83 



RED EIVEE EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



lower boundary having the form of a sloping bank or an 

 abrupt cliff from fifteen to thirty feet in altitude ; in its 

 rear the upper terrace rises gradually or abruptly from 

 fifteen to twenty feet higher, according to its position with 

 reference to the river. There is every appearance in places 

 of fire having destroyed a former larger growth of trees 

 than those which now occupy these areas. 



The extraordinary height of the water in August 1857, 

 was seen by the lodge poles of former Indian encamp- 

 ments at the foot of the bank. They were under water to 

 the depth of one and even two feet. The river does not 

 appear to rise high in the spring, as the trees fringing the 

 banks to the water's edge show no action of ice. The 

 difference between the highest and the lowest water levels 

 may be seven feet, and no record of recent higher levels 

 meets the eye. 



The Manitou Eapids let us down about two and a half 

 feet, and appear to be caused by a belt of rock crossing 

 the river at nearly right angles to its course. On the 

 American side the hill range has an altitude of about 

 eighty feet, on the British side it is much lower, and ap- 

 pears to subside rapidly in gentle undulations. The Ma- 

 nitou Eapids are capable of being ascended by a small 

 steamer of high power without difficulty, and cannot be 

 considered as presenting an obstacle to the navigation of 

 this important stream as long as the water maintains its 

 present altitude, which is about three feet higher than is 

 usual at this season of the year, but often exceeded in the 

 spring and fall. Two locks of ten feet lift, with one 

 guard lock, would overcome the falls at the mouth of the 

 river, and thus form a splendid water communication 

 between the head of Eainy Lake and Eat Portage, Lake 

 of the Woods, by the north-west coast, a distance of 190 

 miles, or between the head of Eainy Lake and the north- 



