516 EXPEDITION TO THE 



and the other muddy. At the mouth of the St. Peter 

 there is an island of considerable extent, separated from 

 the main land by a slough of the Mississippi, into which the 

 St. Peter discharges itself. The Mississippi is here, ex- 

 clusive of the island, about 250 yards wide. In ascending 

 it, particularly in low water, boats pass through this slough, 

 as it affords a greater depth than the main branch on the 

 east side of the island. It was probably, as Carver suggests, 

 this island which, being thickly wooded and lying imme- 

 diately opposite to the mouth, concealed the St. Peter from 

 Hennepin's observation. No notice of this river is to be 

 found in any of the authors anterior to the end of the 17th 

 century. Indeed, it is only by close research that we have 

 been enabled to trace the discovery of this river so far back. 

 Charlevoix states,* that le Sueur was sent by M. d'lber- 

 ville to make an establishment in the Sioux country ; and 

 to take possession of a copper mine that he had there dis- 

 covered, (que le Sueur y avait dtcouverte ;J he ascended 

 the St. Peter forty leagues to " la Riviere Verte," which 

 comes in on the leftt Though only the last of September, 

 the ice prevented him from ascending that river more than 

 a league. He therefore built a fort and spent the winter 

 at that spot; in April, 1702,^ he went up the Riviere 

 Verte to the mine, which was only three quarters of a 

 league above his winter establishment. In twenty-two 

 days they got out more than thirty thousand pounds of 

 ore, Cde matiere,) of which four thousand pounds were 

 selected and sent to France. The mine was at the foot of 

 a mountain ten leagues long, that seemed to be composed 



* Charlevoix, Histolre de la nouvelle France, a Paris, 1744, tome 4> 

 p. 165 and 166. 



\ As he ascended, right bank? 

 ± This ought probably to be 1701. 



