THROUGH WONDERLAND. 
47 
is a revelation of almost unequaled grandeur in the view of Mount Tacoma, 
the loftiest peak of the entire range. If Mount Hood can claim to be consid¬ 
ered, as is generally admitted, the most graceful and beautiful mountain on the 
Pacific coast, Mount Tacoma can certainly claim to be the most majestic and 
sublime. Towering 14,444 feet above sea-level, and thus exceeding by more 
than 3,000 feet the height of any other mountain in Washington or Oregon, 
it seems to rear its massive head close to the very battlements of heaven. No 
other mountain, even in the Yellowstone National Park or in the main range of 
the Rockies, will have produced so great an impression upon the traveler as will 
the mighty Tacoma. As he gazes at its majestic form, he is inclined to doubt 
whether there is in the whole world one that could establish a better claim to 
universal sovereignty. In lines that will live as long as the English language it¬ 
self, Byron declared Mont Blanc the monarch of mountains. But Byron never 
saw the matchless Tacoma. It, too, has its throne of rocks, its diadem of snow, 
and, though less frequently than Mont Blanc, its robe of clouds, an adjunct of 
doubtful advantage except in the exigencies of versification. 
Mount Tacoma has, embedded in its mighty bosom, no fewer than fifteen 
glaciers, three of which have been rendered accessible to visitors. Comparing 
them with the glaciers of the Alps, Senator Edmunds, of Vermont, declares that 
the finest effects he witnessed during the course of a long tour in Switzerland, 
fell far short of what he saw on his visit to Mount Tacoma. At the great hotel, 
at Tacoma City, guides and camping outfits are always obtainable. Excursion 
