OF THE DISTRICT. 219 
the Pacific Ocean, at Astoria, in the west; to which may be added, the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence in the northeast. 
The second variety of lakes are wholly isolated, having no apparent outlet, nor 
any visible source of supply other than the drainage of the hills which surround 
them. They are, probably, more numerous than those included in chains, although 
fewer of them fell under observation, as our routes were generally along the courses 
of streams. Aside from their want of communication, they differ from the first 
variety, principally in size, being much smaller. They are most frequently met 
with in the sections based upon sandstone, or where the country is covered with 
heavy deposits of drift and clays, resting on metamorphic rocks. 
Both varieties of lakes differ greatly in size and configuration ; while those of the 
first variety present almost every possible irregularity of outline, those included in 
_ the second variety are generally oval, or circular, or crescent-shaped. Many of the 
small circular lakes, from a quarter of a mile to a mile in diameter, are from sixty 
to one hundred feet below the general level, the ground sloping down to the water 
on every side with great regularity, like the descent of an amphitheatre, and covered 
with grass. 
The lakes are generally shallow, and many of them are dotted with small wooded 
islands. In several instances, these islands were found to be based upon accumu- 
lations of boulders. Those formed by the widening of rivers, or connected in chains, 
are filled with aquatic plants, many of them containing large fields of the Zizania 
aquatica, the wild oat or northern rice plant. The rice lakes are most liberally dis- 
tributed in the sections about the head-waters of the Red Cedar, Nemakagon, St. 
Croix, and Snake Rivers, in the south, and the sources of Big Fork and Red Lake 
Rivers in the north; and, further east, in the Vermilion Lake region. This grain 
is an excellent article of diet, and forms a considerable source of support to the 
Chippewa Indians; many of the bands making annual visits to the rice regions, 
toward the end of August, for the purpose of gathering a supply for the winter. 
These fields also attract immense numbers of water-fowl. 
The borders of the lakes differ greatly in appearance. Some of them are sur- 
rounded by gentle grassy slopes, with occasional trees scattered along them; while 
others are bordered by extensive marshes, often overrun by the cranberry plant; 
and again, the shores are rather abrupt, with a dense, dark forest skirting and over- 
hanging the margin. Their beds are generally pebbly, or covered with small boul- 
ders, which peep out along the shore, and frequently show a rocky line around the 
entire circumference. Very few of them have mud bottoms. The water is gene- 
rally sweet and clear, and, north of the water-shed, is as cool and refreshing during 
the heats of summer as the water of springs or wells. All the lakes abound with 
various species of fish, of a quality and flavour greatly superior to those of the 
streams of the Middle and Western States. The shores of many of them are chosen 
as sites for villages by the Indians, who show their taste by selecting the most 
beautiful and picturesque, in sections where the soil is of a quality suitable for 
gardens. 
Although a great number of lakes have been laid down on the map along the 
lines of observation, still but a faint idea can be obtained, from consulting it, of 
