[ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER.]

Here and there may be seen the little fisherman craft, "chugging" away from their moorings in the early dawn and returning at the setting of the sun heavily laden with the famous Columbia river salmon that feed thousands throughout the world. On sandbars or sand islands, of which there are many in the lower part of the river, the "purse seiners" are conspicuous and the horses dragging the nets strangled with the products of the deep. In the deeper waters close to the shore, but far from the sea, are the fish wheels whirling by the force of the same waters that conceal the treasures being sought.

Cities appear at frequent intervals, both on the Washington side and in Oregon. Before the entrance to the Snake River is reached, one will have passed Ilwaco, Cathlamet, Kalama, Vancouver, Camas, Washougal, Stevenson, White Salmon, and Wallula on the Washington side, besides many important cities on the Oregon shores: namely, Astoria, the site of the first settlement on the Columbia; Portland, the largest city in Oregon, near the mouth of the Willamette; and The Dalles, for many years the head of navigation. Kennewick and Pasco are located just beyond the mouth of the Snake River, ready to derive full benefit from the improved navigation conditions of the future. Between these larger towns is many a tiny hamlet, while isolated farms and orchards surrounding pretty dwellings slope gently towards the river and tend to make the traveler dissatisfied with his own home.

At times is visible a beautiful waterfall, a palisade of wonderful basalt, and occasionally some island draped with verdure of many tints. Further away a murmuring brook or crystal streamlet may be heard hurrying down a rocky hillside or winding between towering cliffs, adding its share to the tuneful sound of the powerful orchestra that seems everywhere to be heard. Constantly shifting color and shade attract the eye and tones of varying quality please the ear.

When the mouth of the Cowlitz is neared there appear, stretching toward the north, broad areas where man has mingled his skill with Nature's works. Green fields, sometimes fringed with willows, near the waterfront, and dotted with orchards, farm houses, and dairies, are visible as far as the eye can see. These evidences of man's encroachments are noted all the way to Vancouver (and beyond), at which city, the oldest in the state, a tourist should linger long enough to appreciate the region which arrested the attention of our earliest settlers and inspired the beginning of the first city in Washington. A bridge, costing nearly two million dollars, will soon connect it with the beautiful city of Portland.

[THE SALMON FISHING INDUSTRY.]

Cultivated lands are seen on either side as the river is ascended, until the mountainous region is reached and the roar of the cascades is distinctly heard. These cascades, according to Indian lore, were created by the falling of the "Bridge of the Gods," which once extended from shore to shore and formed the great highway connecting the mountains on the north and their extension to the south, while beneath a mighty river peacefully pursued its course to the sea. The perpendicular buttresses on either hand, the forest areas that apparently fell from above, trees growing out of the water, petrified logs up in the reddish cliffs within the vicinity of Stevenson, and many other freaks of nature all seem to strengthen the evidence on which this story is based.

Throughout the mountainous region are wonderful examples of Nature's diverse skill. Among the most striking are Castle Rock, or Wehatpolitan's gravestone, a great basaltic rock 900 feet high; St. Peter's Dome, a sublime elevation of 2,000 feet, considered one of the wonders of the American continent; Oneonta Gorge, almost concealed behind towering rocks; Multnomah Falls, a matchless waterfall with a sheer drop of 800 feet; Cape Horn, a long palisade of basalt; Rooster Rock, unsurpassed for beauty of form and variety of color; and Cape Eternity, a massive precipice 1,000 feet in height.