period of ten days or two weeks longer than that in the river proper.


LAKE PEPIN

is nearly thirty miles in length, with an average width of about three
miles, presenting an unbroken sheet of water; bounded on both its sides
by tall perpendicular bluffs, with here and there isolated peaks
towering far above their companions, having something of the dignity of
mountain ranges.

This lake is famed for its great attractions of natural beauty, and is
not disappointing to the traveller. It is a singular body of water, and
while it is a part of the river still it differs from it in so many
aspects that it is fairly entitled to be termed a lake. Below, the river
is divided into numerous and devious channels by intervening islands of
an irregular and picturesque character, uniting to give a grand,
kaleidoscopic variety to the journey; but here, at Lake Pepin, the
waters have free scope, and rise and swell under the pressure of storms
sufficient to move and sway the heaviest fleets. The water is remarkably
clear and cold, and is said to be over a thousand feet in depth at some
points. It is a tradition among the Indians that the bed of the river,
with its islands, sank during a great storm, in which the earth trembled
and shook for many leagues around. This seems quite possible, and the
general formation of the lake indicates that their tradition is founded
on actual fact.

The chief point of interest attaching to this locality is that known as
the Maiden's Rock, a perpendicular cliff midway of the lake on the
eastern shore. Were there no legend connected with it, the eye would be