222 APPENDIX. 



of green stone, and finally passing into talcose slate, which is 

 visible at the falls of the Wabezi, or Swan River, and the 

 Omoshkos, or Elk River, near their entrances. 



" The most prominent geological feature of the country, on 

 the eastern side of the river, a little below the Pikwabik, is 

 a large mass in situ of a sienitic rock, with flesh-colored 

 felspar, extending a mile in length, with a breadth of half a 

 mile, and an elevation of eighty feet, known as the Little 

 Rock. Higher up, and still on the same side of the river, 

 at the foot of the Knife Rapids, there are sources that trans- 

 port a very fine, brilliant, and bluish sand, accompanied by 

 a soft and unctuous matter. This appears to be the result 

 of a decomposition of a steaschist, probably interposed 

 between the sienitic rocks previously mentioned. The same 

 thing is observed at the mouths of Wabezi and Omoshkos 

 Rivers. 



" The geological features of the country, in the ascent of 

 the Missisippi, from the St. Peter's to the Falls of St. An- 

 thony, are as follows : 



"1. Fine grained, unstratified sandstone, constituting the 

 base of the bluff, and ranging in thickness between sixty and 

 eighty feet, of a very friable character ; each grain being a 

 crystalline fragment of quartz. In some parts of the mass 

 the grains are stained with oxide of iron ; while in others 

 they are perfectly white. It is probable that the sand fur- 

 nished by the latter w^ould serve in the manufacture of glass. 



" 2. A compact sublamellar limestone of variable colors, 

 as fawn, yellowish-buff, or greyish. It contains many fos- 

 sils, but very irregularly distributed in the mass ; some being 

 covered with brilliant crystals of carbonate of lime, and 

 others entirely mineralized. This bed is from eight to twelve 

 feet thick, weathering into layers of from two inches to a 

 foot thick. The limestone under consideration resembles 



