Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/779

Rh CALIFORNIA 703 been found in the north-western corner of the State, and also farther south in the Coast Ranges. No permanent mine has, however, yet been developed at any point on the west of the Great Valley. In the foot-hills of the Sierra, at a place known as Copperopolis, in Calaveras County, there is a very extensive deposit of copper ore, which was actively mined some ten years ago, producing very largely for a time. The mass of ore here was, in places, as much as 30 feet wide, although not of high grade. In 1864 the value of the shipments of copper ore from California was a little over a million dollars; this was almost all from one mine, the Union, at Copperopolis. Tin has been discovered at one locality in the southern part of the State, in the Temescal Range, about forty miles south-east of Los Angeles; and mining was attempted here, but the locality has been for some time abandoned. Zinc and lead occur, in the form of the sulphuret, in a great number of the quartz veins of the gold-bearing belt; theyare generally present, however, only in small quantity, and have not been made the object of mining enterprise. Iron ores are also found, in several localities, in large quantity; the want of suitable cheap fuel has prevented these ores from being utilized, and all the iron consumed on the Pacific coast comes from the Atlantic States or from Great Britain. Coal of the true Carboniferous period does not occur anywhere on the North American continent west of the eastern base of the Cordilleras; but there are, at various points, extensive deposits of lignite and imperfect coal; in some of these, the woody structure is entirely obliterated, and the substance may with propriety be called coal. It is rarely the case, however, that it does not contain a large percentage of water. These deposits are both of Tertiary and Cretaceous age; but at the locali ties extensively worked in California and on Vancouver Island, the beds belong exclusively to the last-named group. The only mines of coal of any consequence in California are those of Monte Diablo, so called because situated on the north slope of that mountain, and a few miles from the entrance of the San Joaquin River into Suisun Bay. The coal raised at these mines is of tolerably good quality for domestic use; but it cannot be used for ocean steaming or for making gas, as it contains a large amount of sulphur, and from 10 to 12 per cent, of water. These mines have yielded of late about 175,000 tons per annum. There is also a large deposit of about the same quality, and the same geological age, on Eel River, in Mendocino County. This is too far from navigable water to be utilized at present, as it cannot compete with the more accessible deposits on Vancouver Island, and at Bellingham and Coos bays, or with those more recently opened near Seattle in Washington Territory. Petroleum was thought likely, at one time, to become of great importance as a product of California, and several millions of dollars were expended in boring and searching for it, but almost entirely without success. The great bituminous slate formation, of Miocene age, which stretches along the coast from Monterey to Los Angeles, does, indeed, contain a large amount of combustible matter, which may at some future time become of economical value. At present there seems to be no immediate prospect of this; and it is certain that the geological conditions are such that flowing wells, like those of Pennsylvania, will not be found on the Pacific coast. Borax is one of the mineral produc tions of California, which is becoming of some importance. The value of the exports of this article from San Francisco in 1873 was over 8400,000. Of this, however, a consider able portion came from the adjacent State of Nevada. Sulphur has been mined in several localities, to some extent, for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. Marble occurs in many places in the Sierra Nevada, and is quarried for ordi nary architectural purposes. Granite and freestone are abundantly distributed; the former exists in inexhaustible quantity on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad, the latter near San Francisco and in many other places in the Coast Ranges. Fauna. Somewhat over a hundred species of mammalia Mammalia, have been found in California. Among the most interesting are the grizzly bear (Ursus horribilis), formerly very com mon, but now only met with in out-of-the way localities; they are especially abundant in the Coast Ranges south of Monterey the Santa Lucia Range. They are savage and powerfid animals, but do not care to attack men unless suddenly intruded upon, or when with their young. The black bear (U. americanus) is still pretty common in the higher parts of the mountains; and the so-called cinnamon and brown bear are supposed to be varieties of this species. The sea lions (Eumetopias stelleri) are of little value com mercially, but they excite a great deal of interest on account of their size, their strange gambols and extraordinary noises; they abound on the coast, and especially on the Farallones. Visitors to San Francisco from abroad rarely fail to go to the beach opposite Seal Rock, an isolated point near the city, and almost always crowded with these animals, whose curious habits can be watched from the mainland at a short distance. The beaver (Castor cana- densis) was formerly very common in the State, and many are still left. The spermophiles, or ground squirrels, are extremely abundant, and great nuisances; the ground is often honey-combed for miles with their burrows. The large hare-squirrel and the tiny pine-squirrel are common in the mountains. Gophers are very troublesome to the farmers; there are five species of them, the largest (Thomomys bulbivorus) being abundant in the central por tion of the State near the coast. The elk (Cervus cana- densis), formerly found in great numbers in California, is now almost exterminated, unless it be in the northern counties, in the recesses of whose forests they may be still occasionally seen. The deer (C. leucurus) is quite com mon, at a distance from settlements, and especially in the southern High Sierra. A few antelopes are still met with; but when the Americans first entered California, these animals were seen in immense herds all over the plains of the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. The mountain sheep (Ovis montana} is also nearly exterminated. Of Birds, birds, over three hundred and fifty species have been described as occurring in California. Some of the most characteristic of this State are the road-runner (Gcococcyx calif ornianus), nearly allied to the cuckoo, but like a pheasant in its habits of running and inability to fly; the California woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus), which has the curious habit of boring holes in the bark of trees and filling them with acorns, which fit most accurately and closely in the cavities thus made. The object of this arrangement appears to be, to allow the grubs to fatten inside the acorns, which thus in time are found to contain a nice meal for the provident bird. The California vulture (Gathartes calif ornianus}, the largest flying bird in North America, is not limited to this State, but is common there. The sage hen (Uentrocercus urophasianus) is a fine game bird, found in abundance on the east slope of the Sierra, among the &quot; sage-brush.&quot; Two species of quail are very abundant, and very characteristic, in the State, Oreortyx pictus and Lophortyx californica. They both have elegant crests of long narrow feathers, in one species turned back wards, in the other forwards. Fish are very abundant on Fishes, the coast; salmon are caught in great numbers in the Sacramento River, and are an important article of food, especially in Oregon. Sturgeon are also abundant; and as their flesh is sold at a very low price, it is much eaten by those who are obliged to be economical. The salmon is also in this respect a very valuable fish. The so-called &quot;rock- 1 fish&quot; are among the fish most abundant in the San Fran-