The Dalles of the Columbia are as famous as the palisades of the Hudson, while in fact they are much more wonderful, and well worth a trip of thousands of miles to see. They occupy about fifteen miles of the river between Celilo and Dalles Station, and are only 130 feet wide, whereas above and below, the bed of the stream is from 2,000 to 2,500 feet wide. As the river is swollen to extraordinary proportions by rain freshets and the melting of snow in the spring-time, it is not a remarkable thing that during such flood periods the water rises suddenly in this narrow cleft as much as sixty, and even seventy feet. The river itself very commonly rises as much as twenty-five feet, even at its widest places, and hence we may imagine what a raging torrent it becomes; but at low- water the Dalles are a succession of cascades of the most beautiful proportions, rolling in sheets of clearest water, over terraces of stone as regular as though they had been laid by the hand of a mason. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: STRAWNAHAN’S FALLS, ON SIDE OF MOUNT HOOD.] [Illustration: MULTINOMAH FALLS, OREGON.] The region of Oregon near Portland, and along the Columbia, is rich in scenery of the most beautiful and picturesque character. Far in the distance loom snowy peaks, and the clouds, trees and mountains are reflected in the clear water as in a mirror. Among the most picturesque of all the scenes of this locality are Multinomah Falls, near the railway station of the same name. The water plunges down the astonishing distance of 700 feet, breaking into a ribbon of glittering spray as it falls. A little to the right of the main falls, as seen in the photograph, is another tiny little one, so modest as scarcely to be observed, but loved and admired by tourists equally with its larger sister. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: WILLAMETTE FALLS, OREGON.]