65 I 237 J 



to be more highly flavored than even that of lake Superior, and weighs 

 from three to tetl pounds. There is another species of this white fish, 

 called by the Indians (uUbj/, or ottnniby, (the corregouus artedi,) which 

 resembles it, but is much less esteemed. Both species furnish a wholesome 

 and palatable food. Among the other species of fi^h that inhabit these 

 waters, are the inashkinonge. or viashkilonge ; the pike, or jack-fish ; the 

 pickerel, or gilt carp; the sucker, or tiue carp; the perch ; a species of trout, 

 called by the Chippeways na?nogu,s, &c., (fcc. These lakes, which are 

 somewhat deep, swarm with leeches ; and, among the amphibious reptiles, 

 there are several species of terrapin and turtle, of which Mr. Say has de- 

 scribed three of each kind in the appendix to the Second Expedition of 

 Major Long. 



The portage between these lakes and rivers is eiTected by means of in- 

 tricate paths ; the key to which it would be well to have, as, without it, an 

 Indian war in this quarter might present still more difficulties than those 

 experienced in Florida. For this reason, 1 have been particularly careful 

 in laying these portages down on the map. which I could not have done 

 had 1 adopted a smaller scale. It must be borne in mind, that in this re- 

 gion, during six months of the year, no use can be made of either horses or 

 carriages ; it is absolutely necessary to have recourse to bark canoes. Any 

 one consulting the map to study the portages, will soon perceive that an 

 enemy, after crossing one of the larger lakes, may make his escape in al- 

 most all directions, "in this respect^its utility becomes, 1 think, obvious, 

 not only to travellers, but to the civil and military department of the na- 

 tional administration. 



Of all the Indian nations that I have visited, the Chippeways inhabiting 

 tl e country about the sources of the Mississippi are decidedly the most 

 favored. Besides their natural resources (to which I have already referred) 

 of fish, wild rice, and maple sugar, with the addition of an abundance of 

 game, the climate is found to he well adapted to the culture of corn, wheat, 

 barley, oats, and pulse. The potato is of superior quality to that of the 

 middle States of the Union. In a trading point of view, the hunt is very 

 profitable. Tke bear, the deer and elk,' the wolf, the fox, the wolverine, 

 the fisher-racoon, muskrat, mink, otter, marten, weasel, and a few remain- 

 ing beavers, are the principal articles of this traffic. The American moose 

 (the original, or orgnal, of the Canadians) still occasionally makes its ap- 

 pearance. Kegwedzissag killed one near the river La Place, two weeks 

 before he ascended it with me ; so that this region may be considered as 

 the only one within the territory of the United States now capable of sup- 

 plying the finer sort of peltries. Accordingly, since 1839, the American 

 Fur Company, represented by Pierre Chouteau & Co., of St. Louis, has 

 almost entirely suspended operations in the Rocky Mountains, where they 

 formerly employed from 4<i0 to 500 trappers and hunters, nearly 1,000 

 horses, from 2,000 to 3,000 traps, and bartered off annually from fifteen to 

 twenty thousand dollars worth of merchandise. In 1840, the principal 

 tradiiio-posts were withdrawn, the company limiting itself to the purchase 

 of bufidio robes, and other peltries of less value. This company could no 

 longer compete with that of the Hudson Bay. as the American Congress 

 had refused to grant it certain privileges. The enormous duties which it 

 paid on merchandise imported for its own special commerce, and those 

 which were levied by the British government, defeated the object of these 

 operations, or rendered them too onerous. 



