106 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



to the southward we could not discern. 

 There is nothing remarkable in this chain 

 of lakes, except their shapes, being rocky 

 basins filled by the waters of the Missinippi, 

 insulating the massy eminences, and mean- 

 dering with almost imperceptible current 

 between them. From the Serpent to the 

 Sandy Lake, it is again confined in a nar- 

 row space by the approach of its winding 

 banks, and on the 26th we were some hours 

 employed in traversing a series of shallow 

 rapids, where it was necessary to lighten 

 the canoes. Having missed the path through 

 the woods, we walked two miles in the 

 water upon sharp stones, from which some 

 of us were incessantly slipping into deep 

 holes, and floundering in vain for footing at 

 the bottom; a scene highly diverting, not- 

 withstanding our fatigue. We were de- 

 tained in Sandy Lake, till one P.M., by a 

 strong gale, when the wind becoming mo- 

 derate we crossed five miles to the mouth 

 of the river, and at four P.M. left the main 

 branch of it, and entered a little rivulet 

 called the Grassy River, running through 



