, 1865-10-10
The valleys Of CatifornIa-The Geyserl
-EXcurnionS. Etc.

IL can ne irrigated the lands become Immense
ly productive In our varied excursion
through tha State, We have become convince
that California Is net only immensely rich L
the precious metals, but that her agriculture
resources arc equally important md valuable
Without entering into particulars, 1t IL fac
now well established that California produce
larger crops md finer fruits than TN,
other State In the Union. On cur recent c1cur
sion We had an opportunity to sec the Peta
luna, the Russian River, the Napa aud th,
sonoma valleys, andlt was unanimously yotet
that they were among the most lovely ant
the richest spots It had been urgood fortune
to visit. But without attempting dcscrip
tion Of them, let us hasten On to the
1EFSERS. y
Learlng San Francisco by the beautiful
, Petaluma steamer, in some three hours We
are at the thriving little town Of the same
name, and thence forty miles by stage
and curriasse, through the Petaluma and Rus.
s1an River valleys We arrive at the base oil
the mountain and stop At the house of Mr..
Clark Fosa and arc cap1tally entertained for
the night. The next morning by daylight we
are up, and having RECALLED ourselves with
tain ride Of twelve miles. Away dash our four
California steeds, and crossing single valley
by The way, up, up they climb, at pace that
would t'lay out u my team from tie Statcs.
TIL We reach the top OF the mountain, Orc
Thousand feet above the sea. Thence for
three or four miles our road runs along the
crest Of high dividing ridge, 80 narrow In
on each side Of the wheels, while you look
down into the deep gorge on either Side hun
d1cds Of feet. Along this crest the horses
run at the top Of their speed, but not q twinge
of lear Is felt, for Clark Foss himself holds the
reinE, and ne have become accustomed to fast
driving orer the mountains Of California.
And now here We are, on the top of the
mountain which fnsns one OF tie sides Of
Sulphur Greek Val]oy, from the: opposite side
Of Which the deep geyser gorge extends east.
ward. "Look At your watch" said Foss,
land note the the time carefully" The road
as II winds zig-Zag down the side of The noun
tain Is only Just wide enough for the carringe !;
1t makes thirty-t1Fe turns and dcscends
sixteen hundred 1eet In two uiles-the dis.
tance We have to 70 to the hotel. Down the
steep mountain and around the sharp curves
dash our fiery steeds, and in Just ten minutes
We have made the fearful descent. On our
return from Donner Lake We hare seen faster
driving, for in one case We rode eeyen milcs
down the Sierra Nevada Mountains In twenty
where such consummata skill and power OF
rein were required to bring US through In
safety. We all voted Clark Foss prince OF
drivers, rs he certainly is prince Of good
fellows.
Ordering breakfast At 10 o'clock we started
otto explore This valley Of wonders, aud c1-
cept In Iceland there "a not, probably, in all
the world beside, anything to compare with
It. The hundreds OF Jets Of Kissing steam, the
anEry boiling waters, the quantities Of clrys-
taslzed sulphur sparkling upon the rocks
around yon and the sulphurous stencil TINT
aets, ss spp9o5fe y9o5 S5,n .se Ss h seeR
stay must be short, vouchfng for its Accuracy,
wequote the description of Il given by Lieut.
Davidson in his U. s. Coast Survey. lie
says:
meet tLe Spring Of Iron, Sulphur and Soda. tenn
pc1aiure, u deg. Fahr. The INST Spring going mp
ihc gutch, Is the *tepid Alum and Iron incrusfed.
temp. q deg. F: md with very heavy lidi.eent
TWENTY feef from this We pass the tNedlca.ed
Geyter Bath temp. 81, and containing Ammonia,
Eptom salts, Aagnexie, Sulphur, Iron, etc. Higher
mp, The Spring Or boiling AlAm and Sulphur hzs
p Temperature Of 10 dss 70, also, he .bl,ck snl.
aa bas f. reR esa;Ga ed 's ,s;s
a1s thrown up about two or three feet high, II .
III ssneF
ari+ing from 1t; temperature 1ss s. Within
twelve feet = m Intermittent sealding
5.rs seen ss@
1lteen feet Bnt the glory Of all is the steamboat
Gesser, retoundng like 4 high pressure seven
seaa an + e ss s on e me
higher point, Jou stand and overlook the cease
lsst 1s,,o shs @ 1qar s.s2n ss0aps and eshbieg
steam aseepds 100 teei abosc them ali Following
The usual Travelled path. ve pass over the .tmoun.
tain of Or. r, WI t. hundred oriaces, thence
Of bisek, snlphaFouz boiling sa.er, Eon,e moving
and ep1uttcrtng with violent ebullition, One Whto
Sulphur Spring ne found quite clear, and up to the
Hasa1 n the nesh @ t pss % e. hoe
spring, Celebrated Tor is remedial edsets upon I'll
II he .hsde was q deg, vi" Vii. nsny dae pools ioi
js ao, spnF. ss;;n! as;5y s,.r @s
out clear as lco. This !s The old neaeated spring
where many poor aborjgine has been carried over
the nonnta1na to have the ditease dnyen ont Of
romantically situated DO not suppose that deeo-
lat1on, fire md birthstone reign snmene-ooe Of
The wonders Of The place Is that grass shrubs, and
hing, In nany places the Feething can1dron below.
The most varied wood abound around you, oaks,
pines, sycamore, willow, alder, laura aud mad
foue.H
It Is almost impossible to givo the reader an
adeeuate idea OF this most wonderful locality.
". b. Elliott, who chased grizzly bear into
The valley In 1H47, is believed to be the first
white man who ever saw the Geysers. BE
must have supposed he had got rcEy close to
Piuto's dominions when he went up the gorge
spaDgled with chrystals Of sulphur aud hlssing
everywhere with steam md birthstone yapors.
Indeed, that Is the impression made upon
companies as well as individuals when visit
ing H. It must be seen to be appreciated.
On OUT journey homeward We visited the
extensive vineyards Of Col. Horaszthy, In the
Sonoma Valley. Here are more than million
Of vines IN full bearing, and the company who
own the immense estate are manufacturing
wine and brandy On an extensive scale. The
Colonel himself was absent, but his excellent
lady entertained Us with princely hospitality.
We Ind an opportunity here to learn all the
ufactured on large scale. The sonoma Is
one Of the richest md most beautiful valleys
in the State.
OAKLAND.
This beautiful town Is kituatcd directly
ac1oss the bay, some twelve miles, from San
Francisco. It Is the seat of a 6ourlshing male
and also Of q female college. Our invitation
the author, and both he and his accomplished
wife and daughter gave us most cordial
welcome to their elegant home, After spend
ing the morning most delightfully."- at Mr..
Browns, Mr. Collax and the writer visited
the female college, and found it In oil respects
equal to our best institutions Of the same
character Oh this side Of the mountains. In
the afternoon We were invited to dine at the
beautiful home Of one of the substantial citi-
zens of San Francisco, living near Oakland,
where, among other things, we learned that
California ladies have obeyed the early chap
ters OF Genesis, for We found two
fine boys and q brace Of beautiful, baby girls
who all blessed the household with. their
sweet smiles IusIde OF twenty months. This
incident made us acquainted With similar facts
peculiar to this State, satisfying the Houora-
Bile speaker that California Is not only great
but q very productive State.
OF our excursion on the A1maden railroad,
and to the Government ship-yards at Mare
Island, our visit to A1catrax md various other
points, should like to give full description,
but the fear that may weary the readers Of
the TRIBUNE admon1shes me to desist. B.
blast from a Democratic Bugle.
The Milwaukee Sentinel says: As many of
Cur readers are not perhaps familiar with the
fnopperhead literature I'VE beg pardon-41ese
fellows are seusftiye-the "Demoeratic"
llterature,) Of the present campaign, We fur
uish them the following specimen from a
leading Hobart paper In this State, whose
editor xas one OF the chief manipulators Of
the Wilkes Booth convention:
Where is Lincoln, the Joking patron aaint Of mig
ccrftu1, who owes 20 much to John Wilkes Booth,
md Who Ii well nigh forgotten already, with hardly
q dozen In the lind to revere his memoEy1