346 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
is of large granite boulders which cover the ground thickly and which 
are piled in great heaps or walls along the southeastern shore of the 
lake. The bowlders lying near the lake are worn smooth by the action 
of the waves. Throughout the greater part of the winter the water is 
frozen, and frequently to the bottom, over much of the lake. 
This lake has no outlet, nor is it as long as it is usually represented. 
Eighteen miles or more of the northern end of what is ordinarily repre- 
sented as Lake Traverse is a vast meadow land over which the water 
does not extend. The waters would drain to the south if the present 
basin were filled to overflowing. The character of the ground is quite 
different at the opposite ends, the one being a comparatively recently 
formed dam and the other composed of sediment from a lake bed over- 
grown with rank vegetation. This great meadow is a wilderness of 
coarse, wild grasses, 6 to 8 feet high, interspersed with areas of smaller 
prairie grass that is used by the neighboring farmers for hay. It is 
60 or 75 miles in length and somewhere within this area the Boise de 
Soux River (the nominal head of the Red River of the North) has its 
source. The Boise de Soux River is a small, sluggish, bayou-like stream 
only a few feet wide and of uncertain channel. 
Traverse Lake has but two small inlets—one from the east, the 
Muslinka River, and one from the west that has been called Daugherty 
Creek. These two small streams, together with a small annual rain- 
fall, are the only visible means of water supply. The Muslinka River, 
the eastern and larger of the two tributaries, is a small stream, 40 or 50 
miles long, that flows only during the spring and early summer. 
The lake teems with animal and plant life. Most of the water-plants 
of this section of the country appear to be represented, ranging from 
the great rushes to the. tiny desmids. Bulrushes, beakrushes, nut- 
rushes, sedges, and grasses grow in luxuriance. Several species of 
Potamogeton, milfoil, and bladderwort were observed, but the lake is 
particularly rich in alge. Quantities of Chara, and a large, coarse 
Vaucheria grow in various places. Species of smaller filamentous alge 
and desmids and diatoms are present. The vegetation in the lake does 
not decay on the bottom, but is washed to the shore. 
The lake contains an abundance of animal life; the lower forms are 
present in great numbers and variety. Crustacean life is abundant. 
A few crawfish were observed, and the shallow waters near the shore 
and among the weeds and rocks were filled with Gammarus, while 
swarms of Daphnia, Cyclops, and other small forms filled the surface 
waters. Great numbers of insects and their larvee sported among the 
stones. The families Gyrinide and Hydrophide predominated, and were 
each represented by several species. Molluscan life was abundant, 
‘especially univalves. The genus Planorbis was represented by several 
species; these were slowly crawling over the vegetation or floating 
leisurely about near the surface of the water with the broad, almost 
circular foot expanded and protruding just above the surface, while the 
