116 



NAERATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION". 



on gaining its apex to behold the sylvan shores and islands of 

 the lake, with the trading-post and flag, seen dimly in the distance. 

 The view is preserved in the following outlines, taken on the spot. 



Sandy Lake, from an eminence north of the mouth of the West Creek of the 

 Portage of Savannah. 15th July, 1820. 



I asked Chamees the Indian name of this lake. He replied, 

 Ka-metong-aug-e-maug. This is one of those compound terms, 

 in their languages, of which the particle ka is affirmative. Me- 

 tongaug, is the plural form of sandy lake. Maug is the plural 

 form of water, corresponding, by the usual grammatical duality 

 of meaning, to the plural form of the noun. The word might, 

 perhaps, be adopted in the form of Kametonga. 



Having heard, on our passage through Lake Superior, that a 

 gun fired in the basin of Sandy Lake, could be heard at the fort, 

 that experiment was tried, while we sat down or sauntered about 

 to await the result. Having waited in vain, the shots were re- 

 peated. After the lapse of a long time, a boat, with two men, 

 was descried in the distance approaching. It proved to be occu- 

 pied by two young clerks of the trading establishment, named 

 Ashmun and Fairbanks. They managed to embark the elite of 

 our party, in their small vessel, and, as we crossed the lake, 

 amused us with an account of the excitement our shots had 

 caused. Some Indian women affirmed to them that they had 

 heard warwhoops, and to make sure that a Sioux war party 

 were not upon them, they drove off their cattle to a place of 

 safety. In the actual position of affairs, the hunt being over for 



