THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. CONTINUED.

above the level of the sea, and gradually slope towards the bay. The foot hills of the Sierra Nevada limiting the valleys, make a woodland country diversified with undulating grounds and pretty vales or glens watered by numerous small streams. These afford many advantageous spots for farms, occasionally forming large bottoms of rich, moist land. Below 39° of latitude, and west of the foot hills, the forests are limited to scattering groves of oak in the valleys and on the borders of streams; or, of red wood on the ridges and in the gorges. With these exceptions, the whole region presents a surface without shrubbery or trees, though a few hills are shaded