292 EXPEDITION TO THE 



upon which most trade has been carricil on. Lake St. Croix 

 extends thirty miles, beyond which the river continues na- 

 vigable for about twenty miles, when its navigation is said 

 to be obstructed by a rapid ; but above this, the stream is 

 a very pleasant one to travel, and sufficiently deep for 

 loaded canoes. 



Game seems to be disappearing very rapidly from the 

 face of the country. Bufl'aloes of the largest size were for- 

 merly found here; a few were still to be seen in 1817, on 

 the river that bears their name, and that discharges itself 

 into the Mississippi below Lake Pepin ; but since the es- 

 tablishment of the garrison at Fort St. Anthony, they have 

 all been destroyed or have removed further west. The 

 party that travelled in the boats, saw abundance of pigeons, 

 but with the exception of these, no other kind of game ; 

 the only animal observed beside these was the rattlesnake, 

 (Crotalus horridus,) of which they killed four or five. 



The land party, although provided with an excellent 

 hunter, killed but a few pigeons ; some of them saw a large 

 herd of Elks. Game will be judged to be very scarce 

 where two parties travelling by land and by water can kill 

 but two or three dozen of birds upon a distance of upwards 

 of two hundred miles. 



The river abounds in turtles, (Testudo [Trionyx] ferox, 

 Linn., and T. [Emys] geographica, Lesueur,*) at least 

 judging from the great number of eggs which our men 

 picked up in the sand ; it appears that the animal deposits 

 her eggs on the sand islands, which abound in the river, 

 generally at a distance from the water, she covers them up 

 with sand, and abandons them ; the heat of the sun sup- 

 plies the place of incubation. The men collected them in 

 great number, and appeared to be very fond of them. 



•Journal Acad, of Nat. Sciences, vol. I. p. 86. pi. 5. 



