New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-09-07

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had entered with hope of resting ID IL EDGE 1
left Salt Lake City We had beds here-ac'aai
b.ds. md good ones-our 6rst slnce Camp FioId'
Tboueb our uigb. was not long one, for We were
70 ,t.rt sgain by 4 \. VI, reckon good use W.
made Of il by tee four through passengers VINO
had no. lain down before since they leis oat-l
Creek, FIVE dsys sgo and nearly oOV niles ~Tsy'
Nv osn slumber YES partial and broke.d, as i. ia
generally is: but the bath which pr.ceded .cd pre-
pared for it was genuine r.frsshmeat, ani the
sleep seemed quite suifclsa,. In fast, felt that
could have gone w.nOut for another week, ard
fit less Inconvenience than did the first night we
rode AID tie day after.
we were in motion again at the earliest dawn, for
We had still about IS miles Of ragged mountain road
70 traverse before reaching this place. The Carson
aide Of the road il not yet hsf made While the half
next to this place is in the main good But IN isce
the expense Of good highway Up the eastern
slope Of the Sierra must be heavy one. For thai
slope 10 composed Of grsni;e-simpie, nskef r0ck-
With rcaIceiy fraction Of its surface thiDly coy-
cred by soil. OF coarse, no trees bat evefgreens
can live very few small Cuaking Asps n the
bottoms Of the ragines scarcely form an e1cep-
tion-while almost every roed is covered ~ giant,
oJorjoss Pines. saw Sugar and Yellow Pines at
least eight feet in diameter and tall in proportions
am assured that one wac recently cut near tnis
road which measured eight feet across 1t hight OF
eighty feet from the ground, aud from which two
hundred and forty thousand shingles were made.
Besde these universal Pines, there are giant Ce-
dars, Bassm Firs, and some Redwood; after We
cross the summit We found also Oaks, which
gradually increased in size and number as We
descended. l think ] saw Oaks (the preSa-
lent California species is much Ike our Whit
Oak at least four feet throueh-in short neve!
saw anything ike so much nor so good timber IL
the course of any seventy-fve miles travel &c
raw in crossing the Sierra Neyada. How greatly
blest California is in this abundance, need not
say.
The road over this pass--by far the lowest and
most practicable OF any over the Sierra Nevada
ri.es steadily for twelve or thirteen miles from our
mornings starting-polnt, then descends for two
or three miles as abruptly to the valley Of
brook which runs north into Lske Bgler, which in
turn finds on outlet into Truckee River, whereby
its waters are borne eastward into the desert and
there dissipated There is fine grass on Lake
Bigler and several hundred cows are kept there in
Summer, making butter for tue California market.
When ,now falls, these cattle are driven down to
the valley of the Sacramento, where the rains src
now commencing, and they here live without hay
till June, when they are taken back to the noun
tains again, where only is butter made from them.
The business is very lucrative, the land costing
nothing and being unienced. Taking into account
gold timber and grass, the Sierra Nevada is
probably the richest and most productive mountain
chain on earth.
From the valley aforesaid, we rose again for
two miles, along narrow road cut into the side OF
u ountain, with q PERCEPTIONS descent on the
right Then We began to descend once more, be-
side rivuet which eaped and laughed on its way
to the Pacific. The ascent from the Carson side is
far shorter than the descent this way, Carson Val
ley being much higher than that of the Sacramento
But the road even on this side, is, for most of the
way, eaten into the side of steep mountain, with
precipice of from five to fifteen hundred feet on
one side and as steep eminence on the other. Yet
along this mere shelf, with hardly a place TO each
mile where two meeting wagons can pass, the mall
stage was driven at the rate of ten miles an hour
in one instance eeven) or just as fast as four wild
California horses, whom two men could scarcely
harness, could draw it, Our driver was Of course
skillful; but had he met wagon suddenly on
rounding one Of the sharp points or projections we
were constantly passing, a fearful crash was I'M
ayoidable. Had his horses seen fit IL run away
las they did run once, on the unlocking of trace,
but at a place where be had room to rein them
out of the road on the upper side, and thus
stop them ] know that he could not have held
them and We might have pitched headlong
down a precipice of thousand feet, where
al of the concern that could have been
picked up afterward would not hsye been worth
two bits per bushel. Yet al this break-neck rate
we were driven for rot less than four hours or
forty miles, changing horses every ten or fifteen
and raising cloud OF dust through which II vas
difficult at times 10 see anything. We crossed the
south fork of the American River eighteen miles
above this, rising tao or three miles immediately
after TO the summit Of the ridge south, and thence
forward the road, nearly to this city descends
steadily beautifully inclined ridge, and, but for
the dust would be one Of the finest drives on
earth And right glad was to and myself once
more among friends, surrounded by the comforts
Of civilization, sud with q prospect OF occasional
rest / cannot conscientiously recommend the
route have travelled TO Summer tourists in quest
of pleasure, but it is balm for many bruises to
know that l am at last in CALIroRSIA. H.e.