130 



EED RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



conspicuous. At the Stone Fort, massive layers of lime- 

 stone crop out, which have been extensively quarried, 

 and their application is seen in the walls and bastions of the 

 fort built upon the bank, here about forty feet in altitude, 

 and forming the abrupt termination of the prairie stretch- 

 ing westward, which for some distance sustains a small 

 but dense growth of aspens. At each turn of the river 

 above this point the houses of the inhabitants of Eed 

 Eiver Settlement come in sight, and occupy the banks, 

 at short intervals, all the way up to Fort Garry, a dis- 

 tance of twenty-three and a half miles by the windings of 

 the river. Two miles above the Stone Fort, is the so- 

 called Whirlpool Point, and immediately above it the 

 Big Eddy ; these are obstacles to further progress, formid- 

 able only in name, and like most other local descriptive 

 titles on this river, must be accepted with the mildest 

 interpretation, and only understood to designate marked 

 differences from the general even flow of the river. A 

 small brook on which a water-mill is situated enters the 

 river at the Big Eddy. A short distance above the same 

 locality limestone crops out in heavy layers on the west 

 bank, and detached fragments in great abundance protect 

 the base of the cliff, which in no instance, from the mouth 

 to the 49th parallel, as far as my observation permitted 

 me to judge, rises above forty feet from the water level. 

 Some very substantial illustrations of the adaptation of 

 the limestone for building purposes occur here, and 

 particularly at the Grand Kapids, two and a quarter 

 miles farther up the stream. The east side of the river 

 is wooded to a depth varying from a few yards to 

 a mile, and generally this feature prevails along the 

 eastern bank as far as Fort Garry ; the timber is si- 

 milar to that already described. At the Grand Ka- 

 pids, which even during the low stage of water in 



