Year: 1863

which has been formed by abrasions and
washing from the steep hills and bluffs on
both sides Of It, together with the sand
washed at either endpby the waves. The
hesdland Of the Cape rises Immediately from
thh prairiein perpendicular precipices Of sand
stone and conglomerate rock, which show the
marks at their base Of having been washed
BY the wsves ct seme formers period. The
distance from Neeah Bay to the Pacific, along
the base of this headland. is about three and a
half miles, and from the base to the pitch of
the Cape, about four miles, covering an area
of some ten square miles. The whole of the
healland is one mass of forest-covered rocky
hills, presenting to the eye spectacle Of a
savage wilderness, without one single point
offering inducements to white man to come
and settle on it.


have had occasion to pass around the
Cape in a canoe several times, affording me
an excellent opportunity of examining the
wonderful formation Of which it is composed,
and the strange contortions into which it has
been thrown by former convulsions Of the
earth, and the deep caverns and fantastic
arches worn intoit by ths ceaseless surge of the
eroding waves. The rock at the pitch Of the
Cape is conglomerate of the very hardest de-
scription, and composed Of beach sand, peb-
blcs, round cobble stones, and small boulders
of basalt. Imagine hill of gravel. or an
ocean beach, converted into solid rock Of ad-
amantine hardness, and you have the appear
ance of the rocky cliff at Cape Flattery. In
some places the rock shelves down to tho wa
ter. presenting, in regular layers the sand and
pebbles of Il beach, so natural in appearance,
that on stepping on it one expects to feel his
feet slip on the crumbling mass and wonders
how such fragile broken materials can stand
the violence of winters storm, but once ex-
amined, and the rock is found cemcnted TO-


gether hard as flint. If any one wishes to
gt1 good idea of chaos, know no better
place than Cape Flattery, viewed in a calm.
still day, willie winding through its caverns
and arches, in boat or canoe. Immense de-
tached blocks of gigantic size. stand like
solid and eternal bodies riven from the adja-
cent cliff by some convulsion Of nature. Some
are suspended on their angles and Sustained
! by the pressure Of unseen rocks, forming sharp,
pointed arches, and appearing as if they were
yet falling and rolling, thus presenting the i'm
age of ruin in action-of an ncessant down
ward movement of a stony chaos-of a never
ending avalanche of rocks. A little south of
the point of the Cape is one huge pillar, slight
ly leaning to the northwest, aud fully hun
dred and fifty feet high. This pillar is called
by the Indians Tsar-tsar.da,k, and has this
legend connected with it: Many years ago an
Indian climbed to its summit in search Of
young grlls and cormorants, both Of which
abound. lie cmanaged the ascent easy enough,
but when he gazed down from The dizzy
hight upon the boiling waves below, his cour-
age failed him, and he dared not attempt de-
scending. He could be distinctly seen and
heard, and every expedieut the savages could
think Of to save him was resorted to without
success. They tied strings to their arrows,
and trid to shoot them over, but they could
not make them ascend to the great height.
They caught gulls and tied strings to their
feet, and tried to make them fly across the
rock. but all was Of no avail. Six days were
wasted in the vain attempt to save him, and
on the seventh he laid down and died. His
spirit, say the Indians, still lives aud gives
them warning when a storm is coming which
will make it unsafe for them to 60 out . sea
in pursuit of their usual avocations Of killing
whales or catching fish. Near the top Of this
rock is small cavern worn into its perpen-
dicular Sides Across the mouth of this cav
ern is stick some thirty feet long. probably
branch that has been thrown there by the
crest Of some mountainous wave during tho
prevalence off winters tempest. 1t has been
there many years before the memory Of the
present race Of Indians, ann is believed by
them to have been placed there by supernat-
ural agency. think, however, it was thrown
there by the waves. fol have seen from the
lighthouse at Tatooch9 Island during q Storm
the waves dash their spray in clouds over the
summit Of the rock and far away on to the
main land.


In the deep caverns Of the cliff hundreds Of
seals find rest, but not in quiet. for the lndi-
an, watching an opportunity Of a calm, boldly
ventures in as far as his canoe can be man.
aged, then with torch in one hand and .
knife in the other, be dashes into the water,