ANCIENT ARTIFICIAL MOUNDS. 



89 



west point of the Lake of the Woods, a distance of 170 

 miles. 



High clay banks are exposed above and below the Ea- 

 pids, and many hundred acres are very scantily timbered 

 with second growth. 



Ascending the bank two miles below the Eapids, I was 

 much surprised at the number of birds of different kinds 

 chirruping and singing in the light and warmth of 

 a bright morning sun. I heard more birds in ten 

 minutes here than during the whole journey from the 

 Kakabeka Falls on the Kaministiquia to the mouth of 

 Eainy Eiver. 



At the second or Long Eapids an extensive area denuded 

 of trees presents a very beautiful prairie appearance. Here 

 we landed to examine two immense mounds which ap- 

 peared to be tumuli. We forced our way to them through a 

 dense growth of grasses, nettles, and helianthii, twisted toge- 

 ther by the wild convolvulus. On our way to the mounds 

 we passed through a neglected Indian garden, and near 

 it observed the lodge poles of an extensive encampment. 

 The garden was partially fenced, and contained a patch of 

 helianthii, six and seven feet high in the stalk, and just be- 

 ginning to show their flowers. The wild oat attained an 

 astonishing size, and all the vegetation exhibited the utmost 

 luxuriance. The mound ascended was about forty feet high 

 and one hundred broad at the base. It was composed of 

 a rich black sandy loam, containing a large quantity of 

 vegetable matter. On digging a foot deep no change in 

 the character of the soil was observable. The Indian 

 guide called them underground houses ; he informed 

 Lambert that a tradition existed regarding the origin of 

 these mounds which he had often heard his father repeat 

 in the spring of the year when his tribe assembled at the 

 foot of the Eapids to catch sturgeon. About two hundred 



