being one mile less than between the capes. The stage of water on the bar, is, mean low water, twenty-four feet; high water, thirty-two: from which it will be seen that there is abundance of deep water, and room for shipping, about Astoria. About mid-river we had, from the pilot-house of the Grant, one of the grandest views to be obtained anywhere, of a magnificent body of water, in conjunction with fine, bold scenery in immediate connection, and distant visions of dazzling snow-peaks. Looking seaward, we beheld the dark headland of Cape Disappointment, and the low neck which constitutes Point Adams, with the broad opening of Young's Bay defining it more sharply; toward the south, highlands, with Astoria at their foot, and the "castled crags" of Saddle Mountain towering over them; and toward the east, Mount Adams and Mount St. Helen, each more than a hundred miles away, but seeming to rise up in their pure whiteness out of the everlasting green of the intermediate forests.
On the north side of the river, opposite Astoria, we found the little fishing village of Chinook, where salmon are yearly caught, and put up for export; and the new settlement of Knappton, where is a fine lumber-mill, cutting about twenty-five thousand feet per day, and where are also the cement-works, belonging to the enterprising owners of the mill. In a little valley, just over the ridge back of this place, a colony have lately settled, who pronounce the soil to be excellent, and themselves delighted with their situation, especially as they are each entitled to a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres of the choicest land they can find. But for lack of time we should have availed ourself of the offer of our captain, and paid a visit to the settlers of Deep River.
