THE FORESTS OF WASHINGTON 



Fire, then, is the great governing agent in 

 forest-distribution and to a great extent also 

 in the conditions of forest-growth. Where fer- 

 tile lands are very wet one half the year and 

 very dry the other, there can be no forests at 

 all. Where the ground is damp, with drouth 

 occurring only at intervals of centuries, fine 

 forests may be found, other conditions being 

 favorable. But it is only where fires never run 

 that truly ancient forests of pitchy coniferous 

 trees may exist. When the Washington for- 

 ests are seen from the deck of a ship out in the 

 middle of the Sound, or even from the top of 

 some high, commanding mountain, the woods 

 seem everywhere perfectly solid. And so in 

 fact they are in general found to be. The larg- 

 est openings are those of the lakes and prai- 

 ries, the smaller of beaver-meadows, bogs, and 

 the rivers; none of them large enough to make 

 a distinct mark in comprehensive views. 



Of the lakes there are said to be some thirty 

 in King's County alone; the largest, Lake 

 Washington, being twenty-six miles long and 

 four miles wide. Another, which enjoys the 

 duckish name of Lake Squak, is about ten 

 miles long. Both are pure and beautiful, ly- 

 ing imbedded in the green wilderness. The 

 rivers are numerous and are but little affected 

 by the weather, flowing with deep, steady 



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