from Vancouver. The reader may form some idea of the almost insurmountable difficulties to be encountered by our two missionaries, in visiting their various posts, so widely distant from each other, especially in a country overrun in every direction by lofty mountains. These mountains generally extend from north to south. From the Valley of Willamette are seen three elevated peaks, which have the form of a cone, and are covered with perpetual snow; hence called Snowy Mountains. One of them Mt. St. Helena, stands opposite Cowlitz to the east, and for some years past has been noted for its volcanic {21} eruptions.[18] Besides the rivers we have mentioned, there are several others, the principal of which are the Clamet, Umpqua, and the Chikeeles.[19] The Columbia is navigable as far as the cascade, fifty-four miles above Vancouver.
The immense valleys in Oregon Territory, covered with extensive and fertile prairies, follow the course of the mountains from north to south, and are crossed in different directions by rivulets bordered with trees. They easily yield to the plough, and though the first crop is not very abundant, the second is generally sufficient to repay the labor of tillage. The soil is for the most part fertile, particularly in the south. Every kind of grain is successfully cultivated near Cowlitz, Vancouver, in the Willamette Valley, and further south. The same may be said of the neighborhood of Fort Walla Walla, Colville; the mission of St. Mary's; the mission of the
