Feather stonhavgh^s Geological Report. 139 



tomsand slopes, when rich prairies with black fertile soil com- 

 mence. The river is very serpentine in its course and is con- 

 tinually opening new scenes : sometimes smooth conical hills, 

 one hundred feet high, with coves like amphitheatres, present 

 themselves, covered with verdure, and crowned with trees at 

 the top, when, at another turn, a fine level prairie country 

 comes in. Keetahmeemah, or Round Prairie, is about one hun- 

 dred feet high, with a fine slope, covered with grass. The In- 

 dians have given it this name because it is encircled with trees. 

 Beyond this is the village of vVakondoanka, or Lively Spirit, 

 whom the voyageurs call Le Bras Casse, having once had his 

 arm broken. Before reaching Chankeootah or Bois Franc 

 river, the rivers narrows to sixty yards. This last stream 

 comes in on the right bank, and is the northern limit of the 

 Bois Franc district. This is in fact an extensive forest, from 

 twelve to fifteen miles broad by land, through which the river 

 passes for upwards of thirty miles, on account of its very 

 winding course. It is said to extend thirty or forty miles oxi 

 each side of the St. Peter's. It is difficult to traverse by land 

 on account of the swampy nature of the ground. I was also 

 informed there w^as an extensive lake in the central parts of 

 it, on the south side. The current becomes strong after en- 

 tering the Bois Franc. As an evidence of the nature of the 

 incidents which induce the Indians to give names to a locality, 

 Mahahbohpah, or Swan on the ground, an elevated piece of 

 ground with trees on it, on the right bank, may be mentioned, 

 A Sioux shot a swan flying there. The islands in this river 

 are small and are edged with willows. On the banks of the 

 river I have seen them forty to fifty feet high. Further up 

 the Bois Franc district a stream comes in from the left bank, 

 called Weetah-wakatah, or Tall island, and about five miles 

 higher up some ledges of horizontal fawn-colored limestone 

 jut out on the right bank, very cherty and somewhat vesicu- 

 lar ; near the surface it takes a reddish salmon color, resem- 

 bling very much some beds I had previously seen on the 



