Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
[Up the Sacramento River] steamed our little craft, scaring myriads
of ducks and other water fowl by the newness of its form and voice,
scaring deer that hid in the tangled woods, and even the grizzly
bear, so abundant in the river bends. . . . [At the site of Colusa] . . .
the wild oats that surrounded me were much higher [than six feet]
. . . [and] beyond was as beautiful a scene as ever met the vision of
man. There was one endless sea of white and blue, purple and gold.
It seemed a sea, as the gentle breeze made those myriads of wild
flowers wave and glisten. . . . I seemed to be reveling in the very
Garden of Eden. . . . [At the same site, after the flood of 1867]
Colusa and its environs is now an island: above, below, to the right
and left is one vast sheet of water. Between the water and the Coast
Range the water presents the appearance of an inland sea.
WILL GREEN, COFOUNDER OF THE TOWN OF COLUSA, 1850 AND 1867
Among [the] curious phenomena connected with the last floods,
was the fact of considerable breadths of tule floating in the bay, on
the surface of which there was generally found a number of land
snakes, some of which floated into the Pacific, others landed under
the wharves, and for a long time after the floods had in a great
measure subsided, numerous snakes were to be found about the
wharves of San Francisco. . . . Most singular of all, however, was the
fact that bay fisherman frequently caught freshwater fish in the bay
for from two to three months, [and] the surface portion of entire
waters of the Bay of San Francisco consisted of fresh water, to the
depth of eighteen to twenty-four inches. [Also curious was that] the
oysters placed on oyster-beds fattened and died; mussels became
fresh and flavorless. . . . For nearly a fortnight, the water was
brackish at the Farallone [
sic
] Islands.
THOMAS ROWLANDSON, NOTABILIA ON THE FLOODS OF 1861-62
