a beautiful sheet of
water thro wh the M. flows or is an expanse of the M. & is 25 miles by
3. It apparently abounded in large fish, for they were constantly
jumping out of the water. Its banks you know are celebrated for
agates--but we have not time to stop a moment.--The settlements above P.
du Chien are very few--now and then a solitary dwelling & a wood yard.
At one of these places the man told me his nearest neighbor was 20 miles
off. In winter there is a good deal of travelling on the river in
sleighs. About half way up Lake Pepin is the lover's rock of which you
have heard, the Chippeway river enters from the East just below the
commencement of the Lake, & its Mouth is 100 Miles below St. Peters. Up
it & like wise up the St. Croix are saw mills, as that country abounds
with Pine. The Mouth of the St. Croix is 30 miles below St. Peters. Here
is a beautiful lake as large as L. Pepin thro' which the St. C. flows
just before it joins the M.--We have a Mr. Akin on board whose trading
establishment is 300 Miles north of the St. Peters & 60 west of Lake
Superior. Then he has been among the Chippeways 33 yrs. He has been
thro' Lake Superior 30 times to New York for goods & returned as often;
and now for the first time he has traded with St. Louis. He knows
perfectly all the languages around him. The most copious is the
Chippeway. He says they have some what of a written language, and he has
frequently seen an Indian write off a ... [illegible] for another on a
piece of bark. He thinks the characters are something like those of the
Mexicans.--Now I suppose you would like to receive a letter with the S.
Peter's post Mark; and if I ascertain it will not take more than a Month
on its journey you shall receive this thro that channel; otherwise I
will reserve it for the p. o. of P. du Chien".[472]

The narrative is continued in a letter of August 29, 1843, written from
Potosi, Wisconsin, to his son:

"Although you may not have a very high opinion of the West, yet I think
you would have liked to be with me in my late trip to St. Peters. The
weather was delightful and the scenery grand and very novel. You have
probably seen my letter to your sister; I will therefore say, we arrived
at the end of our voyage last friday night, and as the fog was very
thick the next morning we could not see where we were until 8 oclock.
Then the fort on a high hill, with its flag flying, had a fine
appearance. Mr. Gear the chaplain soon called at