Page:Route Across the Rocky Mountains with a Description of Oregon and California.djvu/77



various and scenery; and while indulging such fanciful images of the future, the traveler, reclining perhaps, upon the green sward which clothes the rounded height, from its base to its brow; and beneath the green arms of a low and spreading oak, might revert, amid such silence, and such scenes, to the far land of his home, and recall to his mind others, though less grand and beautiful, yet even dearer than these; might yield to a feeling of regret, when hearing here, the loud Ocean's voice, and seeing yonder, the stern mountain barrier, mingling its snows with cloud and sky; both separating him from that home, and from those cherished scenes. But to conclude this portion of our subject, by summing up, in short, the advantages and disadvantages, which the Territory of Oregon possesses, in comparison with other countries, or rather, with portions of the United States. We suppose its principal advantages, for instance, over the Valley of the Mississippi, to be, in climate, in its situation for Commerce, in its water power, in its forest of gigantic trees, in the purity of its waters, and in the vastness and beauty of its scenery. In all of these, it is certainly superior. — In respect to its climate, the rainy seasons, it is true, are often disagreeable; but its being favorable to grazing, and most especially, its great healthfulness, renders it very far superior to that of any portion of the States. Its situation for profitable Commerce with other portions of the world, we consider, to be superior also, to that of the Valley of the Mississippi. The vast extent of Seacoast, embracing every clime; and the numerous fertile Islands, with which the great Pacific Ocean is crowded, to which it has immediate access, render it superior. And the circumstance, that almost all the commercial and manufacturing nations of the world, are compelled to make great circuits, in order to reach these shores, gives another advantage worthy of consideration. Its water power, we believe, cannot be surpassed on the face of the globe; neither can its forests, or the purity of its streams. Its principal disadvantages, (excepting that of the Winter rains,) are the limited extent of the habitable portion, the great amount of waste land; included even in that portion; the different parts of it, which ae suitable for settlements, being detached, by ranges of mountains, making access from one to another, often difficult; the rock-bound character of its coast; the inferiority of its inland navigation; and of the soil of the high lands. In all of these, it is surely inferior to the Mississippi Valley. but after balancing the advantages and the disadvantages, we cannot determine which is, in reality, superior.