e Bonneville, but much of the beauty and attractiveness of
this region would be lost if the present lake should give place
to a bed of glistening salt. Let us hope that it will remain as
it is.

THE SKAGIT RIVER

The Skagit is not one of the great rivers of the world, for very
little of its course lies outside the boundaries of a single state.
It is, however, none the less interesting. Few rivers with a length
of only one hundred and fifty miles present so great a variety of
instructive features. We shall certainly learn more from a study
of the Skagit than from many a better known and more pretentious
river.

Innumerable torrents, fed by the glaciers of the Cascade Range,
pour down the rocky slopes and lose themselves in the wooded canons
below. The canon streams, of much greater size, flow less impetuously
over gentler slopes, and are frequently blocked by boulders and
logs. These streams unite in one broad, deep river, which moves
on quietly to its resting-place in Puget Sound. Its name, Skagit,
is of Indian origin and means _wild cat_.

By following the Skagit River and a tributary stream, one can go
from the bare and snowy summit of the Cascade Range down through
dense forests, and come out at last upon a magnificent delta, where
a fertile plain is slowly but steadily encroaching upon the waters
of the sound. What contrasting scenes are presented along the few
short miles of the course of the river! A trip from its source
to its mouth will be worth all the trouble it involves, although
the trail is often disagreeably wet and sometimes dangerous.

There is no grander scenery in the United States than that of the
Cascade Range; nor are there more dense forests than those found
upon its western slope. The range is hidden in almost perpetual
clouds and storms, and they are fortunate who can reach its summit
upon a pleasant day.

[Illustration: FIG. 55.--SUMMIT OF THE CASCADE RANGE, NEAR THE HEAD
OF THE SKAGIT RIVER]

The forests of fir and hemlock have gained a foothold nearly to the
summit of the range. Upon the little benches and in the protected
nooks the trees grow thriftily, and dense groves are found up to an
elevation of nearly five thousand feet; but upon the more exposed
and rocky slopes stunted trunks show the effect of a constant struggle
with the rocks and winds. Upon other slopes, too high for the trees
to grow, there are low shrubs and arctic mosses; but above all rise
precipitous crags a