half-unbuckled strap of Barney's harness in his hand: "we forgot one
thing, after all: never found William Townsend!"--LOUISE SEYMOUR
HOUGHTON.




CANOEING ON THE HIGH MISSISSIPPI.


CONCLUDING PAPER.


[Illustration: A LYNX STIRS UP THE CAMP.]

Itasca Lake was first seen of white men by William Morrison, an old
trader, in 1804. Several expeditions attempted to find the source of
the Great River, but the region was not explored till 1832--by
Schoolcraft, who regarded himself as the discoverer of Itasca. Much
interesting matter concerning the lake and its vicinity has been
written by Schoolcraft, Beltrami and Nicollet, but the exceeding
difficulty of reaching it, and the absence of any other inducements
thither than a spirit of adventure and curiosity, make visitors to its
solitudes few and far between. Itasca is fed in all by six small
streams, each too insignificant to be called the river's source. It has
three arms--one to the south-east, about three and a half miles long,
fed by a small brook of clear and lively water; one to the south-west,
about two miles and a half long, fed by the five small streams already
described; and one reaching northward to the outlet, about two and a
half miles. These unite in a central portion about one mile square. The