BORDERING 



ON SNAKE RIVE R. 



525 



stream of about fifty feet in width at its mouth. Between Fishing Creek and this 

 place, Snake River is almost one succession of shallow rapids, its bed being covered 

 with boulders to such an extent, that it became frequently necessary to make a 

 channel for our bark canoe by the men getting into the water and removing them. 



For about nine miles above Knife River, both shores are lined at intervals with 

 a dense and heavy pine forest, succeeded again by two miles of low bottoms, five to 

 six feet above the water, bearing a growth of oak, ash, elm, and occasionally white 

 walnut and soft maple, with a dense undergrowth of hazel. Beyond this, pine 

 ridges approach the river, and prevail for several miles. 



For thirteen miles no rocks were observed in place ; then twenty-five feet of red 

 sandstone, alternating with ash-coloured clays, are exposed, covered with seventeen 

 feet of stratified gravel and sand. 



No more ledges of rock are again seen for about thirty miles by water above 

 Knife River, but the navigation of Snake River, in this distance, is much obstructed 

 by frequent rapids, over and amongst blocks of erratics. Here sandstone again 

 shows itself, but only in low, thin-laminated layers, which correspond to No. 2 of 

 the last section, above the mouth of Knife River. A few hundred yards higher up 

 stream, the height of the sandstone is eight feet, and lower layers come to view, 

 rather coarser-grained than the superior strata, and made up of grains of the con- 

 stituents of granite, — quartz, felspar, and mica, — from the destruction of which rock 

 these sandstones are evidently derived. The beds are much broken and disturbed, 

 dipping sometimes as much as 15° to the northeast. 



After proceeding about nine miles farther without being able to discover any rock 

 in place, the high ground being entirely of drift, I found myself compelled to 

 return, both because the river was now too shallow even for canoe navigation, and 

 because our provisions were exhausted. My own observations on this stream, and 

 those of Dr. Norwood on his overland route from St. Louis River to Lake Poke- 

 goma, indicate the last section as the bounds of the sandstone formation in the 

 valley of Snake River, before it is entirely concealed by drift and erratics, until it 

 again appears on the St. Louis River. 



On Snake River there are some magnificent pine forests, finer, indeed, and of 

 greater extent than I recollect to have observed in any portion of the district al- 

 lotted to me for examination. 



The general elevation of the upland bordering the river does not often exceed 

 twenty feet, and the bottom-lands vary from three to ten feet. The soil, except in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of the trap ranges, is, for the most part, light and 

 sandy. Neither the structure and contour of the country, nor the character of the 

 igneous ranges, afford encouragement to the miner, the only evidence of the exist- 

 ence of copper in this river being a few pieces found amongst the erratics. 



Kettle River. — The first rock which shows itself in ascending this river is a mile 

 and a half above the mouth, where a ledge of reddish-gray conglomerate crops out 

 on the left bank of the river, composed of siliceous pebbles, varying in size from that 

 of an almond to that of an egg, very loosely held together. 



Two miles and a half above the mouth is the first trap range, which appears on 



