112 NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION. 



of heavy burden. His excellency Gov. Cass, therefore, determined 

 to relieve the river party, by detaching a sub-expedition across 

 the country to Sandy Lake. It was thought proper that I should 

 accompany this party. It consisted, besides, of Lieut. Mackay, 

 with eight soldiers, and of Mr. Doty, Mr. Trowbridge, and Mr. 

 Chase. We were provided with an interpreter and two Chip- 

 pewa guides, being sixteen persons in all. 



Thus organized, we left the camp at the head of the portage, 

 the following morning, at six o'clock. Each one carried pro- 

 visions for five days, a knife, a musquito bar, and a blanket or 

 cloak. There were a few guns taken, but generally this was 

 thought to be an incumbrance, as we expected to see little game 

 and to encounter a toilsome tramp. The guides, taking their 

 course by the sun, struck w^est into a close forest of pine, hem- 

 lock, and underbrush, which required energy to push through. 

 On travelling a couple of miles, we fell into an Indian path lea-d- 

 ing in the required direction ; but this path, after passing through 

 two ponds, and some marshes, eventually lost itself in swamps. 

 These marshes, after following through them, about four miles, 

 were succeeded by an elevated dry sandy barren, with occasional 

 clumps of pitch pine, and with a surface of shrubbery. Walking 

 over this dry tract was quite a relief. We then entered a thick 

 forest of young spruce and hemlock. Two miles of this brought 

 us to the banks of a small lake, with clear water, and a pebbly 

 shore. Having no canoe to cross it, our guides led us around its 

 southern shores. The fallen timber and brush rendered this a 

 very difficult march. To avoid these obstructions, as they ap- 

 proached the head of the lake, we eventually took its margin, 

 occasionally leading into the water. While passing these shores, 

 I picked up some specimens of the water- worn agates, for which 

 the diluvians in this quarter are remarkable. We now fell into 

 an old Indian path, which led to two small lakes, similar in size, 

 to the former one, but with marshy borders, and reddish water. 

 These small lakes were filled with pond lilies, rushes, and wild 

 rice. At the margin of the second lake, the path ceased, and the 

 guides could not afterwards find it. The path terminated ab- 

 ruptly at the second lake. While searching about this, Chamees,* 



* The pouncing hawk. 



