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diff --git a/77884-0.txt b/77884-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..01e1223 --- /dev/null +++ b/77884-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8888 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77884 *** +TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE + +Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. + +Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been +placed at the end of the paragraph. + +Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book. + + + + + THE PACIFIC COAST SCENIC TOUR + + [Illustration: MOUNT HOOD.] + + + + + THE + + PACIFIC COAST SCENIC TOUR + + _FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO ALASKA + THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY + YELLOWSTONE PARK AND + THE GRAND CAÑON_ + + BY + + HENRY T. FINCK + AUTHOR OF “ROMANTIC LOVE AND PERSONAL BEAUTY,” “CHOPIN AND OTHER + MUSICAL ESSAYS” + + _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS_ + + LONDON + SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON + _Limited_ + St. Dunstan’s House + FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C. + + 1891 + + + + + BERWICK & SMITH, PRINTERS, + BOSTON, U.S.A. + + + + + TO MY FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE + + WENDELL PHILLIPS GARRISON + + + + + PREFACE. + + +Books on California and Alaska exist in abundance, if not +superabundance; but the intervening States of Oregon and Washington +have been comparatively neglected in a way which seems surprising +when we consider the remarkable scenic and climatic attractions of +those States, their industrial resources, and the great future which +doubtless lies before them. The present volume is an attempt to give +a general and impartial view of the whole Pacific Coast, from San +Diego to Sitka. Covering such a vast territory, it cannot, of course, +make any pretensions to exhaustiveness, but is simply an endeavor to +reproduce the local color of each State, by describing a few typical +and important localities in each. I have naturally chosen the most +favorable specimens, as every author or other mortal does in showing +samples of a thing with which he is in love. I am in love with the +Pacific Coast, because after living on it eleven years, at various +times, and twelve years on the Atlantic Coast, I have found the +scenery so much grander and the climate so much more delightful and +exhilarating on the western side of our continent than on the eastern; +and climate and scenery, in my opinion, make up fully one-half of +human happiness. Scenery, indeed, requires some æsthetic culture for +its appreciation, but climate affects all alike; and where the sky is +habitually overcast with clouds, and the air humid and sultry, the +millionaire suffers from habitual depression of spirits just as much as +the beggar. + +If the enthusiasm which pervades these pages should prove contagious +to some of the readers, I do not fear that any of them will chide me +hereafter for having induced them to emigrate to the West,—least of +all, those who are in comfortable circumstances and wish to spend their +last days amid bright and cheerful surroundings, and in a climate which +favors longevity. It is my solemn determination to build a château +somewhere on the Pacific Coast for myself some day,—if I can manage +the “comfortable circumstances.” Tourists, however, I must add, may +possibly take the Pacific Coast Scenic Tour described in this volume +and come back more or less disappointed. This will probably be the case +if they visit Southern California in July, the Yosemite in October, +Oregon and Washington in August, and Alaska before July or after +September; for they will then find the temperature uncomfortably high +in Southern California, and the water-falls reduced to a minimum in +the Yosemite; while in Oregon and Washington they will probably see +nothing at all, on account of the dense smoke from forest fires; and in +Alaska the mountains will be obscured by mist and rain. But just as a +prudent sight-seer does not visit Switzerland except between the middle +of June and the middle of October, so we have a right to expect of him +that he will plan his trip to the Pacific Coast for the most favorable +season. This may seem difficult, on account of the great distance to +be covered, and the variety of climatic conditions; but as a matter of +fact it is the easiest thing in the world. Indeed, this trip can be +taken in such a way that each locality as described in succession in +this volume can be seen under the most favorable conditions possible. +If an excursion agent had planned the climate of the Pacific Coast, he +could not have made things more delightfully convenient for tourists. +All you have to do is to follow spring northwards. Leave the East +in the abominable winter months and spend a few months in Southern +California, which from January to April is a paradise. If the Southern +Pacific or Atlantic and Pacific railroads are taken, there will be +no danger of a snow blockade, the temperature will be comfortable, +and the scenic attractions abundant. Early in May, when vegetation +fades in Southern California, the Yosemite should be visited to see +its water-falls at their best. San Francisco and Tahoe also are most +attractive in May. Continuing northward, we find Oregon and Washington +still in their spring garb in June, while the snow-peaks are not yet +concealed by smoke. July and August may be devoted to the sea-coast +and to Alaska, and in September the return trip may be made across +the Canadian Pacific, with its three mountain chains and the National +Park as its chief attractions; or the Northern Pacific, which among +its attractions includes the Columbia River scenery, the snow-peaks +of Oregon and Washington, Lake Pend D’Oreille, and the Yellowstone +National Park; or the Union Pacific, which includes the Sierra Nevada, +Lake Tahoe, the stupendous scenery of the Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, +Denver, and the Rocky Mountains,—three routes between which it is +difficult to make a choice. + +To complete the American Scenic Tour, we must of course take in one of +the Great Lakes, Niagara Falls, the Thousand Islands and Rapids of the +St. Lawrence, Lakes Champlain and George, and the Hudson River,—scenes +which have been too often described to be touched upon here. I have +seen parts of four continents, but am still looking for a tour equal +to the one outlined in this volume with the addition just named. It +includes the grandest water-falls, the largest lakes, the finest river +scenery and geysers, the most stupendous glaciers, and some of the most +superb snow-peaks and ranges in the whole world; while the Yosemite and +the Grand Cañon are absolutely unique and without rivals anywhere. + +Most of the illustrations in this volume are by courteous permission +reproduced from photographs in the excellent collection of Messrs. +Taber, San Francisco, Haynes, Yellowstone Park, B. C. Towne & Macalpin +& Lamb, Portland, and Pierce & Blanchard, Los Angeles. + + H. T. F. + + TOKIO, JAPAN, August, 1890. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + I. LOS ANGELES COUNTY. + + PAGE + + Across the Continent—A Storm in the Desert—A Contemptuous City— + Progress and Prospects—The Land Boom—Climate and Crops—Ostrich- + Farming—A Vineyard Terror—The Native Wines—Quail-Hunting 1 + + II. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN WINTER. + + A Collapsed “Boom”—Los Angeles To-day—Prospects for + Immigration—Poultry and Cattle—Five Sources of Water for + Irrigation—Windmills, and Tunnels under River-Beds 15 + + III. THE GREAT AMERICAN PARADISE. + + Value of Reservoirs—Winter in Southern California—Flowers and + Sunshine—Where Rain means “Better Weather”—Dry Air and Sea- + Breezes—Fogs and Frost—California for Invalids as compared + with Italy, Spain, and Africa—Rural Cities of the Future—The + Pacific Andalusia—Some Disadvantages—Gophers, Dust-Storms, + Drought—Enemies of the Orange and Vine 25 + + IV. THE HOME OF THE ORANGE. + + The German Colony at Anaheim—Rabbit-Hunting in the Cactus + Fields—Cows and Oranges—The Best California Orange—Riverside + and its Model Orchards—Orange-Picking—A Wonderful + Avenue—Local Flavor in Oranges—An English Colony—How + Prohibition prohibits—Scenes between Riverside and San Diego 36 + + V. OVER THE MEXICAN BORDER. + + San Diego and Coronado Beach—An Ideal Climate—An Artificial + Lake—How Towns are raised—The National Boundary—Donkeys + versus Railroads—More Saloons than Houses—Limes versus Lemons 49 + + VI. SANTA CATALINA ISLAND. + + From San Diego to Los Angeles—Along the Coast—A Romantic + Spot—Lost in a Mustard Field—San Pedro—Floating Highlands—Sun + and Ocean Baths in Winter—Avalon Village—The Luxury of + Existence—Flowers, Humming-Birds, and Poison + Ivy—Rattlesnakes—Hunting Wild Goats—Indian Relics—Abalone + Shells and their Hunters—Sport for Fishermen—A Submarine + Garden—The Seals at Home 55 + + VII. SANTA BARBARA AND THE YOSEMITE. + + A Dam under a River-Bed—Beans and Culture—An Æsthetic + Town—Beautiful Gardens—Spanishtown and Chinatown—Mojave + Desert—On the Way to the Yosemite—A Fine Stage Ride—Floral + Wonders—The Sierra Snow-Plant and Mariposa + Lilies—Resemblance to Oregon Scenery—Discovery of the + Valley—The Yosemite and Bridal Veil Falls—Rainbow Spray—El + Capitan and Mirror Lake—Origin of the Valley—Yosemite as a + Lake—Glacier Point and Other Excursions—The Big Trees in the + Mariposa Grove 75 + + VIII. SAN FRANCISCO AND CHINATOWN. + + Mountainous Character of the Pacific Coast—The Hills of San + Francisco—Cable-Car Tobogganing—The Golden Gate and Cliff + House— Scenes in the Chinese Quarter—John’s Table + Delicacies—Lunch in a Chinese Restaurant—An Honest + Bookseller—Chinese Women—Opium Dens— Behind the Scenes in a + Chinese Theatre—The Asiatic Trade—California Hotels, + Restaurants, and Wines—Berkeley and the University—The + Climate of San Francisco 108 + + IX. LAKE TAHOE AND VIRGINIA CITY. + + Climatic Paradoxes in San Francisco—A Long Ferry-Boat—Snow-Sheds + and Donner Lake—Truckee River—Logging and Fishing—Tahoe + City—Round Trip on a Boat—A Lake amidst Snow Mountains—A + Cinnamon Bear— Butterflies, Snow, and a Blue Sky—Large Trout, + and how to catch them—Sunsets reflected in the Lake—Other + Color Phenomena—The Flume to Carson Valley—A Mountain + Railway—Desolate Nevada Mountains—Mining under a City—Gold + Hill 126 + + X. MT. SHASTA AND CRATER LAKE. + + The Oregon and California Railroad—California’s Grandest + Mountain— Isolated Peaks of the Cascade Range—Volcanic + Remnants—Sisson’s— Indians at Home—Sources of the + Sacramento—Effects of Rain—Oregon’s Numerous Rivers—Fish and + Crawfish—Southern Oregon—A Mysterious Mountain Lake—The + Oregon National Park—The Willamette Valley—Oregon Wheat and + Fruit 149 + + XI. PORTLAND AND ITS SEA-BEACHES. + + A Picturesque Situation—Five Snow-Peaks in Sight—Portland versus + Los Angeles—Clearings—Chinese Anecdotes—Propitiating the + Gods—Appreciation of Female Beauty—Summer Resorts—Yaquina Bay + and Long Beach—Bathing in the North Pacific—Catching Crabs at + Low Tide—A Sad Accident—Clatsop Beach and Tillamook Head—An + Exposed Lighthouse—In the Virgin Forest—Oregon Mosses, Ferns, + and Trees—Flowers and Berries 162 + + XII. UP AND DOWN THE COLUMBIA RIVER. + + An Ungrateful Republic—The Columbia compared with Other Rivers— + Snow-Peaks—Salmon-Canneries—Astoria and the Mouth of the + River—Cape Horn and Rooster Rock—Water-Falls—The Cascade— + Salmon-Wheels—In the Highlands—The Last of the Mohicans—Low + and High Water—The Scenery and the Railroad—The “Place of the + Winds”— “Swift Water”—A River turned on Edge 182 + + XIII. OREGON AND WASHINGTON SNOW-PEAKS. + + From Portland to Tacoma—Views of and from Mt. Hood—American + Scenery—Advantages of Isolation—Ascent of Mt. St. + Helens—Masculine and Feminine Peaks—Tacoma and the + Jungfrau—American Names for American Mountains—Indian Names—A + Hop Valley—Cascade Division of the Northern Pacific + Railroad—Mt. Tacoma—Its Fourteen Glaciers and Five Rivers 203 + + XIV. THE AMERICAN MEDITERRANEAN. + + A Strange Fact—History of Tacoma—Advantages of its Situation— + Navigation—Forests and Saw-Mills—Splendors and Disadvantages + of Forest Fires—Coal-Fields of Washington—Scenic Features of + Puget Sound—Olympia—Seattle since the Fire—The Olympic + Mountains—Port Townsend 217 + + XV. A WEEK IN ALASKA. + + A Great Salt-Water River—The Genuine American Switzerland—Highest + Snow-Mountain in the World—The Excursion Season—Islands and + Forests—Indian Traits—Alaskan Villages—Glacier Bay—An Iceberg + Factory 231 + + XVI. ACROSS THE CANADIAN PACIFIC. + + Advantages of an Autumnal Trip—English Aspect of + Victoria—Vancouver a “Boom Town”—The Frazer River and + Cañon—Eagle Pass—Reappearance of the Columbia River—Mountain- + Side Forests—Comparison with Switzerland—Construction of + Snow-Sheds—Banff and the National Park—The Bow River—Devil’s + Head Lake—Sulphur Mountain—Winnipeg and Lake Superior 248 + + XVII. THROUGH YELLOWSTONE PARK. + + An Independent Journey on Horseback—Geysers and Paint- + Pots—Waiting for an Eruption—Yellowstone Cañon and Falls—The + Lake and its Trout—A Tent Hotel—Mysterious Sounds 279 + + XVIII. THE GRAND CAÑON OF THE COLORADO. + + From Los Angeles to Peach Spring—Desert Wind—An Arizona Village— + Indians—Descensus Averno—Extraordinary Mountain + Architecture—Silence and Desolation—A Bewitched Creek—Up the + Diamond Cañon—The Grand Cañon and the River—New Mexico and + Kansas 294 + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + MT. HOOD _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + + OSTRICH FARM—SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 12 + + FRUIT FARM IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 22 + + ORANGE GROVE—SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 42 + + NORTH DOME—YOSEMITE VALLEY 96 + + BIG TREE—YOSEMITE VALLEY 104 + + SEAL ROCKS—SAN FRANCISCO 110 + + LAKE TAHOE 132 + + MT. SHASTA 152 + + CRATER LAKE 158 + + CASTLE ROCK—COLUMBIA RIVER 196 + + GREAT DALLES—COLUMBIA RIVER 202 + + SITKA 244 + + FRAZER CAÑON 254 + + THE SELKIRK GLACIER 262 + + CANADIAN PACIFIC HOTEL AT BANFF 268 + + DEVIL’S HEAD LAKE 272 + + MINERVA TERRACE—YELLOWSTONE PARK 282 + + FALLS OF THE YELLOWSTONE 292 + + THE GRAND CAÑON OF THE COLORADO 296 + + +[Illustration: THE PACIFIC SLOPE—FROM MEXICO TO ALASKA.] + + + + + I. + + LOS ANGELES COUNTY. + + ACROSS THE CONTINENT—A STORM IN THE DESERT—A CONTEMPTUOUS + CITY—PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS—THE LAND BOOM—CLIMATE AND + CROPS—OSTRICH-FARMING—A VINEYARD TERROR—THE NATIVE + WINES—QUAIL-HUNTING. + + +Twenty-three years ago, when the first transcontinental railway was +commenced, the possibility of not only its success, but of its very +construction, was almost universally doubted, and the San Francisco +bankers who advanced money for the enterprise had to do so secretly, +in order not to create a panic among their depositors. To-day there +are five transcontinental lines, or six, if we count the Oregon +Short Line separately, and the tourist or invalid can pay his money +and take his choice, according to the season,—the Canadian Pacific, +Northern Pacific, or Union Pacific in summer; the Atlantic and Pacific +or Southern Pacific in winter. The last-named is less interesting +scenically than some of the Northern routes, but to invalids leaving +the East in winter it presents the advantage of plunging at once _in +medias res_, so far as semi-tropical climate is concerned. + +Of the southern United States, this side of the Mississippi, one +gets a rather unfavorable impression from the railway window, as +the greater part of the distance from Washington to New Orleans, +and some hundred miles beyond, seems little else than one boundless +swamp, with moss-covered trees, an occasional low mountain range, corn +and cotton fields, and beggarly huts, as the only scenic features. +Montgomery seems a sleepy country village; and although New Orleans +has sights worth seeing, it requires courage and a taste for roughing +it in order to get at them; for the streets (naturally inclined to +be muddy, because the city lies below the level of the Mississippi) +are so horribly paved that even a New Yorker must lift up his hands +and thank Heaven that he does not live in such a city. Without any +exaggeration, a Swiss stage-road in the midst of the mountains is not +so rough and jolting an affair as the street-car tracks in New Orleans; +and what the roads are beyond the paved streets may be inferred from +the fact that in January I found it absolutely impossible to reach the +City Park (where the Exposition was held some years ago) on foot, from +the terminus of the street-cars. Some of the gardens on the way were +ornamented with orange-trees laden with ripe fruit, but both trees +and fruit presented a sad contrast to the luxuriance I beheld in Los +Angeles three days later; and equally great was the contrast between +the moist, warm, enervating atmosphere of the Louisiana marshes, and +the dry, cool, mountain and ocean breezes of Southern California. + +If you leave New Orleans, say, on Wednesday noon, you will be at Los +Angeles on Saturday evening before ten. A good supply of reading-matter +is desirable, as there is little to see for a day or two, except cactus +bushes, a few painted Indians, and bleak mountains, some of them across +the Mexican border. At El Paso, which calls itself “the Paris of the +Southwest,” and claims twelve thousand inhabitants, the train stops +long enough to afford a chance to drive across the river into Mexican +soil. The El Paso papers try hard to induce the passengers in quest of +health to stay there, and have a very poor opinion of California. The +_Herald_ which I bought, editorially described the “recent terrific +rainstorms” in that State, and found it difficult to decide which was +a worse place for invalids, “Holland with her damp marshes, or the +Golden State.” The editor probably mixed up that State with Arizona; +for on arriving in California we discovered there had not been a drop +of rain for several weeks, while in Arizona we found the deserts, as +far as the eye could reach, one vast plain of shining, semi-liquid +mud, interspersed with large temporary lakes. The rain poured down in +blinding torrents and with true tropical violence, forming channels +several feet deep across the desert, and whirling aside thirty-feet +iron rails like straws. + +The spectacle of this rain-storm in the desert was so weird and sublime +that we gladly in return accepted the fate of reaching Los Angeles +twelve hours behind time; for the train, owing to the numerous washouts +and soft places, could only creep along, and beyond Tucson we had to +wait five hours for daylight, as the engineer did not dare to proceed +farther in the dark. Such storms and washouts are obviously frequent in +this region, for ties and rails are scattered all along the road for +emergencies. Nature, provoked by the “soft thing” which the Southern +Pacific had in building this level road, seems to have taken this means +of getting square with it. At Colton, California, the scenery becomes +snow-mountainous and interesting, and remains so as far as Los Angeles. + +During my first visit to Southern California, in 1887, I was amused +to notice the vast contempt with which the fifty thousand inhabitants +of the city of Los Angeles looked down on the three hundred and fifty +thousand benighted denizens of a certain northern village known as +San Francisco, and on other places that have the effrontery to grow +rapidly, and to claim special advantages of climate, situation, and +commerce. The Los Angeles _Herald_ informed its admiring readers that— + +“Pasadena and Los Angeles will be one city in a brief period, and form +a continuous municipality from the Sierra Madre to the sea—an extent +of thirty miles in length by at least six in width, with five hundred +thousand people contained therein, and will be the capital of the +richest State in the Union. The claim of New York as the Empire State +is already in dispute, but the dispute will soon be settled by the +pre-eminence of South California.” + +It must be admitted that much had happened to justify this Los Angelic +grandiloquence. Seventeen years ago the City of Angeles had only ten +thousand inhabitants, no street-cars, and only one railway. To-day it +has at least sixty thousand inhabitants, electric street-cars, and +more than half-a-dozen railways, with about seventy-five daily trains. +Orange-trees have increased in the county from twenty-five thousand to +a million or more; grape-vines from three millions to twenty millions; +and other agricultural products in proportion. + +Its very disadvantages have proved advantages to Los Angeles. For +instance, the fact that coal, like wood, is expensive, made the +city the first in the country to adopt a general system of electric +street-lighting. It has seventeen masts one hundred and fifty feet +high, fourteen masts sixty feet high, and hundreds of private lights. +The electric railroad is also being rapidly extended. The cars run at +the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, which can be increased to +twenty outside the city limits. The road’s capacity is said to be four +times that of a horse road, and its cost only one-half, while there is +no torturing of poor horses in the hot noonday sun. A ride or a walk +along the streets of Los Angeles conveys the impression that the city +is quite as large and as “metropolitan” as it claims to be; the natural +bustle and activity being increased by the winter visitors from the +East. + +In every country the smaller cities are apt to take after the +metropolis. Thus, Rouen constantly suggests Paris; Linz, Vienna; the +English cities, London, etc. Similarly, Los Angeles suggests San +Francisco in many details,—the appearance of the stores, hotels, +Chinese shops, and the gardens, although the gardens have a more +decided semi-tropical aspect, and there is a general appearance of +more open-airness, if the word be permissible. The city is surrounded +on all sides by high mountains and buried among groves and gardens. +Orange, lemon, “pepper,” and fig trees adorn the gardens everywhere, +side by side with many luxuriant shrubs and flowers, dwarfed apologies +for which are often seen in Eastern gardens. In size and brilliancy of +color these California flowers are incomparable, but the same causes +which tend to give quinces, for instance, a less pronounced flavor +than they have in the East, appear to impair the fragrance of some +flowers. This fact has often been commented on, but I believe that too +much emphasis has been placed on it. Repeated experiment has convinced +me that the verbena and heliotrope, and perhaps the geranium, have a +less delicious fragrance in California than in New York, at least in +October; but the same is not true of roses and pinks and lilies; and +the countless varieties of wild flowers that adorn the hill-sides in +spring have a most intoxicating fragrance, wherewith they allure so +many bees that honey can be sold at four cents a pound. + +The present ambition of the Los Angeles people is to surpass all the +rest of the world in as many things as possible. In one thing certainly +they were pre-eminent, a few years ago,—in the number of real-estate +offices that decorated their town. Neither San Francisco nor any +mining town ever had so many saloons to the number of inhabitants as +Los Angeles had of these land offices; and the day after my arrival I +heard a mother scolding her baby for putting a handful of dirt in its +mouth—doubtless because she thought real estate was too valuable to be +thus wasted in luxurious living. Almost every landowner, whether he had +a sign over his door or not, was willing to part with some or all of +his property for a consideration—not a slight one, by any means; and +the whole county was affected with this epidemic, there being places of +only a few thousand inhabitants where corner lots were sold almost at +New York City prices. + +One day, driving along a country road about twenty miles from Los +Angeles, I noticed half-a-dozen well-dressed men resting under a tree. +My companion informed me they were doubtless a syndicate looking about +for a place to locate a new town. At Fullerton, a few miles from +Anaheim, I saw one of these new towns. It consisted of the framework of +a large hotel and of a few hundred yards of elegant cement sidewalk, +not in front of the hotel, but in another part of the “town.” +Elsewhere towns get pretty large before any one begins to think of a +sidewalk, even of the most primitive kind; but the residents in Los +Angeles County of course would not be satisfied with a sidewalk in +any way inferior to that in front of Mr. Vanderbilt’s house in Fifth +Avenue. I may add that since then Fullerton has grown up into quite a +little town. + +Having built his sidewalk and his large hotel (with real-estate +office) in place of the saloon which usually is the pioneer building +in Western towns, the Southern Californian begins to cast about for +a supply of water; not so much for domestic use—since wine is almost +as cheap as water—as for the irrigation of his garden and fields. If +a river or brook is near by, a water company is formed, ditches are +dug, and each shareholder, after paying his dues, may have his water +“on tap” whenever he wants it. In the absence of a river, wells are +made to supply the water. Sometimes these wells are bored horizontally +into the mountain side, thus creating an artificial spring; but, as a +rule, the wells are vertical, from eighty to five hundred feet deep, +or even more, although at one hundred to two hundred feet the water +is generally obtained in abundance. A windmill is then erected over +the well, which pumps the water into a large, high tank, whence it +is easily conveyed to the garden or field by hose. There is no lack +of wind to drive these mills; for the charm of Southern California’s +climate lies in this, that although the sky is commonly cloudless, and +the sun warm, winter and summer, there is almost always a brisk breeze +to temper the solar rays, and deprive them of their sting. + +This is true especially of Los Angeles County, which is situated +between the deep sea and an imposing circular range of mountains, that +send their breezes down over the valley as soon as the ocean breezes +cease; and although at some seasons both these air-currents, near their +source, would be unpleasantly cold for invalids, they are almost always +mellowed and warmed by the sun’s rays before they reach the centre of +the valley. The morning—till about two o’clock—is the warmest part of +the day; but in the autumn the morning heat is tempered by a daily +fog, which remains till about ten o’clock. It is not a depressing fog, +and is rather enjoyed by the natives, as a temporary change from the +everlasting sunshine. In fact, sunny monotony is the gravest charge +that can be brought against the climate of Southern California. In +the autumn and spring a few rainy days afford refreshing variety; but +summer and winter are alike in their cloudless skies, warm sunshine, +and alternating mountain and ocean breezes. As a physician at Anaheim +remarked to me, the seasons do not differ in character, but only in +flavor, like the differences between several kinds of apples. He also +informed me that, although the temperature sometimes rises above a +hundred in the shade, he has never seen a case of sunstroke—thanks to +the dryness of the air and the almost incessant breezes. Yet, like +all southern climates, it fosters indolence, mental and physical; and +he would not recommend it, therefore, to young persons, except for +money-making purposes. But for invalids and for elderly persons, it is +the best place in the world. The somnolence brooding in the air (except +in Switzerland I have never slept so soundly in my life as here) would +cure the worst case of Wall Street insomnia; and the incessant sunshine +and constant life in the open air can hardly fail to add ten years or +more to the life of old men or women who desert their over-heated and +ill-ventilated Eastern homes for the open air and winter sunshine of +Los Angeles County. + +The general irrigation now resorted to, and the numerous green oases +which have in consequence sprung up amid the deserts of prickly cactus, +have already exerted some influence on the climate, and there is reason +to believe that rain will be more abundant in the future than it has +been in the past. A potent factor in producing this change will be +the groves of trees that are being planted everywhere. There are some +poplars and locusts and other trees that appear to flourish tolerably +well, but the two species that most triumphantly defy sunshine, dust, +and drought are the red-pepper-tree and the Australian eucalyptus, both +of them beautiful to behold. The red-pepper-tree, with its gracefully +drooping branches, resembles a weeping willow, but its growth is more +luxuriant, its dimensions larger, and it is adorned with bunches of +beautiful small red berries. The leaves, when bruised, have a strongly +pungent cayenne odor, whence the name of the tree. The leaves and +fruit of the eucalyptus have a still more objectionable odor when +crushed (very much like assafœtida), but the tree has a most stately +appearance, and its marvellously rapid growth—a seed becoming a large +tree in a few years—causes it to be raised on a large scale for fuel +and for shady avenues. + +But although Los Angeles County can raise the Australian eucalyptus +and the pepper-tree, there is a point at which the climate draws the +line further south. Thus, the banana and the pineapple, although they +can be raised here, do not usually thrive well, and the same is true +of the almond. Yet the Los Angeleños do not despair on that account, +as they have a superabundance of other fruits to fall back on. Of the +vast and fruitful orange and lemon orchards of this region every one +has read. Figs grow abundantly and are in good demand, especially +those of the Smyrna variety, which are now displacing the others. +The demand for California olive oil is greater than the supply, and +it is equal in quality to the best Italian oil. English walnut-trees +yield a profitable crop. Peaches are so abundant that they are fed +to the cows, and some varieties (but not all) are equal in flavor +to the New Jersey and Delaware crop. Ears of corn a foot long, with +twenty rows to the ear, can be seen in the market, side by side with +gigantic twenty-horse-power onions, and potatoes weighing from two to +five pounds. Sugar-beets are on exhibition, weighing fifty pounds, +and pumpkins of one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five +pounds. Pumpkins, melons, tomatoes, and other creepers grow wild, +without any care, and may even become a weedy nuisance. If a Chinaman +eats a watermelon under a tree along the road, the chances are that a +crop of wild melons will be found in that neighborhood the following +season; and on one farm I saw a volunteer tomato plant which the owner +said he had ploughed down twice, but when I saw it, it measured at +least twelve feet square, and had thousands of small red fruit on +it of the kind which is only used for preserves, although, like the +little yellow ones, it is of a much more delicate flavor than the large +tomatoes, which alone, for some inscrutable reason, are ever seen on +our tables. + +This list is very far from complete and is being constantly +extended; for California is still largely in an experimental stage +of development. The experiment with ostrich-farming near Anaheim has +resulted successfully, and other farms have been started near Los +Angeles. I visited the original farm near Anaheim. The keeper, an +Englishman imported from Africa, showed me a fine lot of healthy birds +and some beautiful specimens of feathers, naming prices which, if +they were advertised by a New York house, would create a riot among +“bargain”-seeking women; for it is to be hoped that women, having +abandoned the vulgar fashion of wearing stuffed bird-corpses on their +hats, will return to their old love, the delicate plumes of the +ostrich, the wearing of which involves no cruel massacre of innocents. +And California has another kind of plume to which the attention of +women should be directed, the product of what might be called the +vegetable ostrich,—pampas grass. Nothing more exquisite for a vase or +for a (fan-shaped) wall ornament could be imagined than these bushy +white (or colored) plumes, which in Los Angeles County attain the +height of thirty-six inches, not including the stem. Formerly, when +these plumes were imported from South America, florists charged a +dollar or even a dollar and a half apiece for them; now the retail +price is twenty-five cents, and the wholesale price three or four +cents. Vast quantities are being exported to Europe, and Southern +California is able to supply the demand of several continents, as the +pampas grass, like most plants, grows there like a weed. + +A dark cloud has, however, lately risen, and is for the moment casting +an ominous shadow over the cheerful prospects of California. All the +products so far mentioned are, of course, subordinate in importance to +the grape crop; and the California grape-vine has been for several +years threatened by an enemy more dangerous, because more obscure, than +the phylloxera. A few years ago some of the grape-vines in Los Angeles +County suddenly began to die out. Among these were some of the oldest +vineyards, eighty years old or more. Indeed, the old Mission grape was +the first to be attacked. Then followed other varieties, always in the +same order in each vineyard. The disease begins at the tip of the vines +and slowly spreads downwards, the roots being affected last. The second +season the crop is a comparative failure, and the third the vineyard is +a graveyard. One lady told me she had dug up and used for fuel as many +as eighty thousand of her vines within a few years. The disease is said +to be not phylloxera nor mildew; nor have the chemical experts who have +examined the vines been able to throw any light on the matter, except +by attributing the decay to a kind of cellular degeneration. Various +theories are being discussed, and the owners of the vineyards meanwhile +console themselves with the statement that a similar mysterious disease +affected the grapes of Sicily and Madeira at one time, and disappeared +after a few years, allowing the young vines to grow as before. What +causes them to look with comparative indifference on this temporary (as +they hope) interruption of business is the fact that there has been an +over-production of grapes, in consequence of which the price of wine +has fallen to unprofitable figures. An interruption of a few years in +this excessive production would raise the prices, and thus pay for the +losses now sustained. + +[Illustration: OSTRICH FARM—SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.] + +In the meantime the wine-growers would do well to ponder the fact that +quality is of much more value, financially and gastronomically, than +quantity. Labor is scarce in harvest-time, and, to save trouble, +too many of the small growers neglect to pick out the green and sour +grapes, which therefore vitiate the juice of the whole bunch; or else +they intrust the cleaning of their old barrels to ignorant Chinamen +(the Indians have all disappeared), with equally disastrous results. +Too many Eastern people have contracted absurd prejudices against +California wines, because chance threw some of this sour wine into +their cellars. But it may be safely stated that the average California +claret and white wine and port are superior to the wine that may be +bought for the same money in France and Germany and elsewhere. The +_labels_ of famous French wines and Cognacs are for sale openly in the +show-cases of country stores in Los Angeles County! These honest folks +are practically compelled to use this stratagem. They would much prefer +to sell their best wines under California labels, in order to build up +their reputation. And if California wine-growers used the same caution +as those of Europe, this subterfuge would no longer be necessary. I +have tasted old Zinfandel equal to the best French château wines, +because made with the same care, and it fetched almost as high a price +in San Francisco as foreign wines. + +Whatever may be the outcome of the present vineyard epidemic, Southern +California will have plenty of other things to fall back upon. A +few years ago it looked as if all the crops were to be neglected, +comparatively, and a specialty made of building hotels for invalids and +tourists. Among the special attractions for tourists is quail-hunting +in the foothills. The physician already referred to kindly took me out +on an afternoon hunt. We drove in a tough two-horse buggy, up and down +hill and along the dry bed of a brook, carefully dodging the bristling +cactus bushes, which are apt to make a deep impression on “tenderfoot” +visitors, less by the grotesque manner in which their fleshy leaves are +stuck on one another at odd angles than by their fish-hook-like spines. +These prickly leaves are so arranged that nothing larger than a quail +or a rabbit can get under their protecting shadows. The dogs give them +a wide berth, and the quail can only be shot on the wing if they are +alarmed and fly from one group of cactus bushes to another. The result +of an hour’s buggy-hunting was nine quails, three pigeons, and two +rabbits. + + + + + II. + + SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN WINTER. + + A COLLAPSED “BOOM”—LOS ANGELES TO-DAY—PROSPECTS FOR + IMMIGRANTS—POULTRY AND CATTLE—FIVE SOURCES OF WATER FOR + IRRIGATION—WINDMILLS, AND TUNNELS UNDER RIVER BEDS. + + +In 1887 all the hotels in Los Angeles were overcrowded, the post-office +almost unable to get through with its business, the city growing like +an asparagus stalk after an April shower, and the demand for labor so +great that the workmen could practically dictate their own terms. The +smaller towns and would-be towns had also caught the infection, and +were building huge hotels, cement sidewalks, and street-car lines; +not because it was supposed that towns of two thousand inhabitants +needed such things, but in order to be able to advertise in the Eastern +papers and in real-estate circulars that the place had street-car +lines, cement sidewalks, and hotels “with all the modern conveniences.” +Each town printed a special illustrated pamphlet in which its unique +attractions, as compared with all rivals, were set forth, culminating +in the claim that its township was the “Italy of America” or of the +West; while San Diego brought matters to a climax by styling itself +“the Italy of Southern California.” + +In 1889, when I made my second visit to Los Angeles County, I found +everywhere evidences that the boom had collapsed. The street-car lines +in the small towns barely paid expenses, though it was regarded as an +act of local patriotism to ride on them; and the cement sidewalks, +which had been prolonged far into the fields, had failed to charm +into existence the rows of houses that had been looked for. In the +metropolis itself, workmen were grumbling at insufficient employment, +merchants clamored that their rents were fifty per cent too high, +many store windows were pasted with closing-out notices, real-estate +offices were no longer as abundant as saloons, and the bookstores, more +wretchedly supplied than those of any town of ten thousand inhabitants +in the United States, were even selling the twenty-cent paper novels +at “cut rates.” The newspapers of Northern California, of Oregon, +Washington, and other Western States as far east as Kansas, which +had long been jealous of the prosperity of Southern California, and +desired a boom of their own, crowed loudly over the “busted boom” of +Los Angeles, while the papers of that city, no longer compelled by +the pressure of real-estate advertisements to add two or four extra +pages to their issues, had daily elaborate editorials to disprove the +allegations of their envious rivals. + +An unprejudiced observer, interested only in the climate and the +scenery, and not in the real estate, of Southern California, could not +but admit, from the signs just noted, that these “envious rivals” were +right in insisting that the boom had collapsed; but the inferences +drawn from this fact, that Southern California had been overpraised, +and that its road was to be down hill in the future, were absurd. +Southern California cannot be overpraised, and, in my humble opinion, +its prospects are brighter than those of any other portion of the +United States. To a large extent the late boom was nothing but a huge +gambling scheme, an epidemic of wild land-speculation, which carried +along in its rush thousands of thoughtless victims, like the mad +stampede for Oklahoma. Southern Californians knew better than others +that the sudden rise in their land prices were artificially stimulated +and would be followed by a reaction; but they were bound to make hay +while the sun shone, and found to their delight that the sun shone +longer in California than elsewhere, in the metaphorical sense as well +as in reality. At last the storm came, and swept away many of the +“tenderfeet,” or late comers, and their new buildings, whose débris is +now lying about, so to speak, and is pointed at as a terrible warning +and lesson; but the only lesson it does teach is that people should +avoid real-estate gambling. The fragments of the ruins will soon be +cleared away, and then it will be found that, although many individuals +have suffered during the storm, the State as a whole has been benefited +by it. + +In many cases the large, useless hotels built in the small towns have +already been secured at a bargain for school buildings, and in the +larger cities many public works have been provided which, without the +artificial stimulus of the boom, would have been postponed to the +indefinite future; as, for instance, the long flume, costing almost +a million of dollars, which now provides San Diego and vicinity with +abundant pure water, and will do more to develop the resources of the +county than the discovery of several gold mines. Los Angeles made the +great mistake of not building a sewer to the sea during flush times, +and now suffers under the disadvantage of vitiated air, which, if not +remedied, will destroy its reputation as a health resort. + +In other respects, Los Angeles is already recovering from the effects +of the collapse. Fine new buildings are again going up, the streets are +always animated, and the cable-car tracks have been lately prolonged +into the picturesque hilly region behind the city, which affords the +finest imaginable sites for suburban cottages, with superb views of +the mountains, and a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, fourteen miles +away. Though founded in 1781, Los Angeles had less than five thousand +inhabitants in 1860, and only thirteen thousand in 1880, while to-day +it has sixty thousand or more. Thirteen years ago no railroad connected +it with other parts of the world, while to-day it is one of the +greatest railroad centres in the West. And as it still remains, what +it always was, unsurpassed by any city in the world for climatic and +scenic advantages, it has every reason to look forward to a prosperous +and brilliant future. + +Southern California includes five counties,—Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, +Ventura, San Bernardino, and San Diego,—embracing, as General N. +A. Miles points out, “a territory nearly the size of the State of +New York, and with natural resources of ten times its value.” This +seems a big statement, but its truth can be realized, without the +use of figures, by considering that these five counties are capable +of supplying the United States with all the figs, raisins, prunes, +wine, olives and olive oil, oranges, lemons, nuts, and canned fruits +that are now imported from France, Italy, and Spain; most of them, +with proper care, equal in quality if not superior to the imported +articles. Although large quantities of all these fruits are already +raised, they are a mere trifle compared with what the soil is capable +of yielding to a larger population. It has been proved over and over +again that ten to twenty acres of good irrigable land are all that is +needed to support a family, and there is therefore room for hundreds +of thousands of immigrants. However, it is candidly admitted that +Southern California is a land of more promise to the farmer who has at +his disposal a capital of a few thousand dollars than to the emigrant +who brings with him little but a team and a pair of muscular arms; +for improved land, with bearing vines and fruit trees, costs from +one hundred to five hundred dollars an acre, while unimproved land, +though it may be had for one-fifth those prices (twenty to one hundred +dollars), yields no return for several years, unless grain is raised; +for all of the semi-tropical fruits above named require from three or +four to ten years before a profitable crop is yielded. + +And yet personal observation has led me to believe that there are +special opportunities in this region precisely for the farmer with +limited means, if he is willing to curb his ambition and content +himself with dairy farming and the raising of poultry on a large scale +for the market. The farmers now settled in Southern California are +so ambitious to become orange, olive, or vineyard kings that they +entirely neglect the farmyard, and have hardly enough milk and butter +and vegetables for home consumption. It is almost impossible in any +part of Southern California to get a good piece of beef or mutton, and +chickens are imported by the carload from Kansas and other “Eastern” +States, and sold at absurdly high prices at Los Angeles, although in +this mild climate it is easy to raise chickens all the year round, and +I have myself seen splendid broods of young ones grow up in about half +the time they need in the East to reach a marketable size, the simple +precaution being taken of providing them with dry housing during rainy +nights. If this is not done, their growth is remarkably retarded, and +many of them become diseased, and, if not killed or isolated, will +infect a whole yardful of poultry. + +Cattle-raising, too, must prove profitable in a region where the +animals can feed on the green foothills and valleys all the “winter,” +and in summer eat the sun-dried grass or clover which covers the whole +country. The wild, clover-like alfileria, which furnishes most of this +natural hay, grows in profusion along the roadsides and in the meadows, +and even fills up the empty patches in the cactus fields. After the +spring rains it attains a height of ten to fifteen inches, with a dozen +plants to the square inch, and is so juicy and tender that one can +mow it down with a cane or with the hands; and a week later it is as +high as if it had never been cut. It looks so luscious and sweet as to +almost make one long to be a cow or a sheep, in order to be really “in +clover” for once. Again, the cultivated clover, or Chilian alfalfa, +if sufficiently irrigated, yields half-a-dozen or more crops of hay a +year, which makes the sweetest butter and meat in the world. Yet the +Southern Californians, as I have just said, import most of their butter +and meat; consequently, if some farmers should undertake to supply the +local market with homemade products, fresher and cheaper, because with +no freight charges on them, they would have a sure source of prosperity +before them. It is probable that the drought of 1863–64 discouraged the +cattle business; but there has been none since that time, and with the +present railway facilities and a reasonable foresight in storing hay, +no disaster need be feared in the future. Moreover, one of the best +and cheapest kinds of cattle food, pumpkins, as large as beer-barrels, +can be raised here by the thousand with hardly any trouble or expense. +Sometimes they lie in a field so densely that one might walk over it +without touching the ground; and I saw several fields in which hundreds +of fine pumpkins, for which the farmers had no use, owing to the +scarcity of cattle, were left to rot on the ground. + +Before purchasing land in California of the South, it is well that +the investor should have made up his mind in regard to what branch +of agriculture he wishes to devote himself. For although it is one +of the chief advantages of this soil that it can be made to produce +most of the fruits of the temperate and semi-tropical, and some of +the tropical zones, yet each township or locality has its special +adaptedness for this or that product, and to ignore this is to labor +under disadvantages. Thus, Riverside and vicinity have been found +most favorable to the culture of the orange, because the destructive +scale-bug does not flourish here as it does nearer to the coast. Of +lemons, the finest specimens are grown near the Mexican border, in +San Diego County, which also furnishes some of the best raisins and +olives. Santa Barbara County yields the finest pampas plumes and the +best walnuts, and Los Angeles County is still the wine centre of the +South, notwithstanding the ravages of the mysterious vine disease. The +conclusion, too, is being gradually reached that for vineyards the +foothills are the best localities, since in Europe all the best vines +are raised on the hill-sides. Plants of a distinctly tropical type, +also, like tea, bananas, etc., might perhaps be successfully raised on +the lower foothills, which have an immunity from the light frost that +occasionally, in winter and spring, visits the lowlands near the ocean. +And besides these facts, it is well to know that in the same locality +the soil often presents great differences, so that in a twenty-acre +field one-half may be well adapted for the orange or olive, while the +other half needs a different crop. Above all things, “tenderfeet” +should beware of buying land immediately after the spring rains; for +then the whole face of the country is covered with a rich carpet of +grass and flowers, so that it is difficult to distinguish the good land +from the sand-bottomed site of a former river bed, useless for anything +but cactus. + +Finally comes the most important of all questions,—the facilities for +irrigation. Grain, if sown in winter or early spring, ordinarily needs +only the regular rains of the season to reach maturity, and there are +localities where many other crops can be raised without irrigation; +but these are the exception, and as a general thing the semi-tropical +fruits which constitute the specialty of Southern California, need +water for profitable culture. So well is this now understood that it is +a favorite joke of the natives to say that if you pay for the air and +water, they will throw in the land gratis. + +[Illustration: FRUIT FARM IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.] + +Fortunately there are no fewer than six sources from which crops are +supplied with water, if we include rain. For small vegetable or flower +gardens sufficient water can be raised by means of windmills, which are +kept in brisk motion every afternoon by the sea-breeze in the whole +region within twenty or thirty miles of the ocean, except during two +or three of the “rainy months,” when they are not needed. These mills +also supply the kitchen, and it is curious to note how cold the water +remains in the large tanks exposed all day long to a semi-tropical +sun. Much of the water used in town and orchard is supplied by artesian +wells, which, however, occur only in certain belts, especially in Los +Angeles and San Bernardino Counties, although none of these, I believe, +equal one dug in Sonoma County last winter, which is one hundred and +fifteen feet deep, cost only two hundred dollars, and yields almost +half a million gallons every day. + +Rivers of the size of the Sacramento, or those of Oregon, Southern +California has none, but there are some smaller rivers and a large +number of creeks, fed by the mountain snows, which are tapped in two +ways for irrigating purposes,—on the surface and below the bed. The +surface water is often carried many miles in ditches; and wise is the +community which lines its ditch at once with cement, else in summer it +loses almost two-thirds of its water supply by absorption on the way. +The Santa Ana River, which is quite a respectable stream in winter, +and after rains becomes a formidable torrent, liable to overflow its +banks and change its channel (thereby causing boundary disputes), is +in summer tapped so freely that its bed becomes dry, and not a drop +reaches the ocean. + +Much more curious than this surface tapping, however, is the +tunnelling, by means of which the water which has buried itself beneath +the sandy river bed, as if to escape the merciless pillaging of the +hot sun and the greedy farmers, is brought to the surface again and +utilized. It is in this way that the Santa Ana River is despoiled of +its last drop, and the value of this procedure may be estimated from +the statement made by the San Bernardino _Times_, that “the Ontario +Land Company has driven a tunnel in under San Antonio Creek, a +distance of nearly eighteen hundred feet, at a cost of about fifty-two +thousand dollars, and they have about two hundred and fifty inches of +water, worth a quarter of a million of dollars.” As it hardly ever +rains during the summer, all the water thus drawn off the rivers in +the irrigating season comes from the springs and the melting snows in +the mountains. This is just about sufficient for the present needs +of the population; but no fears need be entertained for the future, +since, as the rural population increases, it will become profitable to +expend large sums in building reservoirs in the cañons to store the +abundant winter water which now runs to waste in the ocean. In this way +the mountains can be made to yield an absolutely unlimited amount of +water, sufficient to support tens of millions; and the lesson taught +by the Johnstown disaster will prevent the dams from being carelessly +constructed. + + + + + III. + + THE GREAT AMERICAN PARADISE. + + VALUE OF RESERVOIRS—WINTER IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA—FLOWERS + AND SUNSHINE—WHERE RAIN MEANS “BETTER WEATHER”—DRY AIR AND + SEA-BREEZES—FOGS AND FROST—CALIFORNIA FOR INVALIDS AS COMPARED + WITH ITALY, SPAIN, AND AFRICA—RURAL CITIES OF THE FUTURE—THE + PACIFIC ANDALUSIA—SOME DISADVANTAGES—GOPHERS, DUST-STORMS, + DROUGHT—ENEMIES OF THE ORANGE AND VINE. + + +That there could be no better way of investing capital than by building +reservoirs is shown by the fact, recently pointed out by the California +State Board of Trade, that ten years ago the lands of Fresno sold at +from three dollars to twenty dollars per acre, while now, with water +on it, the same land sells at from seventy-five to seven hundred and +fifty dollars per acre. Equally great is the gain from an æsthetic +point of view. Without water, four-fifths of Southern California is a +dreary cactus desert during the greater part of the year; with water, +it is a veritable garden grove. Nothing could be more delightful than +to watch the effect of water in this magic climate, when the first +rains fall in October or November. Up to that period everything except +the irrigated garden and orchard oases wears a parched yellow and brown +aspect; but hardly has the rain penetrated a few inches into the soil, +when the grass turns green, and before the eye has become accustomed +to the change, gaudy flowers, gradually increasing in variety and +abundance, spring up on all sides, even on land which appeared to +be pure sand, but which on closer examination proves to be rich in +decomposed vegetable matter. The irrigated gardens have an abundance of +choice flowers all the year round, and the garden of the house where +I lived, though without the slightest pretensions, had in full bloom, +in January, petunias, calla lilies, violets, honeysuckles, geraniums +(six feet in height), stock, California poppy, hyacinths, smilax, +heliotropes, nasturtiums, red, white, yellow, and _green_ roses, etc. +In February a frost nipped the leaves of the bananas, heliotropes, and +nasturtiums, but in a few days they were out again; and of the three +or four subsequent frosts none was heavy enough to injure them, while +the other flowers mentioned grew uninjured all the “winter.” This was +at Anaheim, twelve miles from the sea and twenty-eight miles south of +Los Angeles, and gives a better idea of the climate than columns of +statistics. Nor was it an exceptional year; for there are orange-trees +in the State over eighty years old, and at the San Fernando Rey +Mission olive-trees over a hundred years old, proving that in all +this period there has been no frost sufficiently severe or prolonged +to injure these sensitive trees. In 1880 a little snow fell in Los +Angeles County—just enough to astonish the young folks, who had never +before seen any; nor have they seen any since. The only time when ice +ever forms (never more than a quarter of an inch in thickness) is +immediately before sunrise, and hardly has the sun risen above the +horizon when it disappears again. + +To this short duration of the occasional frosts is attributed the +fact that they do not kill the semi-tropical vegetation, as happens +occasionally in Southern Europe; and at nine or ten o’clock the +California farmers may be seen ploughing for their winter wheat, +in shirt-sleeves. Hence sufferers from pulmonary complaints who +cannot endure cold will not know that the thermometer ever reaches +freezing-point if they remain in bed till the sun has been out for half +an hour. Immediately after sunset they will again need the protection +of the house, or of a spring overcoat, as the temperature at that time +suddenly drops ten to thirty degrees. But while the sun shines, they +cannot afford or desire to lose its rays for a single minute. It is +the very luxury of existence to walk, ride, or hunt in the Southern +California February sunshine. The oldest inhabitants, used to it as +they are, cannot help muttering every morning, “What a fine day!” +January, February, March, and April, the very four months which are +the most disagreeable of the twelve in the East, are here the most +perfect: the sky of the deepest blue, the air neither cold nor warm, +exhilarating and laden with the perfumes of orange blossoms and wild +flowers. There are, of course, some disagreeable days, but they are +few and far between, there being but twelve to twenty rainy days in +Los Angeles County during the whole “rainy season” from November to +May, so that invalids hardly ever miss their sun-bath. Dr. C. B. Bates +mentions, in the _Southern California Practitioner_, the case of a +consumptive who kept a record of the weather at Santa Barbara, and +found that in a year there were but fifteen days upon which he was +confined to the house, ten of them being rainy and five windy; and +another case of a lady who, without any other than a brush shelter, +spent all of eighteen months, except nine nights, in the open air. + +This will appear the more remarkable in view of a certain peculiarity +of Southern California rains. Elsewhere people often exclaim, “If we +only had fine weather in the daytime, I shouldn’t care how much it +rained at night!” Here this wish is fulfilled, for most of the rain +falls at night. Some will be ready to cry out against the “eternal +monotony” of this sunshine; but on arriving on the ground they will +find this objection purely theoretical, and will be only too glad to +know that they can make projects for work or pleasure, for picnics +or excursions, weeks ahead, with an almost absolute certainty of +having fine weather. Still, there are a few day-showers to break the +“monotony,” and they make up in profusion what they lack in frequency—a +fascinating spectacle to the senses, and still more to the imagination, +which evokes pictures of prosperous grain-fields and lovely +flower-meadows. Surely that must be pronounced an ideal climate for +an invalid and valetudinarian where every rainy day, even during the +so-called rainy season, is regarded as a special dispensation of a kind +Providence, is commented upon in jubilant editorials by the journalists +(who had for some time predicted “better weather,” _i. e._ rain), and +is recorded in telegraphic tables noting the daily rainfall in every +town, to the hundredth of an inch! And be it admitted that there is +ground for this jubilation; for in three years out of ten the rainfall +is insufficient, and then the crops suffer, except where irrigation is +practised. + +In this immunity from rain-storms, Southern California possesses a +great advantage over other winter resorts for invalids, but it is only +one out of half-a-dozen advantages which may here be briefly touched +upon. The first and most important is the dryness of the atmosphere, +which favors the rapid radiation of the earth’s heat, so that the +nights are always cool enough for refreshing sleep, even in midsummer; +and sleep is the best of all medicines. So dry is this air that strips +of beef can be jerked in it by simply letting them hang outdoors till +desiccated. And the strangest part of it is that the sea-breeze, which +always blows during the hottest hours of the day, is a dry wind, too—a +circumstance which some have tried to account for by considering it a +sort of undertow, or a wave of air which came from the dry desert lands +to the eastward, and returns thither, absorbing but little moisture +during its brief contact with the ocean. But whatever the cause of this +dryness, it is a great hygienic factor, which this region can play out +as one of its highest trumps against Florida and Italy. No enervating, +malarial swamp winds, no sultriness, such as often makes suicide a +welcome thought in the East, will ever oppress any one in this Western +sanitarium, not even during the rainy spells. Nor has California ever +suffered from yellow fever, like Florida, or from the cholera, which +is a frequent menace in Spain, Italy, and Sicily. Again, on the shores +of the Mediterranean, in Europe as well as in Africa, the invalid will +find it almost impossible to obtain comfortable lodgings and proper +food, except in the large cities, while in California he can find home +comforts in any village and many farmhouses in the midst of the wildest +scenery and purest air. Never will his nostrils be offended here by the +pestilential odors which poison the air within a radius of several +miles of Italian and Spanish cities; nor will he ever be compelled +by the muddy condition of the streets to take his walks all winter +long on the roof of the hotel, as the proprietor of the Continental +at Tangier told me some of his invalid winter-guests did. What a life +compared with the floral walks, the hunting, fishing, and picnicking +on the dry ground and under the blue, rainless sky of Los Angeles or +San Diego County! Surely, Southern California is destined to become the +sanitarium, not only of America, but of Europe as well. + +What makes the fulfilment of this prophecy the more probable is the +circumstance that California is an all-the-year-round sanitarium, and +not one of the mere winter resorts which compel the unwilling invalids +to pack up and seek a new clime, when May is gone. No one would dream +of spending the summer at Malaga, Cannes, Naples, Palermo, Algiers, +or Jacksonville, exposed to a sultry, malarial atmosphere, and the +danger of deadly epidemics; whereas California has countless places +where summer and winter are alike, or rather alike unknown, the only +season known being an eternal spring. Many residents in our Eastern and +Middle States have often wondered what has become of the spring, which +used to form one of our seasons. It has followed the general tide of +immigration, has gone West, and may now be found in riotous exuberance +along the coast and the foothills of California. Not that all parts of +Southern California are as exempt from a summer season as they are of +winter. On the contrary, there are many most desirable winter resorts +which invalids and tourists will be only too glad to abandon in June, +such as Riverside, and other places too far in the interior to get +the benefit of the afternoon sea-breezes. Even so near the sea as Los +Angeles, it is by no means pleasant to be exposed directly to the rays +of the July sun; yet, owing to the dryness of the atmosphere,—which, +moreover, increases as the heat increases,—100° is not so oppressive +here as 90° in New York. Besides, in the East there is no refuge from +the all-pervading heat, except in a cellar; whereas here one needs +only to step in the shade to find relief, the difference between the +sunny and the shady side of a house running as high as 30°. Finally, +as Southern California has an average width of only forty miles, it +takes only an hour or two to reach the sea-coast, where it is always +pleasant; and cool mountain resorts are equally accessible everywhere, +as can be seen by a glance at the map, which is blackened by groups and +chains of mountains, attaining in the San Bernardino range a height +of over eleven thousand feet. No wonder that camping is the favorite +pastime of the Californian in summer, and not only of the wealthy; for +as the farmer does all his work in winter, he can lie fallow in summer, +like his somnolent fields, and pitch his tent along any beach or cañon +he chooses; and camp-life is so inexpensive, especially when rod and +rifle are available, that the poorest can indulge in this luxury during +the warmest months. + +Surely, when the human race cuts its wisdom teeth, it will no longer +crowd into dirty, noisy, malodorous cities, but will seek health and +fresh air all the year round. Southern California will loom up more +and more as an ideal place for building up a vast city in the country, +so to speak,—a city in which each house will be surrounded by ten or +twenty acres of irrigated land, capable of producing all the fruits +and vegetables, eggs and poultry, needed by the family, and shaded +by one of the fifty varieties of eucalyptus-trees already imported +from Australia, or by the spacious pepper-tree, and a small orange, +peach, and fig orchard. Such a city could be built up in a few years, +with shade and all. Elsewhere when people plant trees, they do so +for the benefit of posterity; here a row of the eucalyptus will grow +in a few years large enough to afford abundance of shade. Noiseless +electric railways will traverse this country town in every direction, +bringing the scattered population to the business places and centres of +amusement. But they will not crave the artificial excitements of city +life as they do now; for when there are no excursions to the sea or the +mountains, the fascinating care of the orange groves and flower gardens +will absorb all the leisure moments. What novel, what theatrical play, +could afford so much amusement as the daily irrigation of a flower-bed, +and noticing how the plants grow visibly and in a few weeks develop +into exotic wildernesses of tropical and semi-tropical flowers of the +most gorgeous colors and unheard-of size? Or watching a rose-bush as +it gradually intertwines itself among the branches of an orange-tree, +which some morning will present the bewitching spectacle of a tree +bearing red roses, white orange blossoms, and golden oranges all at the +same time? Or sitting under this orange-tree in February, listening to +a mocking-bird perched on its branches, and reading in your paper about +the blizzards and storms of the East, and the tornadoes and cyclones +which you know will never visit your home? Why should our novelists +lay the scenes of their tales in Andalusia when we have an Andalusia +of our own here on the Pacific Coast? At one time it formed part of +the so-called Great American Desert, but in the next century it will be +known as the Great American Paradise. + +Yet let not the coming population of the Pacific Andalusia fancy +that they will be spared all the trials and annoyances of life. Even +Southern California has its disadvantages,—quite enough to prevent it +from degenerating into a Utopia. Thus you will some morning be standing +in your garden admiring your favorite banana bush. Suddenly it will +tremble and sink into the ground a foot or two. Earthquakes are not +unknown in this region, but they don’t “strike in one place” like that. +No, it was one of those irrepressible gophers, the terror of the rural +Californian. They will eat the roots of your fruit trees and choicest +flowers, regardless of expense; and though cats and traps will catch +them, and irrigation drowns them, the neighboring fields always furnish +a fresh supply; and what is worse, their subterranean passages from +these fields serve as tunnels which carry off your water, and make +you pay twice as much for irrigation as you would have needed but for +those holes. Then there are scale-bugs of all colors, which attack your +orange-trees and have to be sprayed off; and a mysterious disease which +kills your vines; and small green insects which eat up your flowers and +buds so that you need a whole drug store to combat them. Rabbits will +eat your vegetables and grape-vines, and the quails will feed on your +grapes; and, to add insult to injury, the Los Angeles sporting clubs +have succeeded in passing a law which prevents you from shooting these +birds at a time when it would do most to protect your crops. However, +if you are a sportsman, you will forgive and observe this law, which +enables you at other times to shoot at a flock of quail in your own +vegetable garden, though you live in a town of two or three thousand +inhabitants. + +The desolate appearance which all the unirrigated parts of the country +present after May must also be reckoned among the disadvantages of +this climate; for a sensitive soul can hardly help feeling pity for +the drooping, parched vegetation, especially after having noticed how +eagerly it drinks in the first rain of the autumn, with as much evident +enjoyment as a Bavarian emptying his mug of beer at a draught. Nor +can one help admitting that the orange groves and eucalyptus avenues, +delightful as they are, cannot entirely atone for the absence of green +forests; for Southern California, except in the foothills, is as +treeless as Spain—which it resembles in so many other respects,—and a +single oak-tree has more than once furnished the nucleus of a town. +The higher mountains are as bare of trees as the valleys, but this +is compensated for by the consequent greater clearness and variety +of the sculptured outlines, and by the snows which fall during every +rainstorm, sometimes extending almost down to the foothills. In the +clear southern atmosphere these mountains, though they be fifty or +sixty miles away, seem to be almost within a stone’s throw; and as they +are visible everywhere, they constitute one of the greatest charms of +Southern California. Once in a while, however, this view is spoiled for +a day or two by one of those desert winds and sand-storms which are the +most annoying feature of this climate, and are known as the Norther, +or the “Santa Ana” wind, as the Anaheimers call it, in order to give a +hated rival town a bad name. Without being a hurricane, or even a gale, +this wind reaches a considerable velocity, is as dry and warm as if +it came from an oven, and raises clouds of dust which obscure the sun +and mountains as effectually as the smoke of the forest fires does in +Oregon, and a film of which even lines the waters of the Pacific to a +considerable distance from the shore. If I finally mention that this +dust, even when it lies quietly on the ground two or three inches thick +during seven or eight months of the year, is by no means a desirable +thing to have about, I shall have mentioned all the serious blemishes +that I could discover on the face of this fair country; and they are +so insignificant compared with its attractions that I have given them +the advantage of having the last word in this chapter, confident that +they cannot essentially modify the opinion therein expressed as to the +future of Southern California. + + + + + IV. + + THE HOME OF THE ORANGE. + + THE GERMAN COLONY AT ANAHEIM—RABBIT-HUNTING IN THE CACTUS + FIELDS—COWS AND ORANGES—THE BEST CALIFORNIA ORANGE—RIVERSIDE AND + ITS MODEL ORCHARDS—ORANGE-PICKING—A WONDERFUL AVENUE—LOCAL FLAVOR + IN ORANGES—AN ENGLISH COLONY—HOW PROHIBITION PROHIBITS—SCENES + BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND SAN DIEGO. + + +After enjoying the sights of Los Angeles, including the palms and +orange groves, the cable-car scenery, and Chinatown, which have been +often enough described, it will repay the tourist to devote a week or +two to a round trip through that part of the State which lies south of +Los Angeles as far as San Diego and Tia Juana on the Mexican border. +Take a ticket to Riverside, via Orange, and stop over a day at Anaheim, +which commands a specially fine view of the snow-capped San Gabriel +range and the giant San Bernardino. Anaheim is known as the “mother +colony,” having been founded as early as 1858 by a party of fifty +Germans from San Francisco, in search of a pleasant site for homes and +good soil for raising Rhine wine. To-day the population is no longer +exclusively German, nor is wine-making the chief industry; for Anaheim +enjoys the sad distinction of being the place where the destructive +vine disease originated, and now there are few good vineyards left +in the vicinity, though the cellars of the hospitable families are +still well stocked with a Riesling that unmistakably betrays its +legitimate descent from the celebrated Johannisberger stock on the +Rhine. Undaunted by their misfortune, the Anaheimers have dug out their +dead vines and planted in their place oranges, walnuts, pampas plumes, +and figs, which in a few years will bear as rich fruit and as big +profits as the former vineyards. The fields and orchards are supplied +with water through a ditch from the Santa Ana River, sixteen miles +long, and lined all the way with willows. A drive along this ditch is +interesting, as is a visit to the ostrich farm, two or three miles from +the town. If a longer stay is contemplated, there is excellent hunting +of wild goose, ducks, and other water-fowl, all the way from Anaheim +to the ocean, while in the cactus fields around the town may be found +quails and pigeons, and the sportive jack-rabbit abounds. In hunting +him, you not only satisfy the craving for murder of some sort, which +still lingers as a relic of savagery in the gentlest human breast, but +you do a great service to the farmers, who are sometimes obliged in +self-defence to organize rabbit drives, at which two or three thousand +of the long-eared, fleet-footed robbers are killed. + +Rabbit-hunting in cactus fields is a sport quite _sui generis_. The +moment you catch a glimpse of Jack, he is apt to catch a glimpse of +you and dodge behind a cactus bush; and if you follow him too quickly +but unwisely, you will suddenly find your nether limbs pierced with a +thousand fish-hook-pointed thorns, requiring an hour or two of hard +and bloody work for their extraction. Unless you kill him on the spot +he will crawl into a cactus bush, where neither dog nor devil can +get at him. You know just where he is, but he might as well be at the +bottom of the Pacific so far as you are concerned. But the loss is +not great; for three out of four of these rabbits are not fit to eat, +and are therefore usually chopped up for chicken food. Whether it is +that in their flight they run against a thorny cactus leaf or that +they carry off part of a load of shot, the fact is that the meat is +generally diseased, being filled with a granular jelly-like substance +like tapioca pudding. Tourists will do well to avoid hare when they +find it on a Los Angeles bill of fare, as there is little reason to +believe that the huge piles of jacks seen in the market there have +been carefully sorted. But there is another much smaller rabbit, the +cotton-tail, which affords equally good sport, and which is always good +to eat; the younger ones tasting somewhat like chicken. Near the towns +they are shy, active dodgers, and hard to shoot unless you sneak on +them; but in less frequented hunting-grounds they graze complacently +along the roadsides and look upon passing buggies as calmly as cows. +Bang! goes the gun; Nero jumps out and brings the victim; and in +this way dozens can be bagged in a few hours, before sunset, without +once leaving the buggy; so that even invalids and cripples can go +rabbit-hunting in Southern California. But there are stranger things +still. + +Did you ever see a cow eat oranges off a tree? That was one of the +sights I witnessed in Anaheim. Not satisfied with the basketful of +windfall seedlings which she received every day, our Millie, like +Eve, cast longing eyes on the fruit tree near her open stable, and +one day she broke loose and had a regular picnic before she was +discovered. Her daughter, too, a promising young Jersey of six weeks, +after one or two suspicious trials, became very fond of oranges, and +having eaten three or four, would baah for more. The children of our +Mexican neighbors, seeing all this fun, would come in to buy some for +themselves, and received a liberal dozen for five cents. + +These seedling oranges make delicious orangeade, and have a certain +value because they ripen later than the finer sorts and produce larger +crops; but they are rather sour and thick-skinned, and therefore fetch +only a dollar or even seventy-five cents a box on the tree and two +dollars at Chicago, while the best budded variety brings two dollars +and a half to three dollars on the tree and four dollars to four +dollars and a half in Chicago. Consequently the seedlings are no longer +set out to any extent, while the demand for Washington-navel-trees was +so great last winter that the nurserymen could not supply the demand, +and young trees had to be imported from Florida. The Washington-navel +is by far the best of all California oranges. It is a Brazilian +orange, imported in 1873, and seems specially adapted to the climatic +conditions of California. Riverside is its chief home, and Riverside +navels are so highly valued that even in Los Angeles you get only three +or four of them for a quarter of a dollar. They are very large, and, +like the Spanish blood-oranges, almost always seedless, have a thin +skin (with a small, navel-like formation or even a tiny orange at one +end), and a sweet and most delicately flavored juice. I have squeezed +as many as twenty teaspoonfuls of juice out of a single one of these +oranges—a feat which I have never succeeded in accomplishing with a +Florida orange. (I may add in parenthesis that to eat an orange with a +teaspoon is to lose two-thirds of its flavor.) + +The town of Orange, between Anaheim and Riverside, already gives +warning of the neighborhood of the State’s orange centre. The station, +in the springtime, is piled up to the ceiling with boxes of oranges, +and near by a number of men are busily at work wiping the golden fruit +with wet rags and rolling it down inclined boards to dry, preparatory +to packing. The fruit is generally bought on the trees by the packing +companies, who send round their men with ladders, and sacks suspended +around their necks, from which the fruit is transferred to boxes, to be +repacked afterwards, the bruised or imperfect ones being thrown out, so +that three boxes (of the seedlings at any rate) yield only two for the +market. Orange-picking is painted by the imagination as the most poetic +of all agricultural employments, and nothing certainly could look more +picturesque than the boxes of luscious fruit scattered through an +orchard, under the dark green, fragrant trees; but the orange-tree, +like the rose-bush that loves to twine around it, bristles with thorns +which cry for blood, and make orange-picking about as exciting and +perilous a pursuit as rabbit-hunting amid the cactus bushes. + +The town of Orange belonged till lately to Los Angeles County (a +separate Orange County was formed last year with Santa Ana as its +capital), but before reaching Riverside we have entered San Bernardino +County, the largest in the United States—“about the size of the States +of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Massachusetts combined.” The +counties of Southern California are very much larger than those of the +central and northern part of the State, and as the population increases +they will doubtless be further subdivided. But it is doubtful if San +Bernardino County will be divided very soon, for the greater part of it +is comprised in the irredeemable Mojave Desert. The region west of the +Bernardino range, however, is one of the most valuable in the State, +experience having shown that it is the chosen home of the orange. Los +Angeles County has many fine and luxuriant orange groves, and more of +them than San Bernardino County; yet to see California orange culture +in its highest perfection, one must go to Riverside. Nowhere else do +the orchards seem so luxuriant and so well cultivated, or the fruit and +trees so glossy and clean. Here the oranges do not need cleaning with +a rag, owing to the absence of the black scale which elsewhere often +gives the leaves and fruit a dirty appearance. The white scale-bug, +too, which destroys the trees, has thus far spared Riverside groves, +and in the business street of the town a notice is posted warning +purchasers of orange-trees not to import any from infected counties. +The orange is not indigenous to California, as it is to Mexico and +Florida; it does not flourish here without some care, and becomes +remunerative in proportion to the amount of care bestowed on it. A +glance at the well-ploughed, weedless, carefully irrigated orchards +of Riverside at once explains the enormous profits realized by local +growers; and an incident that occurred at Anaheim throws further light +on the matter. Noticing a couple of malodorous freight-cars on the +side track, I asked a man what they contained. “Manure,” he replied, +“from the numerous sheep corrals in the neighborhood, and bound for +Riverside,” adding that this had been found the best manure for +oranges, and that in a few years the Anaheimers, who now foolishly sold +their treasure, would be importing it from elsewhere at an exorbitant +price. Rows of cypress-trees are planted along the edge of every +orchard, and sometimes even traverse the orchard in several places, +to serve as windbreaks; for though there are no hurricanes to provide +against, the desert wind is sometimes sufficiently boisterous to shake +down bushels of unripe fruit and break the heavily laden branches +unless thus protected. + +[Illustration: ORANGE GROVE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.] + +The best way to see the Riverside orange groves, and marvel at their +extent, is to ride or walk along Magnolia Avenue, doubtless the finest +avenue in America. It is laid out a distance of twelve miles, and +seven miles are now finished. Between the road and the houses on each +side are four rows of tall eucalyptus and spreading pepper-trees, +and two rows of fan palms, ten to twenty feet in height, and growing +more beautiful every year. Nor is this fine avenue a monopoly of +carriage-owners; for the poorest can enjoy its sights by paying ten +cents for a ride in the street-cars, which have their track under a row +of pepper-trees, without interfering with the broad carriage-drive. In +this way Riverside spreads itself out, covering a territory, orchards +included, of fifty-four square miles, and almost realizing the ideal +of one of those California “rural cities of the future,” sketched in +the last chapter. The grounds of some of the elegant villas which +line this road are thrown open to the public, and one of them, which +I examined, with its extensive stables, shady walks, hammocks, tennis +grounds, and notices of club meetings, and _al-fresco_ teas, had an +air of hospitality and sociability, recalling the life on Southern +plantations before the Civil War. The large adobe house, a relic of +the Spanish occupation, was deliciously cool on a warm day, and the +owner said he did not find it unhealthy. He showed me through his +extensive orchard, and with a large table-knife cut open specimens of +more than half-a-dozen different kinds of budded oranges for me to +taste. They were all sweet and juicy, but he had to admit himself that +the differences in flavor were not so pronounced as the differences in +the original homes of these varieties led one to expect. California +fruit-growers doubtless attempt too much in seeking to raise oranges +from so many different countries in the same field without losing their +characteristic flavor. This difference in flavor is due to differences +in soil and climate, and can only be preserved and reproduced in a +similar soil and climate. As California fortunately has an infinite +variety of climates and soil, it is probable that the problem of +raising Italian, Spanish, Mexican, and Florida oranges all in the same +State will yet be solved, but not in one and the same orchard. The +Spanish blood-orange, for instance, the most delicately flavored of all +oranges, is rarely seen in California; and when I asked why, I was told +that it was inclined to sport and lose its characteristics. There is a +fortune in store for the man who finds out under what conditions this +variety flourishes in Spain, and seeks out a similar locality for it +at home. Another excellent variety, the Florida russet, I never saw on +the Pacific Coast. Its appearance is against it, and it is difficult to +teach people to select their fruit for the palate rather than the eye. + +Riverside is a little too far inland to get much benefit from the +ocean breezes, but it is surrounded by mountains, snow-capped +till summer, which to some extent atone for this disadvantage, and +which make Riverside, from a scenic point of view, one of the most +attractive places in the State. This, combined with its horticultural +prosperity, causes it to grow rapidly, and among the new comers and +the old there are a large number of English families, who, of course, +endeavor to bring their household goods and customs with them. Foremost +among these is the fox-hunt; but as there are no foxes to be hunted, +the simple-minded plebeian jack-rabbit has to take the place of his +astute, bushy-tailed colleague. There are no fences to jump or fields +to destroy, and everything is in plain sight; but as the riding is +much faster than in England, there is no lack of excitement. To come +home from one of these hunts with a pair of rabbit ears in her hat is +the chief pride of the English damsels at Riverside. Besides, these +ornaments take the place of a parasol, much needed here sometimes. In +midsummer, no doubt, Riverside is a good place to get away from, but +in winter it offers special advantages to invalids, provided they are +willing to submit to being treated like children, in being told what +they may drink and what they may not. Riverside is a prohibition town. +So I discovered at the hotel when I asked for a pint of claret. I have +never been drunk in my life, and I find that a few glasses of pure +claret aid my digestion, and moreover I like it, and am able to pay for +it. Yet here I, who am supposed to be a free citizen in a free country, +am placed in a position where I cannot indulge in a harmless and useful +pleasure which concerns no one but myself, without breaking the law. +Of course I broke the law, as anybody but a fool or a coward ought to +do. A few words in private to the waiter, and the wine appeared on +the table. Of course, when I asked him how much it was, he said he +wouldn’t charge for it,—he had merely brought it “to oblige me”; and +of course I asked how much he paid for it, and then left that amount, +plus a suitable fee, on the table. A resident with whom I conversed +subsequently on the subject gave me some instances of capital withheld +and capital withdrawn from Riverside in consequence of the prohibition +law, which unfits it as a residence for people who like to be free and +law-respecting at the same time. A friend in Los Angeles had previously +explained to me how Pasadena was damaged by the local prohibition law +(which I believe has since been repealed), and gave an amusing account +of the visit of the city fathers to Mr. Raymond, who continued to serve +wine to his tourist and invalid guests after the law had been passed. +Mr. Raymond quietly informed them that if they would not allow him +to run a first-class hotel in their town, he would pull it down and +rebuild it elsewhere. As the Raymond is one of the largest hotels and +chief resorts on the Pacific Coast, the city fathers got alarmed, took +their leave, and never molested Mr. Raymond again. + +One more instance: Until within a year or two the owner of Catalina +Island would not allow any beer or liquor to be sold to the thousands +of campers on it; whereupon, an enterprising man hired a barge, moored +it a hundred yards from the shore, put canvas over it, filled it with +drinkables, and hired a boy to ferry his customers over and back. Mr. +Shatto thereupon refused to allow the steamer to land anything for this +man on his pier; but the latter got around this, too, by simply having +his beer-barrels lowered directly from the steamer to his boat. These +are illustrations of how prohibition prohibits in California. + +It is not necessary to stuff your pockets and valise full of oranges on +leaving Riverside for the South; for you will find just as good fruit, +and plenty of it, in San Diego County. Backing up to a station called +Citrus, a few miles north of Riverside, you wait for the train which +leaves Barstow on the Atlantic and Pacific, or Santa Fé, Railway, for +San Diego, and which, soon after you have boarded it, enters the county +of that name,—a county not quite as large as San Bernardino, but still, +according to the guide-book, covering as much ground as Massachusetts, +Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware combined. It forms the +southwestern corner of the United States, and owes much of its local +color to the proximity of Mexico, or Lower California,—a peninsula +which a large number of educated people in the East are in the habit of +mistaking for “Southern California.” The branch of the Santa Fé road +referred to is known as the California Southern Railroad. Between the +Bernardino range and the ocean it traverses a region where the spring +vegetation, though almost as abundant as in Los Angeles County, is not +so luxuriant, owing to the diminished rainfall. Three-fifths or more of +the vegetation which carpets the fields seems to consist of Compositæ, +and the predominant color is yellow—as if to hint at the fact, which +has long since been demonstrated, that there is more gold to be got +out of the surface of California soil than out of all its subterranean +mines. + +One never tires of looking at these gaudily colored fields, especially +when bordered by foothills, whose green garb is ornamented with red, +yellow, brown, and blue patches, like a “crazy-quilt,” varying in +shade and atmospheric effect with the time of the day; or when, as on +this route, there is a background of high mountains, with their snow +caps drawn half-way down their treeless foreheads as late as May. The +two chief mountains are too long-drawn-out to be imposing sculpturally, +but the great mass of snow on them gains in charm by contrast with the +surrounding blue sky and warm sunshine. The best point of view is from +Perris, the junction for the short branch road to San Jacinto. + +Soon thereafter the Laguna is reached, also known as Lake Elsinore; but +if the tourist expects to see one of those picturesque mountain lakes +for which the State is famous, he will be grievously disappointed. +The Laguna is a commonplace, dreary old pond, with steep hills on +one side and flat on the other. There are ducks on it, but no cover +to approach them. In May, 1889, it was sixteen feet higher than two +years previously, and it has a habit of getting very low till the real +estate on its banks has been claimed, whereupon it roguishly rises and +submerges it for a few years. But the soil in the vicinity is credited +with marvellous properties. + +We now enter the region of Indian missions and reservations, and expect +to see some of the redskins loitering about the stations, as they do +at Yuma and elsewhere; but not a single one is to be seen at any of +the towns. Those who make pilgrimages in the tracks of novel heroines +may find something to interest them hereabouts with their “Ramona” as +a guide; but otherwise the region is dreary and desolate, its only +apparent attraction being the snow-mountains just described. A pleasant +change is afforded by the passage through the Temecula Cañon, in which +it is refreshing to follow along a creek, though it be but a few +inches deep and two or three feet wide. It cools the air and lines the +bank with pretty bushes. + +Presently smoke-like mists begin to rise from the water, as if it were +on fire; scattered pools with bulrushes and flocks of birds, and the +russet color and rank monotony of the vegetation, indicate the approach +to the ocean. A cool saline breeze strikes the cars; the windows of +the more sensitive passengers are lowered, and at the same moment the +Pacific comes into sight—to many of the tourists their first view of +the king of waters. But the outlook is limited, for a few miles at +sea hovers a fog-bank which looks as opaque and solid as if a Krupp +gun could make no impression on it. For the rest of the way to San +Diego the ocean is almost constantly in sight, and new varieties of +plants and flowers occupy the attention. Conspicuous among the flowers +are a white morning-glory, larkspurs, and lupines in several colors, +the ice-plant with red flowers and leaves that seem to be covered +with icicles, and a flowering bush which at a distance resembles the +alpenrose. + + + + + V. + + OVER THE MEXICAN BORDER. + + SAN DIEGO AND CORONADO BEACH—AN IDEAL CLIMATE—AN ARTIFICIAL + LAKE—HOW TOWNS ARE RAISED—THE NATIONAL BOUNDARY—DONKEYS VERSUS + RAILROADS—MORE SALOONS THAN HOUSES—LIMES VERSUS LEMONS. + + +Although San Diego has no lack of hotels, most of the tourists cross +the bay which separates the city from the thirteen-mile-long peninsula +known as Coronado Beach, and take up their abode in the Coronado hotel, +covering more than seven acres,—the largest in Southern California, +and second in size and elegance only to the Del Monte at Monterey. +Porpoises sport about the ferry-boat, almost within arm’s reach, and +excite the appetite for sea-fishing. On the peninsula, a steam-dummy +connects with the ferry and conveys those passengers for whom the +coaches are too slow to the hotel. Coronado affords an excellent +instance of what can be done in this region with irrigation. A few +years ago this whole peninsula was a desert, while now there are +numerous villas and stores, and good roads, and avenues of young trees, +which in a few years will afford welcome shade. The hotel is surrounded +by flower-beds as monstrous in proportion as itself, crowded with +enormous double stocks, petunias, large pansies, marguerites, etc., +etc.: and another superb flower-garden takes up the interior court. +Dining-room, parlors, and dance-hall are sufficiently spacious for +all emergencies, and simply though tastefully decorated. It may seem +a disadvantage that, owing to the position of the dance-hall, there +are few rooms facing the ocean; but as it is always cool here, day +and night, summer and winter, the site of rooms is not so important a +matter as on the Atlantic Coast. + +No other part of California has so perfect a climate as Coronado and +San Diego, the mean difference in temperature between summer and winter +being only 12.3°, with an average of only five days a year when the +thermometer rises above 85°; and, what is still more remarkable, only +twelve days a year when it rises above 80°. As only ten inches of rain +fall in a year,—just one hundred inches less than at Sitka, the other +extremity of our Pacific Coast,—and clouds or fogs of more than a few +hours’ duration are rare, it may be inferred that the sun shines almost +perpetually, even in winter. When an invalid who proposes to make the +Coronado his home for awhile reads in the rules and regulations pasted +upon his door that a single fire costs a dollar, he is relieved to be +told that cold weather is as scarce as fuel, and that, according to +official government records, during the ten years from 1876 to 1885, +there were only six days on which the temperature fell below 35°, two +on which it fell to 32°, and none below that point! I had also read +somewhere that mud is practically unknown, since the little rain that +falls sinks into the soil immediately, so that it is safe to lie on +the ground a few hours after a shower. I was therefore surprised, +on picking up a local newspaper, to see an editorial headed “Too +Much Mud.” But on examination it proved to be a political, not a +meteorological article. On politics climate has no effect. + +The Coronado beach is well adapted to bathing, which is indulged in +all the year round, there being only about six degrees’ difference in +the temperature of the water, winter and summer. When the ocean is too +rough, or the tide unfavorable, the bay affords a safe bathing-ground, +as at Fire Island. That the ocean is rough sometimes is evinced by +the sad havoc it has made with the plank walks between the hotel and +the water, and, as at Coney Island, it seems to be encroaching on the +hotel premises, and will soon thunder against its very foundations. It +is interesting to walk along the beach towards Point Loma, on which +a lighthouse is picturesquely situated. Entertainment is afforded on +the way by the water-fowl, which stand inside of the breakers waiting +for a big foaming wave, into which they plunge headlong, emerging +calmly swimming on the other side, with a fish struggling in the beak. +Twenty miles at sea, to the southwest, are the Coronado Islands, the +haunt of seals, occasionally visited by yachting parties. There is +always something that appeals to the imagination in the meeting of two +countries, and the fact that these islands belong to Mexico makes them +doubly interesting. + +Twice a week or oftener opportunity is given the guests at the Coronado +to put foot on Mexican soil. A steam-dummy, with open cars, starts from +the hotel, goes down the peninsula and up on the other side of the bay, +as far as National City, and then branches off, first to the great +Sweet Water Reservoir, and then to Tia Juana. It would be difficult +to imagine a more delightful excursion than this seventy-mile round +trip in open cars. The cool, fragrant air is free from dust, and the +country is so picturesque that one keeps on choosing one place after +another as an ideal site for a cottage and an orange grove. On reaching +the Sweet Water Reservoir, which covers seven hundred acres, it is +difficult to believe that it is not a natural lake, so prettily and +cosily does it rest at the foot of the surrounding hills. Yet here, +where now the wild ducks disport themselves, stood several farmhouses +a few years ago, surrounded by green fields. The dam which created +this lake is about four hundred feet long at the top and forty-six +feet thick at the base, built of solid rock; and the reservoir holds +six billion gallons, sufficient to supply National City and San Diego +with water for consumption and irrigation for three years, though not +another drop of rain should add to its volume. A flume seven miles in +length carries the water to the two cities, which now, with abundant +and cheap water, can amend their arid, treeless appearance, which at +present is their least attractive feature. + +After visiting Sweet Water Lake, the train faces about and turns +towards old “Aunt Jane,” or Tia Juana, in Mexico, passing through the +town of Chula Vista, a characteristic Southern California enterprise. +A tract of five thousand acres has been subdivided by a land company +into five-acre lots, with avenues and wide streets through which the +steam-motor passes, and ornamented with thousands of evergreen trees. +These lots are sold only to purchasers who will agree to build on them +houses costing not less than two thousand dollars within six months +from date of purchase; and by way of providing models and starting the +ball, the company itself has erected a number of cottages. Such an +attempt to force a town by hot-house methods would fail anywhere else: +here it will probably succeed. Every time the train stops, a handful of +real-estate circulars is thrown into each car, setting forth the unique +advantages of that particular locality; while the fine appearance of +the residences, with their lovely gardens and orchards, contributes +its share towards advertising the region. For the convenience of the +scattered settlers, the train-boy throws the daily papers into the +yards from the flying train. Near the boundary line are some yellow +pools, in one of which a water-snake darted out its angry tongue at a +whole carload of tourists and then dived out of sight. A few minutes +more and we were on Mexican soil; and though sufficient of the Mexican +element lingers in Southern California to form a gradual transition, +the change is distinctly perceptible. Characteristically enough, the +first thing I saw after leaving the train was a young burro, with silky +hair and no larger than a Newfoundland dog. In Spanish countries, +where the railroad ceases the donkey begins. One side of Tia Juana is +American; the other, Mexican. The dividing line, where the Estados +Unidos meet Mexico, is occupied by a restaurant which bears the +modest title of “Delmonico.” Opposite is a cigar-store which has the +suggestive sign of “The last chance.” There are more saloons in Tia +Juana than buildings. This may seem a paradoxical statement, but it +is true; for some of the saloons are in tents, open in front, with a +counter in the centre and empty beer-barrels for seats. The sight of +the town is the Custom-House, with its polite but pistolled officials, +and the rooms filled with rifles which parties crossing the line had +to leave behind to await their return. There are also a few curiosity +stores, conducted with a truly Spanish lack of enterprise. Almost +every tourist wants to buy a memento of his hour in Mexico, but there +is nothing to be had except some very crude pottery and a few tiny, +hideous clay gods. Nor does the proprietor’s knowledge of English go +beyond the ability to say twenty cents or thirty cents. + +Looking beyond Tia Juana, nothing is to be seen but lone, low +mountains,—not a house or hut anywhere,—and we gladly return to +civilization with the train. On the way back, the conductor pointed +out to me the place where the famous Bonnie Brae lemons are grown. +I had previously eaten some at San Diego, and found them large and +juicy, with fewer seeds and a much less thick and coarse skin than +other California lemons. This variety seems destined to retrieve the +reputation of the California lemon, which is not equal to that of the +orange, or of foreign lemons. But I doubt if any kind of lemon will +have much of a future in this country. At San Francisco lemons are not +valued nearly so highly as Mexican limes, which are gradually taking +their place. The lime has a tougher skin than the lemon, and does not +break so easily in the squeezer. In fact, it can be easily squeezed by +hand; and besides, there is more juice in a small lime than in a lemon +twice its size and twice or three times its cost. Its taste, after a +few trials, is more agreeable and piquant than that of any lemon, and I +believe that Eastern cities will soon follow the lead of San Francisco +in this matter. The lemonade of the future will be made of limes. + + + + + VI. + + SANTA CATALINA ISLAND. + + FROM SAN DIEGO TO LOS ANGELES—ALONG THE COAST—A ROMANTIC + SPOT—LOST IN A MUSTARD FIELD—SAN PEDRO—FLOATING + HIGHLANDS—SUN AND OCEAN BATHS IN WINTER—AVALON VILLAGE—THE + LUXURY OF EXISTENCE—FLOWERS, HUMMING-BIRDS, AND POISON + IVY—RATTLESNAKES—HUNTING WILD GOATS—INDIAN RELICS—ABALONE SHELLS + AND THEIR HUNTERS—SPORT FOR FISHERMEN—A SUBMARINE GARDEN—THE + SEALS AT HOME. + + +Eastern people have no idea how fast things grow in California. +Everybody, of course, has heard the story of the farmer who in the +morning planted watermelon seeds in his field, and in the evening found +that the vine had grown to his kitchen door and deposited a ripe melon +on the steps. But this is nothing compared with the way in which the +cities grow. Thus, on page 216 of Drs. Lindley and Widney’s valuable +work on “California of the South,” we read of “San Diego’s fifteen +thousand inhabitants,” while on page 218 (and it surely cannot have +taken more than a day or two to write these two pages) they say that +“San Diego is growing with most wonderful rapidity. Its population +is doubtless twenty-five thousand.” Most wonderful indeed! San Diego +did seem quite a lively place when I saw it, although this may have +been partly attributable to its being the headquarters of the miners +going to the Santa Clara mines in Lower California. ’Tis an ill wind, +etc.; and the losses of these duped miners were the gain of the San +Diego merchants, who sold almost a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of +victuals and tools to the gold-hunters. The temptation to follow the +latter and get a glimpse of a genuine California mining-camp was great; +but on hearing of the hardships to be endured, of the two hundred +dollars’ duty laid by the Mexican government on a single wagon and team +crossing the border, and the taxes on provisions equal to their full +value, which raised the cost of food in camp to figures considered +fabulous even by miners accustomed to starvation prices,—not to +mention the tropical rains just then prevalent, which made tenting an +invitation to catarrh, rheumatism, and pneumonia,—I concluded to move +northward sixty miles or so, and spend a few weeks instead on Catalina +Island. + +Before leaving the Coronado I had an opportunity to note a curious +way of settling urban questions in California. It had long been in +dispute whether or not Coronado Beach belonged to San Diego, so it +was determined to settle the matter on election day. There being a +law that no liquor may be sold in San Diego on an election day, the +barkeeper at the Coronado hotel was instructed to keep open, for which +he was promptly arrested. This was to compel the courts to decide the +question at issue. What the decision was, I do not know, as I left +the next morning. Retracing my steps as far as Oceanside, I took the +California Central direct back to Los Angeles. This road continues to +skirt the ocean as far as San-Juan-by-the-Sea (a few miles from the +famous San Juan Capistrano Mission), where the tourist bids good-by to +the Pacific, not to see it again till he reaches San Francisco, unless +he takes a branch road to one of the numerous seaside resorts of Los +Angeles or to Santa Barbara. + +San-Juan-by-the-Sea was called by Dana, in his “Two Years before the +Mast,” “the only romantic spot in California,” which is probably the +most absurd statement regarding California that has ever got into +print. But it certainly is one of the most charming points on the +coast for those who love solitude, and all tourists ought to stop over +at least between two trains and see it. If they decide to spend the +night at the “hotel,” I wish them better luck than befell me. Early +in the morning, having paid the (really) big sum of one dollar for +supper, lodging, and breakfast, I went down to the beach, about half +a mile from the station, across an immense field of wild mustard, +buried completely in a sea of fragrant yellow flowers waving over my +head, and then had to cross a lively little creek on a narrow plank,—a +creek which enjoys the satisfaction, rare in this region, of reaching +the ocean without being tapped, or absorbed by the thirsty sun. The +view from its mouth contrasts delightfully with the uninterrupted, +flat sandy beach all the way up from San Diego. A high, precipitous +rocky shore rises abruptly, and presents itself as a bulwark against +the restless waves. It leads up to hills from which fine views may be +enjoyed, and which give room for daily varied rambles which one misses +so much at a flat place like Coronado Beach. As there is a fine beach +a short distance below, it would be a splendid place for a hotel, and +is already much frequented in midsummer by campers. When I was there, +a deserted hut was the only visible evidence of human agency, and the +solitude was emphasized by four monstrous pelicans sitting motionless +and majestic on an isolated rock half a mile at sea. Below the +precipice, where the waves in low water tumble gently over the rocky +débris jutting far out into the sea, may be found quantities of shells, +not dead and deserted specimens lying bleaching on the beach, but +shells and cockles alive and wide awake, and moving about like little +pagodas with wheels and clockwork. + +On the way back to the station I cut off one of the tallest mustard +plants,—bushes they might well be called, so thick and tough are the +stems at the base,—and asked the station master how high he thought +it was. He measured it and found it eleven feet in height! Then for +the first time I felt convinced that the narrative of an Anaheimer, +who told me how thirty years ago he once got lost _on horseback_ in a +wild-mustard field on the fertile soil near where Fullerton now stands, +was not a “California story.” To-day many of these fields of wild +mustard are mowed down, yielding a crop which is the more profitable +as there are no expenses for ploughing and sowing. I cannot see why +there should not also be money in the castor bean, which, elsewhere +cultivated in gardens as an ornamental shrub, is here a weedy nuisance +hard to exterminate when it once gains a foothold. I have seen it grow +as high as a second-story window in Los Angeles, side by side with a +fuchsia _tree_, so to speak, still higher; while roses often cover a +whole house, roof and all, and would aspire to the moon if there was a +connecting link. + +To reach Catalina Island we take the train at Los Angeles for its old +harbor town, San Pedro, whence a steamer makes trips to the island +three times a week. San Pedro is considered good fishing-ground, has +numerous duck-ponds in the vicinity, and appears to be the headquarters +of all the sea-gulls on the Pacific, the beach being completely fringed +by them at times. The chief article of import seems to be timber, +the wharves being covered with acres of boards and planks, brought +from Humboldt County and from Oregon and Puget Sound. A part of the +town lies in a hollow which forms a complete kettle, and must be an +ideal breeding-place for typhoid fever. Hotel accommodations are very +primitive, but the Southern Pacific is completing a hotel near the +lighthouse, where the sea-breezes can never fail. The little steamer +_Hermosa_, specially built for the traffic between San Pedro and +Catalina, is new and comfortable, but has the great fault of rolling on +the slightest provocation. However, the distance is but twenty miles, +so that even those inclined to sea-sickness need not dread the passage. +Santa Catalina Island is the second in size and the most interesting of +the large number of islands which lie along the coast of California, +beginning with the Coronado group, just below San Diego, and ending +with Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa, off Santa Barbara. As it is the only +one which has steam connection with the mainland, it has for many +years been visited every summer by thousands of campers, and the hotel +erected there lately has added to its popularity, although for sanitary +and scenic reasons the site chosen for it is not the best that could +have been found. The island is visible from the mainland all along Los +Angeles County, even far in the interior, as it has mountains which +rise to a height of about three thousand feet. Indeed, as the boat +approaches, we see that it consists entirely of mountains, being a +sort of floating highlands, like a section of the Coast Range rising +abruptly out of the ocean, without any gradual slopes or foothills; +presenting a solid front of perpendicular rocks except in a few places +where the wall is broken by a little cove or harbor, with a pebbly +beach, as at Avalon, where the hotel stands. A study of the map of +Southern California leaves no doubt in the mind that these islands at +one time actually did form a part of the Coast Range, being connected +with each other and constituting a peninsula extending from Point +Conception to below Coronado, with a wide channel or sound between +(like that which now extends for about a thousand miles from Olympia +to Sitka), and navigated by the Pineugnas Indians, who in the time of +the early Spanish voyagers inhabited Catalina Island, and were noted +for their fine physique and skill in shipbuilding. Though they are +now widely separated and scattered, these Channel Islands continue to +affect the climate of Southern California by breaking the force of the +wild Pacific waves and winds. + +This fact can be vividly realized by climbing the hills on Catalina +till the Pacific is sighted, dashing its huge billows against the naked +rocks that rise perpendicularly to two thousand feet or more above +it, the home of eagles that build their nests in these inaccessible +heights,—monstrous birds, measuring sometimes twelve feet from wing +to wing. In striking contrast to this turbulence on the west side is +the calm of the eastern side, which is hardly ever disturbed, even in +stormy weather. Here the campers and hotel guests bathe in the bay +every day in the year, the temperature of the sea-water in August being +about 66°, and only four degrees lower in midwinter; while in Rhode +Island, for example, the difference between midwinter and midsummer +temperature is about 35°! The Kuro Siwo, or Japan current, three to +four hundred miles in width, which is deflected by the Aleutian Islands +southward along the coast of Washington and Oregon, becomes so far +cooled off by the time it reaches San Francisco as to make sea-bathing +in that neighborhood unpleasant even in summer. But this current is +deflected again by Point Conception; and between the Channel Islands +and the mainland south of this cape there is a return ocean current +from the south, which partly accounts for the higher temperature of +the water at Catalina, as well as along the main shore of Southern +California. + +The temperature of the air on Catalina Island hardly ever rises above +85°, and, thanks to the twenty miles of water which separate it from +the mainland, it is never visited by the hot, parching desert winds. +Yet, though thus surrounded by a vaporous sea, fog is almost unknown, +being shut out by the mountains, and, what is stranger still, the +air is said to be drier than on shore. With such conditions and with +constant sea-breezes and an immunity from dust as complete as on +shipboard, it is no wonder that Catalina is beginning to be looked upon +as standing to Southern California in the same relation as Southern +California does towards other States. I met several invalids afflicted +with rheumatic or lung troubles who had failed to find relief at Los +Angeles or Santa Barbara, but found it at once on Catalina Island; and +convalescents make more rapid recovery there than elsewhere. He must +be fastidious indeed who is not satisfied with the climatic conditions +of this island, and notwithstanding its mountainous structure, I am +convinced that before the end of another decade it will be covered with +hundreds of handsome cottages and several hotels and supply villages. +There is room for a considerable number of health and pleasure seekers; +for the island is about twenty-three miles long, and from one to seven +wide. + +A few miles from its northern end, Catalina presents a curious contrast +to its usual appearance. Here the mountains terminate abruptly, and the +island becomes reduced to a narrow isthmus, about half a mile wide, on +one side of which are the turbulent Pacific breakers, on the other the +calm sound. Here are the ruins of government barracks, erected during +the Civil War and now deserted, but no other signs of human habitation, +though a hotel will doubtless be erected before long. The only way of +reaching this interesting point is by an occasional excursion on a +little tug-boat stationed at Avalon, the only village on the island at +present. It consists of the Hotel Metropole (what a name for a hotel +in such a position!) and a row of shanties, half wood and half canvas, +in which bread and provisions and shells can be obtained. The hotel +is built on the site of an old Indian burial ground, which is not a +pleasant thought to those who know that invisible ghosts in the shape +of typhoid-fever germs have been exhumed from European graveyards +which had been undisturbed for several hundred years. For this and +other reasons the hotel ought to be removed part way up the hill, just +south of Avalon, whence a fine view of the island and the sound can be +obtained. + +But do not fancy that from the top of this hill, or the higher one to +which it leads, you will catch sight of the illimitable Pacific. The +higher you climb, the higher do the mountains, that were previously +hidden from sight by the lower intervening crests, loom up and shut +out the view westward. But these curved ridges, rising one behind the +other, like seats in a cyclopean amphitheatre, are in themselves a +fascinating sight, especially in spring, when the hill-sides are green +with high grass and abundant shrubbery. Looking down from this hill, we +can see the large fish swimming about in the crystalline water, several +hundred feet below us. To lie here on the grass, in the balmy sunshine, +taking in the view and inhaling the ocean breeze, mingled with the +floral perfumes that rise around you, is the very luxury of existence, +and every deep draught of this air is a day added to one’s life. Thanks +to the breeze, no shade is needed, and thus all the healing virtues of +the sun’s rays can be utilized. + +Should the labor of climbing this steep hill be dreaded, equally +romantic spots may be found by following up the cañon or gulch which +leads from the hotel into the midst of the hills by a gradual but +steady ascent. The road follows a dry brook-bed, which probably once +in a while becomes a torrent, though heavy rains are rare here, even +during the “rainy season.” An endless variety of shrubs and flowers +lines this road, becoming more rarely beautiful in color and shape the +higher we rise. Climbing up one of the side gulches, I was frequently +obliged to cut my way with my cane through bowers most gracefully built +by the poison ivy (or oak), which is so abundant throughout California, +afflicting some people, if they only pass near it, with a painful +swelling of the face, while to others it is as harmless as is real +oak or ivy. From one of these lovely bowers a humming-bird arose and +darted up into the air as fast and straight as a rocket, till almost +out of sight; then down again like a lump of lead; then circling in a +wide curve about me, humming all the time like a spinning-wheel. To an +observer who stands perfectly motionless, these birds afford no end of +amusement by their wonderful swiftness and curious caprices. Often, +when I watered my flowers during the winter, one of them would hover +over the stream from the hose, take a foot-bath for a minute, then +alight on an orange-tree for a second, and return to the sport again +and again. They are very abundant in California, these butterflies +among birds, as if to atone for the rarity of real butterflies, which +is one of the most curious defects of this State; for one would think +that a country so crowded with wild flowers would be the very paradise +of butterflies. Another kind of bird very abundant on Catalina Island +is the quail, which, even without the advantage of color, vies with the +humming-bird in beauty. Being seldom hunted, the quail are much tamer +than on the mainland. One couple had a nest in a cactus bush not more +than a hundred yards behind the hotel, where they remained undisturbed +till a heartless young idiot from Los Angeles killed them with his +shotgun. Walking up the cañon, one or two pairs repeatedly ran along +leisurely in the middle of the roadbed, not a hundred feet ahead of me. +At other times I came within a few yards of them before they saw me, +for the ground in many places is covered with a velvety kind of grass, +noiseless and delightful to walk upon. Far up the gradually narrowing +gulches we come upon patches of lovely maiden-hair and other ferns, +guiding us to tiny brooklets of clear cool water. Water is not abundant +on the island so far as explored, and last summer only one of the +springs near Avalon—that which supplies the village pipes—was alive. +But it would be easy to secure all the water desired by damming up one +of the gulches. + +The most serious drawback to the delightful rambles on Catalina Island +is that one always has to keep an eye on the possibility of running +across a “rattler.” The first evening of my two weeks’ sojourn I was +sitting on the hotel piazza, drinking in the salubrious night air, +when the conversation of a group of men attracted my attention. Two of +them were representatives of an English syndicate who were trying to +buy the island, and have since succeeded, I believe, in bagging it for +six hundred thousand dollars. The reason why one of these ubiquitous +English syndicates (who seem to “want the earth” at present) coveted +Catalina Island, is, according to the Los Angeles papers, to be found +in the fact that it abounds in silver ore, which, though not rich +enough to be worked in this country, where labor is so expensive, might +be carried as ballast in vessels returning to England, and profitably +reduced to metal there. The agents were interviewing a resident as to +the advantages and disadvantages of the island, and one of them, _inter +alia_, asked about snakes. “Not a snake on the island,” was the answer. +This was such curious and interesting information that I jotted it +down in my notebook. Next morning after breakfast I took a walk up one +of the hills, and just after passing a little wooden building, I came +across a young Englishman in a white flannel suit, who was cautiously +prying along the road on both sides. “Lost anything?” I asked. “No,” +was the reply; “I am looking for rattlesnakes. Killed one a few days +ago right here, and don’t like them quite so near my house.” He was +greatly amused when I told him how his countrymen had been “stuffed” at +the hotel on the preceding evening. “The island swarms with snakes,” +he said. “They have never been interfered with, and have been allowed +to multiply for several centuries, until they have become as abundant +as ground-squirrels. Only the other day a party moved their tent away +from a spot over on that hill because a snake family had established a +previous claim on the neighborhood. However, you need not be afraid of +walking along the cañon or up the grassy sides of the hills, for they +avoid the grass and haunt only the naked rocky hill-sides, exposed to +the full glare of the sun, where they can be easily seen.” + +I soon found that the simplest way to steer clear of rattlers is to +hunt for them. I spent several hours looking for them in the most +likely places, because I wanted to study the nature of the beast +and get a few rattles, but not one did I see. There is no doubt, +however, that they exist in large numbers, and the sooner they are +exterminated, the better for the future prospects of the island as an +all-the-year-round health resort. However, it must be said that there +are few instances of men having been killed by snakes in California, +while the dreaded scorpions, centipedes, and tarantulas are hardly +more dangerous than hornets. According to Dr. Weir Mitchell, who +has made a special study of this subject, a rattlesnake bite in the +extremities rarely causes death in this country, and he has known of +nine dogs being bitten by as many different snakes, and but two died. +He considers them a much-maligned animal, and says they have always +seemed to him averse to striking. This agrees with what the late T. S. +Van Dyke says in his “Southern California”: “At least a dozen times I +have either been about to step directly on one, or have stepped over +it, or else have set my foot directly beside it. In no case have I +been struck at by them, though I have made them strike very savagely +at a stick.” “Hunters take no precautions against them, and children +run bare-legged through the bush everywhere without thinking of them.” +Still, the nervous might carry in their pocket some permanganate of +potash, which Dr. Mitchell considers the most potent external antidote, +that has saved many lives. + +It might be worth while to introduce on Catalina Island some of the +“road-runners” so common on the mainland,—a bird looking somewhat like +a large pheasant, which runs along the roads, seldom rises on its +wings, and is said to live on snakes, lizards, centipedes, and similar +delicacies, and is nevertheless pronounced a good gastronomic morsel by +those who have the courage to eat it. It might also be good business +policy to import a few of the Arizona cowboys, who, after making the +rattlers strike, catch them by the tail and swing them like a whip till +the head flies off. But cowboys are objectionable neighbors on other +grounds, and it would be better, all things considered, to give the +freedom of the village to a dozen pigs, who would soon make rattlers +scarce about camp, and who might be allowed to run wild and clean out +the whole island. + +There would be a precedent for this in the wild goats which were turned +loose by Vancouver on this and other Pacific islands, a hundred years +ago, and which have now multiplied to thousands. These wild goats +form one of the most characteristic attractions of Catalina. They are +hunted on horseback, and are often seen in large herds, feeding along +the hill-sides. It is not very easy to get near enough for a shot, +but still one or two are generally brought back as the result of a +morning’s ride; and the next day there is always “venison with jelly” +on the hotel bill of fare. If it were a little more juicy and less +insipid in taste (the young ones only are eaten), it might deserve +that name. Barring an occasional hunt, these wild goats lead an ideal +life, which the happiest mortal must envy them,—no wild beasts to prey +on them, and plenty of grass-grown hill-sides to climb and browse +upon. They are more fortunate than their cousins, the wild goats and +half-wild sheep on the neighboring island of San Clemente, which, +though almost as large as Catalina, is more barren, and is said to have +no water at all except the heavy morning dews which the animals sip in +with their breakfast of wild clover. Imagine a goat living on dew-drops +and clover leaves! What becomes of _Puck_ and the tomato-can theory? + +To those who find goat-hunting on horseback too arduous and risky a +sport, Catalina offers a variety of entertainments in its bathing +facilities and the rare opportunities for botanic, mineralogic, and +archæologic research, besides fishing, watching the pelicans and +flying-fish, and visiting the seal rocks. Bathing in the placid bay +lacks the excitement given by plunges into foaming breakers, and it +must be admitted that small pebbles do not make as agreeable a beach +as sand. Yet those who can swim will enjoy a bath here as much as +anywhere. There is a drawback in the thought that only sixty miles to +the south, at San Diego, a young man, while in bathing a few years +ago, suddenly disappeared, being doubtless carried off by a shark. +However, no shark has ever been known to eat more than one man at a +time, so that if several go in together, each one has a fair chance +of escape. Small sharks are occasionally seen in the bay of Avalon, +but no accident has ever happened. Bathers are occasionally stung by +a kind of animal called a stingaree, which causes a wound that must +be cauterized, and is said to be almost as dangerous as a rattlesnake +bite. But then we cannot expect to have everything arranged to suit us. + +The charms of Catalina’s flowers to lovers of beauty and botany I +have already referred to, but I must not forget to mention that the +thrill of delight on coming across the first Mariposa lily will mark +an epoch in their experience. Amateur mineralogists may go prospecting +for silver ore. In some places they will find patches of coal-black +soil, besides igneous rocks in abundance, and other evidences of former +volcanic agency. But the greatest treat awaits the archæologist, who +may dig in the site of the graveyards, or the former village, part +way up the main cañon, for Indian relics. The objects most frequently +found are the pestles and mortars of various sizes, in which the squaws +ground their grain and acorns, and strings of shells. These shells were +used by the Indians as money, and Catalina Island was the place where +most of them were found. The Yankee, who has succeeded the Indian at +Avalon, still makes money out of these shells. There are a number of +varieties strewn along the beach; but the largest and most beautiful +is the abalone shell, the inner surface of which is often equal to the +finest mother-of-pearl, while the outer surface can be made equally +attractive by persistent polishing. The professional abalone-hunters, +who have their stores at Avalon and ship large quantities to the +East, to be made into buttons, jealous of competition, will tell you +unblushingly in spring that these animals are only caught in the +winter; but after a low tide you may see them rowing in with a whole +boat-load of them. It is interesting to watch these men at work. One +of them plies the oars, and the other has a long pole to stick under +the unsuspecting abalone, which he twists off the rock and hauls in; +whereupon the search for another begins. The Californians seem to +consider the abalone possibly useful as well as ornamental; for there +is a tradition (probably manufactured by an ingenious Catalinian) that +a Chinaman, one day while bathing, put his foot under one of these +shells, and was held till miserably drowned by the returning tide. If +this story becomes known at Sacramento, a law will probably be passed +forbidding abalone-fishing. Besides serving as a trap for Mongolians, +the abalone has also a gastronomic use; for it makes the finest soup I +have ever eaten,—superior to the best terrapin. + +Of the fish which abound here the best flavored are the large sardines, +of which a whole boat-load is easily caught with one haul of the net. +There are literally miles and millions of them along the coast, and +it would doubtless be a profitable industry to can them, although the +oil would have to be imported, for California olive oil is too much in +demand and too expensive to be used for such a purpose. But there is a +serious objection to these sardines,—they spoil the fishing; for the +large fish have their sardinian breakfast so handy that they refuse to +bite unless tempted by a special delicacy, such as a piece of lobster. +In April even this ruse often fails; for then the water is filled with +spawn, and when a fish has spawn to eat, he turns up his nose even at +lobster. To one solely intent on catching the fish, it must be most +provoking to see hundreds of them, of all sizes, swimming about his +tempting crawfish bait without paying any more attention to it than if +it were a pebble. + +But the lover of nature can here enjoy scenes which make him oblivious +of the ignoble excitement of catching fish. Catalina Island has one of +the most enchanting salt-water aquariums in the world. Row out into the +ocean a few hundred yards, and you will get a glimpse of a submarine +garden more wonderful than anything to be seen on shore. The water is +calm and as clear as crystal, showing objects fifty or seventy feet +below as distinctly as if you could touch them. Kelp, anemones, and +seaweeds, green, purple, and yellowish, and of various forms, wave +about slowly in the current. Abalone shells cling to the rocks, and +jelly-fish float along, expanding and contracting rhythmically. The +waving seaweeds are covered everywhere with a bluish mass looking like +jelly. It is the spawn, the favorite food of the hundreds of fish in +sight, whose life, swimming calmly to and fro, seems to be a perpetual +picnic, like that of the goats on the green hill-sides. But they have +their enemies everywhere,—in the water, in the air, and on shore. When +the spawn is gone and the sardines have migrated, the fisherman and +the tourist cast their hooks and pull in dozens in a morning; although +once or twice an hour they are surprised by a twenty or thirty pound +monster who swallows the hook and simply walks away with it, heedless +of the tiny line which seeks to hold him. The chief excitement of +ocean fishing lies in this, that one never knows what kind of fish one +is going to land next. More than twenty varieties are caught here, +including rock-cod, sheepshead, whitefish, barracuda, mackerel, etc. +The most fascinating of all is a bright red fish which haunts the +rocks; as beautiful as the Chinese goldfishes kept in glass globes, +but very much larger. It is almost too beautiful to kill, but it has +an ugly mouth, and is good to eat, so up it comes _en route_ to the +frying-pan. + +The fisherman is the least formidable enemy of these fish. The pelican +and the seal are wholesale butchers in comparison. The large pelicans, +with their huge, ugly bills, with which they can scoop up a dozen +sardines or smelts at one fell swoop, are very abundant at Catalina +Island, but at the present rate of extermination by tourists they +will soon be scarce. Their wing-bones make good and novel pipe-stems, +and their skin, with the soft white and gray feathers, is ornamental; +and that settles their fate. They are very stupid birds, and slow, +and not a bit afraid of human beings, which makes them easy victims. +Tourists kill them from the beach or on boats, and after skinning them, +throw the carcass overboard, where it is immediately pounced upon +and disputed by a dozen greedy gulls. The seals occasionally visit +Avalon Bay on their fishing excursions, ingeniously swimming a dozen +abreast in a semicircle, and driving the fish before them till they are +cornered. Sometimes the terrified fish, in their eager flight, jump +on the beach, where they may be picked up alive. No one should fail +to pay a visit to the seal rocks and see these creatures “at home.” +The rocks are at the southern extremity of the island, about six miles +from Avalon, and can be reached by row-boat, or by the steam-tug which +almost daily takes down a party. A row-boat is preferable, because the +seals allow it to approach nearer than a puffing tug. On the way down +observe the splendid precipitous rocks, to the sides of which some wild +goats may occasionally be seen clinging like flies. The boat passes +projecting rocks and rugged promontories, on which a few pelicans and +seals are basking; and between them are several large curved beaches of +smooth pebbles, three or four feet high, and fifty feet wide, to which +every winter’s storms add a foot or two. As we approach the southern +end of the island, the swell of the outer Pacific becomes perceptible, +and at the same time the seal rocks rise up before us. The hundreds +of sea-lions lying on them appear to be fast asleep; but suddenly a +sentinel raises up his head, watches us a moment, and then utters a cry +of alarm. Immediately the whole army are awake, and gradually assume +an erect position, barking hoarsely as we approach them. Among them +are some formidable monsters, large and heavy as oxen, and were they +not known to be perfectly harmless, it would seem a most hazardous +undertaking to row right up to them. With every stroke of the oars +they become more excited and noisy, and finally, when we are within +forty or fifty feet of the rock, they plunge headlong and pell-mell +into the water. For a moment they are invisible, and then they are seen +collecting in a body in a sort of pool between the rocks, sticking up +their snake-like necks and heads, and barking louder than ever, the +younger ones bleating just like sheep. But gradually, as we move away +a little, and throw out our fishing-lines, they become convinced that +our intentions are honorable, and then, with many a groan and snap at +their neighbors, they climb back clumsily to the summit of the rocks, +the biggest ones securing the best places. Seal rocks are always good +fishing-ground; but why is it that the fish do not learn to avoid +places where they hear the loud barking of their voracious enemies? In +this respect their instincts appear to fail them. + + + + + VII. + + SANTA BARBARA AND THE YOSEMITE. + + A DAM UNDER A RIVER-BED—BEANS AND CULTURE—AN ÆSTHETIC + TOWN—BEAUTIFUL GARDENS—SPANISHTOWN AND CHINATOWN—THE MOJAVE + DESERT—ON THE WAY TO THE YOSEMITE—A FINE STAGE RIDE—FLORAL + WONDERS—THE SIERRA SNOW-PLANT AND MARIPOSA LILIES—RESEMBLANCE TO + OREGON SCENERY—DISCOVERY OF THE VALLEY—THE YOSEMITE AND BRIDAL + VEIL FALLS—RAINBOW SPRAY—EL CAPITAN AND MIRROR LAKE—ORIGIN OF THE + VALLEY—YOSEMITE AS A LAKE—GLACIER POINT AND OTHER EXCURSIONS—THE + BIG TREES IN THE MARIPOSA GROVE. + + +There are two ways of reaching Santa Barbara from Los Angeles (or San +Francisco),—either on a coast steamer or by the new railway branch +from Saugus, about twenty-five miles north of Los Angeles, which +was completed two or three years ago. For scenic reasons the latter +route is preferable, as it takes us in succession over the lovely San +Fernando Valley, through a mountain cañon, and lastly, for almost +thirty miles, along the edge of the ocean, thus exhibiting Nature +in her three principal phases. Near San Fernando, which is a pretty +and inviting place, may be seen one of the greatest curiosities in +the State, showing what strange methods are sometimes resorted to in +Southern California to secure water for irrigation. It is a granite +dam, fifty feet deep, which brings to the surface the water of a +subterranean river. Only three feet of the dam are above ground, the +rest being sunk down to the bed-rock, so as to force up into the +surface-pipes a stream of water fifteen feet deep and forty feet +wide. Another curiosity of San Fernando is a small boy who, while the +train stops, walks up and down with a basket on his arm, shouting +incessantly, “Nice sweet oranges, five for a nickel, _eight_ for a +dime!” + +Soon after leaving San Fernando the train plunges into a cañon, +where we get a near view of the foothills and mountains which had so +often aroused our curiosity and a desire to make their acquaintance. +They are of the most diverse forms and colors, now rugged, gray, and +forbidding, and again femininely rounded, green, and handsome. At +Newhall and beyond we greet the sight of beautiful oak groves on the +foothills,—real, natural, unirrigated shade trees, with cows resting +under them. The ocean is reached at Santa Buenaventura, which is +getting to be a seaport doing a considerable export business in grain, +oil, pork, flaxseed, honey, and, above all, beans. The region between +this town and Santa Barbara, is remarkably favorable to the growth of +beans, 113,700 sacks having been raised in 1887, as compared to only +35,000 sacks of corn, the next highest item; and we are not a bit +surprised, therefore, to read in the guide-book that “Santa Barbara +prides herself on being more æsthetic and cultured than her somewhat +plebeian sisters, San Diego and Los Angeles.” Hereafter it will be +impossible to doubt the Boston-baked-beans theory. + +There is unquestionably an air of refinement and good taste about Santa +Barbara which impresses one as favorably as the scenic and climatic +attractions. It is a substantially built, most picturesquely situated +town of four or five thousand inhabitants, traversed by a long, +wide business street in which are many elegant stores which at once +indicate it to be a great resort of tourists; and what predisposes one +especially in favor of this place is the clean and noiseless asphalt +paving of the streets, which promises rest and refreshing sleep to the +victims of nervousness and insomnia,—a pavement which if introduced by +legal enactment in every town and city in the country, would reduce +the income of physicians twenty-five per cent. But as there are few +but physicians who know this fact, we of course hear very little about +it. The Arlington is one of the most comfortable and best managed +hotels in California, and from its cupola a good view of the town and +surroundings may be obtained. To the west is the Pacific, bounded by +the semicircular harbor, which is invaded by a long pier,—the coolest +place in town. Then, in a wider semicircle, comes the town, half buried +amidst the Peruvian pepper and other fine shade trees, extending up to +the foothills, behind which rise the green and gray snowless mountains. + +Santa Barbara is not a commercial place, there being no large ships +in the harbor, and its trade only local. More than any other place in +Southern California it gives the impression of being merely a town of +quiet homes and a pleasure and health resort for tourists and invalids. +Though Indian remains must be scarce by this time, there are here, for +the benefit of this class of visitors, a large number of curiosity +stores, whose goods are probably manufactured in San Francisco, like +the “Indian relics” and curios sold in Alaska. The old Mission, +however, is genuine, and attracts many visitors. A pleasant resort is +the free library, well stocked, and the reading-room, which is always +cool, but has the objectionable feature of commanding so fine a view +that it requires a special effort to prevent the eyes from constantly +wandering away from the pages of the books. + +The gardens of Santa Barbara are probably the finest and most varied in +the State, and nowhere else did I find myself so frequently obliged to +stand still and peep over fences at some new species or varieties of +flowers or flowering shrubs and trees. Persia itself can hardly excel +Santa Barbara in roses, three hundred varieties of which are found +here. “At one of our annual rose fairs we have seen one hundred and +fifty-six varieties of roses, all cut from one garden that morning,” +says the Rev. A. W. Jackson; in “Barbariana”; and the wonderful +cosmopolitanism of California soil and climate is indicated by the +assertion that “trees native to Peru, Chili, Australia, China, Japan, +New Zealand, North Africa, South Africa, Southern and Central Europe, +Southern and Western Asia, and our own Southern and Northeastern +States, are found growing in it side by side.” + +There are years when the thermometer does not rise above 85° or sink +below 35°, and for this climate Santa Barbara is partly indebted to +the four mountainous islands (similar to Catalina) which lie twenty +miles or more to the westward and shut out the cold trade winds. Fogs, +however, are abundant in spring, and there is an occasional scorching +day or two, or a dust-storm; but these blemishes, as Mr. Jackson +cheerfully remarks, amount to no more than “the freckles on the face +of a young lady, who is beautiful and delightful notwithstanding.” +Like every other town of over two thousand in this part of the +State, Santa Barbara has its Spanishtown and Chinatown, but with this +difference, that there is said to be a remnant here of the better class +of Spaniards who formerly owned the State and lived in large adobe +houses, while in other towns little now remains but a handful of the +poorer classes, aptly characterized as “Greasers.” Though poor, they +are not always honest, according to report; and I have myself seen +young girls enticing a neighbor’s chickens with a handful of wheat +into their house, whence they never issued again; and sometimes they +catch them with fish-hooks. The men make a precarious living by taking +care of cattle and horses or doing some agricultural work. They speak +a very corrupt Spanish, and live in a most primitive way in one-room +shanties raised a foot or two above the ground. The children run about +barefooted all the year round, and the women are ignorant of the uses +of flannel, their dress consisting simply of a calico wrapper: hence it +is not surprising that, as a prominent physician informed me, a large +proportion of them succumb to the sudden changes of temperature, and +die of consumption,—the very disease against which this climate, with +proper precautions, is so potent. + +It is a significant fact that although an American occasionally marries +one of these Mexican women, it hardly ever happens that an American +woman marries a Mexican. Thus disease, emigration to Mexico, and +intermarriage are gradually decimating the Mexicans, and in two or +three decades few will be left in Southern California. It is a sign +of the times that at Santa Barbara the Chinese are gradually invading +Spanishtown. Say what they will, the Californians at harvest-time are +glad of all the Chinamen they can get; nor are there many who refuse +to patronize the Chinese vegetable man, who is a feature of every +place. Every morning he comes round with a wagon-load of assorted +vegetables which he sells at such an absurdly low price that even +farmers find it more economical to buy than to raise their vegetables. +Five or ten cents will supply a family of three or four with choice +vegetables for two meals; and the man always throws in a bunch of +celery or some other thing which in the East would cost as much as is +here paid for the whole. But John can afford it. All he asks of life is +his daily ration of rice, a portion of a room to sleep in, and a brisk +sea-breeze to fly his musical kite, which he watches and listens to by +the hour with an expression of genuine enjoyment. + +In coming to Santa Barbara, the last fifty miles were made in the +darkness, so that the saline breeze alone gave evidence that for +almost two hours the train skirts the ocean. In returning, we take +the morning train, to connect at Saugus with the north-bound Los +Angeles train for Yosemite, and thus get a chance to enjoy this ride +along the ocean, which is very different from the stretch between San +Diego and Oceanside,—there, a level, sandy beach, and the mountains +at a distance; here, a mountain chain with its foot in the breakers, +leaving hardly room enough for the train to wind along, the piles +occasionally lapped by the waves. Between Saugus and Mojave numerous +large bee ranches can be seen from the train, though there seems no +superabundance of flowers. + +As we enter the Mojave Desert,—which is a real desert, by reason +of its sandy soil, and not simply in appearance, owing to the lack +of irrigation,—the most conspicuous objects are the large _yucca_ +cactus-trees, rising to a height of forty feet and more, with large, +thick branches, which furnish fibre for paper. On all sides isolated, +naked hills, and clusters of hills with curious vertical water-furrows, +rise as abruptly out of the level, sandy floor as Catalina does from +the Pacific. By and by darkness closes in, and we miss the experience +of passing through the seventeen tunnels and seeing the famous “Loop,” +where the train crosses its own track about eighty feet above. All that +we remember of this region is the dismal howling of the desert wind, +which is cold enough to make blankets comfortable even in a Pullman +sleeper, though in the daytime the temperature in this region may have +been anywhere between 100° and 120°. + +At 3.30 the porter wakes us, and at 4.10 we are dropped in the midst +of a prairie, a quarter of a mile beyond the Berenda station, whence +a branch road is to take us in the direction of the Yosemite Valley. +The short ride to Raymond, the terminus of the branch railway, is over +a level region densely inhabited by jack-rabbits, who are used as +targets by pistolled tourists in the freight car. Perhaps it is hardly +correct to say that this region is level; for there are thousands of +curious little round hills several feet high and fifteen or twenty in +diameter. They are locally known as “hog-wallows,” but their origin is +unknown. At Raymond, those of the passengers who had been wise enough +to telegraph a week in advance for outside or box seats on the stages +take possession of them with a feeling of proud superiority over their +less prudent fellow-travellers. But there are stages and stages, and +an inside seat in a new stage, with good springs, is preferable to an +outside seat on an old rickety stage, at least for those who would +rather lose some of the scenery _en route_ than be “seasick” all the +way, as not a few ladies are; for the road is rough and the pace rapid, +regardless of holes and bumps. Four horses are attached to the stage, +which are changed seven times before we reach the Valley, next day at +noon. In the height of the season this company employs three hundred +horses. The ascent begins at once; mountain air and scenery surround +us, and become more inspiriting and inspiring in a gradual _crescendo_, +till the climax is reached at Inspiration Point, just above the Valley. +The vegetation changes every few hours and becomes constantly more +fascinating. Large, stately oak-trees are everywhere, adorned with +pendent branches of mistletoe as large as beehives. The stage passes +under some of these, which leads a passenger to remark that it is lucky +for young ladies that this route is not open during Christmas week. + +Grub Gulch is the suggestive name of a small place we stop at for a few +minutes; and further on, while the horses are being changed, passengers +have a chance to inspect the reducing works of the Gambetta gold mine, +the flume of which, conducting water from an enormous distance, runs +along the stage road for hours. We stop for lunch at Grant’s Sulphur +Springs, a wild, romantic mountain resort, the proprietor of which +built a stretch of road costing twelve thousand dollars, on condition +that the stages should pass his way and stop for lunch. Supper is +served at the Wawona Hotel, where we spend the night. This place has +its own attractions in the shape of a fine water-fall, a lake, a +trout-stream, Hill’s picture gallery, and an Alaskan bear in a cage +near the river. + +It may seem strange that a bear should be imported from Alaska to +the Sierra, which has plenty of its own. But they are less easily +caught here, and avoid the haunts of men. We saw none on the way, nor +any other animals except squirrels and a few birds, among which the +pretty but unmusical bluejays predominated. One passenger said that +he caught a glimpse of two deer, but could not prove his assertion. +Scenery similar to that of the preceding day, only grander and more +of it. There may be mountains in other parts of America to match +these, but nowhere such a bewildering profusion and unique beauty of +flowers, shrubs, and trees. The driver showed no disposition to stop +and give us a chance to pick these floral novelties; and wisely, for we +should have never reached the Valley if he had. An amateur botanist, +on foot or on horseback, would require a week to get there. It is +not only those fringing the road that can be enjoyed from the stage, +but those at a distance, too; for they grow in large blue, yellow, +white, or red patches, looking like irregular garden beds, resting +cosily under a shade tree, or exposed on a sunny ledge or hill-side, +where they sometimes present the appearance of gayly colored rocks. +Even Southern California has nothing to match this; for although +there may be a still greater profusion of flowers, there are not so +many varieties as here. Bleeding hearts, larkspurs, and lupins in all +colors, yellow and white violets, snapdragons, fragrant California +lilac, honeysuckles, tiger-lilies, etc., etc., carpet the ground with +the luxuriance of weeds. Fortunately those that are most peculiar +to the region are also the most abundant; namely, the Indian pinks +(with fringed scarlet petals, looking like groups of tiny Japanese +parasols), Indian paint-brushes, Mariposa lilies, and snow-plants. The +long-stemmed, tulip-shaped, white and yellowish Mariposa lilies are +especially numerous; and when one of the passengers jumped out as the +stage climbed up a hill and brought back a handful, two of the ladies +exclaimed simultaneously, after glancing at the curiously marked downy +inside, “Why, they look just like butterflies!”—which shows that they +are well named; for mariposa is Spanish for butterfly. + +But the gem of the collection is the Sierra snow-plant, which is +of such striking and unique appearance, that even those who do not +ordinarily care much for flowers cannot repress an exclamation of +rapturous admiration when they first see one. It is called snow-plant +because it grows only at an elevation of from four to eight thousand +feet, while the last snow-patches are melting: but the name is +misleading, as one expects from it a white flower; whereas, the small, +bell-shaped flowers, as well as the scaly, brittle, thick stems around +which they cluster irregularly, in great profusion, are all one red +blush of blood color. They push themselves like mushrooms out of the +ground, displacing the layer of dry needles under the fir-trees; and +the mode of their growth and origin is, I believe, still something of +a mystery to botanists. Of the shrubs I will mention only the dogwood, +whose blossoms are as pure white and as large as in Oregon; the tough +leather-plant, with yellow flowers, similar to those of the dogwood; +and the manzanita, so called from its berries, which look like little +apples. On account of its beautiful, smooth, brown rind, marked like +alligator skin, it is much coveted for canes, and every young man hunts +a few hours for a good specimen; but though the bush is over-abundant, +straight sticks are so rare that they are sold for five dollars on the +spot. + +After spending a winter in treeless Southern California, the sight +of the dense and stately Sierra forests is as agreeable as that of +the rare mountain shrubs and flowers. As we ascend higher and higher, +the change in the forest trees is similar to that which we encounter +in going northward towards Oregon and Washington. At a place where +the oaks are still abundant, we notice two isolated pine-trees on a +hill-side; these become more and more abundant, till, in the higher +regions, they become replaced by firs, often prettily draped with +yellow moss (which completely hides the branches, and makes the whole +tree yellow), many of them dotted with innumerable holes in which +woodpeckers insert their acorns,—so tightly that neither squirrel +nor bluejay can get them out. The resemblance to Oregon scenery is +heightened by the numerous burnt stumps, the mosses, and the ferns. +Higher and higher we creep, and more and more magnificent becomes the +scenic outlook over the mountain crests rising behind each other in +endless succession like the waves of a stormy sea, with an occasional +glimpse far down into the yellow, sunburnt San Joaquin Valley, and the +Coast Range, one hundred and fifty miles away, like a faint silhouette. +In this howling wilderness of desolate forests and mountains, which +it takes the stage almost two days to traverse on a smooth road, the +thought occurs again and again how in the world any one ever discovered +this Yosemite Valley, hidden away in the heart of the Sierras, to which +no arteries led them. Had it not been for the pursuit of that band of +Indians by Captain Boling, in 1851, under the guidance of two Indian +chiefs, it is possible that this gigantic gorge of the Merced River +might still answer to the description given of it at that time by one +of the friendly chiefs: “In this deep valley one Indian is more than +ten white men. The hiding-places are many. They will throw rocks down +on the white men if any should come near them. The other tribes dare +not make war upon them; for they are lawless like the grizzlies, and as +strong. We are afraid to go to this valley, for there are many witches +there.” + +Once discovered by white men, the Valley was sure to become world-famed +ere long, though the soldiers and gold-hunters who first saw it did +not realize that they had come across the most wonderful collection +of water-falls, precipitous cliffs, fantastic peaks, and other scenic +features, to be found in a similar compass anywhere in the world. In +approaching a spot which, although discovered less than forty years +ago, is already as well known the world over as Niagara or Mont Blanc, +expectation is of course at fever heat. What adds to the excitement, is +the knowledge that the first bird’s-eye-view of the whole Valley which +we get on this route is also the finest. It is at Inspiration Point, +where the driver gave us just two minutes to take in the most famous +scene in California. But these stage-drivers have sad experiences. +Ours told me how some time previously he had stopped his stage at this +point, and how every one was seemingly wrapped in admiration too deep +for speech, when a lady on the back seat suddenly broke the silence by +exclaiming, “Oh, my! I wonder why they have no lace curtains at the +Wawona Hotel!” + +It is of the Valley as a whole only that one gets the finest impression +from this point; the individual features, the giant precipitous wall +of smooth granite, known as El Capitan, and especially the water-falls, +do not reveal their full grandeur till we are directly beneath them. +As the stage winds down into the Valley, such a bewildering variety of +scenic surprises crowd each other that one should have as many eyes +as an insect to take them all in; and it is amusing to see all the +passengers pointing at once in different directions to call attention +to something that particularly strikes their fancy, while each one +is too busy to heed the others. The stage traverses almost the whole +Valley, which is over six miles in length, landing the majority of +the tourists at the State-built Stoneman House, although some stop at +Barnard’s, a mile less distant, directly opposite the triple Yosemite +Falls, which are what a reporter would call a “three-decker.” These +falls, as well as the Bridal Veil, and others less famous, are seen +from the stage as it traverses the Valley; but of course they want a +whole afternoon at the very least for proper inspection; so, after +washing off the abundant Yosemite dust, and partaking of lunch, we hire +a carriage or saddle-horse, and retrace our steps through the Valley, +making our first stop at the Yosemite Falls. In coming up the Valley +the driver had asked us how wide we thought the Yosemite creek was at +the height where it falls over the edge. It looks about a foot wide, +and the guesses ranged from two to ten feet. “Sixty feet wide,” he +replied. Our new driver made it forty feet, and on consulting Professor +Whitney’s “Yosemite Guide-Book” (which still remains by far the most +graphic and reliable account of the Valley ever written, but of which +it is absolutely impossible to find a copy in the book-market, though +for years there has been a great demand for it—a rare instance of +publishers’ stupidity) we found that he makes it only twenty feet in +width and two deep, but still sufficient to furnish from half a million +to a million and a half cubic feet of water in an hour to form the +falls. Yet it is not so much by its volume that the Yosemite Falls +imposes as by its unequalled height. The upper fall has a descent of +fifteen hundred feet; the middle, of six hundred and twenty-six; and +the lower, of four hundred; making together a water-fall (for they are +almost in a vertical line) of over twenty-six hundred feet, or more +than half a mile—sixteen times as high as Niagara. + +With an umbrella or rubber coat one can get quite near the foot of the +lower falls, and enjoy the spectacle of the spray, and of the rainbow +which forever hovers over it, like a circle of humming-birds. To the +left of the falls is a sort of Cave of the Winds, whence a strong blast +is forced on the upper part of the descending water, swaying it to and +fro several feet, and producing the occasional effect of a lateral +curve. Indeed, the aspect of the falls changes as constantly as the +expression on a human face, and one might visit it scores of times +without seeing it exactly as it was before. + +Having given as much time as possible to these falls, we continue +our trip down the same side of the Valley, to the right of the +clear and rapid Merced River, till we come under the shadow of El +Capitan, the summit of which is thirty-three hundred feet straight +overhead—almost seven times as high as the highest European cathedral. +A single perpendicular wall of this height would make this rock one +of the wonders of the world; but here are two such walls, half a mile +in length, smooth as marble, meeting at a right angle, which makes +“The Captain” an absolutely unique sight: “Sublimity materialized +in granite,” as Hutchinson puts it. Vast as this rock seemed from +Inspiration Point, one must walk or drive along its base fully to +realize its grandeur and sublimity. “The whole of New York,” exclaimed +an enthusiastic companion, “might have been quarried out of that rock +without making a damaging impression on it!” The smooth surface is in +one place darkened by what seems a young fir-tree a few feet high, +but which is said to be an old tree over a hundred feet high. How it +ever got a foothold and nourishment half-way up this naked rock, is a +mystery. Even a tree, one would think, should become dizzy and lose its +balance in such a situation. + +Below El Capitan the Valley gradually contracts into a cañon, “not +having the U shape of the Yosemite, but the usual V shape of California +valleys.” The descent is extraordinarily abrupt, and the Merced River +rushes and tumbles along in a continuous headlong current almost as +wild and impetuous as the Niagara Rapids. High up on the steep right +wall of the cañon we see the Milton road winding upwards like a white +thread. Our downward road continues as far as the Cascade Falls, which, +though they would elsewhere be regarded as stupendous, here seem +something of an anticlimax after the Yosemite Falls. + +Not so with the Bridal Veil Fall, which we next visit, after returning +as far as El Capitan and crossing the river to the other side of the +valley. Although only about one-third as high as the Yosemite Falls, +the Bridal Veil has features which make it fully their equal in charm. +The proper time to visit it is at five o’clock in the afternoon, on +account of the beautiful rainbows which then form in it; and it should +be approached from the lower part of the Valley to see them to the best +advantage. At first the rainbow hovers over the fall about two-thirds +up towards its top; but as we draw near, it gradually sinks down, till +at last it seems to be dashed to pieces on the cascades at the foot of +the falls, where it covers everything with a mass of iridescent spray, +including the neighboring rocks and grass and bushes, to which it is +wafted by the wind. Like the Yosemite, this fall is constantly swayed +to and fro by the wind, as much as twenty feet from its perpendicular +course, and to this fluttering in the wind of its spray-like mass it +owes its name. The wind constantly changes, so that at one moment the +inverted water-rockets descend on the right, and the loose spray on +the left, and the next moment _vice versa_. Sometimes there are _two_ +water-falls,—one upward and one downward; for when the wind blows +towards the fall, a dense spray rises up to the very top of the fall, +where it is blown over the ledge like a cloud. And what still more +heightens the beauty of the scene is, that beyond the ledge nothing is +visible, so that the water seems to tumble right out of the blue sky +into the deep Valley. + +More than any rivals, the falls of the Yosemite Valley are constantly +altered by changes in the wind, moon, and sunlight; and it is this +great variety of aspect, together with the unparalleled height, that +constitutes their unique fascination and makes them superior to all +other water-falls, except of course Niagara, which is so utterly +different in character as to be incomparable. Over the magnificent fall +of the Yellowstone they have the advantage that they can be seen from +below as well as from above. + +On the other hand, there is more charm of color in the Yellowstone +cañon, the few spots and stains on the Yosemite walls being +insignificant in comparison with the brilliant mosaic which covers +the sides of the other cañon. Nor are the peaks and pinnacles which +tower over the lower walls of the Yosemite quite as fantastic and +architecturally suggestive as those of the Yellowstone, or those that +may be seen on approaching the Engadine from Chur, or leaving it for +Como. And yet they are so superb that the Yosemite would be hardly +less frequented were all its water-falls blotted out of existence—as +they practically are late in summer, when there are no more snows to +melt and replenish them. When Horace Greeley visited the Valley, the +Yosemite Falls were momentarily so insignificant that he pronounced +them “a humbug”; yet his admiration of the Valley was none the less +superlative. Cathedral Rock, the Three Brothers, The Sentinel, Sentinel +Dome, Cloud’s Rest, El Capitan, and North and South Domes form an +assemblage of peaks sufficiently imposing to compensate the late +summer tourist for the disappointment caused by the fickle water. +Yet, if possible, Yosemite should be visited in May, not only because +the water-falls are then at their best and the surrounding peaks +still snow-capped, but because there may be, and often is, a belated +snow-storm of a few days’ duration, which gives an opportunity of +seeing the Valley both in its summer and its winter aspects, in rapid +succession. + +On the way back to the hotel a dispute arose in our carriage as to the +origin of the Valley. Clarence King states in his “Mountaineering in +the Sierra Nevada” that various markings which he noted had convinced +him that at one time a glacier no less than a thousand feet deep had +flowed through the Valley, occupying its entire bottom. The eminent +Californian geologist, Mr. Muir, also has advocated the theory that the +Valley was eroded by glaciers; whereas, Professor Whitney emphatically +declares that a more absurd theory was never advanced, and gives +his reasons why he believes neither in the erosive action of ice, +nor of aqueous erosion, as being the cause of the formation of the +Valley, nor in its origin through a mountain fissure. He advances the +startling theory that Yosemite Valley was formed by the sinking down +of its bottom to an unknown depth during a convulsive moment of the +surrounding mountains. We tried to find reasons for or against these +various theories in the aspect of the opposing walls, to see if they +would fit into each other, or show signs of erosion; but of course +where doctors differ it was not to be supposed that amateurs could come +to an agreement, so the question remains an open one. But there is a +certain fascination in Professor Whitney’s theory, with the corollary +that at one time the cavity thus formed “was, undoubtedly, occupied by +water, forming a lake of unsurpassed beauty and grandeur, until quite +a recent epoch.” Beautiful as the present floor of the Valley is, with +its great variety of grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees, one cannot +help fancying that a _Lake Yosemite_, on which one might approach the +foot of the water-falls in a boat by moonlight, would be more romantic +still; and such a lake could be made by damming the Merced River below +El Capitan. But it would cost many millions. + +Too much for one afternoon are all these scenes and speculations, and +we reach the hotel thoroughly exhausted and hungry. The bill of fare +at the Stoneman House is a considerable improvement on that of the +original inhabitants of the Yosemite, who used to live on acorns, +scorched wild oats and grass seeds, dried caterpillars, roasted +grasshoppers, and similar delicacies; but in other respects the +arrangements are somewhat primitive, and the lady who missed the lace +curtains at the Wawona Hotel probably was equally disappointed at the +Stoneman House, where the guests have to sleep with blue spectacles on +unless they wish the sun to wake them at six, by shining straight into +their faces through the bare windows. However, there is good reason for +getting up early; for Mirror Lake must be visited before the breeze, +which is apt to blow soon after sunrise, has had time to disturb the +surface of the “Sleeping Water,” as the Indians used to call this +shallow little lake situated a few miles up the Tenaya cañon. + +Mirror Lake deserves attention, not only because in it are reflected +some of the finest mountain forms in America, but because it indirectly +helped to give the Valley its present name. The Indian name for it was +Ahwahnee. One morning, according to the Indian legend, a chief went to +the Sleeping Water, where he ran across a monstrous grizzly bear. After +a terrific combat, in which his only weapon was the limb of a tree, he +despatched him, and henceforth his followers called him Yo Semite, or +Big Grizzly, which name was handed down to his children, and ultimately +to the whole tribe; and at the first white men’s camp-fire in the +Valley it was thus named at the suggestion of Dr. L. H. Bunnell. + +Mirror Lake is small, and not especially impressive as a body of +water, but its grand surroundings and the absolute stillness of its +surface make it perhaps the most perfect aqueous mirror in the world. +The bunches of grass in the middle of the lake, the trees lining +its borders, and the bold mountains in the background are reflected +so clearly and so vividly that in a photograph it is difficult to +tell which is the real picture or which the image, the water itself +appearing like a thin sheet separating the two antipodal views. It +is under the guidance of Mr. Galen Clark, the superintendent of the +Valley, that the lake is seen to best advantage, as he knows all the +best points of view, and is armed with a slightly concave looking-glass +which makes the scene doubly a mirror-lake. No painting could equal +in beauty the miniature views of subaquatic landscape shown in this +glass, in all the natural colors—the blue sky resting on the gray and +white rocks, and the dark green trees showing every branch and every +needle with perfect distinctness. The climax comes when the sun begins +to peep from behind the mountain summits, which here hide it an hour +longer than in the lower Valley. In Mr. Clark’s mirror it looks like +a large electric light whose dazzle throws the mirrored views of sky, +mountain, and forest into a gloomy shade, making the scene like a dream +of the lower world. We had to keep on the move constantly to keep the +sun in view, yet not too high, and I never before realized how quickly +the sun does travel, or how the conformation of the mountain ridges +can make it seemingly go now to the left, and now to the right. When +it had climbed too high to be looked at comfortably even in a mirror, +a breeze suddenly arose and obliterated the scenery painted on the +lake’s surface. Just at that moment two wagon-loads of tourists arrived +from the hotel. They had known as well as we that Mirror Lake after +sunrise is nothing but an ordinary pond, but had lingered too long +over their breakfast or between their sheets. Such is the average +tourist—travelling hundreds of miles, and enduring the fatigues of +staging to see a world-famous scene, and then missing all for the sake +of a few more bites of tough beefsteak! + +The whole day still lies before us, and it is part of the regular +programme to spend it in seeing the Vernal and Nevada Falls. The +carriage takes us across a bridge, where saddle-horses are in +waiting for those who dread the climb. Make the driver stop a few +minutes on the middle of the bridge, because thence you get one of +the finest views of one of those unique mountain formations of the +Sierra Nevada,—the North Dome, as true to its name and as absolutely +symmetrical and regular as any capitol or religious edifice ever +constructed. The falls we have seen so far are formed by creeks which +fall over the Yosemite walls and then join the river below; but those +we are to see now are formed by the Merced itself, and therefore +promise to be more imposing in volume, even if inferior in height. +A wide bridle-path leads up the steep gorge, perfectly safe for the +most nervous, though much blasting was necessary to make it so. Superb +views of the Valley beneath, of the precipitous cliffs on all sides, +and from them a water-fall or two which would make the reputation of +any ordinary mountain region, but which here are hardly noticed amid +the abundance of first-class cataracts. A deserted log cabin near the +foot of the Vernal Fall marks the place where we can either follow the +horses up to the top of the fall or climb up by a steep footpath by +the side of the fall. By all means this path should be taken, either +going or descending, the latter being preferable not only as being much +easier, but because our descending from the top to the base of the fall +makes it seem higher, grander, and louder every moment. + +The Vernal Fall is about four hundred feet high and eighty feet +wide—considerably lower than those in the Valley, but much wider and +more voluminous, and therefore stands midway between the kind of falls +which impose through their massiveness, of which Niagara is the type, +and those whose principal charm lies in their height and eternal +variation of aspect, as is the case with the Yellowstone, Bridal Veil, +and Yosemite Falls. Few hear of the Vernal Fall before coming to the +Yosemite; yet if it were situated amid the mountains of Switzerland, it +would be surrounded by a dozen hotels and seen by a hundred thousand +visitors every summer. Approaching it by the footpath, we are soon +enveloped in a drenching spray, the haunt of a superb rainbow, which +at first forms a complete circle, but as we get up higher is gradually +reduced to the semi-circular form of ordinary rainbows (another reason +for taking this path on returning, since a scenic _crescendo_ is +preferable to a _decrescendo_). The last part of the ascent is made on +a series of stairs, dizzy but safe, built through a sort of cavern in +the rock, where we can get a peep right into the home of rare ferns +and mosses, kept green by the spray, and fortunately just out of reach +of amateur botanists. At the summit, the guide steps out on the smooth +granite to the edge of the fall, and holds out his hand for those +who wish to approach and see its foot. The upper part can be seen by +leaning over a curious granite parapet, about three feet high, +looking, as Professor Whitney remarks, “as if made on purpose to afford +the visitor a secure position from which to enjoy the scene.” It is +only a foot or two wide, and looks as if it were rent off the rest of +the rock to some distance below, and as if it might be easily kicked +over; but this feeling of insecurity, where you know you are perfectly +safe, only adds to the grandeur of the scene. + +[Illustration: NORTH DOME—YOSEMITE VALLEY.] + +It would be impossible to find a more romantic and commanding spot than +this. At your feet is the Vernal Fall and the turbulent Merced tumbling +down the mammoth gorge; in the other direction, less than a mile +upwards, is another water-fall, world famed,—the Nevada,—and between +these two falls are endless combinations of wild rocks and shooting +waters. Only a few yards above the Vernal is an eddying hollow known as +the Emerald Pool; and immediately above this is “the flume, where the +stream glides noiselessly but with lightning speed over its polished +granite bed, making a preparatory run for its plunge over the Vernal +Fall,” as the first white man who ever saw this spot, J. H. Lawrence, +happily described it. The guide here tells the story of an Englishman +who wanted to “take a bawth, don’t you know,” in this flume, and who +was carried down by the swift and powerful current into the Emerald +Pool, where he caught on to a bush just in time to avoid being swept +over the falls. + +In low water the thin layer of swiftly moving water gives the flume a +silvery appearance, whence it has received the name of Silver Apron; +but if the Indians had any name for it, it must have been the more +poetic designation of Arrow Water, or something similar. It is not +safe to go near its edge; for it is sometimes suddenly widened by one +of those curious irregular pulsations and reinforcements noticed in +many cascades. We now cross a bridge over the raging torrent, and stop +at the Casa Nevada, where Mr. Snow and his wife always are ready to +provide a bountiful lunch at short notice. I believe that the principal +reason why this lunch is so bountiful is because Mrs. Snow wants to +get off her favorite joke at least once a day. Some one is sure to ask +where she gets all these victuals, whereupon she replies, “We raise +them,” adding, after a pause and a look at the incredulous faces, “on +mules.” Mr. Snow is known as Perpetual Snow, from having lived here +almost twenty years, and he sometimes facetiously offers to show summer +visitors “six feet of Snow” right in his house. He has albums for sale +containing fine collections of Yosemite ferns—thirty-six different +kinds; and shows with pride his old registers in which many famous +visitors have signed their names. + +Only a few steps from the house, the Nevada Fall comes thundering down +its six hundred feet or more, according to the season. To the left is +Liberty Cap, almost as precipitous as El Capitan, yet often ascended. +A path leads up to the summit of the Nevada Fall, which, however, +cannot be approached near enough to get a downward glimpse; but this +is compensated for by the fine side views one gets of it coming up. +Further on is the mountain called Cloud’s Rest, from which superb +views of the valley and surroundings, as well as the high Sierras, are +obtainable, but which can rarely be visited with comfort before the +middle of May, on account of the deep snow-patches under which the path +is buried. There is also a trail leading from the Casa Nevada over to +one of the most famous parts of the Yosemite walls,—Glacier Point; +but there is so much to see there that one ought to devote a whole day +to it. Therefore we return to the Valley the same way we came, and the +next morning are again in the saddle, bound for Glacier Point, directly +over the hotel. Everybody has seen pictures of Glacier Point, and the +huge boulder which projects at one place several feet over the edge +of the wall. On this boulder many persons have had their photographs +taken, with nothing between them and the bottom of the Valley, more +than half a mile beneath, than a bit of projecting rock, and nothing +to hold on by. On the ledge to the right, however, an iron railing has +been securely fastened, so that the most timorous can now look down +with perfect safety. + +At this point a flag is floating, and in the evening it is customary to +build a fire, and afterwards throw the brands and coals over the brink. +To the hotel guests directly below, who have been watching for them, +these brands present the appearance of a golden water-fall, thus adding +one more to the Yosemite’s incomparable collection. + +Looking up from this Valley, shut in on all sides by perpendicular +walls, and lofty peaks from twenty-five hundred to seven thousand feet +in height, it seems impossible that a way to the summit should have +been found except by climbing up the cañon as we did yesterday; but +there is a more direct path straight up the wall, to which the guide +conducts us, after passing the village and the seldom-used, solitary +chapel. The ascent is very steep in some places, and hard on man and +beast; but so well planned as to be without risk or danger, even +though the horse does occasionally poke his nose over a yawning abyss. +Fortunately for the nervous, the most “ticklish” places are concealed +by the dense brush clinging to the rocks, else the stubborn habit of +the animals, of always walking as near the brink of the precipice as +possible, would cause many a heart to stop beating momentarily. The +air is wonderfully exhilarating and clear, and nothing could be finer +than the aspect of the receding Valley, and the triple Yosemite Falls +directly opposite, which are almost always in sight. + +Half-way up, on our side, is the Agassiz Rock,—a huge boulder, in a +state, apparently, of dangerously unstable equilibrium, and looking +like some of the fantastic pinnacles of the Yellowstone cañon, as if +it might be kicked over with one foot; but appearances are deceptive. +There is a good hotel at the summit, where the horses are left with +the guide, while we proceed a few hundred yards farther, to Glacier +Point. Imagine how the Valley would look from a balloon, and you have +some conception of the gruesome charms of Glacier Point, whence the +outlook or downward look into the Valley is more perpendicular and +awe-inspiring than from Inspiration Point, which affords the more +picturesque view of the whole length of the Valley, its depth being a +subordinate feature. But the advantage of Glacier Point lies in this, +that by walking a few steps to the right, an entirely different scene +is commanded,—a scene which includes both the Vernal and Nevada Falls, +and beyond them an imposing array of snow-clad Sierra summits. It is +here that every visitor must feel the impotence and barrenness of words +to paint the images treasured in his memory; and were every word a +photograph, a description would convey but a faint impression of the +original. But we are to go up higher yet, where a still wider circle +of mountains, cliffs, domes, cañons, and snow-fields will come within +the field of vision. The Sentinel Dome is our goal now, although the +guide is not quite certain whether the path is sufficiently free from +snow for the horses: we do come upon many large snow-patches, a foot +or two deep, but we always manage to get through or around them. Fresh +snow of this depth sometimes falls as late as the end of May, even in +the Valley below. + +At last we emerge from the forest, tie our horses to the last trees, +and clamber up the bald pate of the Dome. Hence the billowy crests of +the Sierra Nevada, including peaks of thirteen thousand feet and over, +show themselves in something approaching their real height and sublime +grandeur. The scene is not unlike that of the Spanish Sierra Nevada, +as seen from Granada, thus presenting one of the numerous resemblances +between Spain and California. The surface of the Sentinel Dome is full +of curious small holes, probably the product of innumerable expansions +and contractions of the rock under the influence of alternating +heat and cold. The very top is occupied by a stunted, gnarled, and +broken pine, presenting the appearance of a veteran warrior and storm +wrestler, covered with wounds, upon which it exudes the soothing balm +of a remarkably fragrant kind of pitch. Beware of touching it! a +second’s contact will ruin a suit. Had Heine ever been in California, +we might feel certain that this tree must have suggested to him that +fine poem of the pine-tree dreaming amidst its winter snows of the +palm-tree bathed in sunshine,—say in the Mojave Desert, but a hundred +miles away. + +Returning toward the Valley, we soon come to a place known as Washburn +Point, where the view of the falls and mountains is similar to that +obtained from the Sentinel Dome, and perhaps even more impressive +because of its being nearer. From here the scenery of the high Sierras +can be seen even by those who are unable to walk or ride on such +arduous paths; for there is a good wagon road leading hence to the +Wawona Hotel, and striking the road to the Valley some miles above. For +pedestrians, by far the best way to see the Valley would be to take +this road from the Wawona, spending the night at the Glacier Point +Hotel, devoting the next day to this place and the Sentinel Dome, and +descending to the Valley on the day following by way of the Nevada and +Vernal Falls. Thus the Valley may be visited without any uphill work at +all. + +It is well to make all one’s plans in advance, so as to be able to +reserve a good return seat on the stage as soon as you arrive at the +Stoneman. The stage leaves early in the morning, and returns as far +as the Wawona Hotel, where we arrive in time for lunch. After lunch +uncovered stages drive up to the hotel, and everybody gets aboard for +a visit to the Big Trees in the Mariposa Grove. The round trip covers +seventeen miles only, thus leaving plenty of time to see the arboreal +giants at leisure. The road takes us more deeply into the virgin forest +than we have penetrated yet, and there are many superb trees which +attract the attention long before the Mariposa Grove is reached. Some +of the passengers begin to comment on a few big sugar pines, and even +express a desire to stop and measure them; but the driver scornfully +refuses to waste any time on such pigmies. So on and up we go, and at +last come to a few scattered specimens which the driver admits belong +to the real Big Tree family; but he does not stop till we reach the +world-renowned Grizzly Giant, the thickest, though not the highest, of +all the Sequoias. With the exception of some specimens of the African +Baobab, this is the thickest tree in the world, so far as known, though +by no means the highest. In one of the other nine Big Tree groves +found in California (and only in California)—the Calaveras—there is a +tree fifty-three feet higher than any one in the Mariposa Grove, and +Professor Whitney refers to an Australian eucalyptus four hundred and +eighty feet in height, overtopping the tallest Sequoia by one hundred +and fifty-five feet. But for height and thickness combined, the Sequoia +excels all other trees; and as the Mariposa Grove contains the thickest +trees, it is the most impressive of all, since in the height of a +three-hundred foot tree a difference of ten or twenty feet is hardly +noticeable, while in the circumference every foot tells. + +Ten of our party clasped hands to encircle the Grizzly Giant, but the +endmen could not begin to even see each other on the other side. I +walked around it and counted fifty-three steps. The exact, measurement +is ninety-three feet seven inches, without allowing for that portion +of the bark which has been destroyed by fire. The best idea of its +enormous girth is conveyed by one of Taber’s excellent photographs, +in which a horse stands alongside of the tree, at full length, while +a dozen men are scattered at intervals along the bark, without nearly +filling up so much of the tree as is included in the view. Though +blackened and cruelly hollowed out by fire, the Grizzly Giant is still +alive, but its upper part is as dilapidated and time-worn as the lower; +and no wonder, for it must have first stuck its roots into Sierra soil +perhaps three or four centuries after the advent of Christ, by the +most conservative estimate. The lowest branch of this tree is fully six +feet in diameter—large enough to set up as a Big Tree by itself,—“as +large as the trunks of the largest elms of the Connecticut valley.” + +Most of the tourists cut off little slices of the bark, which in this +case is hardly a reprehensible practice, for it would take decades +of such petty vandalism to make any impression on this monster. Yet +there are other mementos that might as well be taken, such as the +mosses clinging to it and the cones found under it. These cones are +surprisingly small,—only about two inches in length,—especially when +compared with other cones found in this region and offered for sale at +the hotels, put up in wooden frames and covered with moss—some of them +a foot and a half or more in length. But the Grizzly Giant must not +detain us too long; for there are several hundred more Sequoias to be +seen, and, as a punster suggested, a Big-treatise might be written on +the Mariposa Grove alone. + +As we pass from the Lower to the Upper Grove, these trees become more +and more numerous among the pines and firs, until at last we come to a +genuine grove of _Sequoia giganteas_,—a real forest cathedral. There +is a flutter of excitement as we approach the Tunnel Tree, or Wawona +(which is Indian for big tree), through which the stage drives as it +stands, with horses, passengers, and all. The diameter of this tree at +the ground is twenty-seven feet, or three feet less than the Grizzly +Giant; the “tunnel” by which we go through it is ten feet high and from +six to ten feet wide. Just as we drive into it, a poetic youth exclaims +to his fair companion, “Now look out for spiders!” and others of the +same class must have passed through before, for names are written +on the inside, and even visiting-cards tacked on. The wood chopped +out here was of course made into relics and sold years ago, yet paper +knives and other things made of it are still to be had in the grove in +quantities to suit. + +[Illustration: BIG TREE—YOSEMITE VALLEY.] + +At a little log cabin, occupied by the guardians of the grove, the +stage stops again, and the venturesome climb up the prostrate trunk of +a fallen monarch, on a rickety ladder. The upper part of the trunk is +rotten, and resembles the hull of a wrecked ocean steamer. It once took +five men three weeks to fell one of these giants; and even after the +connection of the trunk with the stump had been severed, it took three +days of wedge-driving before the tree could be made to fall. Imagine, +therefore, the force of wind required to throw over such a tree, and +the nerve of Andrew Jackson Smith, who once remained in the hollow of +one of them, known as Smith’s Cabin (in the South Grove), during a +Sierra storm which threw down “Old Goliath”! + +The guardians of the grove have for sale packages of seeds of the Big +Trees, though they frankly tell purchasers that not one in a hundred +will grow. They have a nursery near the cabin, and often send young +trees away. The _Sequoia gigantea_, although found nowhere except in +the Sierra Nevada of California, grows readily elsewhere, and vast +numbers have been planted in this country and abroad. The climate of +England is said to be specially favorable to it, and from seeds planted +there in 1853 have grown trees which are already over sixty feet in +height and ten in girth. A thousand years hence England will have +her Big Tree Groves, and they will be more beautiful than those of +California, because better guarded against forest fires. But they will +lack the majestic mountain surroundings. + +It would almost seem as if the existence of these giant trees in +the Sierra Nevada were intended by nature as a striking artistic +contrast and compensation for the utter absence of forests in Southern +California,—a contrast heightened by the numerous other fine species of +evergreen trees, especially the famous redwood groves, which Professor +Whitney has described so poetically. Outside of Ceylon and other +tropical countries there is, perhaps, no region which has so fine and +varied an assortment of valuable woods as the Yosemite neighborhood. +No visitor should fail to see the admirable collection of ornamental +objects prepared by J. Starke, some of them inlaid with several dozen +kinds of Sierra woods, making a mosaic as elegant as mother-of-pearl. +And I must once more refer to another thing in which the Yosemite +region is unexcelled,—the flowers. + +After seeing the unrivalled Valley, in which Nature, as in a final +operatic chorus, has grouped in an overwhelming _ensemble_ all her +motives—snow-peaks, domes, spires, precipices, lakes, rivers, and +water-falls—all in the small compass of six or seven miles, the scenery +on the way back to the San Joaquin Valley, fine as it is, and seemed +on coming, cannot but have the effect of an anticlimax. Not so with +the flowers, which have only gained in beauty, variety, and abundance +during our week’s stay in the Valley. Once I got off the stage, while +it was climbing a hill, and in the space of half a mile gathered +twenty-two kinds, which excited many “ohs” and “ahs” from the other +passengers. California poppy patches, nestling under trees, formed such +indescribably lovely groups that sometimes every hand in the stage +was pointed at them by a unanimous impulse. In some places the flowers +stand so dense that a botanist, in measuring off a square yard, found +over three thousand plants on it. Here a flower-painter might spend his +life making perfect pictures which he need only copy from nature; and +he could not fail of at least one of the attributes of genius,—he need +never repeat himself. + + + + + VIII. + + SAN FRANCISCO AND CHINATOWN. + + MOUNTAINOUS CHARACTER OF THE PACIFIC COAST—THE HILLS OF SAN + FRANCISCO—CABLE-CAR TOBOGGANING—THE GOLDEN GATE AND CLIFF + HOUSE—SCENES IN THE CHINESE QUARTER—JOHN’S TABLE DELICACIES—LUNCH + IN A CHINESE RESTAURANT—AN HONEST BOOKSELLER—CHINESE WOMEN—OPIUM + DENS—BEHIND THE SCENES IN A CHINESE THEATRE—THE ASIATIC + TRADE—CALIFORNIA HOTELS, RESTAURANTS, AND WINES—BERKELEY AND THE + UNIVERSITY—THE CLIMATE OF SAN FRANCISCO. + + +A glance at a relief map of the United States shows a most striking +contrast between the Atlantic and the Pacific slopes, especially within +a few hundred miles of the coast. In the east, the mountains are few +and low; whereas in the whole of California, Oregon, and Washington +there is hardly a spot whence the view does not include a mountain +range with a few snow-peaks. And this hilly structure characterizes +also the three leading cities of the coast, and many of the smaller +ones. Los Angeles, near one end, has recently built cable-cars to climb +the hills which shut it in; Portland, near the other end, is beginning +to build hers; and San Francisco, in the centre, has long had the most +complete cable-car system in the world. Rome may have been built on +seven hills, but San Francisco, as its inhabitants love to claim, is +a city of a hundred hills. There is Californian exaggeration in this; +for the greater part of the present city stands on about a dozen hills, +with the intervening valleys and the level lots created by digging +twenty million cubic yards of earth out of the hill-sides, and filling +up the hollows; but beyond these there are scores of suburban hills, so +to speak, waiting to be annexed; and when the city shall have grown to +the size of London,—which, of course, is only a question of time,—it +will probably cover a hundred hills: _q.e.d._ + +For purposes of drainage and other sanitary reasons, this hilly +structure of the city is a decided advantage, and that it adds greatly +to the picturesqueness of the impression which it makes on visitors +is obvious. Approaching it at night on an Oakland or Saucelito +ferry-boat, or viewing it from an elevated point, it does not present +to the eye such a limitless area of countless lights as does New York +seen from Union Hill, Hoboken; but the grouping of the lights is more +fascinating, some of them leading in straight, double lines up the +hills; while others are arranged in semicircles along the amphitheatric +valleys. To get a bird’s-eye view of San Francisco in the daytime, +one need not climb arduous towers, as in Eastern and European cities; +but has only to take a front seat on a cable-car,—with an outlook +unimpeded by driver or horses,—to see the city from half-a-dozen high +hills, and as many different points of view. No city in the world can +be seen so easily, so quickly, and so delightfully, as San Francisco, +from these cable-cars, which, in the long run, make perhaps as good +time as the New York elevated trains. It is a constant up and down, and +the sensation of rapidly ascending a hill through rows of handsome +residences and flower gardens, without having to pity the poor, puffing +horses, is as agreeable as the sudden plunges downward, so fast, +and often so precipitous, that by shutting the eyes one can easily +imagine himself to be out tobogganing. The feeling is similar to that +experienced at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, on descending the hill for +twenty minutes on a car whose only motor is gravitation. + +The most enjoyable of the cable-car excursions is the one in the +direction of the Golden Gate and Cliff House, connecting in the suburbs +with a new steam-dummy road only completed a short time ago, and not +yet mentioned in the guide-books. This excursion is really one of +the finest in California, and should be missed by no tourist; for it +gives him superb views of the city from several hills, and of the bay +studded with pretty islands, and finally takes him to the very edge of +the Golden Gate, where he can see the ships and steamers entering or +departing for China, Japan, Australia, and every port of Europe and +America. The road continuously skirts the shore, being dug or blasted +out of the precipitous hill-sides; and directly below us are the +Pacific breakers blindly dashing themselves into foam and spray on the +rocks. The terminus is the Cliff House, with its “seal rocks,” densely +inhabited by the sea-lions, which have been too often described to call +for more than mention. There are countless seal rocks between San Diego +and Sitka, but none so near a large city as these, which may be looked +on as a free aquarium and an addition to the Golden Gate Park. They +would have long since been depopulated were they not protected by law. +The fishermen clamor for a repeal of this law, because the seals +kill so many salmon bound for the Sacramento River at the other end of +the bay; but the gain of a few hundred fishermen would be the loss of +three hundred and fifty thousand San Franciscans. As well let the city +fathers turn over the Golden Gate Park to the vegetable gardeners. It +takes up many acres which might be planted with useful cabbages and +onions,—enough to enrich quite a number of gardeners; for it is three +miles long and half a mile wide, containing one hundred and fifty +acres more than the Central Park in New York. Besides, it contains +poison-oak, and is so “unimproved” in part, that only a few years ago +a wildcat was killed in it. Therefore, down with the Park! let it be +exterminated, together with the useless, harshly barking, salmon-eating +seals! + +[Illustration: SEAL ROCKS—SAN FRANCISCO.] + +No doubt more people have had their first glimpse of the illimitable +Pacific at the Cliff House than from all other places on the +Californian Coast; and it is a most delightful spot to spend a few +hours, although at any time of the year a light overcoat is desirable. +When we are ready to return we have the choice of several roads, none +of which, however, is as attractive as the one we came on. So we once +more connect with the cable-cars and have another five cents’ worth +of tobogganing—without snow or danger of broken limbs. I should think +that cable-car tobogganing parties ought to be among the most popular +amusements in San Francisco. I am sure if I lived there I should ride +to the Cliff House every day in the year. The return trip takes us +through different streets from those we saw before, and on arriving at +the corner of Jones and Washington Streets, a most magnificent prospect +opens before us. We have risen to the crest of a hill, which seems +to be the end of the world, when suddenly the whole city lies far +down below us, and the car makes an almost perpendicular plunge a few +hundred yards, as if determined to lose no time in getting there. You +must hold on tightly, but there is no cause for alarm, as the frequent +accidents on these roads do not happen in such places, but in the +crowded streets below. Presently a still greater surprise awaits us. +The car turns a corner, and without a moment’s warning we are in China, +which we had imagined five thousand miles away. In other parts of the +city we see an occasional Chinese laundry and a few Chinamen mingled +with the throng of Americans; but here the proportions are more than +reversed,—Chinese men, women, and children, Chinese shops and signs, +Chinese conversation, and Chinese smells monopolize the attention. + +San Francisco has more than twenty thousand Chinese, hence it may be +imagined that Chinatown is not a village. Anti-Mongolians like to +compare it to a cancer which is eating its way through the vitals of +the city, constantly enlarging at the edges. Blocks upon blocks in +some of the best streets are given over to the Asiatic invaders; and +while the large buildings formerly occupied by Americans have been +left standing, they have undergone such a thorough metamorphosis that +if the Chinese should ever be driven from the city (as they were from +Tacoma), the simplest way to Americanize these streets again, would be +to blow them up with dynamite and rebuild them—which would also perhaps +be the best way for sanitary reasons. But while the main buildings and +streets have been left as originally laid out, a number of side streets +and narrow alleys—exact copies of those in China—have been created to +connect them, and fill up every vacant yard and corner; for a Chinaman +is not happy unless crowded as closely as salmon in an Alaskan creek. +What adds to this effect of crowding is that all life and activity +seems to be concentrated on the ground floor, no business being +apparently carried on in the upper floors, which look uninhabited and +empty, without window curtains, or shutters, or signboards, or other +signs of habitation, excepting in the restaurants, whose outsides, from +base to roof, are gayly and gaudily decorated, and illuminated at night +with Chinese paper lanterns. The old stores with their large rooms have +been subdivided into many smaller ones—some of them only fifteen to +twenty feet wide or even less. The place of signboards is taken by the +well-known wide scrolls of red paper with Chinese characters printed on +them, and pasted vertically on the street side, while smaller ones are +pasted on the windows. Some of the narrowest alleys have no stores, but +only cheap eating-houses, gambling-places, and rows of barred windows, +behind which wretched female slaves solicit passers-by. Among them are +some rather pretty faces, but others are hideously marked by disease. +In the gambling-dens domino-playing seems to be the favorite game. It +is different from ours, though the blocks are similar, and some of +the players are as expert in mixing and placing them, and as excited +and flushed as the poker-players who monopolize the smoking-room on +transatlantic steamers. + +The principal impression given by Chinatown is that these Mongolians +chiefly live to eat, though on looking at their provisions, one often +wonders that they can eat and live. About two-thirds of all the stores +are meat, fruit, or grocery stalls. The fruits and vegetables exposed +for sale are mainly American varieties, though among them are some +strange to our eyes. The bundles of long sticks tied together, seen +everywhere, are sugarcane from the Sandwich Islands, of which the +Johns—and demijohns, as the boys are called—seem to be especially fond. +Of watermelons, John seems to be as inordinately enamored as a negro. +The butcher-shops have the largest collections of curiosities. Pork and +poultry are the favorite meats of Chinamen, but they must of course +do everything differently from our way. We smoke our pork and eat our +poultry fresh; they eat their pork fresh and smoke their poultry. +Smoked ducks, chickens, and geese are suspended everywhere as a bait +to passing epicures. Dried and smoked fish, some from China, fill up +large barrels, and some are eaten fresh. Poultry also is sometimes +eaten fresh—at least certain parts, for in one heap on the counter you +will see the entrails of chickens; in another, the combs and beards +of roosters; and in a third, the heads and claws! Nothing is wasted. +A frequent sight is a large tub filled to the brim with cold boiled +rice. I bought a cake in a baker’s shop, below the pavement, marked +with neat Chinese letters. When I opened it, subsequently, I found that +behind the inoffensive-looking crust it harbored rice and another finer +grain, watermelon seeds, little pieces of bacon, several hazel-nuts, +and some other mysterious ingredients. Obviously I had come across a +sort of Chinese mince-pie. I didn’t eat it. In another store I bought +an album containing a collection of Japanese girls, some of them real +beauties (the Chinese, I was informed, do not allow their women to be +photographed), some very cheap silk handkerchiefs embroidered on both +sides; and for seventy cents an elegantly carved bamboo, shaped like a +large dude’s cane and containing inside a telescoped fishing-rod, which +I subsequently found useful in trouting in the brooks near Lake Tahoe. + +An old man with a bookstall on the street, of whom I bought an +illustrated volume, altogether upset my notions of Chinese morality. I +asked him how much it was, and understood him to say “four bits”; so I +gave him fifty cents and walked off with the book. But he ran after me, +and saying “_two_ bits,” gave me back a quarter. His countrymen seemed +to be pleased to see me walking along with a Chinese book under my arm, +and several of them smiled and greeted me, which they had not done +before. The majority of the Chinese in San Francisco belong, of course, +to the lowest classes of their race; but there are among them some of +refined and educated appearance, though I could not make out whether +those wearing goggles as large as butter-plates thereby intended to +convey the impression that their eyes had been greatly injured by +excessive study. Women are frequently seen wobbling along the street, +dressed in blue or black blouses and baggy trousers, almost like those +of the men, though much wider. Their deformed feet are placed on solid +wooden soles with embroidered silk above, and their faces are almost as +greatly deformed as their feet by the hideous Chinese custom of combing +the hair tightly back from the forehead. More numerous than the women +are children of both sexes, dressed in the most gaudy green, blue, and +other costumes and caps. Their round cherubic faces, sparkling eyes, +and fresh, healthy complexion present a cheerful contrast to the sallow +complexion, sunken cheeks, and hollow eyes of the adults, victims of +opium-smoking and other forms of dissipation. + +Chinatown in the daytime may be freely visited by the “Melican” man and +woman. At night it is advisable to take a policeman or a guide, and +leave the women at home, unless their nerves are shock-proof. The scene +at night differs from that in the daytime; for whereas in the morning +Chinatown seems little more than a big market-place, at night it is +one vast barber-shop in which half the population seems to be engaged +in shaving and mutilating the other half. There are no curtains; and +if you stop a minute and look into one of the tiny shops on the ground +floor or in the cellar, you will see a tonsorial artist deftly shaving +his victim’s head, chin, eyebrows, lashes, nose, clean his ears, etc. +Perhaps you are standing this moment over a Chinese dormitory; for +space is expensive in so large a city, and John utilizes every inch +of it by making his bed under the sidewalks. We follow the guide +into subterranean haunts, down several flights of rickety stairs, to +get a peep at the opium-dens. It is estimated that there is only one +Chinaman out of every five in San Francisco who does not revel in his +daily opium debauch, and even that fifth man uses it occasionally as +a sedative. Some manage to get drunk on ten cents’ worth a day, while +others need as much as a dollar’s worth, of a superior quality. It was +the ten-cent variety we saw on this tour. The guide occasionally drops +a quarter in certain places, and is in return allowed free access with +his protégés. In dingy little rooms, not much larger than a state-room +in a steamer, there are several bunks, in each of which lies or sits a +Chinaman, in varying stages of stupid intoxication. Some are already +asleep, others are just lighting their pipes, and not one of them +pays the slightest attention to the intruders, unless spoken to. One +helpless old wreck lies on a bundle of rags, which, the guide said, +he has not left for five years. His hands and face are mere bones +covered with yellow parchment, but he still has strength and brains +enough left to obey the guide when commanded to show us the process of +opium-smoking by holding a little lump of the drug in the flame of a +small lamp, where it burns and is turned round like sealing-wax, and +then stuffed into the small pipe and smoked, the fumes being inhaled +through the lungs and puffed out through the nose. It is not a pleasant +odor, but it doubtless serves to disguise other odors infinitely worse. +The only ventilation in these rat-holes is a little slit, six inches +by two, above the door: yet here these Asiatics spend the whole night, +the lodging being included in the price of the opium. In one place we +passed through a kitchen with a closet in the middle of it, but as a +general thing we did not find subterranean Chinatown as filthy as it +has often been described; certainly not so bad as some of the places +visited in New York and London on “slumming” excursions. The fear that +Chinatown might become a breeding-place of bacterial epidemics leads +the sanitary authorities to look well to their duties; and besides, +San Francisco never has any “hot waves,” and its climate is in other +respects unfavorable to pestilential diseases, so that Chinatown has +not proved such a plague spot as it might become under less favorable +conditions. + +Many tourists who are anxious to see the opium-dens feel inclined to +draw the line at the restaurants, at least so far as eating there is +concerned. But there are Chinese restaurants in San Francisco which +vie in elegance of furnishing and fine gilded carvings with the most +famous Parisian cafés. A good cup of tea can here be obtained, and +there can be no harm in tasting the half-dozen kinds of preserves and +cake served with it—all for twenty-five cents. There is preserved +ginger, and small oranges, and pickled melon, China nuts and other +delicacies, and a sort of oyster-fork to eat them with. In one of the +rooms you will probably see several Chinamen eating a sort of ragout +out of a large bowl, with chopsticks—every mouthful being first dipped +into a kind of sauce. The bowl is held close to the mouth, to make the +chopsticks less elusive substitutes for spoons. Eating with chopsticks +is exciting and somewhat like fishing: you never know when you will get +the next bite. + +The thing to visit next is one of the temples, or Joss Houses, of which +there are dozens in the city, some belonging to trade associations. +Visitors are allowed to go behind the altars as close to the hideous +idols as they please, the keepers themselves seeming to look upon their +charge as a sort of dime museum; and as the admission is free, they try +to earn an honest penny by selling little bundles of incense tapers to +visitors. + +It is getting late, and they are ready to lock the door after we are +out; but the theatre is still a-going, and to that we now repair. As +the floor is crowded, we walk right on to the stage, through a side +gate, and sit down near the actors. Our presence does not jar with the +scenery, as there is none of that commodity visible, unless it be the +band, which occupies the centre of the stage and fills the air with +Mongolian noise and dissonance. The instruments may be described as +a gong or cymbals, a stick struck rapidly on a noisy board, and an +embryonic banjo and violin which sounds like a hysterical oboe. Yet +there is melody and harmony occasionally in these last two instruments, +which almost incessantly accompany the actors’ words, as in a modern +music-drama, leaving their noisy neighbors to emphasize the murders +and other striking episodes. The actors sometimes stand on the stage +floor, sometimes on a chair or table. Their declamation is a sing-song +in a high falsetto voice. There are no women, but the best actor is +an impersonator of female rôles, and has his face painted and his +hair combed back in the most “stylish” way. The faces of these actors +are utterly void of expression. Having heard enough of their play, +we went into the green-room, where one of the actors explained to us +his costumes and their prices in China. In a corner there was tea on +tap, to which every one seemed to resort at intervals of five minutes. +We went out by the other stage door, and stood in the very centre of +the stage, watching the musicians; yet our presence there did not +seem in the least to disconcert the spectators, who, with hats on, +were attending to the play with open-mouthed interest, though they +never applauded or laughed or gave any other signs of approval or +disapproval. Sometimes, however, they do throw cigar-ends and other +objects at actors who offend them by their art or sentiments. + +Dime museums, shooting-galleries, dirty little restaurants, cheap drug +and clothing stores, and similar places generally mark the transition +from Chinatown to San Francisco proper. In one or two streets the +transition is of a different sort, leading gradually through more +elegant Chinese stores and wholesale houses to the American quarters. +San Francisco has many fine streets, in strolling through which one +can easily believe the statements that the city has one-third of all +the wealth on the Pacific Coast, harbors fifty millionaires, and has +exports including treasure to the value of more than a hundred million +dollars a year. Such streets as Market, Kearney, Montgomery, and Post +would attract attention even in Paris or London, and there is evidence +of general prosperity in the numerous elegant residences as well as in +the thronged business streets. Of late, an uneasy feeling has betrayed +itself over the rivalry of the Canadian Pacific Railway and its harbor +town, Vancouver, in attempting to secure the trade with Japan and +China, the distance being somewhat in favor of Vancouver. But there +is plenty of room for several large cities on the Pacific Coast; and +San Francisco, having the only good harbor between San Diego and Puget +Sound, need not be afraid of retrograding if the Canadians get some +of the tea trade. Even if they should get the whole of the Asiatic +trade, which is impossible, the handling and shipping of California +wine, fruit, and agricultural products would suffice always to make +San Francisco one of the three or four largest cities in America; and +the opening of the Nicaragua Canal will give its trade a new and great +impetus. + +Market Street is the Broadway of San Francisco, but it differs from +Broadway in New York in being as crowded in the evening as in the +daytime. Yet the evening crowd is not the same as the day crowd, being +bent on pleasure merely, like the multitudes which promenade in the +alamedas of Spanish cities, late in the afternoon. San Franciscans +are too busy to give up the afternoon hours to pleasure, so they have +their daily street review and reception between eight and ten o’clock +in the evening, during which hours Market Street is as crowded as +Fifth Avenue on Sunday afternoons. The throng comes to an abrupt end +a block or two above the Palace Hotel, and visitors stepping thence +into a comparatively deserted street are apt to be surprised on +suddenly finding that they have to elbow their way through a dense, +moving mass of men and women. It seems strange that the crowd should +not include the Palace Hotel in its promenading line, so as to give +the guests in the large bay-windows, which make up the entire front +of this immense structure, a chance to review it. San Franciscans are +fond of boasting of this as being the largest hotel in the world, and +one of the most sumptuously furnished, having cost about seven million +dollars. Few cities, indeed, are so well supplied with good hotels as +San Francisco, which has four of the first rank besides the Palace. +There are accommodations and prices to suit all purses, but I do not +believe there is another city in the world where one can get such an +elegantly furnished, spacious room, with board, for three dollars a +day, as on the upper floors of the Palace, where the air, light, and +view are better than on the more expensive lower stories. The fare is +generally good in these hotels, as it ought to be in the metropolis of +a State which furnishes all the staples and delicacies of the table in +abundance and always in season. Butcher’s meat, however, as elsewhere +on the coast, is frequently tough, and poultry seems to be exceedingly +scarce or expensive, for it is seldom seen on the bill of fare. There +are some restaurants, too, where good meals can be obtained; but +it makes one indignant to find that even here in the chief city of +California, some of the restaurateurs are too idiotic, or dishonest, +or both, to furnish California wines under California labels at +sensible prices. The California wines are there, of course, but under +French labels and at fancy prices, varying from two to five dollars; +whereas, if the wine (which is really much better and purer than +nine-tenths of all imported French clarets) were honestly labelled, it +could be sold at a quarter of those prices. The same humbug flourishes +in most Eastern restaurants, but here one would think the mob would +rise in its patriotic indignation and State pride, and summarily expel +these short-sighted, swindling restaurateurs. Claret is so cheap by the +gallon that it ought to be served free with meals, as in Spain, instead +of that deadly American drink, ice-water. + +There are cheap eating-houses in San Francisco where a poor man can get +soup, meat, a dish of vegetables, and a glass of claret or beer,—all +for ten cents. There is no exaggeration in Mr. J. S. Hittell’s +statement that “the wages of labor are still fifteen to thirty per +cent higher than on the other side of the continent, and fifty to one +hundred per cent higher than in Europe, while the cost of living is +lower than in either.” Notwithstanding Chinese competition (about which +a great deal too much fuss is made in California, since the Chinamen +are absolutely needed, especially in harvest-time), it is doubtless +true that there are few places in the world where the laboring-man +fares so well as here, owing to the cheapness of provisions and the +ease with which a cheap suburban residence on the back hills or across +the bay may be reached. + +In the matter of picturesque suburbs, San Francisco is admirably +supplied. Cross the bay in any direction, and you will find no end of +fine sites for villas or towns, and the suburban capabilities of the +islands which beautify the bay have hardly begun to be exploited. Every +half-hour a large and comfortable ferry crosses the bay directly east +to Oakland, noted as a city of elegant homes. A few miles beyond lies +Berkeley, the Cambridge of California, being the site of the University +of California. But neither Cambridge in New England nor in Old England +has a view to compare with that obtainable from Berkeley University and +the hills rising up behind it,—a view which includes San Francisco, the +bay, looking like a large lake, and some fine mountain groups. Here +is some of the best society to be found in the West, and connected +with the University is a gallery and good library for the use of the +students, whose ranks generally include seventy or eighty young women. + +Another ferry runs from the city northward to the charming suburb of +Saucelito, which, although but a few miles away, has a climate eight +degrees warmer in winter than San Francisco, being sheltered by a +high hill from the violent trade winds and the fogs which find free +access through the Golden Gate, where they enter in order to take the +place of the vacant spaces left by the rising of the air in the heated +Sacramento Valley of the interior. Saucelito is the favorite picnic +ground of San Franciscans, and it commands superb views of the bay and +its islands, the city, and the Golden Gate, but its building-ground +is limited, since the parts unsheltered by the wall of the hill are +exposed, more even than the city opposite, to wind and weather. These +trade winds and fogs constitute the greatest drawback of the climate of +San Francisco, and make it unsuited for invalids, even in summer. For +owing to the trade winds and the effect of the Japan current, arriving +via Alaska, there are only seven days in a year when the thermometer +rises to 80°; and the mean temperature of July is 60°, or 17° lower +than in New York. Hence sea-bathing is a pleasure rarely indulged in +near San Francisco, the temperature of the water being only 53° in +July,—10° or 12° lower than at Santa Barbara. + +Eastern people, and especially Europeans, coming to California for +climatic reasons are too apt to forget the immense size of this State +and its infinite variety of climates. California, if transferred to +the Atlantic Coast, would extend from Boston to Charleston, having as +much coast line as in the East is divided between ten States. A year +ago I crossed the ocean with an Englishman who was apparently in the +last stages of bronchitis, and we agreed to meet in January at San +Diego. He had not appeared in April, and I concluded he had died on +the way across the Continent. But he had gone to San Francisco, where +his trouble at once increased so much that he found himself in a worse +condition than ever, and cursed the climate and the London physician +who had sent him to California. Fortunately, a friend enlightened +him on the diversity of climate in California, and he went to Santa +Barbara, where I accidentally came across him, looking hale and +vigorous, gaining weight, climbing hills, and eating like a bear. For +persons with weak lungs, therefore, San Francisco is not a desirable +residence; but for healthy folk it is an ideal climate, because the +temperature is hardly ever oppressively warm or uncomfortably cold for +those who are well supplied with flannels. If there are only seven days +a year when the thermometer rises above 79°, there are, on the other +hand, only five days in a year when it falls to the freezing-point. +Such a climate breeds no numbness, lassitude, sultriness, _dolce far +niente_; hence the San Franciscan is energetic, quick in his movements, +but not morbidly nervous. The pale-faced fragile clerks and dudes of +New York and Philadelphia would either die here of lung disease, or if +“fit to survive” would soon assume the healthy, robust appearance of +San Franciscans, to whose strong lungs the trade winds, which sweep the +city and ever renew its atmosphere, are a tonic and a luxury. + + + + + IX. + + LAKE TAHOE AND VIRGINIA CITY. + + CLIMATIC PARADOXES IN SAN FRANCISCO—A LONG FERRY-BOAT—SNOW-SHEDS + AND DONNER LAKE—TRUCKEE RIVER—LOGGING AND FISHING—TAHOE + CITY—ROUND TRIP ON A BOAT—A LAKE AMIDST SNOW MOUNTAINS—A + CINNAMON BEAR—BUTTERFLIES, SNOW, AND A BLUE SKY—LARGE TROUT, + AND HOW TO CATCH THEM—SUNSETS REFLECTED IN THE LAKE—OTHER COLOR + PHENOMENA—THE FLUME TO CARSON VALLEY—A MOUNTAIN RAILWAY—DESOLATE + NEVADA MOUNTAINS—MINING UNDER A CITY—GOLD HILL. + + +The climatic conditions of San Francisco are anomalous and curious; +shade trees, for instance, which are the greatest desideratum and +blessing in Los Angeles, are not desired by San Franciscans, because +the air is cool enough in summer without artificial shade. On the +other hand, it is never so cold but that many semi-tropical plants +will survive a whole winter in a sheltered situation outdoors; and +San Francisco has in its public places some palm-trees high enough to +attract attention even in San Diego. The avoidance of extremes is what +constitutes the charm and value of the climate of San Francisco. But +if the natives tire of this “golden mean,” and desire to experience +the extremes for the sake of variety, they can gratify their wish by +a few hours’ ride on the Central Pacific Railroad. At Sacramento +they may find the thermometer above ninety in May, and just beyond +it a place where oranges ripen six weeks sooner than at Los Angeles; +while the station of Summit, a few hours further on, may be buried +under four or five feet of snow,—an article almost unknown in San +Francisco. Californians, however, are not greatly addicted to the +habit of seeing the wonderful sights of their State, and such places +as the Yosemite Valley, the Big Tree Groves, and Lake Tahoe owe their +fame and vogue chiefly to Eastern and foreign tourists. There are now +half-a-dozen transcontinental routes to choose between, so that it does +not necessarily follow that every one crosses by the Central Pacific; +but those who prefer the Northern or the Canadian Pacific should not +neglect at least to patronize the Central Pacific to the extent of +twenty dollars for a round-trip ticket, which includes the finest +scenery along the whole road,—the semi-tropical Sacramento Valley, the +sudden transition to the snow-crowned summit of the Sierra Nevada, +the snow-sheds, Donner Lake, with a side excursion to Lake Tahoe, and +the silver mines in Virginia County, Nevada. Lake Tahoe has been as +often described as San Francisco; but as every pair of eyes looks at +the world from its own point of view, perhaps I may be allowed to tell +briefly what I saw. Lake Tahoe has only been known a few decades, while +the sights of Greece and Egypt were described two thousand years ago, +and are still “written up” in newspapers and periodicals. + +Until two years ago the time-tables of the Central Pacific were so +arranged that the passengers lost all the fine mountain scenery between +Sacramento and Reno in the darkness of the night, unless they took +an emigrant train. Now, however, Donner Lake and the snow at Summit +and Cape Horn, where the train rounds a mass of precipitous rock +over an abyss two thousand feet below, and the thirty-four miles of +snow-sheds, which cost the company three hundred and fifty thousand +dollars, can be seen by getting up at five o’clock. Previous to this +we come upon one of the curiosities of California,—a ferry-boat four +hundred and twenty-four feet long and one hundred and sixteen wide, +which carries the whole train across a branch of the San Francisco +Bay, thirty miles from the city. It is dark, and the motion is +imperceptible. “What are we stopping here for so long?” asks a lady +of the porter. “We are on a ferry.” “But why don’t they start?” “Why, +we are half-way over!” It must be admitted that although the change +in the time-table is an improvement, much of the Sierra scenery still +remains unseen, being hidden by the snow-sheds in which the train +moves along mile after mile, as in an interminable tunnel. There are +a few gaps and window-holes here and there, but not nearly enough to +give the passengers a satisfactory view of either the mountains, or of +the lovely Donner Lake. This lake is otherwise unfortunate in having +the attention drawn from its fine elongated outlines and mountainous +surroundings by the eternal tale which some one in every seat is sure +to tell of the unfortunate Donner party of emigrants who were snowed in +here, and lost thirty-four of their eighty-one members through cold and +starvation; or else some one will begin to tell of big hauls of trout +recently made, for Donner Lake is as full of trout as Tahoe, and more +convenient to the city markets. + +At Truckee we leave the train to connect with the Tahoe stage. This is +only a rough, lumbering town, but the laws of etiquette are enforced +all the same; for in the hotel office a notice is posted, that “Gents +are Requested to wear their Coats in the Dining-room.” We comply with +this rule the more readily as the temperature at this early morning +hour, and at this height, offers no inducement for sitting in our +shirt-sleeves. We find that although our train was on time, the stage +with which we were to connect had left without us. The stage company is +in an evil predicament. It has fifteen miles to cover between Truckee +and Tahoe; and if it waits for the train, the boat at Tahoe City +probably will not wait for it. However, an extra stage was provided +for our party, and the driver informed us that if we had come a day +sooner we should have been caught in a first-class snow-storm (this was +about the middle of May). To-day, however, the sun was out bright and +warm, melting the snow rapidly, without thereby improving the road. The +trees still had on a snow-costume, fitting as snugly as if tailor-made, +so that while there was not a speck in the blue sky, every gust of +wind sprinkled us with a shower of loose snow and solid crystals. The +extraordinary difference in California between shade and sunshine was +prettily demonstrated by the fact that although the sun had already +melted the snow on and near the small shrubs, little patches of it +remained wherever a tiny isolated plant of six inches cast its little +streak of shade. + +The road keeps alongside of the rapid Truckee River, which forms the +outlet of Lake Tahoe and connects it with the great Pyramid Lake in +Nevada,—being, therefore, like the Niagara, not a river in the ordinary +acceptation of the term, having its source directly in the springs or +melting snows and its mouth in the ocean, but a mere connecting link +between two fresh-water lakes entirely isolated from the ocean. As both +these lakes are alive with trout,—Pyramid even more than Tahoe, owing +to its greater size and difficulty of access,—it may be imagined that +the Truckee is good fishing-ground. Not so good, however, as it used +to be; for whereas formerly the trout used to come up the Truckee from +Pyramid Lake in great numbers to spawn in Tahoe, a dozen dams are now +in the way, impeding their progress; and the difference this makes is +already so perceptible that last year the fish commissioners had to +place half a million young trout in Tahoe, and this year a still larger +number was to be put in, since in a lake twenty-two miles long and ten +wide, half a million is after all a mere handful. Besides trout, there +are many whitefish, suckers, chubs, and other fish in this river, and +the driver showed us a deep pool in which some law-breaking Chinamen +once killed over three thousand pounds of fish by a dynamite explosion. + +The Truckee River is also utilized by the lumbermen to float their +logs to market. We saw many of the loggers rolling in the timber and +wading in the snow-water with their big rubber boots. They get five +dollars a day and board, which is not too much, considering that their +amphibious life in ice-water exposes them to rheumatism and pneumonia; +while at the same time they are sure to earn their wages, since they +have to keep at work briskly all the time in order to keep warm. Slides +are to be seen on the mountain sides, on which the timber is shot down +into the water, and the driver had a story of an Indian who once for a +bottle of whiskey tobogganed down on one of these logs, saving himself +by a plunge in the pool at the end. It sounded like a “California +story,” but was told with so much circumstantial detail that we were +forced to believe it. Near its outlet at the lake the river is dammed, +and whenever desirable the floodgates are opened, and the rush of +liberated waters carries the timber down to the station. + +By and by, when the population of San Francisco has reached over half a +million, this dam will doubtless be raised a few feet and the Truckee +outlet converted into an aqueduct. It will cost a neat little sum, for +it takes the train eleven hours to come from San Francisco to Truckee; +but the city needs the water, as its present supply is of poor quality +and inadequate. With Tahoe on tap, the San Franciscans will have the +best water of all the cities in the world; for Tahoe has no equal in +purity and clearness, its bottom being pure gravel, without a trace +of slime or mud, so that stirring it with a cane does not cloud it +the least shade. But before the San Franciscans can get permission to +swallow the Truckee River they will have to reckon with the Nevadans, +who utilize it extensively for milling and irrigating purposes, and +who, moreover, own the eastern half of Lake Tahoe. + +Tahoe City is situated on the shore of the lake, not far from where it +finds an outlet in the Truckee River. It consists of a dozen houses, +including a “Grand Central Hotel” and a boarding-house, the latter +being open all winter, while the hotel was closed when I was there. The +boat which makes a round trip of the lake every day had left an hour +before we arrived, so we were obliged to stay here till next morning. +But this was far from being a misfortune, for Tahoe City commands one +of the finest views on the whole lake shore. Those who arrive in the +morning are apt to feel that the lake does not quite come up to its +reputation. It seems, indeed, a large, majestic body of water, and the +knowledge that it lies as high above the level of the ocean as the +summit of Mount Washington adds to its apparent grandeur; but the sun +is on the wrong side, and the profiles of the mountains opposite do not +stand out clearly enough. But in the afternoon, and especially towards +sunset, when Tahoe City is in the shade, and all the light withdrawn +from it seems to be concentrated on those mountain ridges, intensified +by reflections from the glowing surface of the lake, then the +snow-peaks do stand out superbly against the blue sky and the golden +clouds; and the scene becomes truly sublime as we watch the faint, +rosy sunset glimmer gradually climbing one summit after another, and +fading away till only one tip retains its tinge, thereby proving that +it is the highest of the peaks, though seemingly it is not. Knowing +the rate of the sun’s motion, why should it not be possible to measure +the height of inaccessible mountains by thus watching the fading +sunset glow on them? An old fisherman, to whom I described the Swiss +_Alpglühen_, declared that he had never seen anything just like it at +Tahoe, but the scene I had just witnessed was a very fair substitute +for it. + +[Illustration: LAKE TAHOE.] + +Strolling along the shores of Tahoe one can enjoy a solitude as +profound as if no human eye has ever before gazed on this liquid +mountain mirror in a Sierra frame. A few logs here and there, in the +water or washed ashore, are the only visible signs that man has ever +been there. The faint, distant roar of a torrent, or the mocking of +that sound by the melancholy voices of pines, only intensifies the +feeling of isolation. Two weeks previously I had been at the Yosemite, +where the flowers and bushes were in full bloom; but Tahoe lies two +thousand feet higher, and some distance farther north than that Valley, +hence the season is later. The first flowers were just budding out +here, and the smooth, alligator-skinned manzanita bush was only in +flower, while at Yosemite it had already formed its “little apples” a +fortnight sooner. There, too, the hotels were open in the middle of +April, while of those on the shores of Tahoe only one had opened its +doors for the season, and the fire was burning all day long in our +little inn at Tahoe City. At the supper-table Nevada beef was neglected +for the more succulent lake-trout. They are delicious, especially the +silver trout: yet I saw a man at the next table commit the gastronomic +atrocity of putting Worcestershire sauce on Tahoe silver trout. Then he +called to the waiter-girl, a buxom, rosy-cheeked country maiden, for a +teaspoon—probably to eat it with. “Great Cæsar!” exclaimed the maiden. +“Haven’t you got a spoon? Why didn’t you sing out?” + +Next morning, as the little steamer starts with us on its round trip, +a pleasant surprise is in store for us. As seen from Tahoe City the +lake had seemed so perfect as to make us fancy we had seen about all +there was of it. But hardly have we left the pier when new groups of +snow-capped mountains, grander even than those we had been gazing +upon, arise where before nothing had been visible but a dense, gloomy +forest. And when we get far enough towards the middle of the lake to +take it all in at a glance, we find that it is indeed a mountain lake, +being shut in on all sides by giant peaks rising from nine to eleven +thousand feet above sea-level. There is reason to believe that the +site of the present lake was once a monstrous volcanic crater. It is +now a reservoir in which is stored the outflow of more than fifty +brooks and creeks, which drain an area of about five hundred square +miles of mountains, and its depth is from fifteen hundred to eighteen +hundred feet—water enough to extinguish a crater of even such vast +size. It is a curious fact that this lake, though lying more than a +mile above sea-level and surrounded by snow-fields, never freezes, even +in the coldest Sierra midwinter. Perhaps this is due to the frequent +squalls which agitate its surface and prevent the ice from gaining a +foothold. These squalls, blowing down the cañons, make sailing on the +lake somewhat risky at any time in the year, and tourists desiring +a Christian burial for their mortal remains will do well to avoid +sail-boats, because the bodies of those who are drowned here are never +recovered, the coldness of the water preventing decomposition and the +formation of gases which would bring them to the surface. + +The steamboat, however, does not fear these squalls, which seem to +strike only certain limited portions of the lake at a time. It makes +half-a-dozen or more stops at points where there are summer hotels, +which are open from about the middle of May to the end of October. +Tallac’s opens a few weeks earlier, and I made that my headquarters +for a few days. The superb view from here includes Mt. Tallac, highest +of the Tahoe peaks, bearing on its hollow sides dazzling Alpine +snow-fields, so large that one looks instinctively for solid ice-rivers +at its lower end; but the California summer sun does not tolerate +perennial glaciers even at these Sierra heights, and the straggling +pine-trees sticking up like stubbles here and there through the lower +névés indicate that not even these snow-fields are eternal like those +of Switzerland or Alaska. But in early May the scene is still quite +Alpine, especially the immense snow-ridge with perpendicular sides, +which resembles the snow-wall that connects the Mönch with the Jungfrau +as seen from Mürren. + +Tallac’s is the largest of the hotels on Tahoe, but not large enough +to indicate that San Franciscans come here in vast crowds during the +season. The reason is obvious. Though scenically incomparable, Tahoe +is not in midsummer as cool a place as San Francisco, which, during +July and August, is the coolest place on the Pacific Coast. Were Tahoe +within eleven hours’ ride of sultry New York, there would be a score or +two of hotels on its bank in place of half-a-dozen. Residents say it +was Eastern tourists who made Tahoe the resort it is now. Tallac’s is +situated in the midst of a primitive mountain wilderness, and tourists +anxious to see a wild animal in its native haunts will have no great +difficulty in gratifying their curiosity. One day I set out to climb +part way up the mountain which begins to rise about a mile or so behind +the hotel. I followed a cow-path, but it soon was lost in a swamp +which is fed by snow-water brooks, and which I had some difficulty +in crossing. Beyond the swamp, on beginning to climb the mountain, I +soon found myself in the midst of thousands of manzanita bushes, which +presented a curious spectacle. The branches were bowed down by heavy +snow, which formed a continuous layer over them thick enough apparently +to walk on. But appearances were deceptive; for as soon as I came into +contact with the bushes, the snow slipped off, the liberated branches +flapped against my face, and I was surprised to find them covered with +blossoms. To add to the contrast, several butterflies were flitting +about in the warm sunlight. It takes California for such odd mixtures +of the seasons,—snow-fed swamps haunted by mosquitoes, flowering bushes +bowed down by snow, under a blue sky, and visited by butterflies. + +The finishing touch was given by a large cinnamon bear, who suddenly +hove in sight only a few hundred yards below me. As these bears +are considered quite as vicious and aggressive, at certain times, +as grizzlies, and having no means of defence except an olive +walking-stick, I concluded not to molest the poor beast, but edged off +quietly to the left, unseen, and made my way back through the trackless +jungle of the swamp. In the evening I met two ladies who had been out +alone in the afternoon for a walk, and had seen “a large yellowish +animal with a slender body and a long tail.” They changed color on +hearing that it was undoubtedly a California lion, and made a vow never +again to go into the woods alone. A small boy who is attached to the +hotel as a guide for brook-trouting parties told us his bear story, +which had a somewhat more dramatic climax than mine. He went fishing +alone one day, and having found a good place, he tied his horse to +a tree, and started up the creek. Suddenly he heard a crackling and +whining noise near him, and at the same moment a cinnamon bear thrust +her head through the brush. A small tree being close at hand, the boy +climbed out of reach just as the bear arrived at its foot. She was in +a dangerous mood because she had her two cubs with her; but it was to +the cubs that the boy owed his release; for after a moment they became +impatient and moved away, and the old bear followed them. As soon as +they were out of sight, he slid down the tree, ran for his horse, and +thus survived to tell the tale. + +The same boy assured me that he had seen trout caught in the lake +weighing twenty-two, twenty-four, and twenty-nine and three-quarters +pounds respectively. This being both a fish story and a California +story, seemed a tough combination; but in the morning he took me out +in a boat to fish, and as luck would have it, we were followed for a +time by a monstrous trout which must have weighed fully twenty-five or +thirty pounds. He would not take the bait, however, and such monsters +are not often caught, the average catch being from one to three pounds. +I caught three in a couple of hours, weighing together about four +pounds, and that seemed to be considered a good catch at the hotel for +that season. Fishing luck at Tahoe varies greatly with the season, the +time of day, and the knowledge and skill of the fisherman. The best +place to throw the line is just where the water becomes so deep that +the bottom is no longer visible. Row slowly all the time, and let out a +very long line, with a very bright silver spoon, to attract the game. +The bright spoon seemed to be of prime importance; for I had one and +caught three fish, while the boy, who had a dull spoon, did not get a +bite. Whole minnows are used as bait, and the catching of these in a +brook, or in the lake with bread crumbs and a net, gives employment to +a thin, mummified old Indian who haunts the premises. + +Another local character is old Yank, who formerly owned Tallac’s +and now has built a rival hotel on a smaller scale near by. Yank is +eighty-two years of age, and he presents a unique sight, standing +upright in his boat, propelling it with one oar and jerking his +fish-line with the other hand. His clothes are greasy rags and +tatters, and he himself boasts that his baths are about as frequent +as the blossoming of the century plant. Yet his cheeks are rosy, his +frame vigorous, his voice firm, and eyes sparkling, bearing eloquent +testimony to the tonic value of the combined lake and mountain air of +Tahoe. He has lived here more than a quarter of a century. With pride +he showed me some boats lying in the yard which he had constructed and +painted with his own hands, and the use of which was to be free to the +guests (this was aimed at the other hotel). He seemed to feel somewhat +conscious of his tramplike appearance, and explained that those were +only his winter clothes, and that as the season opened he would have to +dress up “on account of the ladies.” An enormously fat and large dog is +his companion. “Fat?” he exclaimed, echoing my exclamation,—“fat? You +ought to see my wife!” + +The salubrious Tahoe air is responsible for an appetite which would +fatten a consumptive. But if the dinner-bell coincides with sunset and +its concomitant celestial fireworks, it would be an exhibition of the +purest animality to go and eat. The end of the long pier is a good +place to see the colored sunset clouds, but better still is it to take +a boat and row a mile or two from shore. About sunset the wind usually +subsides, and Tahoe becomes as placid and perfect a mirror as the +famous Mirror Lake in the Yosemite, but on an infinitely larger scale. +Here are not only mountain peaks and pine-wooded shores reflected in +the water, but the whole sky, with its sunset clouds, more brilliantly +colored and more fantastically shaped than anywhere in the world, is +mirrored below. The earth no longer seems a hemisphere, but a perfect +symmetrical globe with the spectator in the centre, floating on the +invisible water like a disembodied spirit. I have never been up in a +balloon, but I do not believe that even ballooning can make one so +vividly realize what must be the sensations of an eagle soaring with +outspread, motionless wings through the azure ether. However, Tahoe +does not need these colored cloud reflections as borrowed plumes to +adorn itself with. Its own varied and ever-changing surface-colors +are equally enchanting, though more sombre and melancholy. There +are several zones of color. The shore is lined with sand, coarse +as bird-shot and clean as the water itself, and for a distance of +several hundred yards this sand is visible as we row into the lake, +corrugated by the waves like the tiny furrows in the palms of our +hands, and giving the water a yellowish tint. Farther in, it becomes +blue, gradually shading into so deep a hue that we are ready to believe +that a ship with a cargo of indigo must have gone down here, and feel +tempted to dip a pen into it to see if it will do to write with; but +dip up a glassful, and it is as clear and colorless as if it had just +spouted from an artesian well, and as cold. + +An artist endowed with the courage to reproduce these colors +realistically would surely be denounced by the critics as a visionary +idealist. But no artist could ever paint them as they appear to the +eye, because no palette has ever held colors so rich and deep and at +the same time so delicate and transparent. And still less than the +sombre brilliancy of these colors could a painter reproduce an idea of +their movements, in which lies half their charm. Cloud shadows climbing +up a mountain side are a fascinating sight, but not to be compared +with the spectacle of the irregular patches of color that are chased +by the wind across the crests of the Tahoe wavelets, like semi-liquid +purple, green and violet mists, vanishing in the distance into air, +and followed by other color-waves in rapid succession. The best place +to enjoy this unique spectacle is not in front of the hotel, where the +trees act as a wind-break, but to the left, near the first bridge. +As I stood here the first morning, a brisk breeze was blowing, with +a clear blue sky overhead. Looking leewards, the water nearest the +shore appeared gray, bordered by a light violet, with yellowish and +purple patches; then came a deep green streak, followed by a broader +indigo band, and finally a deep violet field, bounded by a faint mist +raised a little above the surface of the water and slightly veiling the +mountains. Every morning the details were new, and would have been so, +no doubt, had I remained four hundred instead of four days. Tourists go +into raptures over the waving motions of the Western wheatfields, but +what are these monochromes to the polychromatic waves that chase one +another across Tahoe? + +In making the circuit of the lake, we had passed a place where a +railway was seen climbing up the steep lake-side, not far from the +little town of Glenbrook. This railroad is a connecting link between +Lake Tahoe and the distant silver mines at Virginia City. At first +sight the connection between an inclined railway on the shore of Lake +Tahoe and the Virginia City silver mines seems as enigmatic as that +pointed out by Darwin as existing between old maids and clover-fields. +But the mystery is easily explained. Nevada is as treeless as the +greater part of Spain; wherefore the miners have to come to California +for fuel, and for planks to build their shafts. Lake Tahoe is +surrounded by densely wooded hills which are gradually being denuded +to supply the demands of the Nevadan miners. The logs are floated +across the lake, hauled up the hill on the railway, and cut up into +boards and planks, which are thence floated down in a V-shaped flume to +Carson, whence they are taken by another mountain railroad to Virginia +City. No visitor to Tahoe should fail to follow these planks to Carson +and beyond—not necessarily in the flume, but by taking the stage at +Glenbrook. The stage road to Carson is dusty, but most interesting. +The first half of it is all up hill, the second half of it is all down +hill, and the distance fourteen miles. Just before we reach the summit, +Tahoe once more shows its face and casts a parting glance at us. Then +we get a splendid view of the Carson Valley, deep down below us, and +walled in on the other side by chain upon chain of bare, desolate, +lofty mountain ridges. Unprotected by tree or stump, the snow has +melted from even the highest peaks, and the snow-peaks which we see +later (and which seem to justify the name of Nevada or “snowy”) are in +California. We stop at a wayside inn for a moment, and a comely young +girl asks the driver if there is “room for one more.” But a stage is +not a street-car, and the driver had to confess that he was “afraid +not, Nellie, unless one of the men will hold you on his lap.” Nellie +looked non-committal; and if none of the passengers spoke and offered +to take her, this was surely owing to bashfulness, and not to a lack of +gallantry. + +Once or twice the driver stopped to collect a letter that had been +placed in a box fixed on a post by the roadside. To prevent useless +stoppages and delay, these letter-boxes are uncovered, and the +depositor has to take his chances of rain, which, however, are hardly +worth considering in summer. Frequently we cross the flume, or drive +alongside of it, but of course it makes a shorter cut to Carson than +the stage-road, and in some places descends at such a steep angle +that the timber in it is said to be carried along at railroad express +speed. Half a million feet of timber can be thus floated down in a day, +provided there are none of those jams which sometimes extend for half +a mile along the flume and cause much trouble. Just before entering +Carson we come to the end of the flume, where the timber is dropped, +and piled up in rows of interminable length. The Carson Valley, through +which we had been passing, is dry, dusty, and entirely devoid of trees, +and the town, therefore, with its surrounding green meadows and fine +rows of shade trees lining the streets, seemed like an oasis in the +desert. + +Carson, the capital of Nevada, has some good public buildings, and +about four thousand inhabitants, but is not likely ever to have many +more. It was crowded on this occasion with visitors from the country, +and Piute Indians with their squaws and pappooses were loitering at +every street corner. The monstrous, startling circus posters pasted +everywhere explained this influx from the country and neighboring +towns. It was nothing more nor less than Sells Brothers’ “Enormous +United Shows”; “A Grand Olympian Festival”; “The Eureka of Canvas +Entertainments”; “Prodigious, Overshadowing, and Enormous”; “Gigantic, +Sweeping, and Brilliant Centralization of Sterling and World-Endorsed +Entertainments”; “Fully a Century in Advance of all Contemporaries.” I +bowed my head in awe on reading these announcements. + +The appearance of the women and girls in this circus crowd did not seem +to indicate that the climate of Carson Valley is invigorating, or its +resources fattening. Though they wore white dresses, they looked so +thin and sharp that it seemed a wonder the strong wind did not carry +them off bodily. On account of the circus there were extra trains, +but not enough cars, so that half the passengers had to stand. ’Twas +always so, said a local privileged jester; “You never can get enough +of Carson.” This train, en route for Virginia City, took home those +who had attended the matinée. For the evening performance another +extra train was to be sent down all the way from Virginia City, which +appears not to have held out sufficient inducements to the circus +company to come up, so that “it served them right if they got left and +had to come down to Carson,” as one of the passengers remarked, with +much feeling. This railroad from Carson to Virginia affords one of the +most marvellous and entertaining rides in the world. The puffing of +the engine would tell a blind man how steep is the grade all the way +up; and how crooked and winding the road is, may be inferred from the +printed notice to employees that fifteen miles an hour is the highest +speed allowed. Sometimes the engineer might almost shake hands with +a man on the last platform; and there is a story of an engineer who +jumped off the locomotive on seeing a red light straight ahead, which +proved to be the lantern on his last car. Some one has added these +curves together and found that between Carson and Virginia passengers +travel seventeen times round the circle. Several miserable shanty +villages are passed, half buried in empty tin cans, and as we get up +higher the outlooks become more and more desolate and rugged. Even +Arizona has nothing more bleak and naked than these endless vistas of +Nevadan mountains. No tree or other vegetation, except coarse sage +bush. Yet the soil is said to be fertile, and to need only water to +make it valuable. Deep down in the cañon below us, where the Carson +River winds along, this statement is verified by the green fields and +orchards which border it. Interminable wooden steps lead down from the +railroad stations to these oases. “With water,” says a Nevadan, “all +the mountain sides may be made veritable hanging gardens”; and all +that is needed for this metamorphosis is to store the winter water in +artificial cañon-reservoirs for summer tapping. + +We are also told that between these forbidding bare mountain ranges +lie valleys from one to thirty miles in width, but hidden by the +intervening ridges, so that the State as a whole is really not so +forbidding as it looks. Little, however, has been done so far in +agricultural development, and Nevada is still almost exclusively a +mining State. Were it not for the mines and the mineral deposit in dry +lake-beds, there would be no railway except the Central Pacific; and +as the mines now worked are much less productive than formerly, it +is not surprising that Nevada should be the only Western State whose +population is decreasing. + +It cost about three million dollars to build the Virginia and Truckee +Railroad, from Reno, on the Central Pacific, to Virginia City—a +distance of fifty-two miles, although a bee-line would make it only +about seventeen miles. Three millions may seem a big sum for so short a +road, but it led to a region whence more than three hundred and fifty +million dollars in gold and silver have been taken by mule, ox-team, +stage, and rail, since the discovery of the Comstock Lode, thirty years +ago. Should the mines ever become exhausted, it would be worth while, +though it might not pay, to keep up the road as a scenic route. As we +near the mining regions, the mountain scenery becomes more and more +stupendous. We pass through a few tunnels, and suddenly a most unique +view is spread out before us: a series of immense wooden buildings +scattered picturesquely along the mountain sides, like mediæval +castles, though without towers or other architectural features. Smoke +is belched forth from the high chimneys, and by the side of every such +building is a huge gray mound of waste ore,—the accumulation of years. +Other mounds are seen where there are no buildings, but only holes +into the mountain side, looking as if some gigantic animal had been +burrowing and thrown out the soil. These mounds are graves in which +some miners’ dreams of millions are buried. + +As the train winds along and up the hill-side, these sights disappear +and reappear repeatedly, in different groupings, till at last we come +to Silver City, the first of the three towns which perch closely +together on the side of the silver mountain, Mt. Davidson, about +seventeen hundred feet above the river, and as far from the summit. +Mining is not as profitable here as it was formerly, and as it is now +a few miles beyond; but there are many small gold veins. “Nearly every +head of a family in the town,” says the guide-book, “has his own mine; +and when he wants money, he shoulders his pick, goes out to his mine, +and digs it, as a farmer in the East digs a ‘mess’ of potatoes.” + +Two miles beyond Silver City is Gold Hill, which once had as many +inhabitants as Virginia City has now,—eight thousand,—but has only +about three thousand at present. At Virginia City, many pleasant +surprises are in store for us. In this aërial town, built like an +eagle’s nest on the side of a rocky mountain, surrounded in all +directions by similar bleak mountains without a sign of civilization +or habitation on them, you naturally expect to take up lodging in a +one-story shanty, eat canned beef, and sleep on a cot; but nothing of +the sort. Crawling up the hill—everything is up and down hill here—a +few hundred steps, you come to the International Hotel, six stories +high, with elegantly furnished rooms, and fare good enough for the very +reasonable charges. It stands in the principal business street, which +is lined on both sides with not only such indispensable places as drug +stores, grocers’ and butchers’ shops, but with fine jewelry and fancy +stores, and even book and music stores. Elegantly dressed women, many +of refined appearance, promenade the streets, bent on shopping; and, by +way of contrast, there are groups of squaws sitting on the rubbish on +corner lots, or following their lords and masters. + +Every block, of course, has its saloon; for aside from the naturally +bibulous propensities of miners, the great dryness of the air at this +elevation creates an irresistible thirst every hour, so that the +bar-keepers must do a thriving business. Excepting this elevation of +over six thousand feet, there is little here to mitigate the action +of the sun’s rays, which in summer must be intolerable. The trees are +not high enough to afford much shade, having been destroyed, like +everything else, in the great fire of 1875. But that fire, which +annihilated the town, as usual taught a good lesson, and now there +is a hydrant at every corner whence water can be forced high above +the highest building by its own pressure, no engine being needed. +The waterworks of Virginia are perhaps the most interesting in the +world—both above and below ground. The pipe which bridges the Washoe +Valley is seven miles long and has a capacity of over two million +gallons a day. This water had to be brought over to Mt. Davidson from +the main range of the Sierra Nevada, because there was not enough on +the surface of Davidson. Below the surface, on the other hand, there +was an ocean of unwelcome water, hot and cold, which constantly filled +up the shafts and had to be pumped out at an enormous expense. To +overcome this trouble, the Sutro tunnel was built 1650 feet below the +surface, and almost four miles in length. Ten million gallons of water +have passed through this tunnel in twenty-four hours. A day or two can +be profitably spent in seeing these hydraulic wonders, besides the +reducing mills, with their ingenious machinery, in which electricity is +yearly playing a more important part, economizing power by transmitting +it at different points from the Sutro tunnel, and preventing waste by +superior processes of amalgamation. Of course no tourist must fail to +don a miner’s suit in order to experience a sensation like that of +falling from a balloon in descending a shaft, and to feel a heat more +stifling than a desert blast. It is the strangest thing about this +strange mountain city that you need only walk a block or two from any +given point to find a place where you can descend from two to three +thousand feet into the bowels of the earth, till the six-foot opening +at the top appears no bigger than a hand. + +The miners only work a few hours every day, and you understand why +when you come back to daylight bathed in perspiration. After waiting +long enough to cool off, climb to the top of Davidson. Contrasts are +always pleasant; and none more so than this transition from half a mile +in the dark interior of this planet to the summit of a mountain which +rises a mile and a half above sea-level. Davidson is isolated, like +the Rigi, and the view is therefore very extensive, embracing a large +portion of Nevada. On one side is a fine circle of Sierra snow-peaks; +on another, Washoe Lake, and the green meadows along the Truckee River; +all of which, however,—snow, meadow, and lake,—form mere oases amid the +barren wastes of illimitable gray mountain ranges. A flag-pole has been +erected on the summit of Davidson, and the way in which it is fastened +by means of granite blocks piled on high and iron chains on every side, +indicates the strength of the winter storms at this altitude. + + + + + X. + + MT. SHASTA AND CRATER LAKE. + + THE OREGON AND CALIFORNIA RAILROAD—CALIFORNIA’S GRANDEST + MOUNTAIN—ISOLATED PEAKS OF THE CASCADE RANGE—VOLCANIC + REMNANTS—SISSON’S—INDIANS AT HOME—SOURCES OF THE + SACRAMENTO—EFFECTS OF RAIN—OREGON’S NUMEROUS RIVERS—FISH AND + CRAW-FISH—SOUTHERN OREGON—A MYSTERIOUS MOUNTAIN LAKE—THE OREGON + NATIONAL PARK—THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY—OREGON WHEAT AND FRUIT. + + +With the exception of the Canadian Pacific and the Rio Grande, there +is no railway on this continent which offers to tourists such a unique +and imposing variety of mountain and forest scenery as the Oregon +and California, or Shasta Route, which connects San Francisco with +Portland. For many hours after leaving Sacramento, the train follows +the banks of the Sacramento River, whose water in this upper part of +its course is as clear as the Rhine in Switzerland. No fewer than +eighteen times does the train cross the winding river, which at every +turn offers a new picturesque view. But it is not till Mt. Shasta +comes into view that the real grandeur of this route is made evident. +Mr. Bryce, in his “American Commonwealth,” insinuates that there is +little fine scenery in this country; but if there is another railroad +in the world which skirts the base of an isolated snow-mountain over +fourteen thousand feet in height, and so vast in circumference that +it takes the train five or six hours to get around it, I have not seen +it or heard of it; and Shasta is only one of half-a-dozen snow-peaks +which may be admired on this route and its continuation north to +Tacoma and Seattle. There is something absolutely unique about what +may be called the Oregon System of mountain peaks (since Oregon once +embraced all this region), beginning with Shasta (14,440 feet), in +Northern California, and including the Three Sisters (8,500), Mts. +Jefferson (9,000) and Hood (11,200) in Oregon, and Mts. St. Helen’s +(9,750), Adams (9,570), and Tacoma (14,444) in Washington. Elsewhere, +as in Switzerland, or along the Canadian Pacific Railway, snow-peaks +are always adjacent or jumbled together in irregular groups; and this +is the case even in the Sierra Nevada of Central California. But +the ‘Oregon’ earth-giants, from Shasta to Tacoma, are all isolated +peaks, separated by many miles from other peaks, with only a low +range of mountains to connect them; and this gives them a grandeur +and individuality which is lacking in peaks that simply form one of +an irregular group. As Mr. Joaquin Miller poetically puts it: “Here, +the shining pyramids of white, starting sudden and solitary from the +great black sea of firs, standing as supporting pillars to the dome of +intense blue sky, startle, thrill, and delight you, though you have +stood unmoved before the sublimest scenes on earth.” + +It is owing to this isolation that Shasta is the grandest mountain +in California. Mt. Whitney is several hundred feet higher, but it +stands in a region where there are a hundred peaks each over thirteen +thousand feet in height, and therefore is not able to assert itself +properly. Moreover, Whitney is several hundred miles further south, +where the solar heat disposes of the snow-fields every summer, and does +not compel them to seek the valley in the shape of glaciers; whereas +Shasta has five glaciers, one of which is more than three miles long. +Jefferson, Hood, and Tacoma also have fine glaciers, easily accessible. + +As compared with the mountains of Switzerland, Shasta has this +advantage: that whereas the former rarely, even in summer, have the +advantage of standing out against a clear blue sky, which adds so +very much to the sublimity of the scene, Shasta rears its snowy head +day after day and month after month into the cloudless azure. Late in +summer, however, it loses some of its grandeur through the melting of +most of its snow-fields; and in this respect Mt. Hood is superior to +Shasta, as it keeps its snow-mantle throughout the usual Oregon summer. +Besides the California sun, the snows of Shasta have another enemy +in the internal volcanic heat which has not yet subsided. Shasta has +its big craters, and there are a score of smaller ones in the lower +neighboring cones. A few hundred feet below the summit there is a hot +sulphur spring, to whose heat John Muir and Jerome Fay, being caught in +a snow-storm in 1875, owed the preservation of their lives. + +One of the best ways to realize the great height of Shasta, is by +noting the very long time the sun lingers on the mountain side after it +has set at Sisson’s, in Strawberry Valley,—fully half an hour. After +it has gone down, on dark nights in May, a solitary star will arise +immediately over the summit, looking at first as if some venturesome +climber had started a fire, dwarfed by the distance. One does not +realize how jagged are the ridges of Shasta until the evening sun +casts their gray silhouettes on the adjacent white snow-fields. + +All this can be seen from the porch of Mr. Sisson’s hotel—the same +hotel that used to feed the passengers and the horses of the stages so +many years before the Oregon and California Railroad was built; and the +same Mr. Sisson who, twenty years ago, served as Clarence King’s guide +up the mountain. Mr. Sisson now has the satisfaction of seeing quite a +respectable village which has grown up in the picturesque spot selected +by him a quarter of a century ago; but he no longer has the strength to +act as guide; nor does he need to, as he is well-to-do. Accordingly, I +had to content myself with one of the Indians in his employ, as guide +up the mountain side. May is too early to make the complete ascent, +but we thought we could get above the timber line at any rate. But +even this proved impossible, owing to the deep masses of snow which +carpeted the sombre forest at a height of eight thousand feet. Yet the +trip proved worth taking without the final climb. The path led through +the densest imaginable forest, and was impeded every five minutes by a +fallen tree. In looking at the millions of dead trees which rot on the +ground in these California and Oregon forests, one cannot suppress the +thought, “What a blessing this wood would be to the starving, freezing +thousands in our large cities, during the winter months!” + +[Illustration: MOUNT SHASTA.] + +It is this superabundance and natural waste of wood everywhere that +breeds indifference in the people of this coast and the natives to the +devastating forest fires which occur every summer. My Indian guide +amused himself by setting trees on fire in several places, and to +the question why he did this, I could get no satisfactory answer. +He also very kindly tried to amuse me by rolling huge rocks down a +tremendous precipice. I should have been less surprised than hurt had +he thrown me down too, in retaliation for the injury inflicted on him +and his race by the intruding white man, who has reduced the former +lords of this region, where they could hunt and fish to their heart’s +content, to the condition of day-laborers earning their bread by the +sweat of their brow. How galling it must be to the noble savage to +have to dig stumps and level roads while his squaws look on, because, +forsooth, the perverse white man will not permit the squaws to do the +grubbing, and him to look on! + +Mr. Sisson took me to a small Indian camp near his house, where he +wanted to engage a man for a job. The young buck was gorgeously arrayed +in a pair of old trousers and a new linen shirt, evidently just arrived +from San Francisco, with its bosom starched stiffly enough for a city +dude. He was obviously conscious of this ornament, and, probably in +consequence of it, wanted more money for the job than Mr. Sisson had +previously paid him. _Noblesse oblige!_ The squaws, young and old, and +the children, were all very fat, dirty, and stupid-looking, and were +crowding around a fire, eating fried meat and flat, round cakes of +dough baked in a pan, looking as if it would give chronic dyspepsia +to an ostrich or a goat. I was also shown an Indian hut where there +had been a dance on the preceding Fourth of July, white visitors being +charged twenty-five cents admission. + +One of the most interesting places Mr. Sisson has to show his guests +is the source of the Sacramento River. About a mile from his house, +at a place to which steps lead down from the railway track, the water +rushes out from several springs in a great volume, forming immediately +a trout-brook of respectable size, which hurries away in the new +daylight, as if glad to have escaped its subterranean source. These +springs issue from under Mt. Shasta, and doubtless owe their being to +the melting of snow and glacier ice by the internal volcanic heat—a +worthy origin of so romantic a river as the Sacramento. Near these +springs is a valuable iron-water spring, which also belongs to Mr. +Sisson, and is one of his most important possessions, now that the town +founded by him is getting to be a regular resort for San Franciscans, +Portlanders, and Eastern tourists, not only on account of the view of +Shasta, but because of the beautiful forest scenery, and the excellent +trout-fishing in the neighboring McCloud River. Six large rivers and +many smaller ones are born of Shasta and neighboring peaks, and it +is these icy streams that the trout and the salmon delight in. The +Sacramento itself, however, does not afford any sport in this vicinity. + +After leaving Sisson’s, Shasta still remains in sight for some time; +for it takes some time even for a railway to get away from a mountain, +of which it has been remarked that “if it could be sawed off at the +four-thousand-foot level, or five hundred feet above the valley, the +oval plain thus made would be eighty miles in circumference.” Some of +the views of Shasta after leaving Sisson’s are even grander than at +the station, and in certain atmospheric conditions the snow-cone may +be seen floating, as it were, on a mystic haze resembling water. The +aspect of the mountain gradually changes, and what had seemed smooth, +gradual slopes are now seen to be rugged precipices rising one above +the other. + +We now approach that mammoth fragrant forest between the Pacific Ocean +and the Cascade Mountains which is known as Oregon, and it becomes +obvious at once that the chief difference between Oregon and California +is comprised in the word RAIN. Shortly after crossing the Oregon line +evidence begins to multiply that we have entered the rain belt. There +are more deciduous trees, more ferns and mosses, more underbrush in the +pine forests, and, most significant of all, more rivers. California +has in its whole coast line of seven hundred miles only one navigable +river, while Oregon, with a coast line of only three hundred and fifty +miles, has four fine navigable rivers,—the Rogue, the Umpqua, the +Willamette, and the Columbia,—with many smaller ones. All of these run +from east to west, except the Willamette, which divides the State by +flowing northward into the Columbia near Portland, thus creating the +fertile Willamette Valley, to which Portland chiefly owes its wealth. + +The Willamette has some tributaries which alone would make the fortune +of several counties in Southern California, where nothing can be done +without irrigation; whereas in Oregon no one but vegetable gardeners +ever thinks of such a thing. One of these tributaries is the Pudding +River, along the banks of which many charming scenes may be enjoyed, +and which is full of fish, which, however, have the peculiarity that +they never take a bait. In the Santiam and some of the other rivers the +fishing is excellent, and the creeks are full of trout and of crawfish, +which are delicious, and of which I have caught as many as a hundred +in an hour, with three strings and three pieces of beef. A favorite +form of picnicking in Oregon is to take a sauce-pan and salt, catch a +few hundred of these tender and juicy crawfish, boil them, and enjoy a +feast fit for prelates. + +The rain, to which Oregon owes its numerous rivers and creeks, is not +as abundant in the southern as in the northern part of the State. +There is a gradual transition from thirty-two inches at Jacksonville +to thirty-eight at Salem, fifty-three at Portland, and seventy-two +at Astoria. The Rogue River Valley climate has been described as “a +compromise between the droughts of California and the great rain of +the Willamette Valley.” Grapes are raised here equal to the best in +California, and the peaches have been known to fetch higher prices in +the San Francisco market than the California varieties. Melons also are +raised here in great abundance for the Portland market, Northern Oregon +(where the thermometer sometimes does not register above 85° during a +whole summer) being too cold for their successful cultivation. Southern +Oregon is at present but thinly settled; but if its climatic, scenic, +and agricultural advantages were generally known to immigrants, it +would fill up rapidly. + +Two large lakes, the Upper and Lower Klamath, will in course of time +become popular resorts of Oregonians, and some miles north of the +Upper Klamath is Crater Lake, which, although much smaller, is by the +Oregonians considered the greatest curiosity on the Pacific Coast, and +which used to be, and still is, regarded as holy ground by the Indians +of the neighborhood. Local authorities tells us that “in the past none +but medicine men visited it; and when one of the tribe felt called to +become a teacher, he spent several weeks at the lake, in prayer to the +Shahulah Tyee.” + +Crater Lake lies in the heart of the Cascade Mountains, and at so +great an elevation—6,257 feet—as to be rendered inaccessible, except +in summer, by the depth of the snow in the surrounding forests. It is +about one hundred and twenty miles from Ashland, and may be reached +from that city, or from Medford, by stage. The road follows the banks +of the tumultuous Klamath River, and passes through the Klamath Indian +Reservation, near Fort Klamath, which was abandoned in 1889, as being +no longer necessary. A narrow defile known as Mystic Cañon is also of +interest, and it is well to bear in mind that in the older guide-books +Crater Lake is put down as Mystic Lake. Mystic it certainly is, but +its present name is preferable because more definite; for Crater Lake +is really a body of water which, like Lake Tahoe, fills up a volcanic +orifice. And a most gigantic crater it was, for the circumference of +the lake is more than twenty miles. There is only one place where +one can climb down to the water; the rest of the shore consists of +precipitous walls from fifteen hundred feet to three thousand feet in +height, which are less slanting than they appear in photographs. These +high walls, which are mirrored in the water with their fringe of trees, +effectually shut out the mountain breezes, so that the water is placid, +and rarely ruffled. There is something mysterious about this water; for +it has no visible or discoverable inlet or outlet, and yet it is always +clear and sweet. Fish, however, do not inhabit it, probably because +none ever succeeded in getting there; and even water-fowl, it is said, +avoid this solitary, silent mountain lake. In the middle of the lake +stands an island, about three miles long, of volcanic origin, rising +to a point eight hundred and forty-five feet high, and ending in a +crater four hundred and seventy-five feet in diameter. There are caves +along the shores which may have some connection with the water-supply, +as a current is observable near them. The depth of the lake has never +been ascertained, but it has been sounded for two thousand feet without +reaching bottom. + +A few years ago an effort was made to have the Crater Lake region +reserved as the Oregon National Park, and in 1888 a bill to this effect +passed the United States Senate. As there is much valuable timber on +the neighboring mountain ranges, and much fine grazing land, there is +reason to believe that a branch road will ere long connect Crater Lake +with the Oregon and California Railroad; and when that has been built, +every visitor to the Pacific Coast will feel that he can no more afford +to miss this lake than the other two scenic wonders of Oregon—the +Columbia River and Mt. Hood. + +Going northward towards Portland, the wonderful fertility of the +Willamette Valley is what chiefly arrests the attention of tourists. +Wood being cheaper than coal in this region, the train frequently stops +to get a fresh load of fuel from the huge piles of timber which at +intervals extend along the road, sometimes a quarter of a mile without +a break. During these stops, some young man may be seen running to +a neighboring wheat or oat field to compare height with the stalks, +sometimes to his disadvantage. But these rich agricultural lands were +all taken up long ago, and the emigrant with a slender purse and a +desire for government land has to seek a region more remote from the +railway. The towns along this route, including Roseburg, Eugene, +Albany, Salem, and Oregon City, have not grown so fast during +the last ten years as Portland, or as the towns of Washington and +California; but the inhabitants confidently believe that their day +will come when the more sensational California and Washington towns +have passed through their boom period, and they modestly claim that +they prefer steady and slow growth to a boom which too often becomes a +retrograde boomerang. At Oregon City, tourists should be on the lookout +for the falls of the Willamette, below which the Indians formerly +used to spear salmon, but which now serve the more prosaic purpose of +furnishing water-power to the woollen mills on the spot, and electric +power to Portland twelve miles away. + +[Illustration: CRATER LAKE.] + +The Willamette Valley, through which our train has passed on the way +from Roseburg to Portland, is the garden of Oregon. Twenty years ago +wheat and apples were almost exclusively cultivated in this region. +Then the discovery was made that the soil and climate are remarkably +well adapted to hop culture, and most of the farmers at once gave up +their grain-fields and orchards and raised hops. Farmers have their +fashions as well as city folks, and they are just as apt to go to +extremes. The hop-raising business was overdone; prices fell; and now +many of these farmers are returning to their grain and fruit, in which +no other State surpasses Oregon, in quality as well as in quantity. + +Concerning Oregon fruit I can speak from personal experience, as I +was brought up near an orchard numbering two thousand apple, pear, +and plum trees. For peaches and grapes the climate of Northern Oregon +is hardly warm enough, and the apples and pears, too, are perhaps a +little _smaller_ than they are in California, but in flavor they are +vastly superior. Indeed, neither in the East nor in any part of Europe +have I ever tasted apples to compare with those of Oregon. They have +a richness and delicacy of flavor which must persuade any one that, +if apples were less abundant, they would be considered superior in +taste and fragrance to those tropical and semi-tropical fruits which +are more highly valued because of their scarcity in our latitude. In +most parts of the East an apple is an apple, and few people know or +care about the names of the different kinds; but an Oregonian would +no more eat certain kinds of apples than he would a raw pumpkin. An +epicure is no more particular in regard to his brands of wine than an +Oregonian is in the choice of his favorite variety of apples; and there +are half-a-dozen kinds which I have never seen at the East, and the +systematic introduction of which in the New York market would make any +dealer’s fortune. + +For some reason or other the Oregonians seem less enterprising than +their California neighbors, and instead of sending their fruit East, +they often allow it to rot on the trees—including superb plums, and +Bartlett pears that would fetch eight to ten cents apiece in New York. +Eastern capital is wanted to start transportation enterprises; and a +still more important desideratum in Oregon is a larger population. +The growth of the State has been remarkably slow, considering its +agricultural advantages and its fine climate. In the census of 1880, +the population numbered only 174,767. But there were already “16,217 +farms, and their products are tabled at a cash value of $13,234,548,”—a +curious commentary on the exclamation of a member of Congress +forty-five years ago, that he would not “give a pinch of snuff for the +whole Territory.” + +Eastern notions regarding the climate of Western Oregon are almost as +widely astray as they are regarding Alaska. Barrows points out that, +although the mouth of the Willamette is two hundred miles further north +than Boston, no ice has been formed on it thicker than window-glass +since 1862; and that in some of the counties snow has not covered the +ground for three consecutive days for a score of years. The rainy +season, which takes the place of the Eastern winter, is trying to the +patience of some; yet this rain is very different from our muggy, +foggy, sultry winter rains in New York. It is known as a “dry” rain, +because however it may drizzle, it does not seem to saturate the air +and depress the spirits by impeding the natural evaporation and healthy +action of the skin. Doubtless this peculiarity of climate is largely +responsible for the remarkably beautiful complexions of Oregon and +Washington women, though something may be due to the fact that, as +children, they live almost entirely on fruit. The heat of Oregon summer +days is not often oppressive, being generally mitigated by a gentle +breeze, and the nights are always cool enough for refreshing sleep. + + + + + XI. + + PORTLAND AND ITS SEA-BEACHES. + + A PICTURESQUE SITUATION—FIVE SNOW-PEAKS IN SIGHT—PORTLAND + VERSUS LOS ANGELES—CLEARINGS—CHINESE ANECDOTES—PROPITIATING THE + GODS—APPRECIATION OF FEMALE BEAUTY—SUMMER RESORTS—YAQUINA BAY AND + LONG BEACH—BATHING IN THE NORTH PACIFIC—CATCHING CRABS AT LOW + TIDE—A SAD ACCIDENT—CLATSOP BEACH AND TILLAMOOK HEAD—AN EXPOSED + LIGHT-HOUSE—IN THE VIRGIN FOREST—OREGON MOSSES, FERNS, AND + TREES—FLOWERS AND BERRIES. + + +If the greatest commercial advantage which a city can enjoy is to be +situated on a large river, it is equally true that of all possible +æsthetic advantages no other is equal to that of having a scenic +background of snow-mountains. It is to this that so many cities of +France, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy owe their principal charm. To +find anything similar in the United States we have to go far West, and +especially Northwest. Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle are the three most +picturesquely situated cities in the United States, and of these three +I would assign the palm to Portland, from a purely scenic point of +view. For although Mt. Hood does not seem quite so near and imposing +at Portland as Mt. Tacoma does as seen from Seattle or Tacoma, it must +be remembered that the Portlanders have full-size views from their +streets, not only of Hood but also of St. Helens, while the summits of +Tacoma, Adams, and Jefferson are seen from the hills which encircle +the city. And while Portland has no Puget Sound, it is only twelve +miles from the Columbia River, which is scenically superior even to the +“American Mediterranean,” as Puget Sound has been aptly called. + +Architectural monuments of importance there are none as yet in +Portland, but the trees and gardens which frame in all the houses are +equally attractive in their way, and, from a sanitary point of view, +more desirable. Garden City or Forest City would seem an appropriate +name for Portland, as seen from the Portland Heights, which every +tourist should visit; and the Cascade Range to the east, with the +Willamette River separating the city from East Portland and Albina, +gives the ensemble a slight resemblance to Stuttgart, if not to +Florence, though neither of those cities can boast of a line of five +volcanic snow-peaks like Portland. + +Of Mt. Hood in particular the Portlanders have a magnificent view from +their house-tops or from the heights west of the city. Though it is +about fifty miles away, there is not a hill between to impede the view; +and, as the particular Cascade ridge with which Mt. Hood connects is +of insignificant height, the peak stands revealed from head to foot in +solitary grandeur, with snow reaching down two-thirds of the way even +in August. As previously stated, it is a peculiarity of all the Oregon +and Washington peaks that they thus rise abruptly from the ground, +without any clustering neighbors to lean upon; and this isolation, +combined with the lowness of the snow-line, adds much to their grandeur +and apparent height. With such fine scenery constantly in view, and +with trees and flowers around every house, it is perhaps not surprising +that the wealthy Portlanders have hitherto shown a remarkable +indifference to the condition of their parks and streets. The large +piles of wood in front of every other house appear more useful than +ornamental, and give parts of the city a semi-rural aspect. They make +excellent and cheap fuel, however, and the large quantities of pitch +they contain give them a delightful fragrance. Another peculiarity of +Portland streets is that the blocks are uncommonly small. Fewer streets +and wider ones would have been much more acceptable. The waste of space +involved in the present arrangement is beginning to be felt now that +real estate is rapidly rising in value. + +Portland owes its growth and its commercial importance to the fact that +the Willamette River is navigable up to its wharves by the largest +ocean steamers; so that the rich farm products of the Willamette Valley +can be at once shipped to all parts of the world without a long and +expensive railway transportation. + +In a book dated 1855—Thornton’s “Oregon and California”—we read that +“ships drawing twelve or fourteen feet of water ascend the Willamette +to the pleasant and flourishing village of Portland, twelve miles +below Oregon City.” This “pleasant and flourishing village” is now a +city of at least sixty thousand, which hotly disputes with Los Angeles +the honor of being the second largest city on the Pacific Coast. The +Los Angeles papers claim seventy thousand for their city and speak +encouragingly of Portland as a promising city of forty thousand; +while the Portland papers reverse these figures, claiming seventy +thousand for their city and generously conceding to Los Angeles forty +thousand. One thing is certain: that Portland is growing very rapidly, +as is proved by official statistics, showing that the grand total of +receipts and payments of money order and postal funds increased more +than a million dollars from June 30, 1888, to June 30, 1889. Portland, +however, has never had a real “boom” like her southern rival, or +like Tacoma and Seattle. Oregon, indeed, has been somewhat unjustly +neglected, being thrown into the shade by her more brilliant neighbors, +California and Washington. Her growth has been gradual, and not by +spurts, but it has been as steady as it has been quiet, and the total +result is surprising. Salem, the State capital, has not, indeed, +greatly outgrown the condition in which it was found a number of years +ago by Mr. Joaquin Miller, who referred to it as “rather thickly +settled for the country, yet far too thinly settled for a city”; but +Portland has always gone on ahead, thanks to the fact that it has +been, and still is, the headquarters for wholesale supplies not only +in Oregon, but in Washington and Idaho. This, combined with the fact +that it is the outlet for one of the richest grain and fruit States +in the Union, accounts for the metropolitan aspect of Portland. Front +Street, where the large wholesale houses are, might be easily taken for +a street in New York or Chicago. Farther away from the river, elegant +rows of residences occupy the ground where a few years ago ferns and +mosses grew, and the festive stump asserted its omnipresence. A large +and magnificent hotel has just been completed, the Portland, one of the +finest and most sensibly constructed in the country, every room being +practically a front room, with plenty of light and air. This hotel +was much needed. I have known tourists to leave Portland disgusted +because they could not get comfortable quarters in the overcrowded +small hotels. Cable and electric roads have also been introduced +recently, and besides all these things, there is evidence of Portland’s +prosperity in the appearance of the daily _Oregonian_, which is at +present compelled to add four pages almost every issue to its usual +eight pages, just as were the Los Angeles papers during the “boom” in +Southern California. The _Oregonian_ is one of the best edited papers +in the United States, liberal in its views, and generally on the right +side of important questions. It has obtained such a firm hold in Oregon +soil that rival papers find it almost impossible to make headway +against it; and Portland is perhaps the only city of its size in this +country which has only one first-class daily paper. + +Some Portlanders are distressed at the fact that Second Street, one of +the three principal business streets of the city, has fallen almost +entirely into the hands of the Chinese; but in her general treatment of +Chinamen, Portland differs widely from her rival cities in Washington. +From Tacoma the Mongolians were driven formally, a few years ago, by +a mob, headed by the mayor and a brass band. Seattle tried the same +game, but there the mob was foiled by the interference of the sheriff. +Portland, on the other hand, deals gently with its two thousand +Chinamen, because they are found useful, and sometimes indispensable. +A Portlander has explained this matter as follows: “In a city where +white help cannot be got at the rate of thirty dollars a month for +plain cooks and twenty dollars for chambermaids, Chinamen at those +prices, either in the kitchen or overhead, are a blessing. Indeed, +the amicable relations between the Chinese and the whites here is +due largely to a tacit agreement on a division of labor. All over the +city you see that the men employed on street-mending and other public +works are white. Wherever you see a pile of cordwood and a man sawing, +splitting, and carrying it in, you will find him a Chinaman. When a +well-to-do Chinaman wants a drive in a hack, a white man sits before +him on the box. The Chinese have not intruded into any of the skilled +trades to the exclusion of the whites. Their barbers shave only their +own countrymen. Their cobblers confine their mending to Chinese shoes. +Their compositors set only Chinese type. Their carpenters are employed +on Chinese buildings and cabinet work exclusively. You will often see a +drayman delivering freight with a Chinese helper, or a white gardener +directing his Chinese assistant in the use of the hoe and the rake. +The absurd notion, so prevalent in some parts of the East, that the +Chinaman works for almost nothing, is quickly dispelled when you come +to strike a bargain with one. If he is to dig in your garden as a +common laborer, he stands for his dollar a day as firmly as the white +man. He will saw your wood gladly, but he must have a dollar a cord for +it, or a dollar and seventy-five cents if he also splits it, carries it +in, and piles it up in your cellar.” + +In the country, the Chinamen are even more indispensable than in the +city; and the demand for them during harvesting and hop-picking time +is always greater than the supply. They are hired through the agency +of Chinese bosses, who send them wherever they are wanted, with cooks +and a general outfit, and pay them a small sum a day, keeping the +lion’s share for themselves. At other times of the year the Chinese +are employed in making “clearings” for agricultural purposes. Oregon +has about fifteen million acres of timber land, with a soil that is +excellent for grain or fruit, provided the timber can be removed. To +do this with white labor is so expensive as to take away the possible +margin of profit. But the Chinaman does it for a smaller sum, and thus, +instead of being the farm-laborer’s enemy, he enables him to earn a +living on the ground cleared by the heathen. The cost of clearing an +acre varies from twenty-five to one hundred dollars. + +Market-gardening in Oregon, as in California, is almost entirely in the +hands of the Chinese, and where-ever in the neighborhood of Portland +you see a brook large enough to irrigate a garden, you will usually +find a Chinaman in possession of the ground. Even where the gardens +or orchards belong to Americans, Chinamen are hired to do most of the +work. And they do it well, with rare exceptions. Usually they have a +separate hut, where they do their own cooking; or else they occupy a +portion of the barn, in which case, if the chickens lay their eggs +therein, it is sometimes found that the number of cackling chickens +exceeds the number of eggs found in the trough in the evening. + +To judge by the articles found in their provision stores, the wealthier +among the Chinese appear to be as great epicures as their countrymen at +home; while of the poorer ones, if you ask one what he had for dinner, +he will invariably reply, “I eatee licee” (rice). Yet they are always +glad to get what is left over at the table, and this makes it the more +remarkable that they are so contented with their insipid boiled rice, +without condiment of any sort. + +Heathen John is, of course, quite as willing to work on Sunday as on +any other day; but once in a while a day comes along which is marked +sacred in his calendar, and then it is difficult to persuade him to +do anything. I once witnessed a curious scene on a farm near East +Portland. Strawberries being over-ripe, the four Chinese laborers +had been persuaded to pick all day, though they had expressed a +great desire to have a holiday. In the evening they had a grand +performance in front of their barn. A whole roast chicken was brought +out in a plate and placed on the grass, surrounded by half-a-dozen +bowls of rice-wine, and a number of burning candles, though it was +still daylight. The oldest of the men went through a series of bows +and genuflections, and then poured out libations of the wine, after +offering some to the spectators, who politely declined it. Then a few +dozen perforated papers with Chinese characters on them were thrown +into the flame, one after another, the chicken was carried back into +the barn, and the ceremony was over. One of the younger Chinamen +explained to us that what we had witnessed had been done to conciliate +the gods. “We workee to-day, long (wrong). ’Ligious holiday. Now allee +lightee” (right). He added that he and the other two young men would +not have done it, but that the old man was very strict in his religious +observances and had induced them to join him. + +Afterwards we asked this same young man to sing for us, which he did +after much coaxing, and a solemn and repeated promise that we would +not laugh. He sang three verses in a shrill falsetto voice, each time +a few notes higher, the effect being similar to that of the Edison +phonographic speaking-dolls. He accompanied his song with dance and +pantomime, but when one of his companions tried to accompany him on +a peculiar instrument which sounded like a cross between a violin and +oboe, he did not encourage him, and explained to us “he no play.” + +John sometimes manages to pick up a fair knowledge of English, but +one word he cannot get into his brain, and that is the word “get.” +Tell him to “go and get the milk” and he will have no idea what you +want. “Catchee” is the word for him; and if you say “John, go catchee +him milk,” he will go at once and get it. His logic also is sometimes +peculiar; and if you make a bargain with him at so much a month, he +will work exactly one Chinese month, or four times seven days, and then +refuse to do anything on the two or three remaining days of the month +unless he gets extra pay. Nash, in his “Two Years in Oregon,” relates +a funny story of a Chinaman who accompanied him on a trip through the +country. On arriving at a steep hill, he got off the wagon and made +John get off too, much against his will, apparently; for presently, on +looking around, he noticed that John had crawled up again from behind. +On being remonstrated with, John exclaimed, “Never mind; horsee no see +me get in; they know no better.” + +The same writer tells of a Chinaman who stole the picture of a pretty +girl from an album and concealed it in his room. And an Oregon lady +related to me an incident which gives further proof that John has a +sense of beauty. She has two daughters, one a very pretty brunette of +eleven, the other a blonde with irregular features and freckles. Lee +had one day promised a handkerchief to the blonde, but on looking at +the two he decided to give it to the other one. He often spoke of her +beautiful black eyes, “just like a China girl’s,” and said he would +take her along to China. “How much will you give me for her?” asked the +mother. “Hundred dollars,” was the answer. “And how much for the other +one?” “Two bits” (twenty-five cents). Lee used to tease these children +by running away towards his cabin with their favorite cat, pretending +that he was going to cook her for dinner. One day he was left alone in +the house, and when the family returned late in the evening, they found +he had attended to everything, even to winding up the clock. But at +one o’clock they were awakened by a most infernal noise; Lee, with the +thoroughness of his race, had wound up everything he could find—alarm +clock and all! + +Lee always gave the children Christmas presents of preserved ginger, +candy, or silk handkerchiefs, and occasionally ten cents “to go to the +theatre”; but after a time he became lazy and unmanageable, and was +finally chased away because he impudently gave notice that he would not +work the next day: “To-mollow I’ll be sick.” + +One of the greatest advantages of Portland as a place of residence +is that one can stay here all the year round, as there are very few +days in summer when the thermometer rises high enough to make one +uncomfortable; while the winter climate is similar to that of Virginia. +When a few successive warm days do come, however, the Portlanders have +an unusual variety of excursions to choose from. Picnic boats go up +the Columbia River every day, to visit the Cascades or the Multuomah +or Latourelle Falls. Others go down the river to Astoria and the sea. +Mt. Hood can be reached in a few hours, and a hotel has been built +near the great glacier, where fans are never in demand. Portland is +a hundred miles from the sea, yet it has three seaside resorts, +accessible by rail or boat, which are much frequented in July and +August, less because the city is considered uncomfortable, than because +all residents on the Pacific Coast seem to have a passion for camping +out a few weeks each year. + +In selecting a seaside resort on the North Pacific Coast, the most +important consideration, next to a good beach, is protection from the +cold winds which often make even the summer months chilly. In this +respect the most southerly of Portland’s summer resorts, at Yaquina +Bay, is well favored. It is situated about a hundred miles south +of the Columbia River bar; and expects to be some day an important +commercial place, owing to the facilities for transportation of wheat +and fruit to San Francisco, the distance being two hundred miles less +than from Portland. At present a steamer leaves every two weeks for the +Golden Gate. Newport, on this bay, is a place of about five hundred +inhabitants, who claim that their town will never need a fire company +because the salt spray from the ocean renders the houses fire-proof—an +assertion which they probably expect to be taken _cum grano salis_. +Yaquina Bay formed part of a large Indian reservation until 1865, and +up to that time the San Franciscans who found it profitable to fish for +oysters in their bay had to pay the Indians a shilling a bushel for +this privilege. + +The other two seaside resorts of Portlanders are due west,—Clatsop +being a few miles south of the Columbia River bar, and Ilwaco, or +Long Beach, a few miles north of it. Of these two, by far the most +frequented to-day is Long Beach, because it is accessible by boat +and rail, while Clatsop has hitherto involved a dusty stage ride of +eighteen miles from Tansy Point. Ilwaco is opposite Astoria, on the +Washington side of the Columbia estuary, and lies at the southern +extremity of the long, sandy peninsula which separates Shoalwater Bay +from the Pacific. A few years ago a primitive sort of railway was built +on this peninsula for the accommodation of visitors to the seaside, and +now hotels and camps are scattered along its whole length. There are +two hotels, but they are expensive and not very good, and most of the +Portlanders prefer to bring their tents along and rough it. A site for +the tent may be purchased for two dollars and a half a season, and hay +for the beds is supplied by the neighboring farmers to those who are +too fastidious to use the fragrant fern which is an omnipresent and +irrepressible weed in Washington and Oregon. Fern has its advantages, +not only because it costs nothing, but because it offers no temptation +to the cows which have the freedom of the camp in the early morning +hours. It is hardly conducive to comfortable rest to know that at any +moment after daylight a cow may poke her head under your tent and chew +up the substratum of your bedding. The owners of these cows provide for +a plentiful supply of milk and vegetables, while meat is daily brought +from Portland or Astoria, and is offered for sale, together with canned +goods, at booths which are more numerous than they need to be. One can +hardly blame these vendors for asking somewhat high prices for their +supplies, but the person to guard against is the thrifty farmer’s wife +who buys “store” butter and eggs at Ilwaco and then peddles them around +as “fresh farm products” at double prices. + +Shoalwater Bay is a famous oyster-ground, and the bivalves, together +with mud-clams and razor-clams, are daily brought over to the camp. +These oysters are small and inferior in flavor to Eastern oysters. +Crabs and fish in great variety are also to be had for a trifle, but +the popular way at Long Beach is to catch them yourself. When the +tide recedes, some crabs (occasionally weighing four or five pounds) +are always left in the hollows on the beach, where they can be easily +caught. But once every month there are several mornings when the tide +recedes about half a mile, and then the sport becomes lively. Everybody +is out with poles and large sacks, in which the crabs are packed and +afterwards gathered in by wagons. Another kind of sport peculiar to +this region is gathering in the large hake (two to five pounders), +which in their eager pursuit of sardines are occasionally caught by the +breakers and cast ashore, where they can be gathered in by the hundred. +Larger fish, too, are often cast ashore, among them ten-foot sturgeon, +and large salmon with a big hole in the side. The seals which abound +in this region have a destructive and abominable habit of taking some +favorite tidbit out of the salmon and then leaving them to die. These +dead fish on the beach have to be carefully covered with sand, or else +they become a malodorous nuisance. + +In the evening the scene along the beach is rendered brilliant by +numerous bonfires, fed with the logs that are scattered along the beach +in countless numbers. These logs are brought down the Columbia during +the high-water season, and deposited along the beach for miles each +way. Some of them, in fact, have been carried to distant islands in +the Pacific. They supply the campers with plentiful fuel, and no one +objects to the wasteful bonfires, because the stock is replenished +every year. During storms this driftwood adds a unique element of +grandeur to the scene, the huge logs being tossed about like straws +by the angry waves, now lifted up straight as trees, and again dashed +against each other with a thud which is heard above the roar of the +breakers. + +Long Beach is a place where even a victim of insomnia will sleep ten +hours every night, and still yawn all day. But as a bathing-place it +has its disadvantages. Bathing on the North Pacific is a different +thing from bathing on the New Jersey coast. The waves are so +rough—positively rude, one might say—and the undertow so strong, +that there is only one hour each day when bathing becomes safe and +enjoyable. This hour varies of course daily with the tide, and a bell +is rung to announce it. Immediately hundreds of campers, who have put +on their bathing-suits in their tents, rush into the waves; but few of +them stay in more than twenty minutes, as the water, even on summer +afternoons, is rarely warm enough to invite a longer stay. That it +is perilous to go into the water at any other than the official hour +announced by the bell is proved by the sad case of a young lady, a +well-known heiress, who lost her life here a few years ago. She was +engaged to a young man, whom she asked one day to accompany her into +the water when the tide was going out. Of course he flatly refused, +whereupon she was piqued and invited another young man, who foolishly +complied with her request. They entered the breakers, when suddenly +the young lady disappeared under the waves and was never seen again. +Although a large sum was offered for the recovery of her body, it was +never found, and it is possible that it was devoured by sharks; for +these fish are occasionally seen here, though there is no danger near +shore, and the noise made by the bathers is said to frighten them away. + +The greatest objection to Long Beach is the cold winds which almost +constantly sweep along the coast, very often accompanied by dense fogs. +During three weeks in July and August, 1889, that I spent there, the +sun shone only on five days. On account of these disadvantages it is +probable that before long Clatsop Beach will become the favorite summer +resort of Portlanders, because it is protected against wind and fogs +by Tillamook Head on one side, and forests on another. A railroad has +just been built to Clatsop, and it is probable that this summer the +Portlanders will desert their favorite Long Beach and establish their +summer quarters at Clatsop, which has the additional merit, from their +own patriotic point of view, of being in Oregon, while Long Beach is in +Washington. + +From Clatsop a very interesting excursion can be made on foot to +Tillamook Head, where a much-needed lighthouse was built ten years ago +in a most exposed and romantic situation. It stands on an isolated +rock, about a mile from the shore, and twenty miles south of the +Columbia River bar. The foreman of the party that built the lighthouse +was swept away by the waves and drowned, when he first put foot on the +rock, and the workmen were repeatedly in great danger while building +the lighthouse, being once cut off from all supplies for over two weeks +by a storm. The almost incredible fury of the “Pacific” Ocean when it +gets roused may be inferred from the fact that during a recent winter +storm the wild waves broke over this tower, the summit of which is one +hundred and thirty-six feet above sea-level, leaving fish and rocks +scattered on the roof. One of these rocks weighed sixty-two pounds, and +is now on exhibition in Portland. + +Sea-lions are abundant in this neighborhood, and it is interesting +to watch them fishing for salmon, or quietly basking in the sunshine +on the rugged rocks, regardless of the cacophonous roaring of the +monstrous sentinels. The Indians have a tradition that pearl-oysters +used to be obtained a few miles off shore; but at present the less +ornamental but more useful rock-oyster only is to be found, together +with mussels and razor-clams, which have their habitat on the sandy +shore, and on being disturbed dig their way down so rapidly, that +it requires some skill to catch them with a little spade. In some +places along the beach the curious phenomenon of “singing sands” is +encountered, the sand on being trod on giving out a peculiar sound. + +The Elk Creek region, through which this part of the coast is +approached, is a veritable hunter’s and botanist’s paradise. Here +bears and deer abound, and more dangerous game, like timber wolves +and cougars, may be encountered, as well as otter and beaver. In the +south fork of Elk Creek there is good trout-fishing. But it requires a +decided talent for “roughing it” to enjoy all these things; for here we +are in a forest truly primeval, where paths are few and far between, +and where the sunlight rarely penetrates through the dense groups of +firs and spruce to impede the growth of the moisture-loving ferns and +mosses which carpet the ground everywhere. Trees of over two hundred +feet in height and straight as masts abound, some of them up to ten +feet in diameter, and therefore too large to tempt the lumbermen to +destroy them. + +As for these Oregon mosses and ferns, one would have to seek in moist +tropical regions for anything to match them in variety, beauty, and +verdant luxuriance. Not only is the ground covered so deeply that +one could walk noiselessly, were it not for the dead twigs, but every +tree, standing or prostrate, has its green mossy cover. Rotten logs +are adorned with ferns waving gracefully over the lovely mosses amidst +which they have gained foothold; and even the rocks, which are so bare +and bleak in California, are here covered with a mosaic of mosses and +lichens—green, gray, red, and yellow. Of the ferns the loveliest is, +of course, the black-stemmed maiden-hair, which attains a height of +several feet along the banks of shaded brooks, and looks so graceful +as it waves about in the gentle breezes that it seems fully to deserve +its poetic name. Less graceful and poetic is the common Oregon fern, +which sometimes grows as high as California wild mustard, so that +hunters may lose their way in it, and which is, from an æsthetic point +of view, one of the most charming features of Oregon, since it covers +up the unattractive gray of the soil everywhere with a delicate pale +green garb which contrasts delightfully with the darker green of the +fir-trees. But the farmers look on this species of fern as a dreadful +nuisance, because it is the most irrepressible of all weeds, whose +roots have more lives than cats. Oregon, it must be admitted, is almost +as weed-ridden as California. Besides the fern, the most troublesome +weeds are sorrel, dog-fennel, wild carrots, and oats, thistles, and +the beautiful corn-flowers in every imaginable color. The most curious +thing about these Oregon weeds is the tendency they have to supplant +each other every three years, as if there were fashions among weeds. +But whereas thistles and wild carrots and corn-flowers may come and go, +the fern always remains, unless it is ploughed down persistently, and +a _harrowing_ war is waged against the last inch of root remaining in +the soil. + +It goes without saying that a soil which is so favorable to the +growth of weeds also extends a generous welcome to flowers. This is +most strikingly shown on deserted farms where _annual_ garden flowers +continue to seed themselves year after year, without any care. I have +seen half-a-dozen garden species of flowers growing wild in a place +where they had received no attention for twenty years. Wild flowers +do not grow here in such profusion or variety as in California, but +there are few flowers in California that equal in beauty the pendent +red clusters of the wild Oregon currant, or the trifolium, whose petals +are at first snow-white, and subsequently change to purple. Lilies +of the valley, tiger-lilies, bleeding hearts, lady’s-slippers, iris, +columbines, larkspur, and many other flowers that are carefully reared +in Eastern gardens, grow wild here in great profusion. + +In the matter of berries, Oregon is greatly ahead of California. +The delicious wild strawberries on long stems are so abundant in +May and June that they perfume the air along country roads like +clover-fields. Blackberries are even more numerous, and a single +county of Oregon would supply enough for all our Eastern cities. Wild +currants and gooseberries are also abundant, as well as black and red +raspberries and huckleberries. Then there are berries peculiar to +Oregon and Washington, including the yellow salmon-berries, the scarlet +thimble-berries, and the odd salal, a bush which grows everywhere +and is quite ornamental with its glossy leaves and bell-shaped white +flowers which turn into bluish black berries of a rather agreeable +flavor. Usually these berries are small and dry, but in the swampy +regions along the sea-coast they grow as large as gooseberries, and are +very sweet, although care has to be used in eating them, as they are +apt to be inhabited. Bears are very fond of these salal-berries. But +perhaps the most curious berry in the State is the so-called Oregon +“grape,” a small blue berry which makes good wine, but requires plenty +of sugar, as it is perhaps the sourest thing that grows, unless it be +the Oregon crab-apple, a small berry-like fruit growing in clusters, +and of which a jam is made that would give European or Eastern epicures +a new sensation of delight. Speaking of epicures, I claim to be an +amateur in that line myself, and I must acknowledge that I have never +tasted any French château wine with a more agreeable bouquet than that +of Oregon cider made exclusively of the finest apple that grows—white +winter pearmain—and kept in bottles, unfermented. + +The wild oranges which grow in Mexico indicate that oranges, lemons, +and limes must be among the most profitable crops grown there; and in +the same way the wild crab-apples, cherries, various sorts of berries, +and wild oats prophetically indicated that the wealth of Oregon lay in +the systematic cultivation of fruit, berries, and grain. + +I have apparently wandered away from my topic, which, I believe, was +Portland and its summer resorts; but these things may as well be +referred to here as elsewhere, since all of rural Oregon is practically +a summer resort. I can only briefly refer to other attractions, such +as the numerous wild canaries and other song-birds which fill the +Oregon air with glad music; or the game-birds which may still be hunted +but a few miles from Portland,—the stoical, hooting grouse on the +tree-tops, undaunted by the repeated shots of the amateur rifleman; +the partridges, which do not allow a passing train to disturb them at +their breakfast in a wheatfield; or the wild pigeons, which save you +the trouble of hunting them by giving you a few shots at them every +morning on your cherry-trees; or the deer, which still abound in the +mountains; etc. But in conclusion I must once more refer to what after +all constitutes the greatest charm and attraction of Oregon, next to +the snow-peaks; namely, the omnipresent fir-trees, tall, stately, dark +green, and shady. Artists and others who have grown up in firless +countries can have no idea of the true grandeur and beauty of a real +forest, of the cathedral-like gloom and silence in its midst, of the +exquisite serrated lines formed by the branching tree-tops standing +against a deep blue sky, and of the infinite variety of tints and +shadows produced by the play of clouds and of sunlight at different +hours of the day. More beautiful still, if less imposing, than the +full-grown trees, are the young fir-trees of ten to thirty feet in +height which are rapidly filling up the regions destroyed by forest +fires. They look like so many square miles of Christmas-trees, but no +Christmas-trees adorned by Santa Claus with colored wax candles ever +present so brilliant an appearance as those young fir groves when the +morning or evening sun shines horizontally on them. Such lights and +shades are to be seen nowhere else in the world, and the tints seem so +warm and glowing that on a cold morning one involuntarily edges up to +them to get warm. + + + + + XII. + + UP AND DOWN THE COLUMBIA RIVER. + + AN UNGRATEFUL REPUBLIC—THE COLUMBIA COMPARED WITH OTHER + RIVERS—SNOW-PEAKS—SALMON-CANNERIES—ASTORIA AND THE MOUTH + OF THE RIVER—CAPE HORN AND ROOSTER ROCK—WATER-FALLS—THE + CASCADES—SALMON-WHEELS—IN THE HIGHLANDS—THE LAST OF THE + MOHICANS—LOW AND HIGH WATER—THE SCENERY AND THE RAILROAD—THE + “PLACE OF THE WINDS”—“SWIFT WATER”—A RIVER TURNED ON EDGE. + + +The proverbial ingratitude of republics has never been better +illustrated than by the fact that not one of our forty-two States +is named after the discoverer of America. True, there are more than +fifty Columbia counties, townships, cities, and villages in the United +States, and thirty more have adopted the name Columbus, while the +capital of the country lies in the District of Columbia; but this +district comprises an area of only sixty-four square miles, and in +a country where so much is thought of big things, Columbus surely +ought to have been sponsor of one of our largest States. An excellent +opportunity was missed, on the occasion of the recent admission of +Washington Territory to statehood, of changing its name to Columbia. +This would not only have prevented much confusion in the mails, but +would have been singularly appropriate, for the reason that Washington +is bounded on the south by the Columbia River, and on the north by +British Columbia.[1] + +[1] When Washington Territory was separated from Oregon, an effort was +made to have it named Columbia, but it was defeated in Congress. + +However, even if it failed to use its opportunity for adopting the +name of Columbia for one of its States, the Northwest has done more +to honor the name of Columbus than any other part of the country; for +here is British Columbia with its magnificent mountain scenery, more +than eight times as large as the State of New York; and, better still, +the Columbia River, three thousand miles in length, with the grandest +river scenery in the world. I have repeatedly seen the Hudson, the +St. Lawrence, Mississippi, Missouri, Sacramento, the Rhine, Elbe, +and Danube, and none of these rivers impressed me as deeply as the +Columbia, which, with the exception of the castles on the Rhine, +combines the best features of all of them, and adds to them what they +all lack—a background of lofty mountains covered with eternal snow. +Grandeur is the watchword of the Columbia, which, with this mountainous +background and the stupendous sculpture of its banks, towers above +other famous rivers as the high Alps of Switzerland do above our +Adirondacks and Catskills. + +In entitling this chapter “Up and down the Columbia” I do not wish to +frighten the reader into the belief that I intend to take him over the +same ground—or water—twice, but merely to indicate that Portland is to +be our starting-place. From that city steamers leave daily to make the +trip of one hundred miles down to Astoria and the ocean, while others +go up the river about one hundred and ten miles, to the Falls. The +former trip should be taken first, to avoid an anticlimax. + +Portland, Oregon,—which, although founded two centuries later than +its namesake in almost the same latitude in Maine, has already almost +double the population of the latter (sixty thousand),—is, as I remarked +in the last chapter, doubtless the most picturesquely situated city in +the United States. From the densely wooded green hills which enclose it +on the west, the city is seen spreading itself comfortably and without +unsanitary crowding along both sides of the Willamette River, which is +about a mile wide at this place. East Portland and Albina are on the +east side of the river, and beyond them, at a distance of about fifty +miles, this picture is framed in by the Cascade Range and half-a-dozen +giant snow-peaks. Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens, both covered with +eternal snow, are so vast that on clear days they seem to rise just +beyond the outskirts of the city, and delightful glimpses of them are +caught in the streets. Less conspicuous, because farther away, but +still adding to the charm of the scene, are Mt. Tacoma and Mt. Adams on +the left, while on the right, the snowy tops of Mt. Jefferson and the +three sisters are visible. To the left of Mt. Hood the Columbia River +can be seen in the distance, like a silver cord showing the way to the +deep cañon which it has worn through the Cascade Mountains. + +Portland is practically a seaport, although situated a hundred miles up +the Columbia, and twelve miles more up its tributary, the Willamette, +which, up to this point, is deep enough to receive the largest ocean +steamers, although in dry summers the channel has to be carefully +watched, and lighterage resorted to in some cases. For hours after the +day boat to Astoria leaves the city, the snow-mountains above mentioned +are visible on deck, in ever-new groupings as the boat follows the +winding course of the river. This is by far the most striking feature +of the lower Columbia scenery; for the minor ridges of the coast range +are insignificant compared with the cascade ridges of the “middle” +Columbia, and the fir-fringed banks are usually low, and have none of +the steep palisades and isolated rocks which give continuous grandeur +to that part of the river. The banks of the Willamette River, below +Portland, resemble those of the Columbia, and indeed this river, which +is hardly known outside of Oregon, becomes so wide and majestic before +it reaches the Columbia, that a careless passenger would not notice the +transition from one river to the other. It would be difficult, however, +to be inattentive here, for the place where the Columbia receives the +Willamette is one of the most interesting spots in its course. The +Willamette—which should be called the Oregon, since that name has +been taken away from the Columbia (“where rolls the mighty Oregon,” +as Bryant still could write), or should at least receive back its old +Indian name Wallámet—meets the Columbia almost at right angles in two +currents, being divided here by one of those pretty little islands +which abound along this part of the river and give it some resemblance +to the St. Lawrence. They are submerged in spring, and but a few inches +above the level of the water in summer, when they are covered with +a luxuriant growth of grass and shrubbery—ideal grazing-grounds for +thousands of head of cattle; yet Oregon still imports much of her meat +and butter from the East. + +As the river-banks become wider and wider, and the scenery somewhat +monotonous, the salmon industry begins to attract attention. During the +legal salmon season, from the first of April to the end of July—which +is also the tourist season in Oregon, since in July the forest fires +begin which shroud the whole State, with its fine mountain scenery, +in a dense cloud of smoke, lasting till September—the river steamers +are liable to be stopped at any moment in midstream by boats loaded +to the edge with salmon, which are to be conveyed to one of the +numerous canneries that line the last thirty miles of the stream. +These canneries are buildings of the flimsiest construction, inhabited +chiefly by Chinamen, and by young bears caught in the neighboring +hills and chained to the front door. The salmon are thrown on the +wharf, where they are seized by the Chinamen, who carry them in, +throw them on long tables, chop off the heads, disembowel and clean +them, and cut them up into small lumps for the cans—all in about as +much time as it takes to write this sentence. In the larger canneries +everything, from the making of the cans to putting on the labels, is +done on the premises. Some of the canneries are built on the shore; +but as the river, where the ocean comes in sight, widens out into +a bay seven miles wide, the canneries are built in midstream, on +piles, and it is an odd sight to behold horses—real land-horses, not +hippopotami—dragging in the nets on these flimsy mid-river structures. +The river view is disfigured on all sides by the ugly stakes driven +in to hold the nets that constitute the salmon-traps. The meshes of +these nets are large enough to allow the small salmon to escape, +but not large enough for the seals, which occasionally get into one +of these enclosures and work sad havoc with the fish and the nets. +Several million dollars are said to be invested in the boats, nets, and +canneries of the Columbia River: but the recklessness of the fishermen +threatens to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs; for the Columbia +River fisheries, which a few years ago were the largest in the world, +have of late yielded less and less each year, and in 1889 they sank to +third rank, with three hundred and thirty thousand cases, Alaska being +at the head, with six hundred and eighty-eight thousand, and British +Columbia second, with four hundred and thirteen thousand cases. The law +is stringent enough, but it is not always obeyed; and it will have to +be supplemented by extensive hatcheries if the Columbia River salmon, +which is the best flavored on the Pacific Coast, is to regain its +former supremacy. + +The headquarters of the salmon-fisheries are located at the amphibious +town of Astoria, the first civilized settlement in Oregon, but whose +hoary age of eighty years does not seem to protect it against the gibes +of irreverent tourists—probably because it is so small for its age. +Mr. Joaquin Miller describes it as a town which “clings helplessly to +a humid hill-side that seems to want to glide into the great bay-like +river”; and Mr. Nordhoff unkindly insinuates that the most important +building in the town is a large saw-mill, which is kept busy day and +night in a wild struggle to curb and suppress the forest which is +forever encroaching on the town, and threatens to crowd it into the +river. However, just at present the Astorians are very busily engaged +in digging away at the hill-side and filling up the bay. They expect to +have a railway some day, which will bring the wheat and the apples of +the Willamette Valley to their wharves, instead of to Portland; but it +will require a good deal more digging and filling up before there will +be room for all those products. At present the greater part of Astoria +is still built on piles, washed by the tides; and as the pavements are +not very well looked after, tourists should beware of walking about +after dark. The occupants of many of the houses might easily take a +salt-water bath before breakfast, by simply tying a rope round the +waist and lowering themselves from the window. + +Although Astoria is only about a hundred miles distant from Portland, +it has nearly twenty inches more of rain per annum, and in summer its +climate is considerably cooler; wherefore some Portlanders use it as +a summer resort. A much larger number, however, go across the bay to +Ilwaco, and camp on the fine beach which extends for over twenty miles +northward. The boat which takes them across touches at Fort Canby, +whence an interesting walk of a few miles through a dense forest +takes one to the lighthouse on Cape Disappointment, just north of +the notorious Columbia River bar, which in spite of all improvements +continues at certain seasons, and in stormy weather, to detain ships +for days at a time. The view from this lighthouse of the foaming +breakers in the bar is splendid, and in low tide the scene is varied +by long sand-banks on which thousands of seals bask in the fitful +sunshine. These voracious animals do their fishing in the daytime, and +at night their place is taken by the human fishermen, who show the +same reckless spirit in regard to their own lives as they do in regard +to the extermination of the salmon. In their eager rivalry, some of +them approach too near the breakers, and many have thus shared the +fate of the sailors lowered from the _Tonquin_ in 1811, which is so +graphically described by Washington Irving in his “Astoria.” By the +way, I could not help noting the difference between these Astorians and +the Granadans in Spain, in their attitude towards Irving. Both have +been celebrated by him in fine volumes of poetic prose; but whereas in +Granada the principal hotel is named after Irving, whose name is thus +heard whenever a train arrives, the Astorians seem to ignore entirely +the author who has chosen the name of their town for one of his most +readable books. + +The trip back to Portland may as well be made on a night boat, as +everything worth seeing can be seen on the down trip. Not so with the +upper or “middle” Columbia, from Portland to the Dalles, which cannot +be seen often enough, and which present on the down trip aspects of +the scenery so different from those enjoyed on going up, that a return +ticket should be taken by all means. Such a ticket, from Portland +to the Dalles and back, costs five dollars, for which you can spend +two whole days on the Columbia. I have seen a great part of three +continents; but if I were asked what I considered the best investment +of a five-dollar bill I had ever made for combined æsthetic enjoyment +and hygienic exhilaration, I should name this return trip on the +Columbia River. Tourists who have time for one trip only should go +up the river, because in that direction the scenery is arranged most +effectively, becoming ever grander and wilder till the climax is +reached in the marvellous rapids above Dalles City. + +The day boat leaves Portland at six o’clock in the morning, and on the +way down the Willamette we once more can admire the imposing white +forms of Hood, St. Helens, Adams, and the top of Tacoma,—now in full +view, now peeping from between the firs which line the banks. At the +Columbia junction the boat turns to the right, and makes its first +stop at Vancouver, noted for its fine site, with a superb view of Mt. +Hood, and as being the military headquarters of the Department of the +Columbia. It lies on the northern or Washington side of the river, and, +oddly enough, almost all the stations along the whole river, excepting +Dalles City, are on that side, the Oregon side being generally wilder +and less hospitable. The scenic features are about equally divided +between the two States. Each has its low green islands at intervals +along the banks; each its densely wooded shores, its bare rocks, +precipitous palisades and water-falls; and each its snow-mountains—Hood +and Jefferson being on the Oregon side, St. Helens, Adams, and Tacoma +on the Washington side. Generally the trees or shrubs grow right to +the water’s edge, but here and there is a strip of sandy beach. On +both sides there are innumerable charming home sites, on gently rising +ground, with fertile soil, plenty of wood and water, excellent market +facilities by rail and steamer, and the finest scenery in the United +States for a background. Yet these shores, which in the next century +will hold hundreds of thousands of happy farmers, are now an absolute +wilderness, and an hour may pass before a farmhouse or village is +sighted from the steamer. Had the unreasoning multitudes who rushed +to Oklahoma quietly taken up homesteads in this region, which is so +favored by climate, soil, and scenery, they would have avoided their +wholesale disappointment. The steamship company is very accommodating +to the few settlers along the river, and stops at frequent intervals +to take on their lumber, shingles, salmon, farm products, and to land +merchandise for them. In low water much ingenuity is required to make +a landing at these informal stations. + +Two hours after leaving Portland, Mt. Hood, whose base has been +previously concealed by the Cascade ridges, suddenly comes into view, +life size, from top to base. Were the banks of the Columbia as flat and +monotonous as those of the lower Mississippi, this sight alone would +crown it king of rivers. For a full hour the steamer sails straight +towards this mountain, as if intending to land at its base for a supply +of ice from its glaciers; but all at once it moves to the left as the +steamer provokingly changes its course. For two hours more, however, +the mountain remains in sight till it is once more hidden behind the +crests of the Cascades. Tourists who wish to ascend this mountain or +to explore its glaciers and cañons, get off above the Cascades at the +town of Hood River, near the mouth of the river of that name which +carries the melting snows of the mountain to the Columbia. A hotel was +opened last summer, just below the snow-line, so that the trip can now +be made with great comfort. Mt. Hood is eleven thousand and two hundred +feet high, and is ascended by numerous parties every summer, including +ladies. Like all the Oregon chain of mountain peaks from Shasta to +Tacoma, it is an extinct volcano, and still gives evidence of its past +condition by the sulphurous fumes which in some places are encountered +during the ascent. + +Nothing could be more delightful than the ingenuity with which the +Columbia panorama is arranged. For the first five hours, while the +banks present nothing of thrilling interest, the giant snow-peaks +lend grandeur to the scene. As soon as the last of these, Mt. Hood, +disappears, the banks themselves begin to fascinate the attention by +innumerable picturesque formations, and a few hours later, when the +Highlands have been left behind and the banks become lower again, Mt. +Hood once more comes into view, more and more prominently, till at +the last station of our trip, the Dalles, it seems nearer and more +magnificent than even at Vancouver or Portland. Thus there is not a +dull moment between Portland and the Dalles. + +The river itself is almost as awe-inspiring in its grandeur as the +snow-peaks visible from it. No other river has ever given me such a +vivid and overpowering sense of sublimity as the Columbia by its great +expanse of watery surface, and its tranquil, deep, majestic movement. +And whereas the Mississippi, at a corresponding point in its course, +is so muddy that one almost hesitates to bathe in it, the Columbia is +so clear and pure that in a glass it seems like well-water and tastes +almost as good. The color varies with wind and weather, but is usually +a yellowish green, as grateful to the eye as a new-mown lawn. Standing +at the prow of the boat, surveying this vast expanse of placid or +agitated water, it is a fascinating exercise of the imagination to +think that almost every gallon of this mammoth stream came originally +from some different creek, spring, melting glacier, or snowfield—some +of them in the Cascade Mountains close by, some in the Rocky Mountains +in distant Territories; for the Columbia’s sources are in British +Columbia and in seven States and Territories,—Oregon, Washington, +Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada. Think what romantic cañons, +what vast, gloomy forests, these waters have passed through on their +way from the crest of the continent to the ocean; what numbers of +speckled trout have darted through them in the mountains; what hordes +of big salmon and sturgeon in the Columbia; and what exciting scenes +they have noted of seals chasing these unfortunate fish! For even as +far up the Columbia as this the seals make their excursions. A hundred +and fifty miles from the ocean, they can be seen here basking on a +sand-bank projecting from an island into the middle of the river. Some +of them float about on logs, and others swim to within thirty feet of +the steamer, looking, with their heads above the water, exactly like +swimming dogs. + +About eleven o’clock, as Mt. Hood disappears, Rooster Rock comes into +sight, and the scenery begins to resemble that of the Hudson River +Highlands. Rooster Rock is a large boulder which, from different points +of view, looks like an uplifted thumb, or like a mammoth seal with +head on high, just ready to plunge. It stands on a projection from the +shore, which looks like an island, and it has a few small firs growing +on its bare sides that subsist apparently on the food of air-plants. +The interesting points now begin to crowd each other, and barely +fifteen minutes elapse before another of the famous sights of the +Columbia comes in view,—Cape Horn, which, at first sight, seems merely +a precipitous rock projecting into the river; but as the boat draws +nearer and begins to round it, all the passengers rush to the left side +of the ship, and a chorus of rapturous admiration bursts from their +lips. Cape Horn is a vertical wall of bare rock, rising abruptly out of +the water, and standing on a pretty row of grooved stones, resembling +little pillars sculptured in high relief. In the centre of the rock a +miniature cascade runs down smoothly over a mossy bed. Presently, as +the boat moves on in close proximity to the rock, another precipitous +wall, even higher than the first, rises above it, adorned with several +more miniature water-falls, whose moss-grown channels are the only +green in the brown, rocky scene. Cape Horn deserves its name, not only +because it is a promontory which the boat has to round, but because at +times the wind blows so wildly that none but steam-vessels can pass, +and canoes and sailing-vessels have been detained there for days. The +Columbia River wind-current, by the way, is very accommodating to +sailing-vessels; for it usually blows up stream, so that it is almost +as easy for them to go up as down. In the future commercial development +of this region this will be a factor of considerable importance. + +The Master Landscape-Gardener who planned the Columbia River provided +not only for a gradual dramatic _crescendo_ to a climax, but for +constant scenic variety. So, after the snow-mountains and Rooster Rock +and Cape Horn, the tourist is treated to the sight of a few picturesque +water-falls. The first of them is the Multnomah Fall, which is sighted +only a few minutes after leaving Cape Horn. At first it is somewhat +disappointing, since only the upper part can be seen; but as the boat +approaches nearer, it is revealed in its true size, of eight hundred +feet, in two divisions. It is the death plunge of a lively mountain +stream which has worn a channel in the rock that looks as if a giant +had scooped out a wide groove with a shovel. The trains of the Oregon +Railway and Navigation Company pass very near the falls, and always +stop a few minutes to enable the passengers to see them. But after all, +the only way to see them properly is to visit them on a special picnic +excursion, one of which leaves Portland for this spot almost daily in +summer. There is a bridge spanning the chasm in front of the falls from +which an excellent view is obtained, and the adventurous climb down and +pass under the falls, through a delightful fern grotto and “cave of the +winds.” The water in the pool formed by the fall is cool as ice even +in midsummer. The picnic parties generally visit another fine fall, +the Latourelle, on the same day, noted for the beautiful cave into +which it seems to fall, directly from the blue sky, and for the curious +markings of its rocky surroundings. This fall, however, though close +to the Columbia, is not visible from the river; but only ten minutes +above the Multnomah Falls the boat passes the Oneonta Falls, less high +but more massive than the Multnomah. A curious phenomenon is here seen +sometimes—a _shadow-fall_, reproducing the water-fall with all its +movements and its inverted water-rockets. Still another fall is seen +above the Oneonta, so close to the edge of the river that in high water +it probably plunges directly into the Columbia. + +After this water-fall episode the highland mountain scenery again +monopolizes the attention; for we are now in the midst of the Cascade +range, which is a continuation of the Sierra Nevada of California. That +the Columbia should have ever been able to force a passage through this +lofty chain is a marvel. But then marvels abound in this region. Here, +for instance, on the Washington side, is a monstrous basaltic rock, +close by the river, completely isolated, without a trace of connection +with the neighboring ridges. It is called Cathedral Rock, is curiously +marked and furrowed by wind and weather, and covered in patches by +the irrepressible fir-trees, which are larger than they seem at their +great elevation. How did this rock get there? It looks like a mammoth +glacier boulder; but, incalculable as is the force of glaciers, no +ice-river could have ever borne this massive rock on its back. Perhaps +Mt. Hood, in a volcanic fit, hurled it there. But impressive as this +sight is, the passengers should not allow Cathedral Rock to distract +their attention from the surrounding mountain scenery, which is really +much more noteworthy than the rock itself. Near it, to the right, is +a mountain about two thousand feet above the river, which is an exact +copy of Mt. Hood, without its snow; and adjoining it is a unique +mountain of about the same height, but with a summit at least half a +mile long and absolutely level. But it would take volumes to describe +all these imposing mountain formations. Opposite Castle Rock, and +below, are miles of magnificently sculptured palisades, compared with +which those on the Hudson River are of toy-like dimensions. They are +beautifully mottled with green shrubs and mosses and yellow lichens, +and fringed above and below by ribbons of young fir-trees. And to think +that all this superb scenery has been known to civilized man only one +century! + +[Illustration: CASTLE ROCK—COLUMBIA RIVER.] + +We now approach the famous Cascades of the Columbia, the place where, +according to the Indian tradition, a natural bridge once existed, +formed by the water digging a tunnel for itself through the mountain. +The legend goes on to relate how the rival volcanic monarchs, Hood and +Adams, which face each other on opposite sides of the river, once had a +fight and hurled huge rocks at each other, some of which fell on this +arch which spanned the Columbia, and demolished it. The fragments, +filling the river-bed, created the rapids which now obstruct +navigation. Day excursions from Portland do not go beyond this point; +but tourists who wish to get a glimpse of the Cascades themselves, and +of some of the finest scenery on the river, must leave the boat here +and take another one about five miles up the river, for the Dalles. The +Columbia River boats at present depend for their existence on freight +more than on passengers, and the greatest drawback to the enjoyment +of the Columbia River trip is the tedious delay of an hour or two, +necessitated by loading all the freight on the train which takes us +from the Lower Cascades to the Upper Cascades, on the Washington side, +and then again loading it on the upper boat. However, the mountain +scenery is very fine at this place, and the air so exhilarating that +the offence is greatly mitigated thereby. + +The government has been at work for about twenty years constructing a +canal and locks for the boats; but a million dollars are still needed +to complete the task, and meanwhile the building of the railroad on the +Oregon side has rendered its completion a matter of less urgency. The +little six-mile railroad on the Washington side, which connects the two +boats, is the first ever built in the Northwest, and is a curiosity not +only on that account, but also because it affords a good view of the +rapids from the car windows. The fact that the river is here narrowed +to a quarter of its regular width, assists the rocky débris in its bed +in creating a dizzy rush of tumultuous, roaring waters and foaming +waves o’erleaping each other. It contrasts finely with the calm, +majestic movement of the lower Columbia. But it must be admitted that +these rapids are not so grand or exciting as those of the Niagara or +the St. Lawrence; nor do passengers ever get an opportunity to “shoot +the rapids,” as on the last-named river. Not that it is impossible to +do so. One captain has taken down several steamers and smashed only one +so far; but the risk can only be taken in very high water. + +Usually the Columbia is very high in early summer, especially when +there are a few hot days, with much snow in the mountains. The +difference between high and low water is forty-two feet, and some care +has to be used, therefore, in building houses near the bank. In 1889, +however, there was no snow in the mountains to melt, as there had +been no snow-storms and hardly any rain in Oregon during the whole of +the preceding winter; consequently the Columbia was lower than it had +been for almost a generation; not quite as low, however, as the rivers +of Europe in 1132 and 1313, when the Rhine and the Danube could be +crossed on foot without wetting the shoes. Fishermen do not like the +low water in the Columbia, because in that state it is so clear that +the salmon succeed in avoiding the traps laid for them, including the +murderous “salmon-wheels,” which are turned by the current and scoop in +the fish, young and old, with the nets attached to them. These wheels +are especially numerous about the Cascades, and do much to hasten the +extermination of the salmon. + +Before the advent of civilized man on the banks of the Columbia, +the Cascades used to be the great fishing-place of the Indians, who +congregated here in large numbers to catch and dry their winter supply +of salmon. They were a lazy, cunning, treacherous crew, who gave +the early explorers much trouble, and proved by their actions that +although fish may possibly be good intellectual or brain food, it does +not equally develop the moral faculties. For these tribes used to guard +the narrowest parts of the river, and levy toll on all passersby, very +much like the robber-barons on the Rhine. But that was in the good old +times, a hundred years ago. At present only a handful of these Indians +are left to haunt these regions and fish for their daily bread. The +salmon-wheel has displaced the canoe and spear, and the Indian, who +used to be so hardy that he went about unclothed the greater part +of the year, has become so weakened by the clothing, whiskey, and +vices of “civilization” that old and young are now dying out rapidly +of consumption. In return for all the harm it has done them, the +government allows the Indians the privilege of fishing with spears for +their own sustenance during the “closed” season. Consequently it is +easy in Portland during that season to get salmon “caught by Indians,” +or “in the Rogue River.” It is well to have laws and law-abiding +communities. + +One of the most interesting features of the Cascades is that the upper +steamer can be moored quite close to the head of the rapids, where +there are some picturesque islands. This absence of a dangerous current +is due to the great depth of the river. The débris which causes the +rapids has blocked up the channel so effectually that the average depth +of the Columbia is twenty feet greater from the Cascades to the Dalles +than below, although the banks are almost as widely apart. A splendid +view of a black forest scene is obtained from the deck of the upper +steamer before it leaves for the Dalles. It is a sportsman’s paradise, +and a brakeman assured me he had seen two bears at once on one of the +steep banks. For two hours after leaving the Cascades we are still in +the midst of the Cascade Mountains, and the scenery is, if possible, +more inspiring than below the rapids, and the air more exhilarating. It +is interesting to note the way in which the railroad on the right bank +overcomes the rocky obstacles in its path, seeking a winding pathway +around them here, and time and again boldly plunging into a huge rock +partly projecting into the river, forming a picturesque tunnel which +looks like a natural cave. In some places there is so little room for +the track, and the hill-sides are so steep, that, to intercept the +constant shower of stones, a broad roadway had to be constructed a few +hundred yards above the track. Railroads usually mar natural scenery, +but this one only adds to the variety and charm of the Columbia trip, +and Mr. Ruskin himself would hardly venture to object to it. The reason +of this is that the scenery is on such a colossal scale that it cannot +possibly be spoiled by such a tiny thing as a railroad. Indeed, one +needs such a human toy as a railway and a train of cars to bring out by +contrast the true grandeur of this scenery. + +As we approach the end of the Highlands, the mountains to the left rise +in gigantic terraces, one, two, and three stories high, resembling the +curious formations in the Grand Cañon region in Arizona. The view of +the highlands down the river must not be missed, as it is finer even +than the view on entering. As already stated, Mt. Hood now emerges +again, as imposing as ever, and the view of it at the Dalles is as fine +as at Vancouver or Portland. But even without this snowy monarch to +follow us up the river all day long, this part of the Columbia would +be one of the most fascinating, which does not allow the attention +to flag even after nine or ten hours of fatiguing sight-seeing. A few +miles below Dalles City is a formation on the right bank (going up) +which is perhaps the greatest curiosity along the whole river. It +is a wonderfully illusive natural fortress, with battlements facing +the river and the regulation watch-tower in the middle. If political +exigencies should ever require a fortress on the middle Columbia, here +it might be constructed, one would think, in one day, by utilizing +nature’s plans. + +The river now becomes narrower, and is walled in on both sides by +low but finely sculptured basalt palisades, beautifully carved and +moss-covered in some places. A strong wind seems to blow here almost +constantly, and the water is decked with white-caps, and as turbulent +as the Rhine at the Loreley Rock. We are only a few miles below Celilo, +“the place of the winds,” as the Indians called it. There is no swell, +however, and the boat runs smoothly. Of course, ladies who become +“seasick” in railway cars and stage coaches may find the Columbia in +this place equally trying; but for such persons travelling was not +invented. All, however, should look out for their hats and parasols. I +have never passed up or down this part of the river when one or two of +these commodities were not carried off by the gusts of intoxicated and +intoxicating air. The palisades are marked by a white line showing the +high-water mark of 1889. Twelve feet above is the high-water mark of +1888. Dalles City is not an interesting place in itself, but it is most +delightfully situated, and seems doubly picturesque after a whole day’s +sail up the desolate Columbia, on which evidences of human habitation +are hours apart. + +Here ends the second or “middle” portion of the Columbia. As the word +Dalles or “Swift Water” indicates, navigation is here again interrupted +by rapids. Thirteen miles above the Dalles, at Celilo, it used to be +resumed in former days, but since the completion of the railway the +boats of the upper Columbia have been shot down the various rapids, +and are now used in the middle and lower portions of the river. If a +day can be spared, no tourist should fail to visit the Great Dalles, +five miles above Dalles City, where the Columbia, which below and +above is almost a mile wide, is confined in a basaltic channel only +one hundred and seventy-four feet wide in its narrowest place. It is +a river literally “turned on edge,” and its depth at this place has +not yet been determined, owing to the rapidity of the current. In that +portion of the Columbia lying between Celilo and Walla-Walla there is +little interesting scenery along the banks, but tourists returning East +on the Canadian Pacific Railroad once more come across this river,—the +real upper Columbia,—where it again courses amidst snow-mountains, and +where it still is navigable for one hundred and fifty miles. Truly the +Columbia is a sublime river which some day will have its monograph, and +will inspire as much immortal poetry as the Rhine. + +[Illustration: THE GREAT DALLES—COLUMBIA RIVER.] + + + + + XIII. + + OREGON AND WASHINGTON SNOW-PEAKS. + + FROM PORTLAND TO TACOMA—VIEWS OF AND FROM MT. HOOD—AMERICAN + SCENERY—ADVANTAGES OF ISOLATION—ASCENT OF MT. ST. + HELENS—MASCULINE AND FEMININE PEAKS—TACOMA AND THE + JUNGFRAU—AMERICAN NAMES FOR AMERICAN MOUNTAINS—INDIAN NAMES—A + HOP VALLEY—CASCADE DIVISION OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD—MT. + TACOMA—ITS FOURTEEN GLACIERS AND FIVE RIVERS. + + +There is geological evidence that Washington’s great inland sea, Puget +Sound, the Pacific Mediterranean, once extended as far south as the +Willamette Valley in Oregon. To-day, Portland and Tacoma are about one +hundred and fifty miles apart, and the trip may be made either by boat +down the Columbia and through the Straits of Juan de Fuca into the +Sound, or by the branch road of the Northern Pacific Railroad overland. +In either case, if the view is not impeded by smoke or clouds, a +magnificent panorama of snow-peaks is unfolded as the boat or train +moves along. Ruskin’s assertion that “mountains are the beginning +and the end of all natural scenery” is strikingly verified on this +route. Oregon without Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, and the Three Sisters, +Washington without Mts. St. Helens, Adams, and Tacoma, would be robbed +of half their scenic charms. All of these mountains, except Jefferson +and the Three Sisters, are seen to best advantage on this trip,—Hood, +Adams, and St. Helens before reaching the Columbia River (which the +train crosses on a large ferry-boat), and Tacoma at the other end. + +Although these peaks resemble each other in standing each in selfish, +proud isolation, far from neighbors, and high above the general crests +of the Cascades, which barely rise to their snow-line; and although +they are all more or less regularly conical in shape, broad at the +base and gradually tapering to a point, there is still quite enough +difference in the details of their conformation to give them a distinct +individuality of appearance. Mt. Hood, as seen from Portland, bears a +striking resemblance to Mt. Hecla in Iceland. The south side, which +slopes more gradually than the north side, is one vast snowfield, with +hardly a dark spot of bare rock, till late in summer. In the forenoon +the mountain often throws such deep shadows that it seems as if the +snow had melted from its sides; but the noon sunlight reveals it all +in its old place. During a long warm summer the snow-line recedes +considerably, but the upper half of the mountain is crowned with +everlasting snow; and it is for this reason that Hood seems larger and +higher than Shasta in summer, though it is half a mile lower: for white +makes every object seem larger or broader than black or gray. Over the +peaks of Washington, Mt. Hood has at present this advantage, that it +alone is accessible by a road; and more than this, a hotel was opened +in 1889 above the snow-line, and only a few hundred yards from the +great glacier; so that Portlanders can transfer themselves half-way up +their favorite mountain in about eight hours by rail and stage. + +Mountains are not only the beginning and end of all natural scenery, +but they are the scenic feature of which one is least apt to tire. A +snow-mountain is a fresh object of interest every clear morning. Unlike +a leopard, it constantly changes its spots under the influence of the +sun’s rays; and when these dark patches have become too numerous and +too large to be ornamental, a snow-storm comes along and covers it +with a new white magnifying cloak. Surely the man who has no love of +mountains in his soul is fit for treason, stratagem, and crime. + +Mr. James Bryce, who has given us the most just and discriminating work +on this country ever written by an Englishman, but who, as noted in a +previous chapter, speaks somewhat disparagingly of the mountain scenery +of the United States as compared with that of Europe, was nevertheless +compelled to pay his tribute of admiration to “the superb line of +extinct volcanoes, bearing snow-fields and glaciers, which one sees +rising out of vast and sombre forests, from the banks of the Columbia +River and the shores of Puget Sound.” These are encouraging and kind +words, coming from an English source, but they hardly do justice to +the subject. It is not only from the banks of the Columbia and the +Puget Sound region that these giant peaks are visible, but there is +hardly a place in Western Oregon or Washington, elevated above the +level of the forests, whence one does not enjoy a superb view of from +one to six isolated snow-mountains. This isolation must be again and +again emphasized, not only because to it these Oregon and Washington +mountains owe their individuality and unique grandeur, but also because +the view from any one of these isolated peaks is much more striking +and comprehensive than a mountain view in ranges where the peaks are +grouped closely together. Everybody knows that the Rigi owes its +world-wide fame solely to the fact that its isolation enables tourists +to get a comprehensive view of the Swiss Alps from its summit. Now our +North Pacific peaks are even more isolated than the Rigi, which has +the Pilatus for its immediate neighbor, and they are, moreover, twice +as high as Rigi. Imagine, therefore, the grandeur of the view from +their summits. I have made the ascent of some of the highest Swiss +peaks, and of Mt. Hood; and although in the latter case I missed the +bewildering view of closely grouped snow-peaks which meets the eye +on a Swiss summit, there was something to compensate for this in the +superior restfulness, individuality, and comprehensiveness of a Pacific +scene which included only eight or nine isolated snow-peaks, but with +an illimitable ocean of green forests between them. All the Oregon and +Washington peaks were visible, and had the air been perfectly clear, +even Mt. Shasta, two hundred and fifty miles away, might have been +seen with a telescope. Add to this the mountains which encircle the +Umpqua and Rogue River valleys, on the south, and Puget Sound with +the snowy Olympic mountains on the north, and by way of contrast, the +Columbia River and Willamette valleys on the west, and the vast plains +of Eastern Oregon on the opposite side, and you get a faint idea of the +grandeur of the view from the summit of Mt. Hood, provided there is no +smoke or haze in the air. + +I cannot stop to describe all the peaks in Oregon and Washington, but +a few remarks on the two best known Washington peaks—St. Helens and +Tacoma—may not be unwelcome while our train is speeding on towards +Puget Sound, through a region which, except for these glimpses of +superb mountains, would be a monotonous ride across a dreary, desolate +forest wilderness. + +Mt. St. Helens is so prominent an object as seen from the streets of +Portland, that tourists are apt to fancy that it must be an Oregon +mountain, like Hood. But it must be remembered that the Columbia River, +which forms the boundary between Oregon and Washington, is only twelve +miles distant from Portland, and that East Portland is practically +situated on a peninsula formed by the approaching Willamette and +Columbia rivers. Being farther north than Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens +retains somewhat more of its snowy whiteness in summer; but there is +a place near the summit which is always kept bare by its internal +volcanic heat. The slopes of St. Helens are steeper than those of Hood, +and its conical shape is beautifully symmetrical and smoothly rounded, +as compared with the more rugged Hood, which gives it a feminine +appearance. The Indians have a legend that when St. Helens, Hood, and +Adams were created, they were big women who had one husband in common. +The result was jealousy, and a fight in which St. Helens whipped Hood +and the other mountains, and made slaves of them. In this legend the +Indians did not, I think, show their usual poetic imagination. The +lovely, rounded, and regular appearance of St. Helens should have +suggested a legend in which this mountain was made the wife of the more +irregular, muscular, and sinewy Hood. + +St. Helens, although its slopes are steeper than those of Hood, is +considered quite as easy of ascent. But the attempt is very rarely made +at present, because the mountain is so inaccessible,—Woodland, the +nearest place where supplies can be obtained, being nearly fifty miles +away, and the path very indistinct. Two years ago the Oregon Alpine +Club decided to put a copper box and a record book on the summit of +every snow-peak on the Pacific Coast. In pursuance of this object, a +party last summer made an ascent of Mt. St. Helens, of which Mr. W. G. +Steele wrote an interesting account in the _Oregonian_ (July 27, 1889). +About twelve miles from the mountain they came across Trout Lake, in +which two of the party caught one hundred and fifty pounds of trout in +a day. The base of the mountain has an elevation of 4625 feet, and from +this point St. Helens seems higher than Hood, because it rises more +rapidly from the surrounding country. The main summit was found to be +11,150 feet high. “Judging the mountain as it appears from Portland,” +Mr. Steele says, “we had been led to suppose that the summit would +be almost a perfect circle. Instead of that, however, it is slightly +inclined to a square, and probably contains half a section of land, or +rather snow.” Magnificent rugged glaciers were found near the summit, +and on the way up the party made the interesting discovery that beneath +the confused masses of scoria which made up the mountain side, an +immense glacier was concealed, “which day after day moves downward with +its marvellous load, that is being ground into powder or hurled to the +plain below.” + +One of the most interesting facts regarding St. Helens is that it has +given more recent evidence of its volcanic origin than any other of the +Pacific peaks; namely, as late as 1853 and 1854, if Winthrop and Swan +may be credited. Corroborative evidence is furnished by the Indian +name of the mountain, Lou-wala-clough, which means, “the Smoking +Mountain.” + +About thirty miles south of the city of Tacoma, Mt. Tacoma suddenly +emerges into sight from behind the trees which had previously hidden it +from the passengers on the Northern Pacific train, and soon it stands +before them in life size, and follows them up to the Sound, with that +peculiar ease which mountains that are supposed to be firmly rooted in +the soil have in keeping up with an express train,—frisking around it, +now on one side, now on another, like a gambolling white elephant. From +this point of view the mountain bears some resemblance to the Jungfrau; +but whereas that beautiful Swiss peak weakens the impression of her +grandeur and power by putting her arms for support on the neighboring +Mönch and Ebenefluh, almost equal to her in height, Tacoma stands in +solitary grandeur, appearing more sublimely isolated even than Hood +or Shasta; for the range on which it rises seems merely a hill. And +whereas the tourist who sees the Jungfrau at Mürren, or the Matterhorn +at Zermatt, or Mont Blanc at Chamounix, is already five or six thousand +feet high, and therefore gazes at a mountain whose summit is only +eight or nine thousand feet above him, Tacoma, on the other hand, is +seen from the very level of the sea, and therefore rears the whole of +its three miles of sloping snow-fields and glaciers before the awed +spectator. Its exact height is 14,444 feet, or just four feet higher +than Shasta. But thanks to its magnifying snow-mantle, which never +disappears, and the fact that it is seen from ocean level, it seems +much higher and grander than California’s finest peak. Tacoma, indeed, +is the king of all our mountains, from the tourist’s and artist’s +point of view; for although Fairweather and St. Elias in Alaska are +higher still, they are beyond the range of excursion steamers, and are, +moreover, generally buried behind clouds; while Mt. Whitney in Central +California is almost equally inaccessible in the Sierra wilderness, +and in beauty of outlines does not bear comparison with Tacoma for a +moment, lacking as it does its fine conical shape and the advantage of +isolation. + +Such being the case, it is surely the height of absurdity to continue +naming the grandest mountain in the United States after an obscure +English lord. When Vancouver first discovered all these North Pacific +mountains, in 1792, he had a perfect right to name them after anybody +he pleased; but Washington now happens to belong to the United +States, and every American with a spark of patriotic feeling in +his constitution must feel that Anglo-mania could not show a more +humiliating form than in the disposition still shown by many persons on +the Pacific Coast, to use Lord Rainier’s name in designating the king +of all our mountains. The same objection might be urged against Hood, +which bears the name of Lord Hood; but in this case it happens that the +name is appropriate, for this peak is hood-shaped, and the uninformed +always fancy that to this fact it owes its name; so it may be allowed +to stand. Louwala, too, would be a more musical and acceptable name +than St. Helens, and there is no reason on earth why a mountain in +Washington should bear the name of a British ambassador in Madrid. But +in this case also the matter may be overlooked, since the name St. +Helens, like the shape of the mountain itself, has a vague feminine +suggestiveness. But for Rainier there is no excuse whatever, as we have +an infinitely more euphonious name for it in Tacoma, which, moreover, +designates the mountain’s character exactly; for in the Indian dialect +it means “the mountain.” The fact that the Northern Pacific Railroad, +which really “created” the State of Washington, by first developing its +resources, always has Mt. Tacoma on its maps, has already done much to +popularize this musical name, and to oust the memory of the English +lord; and if all tourists of taste will unite in tabooing Rainier, +they will soon succeed in effacing that name from all the maps. Tacoma +cannot fail to triumph in the long run, just as the attempt made some +time ago to name Lake Tahoe after a governor of California failed, the +original Indian name being instinctively and unanimously preferred by +tourists to such an ugly word as Bigler. Even the Seattle people will +find that they will gain more in the estimation of other Americans if +they will allow a sentiment of national patriotism to override the +local pride and jealousy of a neighboring town which now make them act +in a very silly manner when you use the expression “Mount Tacoma.” + +To those Pacific Coast people who stubbornly cling to such words as +Rainier and Bigler, I commend chapter twenty-three of Washington +Irving’s “Astoria,” where he laments “the stupid, commonplace, and +often ribald names entailed upon the rivers and other features of the +Great West by traders and settlers.... Indeed, it is to be wished that +the whole of our country could be rescued as much as possible from the +wretched nomenclature inflicted upon it by ignorant and vulgar minds; +and this might be done, in a great degree, by restoring the Indian +names,” which are “in general more sonorous and musical.” + +In insisting so strongly that the monarch of American mountains should +have an American name, and not be called after an obscure English lord, +I intend no offence to English sentiment, but merely wish to emphasize +a patriotic right. No Englishman would fail to express his disgust +and indignation if an attempt were made to name the grandest scenic +feature in one of the British colonies after an American president +or statesman. Finally, it must be remembered that along the line of +the Canadian Pacific Railroad in British Columbia there are scores of +superb peaks on which the English may without protest bestow the names +of earls, lords, sirs, esquires, and ambassadors, if they choose. In my +opinion, however, there is something equally ludicrous and presumptuous +in naming a mountain after a puny mortal, however great he may seem +to his generation. The mountainous map of the Pacific Coast is marred +by too many of these blunders. To realize their full significance, +read Tourgenieff’s wonderful dialogue between the Jungfrau and the +Finsteraarhorn, in his “Prose Poems.” The futility of man’s pretensions +to immortality has never been more vividly portrayed than in this +dialogue, resumed at intervals of hundreds of thousands of years, and +commenting on the intervening changes, till finally the whole earth is +covered with a sea of ice, amid which the Jungfrau and Finsteraarhorn +still rear their now silent heads unchanged. + +Thanks to its great height and complete isolation, Mt. Tacoma is +visible as far as Portland to the south, one hundred and twenty miles +in an air-line, and one hundred and fifty miles to the east. One of +the most perfect views of it is obtained from the piazza of the large +Tacoma Hotel. Though it is over forty miles away, it seems so near, +when the air is clear, that tourists are apt to fancy they could stroll +to its base after dinner. To see it at its best, however, Mt. Tacoma +should be viewed from the deck of a Sound steamer, or, better still, +from the car windows on the Cascade Division of the Northern Pacific +Railroad. Tourists who do not use the Northern Pacific Railroad, either +going or returning, should by no means fail to make an excursion on +this Cascade Branch, in order to get a view of Mt. Tacoma from within +fifteen miles of its base. To do this it is not necessary to go as +far as Pasco Junction, in Eastern Washington, where the cactus blooms +in the sandy plains in June, as in Arizona and Southern California; +but one can get off at Clealum or thereabouts, and return to Tacoma +next day. Much of the land through which the Cascade Branch passes is +disfigured by dead black trees and stumps. Other portions are in full +cultivation, and the crop most favored appears to be hops, especially +in the Puyallup Valley, where these vines attain a most luxuriant +and prolific growth. Indians are still employed in considerable +numbers during the hop-picking season, when they come in canoes +from all parts of the coast. Oddly enough, this valley is the most +pronounced “temperance” region in the Northwest, and one of the largest +hop-growers will not, under any circumstances, allow a saloon to be +opened within his extensive domain; though he seems to see nothing +sinful or inconsistent in accumulating wealth by selling his hops to +wicked brewers. + +This hop valley lies between Tacoma and the Cascade mountains, +and—aside from the picturesque hop-vines and a mountain stream with +waters so clear that the passengers can see the fish in it from the +car windows, for half an hour, as the train speeds along—it is in +these mountains that the scenic attractions centre. Unfortunately, +one of the most fascinating and exciting features of this route—the +Switchback—has ceased to exist. This was a part of the road where the +train ascended the mountain range by a series of zigzag movements, +like a sailing-vessel tacking at sea. There was one monstrous +one-hundred-and-ten-ton engine in front of the train, and another +one behind, and when the train had reached a certain point, it was +switched off and started ahead in the opposite direction. This was +done repeatedly, until a place was reached where as many as six +parallel tracks could be seen, each a few hundred yards higher than +its predecessor. Several times the train ran over trestle-works of a +most giddy height, and looking so frail as to make timid passengers +wish they were back in Tacoma. But this “elevated” railway was merely +a temporary arrangement, constructed at a cost of six hundred thousand +dollars, in order that the Northern Pacific Railroad might not be +dependent on the tender mercies of the Oregon Railway and Navigation +Company for a Pacific Coast terminus, pending the completion of the +Stampede Tunnel, which has now taken the place of the Switchback. + +The chief attraction of the Cascade route is of course Mt. Tacoma, +which can be seen from many points of view, as the train sweeps around +it in a wide curve, somewhat similar to the way in which Mt. Shasta is +circumvented. When Tacoma was ascended for the first time, about thirty +years ago, by Lieutenants Kautz and Slaughter, the party required nine +days from Steilacoom on Puget Sound and back. Since the completion of +the railway, however, a trail has been made from the nearest point on +the road, from which tourists can ascend the mountain on horseback to +a height of about two miles, where the Puyallup and Carbon glaciers +may be seen to advantage. The remaining mile offers difficulties +and dangers sufficient to daunt any but the bravest and most expert +Alpine climbers. Perhaps the summit of Tacoma will always remain as +inaccessible to ordinary tourists as the Matterhorn; but so few parties +have as yet made the ascent that a route may yet be found, by which +the summit will be made as easy of access as that of Mt. Hood. But it +must be borne in mind that even from the lower point now accessible +to all, Tacoma is nearly as high as Hood; and those who are averse +to endangering their life for the sake of seeing the craters at the +summit, two hundred or three hundred yards in diameter, now filled with +snow, but still having enough heat and sulphur vapor in their environs +to save a party caught in a storm from freezing (see Hazard Stevens’s +article in _Atlantic Monthly_, November, 1876), will thus find infinite +enjoyment in viewing the extensive scene, and in exploring the glaciers +and the grand cañons leading from them, with the rivers of ice-water +and their innumerable rapids, cascades, and falls. There are fourteen +living glaciers on the sides of Tacoma. At the latitude of this +mountain the vast snow-fields cannot disappear airwards by evaporation, +and therefore they follow the law of gravitation downwards as glaciers, +till the melting-line is reached, which becomes the birthplace of +mighty rivers. Of these solidified snow-fields, or ice-rivers, some are +from two to four miles wide, and the Nesqually, Wenass, and White River +glaciers are respectively four, five, and ten miles long. Of the rivers +which find their sources in Tacoma’s glaciers, five are from seventy +to a hundred miles long, and three—the White, Puyallup, and Cowlitz—are +navigable. + +Surely there is reason to believe that when tourists once begin to +realize the grandeur and the still largely unexplored attractions of +the mountain region of our Northwest, Switzerland will be neglected +for a time, and the cities of Tacoma and Portland will become the +Interlaken and the Zermatt of America. + + + + + XIV. + + THE AMERICAN MEDITERRANEAN. + + A STRANGE FACT—HISTORY OF TACOMA—ADVANTAGES OF ITS + SITUATION—NAVIGATION—FORESTS AND SAW-MILLS—SPLENDORS AND + DISADVANTAGES OF FOREST FIRES—COAL-FIELDS OF WASHINGTON—SCENIC + FEATURES OF PUGET SOUND—OLYMPIA—SEATTLE SINCE THE FIRE—THE + OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS—PORT TOWNSEND. + + +Students of American history, a few generations hence, will find +it difficult to believe that the magnificent Puget Sound region in +Washington, which offers such unequalled advantages for navigation, +commerce, lumbering, agriculture, and mining, should have remained +almost entirely undeveloped till the last quarter of the nineteenth +century, almost a hundred years after the exploration of this fine +and tortuous inland sea by Vancouver. Indeed, it seems probable that +the end of this century might have been reached without a general +appreciation of the manifold attractions of Western and Eastern +Washington had it not been for the building of the Northern Pacific +Railroad, which has been practically the creator of this State. In the +few years since its completion it has been demonstrated that if the +United States authorities had carried out the intention held at one +time of ceding this territory to England, as an expression of good +will, they would have given away a State as rich in natural resources +as New York or Pennsylvania, either of which it exceeds in dimensions +by one-half. + +No spot in Washington has been so literally created by the Northern +Pacific Railroad as “the City of Destiny,” Tacoma; for when the +decision was announced in 1873 of making this spot the terminus of the +new transcontinental railroad, the old village of Tacoma had only three +hundred inhabitants, and on the site of New Tacoma there was nothing +but a dilapidated log cabin. In 1886 the post-office business at Tacoma +amounted to $9,040, and in 1889 to $32,446; and it is assumed that +these dollars in each case represent an equal number of inhabitants. + +The selection of Tacoma seems to have been determined by considerations +similar to those which made Portland the “City of Destiny” in Oregon. +As Portland was built at the highest point on the Willamette River +where ocean vessels can go with ease and safety, so Tacoma has been +located at the most convenient southern branch of Puget Sound which +ocean vessels can reach at all times, independent of the tide. The +State capital lies further south still, it is true, but its arm of the +Sound is so much affected by the tide that a wharf had to be built +projecting almost a mile into the bay. The Tacoma harbor, on the +other hand, has forty to seventy-five fathoms of water, and shippers +are inclined to growl that it is too deep, which makes anchoring at +some places inconvenient. It is on this fine harbor, as much as on +the fact of its being the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, +that Tacoma bases its hope of taking a large part of the exceedingly +profitable Oriental trade from the British, and also from the San +Franciscans. Tacoma is about three hundred miles nearer to Canton than +San Francisco, which makes a day’s difference in its favor each way. +Among the chief articles imported by the Asiatics in return for their +teas and silks, are flour, canned goods, and lumber, all of which, +and especially the last, Tacoma is eminently qualified to provide. +Seventeen years ago its site was a dense forest, and dense forests +still cover the greater part of the Puget Sound region and Western +Washington, and will for centuries to come, even at the present rate of +wholesale destruction. It has been estimated that the forest district +of the State includes 175,000,000,000 feet of lumber. + +What threatens to exterminate the superb forests of Washington and +Oregon is not so much the lumberman’s axe as the forest fires, which, +instead of diminishing year by year, seem to increase in frequency +and extent. They are caused by camp-fires left burning by careless +hunters or Indians, or by sparks from railway engines. But even when +there are no extensive fires originating in this way, the summer air +in Washington and Oregon is odorous, pungent to the eyes, and opaque +from the innumerable clearings, or places where farmers burn down +their dense timber to secure land for the plough. A volcano in full +activity could hardly be a more brilliant and thrilling sight than +the dazzling nocturnal splendor of these fires—the united brilliancy +of scores or hundreds of blazing fir-trees, some lying prostrate in +confused groups, others, several hundred feet high, standing in solemn +array, like condemned criminals, until the flames rush up to their tops +and bring them down too, or else leave them standing as blackened, +ghastly trunks. These transitory fireworks, however, do not compensate +settlers in the long run for the loss of so much valuable timber, or +tourists for missing sight of the snow-mountains. I have often seen the +sun here day after day looking like a full red moon, and the air is +for weeks so densely filled with smoke that the eyes become inflamed. +Indeed, unless there has been a shower, tourists have little chance +of seeing Mts. Hood or Tacoma in July or August. Owing to Tacoma’s +destiny of becoming the American Interlaken, this is a matter of +some importance; but little can be done to remedy the evil until the +national government can be induced to spend some of the surplus in the +treasury on measures for the protection of our Northern forests,—the +envy of the whole civilized world. + +The lumber business is still the most important industry in Tacoma, and +will probably long remain so. In 1873 there was one saw-mill on the +premises, and now there are seventeen, employing nearly fifteen hundred +men, and with a combined capacity for turning out more than a million +and a quarter feet a day. It is interesting to see these mills at work. +There is one at which the steamers on the way to Olympia stop to take +in water, so that passengers have time to watch the chain which, like +a moving cable, carries down the débris of the timber in a flume-like +trough, high in the air, and throws it down on a pile which is kept +burning constantly. One cannot suppress the thought what a boon the +fuel thus wasted would be to the poor in our Eastern cities. Vessels +are always seen loading to carry the available part of the timber to +all parts of the world. + +But although lumber is the staple of Tacoma’s trade, the city’s +prosperous growth would hardly be arrested by a decline in this +business; for its importance as a centre for the exportation of wheat +and coal will grow much more rapidly than the forests diminish. As the +timber is cleared away, the farmers can take possession of the soil, +which yields heavy crops of the best wheat. Puget Sound extends from +north to south about one hundred and twenty miles, and has a shore-line +of almost sixteen hundred miles, much of which is tide land; and on +these tide lands grain yields the fabulous amount of over a hundred +bushels to the acre. Eastern Washington, also, which differs so widely +in soil and climate from the western half of the State, has been found +excellently adapted for grain and fruit raising, with the help of +irrigation, preparations for the use of which are now being made on a +vast scale. All these products will of course seek a market via the +Puget Sound cities. + +I saw Tacoma in 1887, and again in 1889 and 1890, and the growth of the +city in this short time was such that in both cases I hardly recognized +the place. It seemed as if some fairy had visited the town and changed +every black stump into a four-story brick building by touching it with +her wand. The cause of this sudden “spurt” was the completion of the +Cascade Division of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and the Stampede +Tunnel, which opened up the vast coal-fields along this road, and made +the Pacific Coast cities independent of Pennsylvania coal. The export +of coal to California ports is already second in importance to Tacoma’s +lumber trade, and the business is as yet in its infancy. Bituminous +or soft coal is at present chiefly mined, but it is said that “near +the foot of Mt. Tacoma is the best anthracite mine in the world, the +product running ninety-eight per cent of fixed carbon,” the smallest +vein being four feet through. “This will be opened up very shortly, +as soon as a railway can be built through to tap it.” Such a railway +would also prove a great boon to tourists. The words just quoted are +from the _Oregonian_, which by the way is still read by almost as many +Washingtonians as Oregonians,—a reminiscence of the time when Portland +was the metropolis of both the States which formed old Oregon. + +As this chapter is intended to be devoted to the scenic rather than +the commercial aspects of Puget Sound, I cannot give any more space +to the latter. It is worthy of note that the Tacomans, however +enthusiastic they may be in regard to their business prospects, never +fail to appreciate also the æsthetic and climatic advantages of their +location. Excessive summer heat is as unknown as excessive winter +cold, the thermometer having been known to keep within the limits of +30° and 90° for six successive years; and though it rains a good deal +in winter, the rain is not depressing through a sultry atmospheric +condition. As for the site of Tacoma, it has the double advantage of +being not only picturesque in itself, as seen from the bay, but of +affording at the same time a superb bay and mountain view from the +residences. The city is built on sloping ground and terraces rising one +behind the other; and as in San Francisco, the business streets are on +level ground, and the residence streets run up hill; but we read that +“the engineer declared when he entered upon his work that the streets +should have such easy grades that a horse with buggy and driver might +go from one point to another in a lively trot, and he carried his +point.” The greater part of the city having been at first in the hands +of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the directors were able to lay out +the town on principles of good taste, which was done by putting the +matter in the hands of an expert landscape gardener. The streets in +consequence are all from eighty to one hundred feet wide, and nearly +seventeen hundred acres of land have been put aside for parks. The +future hundreds of thousands of Tacoma will ever be grateful for these +sanitary and far-seeing provisions. For, however salubrious the climate +may be, a large city always needs breathing-spaces and wide streets. +Until recently Tacoma was behind Seattle in the matter of street-car +facilities, but within a year cable-cars have been built, and almost +twenty miles of electric street railroads, which have solved the +problem of going up hill at a grade of fourteen feet to one hundred, +and enable the merchants, in rainy weather, to reach their elevated +residences in comfort. Concerning these residences I may add that +almost all of them command a superb view of that compound octopus-like +arm of the Pacific known as Puget Sound, and of the incomparable Mt. +Tacoma. + +To get a perfect impression of Mt. Tacoma, however, we must board +the steamer going either to Olympia or to Seattle and Victoria. Both +these trips will be taken by every tourist who is wise. In certain +hazy conditions of the atmosphere Mt. Tacoma, as viewed from the bay, +presents a most unique and mysterious appearance. The haze completely +conceals the broad base and the wooded part of the mountain, leaving +only the vast cone in sight, like a floating island of snow on an +illimitable ocean of mist. As the steamer leaves the harbor for +Olympia, we have this mountain on one side, and on the other side rows +of fine villas on the crest of the steep hill-side, with their feet, as +it were, dangling over the precipice, and looking as if the slightest +earthquake shock would make them tumble into the harbor. But there are +no earthquakes in Washington and Oregon, though their volcanoes are +not quite cold yet; nor are there any other violent disturbances, such +as cyclones and tornadoes. Hence the waters of Puget Sound are always +safe and usually unruffled, so that sea-sickness need not be dreaded. +That part of the Sound which lies between Tacoma and Olympia is not so +straight and wide as the stretch between Tacoma and Seattle, but winds +about like a river and embraces between its curves many large and small +islands, bays, promontories, and inlets where rivers and creeks add +their sweet water to the briny substance of the Sound. The comparison +to an octopus, which I ventured to use a moment ago, bold and fantastic +as it may seem, describes the shape of this southwestern part of the +Sound remarkably well, as it here sends out its feelers in every +direction, one of them almost reaching an arm of Hood’s Canal. What a +paradise for yachting and picnic parties this Sound will be when Tacoma +and Seattle have reached the size of San Francisco, and when Washington +will hold two or three million inhabitants—which it can without the +least crowding, or settling on poor lands! + +In some places, where earthslides have occurred, the banks of the +Sound are steep and palisade-like, but usually the forest trees come +right up to the edge of the water. In this part of the Sound the +scenery preserves its primeval aspect, human habitation being rare; but +occasionally an Indian hut may be seen, with a family group consisting +of a “warrior” taking his ease on his back, while his wife chops the +wood wherewith to cook his dinner, and his mother mends his clothes. +These dusky squaws have secured the right of doing masculine work which +so many of their white sisters are now clamoring for; and they have +husbands, too, which the latter usually have not: and yet they are not +happy. + +Only one town of any significance—Steilacoom—is seen on this route. Not +far from it is one of the most beautiful scenic points on the Sound—a +place where it widens out amid the islands in such a way that it seems +the meeting-place of five large rivers, resembling a central square +in a city into which as many streets lead. A few hours more, and we +come to the capital of the State. Like the capital of Oregon, Olympia +has not kept pace in growth with some other cities in the State, its +population being about the same as that of Salem—five or six thousand; +and if it is ever to become a commercial centre, it will have to rely +on railways rather than on navigation, because its harbor is too much +affected by the tide. The mile-long pier which stands on the sand in +low tide has been the subject of many cruel jokes in rival towns. But +Olympia is considered a quiet and pleasant place to reside in; and +while Tacoma arrogates the title of “City of Destiny,” and Seattle that +of “Queen City of the Sound,” Olympia likes to be called the “City of +Homes.” The houses are surrounded by gardens in which flowers bloom +every month in the year and roses run riot, and from elevated points +near by the scenic outlook embraces half-a-dozen snow-peaks, including +those of the Olympic range. + +It is on the route from Tacoma to Seattle and Victoria, however, that +the Olympic range shows to best advantage. The Sound here is, as I have +said, less winding and less puzzling to all but the pilot, but there +are the same endless changes and surprises in the watery vista. At one +place the channel is no wider than a river, so that one can count the +pebbles on the shore; at another it widens out into a spacious lake +dotted with islands; and in the upper part it expands so much that land +for awhile is out of sight altogether, and we seem to be on the ocean. +Here the water is not littered with the débris of saw-mills, as in many +places below, but seals may still be encountered basking on logs in +the sunshine. It must be admitted that the immediate bank-scenery of +Puget Sound nowhere equals in grandeur and interest that of the Middle +Columbia River; but the background of snow-mountains is even grander: +the scenic frame is here more interesting than the picture itself. +Tacoma, St. Helens, and Adams are to be seen, and just as we enter the +bay of Seattle we catch our first glimpse of Mt. Baker,—another one of +the North Pacific extinct volcanic snow-cones, eleven thousand feet +in height. From the hill above Seattle a much more complete view of +this peak, which stands like a sentinel just this side of the British +boundary, is afforded; and here, too, the Olympic range shows to best +advantage. + +Unlike the other mountains of the Pacific Northwest, the dozen or more +peaks which make up the Olympic range are not isolated volcanic cones, +but form a range of jagged peaks connected below. They are covered +with snow the greater part of the year, and rise in the two highest +peaks, Mts. Olympus and Constance, to a height of 8150 and 7770 feet +respectively. It is an odd fact that until a few months ago the region +enclosed by this range, though appearing within stone’s-throw of +Seattle’s thirty thousand inhabitants, was almost as unknown as parts +of Africa before Stanley. A few trappers and prospectors for minerals +had made spasmodic efforts to cross the mountain barriers, and hence +arose rumors of the existence in this wilderness of Indians who had +never seen a white man, of beautiful lakes full of fish, fine valleys +suited for grazing and agriculture, gold, silver, iron, and lead ores, +and bears and elks enough to make this a sportsman’s paradise. But +nothing definite was known until last June, when two parties that had +gone out in the autumn returned in a deplorable condition, and reported +on the correctness of the rumors. One of these parties consisted of +Ex-Lieutenant-Governor Gilman of Minnesota and his son, and the other +was sent out by the Seattle _Press_. Thus a new and valuable territory +has been added to the new State. + +In writing about Puget Sound it is difficult to get the mind away from +the mountains, but I will only add that as the steamer enters Elliott +Bay we get a most picturesque view of Seattle, framed in by Mt. Baker +on the left, and Mt. Tacoma (here always called Mt. Rainier, of course) +on the right; and that the view of the latter peak is quite as fine +as at Tacoma. Like Tacoma, Seattle is built on the side of a hill +sloping down to the water, and the harbor is excellent, affording room +for several miles of wharfage. The business streets are again (as in +almost all cities of the Pacific Coast) the only ones on level ground, +while the residence streets run at right angles to them up hill. In +one respect Seattle is perhaps the most modern of all American cities, +as there is not a single horse-car line in the town, their place being +taken by cable and electric lines, which do the work much better, +quicker, and without cruelty to animals, of which all horse-car +companies are inevitably guilty. + +The first time I saw Seattle was a few weeks after the great fire in +1889 which consumed the entire business section of the city, with the +wharves, and entailed a loss of eight to ten millions on its twenty +thousand inhabitants. It was a most curious sight,—a city of tents +built on the charred ruins of the former city, on the site of which +it had literally grown up in a day, like a bed of mushrooms. Hotels +consisted of large tents with the office in front, cots behind, and the +kitchen and dining-room in other tents. Druggists, barbers, dry-goods +dealers, grocers, etc., all had their business in tents; and as a +sufficient number of these could not be obtained immediately, one could +see here and there a “happy family,” consisting, say, of a jeweller, +milliner, and real-estate dealer, all in one tent. But the oddest +sight I came across was a large tent filled with miscellaneous goods, +displayed on improvised benches, and outside the tent was this notice +in large letters: “POSITIVELY NO GOODS AT RETAIL.” + +It is possible that the reporters overdrew matters somewhat (contrary +to their natural propensity) when they wrote of a theatrical manager +who, when he saw his building on fire, forthwith rushed to an architect +for plans for a new one; of a merchant who telegraphed for iron for a +new store when he saw the flames had taken hold of his old one; and +of wagons unloading stone for the foundations of a new building while +the hose was still playing on the débris of the old one: but like an +exaggerated perspective in a picture, such stories, after all, only +show the situation in a true light, since the energy, pluck, and +hopefulness shown by the Seattleites on this occasion have never been +paralleled. When the anniversary of the fire was celebrated, on June +6, 1890, it was stated that during the year two hundred and sixty-five +new buildings had been put up, together with sixty new wharves, with +a frontage of over two miles—all of which, with other improvements, +involved the expenditure of almost twelve million dollars. Sixty +blocks, or one hundred and twenty acres, had been consumed, and +in rebuilding this portion the streets have been made wider and +straighter, and the buildings are of much better material and higher +than formerly. The old ones would have been torn down anyway in a few +years, so that, after all, the fire proved a blessing in disguise to +the community as a whole. On re-visiting Seattle in June, I found that +the new buildings were not in such an advanced stage as the newspaper +accounts had led one to fancy; but there was no mistake about their +being there, and their metropolitan dimensions, and their stone and +iron constitution. The air was hideous with the noise of stone-cutters +and carpenters, and the sidewalks were impassable for the piles of +bricks and lumber. There were also a few direct traces of the fire in +piles of charred timber, and in a few scattered tents where groceries, +clothing, etc., were still being sold, the owners having probably lost +too much to be able to rebuild at once. + +Seattle enjoys almost exactly the same advantages as Tacoma regarding +scenery, climate, shipping, coal, and lumber, and further details can +therefore be dispensed with. Both these cities doubtless have a great +future before them, and there is no ground for the fierce jealousy +between them. But if the Seattleites do not wish to alienate the +sympathies of tourists, they should cease naming the glorious Mt. +Tacoma after an obscure English lord when we have such a beautiful +American name for it. + +Beyond Seattle the Sound widens out, and forty-seven miles to the north +we come to the last of our cities this side of Alaska,—Port Townsend, +the United States customs stations, at which all vessels that enter or +leave the Sound have to report. It has most of the advantages of other +Sound cities, and a population at present of five thousand. In the +number of customs entries, Port Townsend claims to be next to New York. +The climatic vagaries produced on the Pacific Coast by the “Chinook” +wind, which comes from the Japan Current, are curiously illustrated +by the rainfall at this city. As a general thing, the rainfall on the +Pacific Coast may be said to increase steadily from San Diego’s ten +inches to Sitka’s one hundred and eight. But, oddly enough, there is +less rain in the Puget Sound region than in Oregon, the “web-foot” +State. Tacoma has forty inches, and Port Townsend only sixteen. +Similarly, it is observed that less rain falls in Vancouver’s Island +than in British Columbia in general. But when he gets into Alaska, the +tourist is fortunate if he comes upon a rainless week even in summer; +and in rainy weather its scenic wonders can only be half appreciated. +It seems, therefore, as if Puget Sound had been placed where it is as +a sample of Alaskan scenery and inland coast navigation; and a most +excellent sample it is, for it is only when we get up as far as Sitka +that the Alaskan salt-water river boasts of snow-peaks comparable to +Mts. Tacoma, Adams, Baker, St. Helens, and Hood, which adorn Puget +Sound. + + + + + XV. + + A WEEK IN ALASKA. + + A GREAT SALT-WATER RIVER—THE GENUINE AMERICAN SWITZERLAND—HIGHEST + SNOW-MOUNTAIN IN THE WORLD—THE EXCURSION SEASON—ISLANDS AND + FORESTS—INDIAN TRAITS—ALASKAN VILLAGES—GLACIER BAY—AN ICEBERG + FACTORY. + + +If Long Island Sound could be continued for about a thousand miles, +past the coasts of Maine, Newfoundland, and Labrador, as far as the +entrance to Hudson’s Bay, so that tourists might go all the way on fast +river-steamers, with state-rooms on the main deck, and without the +slightest risk of sea-sickness; and if this hypothetic “Long Island” +could be broken up into several thousand, which, instead of being flat +and sandy, were covered with forests of almost tropical luxuriance and +with mountains of an infinite variety of shape, continually increasing +in altitude until they culminated in two snow-peaks higher than Mt. +Blanc, outrunners of the third highest mountain range in the world, and +sending clear down and into the salt water numerous glaciers, compared +with which those in Switzerland are mere pigmies,—if, in other words, +the strip of coast which extends from Tacoma, Washington, to Glacier +Bay in Alaska could be transferred to the Atlantic side, it is safe to +say that at least a score of large steamers, crowded with passengers, +would be going up and down this salt-water river all summer long. The +Atlantic Coast people, however, even if they possessed this scenic +bonanza, would hardly be able to enjoy it comfortably, on account of +the icy ocean current which sweeps down Davis Strait and chills and +befogs Labrador and Newfoundland even in summer. Most persons in the +East seem to imagine that Alaska must be in a similar, if not a worse, +predicament; but they reckon without the warm Japan Current which does +for Southern Alaska what the Gulf Stream does for the British Islands. +Northwestern Alaska, indeed, shares with Northern Siberia the honor of +having the coldest climate in the world; but the southeastern portion +of the coast, as far north as Sitka, has a climate much warmer than +that of Maine, though Sitka is some fifteen degrees of latitude north +of Portland, Maine. It must be borne in mind how vast a country Alaska +is,—as large, one writer has calculated, as the original thirteen +States. A still more graphic way of realizing its extent is by noting +that from California it is as far to the western extremity of Alaska as +it is to New York; so that the central city of the United States is not +Omaha or St. Paul, but San Francisco! + +Fifty years hence, in my humble opinion, San Francisco, or the then +metropolis of the Pacific Coast, will be not only geographically but in +many other ways the centre of American life. The agricultural, scenic, +climatic, and hygienic superiority of the Western to the Eastern Coast +is too great not to affect the question of population and civilization. +But long before that era Alaska will have universally established its +claim to that much abused-phrase “the American Switzerland,”—unless, +indeed, the terms should be converted, and Switzerland come to be +complimented as “the European Alaska.” Yearly the number increases of +those who ask themselves whether, instead of going to Europe every +summer, it would not be worth while to try a Western trip. Before the +Yellowstone Park and Alaska were made conveniently accessible, this +Western trip could hardly have been recommended as an equivalent for +Europe; but now the scales are pretty evenly balanced, and as soon +as the St. Elias range shall have been included in the regular round +trip, and provided with guides, roads, and hotels, Switzerland will +have to “take a back seat”; for St. Elias rises twenty thousand feet +into the air, and can be seen from base to top, with a snow-and-ice +mantle reaching down to the very level of the ocean, while the highest +mountain in Switzerland is only 15,784 feet high (to the spectator only +about twelve thousand, as he is already several thousand feet high when +he sees it), and has a snow-mantle of only about seven thousand feet. +Indeed, considering that in the Himalayas and the Andes, the only two +ranges that tower above the St. Elias, the snow-line is as high as +fifteen thousand to twenty thousand feet, it is clear that St. Elias +must be the highest _snow_ mountain in the world. + +Unfortunately, the present Alaskan round trip does not include St. +Elias, although the majority of the tourists would gladly risk the +chances of sea-sickness by making the additional two hundred miles from +Sitka in the open sea. Two mountains of the St. Elias range, with their +stupendous glaciers,—Fairweather and Crillon, both higher than Mt. +Blanc,—are, however, visible to those who make the present tour; and +although, like St. Elias, they are lamentably apt to hide themselves +beneath and above clouds, even those who miss this wonderful sight find +so much that is unique in the other attractions, that no one has ever +been known to feel the slightest desire to “get his money back.” Were +the scenery much less inspiring than it is, yet would the trip be worth +making for its hygienic value. Here, for two or three weeks, one can +breathe a delicious mixture of ocean and mountain air, the latter just +sufficiently impregnated with the fragrance of pine forests to prevent +that enervating languor which an exclusive lung diet of ocean air is +apt to breed. As regards the appetite for solid food, its average +size may be inferred from Captain Carroll’s favorite joke,—that, +as the provisions are running short, he shall be compelled to take +the turbulent outside passage back in order to curb the gastronomic +propensities of the passengers. + +The fare provided on these steamers is about as good as that on the +average Atlantic steamers, but the daily salmon and a few other dishes +become monotonous, and the passengers look in vain for “local color” in +the bill of fare; _i. e._ for venison and bear steak, wild ducks and +geese, salmon-berries, and some of the usual kinds of fish that haunt +these waters. The fault for this omission is laid on the shoulders of +the Indians, who are said to be too lazy to hunt and fish for more +than they need for themselves daily. But as they willingly work in the +mines for two dollars a day, it is probable they would gladly hunt and +fish for the steamer stewards if enough were offered them. Yet, as +just intimated, one needs no such special stimulants for the appetite, +and one thing is certain, that the large number of invalids who cross +the Atlantic yearly, chiefly to get the benefits of a sea-voyage, +would do much better to go to Alaska, for there they would be _sure_ +of gaining in weight daily, owing to the absence of sea-sickness. And +another thing in favor of the Alaskan tour is, that one is certain to +find pleasant companionship on the steamers. The passengers on Atlantic +steamers represent all classes of society, and even of the tourists +not all are pleasure-seekers in an æsthetic sense; but of the Alaskan +passengers the majority are apt to be persons of refinement and taste, +since the only magnet that can draw them there is the hope of enjoying +fine scenery. + +Most of the tourists, not feeling quite certain whether Alaska will +come up to their expectations, go on the elegant new steamer which is +provided with all modern comforts and makes the round trip in twelve +days; but not a few regret afterwards that they did not take one of +the old freight steamers, _Idaho_ or _Ancon_, which require about a +week more for the trip, and, as they repeatedly stop a whole day at +interesting places, allow the passengers more time to explore the +neighborhood, and go fishing, observe the natives, hunt for curios, +etc. The fast steamer makes only six or seven stops in twelve days, +remaining from two to six hours at each place; and for almost three +days after leaving Victoria she makes no stop at all, thus resembling +an ocean steamer,—a resemblance made the more suggestive by a series +of rocky islands near Victoria that look very much like the coast of +Ireland when first approached on the voyage to Liverpool. + +The regular tourist season extends from the middle of April to the +middle of October. Early in the year passengers will see more of the +“midnight sun,” but in July and August fogs and rain are less common, +although even during those months the warm winds blowing inland from +the Japanese Current are very apt to condense into clouds and rain,—a +wise arrangement which prevents the scenery from becoming monotonous to +the tourists; and if any interesting point is thereby missed, there is +always a chance of seeing it on the return trip,—unless, indeed, the +captain should choose a different channel. There is an endless variety +to select from, and the marvel is that any captain or pilot should ever +be able to find his way through this labyrinth. For what the Milky Way +is among stars, this island-studded archipelago is among terrestrial +water-ways. Captain Carroll, however, finds his way as unerringly as +the salmon which at some seasons splash about the ship, bound for the +rivers of the interior. There is not a single lighthouse—only here and +there a rude post. Fortunately the nights never become entirely dark, +and even a dense fog does not arrest the steamer’s progress; for the +pilots have learned, by blowing the steam-whistle, to judge by the echo +the distance from either shore; and the water is almost invariably so +deep that danger is reduced to a minimum. + +During our trip, which commenced on August 22, the fog was never dense +enough to call for the steam-whistle; but the dense smoke, the result +of forest fires and “clearings,” which had prevented us from enjoying +the Columbia River scenery and Mts. Hood and Tacoma, also hid from us +the charms of the far-famed Puget Sound region with its background of +Olympian and other snow-mountains. Gradually, however, as we passed +along British Columbia towards Alaska, the smoke grew less dense +and finally disappeared entirely. Isolated columns of smoke were +still to be seen frequently in the midst of the primitive forests, +indicating Indian camps; but in Alaska, thanks to the frequent rains, +forest fires cannot occur—a fact which will console the economically +minded for the enormous wastes of timber in Washington Territory and +Oregon. The visible wealth of Alaska, as Mr. Hallock remarks, lies +in these forests: “There is a supply here of 5,700,000,000 feet at a +low estimate, a very large part of which is at once accessible for +shipment, as saw-mills and vessels can lie right alongside the timber +at tide water all the way up the coast as far as it extends”; and +Alaska with its islands is said to have a coast line of twenty-five +thousand miles, equal to the circumference of the globe. + +Not only has Alaska the third highest mountain range in the world, but +if the greatest landscape artist had been consulted, its members could +not have been arranged in a manner more continuously impressive to the +tourist. Beginning near Victoria with a moderate altitude and mere +patches of snow on the sides, they daily grow higher and whiter until +the climax is reached in the St. Elias group. When we were northward +bound, the smoky atmosphere hid the distant peaks and left the +impression that snow was rather scarce for the first three days; but +on the return trip a shower had preceded us, clearing away this smoke, +revealing snow in abundance, including, about thirty-six hours from +Victoria, an undulating range with immense snow-fields that would not +be without honor even in Switzerland; and this was before Alaska proper +had been reached. + +The whole of the second and third days the passengers could imagine +themselves sailing along the Hudson River Highlands or Loreley Rock on +the Rhine; but after that all comparison with Eastern rivers ceased, +and the Columbia alone, with its background of snow-mountains, afforded +approximate terms of comparison. The hour for sleep was postponed as +long as possible, from fear of losing some of the grand sights. As one +of the passengers remarked, it would be possible to make hundreds of +Lake Georges out of this Alaskan salt-water river. The word “lake” is +very appropriate, as the channel widens and apparently comes to an end, +as in a few places on the Hudson, so that tourists frequently amuse +themselves by guessing which way the pilot is going to turn next. In +some places the channel is so wide that land disappears on one side; at +other times so narrow that a woman could throw a stone on either shore. + +Of the abundance and variety of islands which adorn this water-way, +only those can form a remote conception who have seen the Thousand +Islands of the St. Lawrence. But in Alaska, as one writer has remarked, +we see not a thousand islands only, but “a thousand miles of islands,” +some as large as a State or a European kingdom, others just large +enough for a house and garden; while many look as if future generations +would inevitably call them “Picnic Islands,” so cosey and inviting are +they. Like the mountains that line the shores, all these islands are +densely wooded and very few of them are flat. Indeed, a strip of flat +land in this part of Alaska is such a curiosity that the tourist’s +attention is unconsciously attracted by it—reminding one of the +young Tyrolean girl’s exclamation on entering for the first time the +monotonous plain between Munich and Stuttgart: “Oh, mamma, look out of +the window. How beautiful! there is not a mountain in sight!” + +Bare hill-sides are almost equally rare in Alaska, till one reaches +the glacier regions. Everywhere the forests extend down to the very +edge of the water, and during high tide they actually seem to overlap +or grow out of the water. Consequently there is no beach, its place +being taken at low tide by ten feet or more of rocky wall adorned with +mosses and other vegetable and animal growths, and sometimes almost +as brilliantly colored as the walls of the Yellowstone Cañon. The +forests above add to this an endless variety of green tints, indicating +the different kinds of wood, the age of the trees; or, perchance, an +isolated streak of fresher color betrays the path of an avalanche which +carried away the old trees and made room for a new growth. + +Some of the mountains are so rocky that they afford insufficient +nourishment to the trees, which consequently die after a certain age, +their gray, leafless skeletons suggesting the thought that after all +forest fires have their use as a sort of scavengers. Still, these +gray and green forests are less uninviting than those black and green +charnel forests in which the fires have done their work incompletely; +and they are the exception, not the rule, in Alaska. + +For the first three days, as already intimated, these aspects of nature +were the only new experiences and sights offered to the _Olympian’s_ +passengers, no stops being made after Fort Townsend and Victoria till +we reached Juneau (the largest town in Alaska), omitting Nanaimo, +Tongas, and Wrangel. It is customary to stop at each place of any +importance, either in going up or returning, the captain being guided +in his decision chiefly by the necessity of passing certain dangerous +places when the tide is favorable. + +The most perilous of these places is Seymour Rapids, some hours north +of Nanaimo. As we approached these narrows, the water presented a +most turbulently fascinating appearance, twirling around furiously in +hundreds of little whirlpools, while large portions of the surface +appeared to be several feet higher than the adjoining parts, as if a +submarine earthquake had raised some places and thus made the water run +down hill. The spectacle was as exciting as the Niagara rapids, and +more sublime, because the fact of being on the water, and the knowledge +that there were hidden rocks all about, added just that slight +suspicion of danger which stimulates the feeling of sublimity. + +In the narrowest part of the channel a regular water-fall was produced +by the headlong plunge of the tide waters down some rocks near the +eastern shore, while the other side was rendered equally dangerous +by numerous rocks, thus leaving only a very narrow channel in the +middle for the steamer to pass through. The _Idaho_ and _Ancon_ never +attempt this passage while the tide rushes through it like a mountain +torrent, but the _Olympian_ plunged in boldly. In vain, however, did +the engineer strain every muscle of his machinery; for more than an +hour the noble steamer, though paddling away at a rate of almost twenty +miles an hour, did not move a yard. Here was a lovely situation for +timid souls, with plenty of time to speculate on the possibility of +the shaft or rudder breaking, and to recall the fact that in this very +place two vessels have already come to grief, one at a sacrifice of +seventy Chinese lives! But the _Olympian_ suddenly made a spurt, and +the salt water-fall and the maelstroms were left behind. + +On the fourth day we met the _Pinta_ in a shallow, quiet bay, and +exchanged greetings, mails, and provisions. The _Pinta_ is the +diminutive man-of-war which cruises these waters and keeps the Indians +in subjection through the fear of having their villages bombarded. +While the brass buttons of the officers exerted their usual magnetic +power over the eyes of the young ladies, the other passengers were less +romantically employed in watching the jelly-fish which crowded about +the steamers, literally by the million. + +The next incident of importance was our stop at the gold mines opposite +Juneau, and subsequently at Juneau itself. Everybody went ashore to see +the mines and the quartz mills, where a hundred or more machines reduce +the ore to sand with a most terrific noise. The mine was said to be +worth twice the price paid for Alaska, and it was evidently prospering, +to judge by the additional buildings in course of erection. + +At Juneau, which is a larger place than Sitka, the first thing that +strikes the eye is the large number of “drugstores,” almost every other +building being labelled as such. Can it be that the Indian habit of +leaving the heads and tails of salmon to decay in the street, in their +part of the village, has such an injurious effect on the health of the +Juneauites? or has the fact that the sale of whiskey is forbidden in +Alaska a remote bearing on the subject? Certainly neither the whites +nor the Indians look unhealthy. + +Most of the Indian men were at work in the mines, but the squaws sat +in rows on the pier or in front of their houses, offering for sale +grass baskets, furs, blankets, small canoes and paddles, totem-poles, +wooden spoons, masks, bracelets made of silver dollars, berries, etc. +Each squaw seems to have the shrewdness and business instincts of a +Jew and a Yankee rolled into one. In their own language they comment +freely on the tourists,—tit for tat,—and appear to find their doings +rather ludicrous, which, no doubt, they sometimes are. These squaws +have obviously given their husbands elementary lessons in “woman’s +rights”; for the latter never dare to sell anything for a lower price +than first asked, and if the wife says No, the bargain comes to naught. +The squaws are also allowed to share the labor of the men on the water, +and they are experts in paddling their own canoes. Their domestic +accomplishments are less admirable. The interior of the house is as +uncleanly as the blankets they wear, and it would not be pleasant to +think of entering their huts were it not for the disinfecting smoke +which pervades them. With a few exceptions, they have no stoves, the +food being cooked over an open fire in the centre of the floor. The +smoke seeks to escape through a hole in the roof, but, before escaping, +it is utilized for curing strips of salmon that are hung on strings +below the hole. In front of the houses other rows of salmon are +suspended on sticks to dry in the sun; and before each hut lies a canoe +carefully covered with mats, to protect it against the sun. + +At Sitka we had an opportunity to see the Indians as influenced by +missionary efforts. The Mission School contains over a hundred boys and +girls. The girls do the cooking, and the boys are experts in carpentry. +Their chairs and bedsteads are very neatly made, and are to be seen in +most of the Indian huts. The boys wear a blue uniform, to give them a +sort of _esprit de corps_; and the girls appear to give considerable +attention to their appearance, especially in the arrangement of the +hair. Their gait is very ungraceful, owing, as some say, to the fact +that their ancestors spent so much of their time in canoes. Among the +half-breeds, and the Indians too, some have considerable beauty of +figure and face; and were it not for the large mouth, many more would +be pretty. + +It is impossible to look at these Indians and not come to the +conclusion that they are descended from the Japanese. The whole cast +of the face is Japanese: the cheeks, the small, sparkling black eyes, +with their scant lashes and brows, and the complexion, are unmistakably +so; and the fact that, not so many years ago, some Japanese mariners +were shipwrecked on the Alaskan coast, makes the Japanese origin of +the American Indian all the more probable. Another Japanese trait of +these Indians is their bright intelligence and their eagerness to +adopt the customs of the white man. They learn very readily, and some +of the pupils recited and prayed in English, while several squaws and +Indian men prayed in their own guttural language. The singing of these +children did not differ much in quality of tone or intonation from that +in our primary schools. + +Besides these Indians, there is little of interest in Sitka itself +besides the old Russian castle and the Greek church, in which it is +odd to see pictures of saints in these out-of-the-way regions. The +church itself does not deserve the amount of attention it has received, +except from an antiquarian point of view; but the charms of Sitka +harbor have hardly been exaggerated even by those who compare it to the +Gulf of Naples. The arrival of a steamer is always a great event for +the Sitkans, natives and whites, who assemble on the wharf to greet +her arrival and cheer her departure; and the local weekly paper, the +_Alaskan_, was enterprising enough to get out an extra in a couple of +hours, with the passenger list; and this edition the young ladies +bought by the dozen and mailed to their friends as conclusive evidence +that they had been so near the north pole. + +In speaking of Sitka before Glacier Bay I have followed the map rather +than the steamer’s course; for Sitka is already some distance on the +home stretch, and before arriving there the steamers visit Lynn Canal, +which leads up to the Chilcat country, famous for its furs, blankets, +salmon-canneries, and glaciers; and then Glacier Bay, which runs +almost parallel to Lynn Canal, and, with the Muir Glacier, represents +the climax of the present Alaskan tour. Lynn Canal contains a large +number of glaciers, each of which would make the fortune of a village +and a dozen hotels in Switzerland, and conspicuous among them are the +magnificent Eagle and Davidson Glaciers, which would be the “lions” of +Southern Alaska were they not slightly surpassed in grandeur by the +Muir Glacier, which, Jumbo-like, therefore gets all the attention of +the visitors. + +As the steamer enters Lynn and Glacier bays, the scenery becomes truly +Arctic, as well as the climate, and overcoats are in demand. Vast +snow-fields are visible in every direction, and the frozen rivers or +glaciers which represent their drainage all creep down to the water’s +edge, in some cases presenting a front of several miles. As the steamer +moves on, the panorama constantly changes, showing the mountains and +glaciers from every point of view without involving the slightest +fatigue on the part of the tourists; and as soon as one ice-river is +out of sight, another shows its edge, and gradually stands revealed in +all its grandeur. One never gets over the surprise that the snow-line +should be so low—that the snow in the crater-like dug-outs on the +mountain sides should be so near the level of the ocean in midsummer. + +[Illustration: SITKA.] + +On entering Glacier Bay, another Arctic surprise awaits the tourist. +Icebergs of all shapes and sizes begin to float about the steamer, some +just large enough to fill the steward’s depleted ice-box, others, the +size of a steamer, compelling the _Olympian_ to moderate her speed. +As the great glacier is in sight two hours before the steamer reaches +it, though headed directly for it, the passengers have ample time to +admire the exquisite blue and white tints of these icebergs, and note +their odd forms and resemblances to the hull of a steamer, various +geometrical figures, a bundle of logs, a fairy grotto, or a sphinx, +etc. Some of them are entirely covered with scores of gulls, which fly +away with harsh cries as the steamer approaches. + +It appears incredible that the surface of the glacier which lies a few +miles ahead should be more than two hundred feet above the water; it +seems no more than twenty; but the apparent height constantly increases +until the steamer brings up suddenly within a few hundred feet of +the icy wall. Then there is a chorus of ohs and ahs, and the Bishop +of Rochester (England), who is one of the passengers, dogmatically +pronounces it the grandest sight in the world. + +Imagine a wall of solid ice, two hundred and twenty-five feet high, +extending for about a mile to right and left, the upper portions white +and broken up into the most fantastic crags and pinnacles, like the +rocks of the Yellowstone Cañon; the lower portions of a deeper and +deeper blue, according as the increased pressure from above and from +the sides has squeezed out the air and changed the solid snow into +pure ice, producing near the centre a grotto of more than celestial +blue. Imagine, furthermore, that there are eight hundred feet more +of this wall under the water, that even if it is true that the Muir +Glacier moves thirty or forty feet a day, instead of only two or three, +like those of Switzerland, the portion of ice now visible to the eye +represents snow that fell perhaps hundreds of years ago, and has been +slowly creeping down with the ice-river ever since—and the meaning of +the word “sublime” will perhaps become clearer than any metaphysical +definition could make it. + +Every ten or fifteen minutes the spectator is startled from his +reveries by an explosion, followed by an aggravated multitudinous echo, +and caused by the fall of a portion of the ice-wall into the bay, where +it floats away as an iceberg. As it splashes into the sea, the water +flies up as in a geyser, and a wild wave dashes over the rocks, tosses +about the steamer, and threatens to land it high and dry on the beach. + +After this spectacle has grown familiar, the boats are lowered, and +every one goes ashore to climb up the side of the glacier and get views +of its rugged surface, resembling a stormy ocean suddenly frozen with +all its white-caps. Here also can be seen the dozen or more tributary +glaciers which combine to make the Muir, and the semicircle of +snow-mountains whose sides they adorn. The amateur photographers have +brought their apparatus along, and take groups of the passengers with +this picturesque background; and then the steamer’s whistle summons all +back to embark for Sitka. + +As the steamer slowly gets ready to depart, one notices what in the +excitement had previously escaped notice,—the grooved and polished +rocks, at least a thousand feet up the mountain side, indicating how +high the glacier must have been formerly. A century ago Glacier +Bay was not navigable, and according to Indian tradition the Muir +Glacier has receded five miles in three generations; but this need +not alarm tourists, as it still has a reserve to last a few thousand +years longer. On leaving Glacier Bay we were so fortunate as to see +the giants Crillon and Fairweather outlined against a perfectly +clear sky, illuminated by one of the most gorgeous sunsets I have +ever seen, and the glories of which did not fade till ten o’clock. +It is a superb mountain group, bearing a distant resemblance to the +Mönch-Eiger-Jungfrau group, as seen near Mürren, which Mr. Tyndall does +not stand alone in regarding as the finest in Switzerland. + + + + + XVI. + + ACROSS THE CANADIAN PACIFIC. + + ADVANTAGES OF AN AUTUMNAL TRIP—ENGLISH ASPECT OF + VICTORIA—VANCOUVER A “BOOM TOWN”—THE FRAZER RIVER AND CAÑON—EAGLE + PASS—REAPPEARANCE OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER—MOUNTAIN-SIDE + FORESTS—COMPARISON WITH SWITZERLAND—CONSTRUCTION OF + SNOW-SHEDS—BANFF AND THE NATIONAL PARK—THE BOW RIVER—DEVIL’S HEAD + LAKE—SULPHUR MOUNTAIN—WINNIPEG AND LAKE SUPERIOR. + + +The dense smoke from forest fires, which, by obscuring the grand +mountain scenery of Oregon and Washington during July and August, +so often makes summer travel in those States an illusion and a +disappointment, also extends into British Columbia, as far east as +Banff, the Canadian National Park, sometimes called the Yellowstone +Park of Canada. Tourists who, on their return from Alaska, wish to +proceed to the East via the Canadian Pacific Railway, will therefore do +well to postpone this trip till after the middle of September, unless +there have been some heavy rains earlier to put out the fires and lay +the smoke. Rain on the coast means snow in the mountains, and no one +need be told that half the beauty, grandeur, and apparent height of the +three great mountain chains which this railroad traverses, depends on +a new cloak of magnifying snow. And an autumnal trip has this further +advantage, that the foliage along the banks of the upper Columbia River +will wear its most brilliant tints of red and gold, which constitute +one of the greatest charms of this tour, contrasting delightfully with +the snow-capped peaks on every side. + +Although Vancouver is really the Pacific terminus of this Canadian +railroad, the project of making Victoria the terminus by building +bridges over the chain of islands which in some places almost connect +the mainland with Vancouver’s Island, having been abandoned, Victoria +practically remains the starting-point; for a boat leaves this city +early in the morning to connect with the daily east-bound train; and +most tourists make it a point to spend a day in the capital of British +Columbia before starting, not only because Victoria is interesting +on account of its fine location, but because here many Americans for +the first time get a glimpse of English life. For Victoria is English +to the backbone,—as English as Montreal, or more so, because the +similarity of the climate of Vancouver’s Island to that of Southern +England (due to the effects, respectively, of the Japan Current and the +Gulf Stream) enables the English in this Pacific city to surround their +houses as at home, with fine lawns and trees, and gardens in which +flowers are in bloom all the year round, snow being almost as unknown +as in Southern California. Built on gently undulating ground,—such as +is characteristic of old England,—the very location of Victoria differs +from that of the “American” cities on the Sound, with their sloping +hills and precipices. Nor are the streets laid out with the geometrical +regularity so universal in the United States. The ladies on horseback, +the numerous churches, the animated streets on Saturday evening, the +abundant beef markets, the pirated American novels in the book-stalls, +the substantial appearance of the houses and many other things remind +one of the fact that here we are in America indeed, but not in the +United States. But the most utterly utter anglicism in Victoria is the +fact that if you want to leave a valise or parcel at the steamship +office or elsewhere, you get no check or receipt for it, but have +to rely on the receiver’s memory to see that no one else carries it +off. At the present rate of progress it will take another century or +two to get the idea of a numbered brass check, so simple, rapid, and +convenient, through the British skull. + +After inspecting the sights of Victoria, including Chinatown and the +naval station at Esquimalt, we seek our cabin on the elegant steamer +which leaves very early in the morning for Vancouver. The parting +whistles wake us up, and for a while we gaze at the scenery from our +bed, through the window. The shores are here more mountainous and +higher than in Puget Sound, and gradually, indeed, the scenery becomes +so Alaskan in character that we jump out of bed and dress hastily at +this unseemly hour, lest we miss some fine effects; and well it is +that we did so, for straight ahead are some superb mountain forms +which look coal-black in the dim, semi-foggy atmosphere. The island of +Vancouver (three hundred miles in length, with mountains nine thousand +feet in height, and still largely unexplored) gradually disappears +in the distance, and the city of Vancouver, on the mainland, comes +into view. Its location reminds one again of Tacoma or Seattle, and +in other respects, too, this brand-new city seems much more American +than Victoria. While Victoria, as a town, was incorporated almost +thirty years ago (1862), and has grown steadily to its population of +twelve thousand, Vancouver is a “boom town” of the most ultra-American +fashion. In 1886, its site was a dense forest, and to-day it has a +population of ten thousand—a growth almost equal to that of Tacoma, and +for similar reasons,—Oriental trade, lumber, fisheries, etc. Subsidized +steamers run hence every few weeks to Japan, China, and Australia; and +this circumstance alone would suffice to make of Vancouver a city which +will run a close race with Seattle and Tacoma. + +A European could hardly be made to believe that this city of ten +thousand had grown up in four years in the midst of a gloomy forest +of firs. What strikes the observer is not so much the number of +the buildings as their appearance,—solid, substantial granite and +brick buildings four to five stories high, and many of them of real +architectural merit and individuality,—buildings such as are usually +only seen in cities of one hundred thousand inhabitants. But this +anomaly will disappear in a few years with the growth of the city, +together with the still more striking anomaly presented by the numerous +blackened stumps which still stand everywhere between the superb stone +buildings, as no one has had time yet to remove them. Usually clearings +are made for wheatfields by farmers, but here the forest was cleared +away for a metropolis—and in the eager hurry the stumps were left +standing. + +A striking peculiarity of Vancouver is the very large size and number +of windows, both in public buildings and private residences,—evidently +suggested by the necessity of getting as much light as possible during +the many cloudy days which this mountainous region is responsible +for; but that sunshine also is abundant is attested by the fact that +pumpkins and even tomatoes ripen in the gardens. English influence is +shown in the astounding number of churches already built, and others +in process of erection. Everybody carries a prayer-book on Sundays, +and all the stores are closed. Finally, mention must be made of the +fact that the Canadian Pacific Railway has built here a magnificent +hotel, equal in every respect to the fine Tacoma Hotel built some years +ago by the Northern Pacific Railroad, and to the new Hotel Portland +in Oregon’s chief city. The scenery embraces the Cascade range, with +Mt. Baker, the Olympic mountains, and the peaks of Vancouver Island; +and the city has good wharfage, water, and electric light. With such +advantages it will continue to eat its way rapidly into the dense +surrounding forest. + +The Frazer River, almost as widely famed as the Columbia for its +abundant salmon and its superb scenery, enters the Sound about ten +miles from Vancouver, at New Westminster, which had hoped to be the +terminus of the railway, but now has to content itself with being the +headquarters of the salmon-canning and lumber export trade. It is +connected by a branch road with New Westminster Junction, a station +on the transcontinental road, and is reached at 13.30 o’clock by our +train which had left Vancouver at 12.45. The Canadian Pacific Railway +has very sensibly adopted the custom of naming the hours from noon to +midnight, 13 to 24 o’clock. Passengers unused to this method need only +subtract 12 from those figures to feel at home; and after a day or two, +20 o’clock will seem as natural to them as 8 P.M. Nor is this the only +thing in which this Canadian road could teach our American roads a +useful lesson, as we shall see later on. + +After leaving Vancouver, and before reaching Westminster, the train for +some time runs along Burrard Inlet, on which is situated Fort Moody, +another town which had hoped to be chosen as terminus, and actually +did enjoy that privilege for a short time. The shores of the Inlet +are beautifully wooded, and some of the trees are of enormous size. +At the crossing of Stave River a fine view is obtained of Mt. Baker, +looking forward to the right, and the bridge over the Harrison River, +where it meets the Frazer, also affords a picturesque view. For the +next fifteen or sixteen hours the train follows the banks of the Frazer +River and its tributaries, and this is one of the grandest sections of +the route. At the first the Frazer is a muddy, yellow river, about the +size of the Willamette above Oregon City, but more rapid and winding, +and an occasional steamer may be seen floating along with the current, +or slowly making headway against it. In some places the railway runs +so close to the precipitous bank of the river that a handkerchief +might be dropped from a car window into the swirling eddies fifty feet +below. At other places it leaves room—and just room enough—for the old +wagon road between the track and the river; but it would take a cool +driver, with much confidence in his horses, to remain on his wagon here +when a train passes. At last the road itself becomes frightened and +crosses the river on a bridge, whereupon it winds along the hill-side +above the opposite bank, at a safe distance. This road was made during +the Frazer River gold excitement in 1858, when twenty-five thousand +miners flocked into this region, and wages for any kind of work were +ten to eighteen dollars a day. To-day the metal no longer exists in +what white men consider paying quantity; but Chinamen may still be +seen along the river washing for remnants, their earnings being about +fifty cents a day. There is also a “Ruby Creek” in this neighborhood, +and some Indian habitations, and salmon-fishing places. Shortly before +reaching Yale, which for a long time was the western end of the road, +there is a slight intermission in the scenic drama, represented by some +rich, level, agricultural lands—as if to give the passengers a moment’s +rest before the wonders of the Frazer Cañon begin to monopolize their +bewildered attention till darkness sets in and drops the curtain on the +superb panorama. + +[Illustration: FRAZER CAÑON.] + +Yale, which is so completely shut in by high, frowning mountain walls +on every side that the sun touches the village only during part of the +day, has lost its importance since it ceased to be a terminus, and +seems at present to be inhabited chiefly by Indians and half-breeds. +The train is invaded by a bevy of half-breed girls with baskets of +splendid apples and pears, which could not be beaten for size and +flavor in any of our States, and indicate a possible use for these +mountain regions in the future. And now the train plunges into the +midst of the series of terrific gorges which constitute the Frazer +Cañon, and which make this railway literally the most gorge-ous in the +world. Here were appalling engineering difficulties to overcome, which +no private corporation without the most liberal government support +could have undertaken. Yet the builders had to be thankful even for +this wild and rugged cañon dug out by the Frazer River, without which +the Cascade range would have been impassable. The palace cars of the +Canadian Pacific, which contain all the best features of the Pullman +cars, with home improvements, have a special observatory, with large +windows, at the end of the train, whence the cañon should be viewed; +but to see it at its best one must sit on the rear platform, so as to +see at the same time both of the wild and precipitous cañon walls, +between which the river rushes along as if pursued by demons. At every +curve you think the gorge must come to an end, but it only grows more +stupendous, and the river, lashed into foam and fury, dashes blindly +against the rocks which try to arrest its course. These rocks, ten to +thirty feet wide and sometimes twice as long, form many pretty little +stone islands in the middle of the torrent, and are a characteristic +feature of the cañon scenery. Numerous tunnels, resembling those on +the Columbia River, are built through arches seemingly projecting over +the river. The train plunges into them recklessly, but always comes +out fresh and smiling on the other side, although it seems that if the +bottom of the tunnel should by any chance drop out, the train would be +precipitated into the river below. + +Once in a while the river takes a short rest, and in these +comparatively calm stretches hundreds of beautiful large red fish can +be seen from the train, in the clear water, struggling up stream. With +their dark backs and bright red sides they form a sight which is none +the less interesting when you are told that they are “only dog-salmon,” +which are not relished by whites, though the Indians eat them. + +The train stops for supper at North Bend, and here we are once more +impressed with the fact that although we are in America, we are not +in the United States. At our own stations, as soon as the train +stops, there is a grand rush for the dining-room, the waiters dump +half-a-dozen small dishes before each passenger, who attacks them +nervously, with one eye on the door and his ears pricked up for the +bell. It would be useless to extend the dining-time more than fifteen +or twenty minutes, for in five minutes most of the small dishes are +empty and in ten or twelve minutes not a soul is left at the tables, +though the _restaurateur_ has called out repeatedly, “Plenty of time,” +“Departure of the train will be announced.” + +How differently they manage things on British soil! There passengers +sit down, unfold their napkins leisurely, while the waiter-girl brings +on the soup. There is a regular _menu_, of so many courses, each of +which is brought on separately. The conductor, after disposing of his +share of the feast, waits at the door till the last passenger has of +his own free will left the table, picking his teeth, and then calls out +“All aboard.” Time, forty-five minutes; and at other stations similar +scenes are enacted, with never less than half an hour for a meal. Yet +the train is always on time. + +It must be admitted that it is not very difficult to be on time when +the average speed for the first day is only seventeen miles an hour. +There is danger from the boulders which may roll on the track from the +steep cañon sides, and occasionally you see a sign along the track +telling the engineer to “GO CAUTIOUSLY—FOUR MILES AN HOUR.” All the +dangerous ground, however, is covered by walkers, who go over the track +an hour before each passenger train. + +During the night east-bound passengers will inevitably miss the fine +scenery along the Thompson River, with the Thompson and Black cañons; +but it should be stated that the time-table in both directions has +been so arranged that the best part of the route is traversed in the +daytime; and that consequently no radical change will perhaps ever be +made. Passengers who are willing to get up at six may still see part +of the Thompson River and get some fine views of Shuswap Lake as the +train skirts its shores. Here, obviously, would be the place for lovers +of sport to get off, for vast flocks of ducks and geese rise from the +water as the train rushes past. About ten o’clock the train arrives at +Craigellachie, which is notable as the spot where the rails from the +east and west met, and where the last spike on this great continental +road was driven in, on November 7, 1885. + +Scenic wonders now succeed one another with bewildering rapidity +throughout the day. This second day, in fact, represents the climax +of the trip, and the attention is not allowed to flag for a second. +However much such a confession may go against the grain of patriotism, +every candid traveller must admit that there is nothing in the United +States in the way of massive mountain scenery (except perhaps in +Alaska) to compare with the glorious panorama which is unfolded on this +route. Within thirty-six hours after leaving Vancouver we traverse +three of the grandest mountain ranges in America,—the Cascades, +Selkirks, and Rockies,—all of them the abode of eternal snow and +glaciers, and all of them traversed through by cañons which vie with +each other in terrific grandeur. + +Before the Selkirks are reached the train passes the Columbia or Gold +range, through the Eagle Pass, so called because it was discovered by +watching an eagle’s flight. Eagle Pass is a poetic and appropriate +name, and yet I think it would be well to re-name this mountain pass +and call it Mirror Lake Cañon, because that would call the attention +of tourists to what is its most characteristic feature, which may +otherwise be overlooked. There are four lakes and many smaller bodies +of water in this valley, in whose placid surface the finely sloped +mountain ridges and summits of the pass are reflected with marvellous +distinctness, so that here, as in the Yosemite Mirror Lake, the copy is +more lovely than the original. Some of the mountain sides reflected in +these mirrors are naked rocks, others are covered with living evergreen +trees, and others still with dead trees. In the mirror these dead +forests look hardly less beautiful than the living ones; but in the +original the eye dwells with more pleasure on the green forests which +here, and almost everywhere in British Columbia, grow with the rank +luxuriance of a Ceylon jungle. The soil under these dense tree-masses, +consisting of decayed pine and fir needles, a foot deep and always +moist, makes a paradise for lovely mosses and ferns. Here, also, is the +home of the bear, and one would not have to walk far in this thicket to +encounter a grizzly, black, or cinnamon bruin. + +On emerging from the Mirror Lake Cañon, a great surprise awaits the +passengers. The Columbia River—to which they had fancied they had said +a final farewell when they were ferried across it on the way from +Portland to Tacoma—suddenly comes upon the scene again, as clear and as +picturesque as ever; and even at this immense distance from its mouth +still large enough to require a bridge half a mile long to cross it. +A few hours later the train again crosses the Columbia, at Donald, +where the river has become much smaller than it seems that it should +in such a short distance. To get an explanation of this circumstance, +it is interesting to glance at the map, and notice what an immense +curve northward the Columbia has made in this interval in order to +find a passage through the Selkirk range; and in thus encircling the +snowy Selkirks it has, of course, added to its volume the contents of +innumerable glacier streams and mountain brooks. Its real sources are +southeast of Donald, on the summit of the Rockies, separated by but +a short distance from springs which run down on the eastern side and +find their way through the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico. Thus +do extremes meet. It would be difficult to find anything so curious in +the course of any other river as this immense, irregular parallelogram +which the Columbia here describes from its sources to Arrow Lake. + +Fortunately, railroad builders are not quite as dependent as rivers on +deep cañons for getting over mountain barriers; hence our train is not +obliged to follow the Columbia in its great sweep around the Selkirks, +but proceeds comparatively straight across this range towards the +Rockies proper, via the Albert Cañon, at an elevation of 2845 feet, in +which the train makes a brief stop to enable passengers to look down +into a flume in which the river, narrowed by the walls to twenty feet, +rushes along three hundred feet directly beneath them. + +The snow-peaks of the Selkirks are now looming up on all sides, and the +atmosphere becomes more bracing and Alpine as the train slowly creeps +up the mountain side, doubling up on itself in a loop. The Glacier +House is reached before long, and here every tourist who has time to +spare should get off and spend a day or two, since next to Banff, in +the National Park, this is the finest point along the whole route, +scenically speaking, while the air is even more salubrious, cool, and +intoxicating than at Banff, owing to the nearness of the glacier. It +would be difficult, even in Switzerland, to find a more romantic spot +for a hotel than the location of the Glacier House. High peaks rise +up on every side, so finely moulded, so deeply mantled with snow, and +presenting such various aspects from different points of view, that we +forget our disgust at the fact that, as usual in the West, these grand +eternal peaks have been named after ephemeral mortals,—Browns, Smiths, +and Joneses. The Grizzly and Cougar mountains are more aptly named, +as these animals will long continue to abound in the impenetrable +forests which adorn these peaks below the snow-line. Looking from the +hotel towards the glacier, to the left is a peak which looks like the +Matterhorn, the most unique mountain in Switzerland; and what is still +more striking, at its side is another, smaller peak, which is an exact +copy of the Little Matterhorn. + +The greater part of the Selkirk region is still entirely unexplored; +and good mountain climbers who scorn to reascend the Swiss peaks, +which have long since all been measured, named, and labelled, may here +have their pick of first ascents. But they will miss the conveniences +of the Swiss Alps,—well-informed guides, and hotels with all modern +conveniences. Not even a satisfactory map has existed heretofore, and +an Englishman, W. S. Green, who published a book called “Among the +Selkirk Glaciers” (1890) was obliged to make his own map which is added +to his volume. It is tantalizing to read of Alpine paradises, “which +no being higher than a bear had entered before” Mr. Green and his +companion, and of “a perfect ocean of peaks and glaciers,” etc., which +they could see on elevated points. Who knows but that a hundred years +hence there will be as many visitors to the Selkirks every summer as +now crowd into Switzerland? + +The Glacier Hotel will always remain a popular point, because it is so +near a great glacier of almost Alaskan dimensions. It is only about a +mile thence to the foot of the glacier, which has the moraine of huge +boulders, the gaping crevasses, the stream at the end, and all the +other accessories of ice-rivers. At noon, on a warm day, when the ice +melts rapidly, the roar of the glacial stream can be distinctly heard +far away; but as the sun sinks lower, the water flows more scantily, +and at night the brook is silent or merely whispers. + +The principal difference between the Swiss Alps and the Selkirk range +lies in the aspect of the mountain sides below the snow-line. These, in +Switzerland, are green meadows dotted with browsing cows; while here +they consist of superb forests of giant cedars, with bears in place of +cows, and presenting one unbroken mass of dark green, except where an +avalanche has tobogganed down and opened what seems at a distance like +a roadway, but is found to be a battle-field strewn with the corpses of +cedars three and four feet in diameter. + +The most imposing view of such a mountain forest, unbroken by a single +avalanche path, is obtained from the snow-sheds just above the hotel. +Sitting outside these sheds and looking toward the left, you see a +vast mountain slope covered with literally millions of dark green +trees. Why has none of the world’s greatest poets ever been permitted +to gaze on such a Selkirk forest, that he might have aroused in his +unfortunate readers who are not privileged to see one, emotions similar +to those inspired by it? But I fear that neither verse nor photographs, +nor even the painter’s brush, can ever more than suggest the real +grandeur of such a forest scene. This mountain is not snow-crowned in +September, but its wooded summit makes a sharp green line against the +snow-peaks beyond and above. From this summit down to the foot stand +the green giant cedars, as crowded as the yellow stalks in a Minnesota +wheatfield. But in place of the flat monochrome of a wheatfield, +our sloping forest presents a most fascinating color spectacle. The +slanting rays of the sun tinge the waving tree-tops with a deeply +saturated yellowish green, curiously interspersed with a mosaic of +dark, almost black streaks and patches of shade, due to clouds and +other causes, and the whole edged by the dazzling snow. + +If we descend and enter this forest, a cathedral-like awe thrills the +nerves. Daylight has not the power to penetrate to the ground hidden by +this dense mass of tree-tops rising two hundred to three hundred feet +into the air—except that an occasional ray of sunlight may steal in +for a second, like a flash of lightning. And the carpet on which this +forest stands! In America we rarely see a house, even of a day-laborer, +without a carpet: why, then, should these royal trees do without +one? The carpet is itself a miniature forest of ferns and mosses, +luxuriating in riotous profusion on an ever-moist soil, the products +of thousands of generations of pine needles. Nor is this carpet a +monochrome, for the green is varied by numerous berries of various +kinds, most of which are red, as they should be—the complementary +color of green. But there are also acres of blueberries as large as +cherries; and if you will tear off a few branches of these and bring +them to the young bear chained up near the Glacier Hotel, he will be +very grateful, and you will find it amusing to watch him eating them. + +[Illustration: THE SELKIRK GLACIER.] + +There is music, too, in this Forest Cathedral, which is heard to best +advantage from the elevated gallery occupied by the snow-sheds. It +takes a trained ear to distinguish the steady, rippling _staccato_ +sound of a snow-fed mountain brook from the prolonged _legato_ sigh of +a pine forest, swelling to _fortissimo_, and dying away by turns. In +the romantic spot we have chosen, these sounds are blended, the music +of the torrents being caught up by the sloping forest as by a huge +sounding-board, and increased in loudness by being mingled with the +mournful strains of the tree-tops, as orchestral colors are blended by +modern masters. Those err who say there is no music in nature. It is +not in “Siegfried” alone that the _Waldweben_ is musical, that leaves +sing as well as birds, while the thunder occasionally adds its loud +_basso profundo_. + +The æsthetic exhilaration which we owe to these poetic sights and +sounds is intensified by the salubrious breezes which waft this music +to our ears. Born among the clouds and glaciers, they are perfumed +in passing across the forests, warmed by the sun’s rays in passing +over the valley; and every breath of this elixir adds a day to one’s +life. It is not surprising that mountains should make the best health +resorts; for do they not themselves understand and obey the laws of +health? They keep their heads cool under a snow-cap, their feet warm in +a mossy blanket, and their sides covered with a dense _fir_ overcoat. + +In comparing the Alpine scenes of British Columbia with those of +Switzerland, I should have noted one more advantage in favor of the +former, namely, the rows and groups of giant cedars through the spaces +between which glimpses of the snow ridges and peaks, and of the green +slopes leading up to them, are caught. This always adds a lovely frame +to the picture, and gives infinite variety. Even the stumps and fallen +trees in the foreground, whether they are the result of an avalanche or +left there by the builders of the railroad, add an element of wildness +and desolation which harmonizes better with Alpine scenery than +meadows, cows, and dairy huts. + +But we must not linger too long at the Glacier House and amid the +Selkirks, for another range of the Rockies, equally grand, awaits us +beyond. I have mentioned the curve on which the snow-sheds are built, +just above the hotel, whence such a fine view of peaks and forests is +to be obtained. We who have been able to stop over a day have had time +to enjoy this view at leisure. But those who are unable to interrupt +their journey would have missed one of the finest sights in America +had it not been for the most commendable wisdom and liberality which +prompted the builders of the Canadian Pacific Railroad to construct a +second track outside of the snow-sheds, which is used in summer, so +that every passenger can, for a moment at least, feast his eyes on +this incomparable scene. Of all commendable features of the Canadian +road which I have had occasion to praise, this one most merits +imitation on some of our “American” railways, unless an exception be +the delightfully convenient “Time-Table,” in form of a forty-four page +booklet, which is given free to passengers, and which contains brief +notes on all the stations and principal scenic points, while the hour +at which the train arrives at each is printed in the margin, both for +east-bound and for west-bound trains. + +On passing the snow-sheds it is interesting to study their appearance +and note with what an apparently lavish waste of timber they have +been constructed. But it must be remembered that timber is more than +abundant here, and that the trees that had to be cut down to make room +for the track more than sufficed for all the sleepers, sheds, and +other protective bulwarks against snow, landslides, or avalanches. The +log-remnants, lying about on both sides of the track, will soon be +covered with mosses and ferns and add a new element of loveliness to +the scene. And there is another way in which the railway atones to the +vegetable kingdom for the damage caused by passing through the forests. +As the train speeds along, its suction whirls into the air, like +snowflakes, the light-winged seeds ripening along the track; and thus +it becomes a great distributer of herbs and flowers. + +Twenty minutes after leaving the Glacier House the train reaches its +highest point on the Selkirks,—4275 feet. Then the descent begins, +and we leave the vicinity of the glaciers, though the snow-peaks that +give rise to them continue for hours to gladden the sight. What had +seemed more or less isolated peaks near by, are now seen to be merely +the highest points of a vast conglomeration of mountain ridges, which +are thrown into ever-new groups as the train winds along the mountain +sides. In rapid succession several bridges are passed, built over +brooks several hundred feet below. To the right, far below us, is a +long, narrow valley, painted a mellow golden yellow by the setting sun +(it sets here at three); and winding through it is the Beaver River, +which from this height looks as small as if it were seen through an +inverted spy-glass. Glimpses of the Rockies are now caught, and at +16.45 o’clock Donald is reached, where we once more cross the Columbia, +which starts out hence for its grand curve around the Selkirks. The +river here is about as large as the Rhine at Schaffhausen, and yet the +passengers discover to their amazement that even here it is navigable, +and that if they wish to make a hundred-mile trip, which is said to +equal in grandeur any part of the Columbia River, they need only stop +over at Golden City, two hours beyond Donald, and take the small weekly +boat which runs from that station up the river, charging six dollars +for the round trip. Golden City owes its name to a former mining +excitement, but its present appearance suggests that Golden Fizzle +would be a more appropriate name. + +For the greater part of the two hours which the train requires to go +from Donald to Golden City it passes along the bank of the Columbia +River; and there is, perhaps, no part of the whole route where grandeur +and beauty are so admirably united as here, especially in the autumn. +The grandeur lies in the snowy summits which frame in this Columbia +valley—the Selkirks on one side, the Rockies on the other. The beauty +lies in the river itself and in the young trees and bushes along +its banks, dressed in fall styles and colors, some as richly yellow +as a golden-rod, others as deeply purple or crimson as fuchsias or +begonias, the yellow predominating. These colored trees occur in groups +and streaks along the river, and in isolated patches on the mountain +sides, where they might be mistaken for brown mosses or lichen-covered +rocks. There may be as beautifully colored trees in our Eastern +forests, but they are not mixed, as here, with young evergreen pines, +nor have they a framework of snow-mountains, like these, to enhance +their beauty. High up on the ridges there is another variety of trees +of a beautiful russet color set off by a deep blue sky. Talk of color +symphonies! Here they are—miles of them—long as a Wagner trilogy, and +as richly orchestrated! Even the masses of blackened logs and stumps—if +one can set aside for a moment all thought of pity for the poor charred +trees, so happy before the fire in their green luxuriance, and of the +sad waste of useful timber—enhance the charm of this scene by contrast. + +I have said that the time-table of the Canadian Pacific Railway is +so arranged that the finest scenery is passed in daylight, in both +directions; but of course there must be exceptions, and, as a matter +of fact, as long as the road crosses the three great mountain ranges +of the Cascades, Selkirks, and Rockies, there is hardly a mile which +does not offer something worth seeing. Consequently, as darkness again +closes in soon after leaving Golden, east-bound passengers must resign +themselves to lose sight of the Kickinghorse Cañon, the Beaverfoot and +Ottertail mountains, the large glacier on Mt. Stephen, etc.,—which is +all the more provoking as they have to sit up anyway till midnight, +when Banff is reached; for of course, every tourist who is in his right +senses and not a slave to duty gets off here to spend a few days in the +Canadian National Park. + +It was Goethe, I believe, who spoke somewhere of the pleasure of +arriving at a place famed for its beauty, in the darkness of night, +thus reserving for the morning hours, when our senses are refreshed by +sleep, the first impressions of the scenery. Passengers who have not +“read up” on the subject, would little imagine, as the midnight coach +takes them to the Canadian Pacific Railway Hotel, as it is called, +that they are in some of the finest mountain valleys in the world, +and that the hotel itself is as picturesquely perched on top of a +hill as any castle on the Rhine. But no castle on the Rhine boasts a +view comparable to that which is spread before them in the morning. +The best place to enjoy it is in the open rotunda built behind the +hotel, just over the precipice. Far below, the clear and rapid Bow +River winds along in graceful curves, forming on the left a series of +turbulent cascades terminating in a fall which is visible from the +rotunda, though of course at this distance less effective than from +the river-bank. Below the falls the river hastens on in the direction +of the Peechee Mountain, which forms the boundary wall of the valley +east of the hotel and, with the wide ridge on the right, is the most +interesting sight in the whole Park. This ridge seldom presents the +same appearance on successive days, and hardly two photographs of it +are alike, owing to the fact that the melting snow, after a storm, +constantly stripes and mottles it in different patterns. Though the +ridge, which is several thousand feet wide, seems to be absolutely +perpendicular, the snow still clings to it and paints it white, except +in one section, near the summit, where a black, snowless streak runs +across horizontally, dividing the snow-wall into two sections. + +[Illustration: CANADIAN PACIFIC HOTEL AT BANFF.] + +To the right of the hotel are some sharp-pointed peaks inclining over +each other, somewhat like the Three Brothers in the Yosemite Valley, +“playing leapfrog”; and to the left is the massive Cascade Mountain. +The most important excursions for those whose time is limited to a day, +are a trip by boat up the Bow River, as far as Vermilion Lake, in the +morning, and a drive to Devil’s Head Lake in the afternoon. + +The Bow River excursion, which is made on a little steam-launch +whenever a party is ready for it, has only one drawback,—the ugly, +bristling corpses of charred pines on both sides of the river, the +effects of a recent most deplorable forest fire. Arrangements have +been made with lumbermen for the removal of these charred trunks, but +it will take years to finish the job, as there are thousands of them. +Fortunately there is already a new undergrowth, and in a few years the +vigorous young trees will have covered up the stumps. In many places, +however, the green trees have been spared, and in these sections +matchless views of the surrounding mountains may be obtained through +the loveliest green foregrounds. Winding about as it does, the Bow +River shows all the mountains included in the Park, and many others, +with endless changes of the point of view and grouping. Among the most +imposing peaks two will be specially impressed on the memory,—Mt. +Edith, a sharp, bare, rocky formation, apparently inaccessible, and the +extremely interesting Copper Mountain, shaped like a heart, whose two +sides, as seen from the upper Bow River, are surprisingly symmetrical. +In the centre is a rocky projection of a regular shape. + +There are a few shallow places where one can see logs and dead trees +lying at the bottom; but generally the small river is wonderfully deep, +so that it seems more like the arm of a lake than a mountain stream. +Below the falls, however, it becomes too shallow and turbulent for +navigation, and this suggests the theory that the cascades and falls +were caused by a landslide, or rather a rockslide, which blocked up the +river and deepened the part above this obstruction. + +The water of the Bow River comes direct from the Rocky Mountain +glaciers and springs, and is, therefore, as clear as a crystal, and if +you want a delicious drink, you need only dip your cup into the water +and help yourself. What a boon such a copious mountain stream, free +from the faintest suspicion of microbes, would be near a large city! +There are fish in this water, as a matter of course, and wild ducks +can be seen swimming about on it every day, from the hotel rotunda. +The part of the river below the falls is also well worth a visit. The +Spray River, almost as wide as the Bow, and even more turbulent, enters +the Bow just below the falls; and for those who are fond of listening +to the music and the babble of brooks, a finer spot than this could +not be found. Below the bridge, over the Spray, is a mountain side +rapidly crumbling away, and here a stone avalanche may be heard and +seen every five minutes. All around are groups and groves of straight, +slender mountain poplars, with smooth, pale olive bark and golden +autumn leaves. There is something fresh and delightfully healthy in +the appearance of these young mountain trees, suggestive of trout bred +in icy brooks. It is impossible to walk a hundred steps without being +arrested by the really thrilling beauty of these tree-groups,—the +blackish green pines encircling the poplars and birches, whose leaves +are resplendent in the deepest dyes, representing their transition +from fresh, light green, through a dozen shades of greenish yellow, +till a deep golden yellow is attained as the climax. While the leaves +are mostly yellow, the numerous kinds of berries—bunchberries, +mountain-ash, sweet-brier, etc.—are red, and one of the most exquisite +bits of color is contributed by the scarlet leaves of the wild +gooseberry. The berries of the sweet-brier are much larger than in +Oregon, though the bushes are only a foot in height, while in Oregon +they are eight to ten, and with their thousands of roses or berries +form a most lovely sight. + +Forest symphonies like these are also to be seen in abundance on the +way to Lake Minnewonka, better known as Devil’s Head Lake. An excellent +carriage road has been constructed by the government, the distance +being nine miles. For the most part the road runs along the foot of +precipitous palisade-like mountains, in measuring which the famous +Hudson River palisades might be used as a yard-stick, or standard of +measure. These mountain sides are beautifully striped and mottled +with snow, in a manner that seems to be peculiar to this region, and +is repeated on a still grander scale on the steep cañon walls which +form the sides of Lake Minnewonka. Before reaching the lake, a most +imposing range of the Rockies—a wild jumble of snow-peaks—is seen on +the right, beyond the river. Altogether, this drive to the lake is one +of the finest in the world, and the lake itself forms a fitting climax. +It is a curiosity among mountain lakes, being fourteen miles long and +only one to two miles wide, both its sides being steep and beautifully +formed mountains. It might in fact be described as a cañon filled +with a lake—as the Yosemite Valley is supposed to have been at one +time. Its average depth is only forty feet, but owing to its peculiar +oblong shape and its vertical sides, it is greatly subject to mountain +“draughts,” which are likely, without a moment’s notice, to assume the +form of wild and sudden squalls. In the morning the surface of the +lake forms a perfect mirror of the surrounding peaks, and at certain +hours and states of the wind it is tinted with the most exquisite +shades of green, blue, purple, and violet. In this surface iridescence +it resembles Lake Tahoe; but in another respect there is a remarkable +difference between these two lakes; for although Tahoe has an altitude +of almost two thousand feet above Minnewonka, and is also surrounded by +snow-mountains, its waters never freeze, even though the snow on its +shores be ten feet high; while the Canadian lake does freeze to a depth +of two to four feet in February, and then forms an admirable surface +for ice-boats and for skating. The lake is full of large trout which +are still quite abundant, as they were not fished for till about four +years ago. + +[Illustration: DEVIL’S HEAD LAKE.] + +The government is so proud of this lake that it has appointed a keeper +to prevent it from being stolen. He keeps an inn on the end nearest to +Banff, and he says that so far the best catch made by a tourist in one +day was eighteen trout, weighing seventy-eight pounds. The Vanderbilt +party, in 1889, caught one weighing twenty-eight pounds, and in 1888 +the keeper said that he and the cook caught one weighing fifty-three +pounds, which was probably served _cum grano salis_. (Please remember +that I am merely repeating what was told to me.) The incident will +probably recall to the reader the story of the heathen whose budding +faith was nipped when a missionary told him the story of Jonah and the +whale. “When it comes to fish stories,” he remarked subsequently +to a friend, “no one can be trusted.” I must add, however, in justice +to the keeper, that a fifty-three-pound mountain trout, abstractly +considered, is not impossible. Very large hooks are used to pull +these lake trout in, and though they cannot be young, their firm pink +flesh is of delicious flavor and not at all toughened by age. The +keeper sneered at those tourists who come from the Canadian Pacific +Railroad Hotel, and fish from noon to five o’clock,—a time when no +self-respecting trout will bite,—and then go away growling that there +are no fish in the lake. He also said that there was at present no road +around the lake, except an Indian trail, but that a road was projected, +as was the placing of a small steamboat on the lake. + +Besides the drive to this lake (which passes through the village of +Banff, about a mile from the hotel), there are other excellent roads +in several directions, notably those to the Lower and the Middle and +Upper Sulphur Springs. The Canadian National Park bases its claim to +the attention of the travelling public on the curative properties +of its sulphur springs quite as much as on its scenic attractions. +On approaching the Lower Springs, the fumes bring back memories of +Yellowstone Park, as do the curious, gray, brittle stones and the +aspect of the soil. Bathers can have their choice of a subterranean +plunge in a dimly lighted grotto or cave, which might have been the +abode of a mountain nymph, or in an open pool, framed in by the +bath-house on one side, and on the other by rocks, from which the +plunge may be made. The temperature of the grotto is 80°; of the open +pool, 92°. In the latter the hot water bubbles up from a hole in the +bottom, and the boys dive down, put an arm into it, and bring up a +handful of very coarse-grained quicksand. Hours can be agreeably spent +here, and the sulphur odor is not unpleasantly noticeable; but after +the bath one smells for hours like a walking parlor-match. In front +of the bath-house is a fountain, the water in which is so strongly +impregnated that soap cannot be used in washing in it: yet the ice +which forms on it in winter is pure from all mineral matter. Animals +are fond of this water. I saw a dog drink it (in Oregon I saw a dog +drinking sea-water, for that matter), and the keeper of the bath-house +says that the cows and horses often come up from the valley to drink +it, although there is abundant pure water below. + +The Middle and Upper Sulphur Springs are farther up the same +mountain—appropriately named Sulphur Mountain. The carriage road, three +and one-half miles long, passes through a dense jungle of young pines, +no thicker than birches, crowded like Chinese in a tenement house, and +therefore looking lugubrious and unhealthy. Most of these will have +to be smothered in the struggle for existence, before the strongest +ones can get breathing-room enough to develop into full-grown trees. +The silence of a mountain forest reigns here, rendered audible by the +faint, distant babble of the Bow and Spray rivers. We pass by the +road which leads off to the Middle Springs, and soon reach the Upper +Springs, around which half-a-dozen bath-houses are grouped, whose +favorite sign-board, or trade-mark, is a pair of crutches suspended +from a tree, with this notice attached: “I came here with these, and +left without them.” A few yards above these huts the water can be +seen gushing out of the mountain side in a strong current, and so hot +that one can hardly hold his hand in it—110 to 116°. These baths are +supposed to be good for rheumatism and skin and blood diseases. I met +an old miner here who has hunted gold on four continents, and who +entertained me with stories of his adventures in Alaska, and how he +“blew up” Mr. Muir for making such a fuss over Glacier Bay, where the +glaciers were mere pygmies compared with some that he had come across +on his prospecting tours in the interior. He had offered to guide Mr. +Muir to these, but the professor seemed to be afraid of the hardships +and perils, and refused to go; whereat our miner was still so indignant +that he threatened that if he had more skill in using the pen, he would +write to the Eastern papers and expose him as a fraud. He said that he +was going back to Alaska as soon as cured, because he believes there is +untold wealth in that country, and added that if any “literary feller” +from New York wanted to accompany him, he would guarantee him material +for a book that would make Eastern people’s hair curl. + +From the Upper Springs the hotel can be reached by means of a short-cut +footpath through the dense woods, following the flume which carries +the sulphur water down to the hotel. It is used, of course, only for +special bathing purposes; but all the water seems here, as in the +Yellowstone Park, to be impregnated with traces of sulphur: for if you +wash with soap and leave the water in the basin over night, curds will +be found in it in the morning; and in the men’s wash-room there are +yellow streaks in the marble basins, where the water runs into them. +Sulphur water is supposed to be good for the stomach, but I have on +several occasions found it to be just the opposite. + +The Central Pacific Railroad Hotel has electric lights in every room, +and is well managed, and its terms reasonable. For those who have to +study economy, there are smaller inns and a sanitarium not far from the +hotel, with a few stores and a row of tents. + +Summing up on the Canadian National Park, we may say that it has not so +many natural wonders as the Yellowstone Park,—no geysers, steam-holes, +gold-bottomed rivulets, paint-pots, nor anything to place beside +the Yellowstone Cañon and Falls. But the Minnewonka Lake may fairly +challenge comparison with the Yellowstone Lake, and the mountain +scenery is grander in the Canadian Park, and the snow and glaciers are +nearer, though not so near as at the Glacier House, where the air is in +consequence cooler and more bracing in summer than even at Banff. As +the Canadian Park is only twenty-six miles long and ten wide, while the +Yellowstone Park is about sixty-two by fifty-four miles, the former can +be seen in much less time than it takes to do justice to the latter. + +When we get ready to leave Banff we have to take the midnight train, so +there is no chance to say good by to the mountains. But we have seen so +much of them since leaving Vancouver, that we have felt almost tempted +to cry out to Nature, “Hold, enough—less would be more!” Now we get +ample opportunity to ruminate in peace over our crowded impressions. +When we get up we are on the prairie; we go to bed in the prairie, +after traversing a territory larger than a European kingdom; again +we rise on the prairie, and again go to bed on it; and not till Lake +Superior is approached does the scenery once more become interesting. +There is little local traffic west of Winnipeg, towns being few +and far between. A dining-car is attached to the train, and on the +following day is replaced by another. The train makes a bee-line for +Winnipeg, as there are no more “loops” to climb mountain sides on, +no more puffing engines pulling in front and pushing behind, no more +noisy bridges and trestle-works to cross. We are moving along at the +rate of half a thousand miles a day, yet the view is always the same, +varied only by the sight of buffalo tracks,—the autographs of departed +herds,—a few coyotes, and some begging squaws with their pappooses at +the stations—only this and nothing more, except the prairie itself, +on which it is said a rider who sets out on a day’s journey can see +before starting the place where he will be in the evening. The train +stops a few hours at Winnipeg, where some of the passengers use this +first opportunity to branch off to the United States; then on we +speed again over the prairie. There is an occasional stretch of dark, +ploughed soil in the distance, which causes you to look twice to make +sure that it is not the ocean; and when finally the train suddenly +plunges into a tunnel, you are almost as much startled, after all this +prairie monotony, as if an Atlantic steamer on the way to Liverpool +took you through a tunnel; in fact, you are at first disposed to fancy +that this tunnel had been artificially created by the engineers as a +practical joke on the passengers. It is only a prelude, however, to the +Lake Shore scenery, which, with the wild rocks and cliffs on one side, +and an occasional glimpse of the lake on the other, forms one of the +most fascinating fifty miles of the whole road. Instead of going along +this north shore of Lake Superior in a wide curve, passengers have the +option of taking the steamer from Port Arthur to Sault Ste. Marie, and +thence rejoining the transcontinental road. + +As a general thing, it is no doubt wiser to take the Canadian Pacific +Railway westward than eastward, as the scenic climax is on the western +side. However, it is quite possible to avoid the feeling of anticlimax +on going east, if we conclude the trip with the Thousand Islands and +the Rapids of the St. Lawrence, together with Montreal; or with Niagara +Falls and the Hudson River. The Pacific slope no doubt is scenically +far more attractive than the Atlantic; still, there are some things in +the East which even California would be proud to add to her attractions. + + + + + XVII. + + THROUGH YELLOWSTONE PARK + + AN INDEPENDENT JOURNEY ON HORSEBACK—GEYSERS AND + PAINT-POTS—WAITING FOR AN ERUPTION—YELLOWSTONE CAÑON AND + FALLS—THE LAKE AND ITS TROUT—A TENT HOTEL—MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS. + + +Like all the other transcontinental railroads, the Northern Pacific +has its grandest scenery on the western half of its course. On the +eastern section, between Livingston and St. Paul, the train traverses +monotonous prairies, suggestive of the ocean, but less exhilarating, +on account of the dust, and less uncertain and exciting, and with only +a few prairie dogs, herds of cattle, grain-fields, and ugly little +villages to vary the view from the car windows. But on its western +section there is the magnificent scenery of the Cascade Division, with +Mt. Tacoma, or, for those starting east from Portland, the romantic +Columbia River route. As both of these have been described at length +in preceding chapters, we can here pass at once to what is the climax +of the Northern Pacific route—the Yellowstone Park, although reference +must be made in passing to the rare beauty of Lake Pend D’Oreille, the +shores of which the train skirts for hours. At Livingston the tourist +leaves his comfortable Pullman and takes the branch road, which in a +few hours lands him at Cinnabar, where stages have to be taken, as no +railway is allowed within the limits of the Yellowstone Park. + +This little branch railroad reminded me of some of the so-called +“passenger trains” in Southern Europe. For slowness it would certainly +get the first prize at a national exhibition of time-tables. +“Gentlemen,” I once heard a conductor exclaim, as he entered the +waiting-room of a railway station in Southern Germany,—“Meine Herren, +hurry up with your beer; it is time to start.” But local color varies. +On the Yellowstone Road the train was stopped for ten minutes in one +place to leave a box of merchandise in the middle of a field, and to +dispose of a bucketful of buttermilk which a nut-brown maiden had +brought there for the trainmen and passengers; and shortly afterwards +the train was again stopped, apparently because the engineer had espied +a couple of prairie-chickens on the hill-side. He pursued them with +his revolver, bagged one of them, and after that the train stubbornly +proceeded to its destination, notwithstanding the polite request of +one of the passengers to the conductor to stop until he had caught a +string of trout in the adjacent Yellowstone River. A week later, when +I returned over the same road, the train stopped for a quarter of an +hour at one place while the conductor, engineer, and brakeman amused +themselves with a game of base-ball. + +The gateway through which the train enters the fertile Paradise Valley +and the National Park is bounded east and west by lofty mountains, on +which, however, only a few specks of snow remained in the first week +of August. Indeed, throughout the Park I saw much less snow than the +guide-book had led me to expect; but for this an uncommonly warm +summer may have been responsible. Yet even without snowy summits the +Yellowstone mountains are picturesque, and must appear sublime to those +who have never been in Switzerland. In ruggedness and grotesqueness of +outline they are unrivalled, and the colors are often unique, the rocks +being sometimes so white that they present the appearance of slightly +discolored snow, such as is seen in the lower portions of glaciers; and +this partly atones for the absence of real snow. + +After a dusty stage ride, lasting several hours, and very much uphill, +the passengers are landed at the Mammoth Springs Hotel, where a fair +supper and good beds await them. Although this hotel is conveniently +located near the foot of the remarkable many-storied, snow-white +terrace-mound, built by the calcareous deposits of the hot springs, and +adorned with the most brilliant colors, its site is nevertheless badly +chosen; for there is no view from either the front or back windows, or +from the piazza; whereas, if the building had been erected only a few +hundred yards to the front, visitors might have enjoyed an extensive +and delightful mountain view on all sides. This error is possibly +responsible, to a large extent, for the fact that fewer visitors than +had been expected make this large hotel their home for a week or +two. With the exception of that at the Upper Geyser Basin, all the +Yellowstone Park hotels are placed in like manner, though in each case +a picturesque situation might have been found within a short distance. +Perhaps the builders calculated that visitors, after their wearisome +stage ride of forty or fifty miles and a subsequent brief inspection of +the geysers, would hardly look upon the hotels as anything else than a +place for providing them with meals and beds. + +Having been apprised of the disadvantages to which those who take the +regular round trip by stage in five days are subjected, I concluded to +see the Park in a more leisurely manner, and hired a saddle-horse for a +week at the rate of two dollars and a half a day, to which one dollar +and a half a day was added for taking care of the horse at the several +stations; thus making the expense about the same as it would have been +if I had taken the regular forty-dollar coupon ticket, which includes +fare and hotels for five days. They seem to have great faith in human +nature in Wyoming; for I was allowed to take away my horse without +leaving a deposit, and even without being asked my name! On entering +the Park, an officer rode up and requested me to register, explaining +that all persons entering privately were asked to leave their names, +and state how long they intended to stay, as a precautionary measure +against violations of the laws relating to hunting and forest fires. +These regulations, with others, are printed on linen and conspicuously +posted along the road every few miles, so that no one can plead +ignorance of the law. Scattered throughout the Park are also hundreds +of signs reading “NO HUNTING,” “EXTINGUISH YOUR FIRES,” with others +indicating good places for camps. In the Geyser Basins the principal +springs and geysers are also marked by sign-boards, though not so +liberally as might be desired. There should be more of them near the +road to indicate the most remarkable spots. At present the “paint-pots” +and the Gibbon and Tower falls are very apt to be missed by tourists. +Some of the sign-boards of the Geyser Basins need renovating. At +Norris one of these attracted my attention; and after getting my eyes +within six inches to decipher the obscure inscription, I read the word +“DANGEROUS!” These danger signals ought to be much more frequent. The +very day when I was at Norris, a lady broke through the crust near one +of the springs and was badly injured. + +[Illustration: MINERVA TERRACE—YELLOWSTONE PARK.] + +Norris Geyser Basin is directly south of Mammoth Hot Springs, and +is the place where the tourist, if lucky, gets his first view of +a geyser. If the reader has never looked at a map of the National +Park, he may get an approximate idea of its topography by bearing +in mind that the principal curiosities are so placed as to form a +parallelogram. The road first leads south from Mammoth Springs to +the four geyser basins,—Norris, Lower, Midway, and Upper; then east +to the Lake; then north to the Falls and Grand Cañon, and over Mt. +Washburn, to Yancey’s; and thence back west to the Mammoth Springs. The +patrons of the stage line, however, miss the Lake and Mt. Washburn, +and are obliged to return by the same road a great part of the way. +This must be very fatiguing, as the road between Mammoth Springs and +Norris is most dreary and uninteresting, being generally lined on +both sides by melancholy wastes of blackened tree corpses—a veritable +forest cemetery. Now that fires are carefully guarded against, a +vigorous undergrowth of young trees is perceptible, which in time will +obliterate these and the many similar stretches of charred timber. + +The hotel at Norris was destroyed by fire about the middle of July, +1887, and I arrived just in time to be the first occupant of a room +in the new hotel. In the ruins of the old hotel were still to be +found heaps of roast potatoes, hams, and other meats, and groups of +molten beer and wine bottles twisted into peculiar shapes. Beer and +wine, by the way, may be had at all these hotels, although no bars +are allowed within the limits of the Park. The water throughout this +part of the Park is strongly flavored with sulphur and other mineral +ingredients, and is apt to disagree with some people. After supper I +went up the road for a mile to see the Geyser Basin. The distinguishing +characteristic of the Norris Basin is the many steam-holes, which +send out uninterrupted columns of steam, with a deafening roar. I +have read of canary-birds who were silenced forever after hearing a +mocking-bird imitate and surpass their song. I wish all locomotive +engineers could be sent to the Norris Basin; perhaps that would make +them stop competing as to which of them can make night most hideous +with steam-whistles. Besides these steam-holes there are simple hot +springs, sizzling “frying-pans,” mud geysers, and “paint-pots,” in +which paste of various colors is boiling and blubbering. A bench has +been placed beside one geyser which every seven minutes sends up a +mass of liquid mud, splashing and spluttering, and darting out arms in +every direction, like a hideous polyp, until the frenzy has reached +its climax and forced some of the mud over the border; whereupon the +agitation subsides as gradually as it came on, and the liquid mass +disappears down a fathomless hole, where it compresses the steam until +it has gained sufficient volume to drive the nasty intruder once more +out of its hole. + +While I was watching this ludicrous spectacle, some of the workmen who +were building the new hotel passed by and invited me to follow them and +see the “Monarch” geyser spout. We occupied a place on the hill-side +where there was no danger that the wind would drive the steam and hot +water into our faces, and waited. The liquid eruption was due at eight, +but the Monarch long refused to give us an audience. The workmen, +meanwhile, discussed the news of the day,—the accident to the lady, +already referred to, the moral character of the new dish-washer, and +the death of a popular saloon-keeper, “a splendid fellow, who never +refused a man a drink whether he had money or not.” The Monarch awaited +this opportunity to make the transition from the ridiculous to the +sublime, and, precisely at nine o’clock, with hardly any warning, he +shot up a hot stream into the air a hundred feet or more, and kept it +there for several minutes, the moon furnishing just enough light to see +the stream of water amid the steam. _Après nous le déluge_ appeared to +be his motto; for we found it difficult to reach the road again because +of the inundation he created during his brief activity. One of the +workmen told me he waited for the eruption every evening, and that he +had discovered some springs not known previously, including one sourer +than a lemon (probably sulphuric acid). The number of hot springs in +the Park seems, indeed, to be countless. Every day the tourist comes +across them repeatedly, often most unexpectedly, and it seems probable +that some of the greatest wonders of the Park remain to be discovered +on the forest-clad hill-sides. + +Among the most curious of the springs are the groups of little ones, +with openings no larger than peas, lining the banks of the brooks and +roadside, and so hot that one has to exercise caution in riding across +them. + +I should have stated that perhaps the prettiest sight on the road +from Mammoth Springs to Norris is the frequent patches of dense +grass, ordinarily of a pale yellowish green color, but if seen from +above, facing the sun, of the richest yellow, suggestive of lakes of +liquid gold. More beautiful still are the golden rivulets which form +the outlets of some of the hot springs in the Lower and Upper Geyser +Basins. As the “Fountain,” the principal geyser of the Lower Basin, +was at rest when I saw it, I devoted most of my time to admiring these +streamlets with their golden beds. All the gradations in color, from +red through blood-orange, and orange to pale yellow, are here to be +seen, the color fading out gradually with the distance from the spring. +Quite as beautiful as the colors themselves are the exquisite waving +golden lines and honey-comb figures which adorn the bottom of these +rills, the reflections of the wavelets and ripplets on the surface of +the water. In some places these dainty figures are replaced by rows +of silky yellow fibres gently undulating with the movement of the +water. The bottom of these rills is not hard, but consists of a soft +pulpy mass, in some places several inches deep. This is fortunate; for +otherwise some of those irrepressible idiots who write their names even +on the bottoms of the white basins into which the water flows from the +geyser craters would not hesitate to mar also the beauty of these fairy +brooks. + +The hero of Midway Geyser Basin is the “Excelsior,” which, however, +has been quiescent for several years. It forms an immense pool, +which, with some others and their overflow, converts the Basin into a +place of most dismal, forbidding aspect. It is close by the Firehole +River, which is lined by hot springs, one of which has the aspect of +a pigmy water-fall, the spray being represented by the steam. When +one considers the number of these mineral springs, and the fact that +the Excelsior has been known to vomit sufficient hot water to convert +the Firehole River, a hundred yards wide, into “a foaming torrent +of steaming hot water,” one wonders no longer that this river, like +several others in the Park, notwithstanding that its water is usually +cool, rapid, and clear as a crystal, is destitute of fish. Were it not +for this occasional excess of hot mineral water, there would be scores +of places where a tourist might go through the unique performance of +catching a trout, and boiling it in an adjacent spring, without moving +from his place. As it is, those who wish to try this curious experiment +have to do so at the Gardiner River or the Yellowstone Lake. + +Few of the unfortunate tourists who are hurried through the Park on the +Wakefield stages have an opportunity to see a geyser in activity till +they arrive at the Upper Geyser Basin. Here more than a dozen geysers +of the first magnitude are congregated; and although some are very +irregular, and others only play at long intervals, there are several +which every one who remains a few hours can see. A blackboard in the +hotel gives a list of the geysers and their intervals of performance, +and the hotel is so placed as to command a view of almost the whole +basin, so that, whenever one of the irregular geysers starts up, the +guests may be at once informed, and hasten to the scene. Fortunately, +one of the finest geysers in the basin is “Old Faithful,” only a +hundred yards from the hotel, and so-called because it spouts once in +sixty-five minutes, almost with the regularity of a clock. The “Grand,” +“Castle,” “Beehive,” and “Splendid” geysers are also certain to play +for the benefit of those who spend a day at the Upper Basin. But the +grandest of them all, the “Giant,” wakes up only once in a fortnight; +and unfortunately I arrived just eight hours too late to see it. But +there was no room for disappointment, as the other geysers afforded +more than enough excitement and wonder for a day. + +Even if these geysers were extinct, it would be worth a visit to this +Basin to see the fanciful, lofty craters built up by the calcareous +deposits of the hot springs. No two geysers appear to be quite alike +in their style of playing. Some have more steam mixed with their water +than others; some shoot up a constant stream; others, an intermittent +one, somewhat like the various forms of rockets. The stream of the +Castle looks almost like a water-fall flowing upwards and vanishing in +mid air; and the Splendid afforded the spectacle of two lovely rainbows. + +Besides these exciting geysers, which represent the sublime, the Upper +Geyser Basin has some of the loveliest pools or springs in the Park, +as representatives of pure, placid beauty. Chief among these are the +“Morning Glory” and the “Gem,”—pools of fathomless depth filled with +diamond of the purest water, lined inside with the richest, deepest +colors, and with a “horrid” black hole at the bottom, suggesting the +entrance to the nether regions. Into one of these pools a stupid boy +once threw a stick, and his poor dog jumped in after it and was boiled +to pulp in a few minutes. In another was found the bare skeleton of an +elk, possibly driven into it by pursuing wolves,—a fine subject for a +ballad. + +From the Upper Basin I might have gone straight to the Lake; but as +the road is a mere trail on which a horse cannot run, and the distance +is therefore too great to cover in one day, I returned to the Lower +Basin, whence it was only about thirty-five miles to the hotel camp +at the Lake. With many tourists it seems to be a moot point whether +it is worth while to visit the Lake; and as few used to go there, the +accommodations until recently were of a most primitive kind. There were +two men at the camp, and three tents—one for cooking, one for eating, +and one to sleep in. An Englishman and his wife were the only guests +besides myself. The lady naturally desired the sleeping-tent to be +made up into two separate rooms, and the “landlord” finally submitted +to the extra trouble this involved, though afterwards he was overheard +commenting to his assistant on “them fussy English.” When the English +lady got up in the morning to wash, she found the towel had already +been used by her husband and myself, so she asked for another. The +assistant replied he had already put out a fresh towel for that date, +but after a moment’s hesitation he decided to make an exception in her +favor, and produced a second. + +For the season of 1890, however, a new hotel was opened, and boats +placed on the Lake; and the tourist who omits it makes a great mistake. +Not only does it rank among the curiosities of the world, being the +only lake of its size at so great an altitude (7788 feet above the sea; +or, as the guide-book graphically puts it, if Mt. Washington could +be sunk in it with its base at sea-level, “its apex would be nearly +half a mile below the surface of the lake”); but its intrinsic beauty +would insure it renown at any altitude. Snow there was none on the +surrounding mountains when I saw them; but, like all mountains, they +gain immensely in picturesqueness and apparent loftiness by being seen +across a sheet of water. And a beautiful sheet of water the Lake is, +aside from its surroundings; but it is treacherous, and there is a +violent thunder or wind storm almost every morning at eleven. About six +o’clock in the morning I distinctly heard the mysterious rushing sounds +in the air referred to in the guide-book as unexplained. I suppose +they are due to the sound of the waters dashing against the beach and +borne on by the wind, gradually accumulating loudness. Or the sounds +may be due to the movements of the capricious and fitful wind among +the tree-tops. I repeatedly heard a gust of wind approaching in that +way with a magnificent _crescendo_ and climax which a modern orchestra +could hardly equal. + +Everybody knows that the Yellowstone Lake is as brimful of trout as +the Columbia River is of salmon. But a general notion prevails—even +among those who dwell in the Park—that they are all unfit to eat, being +infested by worms. This is an error. About half the trout are as sound +as any other fish, and can be readily distinguished from the diseased +ones. In the middle of the Lake it is said that all are sound,—a +statement for the truth of which I cannot vouch. Our Englishman caught +a dozen in the river just after it leaves the Lake. The cook assorted +them, threw away the bad ones, and fried the others, which proved to +be as good fish as I ever ate. The next day, on the way to the Falls, +I stopped for a short time to catch a few of the numerous two-pounders +that I saw swimming near the shore. Further down the Yellowstone the +trout are smaller and less abundant than near the Lake, so that there +is some sport in catching them; but where I stopped it was very much +like fishing in a reservoir filled with hungry hatched fish. All I had +to do was to select my fish, place the bait before his nose, and pull +him in. I took along half-a-dozen which I knew to be sound, but at the +Falls hotel I was informed that their French cook refused to touch the +Lake trout. As the hotel itself furnished trout for supper caught below +the Falls, where they are admitted to be sound, I did not argue the +point with the cook, who was busy providing for an excursion party of +fifty. + +If the Yellowstone region contained nothing but the two falls at this +place, and the Grand Cañon, it would have been worth while to reserve +it as a National Park for all time. The two falls, though only half +a mile apart, are utterly different in character; as the smaller, +upper one plunges into a quiet, small basin in a secluded idyllic +retreat, while the lower plunges three hundred and fifty feet down an +abyss which is formed by the stupendous walls of the Grand Cañon, of +which several miles lie before the eyes of the dazed spectator. The +best place to enjoy the grandeur of the Falls and the Cañon is not at +Lookout Point, as is generally believed, but at the edge of the Falls. +Seen from a distance above, these Falls present a unique sight. The +water flows on like any other rapid current until suddenly it appears +to vanish in the air. On approaching the edge of the Falls, this +illusion resolves itself into a scene which Niagara can hardly equal. +As the water plunges into the pool below, it is dissolved into clouds +of vapor that put to shame the steam columns of the biggest geysers. +The breakers which wildly dash against the sides of the pool indicate +the turbulence of the water beneath this spray and foam. Some of the +spray is carried by the wind to the abrupt walls of the Cañon, where it +nourishes mosses and lichens, which add one more color to the numerous +tints that adorn these rocks. These tints bewilder by their variety +and richness. The same strong mineral waters that have painted such +exquisite brook-bottoms in the Geyser Basins here undertook a kind of +fresco-painting on a scale of the most sublime grandeur. + +Near the summits of some of the rocks may be seen some curious caves. +Other rocks terminate in turrets and pinnacles suggesting mediæval +architecture; and some of the rocky walls are adorned with a mosaic of +brown, red, yellow, and white, as elaborate as the floor of St. Mark’s +in Venice. Some of the turrets, when you climb up to them, appear so +woefully weather-beaten that it looks as if you could kick them over; +but you cannot. The torrent, at a dizzy depth below, in which the green +water struggles wildly for supremacy with the white foam, enlivens +the scene; and in one place a turn of the river-bed, near a streak of +painted rock, gives the impression of two water-falls side by side, one +green, the other red; one in motion, the other frozen. + +From the Grand Cañon the coupon tourists return to the Mammoth Springs +and Livingston, while those who travel independently can enjoy the ride +over Mt. Washburn, with its extended views of the Rocky Mountains, +its fertile sides fairly crammed with flowers of the richest colors +and strangest varieties, and its solitary trail through the depths +of a primeval forest, frequently blocked by fallen trees, on which +one may not meet a human being in eight hours, nor hear any sound +but the melancholy moan of a poor tree against which a dead trunk +has fallen, and is wounding it with every movement of the wind. The +dismal delight of this ride is as indescribable as the exciting sport +of trouting that may be enjoyed at Yancey’s, whence it is but a short +distance back to our starting-point, the Mammoth Springs Hotel. + +[Illustration: FALLS OF THE YELLOWSTONE.] + +After spending a week in the National Park on horseback, I came to the +conclusion that what the Park chiefly needs now is a railroad,—not +a steam railway, which would frighten the game and set fire to the +forests, but an electric railroad. Great as are the wonders of the +Yellowstone Park, the intervening distances are so great and the +scenery often so commonplace, that nothing would be lost, and very much +gained, by having an electric road. Dust and fatigue could be thus +avoided, and more time devoted to the wonders of the Park in three days +than at present in a week. + + + + + XVIII. + + THE GRAND CAÑON OF THE COLORADO. + + FROM LOS ANGELES TO PEACH SPRING—DESERT WIND—AN ARIZONA + VILLAGE—INDIANS—DESCENSUS AVERNO—EXTRAORDINARY MOUNTAIN + ARCHITECTURE—SILENCE AND DESOLATION—A BEWITCHED CREEK—UP THE + DIAMOND CAÑON—THE GRAND CAÑON AND THE RIVER—NEW MEXICO AND KANSAS. + + +It is unfortunate for travellers that the masterpieces of American +scenery are not all grouped along one or two of the transcontinental +railways. As it is, each line has its own lions, and to see them all +one has to cross the continent more than once. Some of the principal +features of the Canadian Pacific, Northern Pacific, Union Pacific, and +Southern Pacific railways have been commented upon in preceding pages, +and it remains to notice the lion of the Atlantic and Pacific or Santa +Fé route, which is nothing less than the Grand Cañon of the Colorado +River, which Captain Dutton considers “the sublimest thing on earth.” +It is one of the sublimest things on earth, beyond a doubt; yet how +many readers of this book, all of whom are of course highly educated +persons, are able to tell, without consulting their geography, where +the Grand Cañon of the Colorado is? In Colorado, of course, nine out of +ten will say. But Colorado has only the honor of giving birth to the +smaller rivers which unite to form the mighty Colorado, and which are +fed by the snow of the Rocky Mountains. As Major Powell graphically +puts it: “When the summer sun comes, this snow melts, and tumbles +down the mountain sides in millions of cascades. Ten million cascade +brooks unite to form ten thousand torrent creeks; ten thousand torrent +creeks unite to form a hundred rivers beset with cataracts; a hundred +roaring rivers unite to form the Colorado, which rolls, a mad, turbid +stream, into the Gulf of California,” about two thousand miles from its +sources. Only about six hundred miles of the lower part of the river +are navigable, on account of the earth fissures, or cañons, through +which it has eaten its way for five hundred miles. Some of these cañons +are in Utah, but the two largest and most famous—the Marble and the +Grand—are in Arizona. The longest of the cañons is two hundred and +seventeen and one-half miles long, and is separated from another one of +sixty-five and one-half miles only by a narrow valley. + +Lieutenant Ives says of the Grand Cañon region: “The extent and +magnitude of the system of cañons in that direction is astounding. The +plateau is cut into shreds by these gigantic chasms, and resembles a +vast ruin. Belts of country, miles in width, have been swept away, +leaving only isolated mountains standing in the gap; fissures, so +profound that the naked eye cannot penetrate their depths, are +separated by walls whose thickness one can almost span, and slender +spires that seem tottering upon their base shoot up a thousand feet +from vaults below.” Or, as Major Powell puts it, the tributary streams, +like the Colorado, “have cut gorges of their own; and they all have +wet-weather affluents, that run in deep cañons. It is a cañon land.” + +Previous to Major Powell’s bold expedition down this subterranean +river, about twenty years ago, it was practically a _terra_ (or rather +_aqua_) _incognita_. For a party of scientific men and artists to +venture in a few frail boats down this sun-forsaken river, shut in for +over five hundred miles by precipitous walls rising sometimes over +a mile and a half on both sides, not knowing how soon they would be +dashed to pieces on the rocks below a water-fall, or sucked into a +suffocating tunnel, or starved to death by losing their provisions, was +surely one of the most heroic deeds on record, comparable to Columbus’s +expedition on the unknown, illimitable ocean in search of a new world. +It was a Jules Verne novel realized; and I know of no romance more +fascinating in its narrative and more poetic in its descriptions of +scenery, than Major Powell’s account of this expedition, which is +unfortunately buried amidst the government reports of geological +surveys. At least four hundred rapids, eddies, whirlpools, falls, and +cascades were encountered, and many were the hair-breadth escapes. They +were chilled at night, and in the daytime the thermometer sometimes +rose to 115°, in this river dungeon, amidst a forest-like gloom; but +still they had to go on, for return was impossible, as they knew very +well before they started. Sometimes the water hurried along their +boats with the speed of railroad trains. The rocks on both sides would +roll the water into the centre in great waves, and the boats would +go leaping and bounding over these “like black-tail deer jumping the +logs” which strew the forests. Indians have come to grief here. In the +onomatopoetic description given by one of them, “The rocks h-e-a-p +high; the water go h-oo-woogh, h-oo-woogh; water-pony [boat] h-e-a-p +buck; water catch ’em; no see.” + +[Illustration: THE GRAND CAÑON OF THE COLORADO.] + +I cannot resist the temptation to quote two more brief passages from +Major Powell’s pages, describing portions of the Marble and Grand +Cañons. “The walls of the Cañon, twenty-five hundred feet high, are +of marble, of many beautiful colors, and often polished below by +the waves, or far up the sides, where showers have washed the sands +over the cliffs. At one place I have a walk, for more than a mile, +on a marble pavement, all polished and fretted with strange devices +and embossed in a thousand fantastic patterns. Through a cleft in +the wall the sun shines on this pavement, which gleams in iridescent +beauty.” “In other regions the rocks, when not covered with soil, or +more vigorous vegetation, are at least lichened, or stained, and the +rocks themselves are of sombre hue, but in this region they are naked, +and many of them brightly colored, as if painted by artist-gods; not +stained and daubed with inharmonious hues, but beautiful as flowers and +gorgeous as the clouds. Such are the walls of the Grand Cañon of the +Colorado where it divides the twin plateaus.” + +No one can read even these few extracts without feeling convinced of +the truth of Captain Dutton’s remark that the Colorado Cañon is “a +great innovation in modern ideas of scenery, and in our conception of +the grandeur, beauty, and power of nature”; and without wishing to see +a portion at least of this Cañon. The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad +is at present the only one which brings tourists into its vicinity; +and the station to get off at is Peach Spring, about eighteen hours’ +ride from Los Angeles, and situated twenty-three miles south of the +Grand Cañon. The region between Los Angeles and Peach Spring presents +many attractive features. First comes the city of Pasadena, with its +large hotel, charmingly situated near the foot of the mountains, the +sides of which present a peculiar wavy appearance. In some places they +are curiously furrowed and crevassed, as if the very mountains had +split themselves up into town lots during “boom” times. The surface +is bare in the autumn except for a few trees near the rocky summits; +but in spring the lower slopes are covered by millions of fragrant +flowers, springing as by magic from the dust. Other picturesquely +situated villages follow, some of which are destined no doubt to become +flourishing towns. At present they are a curious compound of unfinished +buildings, tents, and Mexican mud or adobe houses. + +As the train proceeds in a northeastern direction, towards Barstow, +the region of alternative ocean and mountain breezes is gradually left +behind, and an arid desert of cactus, sand, and rocks is traversed. The +sun’s rays, no longer tempered by the ocean and mountain refrigerators, +have it all their own way, and the wind is powerless in their clutches. +For although a strong breeze is blowing, it feels like a blast from +a hot furnace, so that one hesitates whether to keep the car windows +open and desiccate, or closed and suffocate. Peach Spring I found to +be an Arizona village consisting of five saloons, six dwelling-houses, +a “stage” office, and an Indian camp in the background. It is so +called, apparently, because no _peach_ grows within a hundred miles, +and because the only _spring_ in the neighborhood is four miles from +the depot, whence the water is pumped to the station with an engine +fed with coal that is brought there from the station. Mr. Farlee, the +man who has this coal contract, also undertakes to convey tourists to +the Grand Cañon. He is an intelligent man, whose enterprise has built +a fair road, twenty-three miles in length, generally along or in a +dry river-bed, which, after every freshet, calls for extra labor in +clearing away the rocks wildly strewn about by the strong current. As +there is no possibility of missing this road, I secured a pony of Mr. +Farlee, and started alone for the Cañon; and on the whole way I saw +no soul except an Indian, who rather suspiciously went behind a tree +near the road as I approached. Being weaponless, I met any possible +scalp-hunting propensities on his part by a cordial “Good morning,” +which he as cordially echoed. The Indians of this neighborhood are +lazy, and, with few exceptions, refuse to do any work even for good +pay. Their filthiness, also, is great; and no wonder, considering that +the nearest spring is four miles away and monopolized by the railroad +company. + +A mile or two beyond this spring is another one, where the horse may be +watered. During the remaining eighteen miles there is only one spring, +and if the traveller misses that, he has to suffer agonies of thirst, +unless he has wisely provided himself with a flask of tea or lemonade. +The brisk, hot breeze which sometimes blows only aids the physiological +desiccating process, and the result is a temporary dipsomania, in +the frenzy of which one would gladly give a gold coin for a glass of +lemonade. Nothing but forbidding cactus and a few similar tough and +spiny plants can resist this heat; hence the whole region seems barren, +and the few animals one may chance to see—a hawk, butterfly, rabbit, or +catamount—but add to the desolation of the scene. There is not a sound +in the air, and the silence is as absolute as on an Alpine snowfield, +or in mid-ocean during a calm. The slightest sound made in urging on +the weary horse is echoed by the hill-sides though they are several +miles away. + +The mountain scenery is unique and grand, and becomes more so the +nearer we approach the Grand Cañon. For the road is a regular +_descensus Averno_, taking us deeper and deeper down between the +mountain walls; and when we reach the end of it we are almost a mile +nearer the sea-level than we were at Peach Spring. + +At a spot about a mile from the river Mr. Farlee intends to erect a +large hotel. Sandstone, granite, and other fine building-material +lie about in profusion, and only need to be hewn and piled up +architecturally. At present there is nothing but a very primitive +hut, with accommodations for about a dozen persons. The inn is run by +one man, whose special duty it also is to keep his end of the road in +order; and a lonely life he must lead in this solitary hut, twenty +miles from any other human habitation. When there are no guests to take +care of, he fills his canteen with water and starts up the valley, to +roll the stones out of the road. In the evening he wraps himself in +his blanket and goes to sleep, with the starry firmament for a roof, +regardless of possible disagreeable neighbors, such as centipedes or +rattlesnakes. He says he sleeps in the open air two-thirds of the time, +and has not been ill for thirty-five years. Yet the heat in this part +of the Cañon (which is so deep that stars are often visible in the +daytime, and at night I saw a million more stars than ever before) must +be a terrible strain on his system, as it sometimes rises to 120° in +the shade, with not a breath of air. + +I shall never forgive this man, or his employer, for having nothing +sour in the house except a spoonful of very bad vinegar—no pickles, +lemons, or even a grain of lemon sugar, which, by the way, every +traveller in hot regions should always carry with him. So I had to +content myself, on arrival, with tea and water. The water is good, +although superstitious people might hesitate to drink it, as it +comes from a brook—Diamond Creek—which seems to be bewitched. Just +in front of the hotel a portion of this creek, about half a mile in +length, disappears every day towards noon, although above and below +this place it flows on merrily and abundantly. About ten o’clock at +night the water suddenly returns to the deserted portion of its bed. +Mr. Farlee has repeatedly dug down many feet to find the subterranean +brook-bed, but in vain. It almost seems as if the water, after leaving +the cool and deep Diamond Cañon, were afraid of being absorbed by the +superheated air in the open space in which the hotel is situated, and +therefore concealed itself underground. + +I still felt so desiccated, after my four cups of tea and about ten +glasses of lukewarm water, that I made the man in charge of the +hotel promise to wake me at 10 P.M., as soon as the mysterious creek +commenced to run again. He did so, depositing a bucket of the water +at my bed, and it was delightfully cool and refreshing. A breeze had +sprung up, and the night air was tolerably cool; but the man slept out +of doors all the same. + +Possibly there may be a poetic Indian legend accounting in some such +manner for the fact that even the broad Colorado River has in this +region dug its way into the bowels of the earth so deeply that it now +runs more than a mile below the summit of its precipitous banks. Yet, +after all, there lies more poetry and sublimity in the scientific +account of the manner in which the soft water has, by infinitesimal +degrees, worn its channel through these hard rocks, and even through +the lava, with which Major Powell thinks this river-bed has been filled +more than once: “What a conflict of water and fire there must have been +here! Just imagine a river of molten rock running down into a river of +melted snow. What a seething and boiling of the waters; what clouds of +steam rolled into the heavens!” But it must be frankly admitted that +those who visit the Grand Cañon, with anticipations at fever heat from +reading Powell’s exciting and poetic description of his adventurous +trip down the Colorado, will be somewhat disappointed at first sight +of this river. It is about a mile from Farlee’s inn, and is reached by +following Diamond Creek, which empties into it. On comparing the mud +color of the Colorado with the crystalline purity of this creek, one +realizes to what the latter might owe its name.[2] Rapid the Colorado +is, and broad, and its walls do rise to the height of a mile, but they +slope and recede towards the background, and in vain does the tourist +look for the “granite prison walls” rising abruptly from the edge of +the water, and almost meeting above so as to shut out the daylight, +their sides adorned with floating clouds and with the water-falls and +cascades of tributary streams. + +[2] It is said, however, that the creek owes its name to the fact that +diamonds were once “planted” here, to deceive investors. + +Yet in truth it is foolish to look for all these things here—to expect +that all the wonders of Mr. Powell’s long and perilous tour should be +concentrated in one place for the convenience of tourists. The fact is, +that the most sublime portions of the Cañon are at present inaccessible +except to those who are willing to undergo the same dangers and +hardships as Major Powell. One can readily believe the legends of +parched travellers wandering along the brink of this Cañon for days, +and “perishing with thirst at last, in sight of the river which was +roaring its mockery into dying ears.” Powell himself once spent four +days wandering along the river, trying to get down. Diamond Creek +seems to afford the only entrance to the Grand Cañon. The Atlantic +and Pacific Railroad entertains a project of building an eighty-mile +branch road from Flagstaff to the Cañon. Such a road would offer many +attractions, as it would pass by some of the ancient cliff dwellings +and the snow-capped San Francisco Mountains. It would, however, arrive +at the top instead of at the bottom of the Cañon, which would thus +lose some of its cathedral grandeur. Possibly the tourists might be +let down to the river by means of a miner’s shaft, in which case a +ride of a few miles down the river on a boat (or “water-pony,” as the +Indians call it) should be added to the programme. But this would be +at the Marble Cañon. For the Grand Cañon, Peach Spring will probably +remain the stopping station; and for their partial disappointment in +the Grand Cañon itself, tourists will be amply repaid by a visit to +the Diamond Cañon, which is reached by going up Diamond Creek, a few +miles from Mr. Farlee’s inn. Here they will find what they longed to +see,—perpendicular, awe-inspiring walls, not, indeed, a mile, but +more than half a mile, in height (twenty-seven hundred feet), topped +with fanciful pinnacles and domes, and producing a feeling of gloomy +sublimity as refreshing to the soul as the coolness of this granite +prison is to the body. + +Diamond Cañon and the Grand Cañon may be visited on the day of arrival +at Farlee’s inn. Leaving the afternoon of the second day for the +return to Peach Spring, no visitor should fail to ascend Prospect +Point, which forms one of the banks of the river, in the morning. +It is an hour’s hard climb from the inn, but it repays the toil a +hundred-fold. From the summit one obtains several picturesque glimpses +of the yellow Colorado, afar down, where it seems a mere brook; and of +course the surrounding mountains do not appear in their true size and +grandeur until one sees them from this elevated point of view. These +mountains all have a curious family likeness. Their basis is always +formed by a striated, vertical layer, reddish or brown; then follows a +story or layer which slopes like a roof, suggesting human architectural +efforts, but on a scale of infinite grandeur; and above this are +several more distinct strata towering straight into the skies. It is +the constant sight of these superb and unique mountains, on the way +from Peach Spring, that partly prevents tourists from being as deeply +impressed as they would otherwise be at first sight of the Grand Cañon. +“They get their belly full before they reach the river,” as Mr. Farlee +forcibly remarked. + +After leaving Peach Spring, east-bound tourists may, if they have +time, stop over at several places of interest which will claim a day +each,—cliff dwellings, San Francisco Mountains, Pueblo villages, Santa +Fé, etc. If they lack time, the car window still affords many pleasant +sights which charm, even after the Grand Cañon, including the Cañon +Diablo, two hundred and twenty-two feet deep, which the train bridges +in the midst of a plain. Beyond Albuquerque the evidence multiplies +that water is more abundant, and New Mexico has many picturesque and +healthful spots, with wooded hills and green meadows, which only +await the arrival of pioneers to be soon converted into populous and +flourishing districts. Small pine forests make their appearance, and +one readily understands why they are locally known as “parks,” so clear +are they of all underbrush and rubbish. In Kansas, bits of local color +present themselves in the shape of immense herds of cattle, the three +guardian angels of one of which (alias cowboys) race with the train +quite successfully for a short distance. But while all these incidents +and scenes are apt to be soon forgotten, the Grand Cañon remains +stereotyped in the memory, where fresh copies can always be produced +at will. “Great as is the fame of the Grand Cañon of the Colorado, the +half remains to be told,” as Captain Dutton remarks in his “Tertiary +History of the Grand Cañon,” the eighth chapter of which, “The Panorama +from Point Sublime,” is one of the most valuable essays on natural +æsthetics ever written, and should be read by all who make the Great +American Scenic Tour. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Abalone shells, 69. + + Alaska, 231–247. + + Anaheim, 36. + + Astoria, 187. + + Avalon, 69. + + + Banff, 267. + + Berkeley, 123. + + Berries, Oregon, 179. + + Big Trees, 102. + + + Cable-cars, 108, 111. + + Cactus, 37. + + California, Preface, 1–154. + + Camping, 31. + + Canadian National Park, 268–276. + + Canadian Pacific Railroad, 248–261. + + Carson City, 142. + + Cascade Range, 184. + + Catalina Island, 45, 58–74. + + Cattle-raising, 20. + + Chinese in California, 80, 112–120; + in Oregon, 166–171, 186. + + Chula Vista, 52. + + Clatsop, 176. + + Climate, in Southern California, Preface, 7, 25–31, 34, 49, 60, 78; + in San Francisco, 123, 127; + in Oregon, 161; + in Washington, 230. + + Coal, in Washington, 221. + + Columbia River, 182–202, 258, 266. + + Coronado, 49. + + Crater Lake, 156. + + + Dalles, the, 201. + + Desert, 3, 80. + + Devil’s Head Lake, 271. + + Diamond Creek, 303. + + Donner Lake, 128. + + + El Paso, 3. + + Elsinore Lake, 47. + + Eucalyptus, 9. + + + Farming, 19. + + Ferns, 173, 178. + + Fir-trees, 181, 237. + + Fishing, Catalina Island, 71; + Tahoe Lake, 137; + Columbia River, salmon, 186; + Devil’s Head Lake, 272; + Yellowstone, 290. + + Flowers, in California, 26, 48, 69, 78, 83, 106; + in Oregon, 179. + + Foothills, 21. + + Forest colors, 266; + fires, 219, 248. + + Frazer River, 235. + + Fruit, Southern California, 10; + Oregon, 160, 180. + + Fullerton, 6. + + + Glacier Bay, 246; + Glacier House, 259. + + Goats, wild, 67. + + Grand Cañon, Colorado, 295–305; + Yellowstone, 291. + + Grapes, 12. + + + Hood, Mt., 163, 184, 190, 200, 204–206. + + Humming-birds, 64. + + + Ilwaco, 173. + + Indians, Alaskan, 241; + relics, Catalina Islands, 69; + camp at Sisson’s, 153. + + Irrigation, 22–25. + + + Japan Current, 61. + + Japanese and Indians, 243. + + Juneau, 241. + + + Klamath Lake, 156. + + + Laguna, 47. + + Limes _versus_ Lemons, 54. + + Livingston, 279. + + Los Angeles, 2, 4–14, 16, 18. + + Lumber in Washington, 220. + + + Mariposa Grove, 102. + + Mariposa lily, 69. + + Mexican border, 49. + + Mexicans, 79. + + Minnewonka Lake, 271. + + Mojave Desert, 80. + + Mountain forests, 261. + + Muir Glacier, 245. + + Mustard fields, 55, 58. + + + National City, 51. + + Nevada, 140. + + New Orleans, 2. + + + Oakland, 123. + + Olympia, 225. + + Olympic mountains, 226. + + Opium dens, 116. + + Orange, 40. + + Oranges, 36–48. + + Oregon, Preface, 85, 155–206. + + Oregon mountains, 163. + + Oregon snow-peaks, 162, 184, 204–206, 230. + + Ostrich farm, 11. + + + Pacific Coast, mountainous character of, 108. + + Pampas plumes, 13. + + Pasadena, 279. + + Peach Spring, 298. + + Pelicans, 72. + + Pepper-trees, 9. + + Portland, 162–171, 184. + + Port Townsend, 230. + + Prohibition in California, 44. + + Puget Sound, 217–230. + + + Quail, 13, 64. + + + Rabbit-hunting, 37. + + Railroads, transcontinental, Preface, ix; + Southern Pacific, 1; + California Southern, 46; + California Central, 56; + Central Pacific, 127; + Oregon and California, 149; + Northern Pacific, 213, 218, 279; + Canadian Pacific, 248; + Atlantic and Pacific, 294. + + Rain, 155. + + Rainier, Mt., 210. + + Rattlesnakes, 65. + + Raymond, 81. + + Rivers, 155, 183. + + Riverside, 41. + + Rocky Mountains, 264. + + Rural cities of the future, 31. + + + St. Elias, Mt., 233. + + St. Helens, Mt., 207. + + Salem, Oregon, 165. + + Salmon-canneries, 186. + + Scenery, American, 205. + + Selkirk Mountains, 259. + + Shoalwater Bay, 173. + + Snow-peaks, in Oregon and Washington, 203–216. + + + Tacoma, 162, 218–223. + + Tacoma, Mt., 209–216, 223. + + Tahoe Lake, 129–140. + + Tia Juana, 52. + + Trees, Big, 102. + + Truckee, 128. + + + Vancouver, 249. + + Vegetables in California, 10. + + Victoria, 249. + + Vine disease, 12. + + Virginia City, 143. + + + Washington, 207–230. + + Washington snow-peaks, 162, 184, 204–216, 230. + + Water-falls, Yosemite, 89, 96, 98; + Columbia River, 194; + Yellowstone, 291. + + Wawona, 82, 102. + + Whitney, Mt., 150. + + Willamette River, 155, 164. + + Willamette Valley, 158. + + Windmills, 7. + + Wine, California, 12. + + Winnipeg, 279. + + Winter bathing in California, 60. + + + Yale, 254. + + Yellowstone Lake, 289. + + Yellowstone Park, 279–293. + + Yosemite Valley, 80–107. + + + Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston. + Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Boston. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE + +Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs +and outside quotations. + +The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page +references. + +Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected +after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and +consultation of external sources. + +Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added, when a +predominant preference was found in the original book. + +Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and +inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. + + Pg xv: ‘Fraser’ replaced with ‘Frazer’ + 8: ‘severals’ replaced with ‘several’ + 25: ‘Frenso’ replaced with ‘Fresno’ + 34: Added ‘a’ in ‘within a stone’s throw’ + 44: ‘household gods’ replaced with ‘household goods’ + 53: ‘statment’ replaced with ‘statement’ + 71: ‘rythmically’ replaced with ‘rhythmically’ + 90: ‘irridescent’ replaced with ‘iridescent’ + 110: ‘decending’ replaced with ‘descending’ + 120: ‘millionnaires’ replaced with ‘millionaires’ + 128: ‘precipitious’ replaced with ‘precipitous’ + 141: Removed duplicate ‘the’ in “post by the roadside.” + 155: ‘Umqua’ replaced with ‘Umpqua’ + 158: ‘southward’ replaced with ‘northward’ + 173: ‘venders’ replaced with ‘vendors’ + 200: ‘hunded’ replaced with ‘hundred’ + 202: ‘Pailroad’ replaced with ‘Railroad’ + 226: ‘suprises’ replaced with ‘surprises’ + 254: ‘FRASER’ replaced with ‘FRAZER’ + 304: ‘Sante’ replaced with ‘Santa’. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77884 *** |