p. 580, a Chart is given prepared by Mr. Charles A. Schott, of the U.S. Coast Survey, in which the course of the isothermal lines of mean annual temperature of the United States are set forth. From this Chart it appears that in Oregon a zone stretching all along the coast, and including all the western area of the Coast Ranges, has a mean temperature of 52° F., and this zone follows the course of the Columbia River inland as far as Walla Walla, having a breadth north and south of the river of nearly 2° of latitude. From Walla Walla this zone of 52° F. turns down south along the Snake River, and ends in a wide expansion around Boise city. The Willamette Valley district is shown as having a mean temperature of from 48° to 50° F., as has also Eastern Oregon generally, with the exception of the Snake River district, already mentioned, and a belt lying just east of the Cascade Range, and under its lee, which has a width of about 120 miles and a temperature of 40° F., rising gradually to 44° F., on the eastern margin of the belt.

The invariable remarks which are to be heard in California concerning Oregon are to the effect that it is always raining there, and the Oregonians are termed "web feet" in derision by their southern neighbours, but in reality the general rainfall of Oregon is by no means excessive. The rainfall varies greatly in different parts of the State, as necessarily results from the action of the ranges of mountains on the cloud-bearing winds blowing over the country from the Pacific. Whilst Western Oregon has abundance of rain, Middle and Eastern Oregon do not receive enough, and especially a tract of country lying under the lee of the Cascade Mountains, is parched for want of water, and in many places actual desert. The rainfall in Western Oregon itself varies a good deal. Thus the mean rainfall at Portland for four years is 52.82 inches, whilst that recorded at Eola,

farther south, is only 37 49. This amount is only half an inch greater than that of England, the mean rainfall of which is 37 inches. As appears from the United States official Rain Chart,* the annual rainfall on the west slope of the Coast Ranges at Yaquina Bay amounts to 68 inches, and rises hence northward to reach 72 inches on the coast near Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River. It is given as 60 inches on the summits and eastern slopes of the Coast Ranges in the latitude of Yaquina River, and 52 inches over the northern part of the Willamette Valley. In lat. 45° on the west slope of the Cascade Mountains it is 44 inches, and at Jacksonville 32 inches. On the eastern side of the Cascade Range the rainfall is 20 inches, sinking by a series of zones eastward to 16 and 12 inches. At the Dalles it is 20 inches and at Walla 16. The number of rainy and snowy days occurring annually registered at Eola averages for seven years 117·5; in England there are from 152 to 155 rainy days annually.

The distribution of the rainfall over the several seasons of the year is shown by the following table of the monthly and annual amount of rainfall at Portland :

* Ninth U.S. Census, p. 649.

MONTHLY AND ANNUAL AMOUNT OF RAINFALL AT PORTLAND, OREGON, IN INCHES, REPORTED BY U.S. SIGNAL SERVICE

STATION.

9.47

1.80 4.67 9.47

1872. 1873. 8.49 6.58 12.26 2.35 2.18 2.96 1.02 0.84 0.00 3.86 4.33 5.15 50.02 1874. 9.46 4.28 5.15 3.68 2.38 2.68 0.19 0.83 1.70 0.36 10 22 5 24 46.17 1875. 4.49 1.99 9.41 2.10 2.87 2.05 0.02 0.53 0.71 6.73 15 77 13.41 60.08 1876. 4.80 7.50 9.125.34 1.88 2.35 0.96 0.56 1.09 10.53,10.03 0.87 55 03

The average number of rainy days which have occurred at Eola in each month of the year during the last seven years is as follows, the number of inches falling in each month being added:

It will be seen that the main quantity of the rain falls in winter and spring, March being the most rainy month. The very small average amount of snowy days is a very remarkable fact. The three ripening and harvest months are almost devoid of rain. Occasionally, but very rarely, a heavy rain falls in these months. Thus,

For the

Year.

just before our visit, about June 28, 1877, a heavy rain occurred about Corvallis and Philomath, and laid the corn in some places before it was ripe. In the south of Western Oregon in the Umpqua and Rogue River valleys there is sometimes a shortness of grass in the summer and autumn, owing to prolonged drought.*

Severe winters occur at considerable intervals. Thus the winter of 1861-1862 was very heavy; I was told by Mr. Simmonds, a Presbyterian minister who farms land near Corvallis, that 12 inches of snow lay on the ground, and that floods occurred in the Willamette Valley and did much damage. Cattle died for want of fodder. Again, in the winter 1867–1868 a foot of snow lay on the ground for six weeks, and many cattle again perished. A certain amount of hay is always now prepared and kept ready in case of a hard winter occurring, and cattle are thus not lost as in early times, when little precaution was taken. In the month of January, 1875, there was a spell of unusually cold weather, during which the thermometer fell nearly to zero Fahrenheit, and the navigable rivers were obstructed by ice. Now and then late frosts occur as late as the middle of May, and sometimes, but rarely, are severe enough to injure the fruit crop. Unusual variations sometimes occur in the summer climate. Thus in 1870 there were heavy rains in June, succeeded by extraordinarily hot days and nights. The wheat crop, as appears from the returns, was, however, a maximum one in that year.

It is said that in Western Oregon thunderstorms are of very rare occurrence, and that hailstorms, hurricanes, whirlwinds, earthquakes, and other destructive phenomena are entirely unknown. The comparative freedom of this section of the country from high winds is fully shown * Monthly Reports of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 1871, p. 130.

C

by the Government wind records extending over a period of twenty-five years, during which only three winds blew over the State with a velocity of forty-five miles to the hour and a force of 10 lbs. to the square foot.

In the tract of Middle Oregon which fell under my own observation the rainfall must be very scanty indeed, and the only land there which has any considerable value is that which closely bordering on rivers is naturally watered by them, or which can be artificially irrigated from them. The rivers in question have their source of supply in the snows and glaciers of the Cascade Mountains, and hence the land irrigated by them suffers if the winter's fall of snow be a small one.

Over part of the Willamette Valley and the Coast Ranges regular land and sea-breezes are experienced, but they are somewhat local. A cool sea breeze from the west sets in every evening at Corvallis in summer and autumn about sundown, and in the morning a land breeze blows from the north-east. The sea-breeze occurs regularly at Albany, but is said not to extend farther than one mile east of the town.

The following remarks on the climate of Walla Walla, in Washington territory, are of interest as applying to Eastern and North-eastern Oregon also.*

A settler writing from Walla Walla Valley says:"One of the great peculiarities of this country is its mild climate. At this place, in N. lat. 46°, we seldom have snow before Christmas, and throughout the autumn for more than two months we have the most delightful weather, generally frost at night, but bright warm days, with the thermometer ranging from 55° to 70° Fahr.

66

Singular phenomena peculiar to the country are the periodical warm breezes through the autumn and winter,

* Monthly Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture for 1869, p. 384.