[ 237 ] 64 



From Sandy lake to Crow-wino: river and island, (misnamed by the voy- 

 ageurs riviere aux Corheavx and Ue atix Corbeaux,) the Mississippi might- 

 be navignted by small steamboats. 



At certain seasons it may be ascended even as high as Kabikons, for the 

 smaller rapids that occur in the intermediale distance of 246 miles would 

 have escaped my observation, (the waters being at their mean stage of 

 elevation.) if they had not been pointed out to me by my guide as we passed 

 over them. 



Over the whole route which I traversed after leaving Crow-wing river, 

 the country has a difl'erent aspect from that which the banks of the Missis- 

 sippi above the falls of St. Anihotiy present. The forests are denser 

 and more varied; the soil, which is alternately sandy, gravelly, clayey, and 

 loamy, is, generally speaking, lighter, excepting on the shores of some of 

 the larger lakt-s. The uplands are covered with white and yellow pines, 

 spruce, and birch ; and the wet low lands by the American larch and the 

 willow. On the slopes of sandy hills, the American aspen, the canoe birch, 

 with a species of birch of dwarfish growth, the alder, and wild rose, extend 

 to the very margin of the river. On the borders of the larger lakes, where 

 the soil is generally better, we find the sugar-maple, the black and bar 

 oaks, (also named over cup white oak, but differing from the white oak,) 

 the elm, ash, lime tree, &.c. Generally speaking, however, this wood-land 

 does not extend back farther than a mile from the lakes. The while cedar, 

 the hemlock, spruce pine, and fir, are occasionally found ; but the red 

 cedar is scarce throughout this region, and none, perhaps, are to be seen 

 but on islands of those lakes called by the Indians Red Ctdar lakes. 

 The shrubbery consists principally of the wild rose, hawthorn, and wild 

 plum; and raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and cranberries are 

 abundant. 



The aspect of the country is greatly varied by hills, dales, copses, small 

 prairies, and a great number of lakes ; the whole of which I do not pre- 

 tend to have laid down on my map. The natural beauties of the country 

 are, however, impressed with a character of sternness and melancholy; the 

 silence and solitude of which are interrupted or revived only by the flocks 

 of water-fowl that congregate about its waters, to nestle amidst and fatten 

 upon the wild rice. The naturalist, however, has still an endless field 

 of observations in the insect world, for everywhere life manifests itself 

 in some form or other. It is, indeed, remarkable, that the more we ad- 

 vance to the north, (to within a certain extent, nevertheless,) the mere the 

 mosquito appears to be abundant, as every voyageur knows by sad ex- 

 perience. 



The lakes to which 1 have just alluded are distributed in separate 

 groups, or are arranged in prolonged chains along the rivers, and not un- 

 Irequently attached to each other by gentle rapids. It has seemed to me 

 that they diruinish in extent on both sides of the Mississippi, as we proceed 

 southwardly, as far as 43*^ of north latitude; and this observation ex- 

 tends to the Arctic Region, commencing at Bear's lake, or Slave lake, Win- 

 nipeg lake, &c. It may be fufther remarked, that the basins of these lakes 

 have a sufficient depth to leave no doubt that they will remain characteris- 

 tic features of the country for a long time to come. Several species of 

 fish abound in them. The white fish (corregonxis albvs) is found in all 

 the deep lakes west of the Mississippi — and, indeed, from lake Erie to 

 the Polar sea. That which is taken in Leech lake, is said by amateurs 



