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Show 50 COLUMBIA RIVER-SHORES-ISLANDS. to accommodate quite large settlementg. There nl'e many other smaller streams, emptying into the Columbia. fr.om tho Nort~ ; on ull of which the1·e are Valleys back fwm the Rtver. The ~1mber is more abundant on the North, and of rather a better quahty •. Twenty-five miles North fwm Vancouver, and about oppostte the mouth of the \Villarnmette, Mount St. Helens, a lofty snow capped Volcano rises from the plain, and is now burning. Fre-quently the hucre columns of black smoke may be seen, suddenly bursting' fl'Om itbs crater, at the distance of thit·ty .or forty mi'1 es •.- The crater is on the South side, below the summtt. The Cawhtz RiveL' has its source in Mount St. Helens. On the Columbia, in most plac~s, the hills, which are gemwally high, fl'Cquent\y steep and bwken, u,nd covered with dense forests, come in on both sides, close to the water ; leaving only small bo~toms in the bends of the stream. Some of these bottoms, howevet·, are larcre enoucrh for several good fanns. On the North stde, for 0 0 many miles above and below Vancouver, the bottoms are of con· siderable width. The hills are low, and rise gradually back, for some miles, affording room fo1· hHge settlements. At the mouth of the Columbia, on the South side, is the Clatsop plain, extending along the coast; and from a mere point, at the Southern extremi· ty, it increases in width, until it reaches the River, where it is about five miles wide. This plain is very sandy, and produces fine garden vegetables; but .is fit for little else. It has probably been made by the deposites of the Columbia, thrown back by the waves of the Ocean. It is traversed by several sand ridges, like waves, running exactly parallel with the coast. As the Columbia approaches its mouth, it widens out ito broad bays; which, ex· cepting a single ~channel, are full of shallows and sand bars ; many of which are entirely bare at low tide. About twenty miles above Astoria, there i~ a lar(Te cluster of ~ low Islands, called the Catalammet Islands, several miles in extent'; which are covered with Cotton Wood and Willows, arjd are over .. flowed by high tide. They are several hundred in number, and are separated by as man; shallow channels; some of which, are as wide a~ the m~in channel: and into which, persons who were not acquamted Wtth the River, havn frequently run, and have been lost among the shallows for many hours. A few miles below these lsla~ds, o~ .the North side, there is a singular Rock, standing im·· medmtely m the channel, and rising above hi(Th water about twen· ty feet. It appears, at a distance, like an artificial Pillar, and has ASTORtA-lliOVTH O:F Tllli: RIVER-BAR. 51 been callecl Pillar Rock. A few miles below this Pillar, tho Ri.ver is fifteen miles wide; and the channel, leaving the Not·th s1de, bears across in nearly a straight line, to Tongue Point, which is several hundred feet high, extending out into the River, in the shape ~fa tongue, about half a mile; and commundidg, most pe1·fectly, the chan~el which washes its base. . , . Astoria situated on the South side of the Columbw, twetve rmlP.s nbove its ~1outh, is generally known as being the first place which was se!tled on that River. It contains only a few houses, and is occupied ns a Trading Post, by the Hudson's Bay Company, and now c1,11led by them Fort George. Some of the hearth sto?es .or the old Trading House of l\11·. Astor, may still be seen. Tb1s wlll probably eventually be the principal commcr~ial place in ?regon; as it is the best situation between Tongue Pomt and the mouth of River, and as there are on the bar, at Tongue Point, only three fathoms water, while on the bar at the mouth the1·e are five. The River, at th'3 mouth, is four miles wide, and the entrance is obstructed by a lat·ge bar, upon which the waves of the Ocean, (excepting in the channel,) breuk with greut violence.The fiyincr sheets of foam may be seen from Astoria, und the roar· ing may b~ heard fo1· a much greater distance. The point of land on the South, is low und sandy, and is called Point Adams; that on the North, is a high, perpendiculat· rock, und as heretofore said, i~ called Cape Disappointment. The channel comes Ul'Ound close to the foot of the rock, so that it has entire command of that en· trance of the River. Since the wreck of the Peacock upon these breakers, thisentmnce has been considered by many, in the States, ns extremely danget·ous; but not so with those who are acquainted with the channel. All admit, howevet·, thut it is rjeccssary to have u fair wind, and weather sufficiently clear to observe the land marks, to avoid dange1·, as the channel is narrow. vVith these, together with a correct knowledge of the place, we doubt not but th:.lt a thousand vessels, were they sailed by inen of skill and judg· ment, might enter the mouth of the Columbia, und not one be lost. In the case of the Peacock ; it is said, that the Captain mistook the bar for the channel, and struck befot·e he discovereu his mi:3- take. We believe that strongly constructed aml powerful tot boats, directed by expet·ienced pilots, would overcome this obstruction us effectually, us the surne 1neans do that at the mouth of the Mississippi. When vessels have accomplished an entrance, they find a safe harbor, und good ancho1·age, in Buker's Bay, just with~11 |