SOURCE OP ST. Peter's river. 93 



principal beauties. In this he was well favoured, as a long 

 projecting rock in the bed of the stream, affords a satis- 

 factory and comprehensive view of all its features. As 

 these were the finest falls on Winnepeek river, we should 

 have wished to represent them in this work, but it was 

 found impossible to retain their effect when reduced to the 

 required size. We found near this a fragment of a mineral 

 resembling the phonolite or Idingstein shieffer. It contain- 

 ed small cubic crystals of iron pyrites. It was angular, and 

 probably broken from a neighbouring rock, but we could 

 not discover it in its original site. 



The next day, being the 21st of August, we reached an 

 expansion in the river, that forms a small lake called 

 Lac du Bonnet, at the upper end of which we encamped. 

 This lake is about fifteen miles long, and from six hundred 

 yards to four miles in breadth ; it presents a fine glassy and 

 smooth surface, free from any current; this afforded to 

 our paddlers a relaxation from the hard task of working 

 up stream. Previously we had passed one decharge and 

 three portages ; of these, only one was fatiguing ; it was 

 about one mile long. At these portages, the rapids, 

 though very fine, are not to be compared to the lower falls. 

 The general features of this country still continued the 

 same ; the rocks at times attained a greater height, though 

 they never rose into hills. At one of the portages we ob- 

 served small black crystals, probably of tourmaline, shoot- 

 ing through the mass. A little beyond this, at the upper 

 " Portage du Rocher du Bonnet," a fine white clay was 

 seen, in which small fragments of lamellar feldspar were 

 observed. This was evidently a kaolin, or decomposed 

 feldspar; it appeared to be very abundant; at the surface 

 where we saw it, it was much intermixed with the soil 

 which appeared somewhat deeper and better than usual, 



Vol. II. 13 



