134 
THE GREAT SILVER FIR. 
lock timber was rejected in the construction of the railroad, 
and to get rid of the trees they were consumed in immense 
fires. White pine, white oak, and locust were used in the 
timber structures of the railway. Locust, from its hard- 
ness and great durability, was preferred for the cross-sills 
of the track, but the sticks were too small for most other 
uses. White oak came next in order, and then white pine; 
good yellow-pine we could not get; and rock oak is classed 
with white oak for railroad sills, and is probably somewhat 
more durable. 
“ Since leaving the mountain I have laid down railroad 
mud-sills of Hemlock, being sound sticks of small size, and 
they will last as long as white pine.” 
THE GREAT SILVER FIR. 
ABIES grandis, foliis pectinatis planis obtusis subtus argenteis , strobilis 
erectis cylindraceis eiongatis , squamis compactis latissimis , bracteolis 
ovatis acuminatis erosis squama multo brevioribus , 
Abies grandis . Lindley, in Penny Cycl. No. 3. 
Pinus grandis . Douglas, MSS. Lamb. Pin. vol. 3, tab. 94. 
Picea grandis . Loudon, 4, p. 2341, fig. 2245 and 2246. 
A tall stately tree, akin to A. balsamea , and attaining 
a height of 170 to 200 feet. According to Douglas, a 
native of Northern California, in low moist valleys, but we 
found it abundant, and constituting considerable tracts, 
betwixt Fort Vancouver and the neighbouring saw-mill, 6 
or 7 miles above the fort, where many logs had been cut 
down and sawn into planks, which were taken for sale to 
