must be postponed to the last of the warm season. Even then it is a very rugged and dangerous trip, though it has been accomplished by a few old mountain men.
One of these related to us how, while endeavoring to reach a certain bald, black spot on the west side, known as "the bear," he lost his footing, and went, as he expressed it, "kiting" down the side of the mountain, expecting nothing else but to be dashed to pieces. Fortunately there are few crevasses on this mountain; and, coming to softer snow, he was able to check his speed, and regain his footing. He found that "the bear" was a black rock, kept bare by hot springs, which burst out at this place.
Mount St. Helen has been frequently known, since the settlement of the country, to throw out steam and ashes; scattering the latter over the country for a hundred miles, and obscuring the daylight (on one occasion) so that it was necessary to burn candles.
Fine gold is found in such quantities on the Cathlapootle River that many attempts have been made to prospect at the foot of this mountain. But these attempts have always been frustrated by the obstacles already mentioned. In time the mineral wealth of the Cascade Range will be developed; not, however, until the population has been greatly augmented, and the necessary gradual clearing up of the country opens the way.
Mount Adams, almost directly cast of Mount St. Helen, and visible from the Wallamet Valley, like the Oregon snow-peaks, rises from the eastern side of the range, and can be reached from the more open country on that side without any great exertion. It is one of the most imposing of the snow mountains in appear-
