_Tuolumne_, which has been spelt so many different ways in the letters from California, is a corruption of the Indian word "talmalamme," a cluster of stone wigwams.
_Mariposa_ means butterfly. The river was so named in 1807, by a hunting party of Californians, from the fact of their encampment there having been surrounded by myriads of most gorgeous butterflies.
_Solano_ was so named after a celebrated Catholic missionary.
_Yolo_ is a corruption of the Indian word "Yoloy," and means a place abounding with rushes.
_Marin_ was so designated after a great Indian chief, who made war so desperately against the Spaniards.
_Sonoma_ is an Indian word, signifying valley of the moon. The Indians so named the valley in which the present town of that title is situated.
_Napa_ was the name of the Indian tribe who inhabited the valley of the same name.
_Mendocino_ was so named after the first Viceroy of Mexico.
_Yuba_, a corruption of "uba," originally alluded to the immense quantities of vines which shaded the river.
_Butte_ is a French word signifying hill, and was given by a party of hunters from the Hudson Bay Company to a range of high hills in the valley of the Sacramento. From thence the county is named.
_Coluse_ county was so called after an Indian tribe of which it was the name.
_Shalta_ county is so styled after an Indian tribe also.
A GENERAL VIEW OF CALIFORNIA AT THE PRESENT TIME.
We have followed the narrative of the events in the history of California up to the present time. We have traced her progress from her first settlement up to the time when she appears as a sovereign republican State; and we have seen the effects of her vast metallic wealth working wonders in a short space of time. We have seen her towns before and after the gold discovery, and marked the contrast; and we have seen her territory become thickly peopled, and her resources developed in a space of time which other territories less favored, would require for an infancy. We have also considered her soil, climate, productions, and population, and exhibited each subject as fully as our information warranted. But in order to give a clear conception of the general character of California and her resources and capabilities, and to enable the reader to obtain an idea of the bright future to which she is destined, we have concluded to add another chapter upon the general state of things there at the present time.