26 ANNUAL REPORT OF 



into Loon, Little Vermillion and Crane lakes and inter- 

 mediate rivers, in all about one hundred miles. The 

 water was at high stage and the weather favorable, there 

 being only a little rain one night and a brief shower one 

 day. There were about eight portages and mostly short 

 ones. 



The general elevation of the country varies from thirty 

 to sixty feet above lake level, but there are portions two 

 hundred or three hundred feet high. The surface is con- 

 siderably broken, underlaid with granite, on which bare 

 patches of ledge are occasionally seen, both on the lake 

 shore and in the interior. It is timbered with Jack and Nor- 

 way pine and poplar, with here and there other kinds of 

 large-leaved trees, while often near the water's edge are 

 bunches of yellowish-green foliage of the ash. No cutting 

 of timber has been done, but on the main land are exten- 

 sive areas burned over ten years ago or upwards, and 

 which are now only a little covered with a young growth 

 of trees. 



In all these lakes, especially in Lac La Croix, are many 

 rocky islands, thickly and beautifully wooded with Nor- 

 way pine, which has been growing probably two centuries; 

 but there is a clear area of water surface on Lac La Croix, 

 about six miles in length by three in breadth. Curtain 

 falls, the outlet of Crooked lake, have great volume and a 

 fall of about thirty feet, and are striking. Notwithstand- 

 ing the scars left by fire, the south shore of Lac La Croix, 

 and especially the western part, is pleasing. Precipitous 

 and bold rock, thirty feet or more high, sometimes con- 

 stitutes the shore of both mainland and islands. 



The islands, of which as many as twelve are vacant 

 lend the chief beauty to the scenery. They are principal- 

 ly valuable for scenery, and as such are of great value. 

 To denude them of timber would be of public injury, for 



