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 86 Joseph Schafer through the soil, which is composed of gravel and sand a few feet below the surface, these wells rise and fall with the vari- ations of the river. The plain is inundated in the same man- ner, the water rising through the earth and forming a lake, before the banks are overflowed. . The simplest method of strengthening this post against sud- den attack would be to dig a ditch round it, throwing the earth against the pickets, which should be loop holed and a banquette formed on the interior, erecting another small block house at the S. E. angle,* to flank the south and east sides, and placing small traverses behind the gates. But in the event of Vancouver being occupied by troops, I would recommend the position marked on the plan, which is not commanded by any ground in the immediate vicinity, is contiguous to the ship channel, and presents the advantage of never being liable to inundation ; it is at present covered with fine pine trees, which could be made available in the construc- tion of barracks, etc., all of which must be built of wood, there being no limestone found on the Columbia nearer than Fort Colville or Vancouver's Island in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The lime used by the Hudson's Bay Company in building their chimneys being made from coral brought from the Sand- wich Islands. For this position I would recommend a picket enclosure, ditched and flanked by two small block houses, having a bat- tery facing the river, made of logs, in which two eighteen pds. [pounders] might be placed to command the ship channel, the H. B. Co. having two at their establishment, the barracks to be built of logs or squared timber, which can be procured of any dimensions in the immediate vicinity. The H. B. Co. have a saw and grist mill on a small stream six miles from Vancouver and a large farm attached, with large bands of horses, herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep. The Columbia River is about one mile wide at Vancouver and runs in a N. W. direction towards the sea; six miles be-
 * Which was done, to the great annoyance of the American settlers.