B O R D E R I N G K E T T L E R I V E R. 



527 



FALL S 0 F K K T T L E RIVE It. 



Rapids again set in, about three-quarters of a mile above this point, and continue 

 more than half a mile, between cliffs of sandstone from fifty to one hundred feet in 

 height. The strata are traversed here by immense rents, sometimes twenty feet wide, 

 and twenty-five feet deep. Some of these are hollowed out by the swift current of the 

 river into large chambers and recesses, arched over by huge blocks of sandstone ; 

 and, on the summit of the cliffs, there are many pot-holes, one of which measured 

 ten feet in diameter and fifteen feet deep. Here the river is contracted to less than 

 fifty feet, and rushes between the sandstone dalles with immense velocity in times of 

 freshets. Another sketch by Mr. Meek, on page 528, illustrates this scene. 



For several miles above this, sandstone is of frequent occurrence, varying from 

 fifteen to twenty feet in elevation, and rising to about eighty-five feet a short dis- 

 tance back from the river. 



The soil here, even on the ridges, is of fair quality, and the land is well timbered, 

 the prevailing growth being sugar-maple, red and mountain maple, red and yellow 

 birch, linden, aspen, white and black spruce, with a few white and red pines ; and 

 moosewood was observed in this vicinity for the first time on this river. The 

 narrow belt of land between the river and the ridges is exceedingly sandy, from 

 the crumbling of the adjacent rock, but sustains a heavy growth of white and red 

 pines, some of which were nearly four feet in diameter. 



The navigation of Kettle River, above its Second Falls, is almost impracticable 

 for canoes. The remaining examinations were, therefore, necessarily made by land, 



