The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1903-11-18

ca the mountain. Near the top the
} trees and shrubs were dwarfed and
snow and ice still lay on the ground
in many places, while toward the
foot of the range the vegetation was
dense and luxurious, almost tropi-
} cal in growth. Rains frequently
fall, while on the east side of the
Cascade range the sky was almost
clear, and dusty winds usually
blew. This is of course readily
explained by the fact that the moist
winds from the Pacific lose their
moisture as they ascend the noun
, tain, reaching the other side cold
and dry. From the Cascade range
to Seattle the land was thickly wood
ed and numbering seemed to be the
principal industry. Here and there
) small clearings had been made and
along the coast large orchards were
plentiful.
Seattle is an interesting place for
travellers from the interior, being a
} typical seacoast town. Here we
saw some of the great ocean steam
ers with the capacity OF several
.. hundred freight cars. Here were
: steamers from China, Japan, the
, Philippines, South America, Cana
da, Hawaii and Alaska, and the
wharves were busy places. Here
, we could meet people from all quart
: ers of the globe. Cinnamon we're in
; evidence everywhere.
On the following morning we
: boarded the steamer Majestic for
,, a sail on the "big pond" to Victoria,
: Vancouver Island. 1t was not so
; peaceful as on the day it was dis
covered by Balboa or when it was
!. named Pacific. But the trip was a
. most enjoyable one to most of us.
: Some of the passengers however
seemed disposed to lean over the
, railing and feed the fish. We staid
. at Victoria a day and saw many in
: teresting places, the British navy
: yards and warships, the parks and
: public buildings. The government
buildings are very fine. The day
. we arrived a most spirited fight was
: in progress in their assembly, and
Z slack of confidence" in the existine
: government was declared which re
{ suited in its dissolution and the
declaration of new election.
: The next day saw US in Vancou
s yer on the mainland. This is also
a fine large town surrounded by
. heavy timber, with snowcapped
Z mountain peaks clearly in sight in
the background. Our next voyage
carried US again across the chan
mel, this time to Nanaimo. Our des-
, tination was Still far distant, for
Prof. VanBarneveld wished to visit
a copper prospect far up along the
. west coast of Vancouver Island. The
way to get there was not an easy
: one and had we known it's hardships
we would perhaps never have I'M
dertaken the trip. There was no
railroad so we secured horse and
took to the woods. 1t was pleas
ant morning in the early part of
: June, and a drive mid such scenery
Q on such a perfect day could be moth
8 ing but delightful. We had a sixty
\ mile drive before US, but the road
was a good old stage road built
some seventy years ago. Most OF
\ the way was quite billy and we
I sometimes had to ease our horse by
+ walking. On both sides of the road
: like wall stood the great virgin
! forests of pine, spruce and cedar,
f yet untouched by the lumberman s
axe, but soon awaiting their doom
. Some of the trees appeared to be at
least 200 feet tall, and almost with
out branch except at the very top.
Many cedar we saw would make
Is, 900 feet of lumber. Sometimes a
tree had fallen across our road, but
we were prepared for such and
! made good use of our axe. Above
us were the lofty mountain peaks.
, clad with timber to the very tops,
! below, numerous lovely lakes, clear
as crystal and rejecting the noun
o tains like mirrors. These were fed
r by gushing mountain torrents with