FISHERIES OF WASHINGTON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 255 



by tall mountain ranges and occasional isolated peaks, all of which 

 combine to produce a region of exceeding picturesqueness. The more 

 open areas are the Gulf of Georgia and the waters at the inner end of 

 the Strait of Fuca. The greater part of Puget Sound is divided into 

 long, more or less winding passageways and inlets of medium to very 

 narrow width, which, especially in its southern part, ramify in all 

 directions. 



The depth of water exceeds 200 fathoms in a few places, is above 100 

 fathoms over a wide extent, and seldom falls below 30 or 40 fathoms. 

 This deep water is not alone characteristic of the open areas, but 

 extends through the various channels at the south and reaches close 

 upon the shores. In fact, there is practically no shallow water any- 

 where, except upon the few shoals and submerged rocks and upon the 

 banks formed about the mouths of rivers by the sediment brought down 

 at flood time. Its temperature seems never to reach 60° F., even in 

 the summer, except in some of the more sheltered bays, the records 

 showing mainly from 53° to 58°, and in the winter it is relatively high 

 as compared with similar latitudes on the Atlantic coast. Under these 

 conditions little is to be feared from local sources of pollution or other 

 generally harmful agencies, and the effects of its rivers, however 

 swollen and muddy during freshets, are for the most part quickly 

 dissipated. 



In its ruggedness, its depths, the temperature and purity of its 

 waters, this sea partakes of the characteristics of the adjacent ocean, 

 with which its strong tides maintain a constant interchange. It natu- 

 rally follows that its fishes are those of the outer coast, which find 

 here only somewhat greater shelter and perhaps a more convenient 

 source of food. To the local fishermen it gives many advantages, con- 

 venient grounds, nearby harbors and markets, and those opportunities 

 for fishing which belong especially with a broken sheet of water. 



The region, both from its resources and from its natural advantages, 

 is destined to have an important future. Its local products, which 

 have thus far been most developed in the line of the fisheries, are 

 sufficient to secure it great prominence, but its harbor facilities and 

 convenient i)osition with reference to Alaska and the Orient insure its 

 becoming one of the most important commercial districts on the Pacific 

 coast. The surrounding country is, in many sections, being rapidly 

 settled, and while much unwarranted booming has taken place, a num- 

 ber of towns and cities have been established under conditions which 

 make certain their future growth and prosperity. The most important 

 of these in Washington are Seattle and Tacoma, whose commercial 

 activity is already well marked. In British Columbia, Vancouver is 

 the point of transshipment between the Canadian trunk line and the 

 finest fleet of Pacific steamships; New Westminster, on the Fraser, is 

 the headquarters of the salmon fisheries and canning, and Victoria is 

 the principal British seaport. The development of trade and of local 

 resources, not many years now past the stage of infancy, has been 



