NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION. 177 



I again embarked at four o'clock A. M. (8th). My men were 

 stout fellows, and worked with hearty will, and it was thought 

 possible to reach the Prairie during the day, by hard and late 

 pushing. "We passed Turkey Eiver at two o'clock, and they 

 boldly plied their paddles, sometimes animating their labors with 

 a song ; but the Mississippi proved too stout for us ; and some 

 time after nightfall we put ashore on an island, before reaching 

 the Wisconsin. In ascending the river this day, observed the 

 pelican, which exhibited itself in a flock, standing on a low sandy 

 spot of an island. This bird has a clumsy and unwieldy look, 

 from the duplicate membrane attached to its lower mandible, 

 which is constructed so as when inflated to give it a bag like ap- 

 pearance. A short sleep served to restore the men, and we were 

 again in our canoes the next morning (9th) before I could cer- 

 tainly tell the time by my watch. Daylight had not yet broke 

 when we passed the influx of the Wisconsin, and we reached the 

 Prairie under a full chorus, and landed at six o'clock. 



12 



