nier and Mount Olympus tower at a distance above the BOOK other summits. The former is discernible at the distance LXXVI. of a hundred geographical miles.* Very rich minerals of Mountains. iron appear to exist in great abundance. Stones, for Produc building, quartz, gun-flints, a great variety of calcareous tions. The quadrupeds present nothing remarkable. Bears have been seen, as well as the fallow deer of Virginia, and foxes, but neither the bison, nor the musk ox, these animals not appearing to pass the chain of the rocky mountains in the northern latitudes. Among other sea birds have been recognised black gulls, similar to those of New Holland and New Zealand. Among the land birds there is a spe- Unknown cies of the hunting bird, the brown eagle, and the eagle with a white head, the swallow fisher, some very pretty varieties of the woodpecker, and an unknown bird, resembling the heron, but four feet in height, and having a body as large as that of the turkey.t bird. country. In order to become acquainted with the interior of New Interior Georgia, we must accompany Messrs. Lewis and Clarke. of the These American travellers having quitted their boats on the Missouri, on the 18th August, embarked again on the 7th of October, at the western side of the mountains, upon the river Kooskooskee, in boats which they themselves had constructed. During this part of their journey, hunger and cold combined together to aggravate their sufferings. The * Vancouver, t. III. p. 3, and 35, edit. 8vo. + Ibid. p. 7. Lewis and Clarke's Travels to the Missouri and to the Pacific Ocean. Washington, 1814. LXXVI. BOOK salmon had ceased to frequent the rivers, and horse's flesh was often their principal food. The intensity of the cold is easily explained, by the elevation of the country, and the height of the mountains. In the place at which the Americans quitted the Missouri, they had a prospect of mountains covered with snow in the middle of summer, situated in between 45° and 47° of latitude, whence it is to be inferred that the summits of these mountains rise into the region of perpetual snow. This region commences in Europe, at the same latitude, at nine or ten thousand feet above the level of the sea. But even admitting that the more intense cold of North America brings this region farther south, we may allow these mountains a height of eight or nine thousand feet above the surface of the ocean. During Pretended their passage across the mountains, it would appear that volcanoes. this expedition did not discover any trace of volcanoes; for the detonations which occasioned them so much astonishment, no doubt proceeded from the bursting of glaciers, or from avalanches, which were detached from the mountains. It was in the middle of the rainy season that they arrived at the Columbia, after which they had heavy falls of rain both day and night. The little cloathing and bedding, that had escaped all the adventures which they had encountered up to this moment, now fell in pieces, and could no longer be made use of. Their courage did not Details sink, however, under so many reverses. The waters of concerning the Colum- the Kooskooskee are as limpid as crystal. At the place where it falls into the river Lewis, another branch of the Columbia, the Kooskooskee is 180 yards broad. The river Lewis, at its confluence with the Columbia, is 575 yards, and the Columbia itself 960 in breadth. A little below their junction, the latter river acquires a breadth from one to three miles. From the junction of the two rivers the country presents nothing but a succession of plains, without trees, and is merely sprinkled over with a few willow bushes. Still lower down rapid currents are met with, and there are even very considerable cascades. The most rapid of these currents is that of a channel not more than bia. firs. forty-five yards in breadth, in which all the waters of the BOOK Columbia are pent up. Our travellers cleared this danger- LXXVI. ous passage in their canoes, below which the river flows in a smooth and tranquil stream, and they found themselves in a charming and fertile valley, shaded by lofty forest trees, intersected by small lagoons, and possessing a soil susceptible of every kind of cultivation. The trees are remarkable for the greatest beauty. The fir rises sometimes to a height Gigantic of 300 feet, and even attains a circumference of forty-five feet. These giants of the vegetable kingdom combine elegance with majesty, their columns sometimes towering 200 feet high before they divide into branches. Some of the tributary streams of the Columbia might pass for large rivers. One of them, the Multnomah, which issues from the rocky mountains towards the south-east, and not far from the sources of the Rio-del-Norte, is very broad, and, in many places, exceeds twenty-five feet in depth, even at a great distance from the sea. It is particularly remarkable that in the bed of the Columbia, and of the last mentioned river, a great number of erect trunks of pine trees are firmly rooted at the bottom of the water, although, in many places, the river is thirty feet deep, and no where less than ten. Judging from the shattered state in which these trees were found, they must have been in this condition fully 20 years. It might hence be concluded that the bed of this river has undergone great changes. The observations, however, which have been collected during this first expedition, are not sufficient to furnish us with any satisfactory information on the subject. Island, Among the islands of New Georgia, that of Nootka alone Nootke merits attention. Black granite, mica, grit for grindstones, and hematites are found there. The vegetable earth in some places forms a bed of two feet in thickness. One is agreeably surprised to find a milder climate here than on VOL. V. * Cook's Third Voyage, t. III. p. 73. 8vo. edition. 5 BOOK the eastern coast of America in the same latitude. In the LXXVI. month of April, Fahrenheit's thermometer was never below 48° during the night, and, in the day, it rose to 60°. The grass was already a foot in length. The climate is as favourable to the growth of trees as that of the continent. What negligence on the part of the Spaniards, not to have taken possession of this agreeable and fertile country; a country which, being situated in the rear of their colonies, might, in the hands of intelligent masters, become a military and commercial post of the highest importance! Already American the inhabitants of New York have formed a commercial establish ment. New Hanover. company, for the furs of the Pacific Ocean, the principal establishment of which, situated 14 miles from Cape Disappointment, is called Fort Astoria.† That part of New Hanover which borders upon the open sea, resembles New Georgia, both in its vegetable productions, and the structure of its soil. Pine trees, maple, birch, and apple trees, are met with there. Near Fitz Hughe's Strait, the coast consists of perpendicular rock, divided by crevices, in which a very inflammable turf is found, and pine trees of moderate thickness. The interior of New Hanover was visited in 1793 by Mackenzie. The great river Tacoutché-Tessé descends from the rocky mountains, and often rolls its rapid course between walls of perpendicular rock. The mountains are covered with snow, which, in some places, even descends so low that the road passes over it in the middle of summer. These mountains descend abruptly towards the Pacific Ocean, and the rivers that flow to the west have no great length of course. There are numerous small lakes; and sinks or tunnels, of a regular conical form, such as are frequently met with in calcareous countries. * Cook's Third Voyage, p. 57. + National Intelligencer, an American Journal, June 22, 1813. Mackenzie's Voyage, t. III. p. 103, M. Castera's translation. The same luxuriant vegetation is observed here as in BOOK New Georgia. The pines and birch trees compose forests, LXXVI. on the more elevated parts of the country. Upon the lower mountains, the cedar is met with, or rather the cypress, of so enormous a size, as sometimes to measure twenty-four feet in circumference, and the alder rises forty feet high, before it sends off any branches. There are also poplars, firs, and probably many other useful trees.* The wild parsnip grows in abundance round the lakes, and its roots furnish a nourishing food. The rivers contain trout, carp, and salmon. The latter of these fish are caught near dykes, constructed across the river, which reminds us of the salmon fishery of Norway. wall. New Cornwall experiences a much more intense degree New Cornof cold, than the two preceding countries. At 53° 30', upon Gardner's Channel, which, it is true, penetrates very far into the country, mountains are seen, covered with ice and snow, that seem never to melt. Nearer the sea, the climate, becoming milder, allows forests of pine to cover the naked and steep rocks. The strawberry plant, cornelle shrub, gooseberry bush, amd the plant called the Labrador tea, are found in considerable quantities. Hot springs have been discovered; and there is an island entirely composed of slate ; and a curious rock, shaped like an obelisk, has been denominated the New Eddystone. Floating wood is found in great abundance in many parts of this coast. and Admi Islands. In the islands which Vancouver has designated by the George III. names of George the Third's Archipelago, and Admiralty ralty Islands, the soil, although rocky, contains several crevices, stripes, and little plains, which support magnificent forests of pine and other lofty trees; and no where is perpetual snow discovered. This incontestibly proves that it is the elevation of the soil that renders the climate of the continent so severe. * Mackenzie's Voyage, p. 99, 150, 247. Vancouver, p. 339. † Vancouver, t. III. p. 274. |