Page:All Over Oregon and Washington.djvu/255

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DOWN THE SOUND.
249

which is between forty and fifty miles in extent, yet whose entrance looks scarcely too wide for the passage of a ship. On this narrow strait is situated Seabeck, another large lumbering establishment; making in all four of these great lumber factories, whose assessed valuation for 1870 was as follows: Port Blakely, $91,705; Port Madison, $173,191; Puget Mill Company (Port Gamble), $282,327; Washington Mill Company (Seabeck), $128,186. Probably the real value of the milling property in Kitsap County far exceeds the figures which appear on the assessment-roll.

Port Ludlow, seven miles below Port Gamble, and Port Discovery, ten miles south-west of Port Townsend, at the extremity of another of the countless narrow bays by which the Sound is fringed, are the most northern of the milling towns. This latter bay is twelve miles long, and opens into the Sound at its junction with the Strait of San Juan de Fuca.

Port Townsend is situated on the peninsula formed by Port Discovery Bay on one side, and Port Townsend Bay on the other. This peninsula is ten miles long, and about three wide. The shore here is high and abrupt, without trees, and shows a level country beyond. The business portion of the town is located on low ground, only fairly above the reach of the tide, while the residences are nearly all upon the bluff. Though the water is deep, and there is plenty of room in this harbor, it is too much exposed to winds from all points of the compass to be a good one, or to compare favorably with very many others on the Sound.

This is the port of entry for this district; and we make quite a lengthened call, having an opportunity to take a critical look at the group of ladies and gentlemen who have come down to the wharf to give us