Page:The Pacific Monthly volumes 1-3.djvu/30

 red fir, the hemlock, spruce, larch, yew, cypress, yellow and red cedar are in great numbers. Many and indeed most of these trees are exceedingly valuable to the uses of man. The deciduous trees in- clude the white, black and yellow oak, the maple, ash, alder and laurel, besides many flowering trees.

The undergrowth in the forests is made up of many flowering trees, shrubs and plants, and the camas and wapato, flower- ing bulbous roots, are common, being used as food by the native tribes and Chinese. Flax is indigenous in Southern Oregon. In addition to the native woods and plants, man has introduced great varieties of each, and such is the adaptability of a generous soil and mild climate that all the trees and plants of the temperate zone and many of the sub-tropical species can be grown in some part of the North- west. Large and varied crops of cereals and fruits are now raised on lands former- ly considered useful only for grazing cat- tle and sheep.

The soil in most portions of the North- west is very productive, as is well known by the large yield of wheat and other cereals grown on certain lands for many successive years, without the application of artificial fertilizers. The fertility of the land is no doubt due in a great meas- ure to the volcanic nature of the country.

The disintegration of various lavas and basalts forms a soil rich in the mineral salts and earths adapted to the nourish- ment of plants and trees. Though the climate is classed as dry, as indicated by instruments used for determining relative humidity, the distinction is applicable only to the atmosphere.

The rainfall is abundant and timely to foster the growth of all plant life, and the undergrowth in the regions west of the Cascade mountains is as dense and impen- etrable, though of far different character, as in the valley of the Orinoco or Amazon rivers.

The waters abound with fish, of which the various species of the salmon family are the most numerous and valued. The sturgeon, one of the oldest types of fishes, surviving the changes of thousands of years, and the taking of which was con- trolled by the royal perquisites of the ancient kings of England, is common —

in fact, is met with every day on the side- walks of our city. The sea is prolific of life; whales pass up and down the coast from their feeding grounds in the Arctic to their breeding grounds in the warm bays of Lower California.

Halibut and herring are caught in great quantities, and the cod-fishing grounds in Behring sea are the largest and richest in the world. Smelt and sardines visit the largest rivers in incredible numbers to deposit their spawn. Oysters, clams and other shell fish inhabit the salt-water bays, and the pholus or rock oyster bores its home in every soft rocky ledge along the coast. . ..

The fauna of the northwest coast is an interesting study, embracing every species known to the temperate zone. The black and cinnamon bear are common, and the formidable grizzly bear may be found in the mountains, if any one cares to go and look for him. The great gray wolf inhab- its the gloomiest forests, but is rarely seen except when driven by deep snows to prey upon herds of sheep or cattle, and that thief of the plains, the coyote or prairie wolf, is common east of the moun- tains. Among the predatory animals may be mentioned the cougar or mountain lion and the Canada lynx or wildcat.

Reindeer, cariboo, elk, the mule and the Virginia deer, and the fleet-footed antelope represent the family of the cer- vidae.

The mouflon or big-horned sheep and the great mountain goat frequent the most inaccessible rocky peaks of the highest mountains, above the limits of perpetual snow. The fur-bearing animals, whose winter coats are sought after by man to make his winter coats, embrace numerous species, as the fur seal, sea and land otter, beaver, fisher mink, the silver, cross and red fox, muskrat and weasel or ermine. Of these animals, the fur seal is by far the most important, the capture of which is likely to lead to serious international complications. The polar bear and walrus inhabit the frozen regions, and are objects of the chase for the Northern coast tribes, and with the confinon or hair seal form their main subsistence. Harmless snakes are numerous west of the mountains, and the rattlesnake is occasionally found in the eastern portion of the country and in