New-York tribune., 1870-02-05
1pTTERs FROM NEXT DOOR.
NO. XII,
ZIP TIE COLUMBIA.

uantalipis felicity, Ikea Lend Native" unless
/ ,s.ooen 10 have my small dictionary and Hand
- Of Foreign Words and Phrases adapted to all
~, needs Of Polite Society in my pocket, and SO 1t
.n.v he Spanish-is are Gt certainly does 'oos
-. q Mural, and ] believe 1t means nag
- - bnt the patos of this country insists
sneular verbl the Dalles is the town
1 s.aoord Importance in Oregon. Ii is thus great
1 80 the miners of Idaho buy their bacon and
so,r At its market, and ship their gold from It's
harves. because il is ambitious, and already nan
L,s after a mint: but chiefly, IN my eyes, because
!, has such wondrous outlooks on river ana noun
.i,s AZ the Dalles we took to the railroad again.
/ ,hs f,yortes Of Fortune once moro tI1umpnan'S
,,comfortabe upon the cOwcatcher ana the hapleSs
i ,nlttude inside the commodious ana wel-appOlh.ou
ears Our way had been beguiled by cheerIul iaAeS
.s,eclIess travellers bold who, insisting on riding
:, o,tof tina engine. were severally burned up,
AI,vn I'M. knocked of boiled in hot OIL or sawn
,.noder. in genuine apostolic fashion. Cylinder
hads were proven to be as uncertain as stocks and
I bs tbews bulk. and big asSemblance of the huge
businc. iron creature of more penetrable stuff than
| modern furniture. We pardoned the malcontents,
h,e,use our danger was so much more desirable than
| n Jr safety. II observe with regret that L have
rs,alv forgotten the sentiments and reflections 1t
|! -. my intention TO introduce, so hasten to set
l down a rehecton.J
| When we remember that envy is the subtlest fiat
\ ter. we can easily forgive the envious!
Now that have cast my reflection, 1t seems pain
fuy clear TO me that something like 1t has been seen
/ before But / doubt whether wisdom ever seems
wise 10 itself And, Heaven be praised, am not my
own readers.
We were off after some delay. which we could ac-
count for only 10y the fact that the second town in
Oregon felt that it was not place to be disposed Of
| In a minute for there was no sign of business or
| ooeupltion at the station; no effect Of expected
ual-bags about the platform, and no possible train
OF boat to connect with When dignity had been
appeased the engine flew out of the depot like an
Z arrow from its bow, and when we had caught our
! brsath from the mad wind that blew with such
blind fury that it had not Whit to spare for our
I poor lungs and when managed TO open our eyes,
which the same mad wind hammered down as with
I blows, we saw that the rocky way was
wilder than ever and the gOrges more narrow
and tucroachng. Here the strange, weather-beaten.
woary-looking old red rock came out again. looking
amid the harder and more perfect cliffs like poor
relation, pathetic but very seedy. Presently the
high vast walls fell back and then we were in the
sand region. how Gay. and hot, and limtless, it
seemed to stretch to the right hand and TO the left
and straight on, and far behind. No boundary
I the narrow choked-up river that bent and wound
and struggled be free of it, and complained i'll its
rocky bed. Beyond the river. sand again. The very
| heavens seemed to rain sandy shower The sitting,
| wnd-blown grit swept over the track, if water
syerfowed it. Men with sand-white boards and
hair in garments stfened and white with sand,
liDdly delved along the road. shoyelng and scrap
ing and lifting away the sand that hid ties and rails
l a9d switches. They lmped step aside as we thun-
dered by moving like machines with creakng joints
Sand beat in our faces like sleet filed and
nscks, penetrated our shoes, filtered through our
GLOW s enveoped every separate hair with its hide
Gus covering, blistered and scarifed us.
Yet when our miserable eyes could blink and open
for inconsecutve moments, they saw what they Will
not see again this side the The sky, pale
blue faded you fancied by this vast tOrrid radiat
ing plain; the sun vailed, intense, coorless; the
/, earth a desert. In Egypt you might have such
another vision. The blankness. the desolation,
p.e pause, as if something great had been
and was not OF as if something great were still
10 be, bnt was not yet-t was solemn. strange, aw-
ful Nobody dreamed of singing now. 1t would
have been sacrilege to shout. We flew as we had
/ flown before. The rush of it as if the world
it, II were spinning at that mad rate. But we were
/ Il, 4onger exalted, no longer jubilant. We seemed
/ 10 be in a land of graves. As if millions and
millions Of men, as if whole nations, whole races
lad been buried there, and long forgotten. 1t was
4 the abomination of desOlations- For the
buried life seemed to have been as bare
as wretched as the places where it had
! dwelt. There element of joy, of peace, OF
satisfaction, of resignation. in the whole. 1t was
I'd ren barren, barren. So when the half hour was
| oYtr which had seemed half year, and the fifteen
1 u ss were passed, which had seemed deserts
! ~, alo Cd nf tba ls
\ gain at last we felt aged and worn, and sad. and
wondered that did not totter and creep, like the
( melancholy veterans we felt ourselves to be.
I We did not totter. however, but found a use fol
Youngest and most efficient muscles we were Sc
as TO possess For we had stopped at the edge Of
b. ID bank that edged sharply away tothe river anC
| uayed with the most treacherous pavement Of
tangular stones, that rolled and bounded like dis
: 3 cted globes the moment ones foot touched them
ADD led TO such exercises In the art of balancing as
would have been creditable at Circus of the highest
oretensions We slipped and limped and stumbled
10 the foot and then we tuRged our weary way ovel
rocks without Granny TO cling to- and shiny with the
Grip of water and then stood at the foot of the
famous Salmon Falls.
Over Jagged stones thrown each other in
10 ting wall twenty thirty feet high and hardly
ty feet wide pours the great flood of the Colum
Oia, with a roar and fury that browns al Other
sound. We stood on separate points, and tried to
talk TO each other in cxpcable dumb show, and
then we forgot to talk and only looked. Up the
stream through the fierce and sucking rapids white
gainst the black stones that here and there
! the water, flash the swift, strong gilt
| { ing salmon. They come few together then a
lager multitude. then the whole river from side to
side is dark with their innumerable host. The in
domitabe creatures to go up the river TO spawn
and they mind that precipice and torrent no more
than if il were "a Summer pool within its httle mar
II nd s4ofalv to tho vary foot