and through narrow rocky passes--Portage to the source of the
Crow-Wing River--Moss Lake--Shiba Lake--Leech Lake--Warpool Lake--Long
Lake Mountain portage--Kaginogomanug--Vermilion Lake--Ossawa Lake-Shell
River--Leaf River--Long Prairie River--Kioskk, or Gull River--Arrival at
its mouth--Descent to the Falls of St. Anthony, and St. Peter's--Return
to St. Mary's.

1832, _July 14th_. I found the outlet of Itasca Lake to be about twelve
feet wide, and some twelve to fourteen inches deep. The water is of
crystal purity, and the current very rapid. We were urged along with
great velocity. It required incessant vigilance on the part of the men
to prevent our frail vessels from being dashed against boulders. For
about twelve miles the channel was not only narrow, but exceedingly
crooked. Often, where the water was most deep and rapid, it did not
appear to exceed ten feet in width. Trees which had fallen from the
banks required, sometimes, to be cut away to allow the canoes to pass,
and it required unceasing vigilance to avoid piles of drifted wood or
boulders. As we were borne along in vessels of bark, not more than
one-eighth of an inch thick, a failure to fend off, or hit the proper
guiding point, in any one place, would have been fraught with instant
destruction. And we sat in a perfect excitement during this distance.
The stream then deployed, for a distance of some eight miles, into a
savannah or plain, with narrow grassy borders in which its width was
doubled, its depth decreased, and the current less furious. We went
through these windings with more assurance and composure. It was one of
the minor plateaux in which this stream descends. The channel then
narrowed and deepened itself for another plunge, and soon brought us to
the top of the Kabika Palls. This pass, as the name imports, is a
cascade over rocks. The river is pent up, between opposing trap rock,
which are not over ten feet apart. Its depth is about four feet, and
velocity perfectly furious. It is not impossible to descend it, as there
is no abrupt pitch, but such a trial would seem next to madness. We made
a portage with our canoes of about a quarter of a mile across a
peninsula, and embarked again at the foot of the falls, where the stream
again expands to more than double its former width, and the scenery
assumes a milder aspect. It is another plateau.

Daylight had departed when we encamped on a high sandy bank on the left
shore. We were perfectly exhau