32 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 



whilst to the loft be2:ins that of the St. Peter's. The former 

 has a character of sternness, produced by the denuded and 

 abrupt escarpments of its banks, the wear of which forms 

 rude taluses at their bases. The latter is more graceful, 

 having gently sloping borders, divided into natural terraces, 

 covered by a luxuriant, grassy sward. Three miles from 

 Fort Snelling, and on the right bank of the Missisippi, there 

 is a very pretty cascade. Four miles further, we reach the 

 celebrated Falls of St. Anthony, which, examined in detail, 

 with the noisy boiling of its waters, rebounding in jets from 

 the accumulated debris at its foot, its ascending vapors, and 

 the long and verdant island that separates the two portions of 

 the falls, with the solitary rocky island that stands in front, 

 altogether form a grand and imposing spectacle. 



" From St. Anthony's Falls may be visited the Lake of the 

 Isles, Lake Calhoun, Lake Harriet, and other lakes. Then, 

 crossing the St. Peter's near its mouth, the traveller ascends 

 the Pilot Knob, from the summit of which he enjoys a mag- 

 nificent view, embracing the whole surrounding horizon ; and 

 if he will conclude his excursion by going to two natural 

 gi'ottoes in the vicinity, should his journey have commenced 

 under the auspices of a bright rising sun, he may flatter 

 himself that it has been most actively and pleasurably per- 

 formed. 



" The name of St. Peter's (the St. Pierre of the French), 

 it appears, has been immemorially given to the spot or land- 

 ing at the mouth of the river St. Peter's ; but whence the 

 name is not known. Father Hennepin, who was the first to 

 visit the Falls of St. Anthony, in 1680, makes no mention of 

 this river ; but his book is Avritten very confusedly, and, as 

 he gives no details of his route, perhaps had no occasion to 

 visit it, and was also molested by the Sioux, the omission is 

 explicable. On the other hand, Lesueur, in the jomiial of 



