On the 21st of September, the voyagers breakfasted at a Sioux village, on the eastern side of the river. It consisted of eleven lodges, and was situated at the head of an island, just below a ledge of rocks; but the inhabitants had all left it. About two miles beyond this village, they saw three bears, swimming over the river, but beyond the reach of gun-shot. In a camp of Sioux, which they afterwards passed, Mr. Pike was astonished by the garrulity of the women. At the other camps the women had not opened their lips; but here they flocked around the strangers, and talked without cessation. The cause of this freedom is supposed to have been the absence of their husbands. In a spot at which the voyagers arrived this day, the Mississippi was so narrow that Mr. Pike crossed it, in a boat, with forty strokes of his oars. From the _Canoe river_ to the _St. Croix_, it becomes still narrower, and the navigation is less obstructed by islands, than below. From the _Cannon river_ it is bounded on the east, by high ridges; but the left shore consists of low ground. The timber is generally ash and maple; except the cedars of the cliffs, the sugar-tree, and ash. Mr. Pike this day observed, on the shore, a white flag, and, on landing, he discovered it to be of silk. It was suspended over a scaffold, on which were laid four dead bodies; two enclosed between boards, and two between pieces of bark. They were wrapped in blankets, which appeared quite new; and were the bodies of two Sioux women, a child, and a relative. This is the manner in which the Sioux Indians bury such of their people as die a natural death: such as are killed, they suffer to lie unburied. On the 23d, the voyagers arrived at the _Falls of St. Anthony_. These are about seventeen feet in height, and the approach to them is through rapids, which vessels have great difficulty in passing. At the foot of the falls, the voyagers unloaded their boats, which they carried up the hill, and placed and reloaded in the river above. While this process was going on, a small party of Indians, painted black, and prepared for war, appeared on the heights. They were armed with guns, bows and arrows, clubs, and spears; and some of them had cases of pistols. Mr. Pike was desirous of purchasing from them a set of bows and arrows, and one of their war-clubs, made of elk-horn, and decorated with inlaid work; but they took offence at something which occurred, and suddenly went away.