VACATION NOTES. 
II. Tue Nortuern Paciric Coast. 
DOUGLAS HOUGHTON CAMPBELL. 
THE traveler journeying by rail from northern California 
into Oregon soon finds himself in a very different country 
from that which he has left to the south. On emerging from 
the densely wooded canyon of the upper Sacraniento, the rail- 
road climbs up to a nearly level plateau; from which rises the 
great cone of Shasta. The plain is almost destitute of trees, 
and presents much the appearance of the prairies east of the 
Rockies. The slopes of the mountains are well wooded, and 
the deep valleys between the ridges support a heavy growth 
of timber. The railway skirts the base of Shasta for several 
hours, and affords admirable views of the mountain from nearly 
all sides. Finally the Siskiyou Mountains, the boundary be- 
tween California and Oregon, are surmounted, and the train 
descends rapidly into the fertile, well-watered valleys of Ore- 
gon. Flourishing fields of grass and clover, and apple orchards 
remind one of the eastern states, and replace the vineyards and 
prune orchards, or the fields of alfalfa, of central California. 
Following the great Willamette valley, we finally reach Port- 
` land, and a few more hours bring us to Tacoma, whence our 
steamer sails for Alaska. Before Portland is reached, the 
great Douglas fir begins to predominate in the forest, and 
about Puget Sound often almost entirely makes up large tracts 
of forest. Here, too, it reaches its greatest dimensions, it being 
claimed that about the base of Mt. Rainier there are trees over 
400 feet in height. As this is the staple timber tree of the 
northwest, most of the trees have been cut away from near 
the settlements, and one must go some distance away to find 
the virgin forest. This tree, fortunately, like many other west- 
ern conifers, grows up quickly after the forest has been cut 
i '39I 
