260 GEOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
found to be considerably higher in altitude. It will not be necessary to give a more particular 
description of the other rivers flowing into the sound from the east. They are all of the same 
general character. In the spring the melting of the snows of the mountains causes them to be 
high, and the rains of the fall and winter cause them at times to be perfect torrents. They 
may be called ugly streams, all of them, and are a great obstruction to travelling in the 
country. They are all uniform, too, in the character of their valleys. This obtains with the 
Chehalis and Willopah and the Cowlitz, equally with the rivers of the sound. Their bottom 
growth is vine and curled maple, alder, and cedar. There are some small streams flowing into 
the sound from the west, which it is not necessary particularly to advert to in this connexion ; 
but a considerable stream flows into Hood’s Canal near its head—the Skokomish river. There 
is a large quantity of tide prairie near the mouth of this stream, and it has been selected as 
an Indian reserve, for it abounds in the food of which the Indians are fond. The Skokomish 
has its rise well to the north on the eastern slopes of the Coast range. It may be observed 
that the many inlets at the head of the sound furnish an inexhaustible supply of logs for the 
mills, and spars and piles for shipping. The scenery of a summer’s day on one of these inlets 
is lovely beyond description. It is constantly changing ; the high forest trees, under the 
soft, gentle skies of summer, mellow and transform the whole landscape, and the traveller 
passing from point to point is charmed by the endless succession of beautiful and ravishing 
scenes. There are on the sound many islands worthy of mention, the most important of which 
is Whidby’s island, which may be called the garden of the Territory. On this island is а con- 
siderable quantity of prairie land, which at an early day was taken up by the settlers. In the 
woods on its southern and northern extremities is found the white deer. They are taken in 
‘great numbers by the Indians, and their venison is a favorite and much used article of food. 
North of Whidby’s island are islands still more important, which are now in dispute between 
Great Britain and this country. By the treaty of 1846 it is provided that the boundary line 
should run on the 49th parallel to the centre of the channel between Vancouver’ з island and 
the main land ; and then going southward it should continue on the main channel, separating 
from the main the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific ocean. The British government 
claim that the true channel is the Rosario channel, which hugs the main land ; the American 
government claim that it is the Canal de Haro, which hugs Vancouver’s island. The islands 
intermediate, valuable for their rich arable lands, for their unsurpassed pasturage, and more 
especially valuable for their admirable harbors—key points in time of war, and therefore im- 
portant in a military point of view—are now in dispute between the two countries. They are 
referred to in this connexion as important points in the geography of this country. 
