346 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



is of large granite boulders which cover the groiiud thickly and which 

 are piled in great heaps or walls along the southeastern shore of the 

 lake. The bowlders lying near the lake are worn smooth by the action 

 of the waves. Throughout the greater part of the winter the water is 

 frozen, and frequently to the bottom, over much of the lake. 



This lake has no outlet, nor is it as long as it is usually represented. 

 Eighteen miles or more of the northern end of what is ordinarily repre- 

 sented as Lake Traverse is a vast meadow laud over which the water 

 does not extend. The waters would drain to the south If the present 

 basin were filled to overflowing. The character of the ground is quite 

 different at the o^jjiosite ends, the one being a comi)aratively recently 

 formed dam and the other composed of sediment from a lake bed over- 

 grown with rank vegetation. This great meadow is a wilderness of 

 coarse, wild grasses, 6 to 8 feet high, interspersed with areas of smaller 

 prairie grass that is used by the neighboring farmers for hay. It is 

 60 or 75 miles in length and somewhere within this area the Boise de 

 Soux Kiver (the nominal head of the Red Kiver of the North) has its 

 source. The Boise de Soux River is a small, sluggish, bayou-like stream 

 only a few feet wide and of uncertain channel. 



Traverse Lake has but two small inlets — one from the east, the 

 Muslinka River, and one from the west that has been called Daugherty 

 Creek. These two small streams, together with a small annual rain- 

 fall, are the only visible means of water supj)ly. The Muslinka River, 

 the eastern and larger of the two tributaries, is a small stream, 40 or 50 

 miles long, that flows only during the spring and early summer. 



The lake teems with animal and plant life. Most of the water-plants 

 of this section of the country appear to be represented, ranging from 

 the great rushes to the tiny desmids. Bulrushes, beakrushes, nut- 

 rushes, sedges, and grasses grow in luxuriance. Several species of 

 Fotamogeton, milfoil, and bladderwort' were observed, but the lake is 

 2)articularly rich in alg«. Quantities of Chara, and a large, coarse 

 Vaucheria grow in various places. Species of smaller filamentous algae 

 and desmids and diatoms are present. The vegetation in the lake does 

 not decay on the bottom, but is washed to the shore. 



The lake contains an abundance of animal life; the lower forms are 

 present in great numbers and variety. Crustacean life is abundant. 

 A few crawfish were observed, aiul the shallow waters near the shore 

 and among the weeds and rocks were tilled with Gammarus^ while 

 swarms of Daplmia., Cyclops^ and other small forms filled the surface 

 waters. Great numbers of insects and their larvae sported among the 

 stones. The families Gyrinidw and Hydrophidd predominated, and were 

 each represented by several species. Molluscan life was abundant, 

 esi)ecially univalves. The genus Flanorbis was represented by several 

 species; these were slowly crawling over the vegetation or floating 

 leisurely about near the surface of the water with the broad, almost 

 circular foot expanded and i>rotrudingjust above the surface, while the 



