NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION. 163 



Tins spot is noted as being near the site of Tarangamaui, or the 

 Eed Wing's Village. This chief is one of the notable men of his 

 tribe. He has been long celebrated as a man skilled as a native 

 magician. The village consists of four large, elongated, and of 

 several small lodges. Tarangamani is now considered the first 

 chief of his nation. He is noted for his wisdom and sagacity. 

 He bears the marks of being sixty years of age. His grand- 

 daughter married Col. Crawford, a man of commercial activity 

 about Prairie du Chien and Michilimackinac, during the late war 

 of 1812, who has left descendants in the lake country. We ob- 

 served, at this village, several buffalo skins undergoing the Indian 

 process of dressing. The hair having been removed, they were 

 stretched on the ground, where they were subjected to a process 

 analogous to tanning by being covered with a decoction of oak 

 bark. 



In ascending the hill of La Grange, we first encountered the 

 rattlesnake, two of which we killed. This is the highest northern 

 point at which we have observed this species on the Mississippi. 

 I observed on this elevation small detached masses of radiated 

 quartz, cinnamon-colored and white, together with an ore of iron 

 crystallized in cubes. Having cursorily examined the environs, 

 the expedition again embarked. It was 1 o'clock when we entered 

 Lake Pepin. This admired lake is a mere expansion of the Mis- 

 sissippi, having a length of twenty -four miles by a varying width 

 of from two to four miles. During this distance there is not the 

 least current during calm weather. The prospects, in passing 

 through this expanse of water, are of the most picturesque kind. 

 Its immediate shores are circumscribed with a broad beach of 

 gravel, in which may be found rolled pieces of the chalcedonies, 

 agates, and other species of the quartz flimily, which are 

 characteristic of the drift-stratum of the upper borders of the 

 Mississippi. On the eastern shore, at a short distance from the 

 margin, there is a lofty range of limestone cliffs. On the west, 

 the eye rests on an elevated formation of prairie, nearly destitute 

 of trees. From this plain several conical hills ascend, which have 

 the appearance, but only the appearance, of artificial construction. 

 The lake is quite transparent, and yields several species of fish. 

 The most remarkable of these is the aciiienser sjxUularia, of which 

 we obtained a specimen. It is also remarkable for its numerous 



