482 



DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY BORDERING 



It is situated on the south side of the river, on an elevated bench of land, twenty- 

 five feet above the water-level. 



Immediately in front of the village is the first exposure of beds belonging to the 

 Lower Magnesian Limestones witnessed in the ascent of this stream. The strata 

 are twenty feet high, and appear to lie horizontal. At the base of the section is a 

 thin seam of siliceous oolite, on which rests a layer of compact sandstone, made up of 

 small, transparent, angular, and rounded grains, cemented by a calcareous paste ; 

 above this we have intercalations of magnesian limestone, and magnesio-calcareous 

 sandstone, surmounted by thick-bedded, buff-coloured magnesian limestone, con- 

 taining imperfect casts of a Pleurotomaria (?), apparently of the same species as one 

 found in similar beds on the St. Croix, near the point where the Correction Line 

 crosses that stream. The rocks at this exposure correspond in lithological appear- 

 ance with those observed towards the base of the section at the Falls of Willow 

 River. 



Five miles above, on the right bank of the river, the uppermost layers of the 

 same beds again appear, forming a low ledge, four to five feet high. 



Five or six miles still further up the stream, at " La Petit Prairie," we observed 

 an accumulation of granitic and trappean boulders, extending for a short distance 

 along the shore. The timber improves in appearance in advancing up stream. 

 Below Little Rapids, a portion of the alluvial lands is well covered with elm, 

 maple, ash, box-elder, and cotton-wood. 



At the Little Rapids, about fifty miles above the mouth, the river has a fall of 

 several feet over thick-bedded quartzose sandstone. The rock is of a brownish 

 colour, composed of coarse, incoherent grains, and when struck with the hammer, 

 it crumbles readily to sand. About a quarter of a mile above this place is another 

 rapid, made by this sandstone ; and a few hundred yards still further, on the right 

 bank, the same rocks again appear, forming a low ledge, elevated five feet above 

 the water-level. It is stated by Mr. Featherstonhaugh, that this sandstone corre- 

 sponds with that which occurs at Fort Snelling.* It will be seen, however, as we 

 proceed, that its true position is beneath the Lower Magnesian Limestone, and 

 therefore several hundred feet lower in the series than the white sandstone at the 

 mouth of the St. Peter's. 



One mile above the last exposure, on the left bank of the river, and a few hundred 

 yards from the shore, we found the soft, brown sandstones of the rapids overlaid by 

 the inferior members of the Lower Magnesian Limestone, the latter resembling the 

 beds which occur at Shacopee's village. 



After passing this exposure we did not meet with any of these Lower Silurian 

 rocks in situ, for the distance of nearly twenty miles, following the windings of the 

 stream. 



About ten miles above The Rapids, two beautiful terraces of fertile prairie rise 

 above the river-bottom. The summit of the first bench is elevated one hundred and 

 thirty feet above the river, and extends for several miles up and down the river, 

 with a width of about three-quarters of a mile, dotted with occasional groves of 

 oak, maple, and elm trees. The second terrace rises one hundred feet higher, or 



* Report of a Geological Reconnoissance, etc., etc., by G. W. Featherstonhaugh — 1835. 



