n of the Cordilleran range, which forms the backbone of the
Pacific coast, and in Mexico rises to great volcanic ridges, of which
the loftiest are Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. Plateaus and valleys
of rich, gravelly soil lie within these stately ranges.

Here we find the highest mountains of Canada, some varying from ten to
fifteen thousand feet, and assuming a grandeur which we never see in
the far more ancient Laurentides, which, in the course of ages, have
been ground down by the forces of nature to their relatively diminutive
size. Within the recesses of these stupendous ranges there are rich
stores of gold and silver, while coal exists most abundantly on
Vancouver [Transcriber's note: Island?].

The Fraser, Columbia, and other rivers of this region run with great
swiftness among the canons and gorges of the mountains, and find their
way at last to the Pacific. In the Rockies, properly so called, we see
stupendous masses of bare, rugged rock, crowned with snow and ice, and
assuming all the grand and curious forms which nature loves to take in
her most striking upheavals. Never can one forget the picturesque
beauty and impressive grandeur of the Selkirk range, and the ride by
the side of {17} the broad, rapid Fraser, over trestle-work, around
curves, and through tunnels, with the forest-clad mountains ever rising
as far as the eye can reach, with glimpses of precipices and canons, of
cataracts and cascades that tumble down from the glaciers or snow-clad
peaks, and resemble so many drifts of snow amid the green foliage that
grows on the lowest slopes. The Fraser River valley, writes an
observer, "is one so singularly formed, that it would seem that some
superhuman sword had at a single stroke cut through a labyrinth of
mountains for three hundred miles, down deep into the bowels of the
land." [4] Further along the Fraser the Cascade Mountains lift their
rugged heads, and the river "flows at the bottom of a vast tangle cut
by nature through the heart of the mountains." The glaciers fully
equal in magnitude and grandeur those of Switzerland. On the coast and
in the rich valleys stand the giant pines and cedars, compared with
which the trees of the Eastern division seem mere saplings. The coast
is very mountainous and broken into innumerable inlets and islands, all
of them heavily timbered to the water's edge. The history of this
region offers little of picturesque interest except what may be found
in the adve