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.

The weather was now so rainy, and the men had been so much fatigued with
conveying the vessels and their lading, to the upper part of the falls,
that seven of the twenty-two, who accompanied Mr. Pike, were taken ill.
It is impossible for vessels of any description, or in any state of the
river, to pass up these falls. The width of the river, immediately below
them, is two hundred and nine yards, and above them, six hundred and
twenty-seven yards. At high-water, the appearance is extremely sublime;
as then, the quantity of water falling throws up a spray, which, in
clear weather, reflects, from some positions, the colours of the
rainbow; and, when the sky is overcast, this spray covers the falls in
gloom and chaotic majesty.

On Tuesday, the 1st of October, Mr. Pike and his men again embarked, to
proceed on their voyage above the falls. At first the river was
sufficiently deep for the easy passage of the boats; but, at the
distance of about four miles, the shoals commenced, and there was much
difficulty in proceeding. Nearly from the Falls of St. Anthony to the
_Rum river_, the Mississippi is a continued chain of rapids, with
eddies, formed by winding channels. The land, on both sides, consists of
Prairie, with scarcely any timber, except small groves of scrubby oaks.
Not far from this spot is _Red Cedar lake_, the grounds in the vicinity
of which are considered, by the Indians, extremely valuable for hunting.

In some parts of the river it was requisite for the men to wade for many
successive hours, in order to force the boats over the shoals