SALMON. 67 
—all together make up a scene of beauty and 
rich luxuriance, unlike any other part of the 
river. 
From the Dalles to the Cascades the river has 
scarcely a perceptible current, either side being 
bounded by perpendicular walls of mountains. | 
Tradition says, that once the river had a uniformly 
swift course the entire way, and that where the 
Cascades now are, the water passed at that time 
under a huge arch that reached from side to 
side. Afterwards an earthquake tumbled it 
down, the ruins of the arch still existing as a 
chain of islands across the head of the rapids ; 
the river, having gradually carried away the 
fragments, forming now the long rapid. The 
river, thus suddenly thrown back, flooded the 
forests up to the Dalles, and to this day stumps 
of trees are to be seen sticking out of the water 
many hundred yards from the shore. 
Below the Cascades, before reaching the flat 
district about Fort Vancouver, the scenery is 
bold and massive; immense hills densely wooded, 
bold promontories, and grassy glades are passed 
successively as the steamer dashes on her down- 
ward trip. At the Cascades there is now a 
railway, over which goods and passengers are 
conveyed to the steamers above the rapids, which 
F 2 
