was 9° above zero; at Tacoma, 5° above. The highest temperature in the same time was 97° at Portland and 80° at Tacoma. The mean temperature of the two places is, Portland 52° to 55°, and Tacoma 55° to 58°, the difference being slightly in favor of the latter place, taking the year together, owing to the influence of the Sound upon the climate, and to its sheltered position, away from the air-currents before spoken of. It is common to find roses and pansies in blossom until December in either place, although the stranger may find a chill in the moist atmosphere which he declares to be "cold," even though the mercury does not recognize it. A season usually braces him up to endure this, and he soon has only eulogies for an even climate, whose only fault is that it is not cold enough to be dry in the winter months.
CHAPTER VII.
A TALK ABOUT THE WALLAMET AND ITS CHIEF TOWN.
The Wallamet—it is spelled Wilamette on the maps, though the common usage is still to pronounce the word as it was originally spelled—is the river of West Oregon.
Before proceeding to my observations upon this portion of the country, I am impelled to enter my protest against the violation of truth and good taste in giving to so sonorous and musical a word as Wallamet the French termination of ette, and, furthermore, substituting an i for the nobler-sounding a, The word is Indian in origin, and although the early writers differed somewhat in their spelling, they gave it the native pronunciation of Wal-la-met, the a in both syllables being very broad. Spoken properly it is a beautiful name, but as corrupted it is a senseless jingle.
The river has two mouths, one coming into the Columbia where Scappoose Bay sets in, just above St. Helen, the other about twenty miles above. That portion of the river below the upper mouth is separated from the Columbia by an island from one mile to several miles in breadth, being a fertile and beauti-
