source op st. peter's kiver.                 91
moveable and unchangeable features, with the bright, dazzling effect of the silvery sheet of water, passing from a smooth and unruffled expanse, to a broken and foaming cataract. It is in the effect of the rocky bed of the Winne-peek, that its numerous falls surpass all others which we have seen; the cataract of Niagara, which far exceeds them in volume, is uniform and monotonous in comparison; the horizontal ledges of secondary rocks of the latter are as far inferior in picturesque effect to the dark Water-worn granite and sienite of the former, as the height of the bluffs at Niagara exceeds that of the*rocky banks of the Winne-peek.
The falls on this river have another advantage, which is, that the whole country has a picturesque appearance, which prepares the mind, and keeps it in a proper disposition, to appreciate the splendour of its cataracts, while the country around Niagara is flat, uniform, and uninteresting.
On the Winnepeek we have constantly in view changes in the rocks, which contribute to those of the surface; they present at times the shistose appearance of a gneiss and mica-slate, which disappears at the recurrence of the dark-eoloured granite or reddish sienite; these, being filled with veins of feldspar, display on a gigantic seale the beautiful striped appearance, which has given to some of the marbles of Italy their well-deserved celebrity.
The place of our encampment was characterized by one of those peculiar effects of water, which, once seen, leave an indelible impression upon the mind. After having passed over numerous rocks, which form diversified cascades, (the whole height of which is about thirty feet,) the water is suddenly received into a basin enclosed by high rocks, where it is forced to sojourn awhile, by the small size