Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/217

211 JOURNAL AND"LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 211 distant valleys with a sound only equalled by that of an earthquake. Such scenes give a sense of the stupendous and wonderful works of the Almighty. This peak, the highest yet known in the Northern Continent of Amer- ica, I felt sincere pleasure in naming " Mount Brown," in honour of R. Brown, Esq., the illustrious Botanist, a man no less distinguished by the amiable qualities of his mind than by his scientific attainments. A little to the south- ward is one nearly of the same height rising into a sharper point; this I named "Mount Hooker," in honour of my early patron, the Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow. This mountain, however, I was not able to climb. A species of Menziesia [?], Andromeda hypnoides, Gentiana, Lycopodium alpinum, Salix herbacea, Empetrum, Juncus biglumis, and triglumis were among the last of the phoenogamous plants which I observed. Wednesday, the 2d. At three o'clock I felt the cold so much, and the thermometer only stood at 2 below Zero, that I was obliged to rise and enliven the fire to get my- self comfortably warmed before starting. Through three hundred yards of gradually rising, open, low Pine woods we passed, and about the same distance of open ground took us to the basin of this mighty river a small circular lake, twenty yards in diameter, in the center of the valley, with a small outlet on the West end, namely, the Columbia, and another at the east end, namely, one of the branches of the Athabasca, which must itself be considered one of the tributaries of the Mackenzie Kiver. This is not the only fact of two opposite streams flowing from the same lake. This, " the Committee's Punch Bowl" is considered as being half way, and we were quite glad to know that the more labourious and arduous part of our journey was accomplished. The little stream, the Athabasca, over which we had stepped so conveniently, presently assumed a considerable size, and was dashed over cascades and