OF THE D I S T E I C T. 



the Pacific Ocean, at Astoria, in the west ; to which may be added, the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence in the northeast. 



The second variety of lakes are wholly isolated, having no apparent outlet, nor 

 any visible source of supply other than the drainage of the hills which surround 

 them. They are, probably, more numerous than those included in chains, although 

 fewer of them fell under observation, as our routes were generally along the courses 

 of streams. Aside from their want of communication, they differ from the first 

 variety, principally in size, being much smaller. They are most frequently met 

 with in the sections based upon sandstone, or where the country is covered with 

 heavy deposits of drift and clays, resting on metamorphic rocks. 



Both varieties of lakes differ greatly in size and configuration ; while those of the 

 first variety present almost every possible irregularity of outline, those included in 

 the second variety are generally oval, or circular, or crescent-shaped. Many of the 

 small circular lakes, from a quarter of a mile to a mile in diameter, are from sixty 

 to one hundred feet below the general level, the ground sloping down to the water 

 on every side with great regularity, like the descent of an amphitheatre, and covered 

 with grass. 



The lakes are generally shallow, and many of them are dotted with small wooded 

 islands. In several instances, these islands were found to be based upon accumu- 

 lations of boulders. Those formed by the widening of rivers, or connected in chains, 

 are filled with aquatic plants, many of them containing large fields of the Zizania 

 aquatica, the wild oat or northern rice plant. The rice lakes are most liberally dis- 

 tributed in the sections about the head-waters of the Red Cedar, Nemakagon, St. 

 Croix, and Snake Rivers, in the south, and the sources of Big Fork and Red Lake 

 Rivers in the north ; and, further east, in the Vermilion Lake region. This grain 

 is an excellent article of diet, and forms a considerable source of support to the 

 Chippewa Indians ; many of the bands making annual visits to the rice regions, 

 toward the end of August, for the purpose of gathering a supply for the winter. 

 These fields also attract immense numbers of water-fowl. 



The borders of the lakes differ greatly in appearance. Some of them are sur- 

 rounded by gentle grassy slopes, with occasional trees scattered along them ; while 

 others are bordered by extensive marshes, often overrun by the cranberry plant; 

 and again, the shores are rather abrupt, with a dense, dark forest skirting and over- 

 hanging the margin. Their beds are generally pebbly, or covered with small boul- 

 ders, which peep out along the shore, and frequently show a rocky line around the 

 entire circumference. Very few of them have mud bottoms. The water is gene- 

 rally sweet and clear, and, north of the water-shed, is as cool and refreshing during 

 the heats of summer as the water of springs or wells. All the lakes abound with 

 various species of fish, of a quality and flavour greatly superior to those of the 

 streams of the Middle and Western States. The shores of many of them are chosen 

 as sites for villages by the Indians, who show their taste by selecting the most 

 beautiful and picturesque, in sections where the soil is of a quality suitable for 

 gardens. 



Although a great number of lakes have been laid down on the map along the 

 lines of observation, still but a faint idea can be obtained, from consulting it, of 



