VT'.OYv 9 



a jo four months. M ng the coasts of Luke 



Huron, and visiting Mjchilimackinac, lie pi I north-u 



ward, b it at the Fall 



Mar through the extended and picturesque basin of Li 



Sup tid first struck the waterj of the Upper Mississippi 



at S point he >mpanied by the mil- 



tlie train of larger canoes employed to 

 trans] >rcs and I . But the fatigues which the i 



had undergone in en :tagcs, added to the low state of 



the water, induced him to form apcimancnt encampment at 

 this place. And he proceeded with a select party, in canoes to 

 explore the Mississippi. 



It was the middle of July when the expedition reached Sandy 

 Lake, and the difficulty of subsisting so large a party in so re- 

 mote a position, with the constant claims of suffering and hungry 

 tribes, who | i themselves at every point, began to be 



rely felt. The exploring party, which was now organtft d, 

 went oat. under a sense of these circumstances, and with a feel- 

 inn of the responsibility pressing upon the claims of the c 

 dition in quarters,, which limited the time applicable to 



the ascent. They entered the Mississippi on the 17th of the 

 month, and found a strong current, with alluvial banks, and a 

 Nation indicative of a fertile soil. For the distance of about 

 hundred and fifty miles, above this point, the party found 

 no diminution in the average strength of the current, which a 

 frequently accelerated by rapids. The latter then d a 



more formidable aspect for ten or a dozen miles, at the end of 

 which they were terminated by the falls of Pcckagama. At 

 this cataract, the river, which below has its course through allu- 

 vial i omprcsscd between rocks < f 



;;ulated quartz, over which it rushes with a velocity, which 

 would seem to threaten destruction to any species of craft that 

 should attempt the descent. It became necessary, at this point, 

 to transport the canoes and baggage from two to three hundi 



\ards over land. 



2 



