The region between these great mountain ranges seems to have been once the bottom of a lake. It is now called the Sacramento and the San .Toaquin valleys, and includes about 25,000 sq.m., reaching 400 in. n. and s., and having a width of more than 50 miles. The Sacramento and San .Joaquin rivers drain this valley—the former the northern and the latter the southern portion. Near the central part of the region these rivers unite, and find an outlet through the coast mountains to the ocean. In the extreme s. small lakes and marshel cover a considerable extent. The land in this vast central basin is remarkably fertile, and level near the large streams, but rolling and hilly towards the mountains. There is a plateau or table-land in the n. at about 41% which is more than 100 m. long and about 5000 ft. above tide. This high plain forms a basin by itself, having no outlet for water. In the s. part of C. is another basin known as the Colo rado desert. It is about 150 by 70 m., and is mostly a barren waste of sand.
The largest river is the Colorado, which forms the boundary along Arizona, and is navigable beyond the C. line. The Sacramento is navigable as far as the city of Sacra mento, and the San Joaquin is available for light-draft boats nearly to the sierras. Mountain lakes are a feature of California. Lake Tahoe, on the summit of the sierras, 6200 ft. above tide, is about 20 tn. long and 1500 ft. deep, and its water is exceedingly pure. The overflow passes into Truckee river, and disappears by evaporation. Other lakes are Clear, Owen's, and Mono, the latter 14 by 9 in., and 7000 ft. above the sea. In Lassen and 3Iodoc cos. are several large alkaline lakes.
The wonderful scenery of the Yosemite valley is known the world over. This val ley is in the sierras, about 150 in. a little e. of s. from San Francisco. The valley is nearly 4000 ft. above tide, and is hemmed in by almost perpendicular cliffs from 2000 to more than 3000 ft. high. The cascades in and around the valley are of great beauty and variety. Yosemite creek falls 2600 ft. in three leaps, the highest being 1500 feet. The Merced and Nevada falls combine nearly as great heights with larger bodies of water, and are surprisingly grand. A commanding object in the valley is the Half Dome, a rocky mass rising about 4750 ft. above the level, and presenting a vertical face of 1500 feet. Parallel with the Merced river, which flows directly through the valley, and a little farther n., is the Tuolumne, noted for the number and beauty of its cascades, and the picturesque scenery along its course. This river falls 4650 ft. in the course of 22 miles. Mt. Dana, over 13,000 ft. high, dominates the region above the Yosemite, and from its easily accessible summit opens a magnificent panorama of the Sierra Nevada. Mono lake is 7000 ft. below; beyond are the lofty and in some instances snow-clad peaks of the great basin, while volcanic cones are visible to the s. of the lake.
"The big trees" are another peculiar and remarkable feature of California. There are several groups or patches of these forest giants, the most important being about 30 m. n.n.e. of Visalia. They arc called sequoia gigantea, or giant red-wood, and vary from the height of a large pine to nearly 400 ft., with circumferences at a man's height from the ground varying from 25 to more than 100 feet. One is still standing that is' reported to be 376 ft. high and 104 ft. around; and remains of fallen trees show that there have been specimens considerably larger. One was cut down which was more than 24 ft. in diameter without, and about 27 ft. with, the bark, or a circumference of nearly 85 ft.; its age was nearly 1300 years. Other C. timbers are pines in large variety, black oak, ash, hickory, elm, beech, white cedar, spruce, fir, laurel, tamarack, cypress, yew, juniper, chestnut, acacia, poplar, cottonwood, walnut, maple, buckeye, etc. Of shrubs the more remarkable are the thorny manzanita and the chamiso, which form the impenetrable undergrowth known as " chaparral." The fauna of C. is varied and extensive, and may be headed by the grizzly bear (now almost extinct). There are black, brown, and cinnamon bears; sea-lions, whose noises and gambols around Seal Rock in San Francisco bay attract thousands of sight-seers; beaver (rapidly disappearing); ground squirrels (great plagues to farmers for their burrows in the soil); gophers (a similar nuisance); mountain squirrels; elk (once abundant but nearly extinct); deer; antelope (rapidly thinning out); mountain sheep (also nearly gone); raccoons, skunks, badgers, martens, minks, weasels, wolves, musk rats, porcupines, otters, wild cats, coyotes, foxes, rabbits, etc. Birds are abundant; those peculiar to the region are the road-runner, nearly allied to the cuckoo, but like a pheasant in habit of running and inaptitude to fly; the C. woodpecker, which bores holes in the bark of trees and fills the cavities with acorns, the object apparently being to collect food in which grubs will fatten and in due time gratify the palate of the bird. The C. vulture is the largest flying bird in North America; the sage hen is a valuable bird, and plentiful; there are two species of quail, besides eagles, hawks, owls, buzzards, crows, magpies, ravens, jays, swallows, humming-birds, robins, larks, orioles, pigeons, doves, cranes, bitterns, herons, coots, snipe, rails, sandpipers, curlews, ducks, teal, geese, the pelican, albatross, cormorant, loon, gull, petrel, etc. The rattlesnake is the only dangerous reptile,-but there are many other serpents, with tortoises, frogs, toads, lizards, and salamanders. Fish are abundant, and include salmon, eels, mackerel, blackfish. perch, redfish, flounders, herring, shad, sturgeon, sharks, and sunfish. Oysters, clams, scallops, etc., with lobsters, crabs, and shrimps, are abundant.