Page:The Pacific Monthly volumes 1-3.djvu/32

 Their environment offers them no diversity of pursuits.

The physical geography of the Northwest shows a country so rich and varied in diversity of surface, of wide plains, smiling valleys, dense forests, broad rivers and rushing torrents, that the influence of the face of nature is inspiring. We look from some high mountain summit over the grand forests and valleys of our country, watching the clouds chase their shadows across the gorges and canyons, and, as the voices of the swaying pines, the murmur of a torrent or roar of some unseen waterfall falls upon our ear, our minds are full of thoughts that words fail to express. As we turn our faces towards the sublime height of the snow-clad mountains, lifting their peaks far above the limits of all life, our fancy takes us backward; we see again the fiery cones belching forth stones and ashes, and rivers of lava pushing their resistless course through the burning forests, and the sky covered with a sable pall, and our hearts are filled with wonder and awe.

The varied industries necessary to subdue and develop the vast resources of the country will in the future attract men of all professions and artisanships. The herdsman, the farmer, the horticulturist, the miner, the millwright, the engineer, the mechanic and cunning artificer In wood and metal, will all find material ready to his hand.

The physical characteristics of the Northwest, under a careful study of the different subjects, the climate, the soil, the varied products of nature, the inspiring influence of pastoral and sublime scenery on our moral and intellectual natures, all will develop the knowledge that in our country may be found every material and natural resource necessary to the development and well-being of the highest types of the human race.