of Sonoma county, flows due north parallel with the coast, just inside a range of hills which rise up from the shore of the ocean, and after a straight north course for nearly twenty-five miles, it turns to the westward, and for some distance forms the dividing line between the two counties as mentioned above, and finally debouches into the Pacific ocean. A writer has truthfully said, " There was never a stream so well named. Great redwood trees shade its limpid waters, the favorite haunt of the salmon and the trout; the hills are full of game—deer, elk and bear—and if ever there was a place where the 'bear roasted every morning became whole at night,' it was true, figuratively speaking, of the Sonoma Valhalla, for the camp on its margin was never without a haunch of venison or creel of fish. May the fellow who tortured the name by trying to Peruvianize it, never taste the joys of the real Valhalla. "

        Garcia River.—In passing up the coast we come to the Garcia river, which is a small mountain stream, having its source east of Point Arena. Up from its mouth about seven miles, a branch known as the north fork, empties into the main river. This passes through large and beautiful forests of redwood and firs, and is an altogether lovely stream. Its waters are clear and limpid, and its shores shady and mossy, just such a place as ye Isaac Walton would choose to spend a day in hooking the finny beauties from their native element. The river ordinarily is a shallow, though swift running stream, but when the flood torrents of mid-winter come bursting down from the very mountain tops near by, it is then that the Garcia is to be seen in all its glorious grandeur as a mad stream.

        Brush Creek.—The next stream north is the Brush creek, which is small and insignificant, and has its head in the mountains which skirt along the coast, and flows westward and empties into the sea.

        Alder Creek.—The next stream to the north is Alder creek, another small stream rising in the coast belt of mountains, and flowing westward into the sea.

        Elk Creek.—The next to the north is Elk creek, which is a much larger stream than either of the last named. It approximates the proportions of a river at flood seasons, and was very dangerous formerly, before a bridge spanned its mad course. It rises in the Coast Range, and follows a westerly course till it reaches the Pacific.

        Greenwood Creek is the next stream to the northward, and is small and insignificant. It serves as a drain to the mountains back from the coast, and flows in a westward course to the sea.

        Hevarra River.—This is the next stream, and it is quite worthy the appellation of river. It has its source far up amid the mountains, and flows through the glades and forests, at first dashing madly along as a mountain torrent, but finally assuming the solemn aspect of a genuine river, flows peacefully along to meet its mother ocean. It is used only for the purpose of driving logs to the mill. Its bar admits of the passage of a lighter to sea, and in years gone by that was the method of getting all lumber from the mill to the vessels outside.

        Salmon Creek.—This is another small stream flowing westward from the mountains to the sea. Its banks are lined with a wonderful growth of redwood.

        Albion River.—This is a stream of some importance to mill-men, as they are able to drive logs down it in flood time. It rises far back amid the frowning shadows of the mountain passes, and flowing westward, opens into the Pacific.

        Little River.—Passing on north we come to this stream, called so evidently in contradistinction to its mate, just north of it, Big river. It is a lovely stream, rising in the mountains away to the eastward, and after flowing through miles of forest, comes at last to rest on the heaving bosom of the Pacific.

        Big River.—This stream lies just north of the last named river a few miles, and is evidently appropriately named, as it is the largest stream which empties into the Pacific ocean in Mendocino county. This is quite a large stream, and extends far back into the mountains, having various arms as its head-waters are neared, which branch off, causing it to drain a large scope of country, and consequently an immense volume of water passes to the ocean along its course yearly. It is utilized for many miles in the interior for driving purposes, and millions upon millions of feet of logs have been borne upon its bosom to the mill at its mouth. It flows in a westerly direction, and empties into the ocean at Mendocino City.

        Caspar Creek.—This is a small stream rising in the mountains east of the coast, and emptying into the ocean a few miles north of Big river. There is a very large body of redwood on its banks.

        Hare Creek is the next stream to the northward. It is very small and insignificant. It flows from the eastward out of the mountains.

        Noyo River—This is quite a considerable stream flowing from the eastward, where it rises amid the mountains. The water on its bar is deep enough for lighterage purposes, and all freight coming in or going out passes through that channel. There is a good body of water for several miles up the river and logs are driven down it in great quantities.

        Pudding Creek.—This is a very small stream, serving no purpose at all except that of drainage.

        Ten-mile River.—This is the last stream worthy of mention as we pass north along the Mendocino coast. It is a small but beautiful stream, and has its source far away among the eastern mountains. Its waters finally reach the Pacific.

        South Eel River.—Passing to the eastward across the northern portion of the county, the first stream to which we come of any importance is the South Eel river, which has its source near the eastern boundary line of Mendocino county, among the snow-capped mountains of that section, and flows northwesterly forming almost a quarter-circle in its course through Mendocino county, crosses the line into Humboldt county, and there unites with the other branches of the river, and eventually reaches the sea far away to the northward near Humboldt bay. This river is a genuine  mountain stream, having all the beauty and abandon of the chief of its kind. It is kept at freshet heights until late in the season by the melting snow from the adjacent mountains. Bridges are swept away with a ruthless hand when its waters are lashed into an angry mood, by clashing headlong through the gorges of the mountains.

        Middle Eel River.—This stream lies a few miles to the eastward of the last named, and has its source in the extreme northeast corner of the county, and flows around a tract of country known as Round valley in such a way as to almost entirely surround it. All that was said of the South Eel river can be said of this stream. Neither of them are of any importance except for drainage purposes.

        Russian River.—This is probably the longest river in the county; that is, it flows for a longer distance through the territory of Mendocino. It has its source near the upper end of Calpella township, and thence it flows in a southerly direction through Ukiah and Sanel townships, and passes from the county into Sonoma, a few miles northeast of Cloverdale in the latter county, and thence pursues a southerly course to Healdsburg, and thence westerly to the Pacific ocean. It is a beautiful stream and flows quietly through the land in the summer season, and one would hardly dream that its placid bosom could be lashed into the seething torrent it is in the flood season. It is a stream of no importance, however, except for drainage.

        There are other smaller streams which might be mentioned, such as the Mal Paso on the coast, Little Lake Outlet, Ackerman creek, etc., but those of any real importance have been described. These streams are all beautiful, and the water in them is as clear as a crystal. Fish of many varieties, principally trout, however, abound in all of them, while to bathe in them at the proper season of the year is a luxury not found anywhere except on the sea-beach. Babbling brooks, singing cheerily as they dance and glint in the silvery sunlight, in their merry chase to the sea, is no poet's dream in Mendocino county, for they greet one on every hand.

        CLIMATOGRAPHY.—The climate of Mendocino county differs very materially from, perhaps, any other county in the State of California. It presents many phases, and even within a few miles there can be found wonderful diversities, not to say extremes, of climate. Along the coast the atmosphere is always more or less laden with moisture, and the winds are almost constantly blowing, hence it is necessarily cold in that section at all seasons of the year. Just inside the first range of mountains the air is shorn in a measure of its moisture, but is still damp enough to keep the temperature reduced greatly and to make it really the most pleasant place in the county to live, it being that happy mean where the wind is shorn of its chilling fog, and the heat of the midsummer's sun is tempered by passing through a strata of moist air. Farther in the interior the air is shorn of all its moisture and becomes arid and parches the vegetation as it passes over it. The summer's sun pours its unimpeded rays into those valleys in a merciless manner, as if fully determined to prove to mankind that it can shine more fervidly to-day than it did yesterday. And yet it is not so very disagreeable, and those accustomed to it really enjoy its pelting rays.

        The average rainfall is much more in Mendocino county than it is in San Francisco. It is a remarkable fact that there never has been a year yet when the crops and grass were an entire failure for the want of rain. It is true that there is more or less complaint among the farmers and stockmen this season (1880), on account of the shortness of the feed, owing to a lack of rain. It was not so much, however, owing to the entire lack of rain for the season, but it came so late that the hot winds and sun came down upon the grass before it had nearly gotten its growth, hence it is very short. This being a mountainous district, the rainfall is naturally great, and the country reaps the results of the rains.

        The season of rain in this section may be said to commence in October and end in May. It is rare that it rains more than a day or two at a time, and the intervals range from a few days to several weeks. This is truly the beautiful season for many parts of Mendocino county. The grass now springs to newness of life and is bright and green on every side, spreading an emerald tapestry over hill and dale fit for the dainty tread of a princess. The swelling bud is bursted, and the tree is clothed in its garments of green, and the bright flowers gladden the scene with their lovely presence and exhale an enchanting aroma which serves to make the spring days all the more grateful to man, betokening fruitage and vintage, to which the heart of man gladly looks forward; and in those mountain fastnesses, when the sun shines upon the early springing verdure of ground and tree, what a halo of glory is spread over the vista! How the shadows of the fleecy cumuli chase each other over fen and brake, and. how the merry sunshine kisses with loving tenderness the newly-born offspring of Mother Earth ! And the birds and the bees are all in their merriest glee, and the woods with music ring as the sweet hours of the fresh, bright, joyous spring day passes by. Winter's snows are all past now, only on the faraway mountain-tops does there remain even a vestige of the icy monster who has so lately held a large portion of the land in his chilling grasp, and even that is fast disappearing beneath the genial rays of the ascending sun.

        Quite an amount of snow falls during the winter months in the mountains of the interior, though strange to say but little falls on the Coast Range. In the interior valleys there is usually a fall of snow each winter, ranging from a few inches to several feet, and remaining on the ground from a few hours to several days. Some winters are extremely severe, causing much stock to perish from exposure. In all the valleys north of Little Lake the winters seem to be much more severe than to the southward of it. It is not an uncommon thing for it to frost, however, during most of the months of the year in some of the southern valleys, while those where the snow was the deepest are free from frost. So far this year (July, 1880), there has been frost during every month in Ukiah valley, while Sherwood valley has been free from it since April.

        February is the growing month of the year, and the life which has sprung into existence since the rains came now begins to be vigorous and thrifty. The sun has come an appreciable distance to the northward now, and the days are lengthened out enough to make the atmosphere very mild and warm during the day, and the earth is able to retain a sufficiency of the genial rays to keep vegetation spr