We abandoned our smallest canoe at
this point, and, pushing into the central channel of the grand current,
pursued for six hours our way to its mouth, where we encamped on a long
spit of naked sand, which marked its entrance into the Mississippi.
SNAKE.--The only thing that opposed our passage was a large serpent in
the centre of the channel, whose liberty being impinged, coiled himself
up, and raised his head in defiance. Its colors were greenish-yellow and
brownish. It appeared to be of the thickness at the maximum of a man's
wrist. The bowsman struck it with a pole, not without some trepidation
at his proximity to the reptile, but it made off, apparently unhurt, or
not disabled.
MONT LE GARDE.--The picturesque and grass-clad elevation called _Le
Garde_ by the canoe-men, attracted our notice. It is a high hill, the
top of which commands a view of the whole length of Lake Pepin, where
Chippewa war parties look out for their enemies. It was from this
elevation that Kewaynokwut's party spied poor Finley and his men in
1824, and there could have been no reason whatever for mistaking their
character, for he had a linen tent and other unmistakeable insignia of
a trader.
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