162 MAGNIFICENT SCENERY. 
on a desert, surrounded by thirst-famished In- 
dians, and each arm a handle, they could not 
have been more vigorously plied. Being rescued 
at last by the combined efforts of trader and 
captain, I was marched into the fort, the gates 
shut with a heavy clang, and most thankful was 
I to be safe from any further demonstrations of 
friendship. The evening passed rapidly and 
pleasantly ; mine host was a thorough sportsman, 
full of anecdote, and hospitable to a fault. 
Awaking early, I wandered out, and up into 
the bastion of the fort. The sun was creeping 
from behind the ragged peaks of the Cascade 
Mountains, tinting with rosy light their snow- 
clad.summits ; the wind had lulled, or gone off 
to sea on some boisterous errand; the harbour, 
quite smooth, looked like burnished silver. 
There was a wild grandeur about the scene, that 
awoke feelings of awe rather than admiration ; 
everywhere vast piles of craggy mountains, clad 
from the snow-line to the sea with dense pine- 
forests; not an open grassy spot, or even a naked 
mass of rock, peeped out to break the fearful 
monotony of these interminable hills. 
The trading-post is a square, enclosed by im- 
mense trees, one end sunk in the ground; the 
trees are lashed together. A platform, about the 
