On the seventeenth, snow fell during the whole day: Mr. Pike killed four bears, and his hunter three deer. Several ensuing days were occupied in cutting down trees, for the formation of winter-huts; and in constructing the huts, and forming a fence round them. When the latter was completed, the two boats were hauled out of the water, and turned over, on each side of the gateways, so as to form a defence against any Indians who might be inclined to attack the encampment. At this place, and in its vicinity, the voyagers continued several weeks, during which they suffered great hardships. Much of their time was occupied in hunting. They occasionally saw large herds of elks, some of them of immense size; the horns of the bucks measuring four feet and upwards in width. Many droves of buffaloes were also seen, and deer of various kinds: bears, wolves, racoons, and otters, were occasionally shot. On the 7th of November the Mississippi was nearly filled with snow; and, on the land, the snow was knee deep. Before the end of the month, the river was frozen over. During his residence at this place, Mr. Pike did not see many Indians. On one occasion he visited the tent or hut of an Indian chief, whom he found sitting amidst his children, and grand-children, ten in number. The hut was constructed of rushes, platted into mats. In the month of December, Mr. Pike and some of his men proceeded, in sledges, up the Mississippi. On the twenty-fourth, they reached _Corbeau river_; which, at its mouth, was nearly as wide as the Mississippi. For a considerable distance, the Mississippi was interrupted by a continued succession of rapids, shoals, and falls. One of the latter, called the _Falls of the Painted Rock_, formed the third important obstacle to the navigation of the river, which Mr. Pike had encountered. Most of the timber, now observed near the banks, consisted of pine-trees. On the thirty-first, Mr. Pike passed _Pine river_. For many miles, the Mississippi had been much narrower, and more free from islands, than in the lower parts of the stream. The shores, in general, presented a dreary prospect of high barren knobs, covered with dead and fallen pine-timber; and most of the adjacent country was interspersed with small lakes. Deer of various kinds, were plentiful; but no buffaloes, nor elks, had been seen.