NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION. 151 



beds, on the left bank of the river. It was now evident wc bad 

 passed out of tbe primitive range of deposits, and bad entered 

 tbat of tbe great sedimentary horizontal and semicrystaUine or 

 Silurian system of tbe Mississippi Valley ; and descending witb a 

 strong current, we came, ratber suddenly, it appeared, to tbe Falls 

 of St. Antbony, where tbe river drops, by a cascade, into a rock- 

 bordered valley. Surprise and admiration were tbe first emotions 

 on getting out of our canoes and gazing on this superlative 

 scene; and we were not a little struck witb tbe idea tbat tbe Sioux 

 iad named tbe Falls from manifestly similar impressions, calling 

 it Eara, from the Dacota verb irara^ to laugh. By another au- 

 thority, tbe word is written Ha Ha^ or Dhaha^ the letters h in tbe 

 vord representing a strong guttural sound resembling tbe old 

 Arabic r.* (S. E. Eiggs's Dakota Diet, and Gram) Nothing can 

 exceed tbe sylvan beauty of the country which is here thrown 

 before tbe eye ; and we should not feel surprised tbat tbe Abo- 

 riginal mind has fallen on very nearly identical sounds witb tbe 

 English, to express its impressions. A not very dissimilar prin- 

 ciple has been observed by the Chippewas, who have a uniform 

 termination of their names in ish^ which signifies tbe very same 

 :][uality which we express by ish in whitish, blackish, saltish — 

 aieaning a lesser, or defective quality of tbe noun. 



Tbe popular name of these Falls, it is known, is due to Father 

 Louis Hennepin, a missionary who accompanied La Salle to tbe 

 Illinois, in 1679, and was carried captive into tbe country of the 

 Issati, a Dacota tribe, in 1680. Lt. Pike states tbe portage to be 

 iwo hundred and sixty poles. By tbe time we bad taken a good 

 7iew of tbe position, and made a few sketches, tbe men bad com- 

 oleted carrying over our baggage and canoes. It was now one 

 D'clock, when we embarked to proceed to tbe newly-established 

 military encampment, a few miles below. It was a noticeable 

 feature, in our descent of tbe river above tbe Falls, that Babasi- 

 kundiba bad always kept behind the flotilla of canoes ; but the 

 moment we advanced below tbe Falls, be shot ahead witb his 

 delegates, each one being dressed out in bis best manner. His 

 canoe bad its little flag displayed — tbe Indian drum was soon 

 beard sending its measured thumps and murmurs of vocal accom- 



* Both words are derived from the verb to laugh. 



