THE WEST SHORE.
7'
the cake entire and not spoil it with
nibbling, therefore we will cast no
glance behind until we reach the very
summit. Before us lie loose rocks,
whose Frequent boom, as they go thun
dering into the crater, reaches our cars
with frightful distinctness.
Before us the wind drives the brim
stone breath of the crater, whose nox
ious gases are almost suffocating. Hc
forc us lies a long ridge of snow, soft
and treacherous On account of the heat
of the crater; the green ice-chasm
spanned only by a narrow bridge of
ice ; and lastly the almost perpendicular
wall sheeted with ice which forms the
summit of the mountain.
To such forcible arguments one is
very likely to signify his acquicscnc'e
by retiring from the scene of action.
But we gird ourselves for final strug
gle. Coats and scarfs, which we had
worn thus far under the impression
that they might protect us from the
cold, are Hung aside. One member,
who began to show signs of weaken
ing, disposed of his hat and vest, and
even his vail.
The snow on the long ridge is soft
by reason of the increasing heat of the
sun, so that we sink to our knees at al
most every step. Exhuming ourselves
wc find to be a painful process. From
the ice-crcvasse we look down a steep
incline into the crater. It is like look
ing into gigantic funnel partly broken
down on one side.
On the narrow bridge of ice which
spans the crevasse we pause a moment
to admire the wondrously beautiful
kaleidoscopic flashes as the sunlight
plays on the lips of the chasm. (Jreen
and gold and saffron and purple chase
ench other in quick succession over the
huge icicles and flit like butterflies of
light from one icy ledge to another.
That must be the home of rainbows,
down there beneath the frost, and these
varying tints the flashings of their finger-tips
pressed against the windows
of their palace.
From the crevasse upward the ac
cent is at an angle of fifty degrees) nt
one point steeper. Wc can go but a
few steps at a time. Wc make, our
way only by firmly planting our spikc
polcs in the ice, and then sustaining
ourselves by that, chopping steps in
the ice for our feet. Then, being se
curely footed, wc withdraw our poles
and proceed as before. A half hour of
most exhausting toil brings us to the
summit. Conquered at last, hoary
headed old volcano ! Thy head be
neath our feet ! Man, though small, i
movable; Thou, though mighty, art
immovable. Man, though born in the
valley, can claim thy stature for his
own and make thy crown his throne of
vision; while Thou art sightless to the
valleys where the sunbeams play, and
dumb to the thunders of the tempests,
and to the tumult of the waterfalls be
neath. A fierce north wind flings the dry
snow in eddies around our heads. The
sun though blinding bright has lost
his heat, and wc stand shivering while
we look around in wonder at the vast
panorama before us. The first feeling
is one of utter bewilderment. Wc can
recognise no familiar points at first.
The hills and valleys over which wc
journeyed arc flattened out as with an
enormous roller. Laurel Hill, which
we had thought a very respectable
mountain, is at first invisible, but after
some search wc discover a bare patch
of ground, large enough for a medium
sized mole-lull, which by the aid l
reasoning we conclude to Ik- Laurel
Hill.
The lower part of the Willam
ette valley is covered with clouds,
The vast masses pulsate like a sea I-
ncath the sun and wind. Southward,
Mt. Jefferson stands in bold relief,
seeming almost within rifle shot, though
sixty miles away. Heyond Mt.Jeffi-r-son
the Three Sisters; and still beyond,
the rugged mass of Diamond I'eak.
And yet further, a cluster of snowy
caks, two hundred miles distant, close
the southward view. Eastward, vast
plains, dimmed by the dust of summer.
The great hunch-grass empire, with its
strange lakes and sunken rivers, with
its abysmal canons and foaming water
fulls; with its cities of rocks, its vol
canic caverns, its mastodon cemeteries
and petrified forests; with its vast herds
of cattle and its selfcomplalccnt though
scanty jopulation, stretches muidly
away, Ixiunded by a line of almost in
visible mountains. The scene reminds
ut ol the unfortunate savage, whose
battle-field it recently was. Perhaps
wc might rather say the savage unfor
tunate, who is almost as heartless, even
though by no means so unscrupulous
a the political sharks who would at
Uin their dearest wish in a Kilkenny fight
between the settlers and Indians in or
der that they might possess themselves
of the land, One more turn and we
fuce northward. We look for the Co
lumbia river. After straining our eyes
to find it in the distance wc suddenly
discover it flowing apparently ut our
feet. The dark, green current is won
derfully distinct as it rolls on amid its
protecting crags. Three great snow
peaks dominate over the northern land
scape. Mt. Adams, furthest to the
right, is a flat and massy pile, wore
nearly bare of snow nnd more eusy of
ascent than any of the great )cuks,
Tucoma, in the center, sublimes! of
American mountains; throned moid al
most inaccessible crags, fringed by well
nigh imK'netrable forests, down into
whose depths u doxen glaciers stretch
their fingers; a hundred and fifty miles
away, yet lifting its fifteen thousand
feet of altitude above all surrounding
objects. To the left, Mt. St. Helens,
in beautiful contrast with lucomu,
rises from a purple base, a smooth and
shining dome, fit queen to Hoo.1,
as the old legend of the Indians
represents it to he. This old legend
tells, too, of a little domestic infelicity
in which a huge rock wus hurled by
the irate lord ut the bride's while brow,
hut fulling short of the murk, dashed
down the natural bridge which till then
had spanned the Columbia. With this
story In our minds we again search out
the great river, as it upK-urs here ami
there amid the hills, until at last un
vexed by mountain harriers, expanding
like a sea, it fades amid the mists of the
ocean.
South ami east and noith und west !
Now suppose we look downward. We
advance cautiously to the northern
edge. Wc almost leup backward at
sight of the dirying abyss below.
Three thousund feet almost pcricndlc
ular ! The basaltic columns point right
up nt us like huge fingers. Ten of our
tallest firs, planted on the glacier,
which lies like a marble pavement at
the foot of the pre. ipirc, would scarcely
reach us. Wc arc dixxicd as wc look
down and start back with u nervous
feeling that the mountain is aliout to
fall headlong northward.
The summit of the mountain Is a
long ridge, the precipice of three
thousand feet un the north, and the
crater on the south. Late in the season
the snow melt from the crater, making
a perpendicular descent into that also.