280 EXPEDITION TO THE 



small, especially lo the west, where it assumes the general 

 characters of an elevated prairie land. About half way up 

 the lake, its eastern bank rises to a height of near four hun- 

 dred and fifty feet, of which the first one hundred and 

 fifty are formed by a perpendicular bluff, and the lower 

 three hundred constitute a very abrupt and precipitous 

 slope, which extends from the base of the bluff to the edge 

 of the water. This forms a point, projecting into the lake, 

 and bounded by two small basins, each of which is the es- 

 tuary of a brook that falls into the lake at this place. The 

 wildness of the scenery is such, that even the voyager, 

 who has gazed with' delight upon the high bluffs of the 

 Mississippi, is struck with uncommon interest on behold- 

 ing this spot. There is in it what we meet with on no other 

 point of the far-stretching valley of the Mississippi, a high 

 projecting pointj a precipitous crag resting upon a steep bank 

 whose base is w^ished by a wide expanse of water, the calm- 

 ness of which contrasts with the savage features of the lands- 

 cape ; but this spot receives an additional interest from the 

 melancholy tale which is connected with it, and which casts 

 a deep gloom over its brightest features. Cold and callous 

 must be the heart of the voyager who can contemplate un- 

 moved and uninterested the huge cliffs that enclose this 

 lake, for " wild as the accents of lovers' farewell are the 

 hearts w^hich they bear, and the tales which they tell." 



" There was a time," our guide said, as we passed 

 near the base of the rock, " when this spot, which you 

 now admire for its untenanted beauties, was the scene 

 of one of the most melancholy transactions, that has 

 ever occurred among the Indians. There was, in the 

 village of Keoxa, in the tribe of Wapasha, during the 

 time that his father lived and ruled over them, a young 

 Indian female whose name was Winona, which signi- 



