1885.] ASPECTS OF OREGOX. 175 



ASPECTS OF OREGON. 



BY A lumberman's WIFE. 



THE north-west coast of America, like the western shores of 

 Scotland and Norway in the Old World, is penetrated by 

 innumerable lochs and fiords, which are on the same gigantic scale 

 as the lakes and rivers of this new continent. One of the most 

 majestic of these arms of the sea is the Puget Sound, which opens 

 from the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, and winds southwards through 

 Washington Territory for nearly a hundred miles, and which has 

 minor arms, bays, and inlets of its own, branching off and running 

 up into the land in all directions. This immense volume of water 

 rolls majestically between sombre, thickly-wooded banks, where, for 

 miles and miles, there is not the slightest sign of human life. Here 

 and there the snow-covered summits of the Cascade Mountains rear 

 their heads above the dark forest slopes. Promontory succeeds 

 promontory, and there is no break or clearing in the masses of firs 

 and pines, except, perhaps, where a sawmill has been erected near 

 to the water's edge. From Port Townsend at the entrance, to 

 Tacoma at the head of the Sound, the solitude is broken only by the 

 busy little town of Seeattle. The contrast is great between the 

 steep streets stretcliing away up to the hill-top, the modern buildings, 

 and handsome residences that cover the ascending slojDes and crown 

 the heights above, and the great " forest primeval" that surrounds 

 and encloses the town on all sides. That the town site has only 

 recently been wrested from the forest, is evident from the stumps of 

 trees that have been left standing on every vacant lot. Seeattle has 

 a line of railway connecting it with coal mines in the neighbouring 

 mountains, and the mail steamers running between Victoria and 

 Tacoma at the head of the Sound give the means of communication 

 with the world beyond. 



The eastern mails to and from British Columbia are at present 

 carried over the I^orthern Pacific Eailway by Portland, Tacoma, and 

 Puget Sound, and there is consequently almost daily communication 

 between Victoria and Portland. The journey from the one place 

 to the other occupies a day and a half, and is performed in the 

 leisurely manner dear to all Victorians. We do nothing in a hurry. 



Port Townsend is about thirty years old. It is a busy little place, 

 with a population of 1500. The business part of the town has been 

 built round the bay, but the dwelling-houses have spread themselves 

 over the slope of the hill behind, which rises to a height of 80 

 or 100 feet. At all ports along these North American coasts it is 



