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8 Tide waters [[left margin]] From P.15 Fresh water of Col. river [[\left margin]] The strong current and great volume of fresh water in the Columbia River almost entirely prevents the entrance of the seawater, so that even at high tide and when the river was low in July I found it drinkable in Bakers Bay not half a mile from where the breakers were dashing against the rocks outside the Cape. [[left margin]] sickly & [[\left margin]] A consequence of this freshness is that we find many plants growing in small numbers down to the mouth of this river which belong to the second region, or that east ofthe Coast hills. Of these I may mention the Poplar Ash and Dogwood. [[left margin]] Chehalis brackish To P.3.A [[\left margin]] (But in ascending the Willapa or Chehalis we find the western limits of these trees very distinctly marked, for in both of these rivers the salt water flows in for many miles; in the former about fifteen, in the latter I found the water brackish for 20 miles up in March when it was swollen by long & heavy rains). [[left margin]] A. [[\left margin]] (Along these rivers also for a long distance the characteristic trees of the coast prevail exlusively, and it is only on the hills above tidewater that we begin to find an approach to the vegetation of the [[strikethrough]] 2nd we[[\strikethrough]] Valley Region [[left margin]] Soil & climate B [[\left margin]] (Soil of the Coast Region (Prairie of the Willapa, Columbia & Chehalis) v.P.12- [[end page]] [[start page]] 9 Abies Douglassii [[left margin]] Begins [[\left margin]] In a few scattered spots even along the coast we find a species of Spruce, differing much from the two commonest species. [[left margin]] Range [[\left margin]]As we advance towards the interior and reach higher ground this becomes mostly common, but on crossing the summit of the coast range it becomes suddenly almost the only species to be seen, and thence prevails along all others to near the summits of the Cascade range. [[left margin]] 18 [[\left margin]]This Spruce is the one called by the Americans "Red Fir". It was discovered by and named in honor of the lamented Douglas, the pioneer botanist of this coast. [[left margin]] Appearance [[\left margin]] (Its rugged bark like that of the chestnut, both in form and color and its peculiar cones, at once distinguish it from all other Coniferae - [[left margin]] Uses [[\left margin]]Its trunk in the forests is very free of branches, and it is the species most used for timber, especially at Paget Sound, though it is coarse grained & very liable to wasps and shrink. [[left margin]] height [[\left margin]] When standing alone in a Prairie this is a very fine tree, growing sometimes 250 ft. high & conspicuous near the coast from its overtopping the Spruce forests. [[left margin]] Limits [[\left margin]][[left margin]] T.P [[\left margin]] It extends from the higher ridges of the Sierra Nevada, northward to ?
