The view on all sides is dull and monotonous. Scarcely a living being animates the prospect, and every circumstance recalled forcibly to our recollection that we were far removed from civilized life. From Lac au Sable to the mouth of the St. Peter's, the distance by computation is six hundred miles. The first two hundred present no obstacles to navigation. The land along the river is of a better quality than above; the bottoms are more numerous, and the timber indicates a stronger and more productive soil. But near this point commence the great rapids of the Mississippi, which extend more than two hundred miles. The river flows over a rocky bed, which forms a continuous succession of rapids, all of which are difficult and some dangerous. The country, too, begins here to open, and the immense plains in which the buffaloes range approach the river. These plains continue to the Falls of St. Anthony. They are elevated fifty or sixty feet above the Mississippi, are destitute of timber, and present to the eye a flat, uniform surface, bounded at the distance of eight or ten miles by high ground. The title of this land is in dispute between the Chippewas and Sioux, and their long hostilities have prevented either party from destroying the game in a manner as improvident as is customary among the Indians. It is consequently more abundant than in any other region through which we travelled. From the post, at the mouth of the St. Peter's, to Prairie du Chien, and from that place to Green Bay, the route is too well-known to render it necessary that I should trouble you with any observations respecting it. The whole distance travelled by the party between the 24th of May and the 24th of September exceeded 4,200 miles, and the journey was performed without the occurrence of a single untoward accident sufficiently important to deserve recollection. These notices are so short and imperfect that I am unwilling to obtrude them upon your patience. But the demands upon your attention are so imperious, that to swell them into a geographical memoir would require more time for their examination than any interest which I am capable of giving the subject would justify. I propose hereafter to submit some other observations to you in a different shape. Very respectfully, sir, I have the honor to be Your obedient servant, LEWIS CASS. Hon. J. C. CALHOUN, _Secretary of War_. III. Copy of a letter from Gov. Lewis Cass to Hon. John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, dated DETROIT, September 20, 1820. SIR: In examining the state of our topographical knowledge, respecting that portion of the Northwestern frontier over which we have recently passed, it occurs to me that there are several points which require further examination, and which might be explored without any additional expense to the United States.