| AND PACIFIC COAST GUIDE. 193

| oo a atin to the sum of $25,496,-
269. This figure represents the a
volume of outside ace unieasies
| . The city is laid out in a regular square,
the streets running at right angles fronting |
on the Sacramento River, which here runs
nearly north and south. They are num-

red from the river, 1, 2, 3, etc. Those
running from the river bank, or east and
west, are numbered with the alphabet, A,
B, ©, ete.

There is a quiet beauty, peculiar to this
city alone, which renders it attractive to the
most careless of travelers. Its well-shaded
streets; its beautiful gardens, blooming
with an almost tropical luxuriance; its
vineyards and orchards, all combine to
form a city such as one rarely meets with
in California, and nowhere else.

Sacramento is endeared to Californians—
not by reason of her present beauty and pros-
perity, but because sheis truly an American
city, whose people, by their indomitable
energy and perseverance, have raised
this monument to our national character,
despite the ravages of fire and flood. Not
only have they re-built their city, but they
have built the ground on which it stands,
| and to-day the city stands some ten feet
| above the original site on which Sac-
| ramento was first established.
| From the small and unimportant hamlet
| of afew years ago, it has emerged intoa
thriving, bustling city. Fires burned the
young city to the ground, but it rose—
Piieaix like—more beautiful than ever.
The floods swept over it, as with a besom
of destruction, in the winters of °51 and
52, and the waters were rushing with
irresistible force through every stre:t.
When they abated, the people went to work
and built levees around their city, and
fancied themselves secure. Again with
the floods, in the winter of ’61 and °62,
Sacramento was inundated. To guard |
against a recurrence of these evils, the
city bed was raised above the hichest
known tide, and instead of wearing away a
levee, the angry waters find a solid mass of
earth, on which stands the city, against
which their efforts at destruction are futile.
To one who has not resided on this coast,
it may at first seem strange that a city
should have been located in the midst of
such dangers. When Sacramento was laid
out, both the Sacramento and American
rivers had bold banks above the reach of
any floods. But when the thousands of
miners commenced tearing down the

  
   
   
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
 
   
    
 
   
  
    
  
     
     
   

mountains and pouring the debris into the
rivers, the sediment gradually filled up the
river bed from twelve to eighteen feet above
its former level. Consequently, when the

 

water confined in the mountain snows,
and sent it foaming and seething in its
| mad power to the plains, the old and half
filled channel could not contain it, and a
large body of country was annually in-
undated. Levees were tried in vain; the
mighty torrent would not be confined;
hence the necessity of raising the city
above its ravages. This has been ac-
complished; and beyond the present line
of high grade, a powerful levee surrounds
the unfilled portion of the city, on which

band, which no past fl
to break. These levees are guarded and
kept in repair by the Railroad Company.

THe Srate Carrror—For a description
of this building, see ANNEx, No. 15.

 

We will now take a run over the
Oregon Division.
CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD.

Sacramento see schedule in ANNEX No.4
The trains run over the Overland track

until the Junction is reached.

and the Holy Land!”

   
    
 
  
 
 

about them, for six miles to

and after a run of 4.5 miles, come to

spring sun unlocked the vast volume of

is a railroad track, forming an iron circle or
oods have had power

For time of passenger train ponte J

of the “Central” to Roseville Junction, pass-
ing all stations—except where signaled—

Our road branches off to the left just
before the station is reached, and stops
close on the north side of the building,
and we hear—‘ All aboard for Marysville,
Chico and Oregon.” We suppose the |
time is not far distant (in the age of
nations) when passengers will hear, on ar-
riving at this station: “All aboard for
Puget Sound, Hudson Bay, Alaska and
Behring Straits; close connections made
with the Yankee Tunnel Company, under
Behring Straits for all points in Russia,
China, Japan, Germany, England, France,

Leaving the Junction, our course is
north; we are whirled along over a fine
road-bed, in and out among the foothills,
with rapid and ever-changing scenery on
either hand, through groves of huge old
oaks, with large herds of sheep grazing

Wuitrney—a signal station in the midst
of sheep ranches—cross Auburn Ravine,

Lrxcontn, which is a village of about