70 



length and six miles in breadth, called lake Pepin. 

 The Mississippi passes through this lake, and 

 although the French have denominated it a lake, 

 it has rather the appearance of an extended width 

 of the river. The water in some parts of it is 

 deep, and abounds with several kinds of excellent 

 fish. Large numbers of fowl, such as storks, 

 swan, geese, ducks, and brant, resort to this lake. 

 The groves and plains around it are replenished 

 with turkies and partridges. 



Below the lake, the river glides with a gentle 

 current, having alternately high lands on one side, 

 and extended meadows on the other. Some ol 

 the precipices fronting the river, are high and 

 steep, ascending like pyramids, and exhibiting 

 the appearance of ancient towers. Descending 

 down the river, the eye is delighted, in some pla- 

 ces, with the view of large, rich prairies, extend- 

 ing far back towards , distant mountains, with 

 beautiful groves or copses of trees, scattered over 

 them, and watered with a number of small lakes. 



Between the Saint Peters and Missouri rivers, 

 many streams of considerable magnitude enter 

 the Mississippi from the westward. The largest 

 of them is the river Moin, about one hundred 

 miles above the mouth of the Illinois. On this 

 river the Sioux, and some other bands of Indians, 

 frequently descend with their furs and skins for 

 market. The current of the Mississippi contin- 

 ues gentle, and its water clear, until it joins the 

 Missouri, where it becomes much more rapid; and 



