Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/775

Rh CALIFORNIA 099 of llic Yosemite, although inferior to it in grandeur. This i%j called the Hetch-Hetchy. Above the Yosemite Valley the scenery of the High Sierra is very attractive, immense conical knobs or domes of granite being a prominent and very characteristic feature of this and other portions of the Sierra. Mount Dana, a little over 13,000 feet in height, dominates over the region above the Yosemite; and from its summit, which is quite easy of access, a, magnificent panorama may be had of the Sierra Nevada, with Mono Lake, nearly 7000 feet below, spread out like a map, and beyond it the lofty, and, in some instances, snow-clad ranges of the Great Basin, while several well-formed and very large volcanic cones are seen just to the south of the lake. Climate. The climate of California presents many fea tures of interest, differing considerably from those obtain ing in the Eastern and Mississippi Valley States, which have furnished a majority of the immigrants to the Pacific coast and Great Basin. There can be no doubt that emigration to California has, especially within the past few years, been greatly stimulated by the desire of people at the East to escape the sudden changes, the intense heats of summer, and the bitter colds of winter, which characterize the climate of the whole country east of the Rocky Mountains. The climate of California is very different in different parts of the State, according to distance from the ocean, situation with reference to the mountain ranges, and al titude above the sea-level. But there are certain peculiar features which obtain all over the State. In the first place, the division of the year into two seasons a dry and a rainy one is the most marked general characteristic of the Calif or nian climate. But, as one goes north, the winter rain is found to begin earlier and last longer ; while, on the other hand, the south-eastern corner of the State is almost rainless. Again, the climate of the Pacific coast, along its whole length, is milder and more uniform than that of the States in a corresponding latitude east of the mountains. Thus, we have to go as far north as Sitka, in latitude 57, to find the same mean yearly temperature as that of Halifax, in latitude 44 39. And in going south along the coast, we observe that the mean temperature of San Diego is six or seven degrees less than that of Charleston and Vicksburg, which are nearly in the same latitude as San Diego, and situated, one on the Atlantic, the other on the Mississippi River. But, in addition, we notice that the means of summer and winter are much nearer the mean of the year in California than in the east. Thus, comparing Washington and San Francisco, we have Mean of Mean of Mean of Year. Summer. Winter. San Francisco, ...&quot; 56 60 51 Washington, 56 07 76 3 36 05 Thh condition of things is not so marked as we advance into the interior of California; but everywhere in the state the winters are comparatively mild, and the heat of summer is much less disagreeable in its effects, because the air is exceedingly dry and the evaporation proportionately rapid. The climate of San Francisco is indeed wonderfully uniform ; and the bracing, cool air which sweeps in from the ocean during the afternoons of the summer, although not favourable to persons with weak lungs or sensitive throats, is the very breath of life for those who are in vigorous health. One great drawback to the enjoyment of the delightful climate of California, however, is the dust of summer, which seems, until one becomes accustomed to it, quite unbearable. A more serious difficulty in this State is the extreme variability in the amount of rain which falls from year to year ; and this uncertainty is something which must always be present in the mind of the farmer ar&amp;gt; likely seriously to influence his future. Some years are so dry that the crops are almost an entire failure, except directly on the coast, or where artificial irrigation is practised ; other years are so wet, that serious inundations occur. During the interval from 1850 to 1872, the yearly rain-fall ranged, at San Francisco, from 7 4 inches to 4 ( J 27 inches. In going southward from San Francisco, the mean rain-fall decreases along the coast, and at San Diego it is only about 10 inches. At Fort Yuma it is a little over 3 inches. In the Sierra the annual precipitation increases as we rise in altitude; it is almost entirely in the form of snow at elevations greater than COOO or 7000 feet ; and this snow, as it melts during the summer, fur nishes a store of water of immense importance to the State, supplying, as it does, the numerous ditches or small canals, which have been built, in connection with great reservoirs high up in the mountains, for supplying the miners, and which are more and more utilized for agricultural purposes, as the placer-mining claims cease to be worked. As there is no fall . of rain or snow of any consequence on the Sierra during the summer, the accumulated stock of the previous winter melts gradually, and after a succession of dry seasons, it almost entirely disappears from the summits of the range. If, on the other hand, two or more rainy winters follow each other, the crest retains a large amount of snow to add to the next year s stock. The climatic conditions are such, however, that there are no true glaciers formed anywhere in the Sierra, although the traces of former ones are everywhere visible along the highest part of the range. These ancient glaciers once covered the summits and extended quite low down in some of the valleys, notably in that of the Tuolumne, where the ice-flow may once have been from thirty to forty miles in length. Tho walls of the Hetch-Hetchy Valley are beautifully scored and polished by former glaciers, which once entirely filled the upper portion of this grand canon. The nearest approach to a glacier which at present exists in the Sierra is to be found on Mount Shasta, on the north side of which, and almost at the summit, are large masses of ice having many of the characteristics of the genuine glacier. The winds of California are, during the summer, exceed ingly regular in their movement. As the interior becomes heated by the sun, the air rises, and a current of colder air rushes from the sea to take its place. Wherever there is an opening, therefore, in the Coast Ranges down to the level of the sea, there the wind will blow through it fiercely during the hottest part of the summer day, towards the interior. Thus, in going from the Bay of San Francisco towards the mountains, or up either the Sacramento or the San Joaquin Valley, the wind will be with the traveller. In fact the current spreads out fan-shaped from that point, and reaches far up from the ocean. A very strong wind and cool and bracing weather at San Francisco are indica tions of exceptionally hot days in the interior. At night the breeze slackens, and usually ceases altogether, a light mist often enveloping the city of San Francisco. At the same time, the cooler air draws gently down the mountain slopes, in opposition to its direction during the day. In the interior, the days, in summer, are extremely warm, the thermometer sometimes rising to 120 in the shade, and 160 or 170 in the sun. The farther one goes from the Bay of San Francisco, the hotter it becomes. At night, however, the radiation is rapid, and the temperature falls, so that a warm covering is almost always needed. The south-eastern corner of California is exceedingly dry, and has a very high temperature. At Fort Yuma the mean of the year is 76, and the heat in summer is almost intolerable, the thermometer ranging above 90, sometimes for weeks, both by night and by day. Amoaig the peculiarities of the Californias this is not one of the least striking, that, as one