472 APPENDIX. 
height ot two hundred and fifty and even three hundred feet, 
with trunks from four to ten feet in diameter. Less striking 
and important are the western yew (taxus brevifolia), the 
western juniper (jeniperus occidentalis), the Oregon oak 
(quercus garreyana), the Oregon alder (alnus Oregona), 
and the Oregon ash (jfraxinus Oregona). The forests of 
Oregon are filled with 2 dense and tangled undergrowth, in 
which ferns and bushes bearing berries and thorns are nu- 
merous. The greater part of the level land of the Willa- 
mette Valley and part of the Umpqua and Rogue River 
Valleys are prairie land; that is, they are not covered with 
trees. East of the Cascades the vegetation is not only far 
more scanty, but it is entirely different in character. The 
trees are scattered, stunted, and twisted, the grass is thin, 
and almost the uly bush is the wild sage or arteméisia, one 
of the most cheerless and worthless of all plants.—The prin- 
cipal indigenous quadrupeds of Oregon are the grizzly bear, 
black bear, American panther ( ilies concolor), the wild cat, 
the gray wolf, the coyoto (canis latrans), the mountain sheep, 
the elk, the black-tailed deer, and the antelope. The most 
prominent birds are the California vulture (cathartes Cualiforni- 
anus), the turkey-buzzard, the golden eagle, the bald eagle, the 
fish-hawk, the trumpeter swan (cygnus buccinator), the Ameri- 
can swan, the Canada goose, the snow goose, the brant, four 
species of albatross, three of pellicans, and seven of gulls. Ofrep- 
tiles there are none deserving special mention, save the rattle- 
snake, which is not abundant. Therivers of Oregon abound in 
salmon at the proper seasons; there are about a dozen different 
varieties, and all of them, when they first enter the fresh water 
from the ocean, are delicious. Most of the animals and vegetables 
found in Oregon are indigenous to that coast, and are not found 
elsewhere. This remark extends to the fish and the birds as 
well as to the quadrupeds and the trees.—The most remarka- 
ble natural curiosities of Oregon are the rapids of the Colum- 
bia River at the Cascades and the Dalles, the falls of the Wil- 
lametie at Oregon City, the high snow peaks of the Cascade 
