OF WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA. 



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is Great Rice Lake, which is merely an expansion of the river. It has anything 

 but an inviting appearance. The blades of wild rice which rest drooping on its 

 waters almost cover the surface. At the season of the year when I visited it, it 

 had all the appearance of that green scum often seen in stagnant pools, caused by a 

 growth of Confervce. 



The soil on the north side of the Namekagon, between these two lakes, is of the 

 same sandy character which generally prevails in the pine lands of those regions, 

 where extensive deposits of drift have been derived from the destruction of pre- 

 existing sandstones. On the south side it is probable that the soil is of better quality, 

 since the timber is of larger growth. 



Above Great Rice Lake, there is a succession of swift rapids, in which the trap- 

 pean boulders are so numerous that it is difficult to avoid them in navigating the 

 stream. Some of them are of large dimensions. 



The waters of the Namekagon are not as highly coloured as those of the princi- 

 pal branches of the Chippewa, but they are warmer and less palatable. The 

 Indians who inhabit its banks are wont, before drinking it, to mix it with maple 

 sugar. 



Six or seven miles above Great Rice Lake, our party left the Namekagon, in 

 order to gain the head waters of Mauvaise Riviere, through a series of lakes which 

 lie to the north. 



The first of these we reached by a portage of about one mile. It is known by 

 the name of Leech Lake, no doubt from the number of leeches which infest it. 

 The length of the lake may be about half to three-quarters of a mile. The shores 

 are lined with boulders of trap, granite, gneiss, and porphyry. Of the latter I 

 observed a peculiar variety : the base is composed of a light-coloured felspar, with 

 embedded particles of quartz, about the size of the pupil of the eye ; many of them 

 are coated over with a green mineral substance, which is either a kind of epidote or 

 serpentine. 



The next lake is called Island Lake, on account of a small and rather handsome 

 island in its centre, covered with small birch trees ; the portage to this lake is one- 

 third to two-thirds of a mile. Its dimensions are about the same as those of Leech 

 Lake. 



The third lake is Little Lake, distant about two-thirds to three-quarters of a 

 mile north of Island Lake. It is from half a mile to three-quarters long, and from 

 a quarter to two-thirds wide. It is surrounded by a mossy swamp, in which that 

 remarkable flower, Saracenia Purpurea, with its pitcher-shaped leaf, grows abun- 

 dantly. It was in bloom when we were there, — the 30th of June. 



Between these two lakes are to be found many mottled dark gray trappean 

 boulders, similar to some I noticed on the Chippewa. The portage between these 

 lakes passes over low hills, of thirty to forty feet in height, composed of the same 

 kind of drift as all the hills along the Namekagon. 



The portage from Little Lake is northeast and southwest, or north-northeast and 

 south-southwest. 



Long Lake, the largest and last of the series, is six or seven miles long ; it has a 

 great many bays and inlets, with wooded promontories between. Our guide 



