In this merely superficial sketch of the most magnificent of American rivers its scenic features chiefly have been spoken of. But no thoughtful traveller can make this voyage without picturing to his imagination the splendid possibilities here afforded for a display of the wealth and taste of the nation. The delightful variety of arrangement in a panorama of two hundred miles of grandeur, the cunning with which nature has interspersed imposing ruggedness with enticing beauty, is a strong feature of Columbia scenery, and suggests the still more charming effect of the whole when is added the attraction of refined human habitations perched every here and there, especially along the highlands from Astoria to The Dalles, and from Cape Disappointment to Wallula. With railways on both sides of the Columbia, and with the opening of the river to continuous travel by the improvements in progress and projected, the volume of commerce destined to roll between these noble shores is simply incalculable. Very little effort has been made toward settlement along the great stream, the pioneers of the country first taking up the open lands in the interior; but there is a large amount of excellent grass, vegetable, and fruit land near the river, and a little distance away from it land which, when cleared, will make the best of farms.
CHAPTER VI.
SOME GENERAL TALK ABOUT CLIMATE.
Having introduced my reader to the two great States of Oregon and Washington by the magnificent river which divides and unites them, let me first describe, as best I can, the one which by age has the right of precedence,—Oregon.
In those early times, between 1820 and 1840, when Congress was discussing the title of the United States to this region, and doubting often whether the game of contending for our right was worth the candle, the whole of this country on both sides of the Columbia was referred to as "the Oregon,"
