SOURCE OP ST. Peter's river. 247 



ftve or six miles. The guide said it would be difficult to 

 travel at a greater distance, although it might shorten 

 the route, because the country was too thickly wooded, and 

 water very scarce : this last circumstance can only be ac- 

 counted for upon the supposition, that the water escapes 

 through the numerous sinks observed in the ground. The 

 forests, traversed by the party, consisted principally of oak, 

 basswood, ash, elm, white walnut, sugar tree, maple, birch, 

 aspen, with a thick undergrowth of hazel, hickory, 

 &c. In the bottoms the wild rice, horsetail, may-apple, 

 &c. were found. The eye is charmed by the abundance of 

 wild roses which are strewed over the country, and the 

 palate is not less delighted with the excellence of the 

 strawberry, which is remarkable for its fine fragrance, and 

 which was, just at that time, in a state of perfect maturity. 

 A small Indian village, of five lodges, was passed on the 

 26th; it is situated on a stream, supposed to be the upper 

 Iowa. Judging from the number of women and children 

 which the party saw, the population must be dense ; there 

 were but two or three men in the village ; the rest were 

 probably hunting, especially as a large herd of Elk were 

 seen in the morning by the boys of the party, while in 

 search of the horses, that had strayed during the night 

 time to a distance of eight miles from the camp. The 

 whole population of the village seemed to have no other 

 culture than about two acres of maize, which was planted 

 without order in hills and which had at that time risen but 

 about eight inches above the ground. 



At the encampment of the 27th, observations were ta- 

 ken at three o'clock, A. M. (of the 28th,) by which the 

 latitude of this place was determined to be 43°47' 57" north. 

 About one mile north of this, the party crossed a river, 

 called, in the Dacota language, H6-ka, (Root.) which is 



