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Show 12 APPENDIX TO PART I. J)reter, and from thence forward has continued to evince a zeal to promote the success of my expedition, by every means in his power. H e is " ermonter born, ancl although not possc ssin~ the advantages of a polished t·ducation, inherits that, without which, an education set·ves IHJt to add to the frivolity of the character, candor, bmvcry, and that amnr pntria, which distin ~ uishes the ~ood of every nation, from No' a Zelllbla to the line. Finding that the tr.::dcrs were playin ~ the devil "ith their rum; l yesterday in council informed the Incli,Uls, that thl'i1· father had prohibited the selling nf liquor to thcn1, and that tht y would oblige him and serve themselves, il'they wolllcl prevent their young men from p..1yiug the credits of any tra· ders \\ ho sold rum to them, at the same time charging the chiefs to treat them well; as their fathct· a lthou gl• good, would not again for· give lllcm, !Jut punish with severity any injuries committed on their traders. This I presume, general, is agreeable to the spirit of the laws. Mr. Frazer immediately set the cxdmplc, by scpamting his spirits from the merchandize in his uo ~1ts, and returning it to the Prairie-although it would materially iujure him if the other traders retained theirs and sol<!. In fact, unless there arc some persons at our posts here, (when established) who have authority eifcctually to stop the evil by confis· catin!; the liquors, &c. it will still be continued by the weak and malevoleut. l shall forbear crj, in~; you a description of this place until my b .. retum, except only to observe, that the position for the post, ISm the point brtwecn the two rivers, which equally commands both; and at St. Croix on the hill 011 the lower side of the entrance on the E. bank of the l\1is~issippi; owing to cloudy weather, &c. I lunc tnk<'t• no obse1'Y ~1 tion here; but the head of Lake Pepin is in 44'' 58' b" N. anc\ we have made very litt le northing since. The :VIi~· ~,i%ippi is 130 yards wide, and the St. Peters 80 yards at thCII' con0t!CI1CC. 2 4th Sf'/lt.-This morning the Little C01·beau came to see me from th<' vjJ!ag-e, (he having recovered an article, which I suspected to l.c taken hv the Indians) he told me many things which the cere· tnot1y o f I Iw t'Otmct.l woulc l not permt. t h1· s c1 e I't vert. n g- t I1 e re ·' and aclclcd, he must te ll me, th.tt Mr. Roche, who went up the river St. Peters, bJd in hi !; prc .... cncc gave two k <'g-s of rum to the IncliLJns i h r ( the chief) asked him" '"hy he did so, as he knew it was coo· " nu y to the orders of his father; that Messrs. l\L1rcir and Tremel' " hac! ~tort tht i~ I'll 11 Lchind th em. but that he alone had rum contrary ·, to the.. . oL·dcrs." 1f c then g<~vc t!:c chi f 15 bottles of rum, as I sup· APPENDIX TO PART I. 1_3 pose to bribe him to silence. I presume he should be tan~ht the impropriety of his couduct, when he npplics for !us licence the uext year. 26th St'jlt. abo'Vc the falls of St. A nthony. The cloudy weather still continues, and I have not been able to to take the latitude. M t'. Frazer has been kind enough to send two of his people across from the Sioux town, on the St. Peters, for my dispatches, and the place being dangerous fot· them, I must haste to dispatch them ; of course, general, the following shot·t sketch of the falls, will merely be from lc couft d'a'uil. The place where the rivet· falls, over the t·ocks, appears to be about I 5 feet per·pendic nlar, the sheet being broken by one larg·e island on the E. and a small one Oil the \V. the fanner commencing ucl ow the shoot, and extending 50 () yar·ds above; the river tltcn faiJs throu g·h a continued bed of rocks, with a dcsc 'Ill of at least 50 feet pct·pcndicnlar in the course of half a mile-from thence to tile St. P ctct·s, a distance of eleven milc'i ~>y water, thet·e is almost one continued rapid, aggr·avatcd uy the tntel'l'nption of 12 small islands. The carrying place has two hill<;, one of 25 fe e t, the other· 12, with an elevation of 15°, and is about three fourths of a mile in length. Above the shoot, the rivet· is of a considcrl\b)e width, but below, (at this time ) I can easily cast a stone over i t. The rnpids 01· ~u ck, continues about half a mile above the shoot, wheu the water becomes calm ::mel deep. .My bat·gcs arc not yet ovet·, hnt my u·ucks are preparing, and I have not the least doubt of succeed ing·. The general, I hope, wj(} pardon the tautologies and egotisms ~f my communications, as he well knows Indian aflitirs arc productive of such Ct'ror·s, and that in a wildemess, detached from the civi. ~izcd wol'ld every thin~, even if of little impot·t, bccorncs ma~ nilied ~n the eyes of the beholder, and when I add, m y hands arc blistered 10 working over the rapid s, I presume it will apologise for the manne1 · and style of my communications. I am, geneml, Yom obedient sct·v:.mt, (Signed) Z. 1\1. Pr KE, L t. General fVilkim1011 , N. B. I flatter myself with hearing from yon nt the Pr·airic, Qll my way down. |