290 EXPF-DITION TU THJi 



craft, whose name, as well as thuse of several of Governor 

 Cass' party we found carved on the rock. In his account 

 of it, Mr. Schoolcraft states it to be the cavern that was 

 visited by Carver, but adds that " it appears to have un- 

 dergone a considerable alteration since that period." It 

 appears from Major Long's MS. of 1S17, that there are two 

 caves, both of which he visited, the lower one was Carver's; 

 it was in 1817 very much reduced in size from the dimen- 

 sions given by Carver ; the opening into it was then so low, 

 that the only way of entering it was by creeping in a pros- 

 trate position. Our interpreter, who had accompanied Ma- 

 jor Long, as a guide, told us that it was now closed up ; 

 it was probably near the cemetery which we have men- 

 tioned. The cavern which we visited, and which Mr. 

 Schoolcraft describes, is situated five miles above ; it was 

 discovered in 1811, and is called the Fountain cave ; there 

 is a beautiful stream running through it, whose tempera- 

 ture, as observed by Major Long on the 16th of July, was 

 46° (F.) and by Mr. Schoolcraft, on the 2d of August, 47°. 

 The temperature of the atmosphere, the day that Major 

 Long made his observation, was 89°. From these results, 

 as well as from several others which we obtained, we have 

 been led to adopt about 46° as the average temperature of 

 springs in this latitude, and in this district of country. 



At a late hour, in the night of the 2d of July, the boat 

 entered the St. Peter, and proceeded up the river opposite 

 to the fort ; but it being too late to approach the works, the 

 gentlemen spent the night on the south bank of the river, 

 preferring to lay out in the open air, than to share with a 

 Frenchman and his Indian family the shelter of a hovel. 

 The distance, by water, had always been estimated at about 

 ninety leagues or two hundred and seventy miles. In Mr. 

 Schoolcraft's journal it is estimated at two hundred and 

 sixty-five miles. It was measured on the ice in February, 



