Not only was the country exceedingly rough, carrying us up and down steep depressions, but the heat of the sun, together with the exercise, was oppressive, nor did our guides seem to move with a precision which betokened much familiarity with the region, if they did not feel, indeed, some compunction on leading whites to view their long superstitiously concealed mineral treasures. At one o'clock we came to an Indian path, leading directly to the place. The guides here sat down to await the party under Governor Cass, who were expected to join us at this spot. The thermometer at this hour stood at 90° in the shade of the forest. We had not been long seated when the other party made their appearance; but the Governor had been so much exhausted by clambering up the river hills, that he determined to return to his point of landing in the river. In this attempt he was guided by one of the Ontonagon Indians, named Wabiskipenais,[51] who missed his way, and wandered about he knew not whither. We leave him to thread his way back into the valley, with the Executive of the Territory, wearied and perplexed, at his heels, while the results of my excursion in search of the copper rock are detailed. After the reunion at the path, my mineralogical party proceeded some five or six miles, by estimation, farther, through a more favorable region, towards the object of search. On approaching the river, they passed some antique excavations in the forest, overgrown with saplings, which had the appearance of age, but not of a remote age. Coming to the brink of the river, we beheld the stream brawling over a rapid stony bed, at the depth of, perhaps, eighty or a hundred feet below. Towards this, its diluvial banks, charged with boulders and pebbles, sloped at a steep angle. At the foot, laid the large mass we were in search of, partly immersed in the water. Its position may be inferred from the following sketch:-- [51] From _wabiska_, white (transitive animate), and _penasee_, a bird. [Illustration: Fig. 1.]