SOURCE OF ST. PETER's RIVER. 97' 



guide to hush all apprehension, as we observed him make 

 for a projecting point where a small eddy, barely thirty 

 feet in length, presented the only landing place for the 

 canoes. Our paddlers strained every nerve, and it was 

 evident that all were convinced that nothing short of the ut- 

 most exertion on their part could urge the light canoe on- 

 wards against the force of the stream ; at last, having, by 

 strong and quickly repeated strokes of the paddle, reached 

 the eddy, one of the men immediately jumped into the 

 stream to stop the frail bark, and prevent it from being dash- 

 ed against the shore ; two men were scarcely able to keep the 

 canoe in its place, as its bow touched the rocks while the 

 stern was still in the rapid. She was quickly unloaded, 

 and raised from the waters, and while the men were en- 

 gaged in transporting the baggage across, we stopped on 

 the rock to watch the progress of the other canoes, which 

 Avere conducted with equal skill to the landing place. In 

 contemplating this scene the interest was heightened by 

 the recollection that perhaps no other country presents 

 such splendid and wild features as those that we were then 

 beholding. 



In the evening we were visited by a few Chippewas, 

 who came to exchange wild rice for ammunition. They had 

 heard of our visit to Pembina, and had prepared them- 

 selves to welcome us. In the course of the day we ob- 

 served hung up, near the door of a cabin, a bear's snout, 

 which, we were told, was put up, according to the 

 Chippewa custom, as a sort of trophy. We stopped to pro- 

 cure some of the meat, but were informed, that although 

 the animal had been killed only on the preceding day, still 

 it had been all consumed, fresh meat being a rare treat to 

 those that inhabit the banks of this river. Indeed, their 

 game appears to be restricted almost exclusively to a few 



