THE COLUMBIA BLACK-TAILED DEEE. 133 



Looking away to the north, my eyes fell on the glitter- 

 ing summits of Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, and the 

 Three Sisters. Between them and myself the mighty Cas- 

 cade Range stretched its timbered length. Some of the 

 mountains were clothed almost to their summits with a 

 majestic forest of fir. In some places this had been visited 

 by tire, wdiich some careless camper or settler hfld allowed 

 to sijread, and the weather-beaten, bat upright, trunks of 

 thousands of giant trees glistened in the sunlight like so 

 many needles. 



Far in the east, towering above the sage-brush plains of 

 Central Oregon, the hazy summits of a spur of the Blue 

 Mountains were seen; to the west, the eye overlooked the 

 beautiful and fertile valley of the Willamette; and turning 

 to the south, the vision rested on the spotless summits of 

 Diamond Peak, Mount Theilson, Mount Pitt, Mount Scott, 

 and last, but not least. Mount Shasta. Truly, this was a 

 sight long to be remembered; but the one in my immediate 

 neighborhood was hardly less beautiful. 



From my central position, I overlooked a number of 

 ridges running into each other, in some places slightly 

 covered with snow. These ridges consisted mainly of naked, 

 but not unpicturesque, rocks; but in some places these were 

 hid by a scrubby growth of firs. 



Looking down the southern slope of my ridge, I beheld 

 a siglit that, could it have been transferred to canvas, would 

 havf^ foi'ined a most beautiful picture. Here had been 

 deposih'iL considerable soil, which appeared to be of a red, 

 volcanic nature, but which was sufficiently rich for the sup- 

 port of a good deal of vegetation. On this ridge grew 

 thousands and thousands of rhododendrons, of three differ- 

 ent colors — red, white, and i^ink. Growing in the moister 

 spots were a species of wild pansy, two varieties of lilies, 

 and several otlier beautiful flowers, the names of wiiich I 

 am not familiar with. Huckleberry and oi lin- shrubs were 

 here to be found in great abundance. TJirushes, black- 

 caps, grossbeaks, chickadees, and other birds were flutter- 

 ing about among the shrubbery, and, strange as it may 



