PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 39 



turnip, the gay orchis, and others ; rushes and the flowering 

 ferns are abundant along the low banks of the rivers. The 

 valley prairies are rich in pasture grasses and leguminous 

 and orchideous plants, such as the yellow ladies' slipper, 

 American and tufted vetch, and others. The lowest parts 

 near the borders of the woods, and those subject to inunda- 

 tions, are filled with the high weeds common to such places 

 — as the ragged cup, tall thistle, great bitter-weed, the tuber- 

 ous sunflower, and others. 



'' Swamps are frequent, and some of them contain extensive 

 tracts of tamarack pines. Cedars grow intermixed with red 

 birch on the rocky declivities of the Lower Mankato River. 

 Red and bur oak, with hazel, red root, peterswort, and the 

 wild rose, are the trees and shrubs of the uplands. There 

 are, besides, thickets of poplar-birch, that are frequent in the 

 elevated prairies near the river. The prairies are very luxu- 

 riant, and generally somewhat level and depressed ; the gum 

 plant and button snakeroot are their most abundant and con- 

 spicuous herbs. 



"Along the Missisippi, a length of 180 miles, from St. 

 Peter's to Crow-wing River, the valley is wide, with river 

 banks of moderate elevation, affording beautiful sites, that 

 contrast remarkably with the bold escarpments exhibited 

 below the Falls of St. Anthony. In this ascent of the river, 

 which is full of rapids, it is necessary to have recourse to the 

 pole or the tow-line ; and, generally, following the left bank, 

 under good guidance, and with sufficient hands to stem the 

 current, portages may be avoided. This left bank presents 

 almost a continued level of from ten to twenty feet in eleva- 

 tion, forming a retreating succession of terraces that are 

 delightful to the view. The superincumbent soil is composed 

 mainly of sand, gravel, and clay, intermixed with erratic 

 blocks. The sylva consists of white and black oak, white 



