bordering the Northern Pacific Railroad. 345 



finer materials have been mostly washed away, and the stony 

 surface has little agricultural value. Fortunately it is well 

 adapted to the growth of trees, and the splendid forest which 

 covers it is perhaps an equivalent for all it has lost. The facts 

 here given show why the cultivation of the soil in Washington 

 Territory is limited to the narrow belt of modern alluvium along 

 the streams, and indicate that coal mining, the fisheries and the 

 lumber industry must be in the future as they now are, the 

 most important sources of wealth. 



MODERN GLACIERS OF THE SIERRA. 



From the Willamette Valley and Puget's Sound grand views 

 are obtained of the great snow peaks of the Cascade Mountains ; 

 the Three Sisters, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. 

 St. Helens, Mt. Tacoma and Mt. Baker. Of these, Mt. Hood has 

 an altitude of 11,225 feet, Mt. Adams 12,250, and Mt. Tacoma 

 14,400. In Colorado and California there are a number of 

 summits of equal absolute altitude, but they have nothing 

 like the relief above their surroundings that these have; carry 

 far less perpetual snow, and in every way are less impressive. 

 In Washington Territory the line of perpetual snow on the 

 west side of the mountains is about 6500 feet ; on the east side, 

 several hundred feet higher. Mt. Tacoma carries therefore 

 about 8000 feet of snow. Below this it is covered with a dense 

 forest. As none of its foothills rise to the height of 2000 feet 

 above the sea and are invisible at a distance, from many places 

 about the Sound practically the whole of the mountain is seen 

 at one view ; a gigantic cone, 14,000 feet in height, apparently 

 rising directly from the sea level. Mt. Shasta has the same 

 altitude, and as seen from Scott's valley is wonderfully impres- 

 sive, but it is situated farther inland and farther south, its base 

 is higher and it has less snow, and is therefore somewhat less 

 imposing. It is not too much to say then, that no other moun- 

 tain on this continent and none in Europe rivals Mt. Tacoma 

 in grandeur and beauty, and it is doubtful whether in the 

 world there is any that produces a profounder impression 

 upon the beholder. Mt. Hood, as seen under favorable circum- 

 stances from Fort Yancouver, especially when reflected from 

 the lake-like surface of the Columbia, is as beautiful but far 

 less grand. 



Though appearing in the distance so smooth and symmetrical, 

 Mt. Tacoma has been found to be a ragged and compound mass 

 consisting of three conspicuous summits and many subordinate 

 peaks, with precipices 2000 to 3000 feet in height and deep 

 gorges which make the ascent difficult and even dangerous. 



Am. Jour. Sci.— Third Series, Vol. XXX. No. 179. — Nov., 1885. 

 22 



