BORDERING ON MUD RIVE R. 



329 



Crow Wing River, and the range of hills just described as stretching away in the 

 direction of the sources of Red River of the North, is underlaid by sedimentary 

 rocks of the same age as those found on St. Peter's River, and also on Wisconsin, 

 Chippewa, St. Croix, Kettle, and Snake Rivers. 



Ishkonabi Ridge is covered with a dense growth of good pine, which is said to 

 abound in the country around Lake Pokcgoma, and on a number of the small rivers 

 in this section. 



Below the mouth of Prairie River, and as far as Blueberry Creek, the country is 

 open, with belts and clumps of small pine on the higher grounds, and elm, maple, 

 and oak, in the bottom lands. Below Blueberry Creek the country is more densely 

 wooded, and resembles, in all respects, the country lying between Rabbit and Sandy 

 Lake Rivers. Between the Falls of Pokegoma and the mouth of Sandy Lake 

 River, the clay and sand-beds are well exposed, at numerous points. The clay-beds 

 vary from two to thirteen feet in thickness, above the water-level ; and the over- 

 lying sand-beds are from five to eight feet thick. The prevailing colour of the clay 

 is red, and at some places it is highly ferruginous, and filled with gravel. 



We got to Sandy Lake on the 3d of October, and were kindly received by Mr. 

 and Mrs. Spates, who have charge of the Mission there. Next morning we left 

 Sandy Lake, on our way to the mouth of Mud River. 



SECTION IV. 



NARRATIVE OF EXPLORATIONS, MADE IN 1848, ON MUD RIVER, MILLE LACS, AND RUM RIVER. 



At the mouth of Mud River, Col. Whittlesey and myself left the Mississippi, 

 with one canoe and two voyageurs, for the purpose of examining the country 

 around Mille Lacs, and along the borders of Rum River ; while Mr. Beaulieu, with 

 the other canoe and voyageurs, descended the Mississippi to the St. Peters, carrying 

 the collections made during our reconnoissance in the North. 



We began to ascend Mud River on the 6th of October. It is a small stream, 

 from twenty to twenty-five feet wide, very crooked, and much obstructed by 

 boulders. The general level of the country near its mouth is from ten to fifteen 

 feet above the usual level of the Mississippi, and so continues up to Hanging Kettle 

 Lake. The timber is small and sparse, and consists of aspen, oak, birch, and elm, 

 with a few scattering pines. Around Hanging Kettle and Mud Lakes, through 

 which the river flows, drift-ridges make their appearance, rising to the height of 

 fifty feet above the water, and are covered with small oaks, maple, ash, and pine. 

 Of the three lakes through which the stream flows in this part of its course, Mud 

 Lake is the largest, and is about one mile long and half a mile wide. Boulders are 

 numerous on the ridges and in the valleys, and consist of granite, greenstone, and 

 amygdaloid. 



Above Mud Lake the river makes a great bend to the southeast ; and, in order 

 to reach Mille Lacs by the shortest route, we made a portage of three-quarters of a 

 mile, and struck the river a long distance above the point where we left it. When 



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