434 
TRAVELS IN OREGON, NO. 1. 
the Baltic Sea. It is divided into three sections separated 
by ranges of mountains running nearly parallel with the 
Pacific shore. The first section extends from the Ocean 
to the President’s Range, or Cascade Mountains. Be¬ 
tween these mountains and the Blue Mountains is the 
second section, and the third extends from the Blue 
Mountains to the Rocky Mountains, which form the east¬ 
ern boundary of the country from the fifty-fourth to the 
forty-second parallel. The Snowy Mountains extending 
in the direction of the forty-first parallel from the Rocky 
Mountains, some seven hundred miles to the ocean, con¬ 
stitute a natural boundary on the south, while a similar 
range of mountains on the north extends from the Strait 
of Fuca north-eastward to the Rocky Mountains, separ¬ 
ating the waters of the Columbia from those of Frazer’s 
River. The whole Pacific coast, extent about five 
hundred miles in a line nearlv due north and south, has 
but a single harbor, and that frequently inaccessible for 
ships, the mouth of the Columbia. The soil, climate and 
productions are various. In the first section, between the 
coast and the President’s Range, the climate is mild 
throughout the year, but not very favorable to agricul¬ 
ture. Rains begin to fall in November and last till 
March, but the quantity of water that falls is not pro¬ 
portioned to the frequency of the showers. Frosts begin 
to occur in August, owing to the proximity of the moun¬ 
tains, and the same cause makes the nights to be so cold 
that Indian corn will not ripen. Fruit trees blossom 
early in April at Vancouver and Nisqually. Peas are 
a foot high at the latter place in the early part of May, 
strawberries in full blossom and sallad gone to seed. 
Almost every variety of timber is afforded, and near the 
coast the trees grow to an astonishing height. 
Near the foot of the Cascade Mountains, the climate 
is adapted to all kinds of grain, and apples and pears. 
Great numbers of horses and horned cattle may be rais- 
