THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 117 



ago, send a once flourishing growth like that of the forests of the 

 north hurtling down the mountain in a mad landslide to the sea, 

 leaving a bare slope to seed, centuries later, to fern and shrub ? 



Did the Indians, as tradition has it, fire this mountain on 

 the sea side that later green meadows might develop, affording 

 better hunting grounds for the deer, which even now come down 

 to the springs for water? 



And the mystery of treasure cove — that wild pocket in the 

 mountain's base where roving pirates are reported to have 

 buried fabulous wealth. Who knows what lawless band adopted 

 as its stronghold this rockbound cove, where sea birds wheel out 

 in widening circles and scream above the incessant pounding of 

 the waves. At least two rock tablets have been found in the 

 vicinity bearing inscriptions in a locked cipher — perhaps the 

 mystic "Open Sesame.' ' Many venturesome souls, in search of 

 the hidden treasure, have explored the damp and hazardous re- 

 cesses of the cove, but I know of no more valuable discovery than 

 a rusty sea chest containing a very ancient and partly decomposed 

 piece of parchment. 



Then there is the mystery of the Nehalem bees-wax. For a 

 distance of several miles doAvn the beach from the mountain 

 many discoveries of this peculiar wax have been made. These 

 finds are shrouded in doubt. Not only its source, but the very 

 substance itself baffles understanding. The wax, which is found 

 in pieces varying in size from a baseball to a wash tub, analyzes 

 more nearly common bees-wax than any other known substance. 

 Perhaps it is some local evidence of natural oil. Or it may be a 

 crude form of paraffine. Many in the neighborhood cling to the 

 belief that it forms bits of what was once an ill-fated ship's cargo, 

 wrecked there many years ago, and this theory appears to be 

 pretty well substantiated by the recent investigations of the 

 United States Interior Department, a report of which was pub- 

 lished a few weeks ago. Some of the pieces bear strange heiero- 

 glyphic carvings. 



And not the least of the mysteries of Nehalem is the eternal 

 enigma of the salmon. Year after year, without a pilot, with no 

 charts to aid their navigation, with nothing to guide them but 

 their infallible instinct, countless thousands of Chinook {Oncor- 



