APPENDIX. 487 
ington is west of the Cagcaderange, although that district repre- 
sents only about one eighth of the area of the Territory. The 
soil east of the Cascade is thin, sterile, stony, and dry; and its 
unfitness for cultivation is shown by the scantiness and low 
character of the vegetation. Deciduous trees, especially such 
as delight in a rich soil, and luxuriant shrubbery, are seen in bu. 
few places; and there are districts where the traveller may go 
hundreds of miles without seeing a tree save stunted pines, or 
a bush save the desert-loving wild-sage. This is the general 
character of the eastern part of the Territory, but there are 
exceptional spots. Walla Walla Valley has a rich soil; Mill 
Creek Valley, near Fort Colville, yields good crops; and in 
the basins of the Clearwater and Salmon Rivers there are 
fertile tracts, that will at no distant day be subjected to the 
plough. The soil about Puget Sound is mostly fertile, iz 
some places very rich, in others sandy and gravelly. The 
vicinity of Seattle is said to have the best soil, that of Steila- 
coom the most gravelly. The greater part of the westeru 
district is covered with dense evergreen forests, which require 
vast labor in clearing. Near Olympia are found deep beds of 
muck made by the decomposition of vegetable matter, valu- 
able for manure.— West of the Cascade Mountains the tertiary 
sandstone prevails. About Puget Sound it is covered by 2 
very deep deposit of alluvium, in some places one hundred feet 
deep. Lignite or tertiary coal is found in many places ; at Bel- 
lingham Bay there is a mine which supplies large quantities of 
it tocommerce. In the Olympian, Cascade, and Rocky Moun- 
tains, granite is the predominant rock. Near Mount Adams 
there is a large field of lava. East of the Cascade Mountains 
the rocks are chiefly igneous and metamorphic. Trap is very 
abundant, and in many places there are wide plains covered 
with volcanic scoriz. Small specimens of placer-gold have 
been found in various little streams flowing from the Olympian 
mountains and in the Skaget River; and rich diggings have 
been found on the banks and bars of the Wenatchee, Yakima, 
Okinagan, Columbia, Clark, Salmon, and Clearwater Rivers, 
