04 NARRATIVE, &c. 



currence could not have occupied half a minute. It was impos- 

 sible to render assistance, and Mr. Allen was hardly conscious 

 of the matter, till he found himself in the stream. With no lit- 

 tle exertion, he recovered himself, so as to be able to keep 

 his feet, against the pressure of the current. The water was 

 breast high. The canoe-compass was irrecoverably lost. He 

 fetched up his fowling piece himself. Other articles went over 

 the falls. 



The character of the stream, made this part of our route a 

 most rapid one. Willing or unwilling we were hurried on. 

 But we had every reason to desire rapidity. Less time was 

 given to the examination of objects than might otherwise have 

 been devoted. Yet I am not aware that any important object 

 was neglected. Where there is much sameness in natural fea- 

 tures, frequent landings are unnecessary, and whoever has devo- 

 ted his time in going thus far up the Mississippi, will have made 

 himself so familiar with its plants, soil and productions, that 

 " he who runs may read." The pine, in its varieties, is the pre- 

 vailing tree ; and whenever we get out of the narrow alluvions 

 of the valley, arenaceous plains appear. Among the plants 

 that border the river, the wild rose, which is so conspicuous on 

 all the streams northwest of Lake Superior, is very often seen. 

 The salix, so common to the lower Mississippi, and so uniformly 

 infested with musquittoes, presents itself on the first plateau, and 

 is afterwards one of the constant shrubs on the savannahs. 



The Indian reed first shews itself distinctly, about the mouth 

 of the Piniddiwin, and is here associated with wild rice. The 

 stag and hind appear to be the species of deer, which were most 

 frequently seen, and were several times fired at by the party, 

 along this branch of the river. We also observed the falco 

 furcatus, or swallow tailed hawk, a species not heretofore, 

 thought to inhabit the continent, so far north. A small animal 

 of the amphibious kind was here brought to our notice, under 

 the name of Ocant EJtinabic, or legged snake, a species of liz- 

 ard, striped blue, black, and white, with a disproportionate 



