seen.  The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers have each a course of from 300 to 400 miles, the first flowing from the north and the last from the south, and both emptying into the Bay of St. Francisco at the same point.  They water the large and fertile valley lying between the Sierra Nevada and the coast range of mountains.  I subjoin a description of the valley and river San Joaquin, from the pen of a gentleman (Dr. Marsh) who has explored the river from its source to its mouth.

“This noble valley is the first undoubtedly in California, and one of the most magnificent in the world.  It is about 500 miles long, with an-average width of about fifty miles.  It is bounded on the east by the great Snowy Mountains, and on the west by the low range, which in many places dwindles into insignificant hills, and has its northern terminus at the Strait of Carquines, on the Bay of San Francisco, and its southern near the Colorado River.

“The river of San Joaquin flows through the middle of the valley for about half of its extent, and thence diverges towards the eastern mountain, in which it has its source.  About sixty miles further south is the northern end of the Buena Vista Lake, which is about one hundred miles long, and from ten to twenty wide.  Still farther south, and near the western side of the valley, is another and much smaller lake.

“The great lake receives about a dozen tributaries on its eastern side, which all rise in the great range of the Snowy Mountains.  Some of these streams flow through broad and fertile valleys within the mountain’s range, and, from thence emerging, irrigate the plains of the great valley for the distance of twenty or thirty miles.  The largest of these rivers is called by the Spanish inhabitants the river Reyes, and falls into the lake near its northern end; it is a well-timbered stream, and flows through a country of great fertility and beauty.  The tributaries of the San Joaquin are all on the east side.

“On ascending the stream we first meet with the Stanislaus, a clear rapid mountain stream, some forty or fifty yards wide, with a considerable depth of water in its lower portion.  The Mormons have commenced a settlement, called New Hope, and built some two or three houses near the mouth.

“There are considerable bodies of fertile land along the river, and the higher plains afford good pasturage.

“Ten miles higher up is the river of the Tawalomes; it is about the size of the Stanislaus, which it greatly resembles, except that the soil is somewhat better, and that it particularly abounds with salmon.

“Some thirty miles farther comes in the Merced, much the largest of the tributaries of the San Joaquin.  The lands along and between the tributaries of the San Joaquin and the lake of Buena Vista form a fine pastoral region, with a good proportion of arable land, and a very inviting field for emigration.  The whole of this region has been but imperfectly explored; enough, however, is known to make it certain that it is one of the most desirable regions on the continent.