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Show [ 174 ] 194 seat t ere d 1't s ashes ' like a light . fall off snl ow, ovhe r the Dal·l es otf the Cbo luMm . bia, 50 miles ·distant. A specimen o t 1ese as es was g1ven o me y r. Brewer, one of the clergymen at the Dall.es. . . The lofty range of the Cascade tnouu ~a1ns fonns ~ dtstmct boundary be. tween t h e 01 )posl.te clinn" tes of the regw·n s alon1g It1s wde . tefr n" and edas ter·n bases On the west, they present a barner to t 1e ? on s o. 10g an .ram l · 1. 11 up from the Pacific ocean and beat agamst theu ruggrd stdes, fwo rumci n1 gr o the rainy season of the .w·m ter · 1 t I 0' til\ t 111 t 1e. ~oun ry a onb ~~ co~s. Into the brighter ~kies of tho rcgwn aloug thou eastern ba~e, tlns ra~ny · t v"'r penetrates· and at the Dalles of the Columbw. the ramy wm er ne \J ' • 1. · d · d [ , b t t season · 11cnowtl the brief ·winter betnbo- 1m1te to a pcno o a ou wo 1s ut ' · l 1 1· 1 f mon th s, d ur itw which the earth is covered Will t 1e s 1g 1t snows o a climate remarkba bly mild for so ht. g!l a lall• tu d e. Tl 1e Ca sca de range 11a s . ge d1' '-'tancc of about 130 nnles from the sea coast. It extends far abno thav ne o1 ar th an"d' south of the Colun1b.i a, aud . · c] · d h d · t t b IS w 1Cate. to t e ts .au ~ · server, both in course and. ~osition, b~ the lofty yolcmnc peaks winch nse ont of it and which are VIsible to an 1mmcuse dista11ce. . Durin'g several da-ys of constant rain, it kept onr whole force labonously employed in gcttiug onr barge ~nd canoes to the up~~r ~nd o~ the. ca.scad~s: The portage ground was occupiCd by crrugrant famtii~s, thetr tlun.and m sufficient cloth iug, bare-headed ~ud hare-footed c~uld ren, ~ttestmg the length of their joumey, anc~ showmg tl1at th?Y ~1ad, 1,n many mstances,set out without a due prepttratwu of what was mdlspcn~a?l e . A gentleman named Li.illers, a. botauist f~on1 the ctty of II.am?urg,, ar: rived at the bay I Jtavc called by ht ·name wlulc we were occup10d m.bnngd ing up the boats. I was delighted to meet at , uch a place ~ man of. kmdree pursuits; but we had only the pl~asnm of a brief con~er atwn, as.lus. ca::~ I under the guidance of two lndmns, wa about to 1nn the ra~1ds' a. h could not enjoy the satisfactioH of regaling h itn witll ~ br:akfast, wlu~ll after his recent J. ournoy would have been an extraordmary luxury. . d of his few instrurnents ' and bagg<~ge were 1·1 1 t1 1 e canoe, an d he hurne t around by land to meet it at the Grave-yard bay ; but he was scarccly.o~ of sight, when, by the carclrssncss of the Indians, the boat was dra~~ 1~ 0 the n1idst of the rapids awl glanced down the ri vc r, bottom up, w~t .18 loss of every·thing it co'ntain~d. I11 the uatnral concern I felt for Ius mts· fortune, I gave to the little cove the name of Li.iders bay. Nove'mbcr 15.-We continued tu-day our work at the portag~. d t the Ab t noon, the two barges of the exprc. s fr~n1 lVIontre.al aruv~ af the upper portage lauding, which, for large boats, 1s on the nght ba~ { 0fi esh· river. They were a fine-looking crew, 81Hl au10ng th01n I remarkc a r t's· lookt. ng woman and her uaughtcr, etll.l grants lrl 'Oirl (;'U llU d.a • It wast sam e1n factory to see the order and speed w~th whiclt th<\ e exponenced ~~ecr had ~ffected the pol'tag~, and passed the1r boats over the cascades. V fl !uver~ arrived at noon, allt.l in the evcnillg they eX!JCCtcd to reach at} ce hioh· These t.ltteans carry the express of the Il udsnn Uay. Compauy ~0 . 1carried est navigable poiut of the uorth fork of the Co~n~1 01~, ~vhcnce 1\ 1s oing to by an overland party to lake Winipec, where 1t 1s d1v1ded-par . g tion is Montreal, anu part to Hudson bay. Thus a regular commumca kept up between three vet·y remote poiuts. f climate, The Canadian emigrant was much chagrined at the change 0 ritry of an~ informed me that, only :1 fG v miles a !Jove, they. had left a ~~u arts of bnght blue sky and a shining sun. The uext mornmg the upp P 195 [ 174 ] the mountains which directly overlook the cascades were 'vhitc with the freshly fallen snow, while it cot~tinued to rain steadily below. . . Late in the afternoon we fin1shed tlJe portage, and, embarlrmg agam, moved a little distance up the right bank, in order to clear the smaller rapids of the cascades, and have a smooth river for the next morning. Though we made bnt a few miles, the weather improved intmediateJy ~ and though the rainy country and the cloudy mountains were close behind, before us was the bright sl{y; so distinctly is climate here marked by a mountain boundary. November 17.-We had to-day an opportunity to complete the sketch of that portion of the river down which we had come by night, alHl of which I will not give a particular description, which the small scale of onr n1ap would not illustrate. Mauy places occur along the river, where the stumps) or rather portions of the trunks of pine trees, are stan <lin? along the shore, and in the water, where they ntay be seen at a consiucrable depth belo\V the surface, in the beautifully clear water. These collections of <lead trees are called on the Columbia tho subnze'rgedforest, and arc uppo cd to have been created by the efiects of some convulsion which formed the cascades., and which, by damming up the river, placed these trees under water and destroyed them. But I venture to presume that the cascades arc older than the trees; and as these submerged forests occur at five or six places along the river, I hud au opportunity to satisfy myself that they have been formed by immense land slides from the tnountaius, which here closely shut iu the river, and which brought down with them into the river the pinos of the mountain. At one place, on the right bauk, I remarked a place where a portion of one of these slides seemed to have plautcd itself, with all the evergreen foliage, a11d the vegetation of the neighboring hill, directly amid!\t the falling and yellow leaves of tho river trees. Jt occurred to 1nc that thi~ wonld have been a beautiful illustration to the eye of a botauist. Following the course of a slide, which was very plainly nunked along the mountain, I found that in the interior parts the trees wore in their usual erect position; but at the cxtren1ity of the slide they were rocked about, and thrown into a confusion of inclinations. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon we passed a all<.ly bar ·in tho rivcr 1 whence we had au unexpected view of Mount Iloou, bearing directly south by compass. Durin~ the day we used oar and sail, and at night had again a delightful campltlg gronnd, and a dry place to sleep upon. NolJemhe?· 18.-The day Dgain was pleasant and bright. At 10 o'clock we passed a tock island, ou the right shore of the river, which the Indians use as a burial gt·ound; aud, halti11g for a short tin1e, about an hour after~ ards, at the village of our Indiau friends, early in the afternoon we arflVed again at the Dalles. hCarson had removed the camp up the river a little nearer to the hills, w ere ~he animals hau better grass. We found every tl-ling iu good order, Md a~nvecl just in time to partake of an excellent roast of California beef.. . ~ ~nend. Mr. Gilpin had arrived in adYance of the party. ]lis ohject iu Vl::ntJ,ng thts country had been to obtain correct information of the Walah ... ~ette settl.ements; and he had rP.ached this puint in his jonrney, highly ~dea1sed Wlth the country over which he had travelled, and with iuvigorat· ing ~ealth. o...n the following day he continued his journey, in our return oo.ts, to Vancouver. |
