322
THE WEST SHORE.
December; 1880
FROM THE DALLES TO PORTLAND.
Ail Autumnal Sitlih.
II V ADOUkTA AI.I.I.KN.
From her home in the cast (lad
Morning hastes, laden with light.
Went ward hhf speeds. Riveis and
lakes tremble wi'h delight at her ap
proach. Valleys and hillslaugh. Moun
tain hhish in her queenly presence mid
the world glows will) majestic beauty.
is it that it seems to have imbibed the
spirit of the departing darkness.
Good-bye now to The Dalles! Proud
little cityl Rock-bound like the river
whose brink you grace; like the river,
too. in your restless striving, you re
ttistluss rush onward,
j We round a sharp jutting point and
I glide on between the dull banks, with
I misiy low-lying hills beyond ;now they
I rise higher, and a broken hight reaches
See 1 in the vista formed by the
river-banks, the mystery of sunrise I
Resting upon the water a bank of
1 violet ; and just above, soft fluffy clouds
! of the same hue, now blending with
! saffron and rose. Higher, a lake of
j lambent light set with isles of amethyst.
! Just beyond, a glory, bright as youth
dreams. Its boundary an ashen band
I with border of palest azure flecked with
'glintings of fine scarlet. Even as I
. ,wr.-..j.--.-'
?T'-"; - - r-r?. " Ui Lv--i--r
Lr't"..,".' . iTi'Trar.. ' ,f.
TIIK CAM AI1 S OK THK COl.l'MHIA KIVI'.R,
The dmkness, enshrouding The
Dalles, i now melting wny, and the
forms of the near hilU, xTciidicular
cliffs.J and blond black termors ate
dimly 'discernible; while afar off, a
ridge of hill gleam purple, not the
pale etbriicl tint komrtimri seen at
unsrt, or Inter'jn early day; but a hue
many kliadrt decer than royal purple. j
It U a color' w hich daylight and dmki
nc with united cfloit produce; todec p
with long black arm into the river.
There arc daik frowning cliffs, stand
ing in line like mighty mail-clad sen
tinels waiting fur the day to release
them horn duty. Great buttressed
castles, with fl.it top, tower in majesty.
On the light strctchca a broad plateau,
and Wvond it. a i-nl.l ri,l.,...l i,:n
Nearer are wpiaic masses of rock, and
block of solid stone rise from the river
itself.
gaze the scene changes. The eastern
sky is pale blue, an exquisitely delicate
tint, with inland bays of pearl, em
braced by shadowy gray. A fleecy
mass of purest gold, drifting across,
sends from its center a flood of light,
giving to the sombre cloud a luminous
glowing edge. While above, the dark
curtains of the upper sky are fringed
with golden fleece set with glistening
gems. The water of the river flows