tirniiii/ff ,i,ui Botany r .\ " 



tiiu-t layers, the pro.lii.-t> of dilTeivnt QVerflowi from tl 

 volcanic vents north ami south of it.. C : .p,. II, ,m. a bold 1 < 

 lain!, shows a vertical f'acr of trap n.-aily :.IHI f, et in height. 



N" one who examines the -or^e of the Coluiul.ia will fail to 

 be cotninccd that it ha> heeii cut by tin- riter, 'I he -. m-ral 

 altitude of the mountains, in winch there are no oil,, 



lower than ahout :>.< feet, as well as the altitude of tin- lake 



deposits on the eastern side, indicate that the work of cut 

 this channel began at a height of not less than 3,0<n fWt al 

 the sea. At this time the river must have had a fall of at least 

 this nnmher of feet into the valley of the Willamette, am: 

 must picture to ourselves a series of cascades of greater magni- 

 tude and more picturesque than any now known. This water- 

 power was, however, busily en <ra<:cd in cuttinir down the bar 

 and in process of time this was so completely ivmo\-.| that a 

 navigable canal was opened from the Dalles to the ocean. The 

 western entrance to the gorge is now at tide-level, and the 1. 

 part of the river is, like the Hudson, an arm of the ca I - 

 true that at present the "Cascades of the Columbia" form 

 rions interruption to the navigation of the river, for the\ 

 produced by a dam 63 feet high, which tills the channel for three 

 miles. Hut this dam. as we know, is of recent date, and has 

 been caused by an avalanche from the sides of the gorge. Above 

 it. the river is simply a long lake, and in low water a ttri 

 stumps and trunks can be seen coming up from below ti 

 le\el, which belonged to trees that could never ha\ LM-OWM in 

 the places they occupy, if the barrier of the Cascades had 

 ted. 



in boats na\ i irate tin- Columbia from the Pallo doun. with 

 a tran>fer at the Cascades; and this is much the better route to 

 take for those \\ho would get a good view of the gorge, with it- 

 imposing walls, its hanging forests and it> pictun-,,ue \\aterfall- 

 which leap l.non feet from t he cliffs, to say nothing of the old 

 Indian burial-grove, and the multitude of >ilicitied tree trunks at 

 ,1,,. i The railroad is built almii: the face of the south- 



ern clilT, hi-h above the water, ami although it gives only a one- 



,1 \ie\\ of the gorge, is generally chosen by travelers who 

 fer rapid transit to beauty of seen* 



