TRACKER'S EXCURSIONS. 147 



marsh and lake. The lake proper is a narrow sheet of water, 

 from ten to twenty-five rods wide, and two or three miles in 

 length. The water is from three to ten feet deep, and the soft 

 mud at the bottom probably a great deal deeper. This lake 

 seems to have two outlets flowing in opposite directions ; one 

 toward Chicago, being the principal head-waters of the south 

 branch of the river which forms the harbor of Chicago ; the 

 other in the opposite direction, emptying into the Oplain 

 River, which is among the head-waters of the Illinois River. 

 I was told that at the time of the high water in June of that 

 year (1844), schooners from Lake Michigan could easily have 

 passed through this lake and marsh, into the Oplain, and so 

 down the Illinois River to the Mississippi. 



But to return to my story : on arriving at the marsh I 

 found the ice strong enough to bear my weight, and quite 

 transparent. A sight was here presented that I had never 

 seen before. I cannot describe the view better than by liken- 

 ing it to a large meadow covered with hay-cocks, so thickly 

 was the marsh before me studded with muskrat houses. 



These structures are built up of flag-tops, roots, mud, and 

 sea-weed, or water-grass, to the height and size of a hay-cock ; 

 and in them the muskrats live through the winter and spring. 

 They generally commence their houses on a place where the 

 water is one or two feet deep, and build it up entirely solid, 

 to the height of three to five feet above the water, cutting 

 out channels diverging in different directions from the house, 

 and using the materials thus displaced in strengthening the 

 foundation of the house. These channels are used as run- 

 ways by the rats, in going back and forth between the house 

 and their feeding- beds, during winter. After the superstruct- 

 ure is finished a hole is cut from underneath, up into the cen- 

 tre of the house, forming a nest just above the water, leaving 

 ample room for a second story in case of a flood. 



I now made preparation to enter upon the business of my 

 excursion, that of spearing muskrats. I was not long in put- 

 ting on my mufflers and getting ready for the onslaught ; and, 

 as this was my first attempt at spearing, I was full of enthu- 

 siasm. With feelings of interest and excitement, I marched 



