, 1890-09-11

over the hills which were three years
since clothed with forests but now
are covered with beautiful resi-
lences; drives over paved streets
where lie so short time since was
choked by dust and glides In cable
and electric cars smoothly up grades
which made walk laborious aud
cnused the horses In his carriage to
pant and blow--when one sees all
this and recalls the pluck of these
people when they let the world
know they wanted no help when
their city lay In ashes, then he feels
Tacoma will have II mighty struggle
even with the Northern Paciic's
help to catch and lead Seattle.
SAILING THROUGH rHE ISLES OF
THE PACIFIC.
We are now on our tenth day
from Tacoma. The ship will reach
her home Tuesday, the twelfth day,
having sailed over 9, 100 miles; some
ten hours of this was in the open
Pacific, from Glacier bay to Sltka,
and then from that port to Clarence
strait south. The remainder of the
distance was in interior channels,
with perhaps half-dozen short
openings into the sea. The several
channels have fixed names and are
of several breadths, varying from
200 or 300 yards to four or liye miles.
Sometimes we were next the broad
continent, but more often small
islands lay between the straits and
the mainland, with large islands or
smaller ones several deep toward the
sea. The sailing along the watery
road was plain and easy except In
two narrow straits, when the ship
had to slow up frequently, while she
bent In and out to avoid rocks.
These are taken partly as cut-ofls
and partly for the beauty OF the
scenery. The islands are all mount
aims lifted from the water; all are
more or less treo-clad, with peaks on
the tallest, rocky, Jagged and often
times with streunlers OF snow stretch
ing down their upper gorges.
Vancouver island Is 800 miles long,
covered by broad, lofty range of
mountains in pile behind pile, broll-
EN- and in some instances with
heads wrapped in perpetual show.
North of this along the way are four
irregularly shaped long islands,
around each of which u good steam
er would require nearly a day to sail.
These are IA mass of rugged, ragged,
sharply pointed and peaked noun
tuins In very confused mass, with
no real valleys, but with narrow
gorges and small flats, along many
Of which pour pellucid streams from
snowy heights. Seen from the
south, the mountains are green up
to u height Of two or more thousand
feet. with rocky submits fiecked
with snow or banded in the long
downward gorges. Viewed from
the north, the snow often lies in
broad fields and always is in greater
confusion than when seen from
other points of the compass. The
smaller island mountains are not so
lofty, hut yet are beyond the dignity
of hills, being from 800 to 1000 or
5000 feet high.
AwE-INsPIRING MOUNTAINS.
TO the eastward the mainland pre-
sents one continuous mass of noun
tains--never in even ranges, but all
broken, toothed and needed with
foothills, next the water, green and
rounded. The loftier masses behind
shoot their rocky heights into the
blue sky from 5000 TO nearly 5000
feet above the sea. Flecks aud bands
of snow are never absent from these,
and often the smooth upper heights
are wrapped in pure mantles of
white.
Into the mainland enter many
crooked, antlered in form, deep in
let's, the counterparts of the fiords of
Norway. Some prospectors aboard
told us that the scenery on these
fiords was majestic in the extreme.
And well 1t may be, for nearly all
of the inlets are hanked by notched
and peaked mountains, shooting in
to the sky with shoulders and necks
wrapped in eternal frosts. When
our great republic shall have its
boundary lines marked only by
oceans and seas, then these bold
highlands should be set apart as
of the Western hemisphere.
The mountains of both main
land and islands are thoroughly
picturesque, with rugged upper
members and topped out in sharp
points and rocky pinnacles, such as
are seen nowhere in the old states of
our country and but rarely in the
new ones or In any of the old terri
tories. There are no deciduous or
hardwood trees, and but few hard
wood shrubs. Firs, balsams, and
hemlocks cover the mountain-sides,
and cedars some times are seen i'm
the small flats next the sea or up
the gullies. The forests on noun
tain slopes are OF small trees, and no
track of the fire fiend is ever seen.
The air Is so humid along the EN-
tire coast from the mouth of the
Columbia TO Behring strait that one
can not avail himself of forest fires
to help clear the land. Should the
trees be deadened and fall they
would lie sodden and wet un-
til destroyed by sluggish rot,
while tangled underground and
young forests would spring up
In almost iu.penetrable maze. On
many mountain slopes more than
half of the trees are dead and still
standing while often are seen great
belts of bare, dead trunks, with not
u single live one, but green carpet
of fresh aftergrowth spreading over
the ground. The soil is so thin
upon the rocky mass of the noun
tain that sustenance is not afforded
H.. l...s