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Show [ 17-! J 274 the name of the people who reside on its shores, and by which it is known throughout the country. , "" . The volume of water afforded by ~110 lunpan-? ~·o 1s prolx1.bly equal to that of the .,evier river; aucl ~t the 1111;e o~ our. VISlt, thet:e was only one place iu the lake valley a.t wlueh tho Spa111sh iork ~vas fonln.blc. ln the cove of mountains along 1ts eastern sl~ o re, the lake 1::;. bo:dcrcd by a plain, where tile soil is ~e nerally good , a ud, ~n.grcatcr part icrtdc · watered by a Jeltu of prettily timbered streams. J lt1~ .would be an c·xcclleut localitl' for stock fan11s; it is geucral ly covered wlth g wd bnuch gras:-; and woul;1 alHHHlaiJtly produce the ordi11ary grains. In arriving at the Utah lake, we lwd conqdct tl an inmlettse circlllt of twelve degrees diameter north attd 5o ntl1 , a11d te11 d,>~rrees l'ast aud west: and f'onlld ourselves, in :May, 1 1·1, Oil the ~i.lll le f-ili et.:t of wat ' 1' wltich \\'C had kf't in September, 18·13. Tlte Utah is the ~o utll er n li1Hb of the Great Salt lake; and tlms we ha<.l seen that rctllarkahle heel or water both at its northern a t1d southeru extremity, and were able to fix its position at these two poi11t~. The circuit which we had m:1de, and which had co~)t us eight months or time, aud 3,500 miles of trav ' lliug , had giveJJ us a view of Orco·on alld of North California from the Rocky rnouutaills to the Pacific oceau a nd of the two principal st rcmns wltieh t'orm hays or ltarbors on the coast~)(' that sea. Uaviug completed th is circuit, an<l bci11g now about to turn tl 1e hack upon the Paciltc~ slope or our conLincnt, and to recross the Hocky monutaius, it is natural to look baek upon onr foots tep~, :1.nd take sotnc.bril'f view of the leadiug- f't•at ures a t1tl D;eneral strnctnrc of the coun. try \ve had traversed. These are pccnl iar :lllu ~trikit 1g,awl clifl'cr essentially frotn the Atlrttttic sid.e of our co nutry. Tl1c monntai:Js all .-ue llighcr,more nun1crons, and more distinctly ddiucd in tl1cir ranges auc.1 directious; and, what 1~ ::;o con 1 rary to the natural OrLlcr of su 'h forwat ions, oJJe of thee ruuges, which is ncar tltc coast, (the Sierra Nl'vu<.la and the Co~1st Hangc,) presents llihller elevation · and peuJ,s than a uy wltich arc to be fonmlinthc Rocky lll t>Ulltains tllclllsc lves. Jn our eigl1t moutll::>' circnit, we were never out of sight of suow; and the Sierra Ncvnclu, where we crossed it, was near 2,000 feet lli ~ h er than tile Sottth Pass in the Rocky monutains. In height, tllcse nwuntaius greatly cxeced those of the AtlaJJtic side, con· stantly presenting peal-s wltiell enter the re~riou of eternal suow ; and some of them volcanic, and in a frcque11t state of activity. They are seen at great di lances, and guide the tra vell er in llis courses. The course and elevation of these rang s give direction to the rivers and character to the coast. No great riv er does, or can, take its rise below the Cascade and Sierra Nevada range; the di~tnllce to the sea is too short to adtnit of it. The rivers of the San Francisco bay,.which are the lar~est after the Columbia, arc local to that bay, a11d lateral to the coast, ho.v~ng their sources about on a line with the Dalles of the Columbia, and run.nmg each in a valley of its own, bet ween Coast range and. the Cascade and S1erra Nevada range. The Columbia is the only river which traverses th~ whole breadth of the country, breakin ()' throuo·h all the ranges, and entern~g the sea. Drawing its waters fr01n ~ sectiot~ of ten d.e()'recs of latitude lll the Rockf mountains: which are eollectcu into one str~am by thre.e main fork's ( Lcwts's, Clark's, and the North forlc) ncar the centre of the Oregon ~alle), thi great river thence proceeds by a single channel to the sea, while. Its three forks lead each to a pass in the 1nountains, which opens the way wto 27.5 [ 174 ] the interior of the contine11t. This fact m relation to the rivers of this region gives an immcu ~e valne to the. Columbia. Its mouth is the only iulet and outlet t? ~ncl from the sea; lt~ three forks lead ro the passes in the mountains; 1t 1s therefore the only I me of communication between the Pacific aud the it~terior of N?rth. America; and all operations of war or commerce, of uatlotHd or socw 1 .mtc1:cou rsc, must be conu ucted. upon it. This gives it a value. b cy~ nd. cstnnatwn, and would invol ve irreparable injury if lost. l1~ tlt1s t~tnty and. concentration of its waters, the Pacific side of our coutlllettl. u1ffer~ e1Jt1rely from the Atlantic side where the waters of the Allegatty ~nonntains are di. p rsed into many ri~ crs, having their different entrances 1nto the sea, and opening many lines of communication with the interior. The Pacific coast is eqnaHy difi' ·rcnt frortn that of tlJe Atlantic. The coast of the .Atlantic i~ low au~l open, indented wiLh llllrlH'rous bays, sounds, and nvcr estuarws, ace's, 1ble every where, and openiug by many channels into the heart of tile country. The Pacific coast, on the contrary, is high and compact, with few bays, and bnt one that opens into the heart of the coulltry. The immediate coast is what the seamen call i1'on bound. A little within, it i!l> skirted by two successive ranges of mountains, standing as ramparts bctw n tlte sea and the inr crior country· and to get through which, there is l>nt one gate, and. that twrrow alJCl easily <.~efeuded. This structure of the coast, backed by 1 hc::~e two rauges of mountains, wi1lt its concentration and nuity of water", giv s to the country an immense military strength aud will probably render OrC'O'OtJ the most iln-preguable country in the world. 0 Di1I'ering so much from the Atlantic side of our continent, in coast mountains, and rivers, tlte Paciftc side differs from it in a11o thcr most rar~ and si11gular feature-that of the Great iutcrior Uasin, of which I have ·o often spoken, and the whole form and character of which I was so anxious to ascertain. Its existence i::~ vouched for by such of the American traders and hunters as have some know led o-c of that region · the structure of the S. ~ ' wrra N.evada raugc of mountains requires it to be tlwre; and my own observatwns confirm it. Mr. Joseph Walker, who is so well acquainted iu those p~rts, infonned me that, from the Great alt lake west, there was a success~on of_ lakes and rivers which have no outlet to the sea, nor any con~cxwn w1th the Colnn1bia, or with the Colorado of the Gulf of Califorma. He described some of these lakes as being large, with numerous ~treams, and even considerable rivers, falling into them. In fact, all concur m the general report of these interior rivers and lakes; and, for wat1t of rnderstandin~. th~ force and power of evaporation, which so soon est[\b-lsh. es an equll1bnum between the loss and supply of wat rs, the fable of whnlpools and subterraneous outlets has gained belief, as the only imagi~ abie way of carrying off the waters which have no visible discharge. £he structure of the country would require this formation of interior lake ' ; 8~r the waters which would collect bet ween the Rocky mountains and the t~erra Ncv~da, not being able to cross this formidable barrier, nor to gc~t to / Co~umbm or the Colorado, n1ust naturally collect into re ervoir~, each ~h.whlch would have its little system of streams and rivers to supply it. G Is would be tho natnral effect; and what I saw went to confirm it. The reat Salt lake is a formation of this kind, and quite a lar()'e one · and lla ving ~~~1Y ~trea!Us, and one considerable river, four or fi vo h~u1dred miles long, ~ mg Into lt. This lake and river J sa \V and cxaxnined myself; and ulso sa:,v |