56 NARRATIVE, &c. 



made in treading these sandy elevations, seemed to increase the 

 ardor with which we were carried forward. The desire of 

 reaching the actual source of a stream so celebrated as the Mis- 

 sissippi — a stream which La Salle had reached the mouth of, a 

 century and a half (lacking a year) before, was prehaps pie- 

 dominant ; and we followed our guide down the sides of the 

 last elevation, with the expectation of momentarily reaching the 

 goal of our journey. What had been long sought, at last ap- 

 peared suddenly. On turning out of a thicket, into a small 

 weedy opening, the cheering sight of a transparent body of 

 water burst upon our view. It was Itasca Lake — the source of 

 the Mississippi. 



