Without irrigation the region yields liberally of fruits, berries, vegetables, hay, oats, dairy and poultry products, which go to support those engaged in the lumbering, fishing, ship building, mining, and other manufacturing industries, and the diversified business pursuits.

Eight transcontinental railroads operate trains, an almost unbroken string of electric railways render good local service, while excellent roads, including the Pacific Highway, crisscross the section and unite the people with indestructible bonds of friendship and mutual interests.

A number of lakes beautify this region, as well as the other parts of the Puget Sound country. The largest is Lake Washington, one of the grandest in the west, twenty miles in length, forming the eastern boundary to Seattle, providing sites for country homes and parks, and embellishing its boulevard system. Near Bellingham is Lake Whatcom, of similar importance to that city. Lake Stevens is handy to Everett, and a number of smaller ones are tributary to Tacoma.

THE ISLANDS.

Puget Sound would not be nearly so interesting without the many enchanting isles dotting its surface from Olympia to Blaine and within easy reach of the cities located upon its shores. Some are hidden within partially concealed bays and others appear like portions of the mainland until circumnavigation has proved their seclusion. Although a few have sufficient area and commercial importance to form entire counties, the larger number are of rather small compass, and a few are tiny gems suitable only for private resorts away from the busy cities. Nearly all are clothed in evergreen trees, bespangled with flowers and ferns, and girdled with gravelly beaches suggesting the real charms of camp life.

SAN JUAN GROUP.

Travelers agree that no islands anywhere are more beautiful than the San Juan group, blocking the entrance to the Straits of Georgia, rivaling as they do the Thousand Isles of the St. Lawrence or the classical Grecian Archipelago. There are 172 of them, including 122 with names suggesting their own peculiarities and others known chiefly by their location and shown only on the mariner's chart. The largest are San Juan, Orcas and Lopez. Apart from them but closer to the mainland are Lummi, Guemes, and Cypress, similar in formation and of like attractiveness. They are approachable with almost any kind of craft, no great distances separate them, and often there is just passage for a steamer. They offer rare opportunity for playing hide and seek on the water, a game which in days gone by men played in earnest; for the smuggler stealing away from the international boundary line found within their shady inlets havens of safety from the unfriendly eye of "Uncle Sam's" revenue cutter.

[AMONG THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS.]
Photos by J. A. McCormick.