>y 
338 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
There is one tree here also in great abundance, which does 
not prevail on any other part of the northwest coast; a spe¬ 
cies of Myrtics —the largest of which measure twelve feet in 
girth, and one hundred feet in height. Ail its leaves, wood 
and fruit, are strongly aromatic, yielding an odor like Myrtus 
Pimento * and producing sneezing like pepper. The fruit is 
large, globular, and covered with a fine green skin, enveloping a 
small nut with an insipid kernel, which the squirrel eats with a 
great relish. So fragrant is this tree, that, when the groves are 
moved by the wind, a delicious perfume fills all the surround¬ 
ing air. 
The soil on the open plains of this delightful vale is very 
rich; and, since the climate is most salubrious, as well as most 
favorable to vegetation, this valley will hereafter become one 
of the most enchanting abodes of man. Indeed, it would be 
difficult to decide whether to prefer this or the vales on the 
south side of the Snowy Mountains, were it not for that un¬ 
rivalled Bay of San Francisco, which connects the land, whose 
streams flow into it, with the commerce of the world more 
largely and intimately than the Clamet can do. In fact this river 
is both too rapid and too small for ship navigation; and the 
depth of the water on the bar at its mouth being only two and a 
half fathoms, it will, of course, never furnish a harbor suitable 
for extensive maritime trade. But it is a sweet valley for the 
growth of a happy and enlightened population; a lovely spot 
where the farm-house, that temple of the virtues, may lift its 
rude chimney among the myrrh trees ; where the wife, faith¬ 
ful in her love to her husband, and true to all the holy instincts 
of the mother, shall offer her pure heart’s undivided devotion 
at the altar of Home ! Home ! that only refuge of man from 
the toils and pains of the outer world ; that sanctuary, the 
desecration of which turns his heart to flint, and his affections 
into fountains of gall. 
The Valley of the Clamet will be lighted from the hearths 
of happy homes ere long, and will be densely peopled. 
* Douglas. 
