STEEP TRAILS 



currents the year round. They are short, how- 

 ever, none of them drawdng their sources from 

 beyond the Cascade Range. Some are navi- 

 gable for small steamers on their lower coiu*ses, 

 but the openings they make in the woods are 

 very narrow, the tall trees on their banks lean- 

 ing over in some places, making fine shady 

 tunnels. 



The largest of the prairies that I have seen 

 lies to the south of Tacoma on the Une of the 

 Portland and Tacoma Railroad. The ground 

 is dry and gravelly, a deposit of water-washed 

 cobbles and pebbles derived from moraines — 

 conditions which readily explain the absence 

 of trees here and on other prairies adjacent 

 to Yelm. Berries grow in lavish abundance, 

 enough for man and beast with thousands of 

 tons to spare. The woods are full of them, 

 especially about the borders of the waters and 

 meadows where the sunshine may enter. No- 

 where in the north does Nature set a more 

 bountiful table. There are huckleberries of 

 many species, red, blue, and black, some of 

 them growing close to the ground, others on 

 bushes eight to ten feet high ; also salal berries, 

 growing on a low, weak-stenamed bush, a spe- 

 cies of gaultheria, seldom more than a foot 

 or two high. This has pale pea-green glossy 

 leaves two or three inches long and half an 



240 



