262
THE WEST SHORE.
MIDSUMMER ON ROSS ISLAND.
Opposite the upper end of Portland the Willamette
i divided by a long inland, which is a favorite resort for
boatmen and picnio parties on warm summer (lays and
long moonlight evenings. The steamboat channel and
the current of the river are on the west side of the
island, while on the east side is a broad, calm, sheltered
strotch of water with scarcely any current whatever.
This is a favorite place for boatmen, whore in the cool
evenings after the close of business for the day, may be
eon every form of pleasure craft on the river from the
canoe to the four-oared racing shell, and from the small
boat bearing two hoarts lenting in as close unison as the
oars, to the barge with its jolly load of merry-makers.
On the island are many fine spots for picnicing, where a
good turf stretches out on high ground beneath the wide
branches of mossy oaks.
ONEONTA GORGE).
On pages two hundred and seventy-four and soventy
fivo is given a largo colored engraving of one of the
loading features of the Columbia river scenery. Oneon
' ta gorge is known rathor by name than by sight to the
great majority of those who ascend the Columbia eithor
by rail or boat, sinoe it is passed so quickly that fow ob
serve it In fact, to see it to advantage one must pay it
a visit and pass between its rocky portals. Oneonta
creek, one of the numerous crystal trout streams that
flow down from the Cascades, cuts through the great
rocky wall which hedges in the Columbia, making a nar
row, massive, rugged and precipitous gorge, at the bot
tom of which the stream flows noisily among masses of
fallen rock. It is a scene calling for deepest admira
tion, and one which elicits all the euthuHiasra of the
angler, who with rod in hand may whip the stream for
trout from the gorge to its fountain head at the base of
ML Hood.
m m-
LAK.1 Of THE WOODS AND MOUNT PITT.
The southernmost of Oregon's snow peaks is Mount
ritt, the crowning feature of the Cascade range near its
terminus at Uie Klamath lakes. It was christened in
honor of England's great statesman of that name, and
by iU title servos, in common with many other locali
ties and objects, as a perpetual reminder of the early
exploration and occupation of the upper Faciflo coast by
the euterprising subjects of Great Britain. It is often,
though leas commonly, called " Mount MoLoughlin," in
honor of the sturdy Scotch doctor who managed the af
fairs of the Hudson's Hay Company in this region for
so many years, and who is such a prominent and honor
able character in the early annals of Oregon. The lat
ter name is the more appropriate, and should supersede
the former. The engraving on page two hundred and
aeventy-sis shows the mountain as seen from the shore
of the Iake of the Woods, one of those crystal gems so
numerous in the Cascades, the mountain's snowy sides
sharply reflected by the mirrored surface of. the water.
The lake lies at a distance from civilization, but he who
seeks it will find beautiful scenery, refreshing mountain
air and water, game in abundance, and bis nil ot sport
with the beautiful trout with which it abounds.
NEW CANALS IN RUSSIA.
A new canal, improving the water communication
between the Caspian and Baltio seas, was opened recent
ly by the Minister of Ways of Communication, General
Possiot The canal, which has cost fl.ouu.uuu to con
struct, joins the rivers Wyhegra and Kovja, and forma
a fresh link in the chain of waterways known as the
Maryinsky system, connecting the Neva with the Volga.
Its length is fifteen miles; width, seventy feet; depth,
seven feei Some of the cuttings through whioh it runs
had to be excavated to the depth of thirty feei Most of
the work has been done by hand, upwards of twenty
thousand laborers having been employed in the under
taking, together with three dredging machines, nine sta
tionary engines, and two locomotives.
Barges on Russian rivers and canals range in length
from one hundred to three hundred feei The cargoes
which a large proportion of them carry, are, consequent
ly, as large as many an ocean cargo; and instead of be
ing mere lighters, carrying only portions of cargoes, they
are, to all intents and purposes, the counterparts of sea
going ships. Thanks to the wide-reaching ramifications
of the River Volga, the largest in Europe, barges of
five hundred or one thousand tons can start in the spring
with the floods from some tiny stream in the Ural moun
tains, and arrive in the autumn on the River Neva. On
the other hand; it is possible for English steamers to
make their way from the Neva through the canal sys
tem to the Volga, and thence descend to the Caspian sea.
The Neva-Volga canal system thus possesses an impor
tance which no English canal could claim, although we
think that water carriage in this country deserves to be
rescued from its present neglected and decaying condi
tion, into whioh it has lapsed through the instrumental
ity of ambitious and over-grasping' railways. Scientific
American.
BRIDGE ACROSS INDIAN RIVER.
Mountain Indians construct across riven and gorges
substantial but crude bridges of logs and brush, similar
in general appearano to the one illustrated on page two
hundred and sixty-four. The bridge consists of trees
which have been felled from either side of the stream so
as to meet in the center. Having done this the limbs
are pruned off, cross pieces are tied on with willow or
haxol withes, and boards or brush laid across these for
a foot path. Some of the crude sort with brush and
dirt coverings, which the pioneers found spanning deep
chasms, were far from inviting to a man with unsteady
nerves.