266 EXPEDITION TO THE 



which this river ceaselessly rolls towards the ocean. The 

 immense number of islands which it imbosoms, also con- 

 tributes to the variety of the scenery by presenting it con- 

 stantly under a new aspect. 



On the 26th of June the wind was fair, and starting 

 early, the party proceeded up with considerable speed ; 

 the country and its scenery presenting pretty nearly the 

 same characters as on the preceding day. In the course 

 of the morning, they saw the appearance of a cavern in the 

 rocks, and landed to explore it, but found it to be mere- 

 ly a small excavation of no account; this however gave 

 Mr. Keating an opportunity of observing that the bluff 

 consisted of limestone, which in the upper parts became 

 very loose, and assumed the characters of the asche as 

 mentioned in the preceding chapter. Fragments of a beau- 

 tiful oolite were observed below it ; they were loose and 

 angular, some of them of a large size. No doubt could 

 exist that they were in the immediate vicinity of their 

 original sites, but the necessity of taking advantage of the 

 fair wind, did not permit a search after the rock itself. 

 On the left bank of the river, a small stream was observ- 

 ed to put in ; at its mouth two Menomone lodges were 

 situated ; but they were closed, the inhabitants having 

 doubtless gone on their summer hunts. At some distance 

 beyond this they passed, on the right bank, the mouth of 

 the lawa, a river celebrated in Indian warfare as the spot 

 of a bloody rencounter between the Sioux and Sauks. 

 At forty-five miles from Fort Crawford there is a Winne- 

 bago village of a few huts ; it was surrounded by hand- 

 some cornfields. At the mouth of Bad-Axe river, a little 

 beyond this, the party exchanged a few words with two 

 Menomone Indians who were descending in a canoe. Two 

 remarkable capes or points were observed on the right 

 bank of the Mississippi below lawa river ; the lower one 



