California [antikvár]

41. Craggy headlands, torn and gouged by the pounding waves, typify much of the state's shoreline. A lethal trap for unwary or careless mariners, the rocky lengths of coast have been graveyards for ships. California The Land of the Golden Promise Described in legends as a terrestrial paradise and named for the arnazon queen of a fabled island, California has excited the imagination of men for nearly four centuries. Just what is the magic spell that this land exerts, that draws people to it, and molds their way of life once they settle here? The answer is disarmingly prosaic. The qualities that make California a unique place to live are, simply, the result of a rare conjunction of two physical factors—climate and topography. California is the equivalent of an entire continent, foreshortened and squeezed into the state's one hundred fifty-seven thousand square miles. All the climates of the United States are duplicated somewhere in the state, and so is a large sample of the country's plant life. The roster of birds and animals is surprisingly varied. The up-and-down nature of the terrain, ranging from minus 276 feet to a height of 14,500, the massive bulk of a half-dozen mountain systems, and a one-thousand-mile ocean exposure, all combine to create this unique diversity. There are a score of distinct microclimates in the state, but the area where most people live is favored by an equable climate that is duplicated on only one percent of the earth's surface and no- 7