The herald., 1895-06-02
THE EVOLUTION OF CALIFORNIA

lake is surrounded bs. mountains which
rise above it from 2Oo0 to nearly 5000 feet.
Lake Ienoya is said to be the most ele
waited lake in the state. 1t is a small lake,
put one mile wide. andl half mile N
length. The largest luke in the state is
Iulare lake, in Tulare county; it is about
twenty three miles long and twenty-five
mlies wide and is veiy shallow, being
but forty feet deep. ON ems lake Is the
sink" of the Owens liver; it is. about
eighteen miles long ant has no outlet.
consequently its waters are extremely
alkaline. Mono lake in Iono county lies
1000 feet above the sea; it Is about four
teen miles long and nine miles wide and
It's waters are impregnate with minerals
among which are salt, lime, porax
and carbonate of soda. 1t, has been stated
that the lakes and pom ds of California
cover an area OF 16, 900 SOU are miles.
There sprang up from Il 'e soil produced
by glacial action eight istinct groves
OF the sequoia eigantea, M ore commonly
known as the Big Trees. The two prin-
cipal groves Of Big Trees a re the Calaver-
as and the Mariposa. The former mas
about 90 trees some of tht,m the largest
in the state. This grove sis perhaps the
best known, as it is the more accessible
The Mariposa grove has so41e 600 trees.
These groups stand in depression on
the mountain sides, 5000 fest above the
sea level. few years ago one OF these
monster trees fell. and when measur ed
was found to be 300 feet long, and althou gh
1T fell on stony +oil it was i'm mbeded. in
the earth four feet; numerous fires 'rere
built i'll the tree and in the cavity thus
formed. two horses were driven lSreast
for distance of 800 feet within tie hol-
low trunk. Many of these trees me assured
l0O feet In circum ference. with bPsrk one
and one-half feet in thickness. These
trses are estimated TO be from 1000 to
1000 years old.
ind of ho fhor of ho
past are the famous geysers. in Sonoma
county and the hot sulphur springs.
OF which there are over 300. stu ated in
deep gorge. and covering some 200
acres. Hot and cold springs boiling
springs, and springs that are quiet are
other. In the Colorado Deser. are the
mud volcanoes, covering about fifteen
acres. They consist of soft mid kept in
continuous motion by hot water and
steam. About seventy-five miles from
San Francisco III Sonon a county is found
the wonderful petritied forest, which con-
tains about 100 prostrate tr,es, and ex-
tends over three CIR fou. miles. There are
several very interesting caves in the
state; among then. are the mammoth
cave of Calaveras which contains several
large chambers; the Alabaster cave in
Placer county. which contains two cham
bers, the largest OF wbic d is 200 feet long
and 100 feet wide; the oiler cave in Mar
iposa county. which has a chamber 1000
feet square, and is reac he'd by passage
seventy feet long; and the Crystal Pal
ace cave, five miles nor th of Columbia,
in Tuolumne county. There are five
natural bridges in Califo rnia. the longest
being on the Coyote creek in Tuoumne
county. This bridge IS 2s5 feet long, and
near il is another. but not as lalge. The
largest OF these bridges stands 40 feet
above a stream which ounpties into the
Hay fork of the Trinaty river 1t is
eighty feet long. The last two of these
wonderful bridges are in Siskivou county.
They are but thirty fetr apart and are
each ninety feet in length.