340 



HYDROGRAPHY. 



Johnson's Islands. From this point, the river takes a bend to the 

 southeast, increasing in width : McTavish, Joe, and Barclay's Islands 

 lie on its south shore. There is a channel on the south side of these 

 islands, but it is very shallow. From the Willamette River to 

 McLaughlin Point, above the landing at Fort Vancouver, is called 

 Vancouver Reach; it is 5 miles long. The deepest channel during 

 the lowest stage of the river lies on the Vancouver side. Obstructions 

 are formed, and changes occur in the channels annually. At high 

 water the river at Vancouver rises 19 feet above its low water mark. 

 It attains its highest point in May and June, its lowest in October. 

 The rise and fall of the tide is perceived at Vancouver, but the cur- 

 rent does not change its direction. 



The shores of the Columbia near Vancouver are low. The river 

 bank is a kind of levee, which is several feet above the river, at its 

 highest flood ; were it not for this, it would spread over the whole 

 extent of prairie. On this levee is a thick growth of trees and shrubs, 

 which binds the earth together, and prevents a break. 



The course of the Columbia above Vancouver is to the southward 

 and eastward. Its average width is three-quarters of a mile ; this in- 

 cludes the islands which have been formed by its deposits and serve to 

 contract its channel. From Point McLaughlin to Frost Island, a dis- 

 tance of 10 miles, the river is nearly straight, and the channel is along 

 the north shore. The hills which bordered the river prairies below, here 

 approach the bank. Along the south shore lie Smith, Rower, Sandy, 

 and Douglass Islands. The water is too shallow for even small vessels 

 to use the passage between these islands and the south shore. Boats 

 and barges may pass through. The channel passes from the north to 

 the south shore, between Douglass and Frost Islands, and again seeks 

 the north shore beyond Frost Island, between it and Bachelet Island, 

 the river changing its course more to the eastward. Frost Island is 

 2 miles long; it lies near the north shore. Abreast of it the river is one- 

 third of a mile wide. To the north of the east end of Frost Island is 

 Evert's Bay, nearly circular, a mile in diameter. Bachelet Island is 

 of an oval shape, 11 miles in length. Palle Creek, which passes 

 between it and the south shore, is only used for boats and canoes. 

 Above Bachelet Island the river again widens. Point Broughton lies 

 two miles above the island. The channel again crosses to the south 

 shore, is very narrow, and runs very close to it. On approaching 

 Vancouver's Island the river is contracted ; the channel occupies the 



