A 23d Congress, [ Doc. No. 323. 1 Ho. of Reps. Is* Session. L ' J War Dept. SCHOOLCRAFT AND ALLEN—EXPEDITION TO NORTH¬ WEST INDIANS. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR, TRANSMITTING A Map and Report of Lieut. Allen and H. B. Schoolcraft's visit to the Northwest Indians in 1832. April 12, 1834. Read, and laid upon the table. War Department, April 11, 1834. Sir : In obedience to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 28th of March, 1834,1 have the honor to transmit a copy of the map and report furnished this department by Lieutenant Allen, who accom¬ panied H. B. Schoolcraft, Esq. to, and beyond, the sources of the Mis¬ sissippi river, on a visit to the Northwestern Indians, in the year 1832. Very respectfully, Your most obedient servant, Hon. A. Stetknson, LEW. CASS. Speaker of the House of Representatives. Head Quarters of the Army, Washington, May 9, 1832. Sir : I have been informed that Mr. Schoolcraft intends making an ex¬ pedition into the Indian country, under the authority of the War Depart¬ ment. “ You will detail an officer and ten or twelve men, to make a part of that expedition The officer will be directed to keep a journal of the expe¬ dition ; to describe the country through which it may pass; to delineate, topographically the route and several points of importance ; to ascertain the manners and characters of the various Indian tribes, their numbers strength in warriors, condition, mode of living, of obtaining subsistence whether at peace with their neighbors or not, their places of resort for In ?,Upphes> ho\v and by whom. He will also be directed to note the nature of the soil; the geology, mineralogy, and natural his- lGales 8c Seaton, print.] 2 [ Doc. No. 323. ] tory ; he will remark upon the game and fishes, as to quantity, quality, and facilities of procuring them. . The officer will transmit his report to Head Quarters, for the informa¬ tion of the General in chief, and to be laid before the Secretary of War. He will be considered as on topographical duty during the time he may be absent from his post, and engaged in the expedition. The men will have the extra allowances accorded to soldiers on fatigue duty. The officer will report to Mr. Schoolcraft, and take his directions. I am, sir, with respect, Your obedient servant, A. MACOMB, Major General commanding the Army.. To Capt. Wilcox, Or officer commanding Fort Brady. Copy from the records of Fort Brady. J. ALLEN, Lieut, and P. Adj't. Special Order, ) Head Quarters, Fort Brady, 4 No. 2. 5 June 6, 1882. In obedience to general order, dated 9th May, 1832, Lieutenant Allen,, Corporal Wibru,ofK, Privates Briscoe, Beemis, Burke, Dutton, Ingram, and Riley, of B, Privates Copp, Lentz, and Wade, of K companies, are detailed to accompany Mr. Schoolcraft on his expedition into the Indian country. Lieutenant Allen will be furnished with a copy of the order, by which he will be governed. The acting assistant quartermaster will furnish a boat to transport the' party. D. WILCOX, Captain 5th Regiment commanding. Copy from the records of Fort Brady. J. ALLEN, Lieut, and P. Adj’t. Fort Dearborn, November 25, 1833. Sir : In obedience to the foregoing orders and instructions, I have pre¬ pared the accompanying map and journal, which are now most respect¬ fully submitted, as embracing my report on the several subjects to which you have directed my attention. I have been induced to report in this form, because, from the circum¬ stances of my position on the expedition, I was not able to collect suffi¬ cient facts on which to base a full and separate report, under each of the various heads mentioned in your instructions; and I have thought this the best method of combining the observations which I was enabled to make^, so as best to comply wTith your views, and to acquit myself of a re¬ sponsible duty; and because, in this way, I could present all my re¬ marks in the most concise sharp e. iPi NEV uaB&as, [ Doc. No. 323. ] 3 The route of the expedition was up Lake Superior, to Fond du Lac; thence, up the Fond du Lac river, ninety-one miles, to the mouth of the East Savanne river, and across by the latter river, the Savanne portage, and the West Savanne river, to Sandy lake and the Mississippi; thence, up the Missisippi, through Lake Winnipeg, Upper Red Cedar or Cass lake, and Lac Traverse, to Lac La Biche, or Elk lake, the source of the river; thence, returning, back to Cass Lake, and across the country, by small lakes and portages, to Leech lake ; and thence across again, by little lakes and portages, to the source of Crow Wing river, and down this te the Mississippi again; down the Mississippi, fifty-nine miles below the falls of St. Anthony, to the St. Croix river, up the latter to its source, in upper Lake St. Croix ; and thence, down the Bois Brule river, to Lake Superior; again, twenty miles from Fond du Lac river, by which w'ehad! left the lake, on our way up ; and thence back to the Saut de Ste. Marie, the point from which wre started. We were absent eighty days, between the 6th of June and 26th of Au¬ gust, and travelled in that time two thousand eight hundred miles. The facts and observations collected on this route, and herewith pre¬ sented, are all that my time and means would allow me to collect; and I have endeavored, in the following pages, to lay them before you, as they were brought under my notice, by the journey and operations of each day ; and wherever they are not as full and satisfactory as your instruc¬ tions would seem to require, the reasons for the deficiency are to be found in the limitation as to time and means, which necessarily and un¬ avoidably applied from my subordinate situation to the principal and con¬ ductor of the expedition, and my duty as commander of the detachment of troops constituting the escort. . The primary objects of the expedition, and consequently of Mr. School¬ craft, being to vaccinate the Chippewa Indians, our movements between points, for this purpose, were generally rapid, scarcely allowing a mere passenger to make many useful observations on subjects of science, con¬ nected with the country; and when, in connexion with this, it is con¬ sidered that I had solely the charge and care of the transportation and subsistence of a detachment of soldiers, under circumstances of great dif¬ ficulty, it will, probably, not be expected of my observations on several sub¬ jects made at the same time, that they could be very minute and complete. Hence the subject of botany, and one or two others, could receive but little attention, and are not much noticed beyond such remarks as would occur to a hasty observer. To the former subject, Doctor Houghton, the surgeon, devoted much attention, and will probably give the result to the public. On the subjects of geology and mineralogy, I have been enabled to collect many useful facts, which are communicated, principally, in my description of the route up Lake Superior, and contained in my journal between the 7th and 25th of June. My observations on this part of the route are more full and in detail than on any other, as I was enabled to make them from travelling it twice, going and returning. We saw but little rock for¬ mation elsewhere. From the source of the Mississippi to the rapids below Crow Wing river, rock in place is seen but once, at the falls of Peckagama, 150 miles above Sandy lake, where the river runs through a formation of granular quartz. 4 [ Doc. No. 323. ] All the formations that did occur, however, are properly noticed in their appropriate place. The poor pine hills about the source of the Missis¬ sippi are broken down, primitive rock, showing numerous fragments and pebbles of the quartz gems, and of hornblende, feldspar, mica, &c. On the subject of Indians, I have endeavored to comply strictly with your instructions, and have given information derived from the most au¬ thentic sources, much of it from the Indians themselves but mostly from their particular traders ; in obtaining which, particularly the cen¬ sus of the several bands and villages, I was much assisted by the polite¬ ness of Mr. Schoolcraft and Doctor Houghton. The value of the trade in furs, and facts relating to it, were mostly fur¬ nished by Messrs Holiday, Warren, Oakes, and Aitkin, of the American Fur Company, who enjoy most of the trade of the country. It will be perceived that the condition of the Chippewa Indians is rapidly approaching a crisis, when iheir increased population and de¬ creased resources must bring upon them great calamities, unless a conside¬ rable change is previously effected in their means of subsistence and mode of life. Since the humane measures of the Government for the stoppage of whiskey in the Indian trade, they have increased and are in¬ creasing rapidly; but the furred and large animals of the country, upon which is their great dependence for their very existence, have diminish¬ ed in a converse ratio, and are every day becoming more scarce. And yet these Indians, with a characteristic improvidence and blind fatuity, have not made, nor are making, any other provision for their future wants arid contingencies, but, on the contrary, manifest, by a continued adherence to their established and peculiar habits of living, an apathy and indifference to their approaching condition of want and misery, al¬ together inexplicable and astonishing. Their vast country, though generally poor, has land enough of the rich¬ est quality to afford a subsistence, by cultivation, for ten times their pre¬ sent population. But they have not any where sought a living from agriculture ; and in parts where the soil is richest, and the Indians most ‘in need, they have been the least attentive to this means of supplying their wants; although some of them, as those about Fond du Lac, and along ’ the shores of Lake Superior, have already experienced, during two or ''three severe winters, much suffering from starvation, and many of them OTUst have perished but for a scanty relief furnished by their traders. All the Chippewas, north and west of Lake Superior, entertain unfriend¬ ly feelings to the Government of the United States, and would undoubtedly embrace another occasion, similar to that of the last war with Great Bri¬ tain, to join and assist an English or other powerful enemy : but their hostility amounts to nothing, for they are too poor and weak to attempt to war themselves, and are restrained, by motives of fear and interest, from depredating much upon their traders. Those at Leech lake, and about the ■sources of the Mississippi, are the least friendly, as my account of them •represents. About the time of the removal of the British traders from this country, it had commenced the decline in Indian resources, which has gone on stea¬ dily ever since, until the country is now poor, compared with what it was in .the time of the Northwest Company and British trade ; and the Indians, contrasting their present condition with their former, and without the [ Doc. No. 323. J 5 judgment to know and assign the true cause of the difference, attribute their present comparative distress and want to the change of Government and traders, effected at the time referred to. And this will account for- much of their present hostile feeling to the American Government and traders. All the Chippewa Indians have a most inveterate and irreconcilable hatred for their border tribe, and natural enemies, the Sioux; which, being duly reciprocated by the latter, keeps them both, near their borders, in a state of constant insecurity and warfare, and leads to endless aggressions on the part of each. The Chippewas, however, from their poverty and weakness, suffer most from this state of things, and are seldom able to pursue an offensive war, or to carry their operations much beyond their own country. Whereas their enemies, from their superior numerical strength, and abundant resources in means of subsistence, are enabled to push their excursions into the Chippewa territory, until they are resisted by the inaccessible nature of the country. The Chippewas, remote from their lines, as those along Lake Superior, at Fond du Lac, &c., are seldom engaged in these wars, or much affected by them : but their border brethren at Leech lake, Red lake, and along the Mississippi, are never at peace. The Leech lake band particularly, being the largest single band of the tribe, and occupying a place near the lines, and made secure by the fastnesses of their lake, are in a state of constant excitement, either from the depredations of their enemies, or their own, upon them ; and they suffer and resent more than any other band- They also possess more of the qualities of savage warriors than any other Indians whom we visited. For a particular account of them, see journal, July 16. Our route, excepting a small portion of it, on the Mississippi, above ant! below Fort Snelling, in the Sioux’ lands, was entirely in the country of the Chippewas, and we saw' no other Indians excepting a few of the Sioux at Fort Snelling, and on the river below. The accompanying map is a “delineation of the route and several points of importance,” and is as correct a representation of the country as my means of observation would allow me to make it. The collection of materials for this object received as great care and attention as was ne¬ cessary to supply a deficiency of proper means for this purpose. I was not furnished with, nor could I procure at Fort Brady, any in¬ struments by which to fix, from astronomical observations, the true gco- graphical positions of points necessary to be known for the construction of an accurate map; and, to obviate this inconvenience, J had recourse to a method of tracing the whole route between the few points fixed and given by the observations of former travellers. For this purpose, a com¬ pass, the only instrument I had, was placed in my canoe, where it was con¬ stantly under my eye, and as the canoe proceeded in the line of a river, I carried my observations from the compass to a field book at every bend or change of direction ; thus delineating, on a large scale, in my field book, all the bends of the river precisely as they occurred : and by esta¬ blishing a scale of proportion, in the lengths of the reaches, I was also in this way enabled to lay down and preserve the general course of a river with surprising accuracy, as was tested, afterwards, in constructing on my map the routes of rivers between known points. The distances were esti¬ mated w ith great pains and care, from the combined judgments of all the 6 [ Doc. No. 323. ] gentlemen of the party, on our rate of travelling, which was very well determined from our travelling much on known distances. Moreover, many of the distances, as the lengths of rivers and diameters of lakes, were long determined by traders and voyageurs, who could judge of them very well from having travelled them much. The portages were well enough measured by pacing them ; and their direction was defined in the same way as that of the rivers. On the portion of the Mississippi above Cass lake, which was the least known of any part of the river and route, I bestowed on the tracing and computing of distances the most unremitted attention ; and as I had by this time acquired a great facility in my method, I feel a confidence that the character, course, and length, as represented, of this interesting part, approaches a great degree of accuracy ; and the place which I have thus given to Lac La Biche, the source of the great river, may he regarded as being very near its true position. This is on the supposition that Cass lake, to which Lac La Biche is thus relatively fixed, has its true geographical position, from the observations of the astronomer, Thompson. My observations on this part of the route, given on the map, and in my journal, between the 11th and 16th July, may be viewed as settling defi¬ nitively the question of the true source of the Mississippi, which has excited some interest and curiosity, and upon which map makers have heretofore been seemingly uninformed ; as, on all the published maps that I have seen, the river above Cass lake is incorrectly laid down, and Lac La Biche is placed north of Cass lake, instead of south of it, as it should be. I have placed Lac La Biche about in latitude 47° 10', and longitude west of Greenwich 95° 54'. It is 165 miles above Cass lake, and 1,029 above the falls of St. Anthony. Our route from Leech lake, down the Crow Wing river, has also deve¬ loped new facts in the topography of the country, in the source, length, and character of that river, which claims an interest from its being the largest branch of the Mississippi above the falls of St. Anthony. The description of the St. Croix and Bois Brule rivers, of our route returning from the Mississippi to Lake Superior, is also new. The country embraced by the map, and which did not come under my immediate observation, is described from Indian maps, drawn by Indians vvcll acquainted with it, and from the maps and descriptions of traders. The number of the rivers, and their length and direction, is not far from truth. The southern shore of Lake Superior, a part of our route, is omitted in the map, but its topographical features are described in the journal. In my letter to you of September 13, 1832, I had occasion to mention the separation of Mr. Schoolcraft from the detachment on the St. Croix river. The circumstances of that separation are reported in my journal of the St. Croix, July 29- I have the honor to be, With the greatest respect, sir, Your most obedient servant, J. ALLEN, Lieutenant 5th Infantry. To Major General Macomb, General in Chief. [ Doc. No. 323. ] 7 Journal of an “ Expedition into the Indian countryto the source of the. Mississippi,made under the authority of the War Department, in 1832. June 7.—Tlie party organized for this expedition consisted of Mr. Schoolcraft, who had the principal conduct of it; Doctor Houghton, the surgeon, to vaccinate the Indians; Mr. George Johnston, interpreter; Mr. Boutwell, a presbyterian missionary; and twenty engagees, or Canadian voyageurs, in the employment of Mr. Schoolcraft, and the military part, consisting of myself and ten soldiers, from the companies at Fort Brady : making an aggregate, of the whole party, of thirty-five souls. This party may be considered as divided into two parts; that organized by Mr. Schoolcraft, and under his immediate direction and subsistence, and the escort or military part, under my command. I shall therefore designate the former, throughout this journal, as Mr. Schoolcraft’s party, or Mr. S. and party, which will be understood to embrace all excepting the escort, the latter being transported and subsisted under my direction. AH our preparations haung been completed, we embarked from Saut de Ste. Marie about five o’clock in the afternoon of the 7th of June. Mr. Schoolcraft and party, with their baggage, in one large Mackinac boat and two bark canoes, and the soldiers and myself, with our arms, ammuni¬ tion, and provisions to last us to Fort Snelling, in a small Mackinac boat. The boats are intended for our journey along Lake Superior, and will be abandoned at Fond du Lac, where, for river navigation, we shall be com¬ pelled to use the Indian bark canoes. Our object being, for this day, merely to make a start, we went but six miles, to Point aux Pins, on the Canada side of the St. Mary’s river, where we encamped for the night. This is a point of very general encampment for the traders, and is always considered by them, departing from Mackinac, or the Saut de Ste. Marie, as their first point in the Indian country. Here the prices of their goods change, and any article sold at this point, or beyond it, to any of their hands or engagees, is charged at what they denominate the “ interior price,” which is the same as that placed on their goods at their several trading posts in the Indian country. The St. Mary’s river expands greatly above and be- belowthis place, and all of it above might be regarded as a bay of Lake Supe¬ rior, were it not that there is a perceptible current almost to the lake. Point aux Pins is a low, sandy barren, with a few detached pines growing on it. A small stream enters the St. Mary’s, a few hundred yards below the extreme point, called Carp river, very remarkable for the great quantities of carp fish it contains, at some seasons of the year. Two hundred yards from its mouth, the stream is eight feet wide, and four or five deep, and, in the spring of the year, is literally filled with these fish. I had visited it on a former occasion, and found them so abundant, that with ten strokes of a spear I killed nine fish, most of them about a foot long, and when the water was so muddy, from their moving in shoals, that I could nol see any of them, but judged of their situation only by the motion of the water, occasioned by their moving in such great numbers. June 8.—Made an early start, and soon passed into Lake Superior be¬ tween Gros Cap and Point Iroquois, the two points which mark the exit of the lake by the St. Mary’s river, which, at this place, is nine miles broad, and seems, from the similarity in appearance of the two capes, at a very remote period, to have forced its way through a continuous moun¬ tain that once united them. It has been supposed that an analogy existed 8 f Doc. No. 323. ] between the rock formation of these points; but, on a former occasion, about a year before our present visit, Doctor Houghton and myself made a careful examination of Point Iroquois, of the American side, and could discover no rock whatever : its character, therefore, in this respect, is still conjectural. The name “Iroquois” is given this point, and a small island of the lake neat it, from a massacre at this place of Iroquois Indians, by the Chippewas, a long time ago. Gros Cap, immediately op¬ posite, on the Canada side, is a large granitic bluff, rising at first perpen¬ dicularly to a height of 150 feet, and afterwards more gradually to a whole height of near 500 feet. It is a remarkable point in the great chain of granite mountains that confine Lake Superior, to the north. Turning Point Iroquois, the lake extends westwardly, forming a‘great bay between this and Whitefish point ; the distance across being 24 miles, and the depth of the bay from a line joining the two points, 20 miles. This bay receives the Tequamenon and Slielldrake rivers. I made its direct traverse in a direction N. W., by which I reached White- fish point before the canoes and the other boat, which coasted the bay, but all turned the point near a mile, and encamped together at sunset, on a sandy beach. Whitefish point is a low’, long, narrow tongue of land, running, in an easterly direction, very far into the lake, and dips so gradually under the water as to form a shoal far beyond its extremity. About a mile and a half of the end of the point is composed of shifting sand and gravel, but a few feet elevated above the surface of the lake, and is perfectly barren of vegetation; the part back of this is low and very sandy, but a stinted growth of white and pitch pine, and a few small birch and white cedars, with some shrubs, have rendered the soil more fixed. On the north side of the point the sand is very fine, (siliceous,) and about a hundred yards from the shore is blown into numerous insulated hillocks, or steep mounds, from £0 to 50 feet high, partially covered with a small vegetation, which prevents their being destroyed by the same cause that formed them. The extreme point is made entirely of small pebbles of granite, quartz, hornblende, Ac., very round and smooth. This point is remarkable and important as a fishery of whitefish—as af¬ fording more, and a better quality, of that excellent fish, than any other fishery of the southern shore of the lake yet explored. It has been long know n as a point where this fish could be taken in gill nets at certain seasons of the year; but no use was made of it, more than is at present of several other fisheries of the lake, where a few Indians, or an individual trader, pro¬ cure only what is necessary for their immediate subsistence. But within the last two years, the enterprise of two gentlemen, Mr. Ashman and Mr. Roussin, who had retired from the fur trade of the American Fur Com¬ pany, has developed many facts, in relation to this fishery, tending to show its importance as a source of business and profitable trade. These gentlemen commenced the business of fishing at this place, two years ago, without any particular knowledge or experience, with regard to the seasons, localities, or the best means of taking the fish, and, not¬ withstanding these disadvantages, have made it a source of considerable profit, and are encouraged to continue it more extensively. The fishery, as at present developed, commences at Slielldrake river, nine miles from the end of the point, on its eastern shore, and extends round the point and along the southern shore of the lake, as far as the [ Doc. No. 323. ] ft Grand Marais, or the commencement of the Grand Sable,'a distance of fifty-four miles. The bottom along this part of the coast is sandy, and falls off gradually into deep water, and the shore is a sandy beach—cir¬ cumstances favorable to the safety and easy working of the nets. The fish occur in equal numbers in every part of its whole extent, but the point is the most desirable locality, from its generally affording, on one or the other side, a lee, and smooth water, where the nets may be used during winds. The fish are taken by means of the gill net alone ; the meshes of which are of a size adapted to the fish’s head, so as to fasten in the gills when the fish attempts to withdraw its head, after having inserted it in an attempt to force its way in the direction of its movement. The nets are generally eighty fathoms long, and from five to ten feet broad, according to the depth of the water; and are set in a vertical position by leads or sinkers that rest on the bottom, and floats of sufficient buoyancy to sup¬ port the weight pf the net and hold it up. They are tended by fishermen employed for the purpose, two of whom can tend and manage, in fair weather, ten nets; which will yield, every morning, from one to six bar¬ rels of fish. The management of nets consists in merely raising them, relieving them of their fish, and dropping in the same place, once each day ; which is done by running a canoe along their course, and raising and dropping as the canoe progresses. These nets cost about six dollars each. The fishing season commences here in the spring, (when the largest and best fish are taken,) about the last of April, and ends about the last of June £ and in the fall, occurs in October and part of November; making the whole season a little more than three months. The rest of the year, the whitefish remain in the deep water of the lake. It is remarkable that at no other known fishery of the lake can the whitefish be taken, in quantities in the spring ; and equally so, that those of this fishery are larger and better than at any of the others. It is also a peculiarity of this fish that they are fatter and better in proportion as they are larger. Some taken here weigh fourteen or fifteen pounds, but the average weight is, in the spring, twenty-five to thirty fish to the barrel of 200 lbs., and, in the fall, thirty to forty. The superior quality of the Lake Superior and Saut de Ste. Marie whitefish, causes them to bring, in Detroit, from one to two dollars per barrel more than any other whitefish of that market. Much of the resources of this fishery, as also the best means of working it, remain to be discovered, and, consequently, no estimate can be formed of its future value to trade. Messrs. Ashman and Roussin have put up at Whitefish point, within the last two years, 559 barrels ; others, in the same time, and at the same place, have put up 313 barrels; making the whole proceeds for the above time, 872 barrels, worth in Detroit six dollars per barrel, or 5,234 dollars. It is probable that there are many other rich whitefish fisheries along the southern shore of the lake, but they are, as yet, unexplored. The northern or Canada shore is said to afford many, as also superior advan¬ tages for fishing, from the coast being more serrated by bays, and pro¬ tected by numerous islands from the effects of winds and seas, that greatly annoy the fishermen on the southern shore. June 9.—Mr, Schoolcraft’s boat, managed by Frenchmen, and carry¬ ing most of his provisions and baggage, did not reach our encampment until late last night: this circumstance determined him to strengthen the crew of the boat, by that of Mr. Johnston’s canoe, which was accord¬ ingly abandoned, and Mr. Johnston placed in charge of the boat. 10 [ Doc. No. 323. J with Mr. Boutwell as passenger, Mr. Schoolcraft and Doctor Houghton occupying the light canoe as before; which, being manned with a full crew, was able to travel at a much speedier rate than either of the boats. We left our encampment after breakfast, at six o'clock, and, following the coast, took a direction nearly due west, which changed in the forenoon to 10° south of west, and in the afternoon to S. 30° W. I got to the Grand Marais at 10 P. M., where Mr. S. and party were already encamped, his boat being now able to precede mine, from the superiority of the boat and crew. The whole of the coast passed to-day, presented a very plain bank of fine sand from twenty to a hundred feet high, and a continued forest of pine, generally small, but sometimes large and beautiful. A picturesque grove of white pine (Pinus strobus) of more than a mile extent along the lake, occurs about ten miles from our encampment. The growth is all large, and unmixed with any other trees, the pines straight, tall, without limb, and thickly set together, on level ground, as far hack as we could see. We passed Twin river, twenty-four miles from Whitefish point. It is a small stream, and its mouth is so much filled with sand that it can only be entered by very light craft, and in smooth water. We have travelled to day forty-five miles. June 10, (Sunday.)—This being the Sabbath, by a rule of Mr. School¬ craft’s, we do not travel, though the weather is fine. The rule however is convenient in observance, as it gives the men time to wash, bake, &c., which they have but little time to do when travelling. We are lying in a beau¬ tiful little bay, called the Grand Marais, from its having once been a marsh, which, within the recollection of some old voyageurs, now present, has been washed away to its present state. It is a safe harbor for boats, and is important from its being the only one between Shelldrake river and Grand island, a distance of near one hundred miles. It is half a mile in depth, opens to the west, and is difficult to enter with a strong west wind and heavy sea, which drive right into it. Traders have met with serious accidents in attempting to run into it under such circumstances. The country about here has nothing peculiar in its appearance—hills are seen to the S. S. W. covered with thick forests of birch and pine. The Grand Sable, or Great Sand, commences from the west of the en¬ trance to this harbor. June 11.—Left our encampment at Grand Marais at 2 o’clock in the morning, and passed the Grand Sable before daylight. This is a great de- posite of loose, fine, siliceous sand, which forms a plain coast for about nine miles, rising abruptly from the lake at an angle of near 45°, and to a height of about three hundred feet. It is sustained at so great an angle by its moisture; for it is otherwise uncemented, and gives way under the feet, making its ascent almost impracticable. It is deposited in three layers or beds which are distinguishable by a slight difference of color, and rests on a flat rock of variegated sandstone, which is seen a few feet under the sur¬ face of the water, near the shore. The summit is in a plain of the same loose drifting sand, which extends back for some miles, and is perfectly barren, containing embedded trunks of trees. In this plain, about a mile and a half back, there is a small lake, of more than a mile and a half in circumference, of clear, transparent water, and of apparently great depth, enclosed by a beautiful low bank of clear sand, anil a beach of small peb¬ bles. This lake is the source of a branch of the Tcquamcnon river, that