1) E T WEEN ST. LOUIS RIVER AND T H E S T. CHOI X. 273 



St. Louis River between the Lower Rapids and the Post, with a dip to the south- 

 east, and is continued eastward to the boundary line of the District. The thickness 

 of the sandstone at the bluff is two hundred and sixty-nine feet. It is overlaid, as 

 on the north side of the river, by sand and inaii-beds. 



As no rocks were seen in place between the hills near St. Louis River and Kettle 

 River, and the general features of the water-shed passed over have been noticed in 

 the first Chapter of this Report, I shall not give a detail of my observations along 

 the route, but only allude to some of the incidents which delayed my arrival at 

 Stillwater, and mention some special characteristics of the country. 



On the morning of the 7th, one of my men was attacked with fever, and was 

 unable to travel, from that time, more than from five to ten miles a day. And, to 

 add to the difficulty, the trail disappeared that day and no trace of it could be dis- 

 covered. The route from St. Louis River to Pokegoma has been used principally 

 for winter travel ; few even of the Indians passing it at any other season. It runs 

 directly across swamps and lakes, which are impassable, except when bridged by 

 ice ; while in the most favourable situations, the path is easily obscured by vegeta- 

 tion, and, if disused, soon becomes entirely obliterated. 



About fifteen miles south of the St. Louis River, quite a number of first-rate pines 

 were observed, and, from the indications, it is probable that they extend over a 

 considerable extent of country. The value of the timber here will depend entirely 

 upon the facilities which may hereafter be provided for transporting the lumber to 

 the Lake, or to some of the tributaries of the St. Croix capable of floating logs. The 

 ridges and higher lands in this neighbourhood are covered with an excellent growth 

 of sugar maple, with white birch, ash, and linden. 



About twenty-five miles, as nearly as I could judge, south of Fond du Lac, our 

 trail crossed a high, rolling section of country. A good deal of it is prairie, covered 

 with whortleberry bushes and strawberry vines ; while, in the low grounds, hazel 

 abounds. On parts of the route, the ground is literally covered with boulders, 

 mostly of granitic rocks. Small pine, birch, and shrubby oak succeeded, with strips 

 of sugar maple. This brought us to the top of the water-shed. From this point to 

 Kettle River the country presents a succession of small lakes, swamps, meadows, 

 and ridges, covered with birch and small pine. 



We reached Kettle River on the evening of the 9th, entirely destitute of provi- 

 sions, my men having imprudently given a portion of the small stock with which 

 we started to an Indian met with on the way. My gun was now the only depen- 

 dence for food. 



Kettle River is about sixty yards wide at the point where we struck it, and is, 

 apparently, deep enough to float a steamboat. It is full of boulders, however, and 

 hardly navigable for canoes. 



At this place the sandstone shows itself on the right bank of the river, twenty 

 feet in thickness, and dipping to the southeast. The beds are thick, tolerably com- 

 pact, and reddish-coloured ; and overlay beds of a very fine-grained siliceous shale, 

 which is exposed at the water-level on the left bank of the stream. According to 

 information derived from an Indian, this point is six miles above the Falls of the 

 river. The sandstone continues to show itself in the hills ior several miles ; and 



35 



