The Willamette Sound. 55 



sands and often presenting to the naturalist 

 objects of rare interest. An abrupt turn of 

 the road inland ends this finest of beach drives 

 at ten or twelve miles from the cape. A short 

 distance through woods of spruce and pine, 

 thickly undergrown with a rich variety of 

 flowering shrubs, and the road opens upon a 

 fine view of Shoalwater bay at the pleasant lit- 

 tle town of Oysterville. The general outline 

 of the bay is in sight from this point. The 

 bluffs that define its shores appear, seen north- 

 ward, fifteen or eighteen miles away, and in 

 the direction of its southern extension, ten 

 or twelve miles. At intervals along this whole 

 shore line, one can plainly discern what in the 

 distance appear as land slides, but on nearer 

 approach prove to be portions of the bluff 

 shore undermined by the storm-surf, and in 

 their present form showing fine sections of 

 the strata of which they are composed. On 

 examining these more closely one sees a bank, 

 not of common earth, but disposed in strati- 

 fied layers of sediment, once evidently con- 

 tinuous over the whole region and of nearly 



