130 NOTKS AM> 



with bark, leave it in this situation three or four weeks longer, until it is per- 

 fectly ripe. About the latter end of September they return to the river, when 

 each family, having its separate allotment, and being able to distinguish their 

 own property by the manner of fastening the sheaves, gather in the portion that 

 belongs to them. This they do by placing their canoes close to the branches 

 of rice in such position as to receive the grain when it falls, and then beat it 

 out with pieces of wood formed for that purpose. Having done this, they dry 

 it with smoke, and afterwards tread, or rub off the outside husk ; when it is fit 

 for use they put it into the skins of fawns, or young buffaloes, taken off nearly 

 whole for this purpose, and sewed into a sort of sack, wherein they preserve it 

 till the return of their harvest. It has been the subject of much speculation, why 

 this spontaneous grain is not found in any other regions of America, or in those 

 countries situated in the same parallels of latitude, where the waters are as 

 apparently adapted for its growth, as in the climate I treat of. As'for instance, 

 none of the countries that lie to the south and east of the Great Lakes, even 

 from the provinces north of the Carolinas, to the extremities of Labrador, pro- 

 duce any of this grain. It is true, I found great quantities of it in the watered 

 lands near Detroit, between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, but, on inquiry, I 

 learned that it never arrived nearer to maturity than just to blossom, after 

 which it appeared blighted and died away. This convinces me, that the north 

 west wind, as 1 have before hinted, is much more powerful in these than in th( 

 interior parts, and that it is more inimical to the fruits of the earth, after it has 

 passed over the lakes and become united with the wind which joins it from the 

 frozen regions of the north, than it is further to the westward." 



The reasons assigned by Carver, wiiy this grain is not seen in a state of ma 

 lurity, to the east nor to the south of the Great Lakes, are unsatisfactory. The 

 northwest winds are mitigated in passing over those immense bodies of water, 

 nor is his assertion warranted by the fact. This rice certainly flourishes to the 

 south of the lakes, and we have the authority of Kalm to support us in stating, 

 that it grows to the east. The only difficulty exists as to the degree of latitude 

 by which its growth is bounded ; and it is believed, that Mackenzie limits its 

 northern extension too much. Kalm eays, that on the 16th of July he saw it 

 growing on the western side of Lake Champlain, near Crown Point, in this 

 s-tate, and in the 44th degree of north latitude j and again he mentions, thai: 

 the zizania aquatica, or folle avoine, grows plentifully in the rivulet, or brook, 

 which flows somewhat below Prairie de la Magdalene, a small village on the 

 eastern side of the river St. Lawrence, about eight miles from Montreal ; and 

 that its seed are gathered in October, and taste almost as well as rice. Dr. 

 Williams says, that it is a native of Vermont. A considerable difficulty exist? 

 urith respect to the botanical arrangement and denomination of this plant. Lin 



