The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-08-01

and canyons get off above the Gas
cades at the town of Hood River,
near the mouth of the river of that
name, which carries the melting snow
off the mountains to the Columbia.
Mt. Hood is II ,025 feet high, and il
is assembled by numerous parties ev-
erv summer, including ladies. Like
all the Oregon chain of mountain
peaks, from Shasta to Tacoma, it is
an extinct volcano. and ,still gives
evidence of its past condition by the
sulDhur0us fumes, which, in some
places, are encountered during the
ascent.
Nothing could be more delightful
than the ingenuity with which the
Columbia panorama is arranged. For
the first five hours. while the banks
present nothing Of thrilling interest,
the giant snow peaks lend grandeur
to the scene. AS soon az the last of
these, Mt. Hood, disappears, the
banks themselves begin to fascinatp
the attention. by innumerabIe pictur-
eSque formations and a few hours
later, when the Highlands have been
left behind and the banks become
lower again, Mt. Hood once more
comes into view, more and more
prominently till at the end of our
trip, the DaIles, ii seems nearer and
more magnificent than even at Van
cOuver or Portland. Thus there is
not dull moment between Portland
and the Dailes.
"AS PURE AS WATER"
The river itself is almost as awe
inspiring in its grandeur as the
snoW-peaks Yisable from it. No
other river has ever given me such a
vivid and overpowering sense of
sublimity as the Columbia by its
great expanse Of Watery surface and
its tranquil, deep, majestic move
ment, And whereas the Mississippi
at corresponding point. is so mud
DIV that one almost hesitates to bathe
in it, the Columbia is so clear and
pure that in a glass 1t seems like we'll
water and tastes almost as good. The
color varies with wind and weather,
but is usually yelloWish-green, as
grateful to the eye as new mOWn
lawn, Standing at the Prov of the
boat surveying the vast eXpanse of
placid or agitated water, it is a fasci-
mating exercise OF the imagination to
think that almost every gallon OF
| this mammoth stream came original
| ly from some different creek, spring,
melting glacier or snow -feld-some
| of them in the Cascade mountains
close 10y, some in the ROckey noun
tains, in distant territOries-fOr the
COiunbia's sources are in British
Columbia and in seven States and
Territories - Oregon, Washington,
Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah
and Nevada. Think what romantic
canons, what vast gloomy forests
these waters have passed through on
their way from the crest of the con
tinent to the ocean; what numbers
of speck led trout have darted through
them in the mountain, what hOardS
of big salmon and sturgeon in the
! Columbia. And what exciting scenes
they have noted of seals chasing
these unfortunate fish !! For even as
far up the Columbia as this the seals
make their excursions. A hundred
and fifty miles from the ocean, they
can be seen here basking on the sand
bank projecting from an island into
the middle of the river. Some o!
them float about on logs, and Others
swim to within thirty feet of the
steamer. looking. with their heads
above the water, exactly like swim.
ming dogs.
About eleven O'Clock, as Mt. Hood
disappears, Rooster Rock comes into
sight and the scenery begins to resen'
Dle that of the Hudson River High
lands, Rooster Rock is Il large boul'
der, which, from different points o.
view, looks like an upltfted thumb
or like a mammoth seal with head
on high just ready to plunge. Ii
stands on a projection from the shore
which looks like an island, and it has
few small frs growing on its bare
sides that subsist apparently on TIM
food of the air plants. The interest
ing points now begin to crowd each
other, and barely fifteen minutes
elapse before another of the famous
sights of the Columbia comes in view
Cape Horn, which at first sigh
seems merely precipitious rock pre-
iecting into the water but, as the boa
draws near aud begins to round it
all the passengers rush to the lef
side of the ship, and a chorus o
rapturous admiration burst frou
their lips. Cape Horn is vertica
wall Of hare rock. rising abruptly Ou