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SIR:
In dedicating this volume to you, by the patriarchal title of KOSINAN, the highest term known to the lexicography of the Indian tribes for political sovereignty, and yet a word which is intimately associated, in their minds, with all the obligations and endearments of the father of a family, I advert to the double tie by which the aborigines regard you as the FATHER OF THE UNION.

It is but little over three-fourths of a century since these tribes have been the peculiar charge of American Executive and Legislative care. Too feeble in themselves to exert a prudent or wise use of their power without legal tutorage, yet having had, at all periods, large superfluous territories to cede and alienate, thereby rising to the rank of independent communities, they occupy an anomalous position in our relations. On the one hand, being deemed as wards of the government; and, on the other, as quasi foreign notions.

They have occupied this peculiar position from the days of Washington. Nor have the most timely and persevering efforts been wanting to fulfil these diverse duties faithfully. Not only has the government directed its best efforts to this end, but it has, from its inception experienced the full concurrent moral and benevolent influences of the community. Yet it must be acknowledged, on a review of the whole period of our propinquity to this race, that the means employed to elevate them in the scale of nations have often measurably, and often totally, failed.

This is not attributable, I apprehend, to the want of zeal, constancy, or faithfulness in enforcing on the Indian mind the superiority of our laws, arts, industry, or religion. There is reason to fear, that with every effort to render them wiser, happier, and better — to snatch them, as it were, from their fate, and to exalt them to the golden sunlight

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of civilization, letters, and Christianity, we have not, it is to be feared, welcomed them with the same free and equal offers which are made unreservedly to the rest of the oppressed family of mankind.

I should not, I confess, feel authorized to employ these expressions, if circumstances had not placed me in a position, on the frontiers, to judge of the race by a long period of close proximity and intimate relations, public and personal. I am persuaded, from these observations on the man; from the operation of our laws on the frontiers; and from his mental habits and idosyncracies, that if there be one leading measure more than any other, or all others, aspiring to control his destinies, which it is in our power to bestow, it would be to extend the frame-work of our code, civil and criminal, over every organized foot of territory possessed by them. The experience of mankind teaches, in every latitude of the globe, that, to be effective, protection of the obedient classes of society, as well as punishment of the vicious, must alike accompany the reign of law; and there is no exception to be made. If I have made any valuable observations, in relation to the Indian tribes, or if there be exceptions, they are such as an advanced state of arts and letters require; which make the concession of privileges and immunities to them, means of exaltation in the scale of civilization, rather than the final rewards of them.

I have the honor to be,
Most respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT.

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Fourth Report.

WASHINGTON, F. Street, Oct. 1, 1853.

To the HON. GEORGE W. MANYPENNY,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior.

SIR:
I have the honor to lay before you, to be submitted to the Department, the following information, in continuation of that heretofore presented, respecting the Indian tribes of the United States, prepared in obedience to the directions of Congress, It has been my object in conducting this investigation, strictly to follow the obvious meaning of the original act, in its direct and simple intentions, by collecting a body of ELEMENTARY INFORMATION on the topic. To do this, the subject has been systematically divided, by sectional and diacritical marks (vide formula herewith,) in each volume, thus connecting kindred with kindred matter, and in this manner presenting the data collected, relative to the history, statistics, languages, and other leading characteristics of the tribes. The discussion itself has been placed on broad, yet distinct grounds; paper following paper in its strict numerical and alphabetical order. The same topical method has been pursued, in the materials now submitted, avoiding theories and speculations, which have tended so much, on this prolific topic, to mislead judgment and distort opinion.

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Generalization on the subject, to be productive of practical or valuable results, it is conceived, should follow implicitly the accumulation of the materials, and it is a labor that may well be deferred to a more matured state of the inquiry. To enable this to be done, complete tribal views are required of the whole groups or families of tribes, in their multifarious extent, from Minnesota to New Mexico, California, and Oregon. It is to tribal, sectional, and characteristic details, that we must look for distinctive views to test their actual history and traits, as well as to determine their present condition and prospects, and to intimate their opinions on life and futurity. On such data alone, whatever be the requisitions of a sublimated rationalist philosophy, for which chronology is too short, and Christianity too simple, practical minds must rely for the soundness of the policy to be pursued respecting them. It is eminently a practical, not a speculative question; and upon this basis the anticipations of benevolence and education must also rest. Useless is it, for the present generation to bemoan the fading away, and perishing of tribes, in the by-gone history of the country, if we are not prepared, by wiser or better plans, founded on facts, to avert the fading away and perishing of tribes for the future. The appropriation of large sums of money annually, in annuities to the tribes, without securing the high objects for which political economy contends, and on which humanity insists, is but aggravating the evil it professes to cure. To expect barbarians prudently to manage their finances, and become political economists, is to look for what never has, and never will happen. We must not only think for them, but compel them to act in accordance with the dictates of sound thought.

From full and free communications with the originators of this measure, such were the views entertained by Congress, respecting the general question, and touching what was requisite to be done, to ensure better results. We are ourselves on the highway to national prosperity, founded on a geographical area which once was theirs. We cannot doubt the honesty, or zeal, of efforts made for their reclamation, through a long course of time, by Spain, France, England, and America; yet those efforts, even from the days of Las Casas, and the apostolic Eliot, have, it must be confessed, proved a comparative failure. There must, necessarily, if we inquire closer into the subject, be some misconceptions or misapprehensions. Is America absolved from her great moral obligations

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to the aboriginal race, by these failures — made in other times, and with far less means of securing triumphs?

Philosophy has deemed the history of the Indian tribes an enigma. There is nothing to connect it, by any sober chain of testimony, with their origin or residence in any other part of the world, if we except the little that philology, and perhaps monumental indicia, have contributed. Civilization was not satisfied, when these inquiries were ordered, that the character and claims of the Indian tribes had been adequately presented. Education promised rewards to further exertions — Arts, Agriculture, Christianity, were constant in asserting the practicability of their reclamation. Should legislation alone fail of its aims, or persist in lines of policy, which the soundest principles of political economy had exposed, if morality itself had not condemned?

I cannot be mistaken in these impressions. No misconception of the objects contemplated — no injustice of allusion — no misapprehension of the efficacy and value of the means pursued to collect and prepare this information — no want of appreciation of the claims of the tribes themselves, upon our public sympathies and attention, either here or elsewhere, have, for a moment, diverted my attention from the object, or slackened my zeal or diligence in its prosecution. There are persons in America who believe, that our duties to the unenlightened aboriginal nations are overrated; persons, whose intellects or fancies are employed in the contemplation of complicated and obscure theories of human origin, existence, and development — denying the very chronology which binds man to God, and links communities together by indissoluble moral obligations. There are persons, unacquainted with their true condition and character, who would not feel great sympathy, if the whole aboriginal race, tribe on tribe, were hurried into perdition — that which the false maxims and practices of the tribes strongly threaten. With individuals of this mode of thinking, it is confessed we have few predilections, believing that whatever our duties may be to the rest of the unenlightened nations of the world, they are emphatically due to the ignorant, benighted and erring hunter-tribes who are the subject of these investigations.

I was not content, in undertaking the task of collecting the materials of our aboriginal history, with the opportunities of my long residence in the Indian country, and my having

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devoted much of it to the study of their languages, history, and institutions, but I sought strenuously to enlist observation and experience, official and unofficial, in the production of this information, wherever it could be found. Soliciting your favorable attention to the data now presented,

I am, Sir, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,

HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT.

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Title I. — Subjective Division, General History — General Analysis of Title I.

Title I., Let. A., Vol. I.

Earliest Traditions of the Indians, respecting their Origin and Cosmogony of the Earth. Summary of beliefs of the various Tribes.

Title I., Let. B., Vol. II.

First Interview with the tribes of Virginia, New York, and New England, at the Close of the Fifteenth and Commencement of the Sixteenth Centuries. A Sketch of their general Ethnography.

Title I., Let. C., Vol. III.

Spanish Discoveries in Florida, and the present Area of Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas. Expeditions of D'Allyon, Narvaez, and De Soto. Discovery of the Mississippi River.

Title I., Let. D., Vol. IV.

Discoveries on the Gila, Colorado, and Rio Del Norte. Expedition of Coronado in 1542, and Conquest and Founding of New Mexico. First Excursions into the present area of Western Texas and Arkansas.

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I. General History. D.

Discoveries on the Gila, Colorado, and Rio Del Norte — Expedition of Coronado — Conquest of New Mexico.

THE year 1519 was one of deep interest to the fate and fortunes of the Gila, Rio del Norte and Colorado Indians. Florida had been known during nine years, when an event occurred of the greatest interest in the history of the tribes. This was no other than the discovery of Mexico. The empire of Montezuma, which had been founded, agreeably to their own traditions, on that of the Toltecs, had that year reached its culminating point. When Cortez landed on the Mexican shores, judging from the ordinary course of things, he appeared more likely to have served, with his few followers, as an offering to Huitzilapochtli, the war-god of the country, than to have conquered and brought it into subjection to Charles V. Yet, in two years, he was master of the empire. He had, during that period, entered Mexico the first time, turned upon Narvaez and his Cuban pursuers — defeated them — founded the city of Vera Cruz, re-entered Mexico with the conquered troops, levelling its walls as he advanced; and he was soon heralded in Spain as a hero, and urged his claims at the Spanish court for rewards, as if he had performed feats worthy of Hannibal or Scipio.

This story has been told by the Spanish historians with every advantage to the conqueror, which national pride and vanity can give it. The type of civilization of the Indians themselves has been greatly exaggerated, that the splendor of the conquest might be enhanced. It must be admitted, however, that in some of the arts, as metallurgy and spinning — in the knowledge of astronomy, and in public architecture (for the commonalty lived in huts), they had made advances which are astonishing. These contrasted strangely with the manners and morals of the people, and only go to prove how far the intellectual faculties and industrial means of a nation may be improved, while in domestic morals they still remain at, or very near, the initial points of barbarism.

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Considered as men inured to the Indian art of war, they were sanguinary and cruel, but they were so infinitely inferior in courage in field-fights, as well as in skill and implements, to Europeans, that they never fought a respectable pitched battle during the whole conquest — they could not be relied on for any effective struggle, when not roused by the fury and superstition of their priests, and when not in the immediate presence of their supposed gods, or at the sites of their temples. Victory over such weak and undisciplined hordes was not difficult, and it was too often, on the part of the conquerors, a cloak to cruelty and injustice.

Of the tale of the conquest we have nothing to remark in this connection, excepting as it exposed the tribes of the present enlarged area of the United States, north of the line of the Gila and Rio Grande del Norte, to invasion. This result followed the taking of Mexico, within the period of some twenty years, and it is to the particular narration of these events in Mexican history, now become our own, that these pages are devoted.

It was resolved to make New Spain a vice-royalty, in 1530, and after some delays in finding a representative, Mendoza was appointed to the chief office by the Spanish court. He reached the city of Mexico in 1535, carrying a printing-press; the first, it is believed, ever introduced on the American continent. Under a wise, energetic, yet calm and beneficent rule, the disorders of the country were remedied, partial insurrections quelled, and the reign of law fully established. It so happened, in the course of a few years, that a Franciscan missionary, named Marcos de Niza, who had visited the country north of Sonora, reported that he had discovered a populous and rich kingdom called Quivera, or the Seven Cities, abounding in gold, the capital of which was named Cibola. On Cibola, therefore, all eyes were soon set.

The origin of the tale of the Seven Cities was this: — In 1530, while Nuno de Guzman was President of New Spain, an Indian called T×zou, of New Galicia, told him that his father, who was now dead, had been a trader in ornamental feathers, such as are used in head-dresses, to a people in the interior, lying north of the present course of the Rio Gila, and that he brought back, in exchange, large returns of the precious metals. T×zou said that he had accompanied his father on some of these journeys — that there were seven cities as large as Mexico, built on a regular plan with high houses, and that there were entire streets of gold and silversmiths — a falsehood that fanned hope into a blaze.

De Guzman, putting full faith in these stories, gathered an army of four hundred men and proceeded in search of this golden country, taking T×zou along; but after reaching the province of Culiacan, he found the mountains beyond it so difficult to pass, that he would not proceed with his discovery; and hearing at the same time that Cortez, with whom he was on bad terms, had returned from Spain with high honors, and fearing for himself, he gave up the expedition and contented himself with founding Compostella and Guadalaxara, which became the nucleii of New Galicia. Meantime, T×zou died.

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While this story was still current in the country, Cabe×a de Vaca, the only surviving officer of the ill-fated expedition of Narvaez (1527) to conquer Florida, reached Compostella, with three companions, one of whom was a black man named Estevan. De Vaca gave such glowing, and in some measure, mysterious, accounts of the countries through which he had passed, in his extraordinary pilgrimage of nine years, that the ardent minds of the Spaniards were fired anew with the thirst of discovery, and the story of T×zou was invested once more with all the probabilities of truth.

Mendoza, who had but recently arrived in Mexico, determined to order an expedition of exploration into the region. As a preliminary step, he despatched Marcos de Niza, with two other friars, and a competent military escort, into the region, taking Estevan as a guide. On reaching Culiacan, on the borders of the country, they rested a few days and prepared themselves by further information. Estevan, evincing the impatience of his African character to participate in the first advantages of the anticipated discoveries, in his great eagerness to reach the place, preceded the three friars with a few Indians. He crossed the Gila, and hurrying over the desert, which was without an inhabitant, reached the valley of Cibola, where they found the first town, while De Niza and his two companions were still sixty leagues in the rear. He made haste to present himself before the caciques of the town, of whom he insolently demanded their gold and their wives. On this audacious demand, unsupported as he was by force, and unauthorized in making it, the chiefs questioned him closely, by what authority these demands were made. Judging, from his replies, that he was a spy from a party on its march to invade their country, they decided, after a short consultation, to put him to death, and immediately carried this decision into effect. When De Niza and his companions heard of this, they forthwith retreated to Compostella, and thus ended the second attempt to reach the kingdom of the Seven Cities.

But a golden lie is not easily put down. It was an age in which nothing but wonders would be believed. Golden Indian provinces were constantly flitting before the Spanish mind, and the friar de Niza, when he had reached Compostella, determined not to be behind-hand in fanning the fires of expectation. He went to Mexico, and in an interview with Mendoza, not only confirmed him in his prepossessions of golden regions north of the Gila, but published a description of his tour, in which, according to Caste×¡ada,. he gave the most alluring account of a country, respecting which, he found the popular impression so high.

Mendoza, thereupon, determined to hasten an expedition to explore and conquer the country, and thus add it to the already large acquisitions made under the banners of Charles V. This was the beginning of the history of the intendency of New Mexico. To lead this expedition, he finally named Francesco Vasquez Coronado, the successor of De Guzman as governor of New Galicia. It was only necessary to announce such

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a design from the vice-royal court at Mexico, to attract gentlemanly adventurers from every quarter. Such was the enthusiasm indeed, generated on this occasion, that men of the highest rank pressed for even subordinate places in the expedition. It was determined to take De Niza as guide, and to send him ahead of the army in order to make preliminary discoveries. Of a force of three hundred men, it is said by Castenada, that there never was an expedition organized in America, which had such a proportion of gentry who were eager to participate in the glory of the enterprise. The annexed Map of the S. W. corner of New Mexico, Plate 1, drawn agreeably to the most recent reconnoissances of the officers of the United States Army, employed in exploring its geography, has been constructed from the most authentic materials.

Mendoza, himself, repaired to Compostella to review the troops, and accompanied them two days' march on their way. Eight hundred Indians, glad to be fed (doubtless), immediately joined this little army of cavaliers. At Chiametta, Coronado met De Niza and his companions, who, with a dozen men, had been despatched in advance. These men had penetrated to Chichiticale, two hundred leagues from Culiacan. They reported secretly that the country was nearly a desert. This was whispered about, and greatly dispirited many; but the Fray Marcos de Niza, who was now also present, endeavored to reanimate the desponding, by telling them that the country seen by the officers was "good," and that he would guide them to rich provinces.

On reaching Chichiticale, of which so much had been boasted, Coronado found a single roofless and ruinous house, which had been built of "red earth." The army soon entered and spent a fortnight in marching in the desert north of the Gila; after eight leagues further march they came to a river, on the banks of which they soon after reached the long-sought Cibola. It was a small town, built on a high rock, not containing over two hundred warriors. The houses were terraced in three or four stories, with a narrow and steep ascent; they were now, agreeably to Mr. Kern, in old Zu×¡i. (For a view of the present town of Zu×¡i, see Plate 2.) They immediately assaulted it, sword in hand, but were opposed by the casting down of stones, one of which knocked down Coronado. An hour's struggle, however, gave them the place. It was evidently one of those picturesque geological formations so common in that part of New Mexico. It gave them provisions, but no gold. There was an utter disappointment in this respect, and it was not without a strong effort that Fray de Niza could be protected from the rage of the disappointed soldiery, and he was soon sent off secretly, for his own security.

Coronado made his head-quarters at Cibola, and sent out various expeditions into the adjacent regions; he also dispatched invitations to the Indians to come in and establish friendly relations with him. These told him, apparently to rid themselves of such a guest, of a province of seven towns, called Tusayan, at twenty-five leagues distant, the people of which were represented as living in high houses, and being very valiant.

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The course is not mentioned, but from subsequent events it must have been generally west. He despatched Don Pedro de Tobar, with seventeen horsemen, four foot-soldiers, and a friar, to explore it. On reaching it, they found the Indians in possession of cultivated fields. As soon as they were aware of the presence of an enemy, they assembled in a body, armed with arrows, clubs, and bucklers. They drew a mark on the ground, and forbad the Spaniards passing it; but this only served as a signal for Tobar to advance, and he and his followers slew "great numbers of them." After this, the Tusayans submitted and presented their invaders with "cotton-stuffs, tanned-hides, flour, pine-apples, native fowls, maize, and torquoises." Such is, in part, the exaggerated language of the narrative of Castenada. Tobar was now, doubtless, at the seven villages of the modern Moqui. They told him of a great river, at twenty days' distance, which he would reach after crossing a desert inhabited by a gigantic people.

Coronado, on the return of this party, ordered Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, with twelve men, to explore this great river. They were well received by the Indians of Tusayan, who supplied them with food and guides; and after twenty days' march, agreeably to their prediction, over an entirely uninhabited country, they stood gazing on the banks of the great canon of the "Tizou," now called Colorado River. They were surprised at the elevation of its banks, which they thought "three or four leagues in the air." It is thus perceived that the expeditions of Tobar and Cardenas were west from the head-quarters of Coronado, at Cibola. For three days they tried to find some depression to get down to the river; but failing in this, and threatened with a want of water, they retraced their steps to Cibola, passing in their way a high fall, at which there were crystals of salt.

The information collected by Coronado, from all sources, had the effect to make him better acquainted with his geographical position. After passing north of the Gila, from Chichiticale, he had found nothing but a desert. The first watercourse met with, was a stream to which he gave the name of Verneigo, on ascending the banks of which, he had indeed reached the long-sought Cibola, a name which had been long bandied about vaguely by rumor, but which there is no reason to believe that the Indians had ever bestowed upon it. The reports of the Indian T×zou, — of De Niza, — and of De Vaca, had alike proved fallacious; but the Spaniards, foiled thence, were not to be thus discouraged. Coronado looked stoutly about him. By the expedition of Don Pedro de Tobar, and of Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, he had evidently fixed the location of the town of the Moqui, and Colorado or Tizou river, and clearly determined the existence of large desert tracts west of him.

In the meantime, information from the east and north-east pressed in upon him, and denoted that to be the quarter from which he had most to expect. A chief of considerable presence and plausibility, called Bigotes, visited him from a town called Cicuy×,

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situated four days' march east of the Rio Grande del Norte. It was situated seventy miles east of Cibola, which, in the longitude of 35°, (being about fifty-seven miles to the degree,) would denote the place to be on the Pecos. Bigotes was well received, and was the first person to inform the invading army of the existence of the bison in that direction. One of the military parties had, on crossing the desert north of the Gila, found an enormous pair of horns — doubtless elk's horns; another had encountered a flock of large horned sheep, but they had witnessed nothing of the animal spoken of by the chief, and the intelligence created much excitement. The visit of Bigotes appears to have had the object of opening a trade with that quarter. But whatever were the motives of Bigotes, he spoke most favorably, far too favorably, of the country and its resources. In effect, a most friendly alliance ensued.

Hernando de Alvarado was first sent in that direction, taking twenty men, with Bigotes as his guide, having permission to be absent eighty days. He departed with alacrity. After five days' march, they arrived at a rock-castled town, called Acuco, the modern Acoma. It was so high above the plain, that the narrator quaintly says, that the shot from an arquebus could scarcely reach its summit. It had a stairway of steps cut in the rock, which was plain and convenient at the bottom; but these became faintly scraped in the rock, and dangerous, at the top, so that it was necessary to scramble in ascending. Provision was made for its defence by piles of stone, which could be rolled down on the assailants. There was, on this elevated area, space to cultivate and to store maize, and it had tanks of water. The following is a sketch of this place, as it now appears, from the officer above named.

No hostility was offered here; and after viewing the place, Alvarado continued his way. After three days' further march, he came to another town, called Tigouex, (on the Rio Grande); where the natives, seeing he was accompanied by Bigotes, also received the party well. His next march occupied five days, which brought him to Cicuy×, the object of his expedition. This place was strongly fortified, but the inhabitants received them as the natives of the other towns had, as messengers on a friendly visit, and they were courteously entertained.

While at this place, Alvarado was introduced to an Indian of a striking appearance

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and demeanor, called El Turco. He wore a noted beard (whence the name), and spoke with great fluency. He had been taken prisoner by the Cicuyan Indians, on the east of the Rio Grande; and, probably observing the eagerness which the Spaniards manifested for gold or silver, or from some other cause, he spoke of these metals as being plentiful in the regions in which he had been captured. He probably, from subsequent events, thought only of his liberation, through the inarch of the Spaniards into that region. However this may be, he was very lavish in his descriptions of the country; and said many things which were mere exaggerations. Under this new cause of excitement, the bison, to see which they had so eagerly wished, lost much of its interest; and when Alvarado had accomplished his mission, he hurried El Turco back to his starting-point, that he might communicate the same intelligence in person to Coronado. The latter had, in the meantime, moved the position of the invading army from Cibola to Tigouex, evidently on the line of the Rio Grande. El Turco repeated his florid descriptions. He added that there was in that quarter a river two leagues wide, which contained fishes as large as horses, and was navigated by great lords, in canoes of twenty oarsmen, sitting in their sterns, having flags with golden eagles flying over their heads. This lying story was partly believed. The general sent Captain De Alvarado, with El Turco for his guide, back to Cicuye, to reclaim certain golden bracelets, of which, he said, he had been despoiled when he had been made a captive by the Indians of that village. But the cacique of Cicuye assured Alvarado, on his arrival, that he had taken no bracelets from the prisoner, and that El Turco was "a great liar." Hereupon, Alvarado lured both Bigotes and the "cacique" of Cicuy× into his tent, and put them both in chains. In this condition, they were marched back five leagues to Coronado, at Tigouex, who kept them imprisoned for six months. Affairs began thus to be involved, by the ill judgment of Alvarado, who served the truth-teller and the liar both alike.

Tigouex was now made head-quarters. At this place, there were some houses of "seven stories," which rose above the rest like towers, and had "embrasures and loopholes." This is called the "handsomest, best, and largest village in the province." The whole army was finally concentrated here, and passed the winter (1540-41.) at this place. Snow fell, in December, nearly two feet deep; it became cold, and the soldiers suffered for clothing. To supply this, Coronado called for three hundred garments from the Indians; and when they interposed delays, saying that there were twelve villages to contribute their share, and that the chiefs must be consulted, he would brook no delay. The cavaliers sent by him, stripped the poor natives on the spot, leaving them to the inclemency of the weather; and when the dresses did not suit in quality, they stripped the next Indian they met, chief or commoner, and forced away his garments.

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Coronado was not only inhuman in some of his exactions, but impolitic in his dealings with the red men. He had, early in the autumn, offended the sense of justice of the people of Cicuy×, by imprisoning their chief, an aged man, instead of El Turco alone, who had amused them with falsehoods. This stripping the Indians of their garments, became another cause of offence, to which were indeed added, in the course of their two months' wintering here, acts of licentiousness and perfidy, that roused the Indians to a keen sense of wrong; and by the time that the next campaign opened, there was a general state of hostility. It appears that Coronado did not occupy the town of Tigouex, but formed his encampment in the open plains near it. In the course of the hostilities brought on by the injustice and foolish and wicked acts of some of his subordinates, orders were given to assault the rock-town; which sustained with much firmness a long siege, and was finally abandoned by its inhabitants from the want of water.

Coronado was now among the Indian rock-towns, with terraced houses, which compose a line of native "pueblos," connecting the Rio Puerco with the upper waters of the Little Colorado, up which latter he had been carried by the fork of the Verniego, till reaching Cibola. This latter had been the talismanic word since first leaving Compostella and Culiacan. The disappointment produced on reaching it, by finding it neither populous nor wealthy, — the several expeditions of Don Pedro de Tobar and Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas towards the west; and the experience and observation of a winter, while the head-quarters of the army remained at Tigouex, had completely dissipated these sanguine hopes. The reports of Bigotes and El Turco from the east, had, however, supplied a new rallying-word to concentrate Spanish courage and chivalry. Nothing could now exceed the new hopes that were inspired by the word Quivera. It was on every soldier's tongue. The siege of Tigouex-on-the-rock had not been completed, when Coronado pushed on to Cicuy× (on the Pecos), with a view to lead an expedition to Quivera; and as soon as the spring opened, the rest of his force followed him. Now, however, the army fought its way, in a manner very unlike the preliminary excursion of Alvarado, the previous season; who, with only twenty men, had been received everywhere with friendship. It was no longer as a friendly power, wishing to open intercourse and commerce with them, that the Indians received Coronado; but as an enemy — a conquering enemy; and the reputation that had gone out before him was that of a cruel and treacherous enemy, who did not respect alliances, nor regard truth (a truce having been broken) nor virtue (the domestic circle having been invaded). A course more destructive of the good opinion of the natives, and of the principles of a sound and wise policy, could hardly have been adopted by the several sub-commanders; and if Coronado did not, in all cases, sanction these acts of cruelty and injustice, he did so on some occasions, as in stripping the Indians, and he did not effectually redress their injuries when brought before him. He should have punished the violators of truces, and enforced the rights of humanity and chastity. Truth

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requires this to be said; and if it has been long delayed, it is, perhaps, owing to the original Spanish manuscript of Caste×¡ada having been so long withheld from the light.

Cicuy× was evidently seated on the Pecos, north-east of Santa F×. When Coronado crossed the stream it was still fast locked with ice, which had continued during four months, and it was so firm that horses could cross. Such severe cold was very rare. On reaching Cicuy×, he formed his camp as usual, near the town, to which he restored its chief, after a protracted and unjust captivity. Good relations were thus restored, which, if not entirely sincere on the part of the natives, were apparently so; and this act of liberation was afterwards followed by also restoring Bigotes. He sent parties out to establish relations with the neighboring towns, particularly with Chia and Quirix; but the more westerly tribes, among whom he had sojourned, remained implacable, nor would they return to the towns from which they had once deliberately fled. The Indian mind is governed very much by ideas of ill-luck, in certain localities, and this is probably one of the reasons for the ruins of some of the Indian towns which exist, at this day, in New Mexico. The following is a sketch of Cicuy× as it now is.

It was still believed that El Turco had given them reliable information respecting the wealth of Quivera, although there were not wanting persons who called his representations in question. Of these, there was an Indian named Xabe, a native of Quivera itself, who was recommended to Coronado by the cacique of Cicuy× and Bigotes. Xabe said that the country indeed yielded gold and silver, but in much less quantities than El Turco had represented. It was the 5th of May before the army at Tigouex left their encampment, after this hard winter, to rejoin the Spanish general at Cicuy×; and as soon as the river was free from ice, he began his march for Quivera, with El Turco and Xabe for guides. Here commences an extraordinary series of adventures, which, for a certain reckless daring, are unparalleled by any thing of the kind, except those of De Soto, who had died the year before at the mouth of the

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Arkansas, but whose successor, Moscoso, at this time was pursuing his wild adventures west of the Mississippi. Coronado at once set out from Cicuy×; four days' march towards the N. N. W., over a mountainous country, brought the army to the banks of a large and very deep river. It was necessary to bridge it, and after thus crossing it, they continued to advance in the same course for ten days, when they reached the buffalo country, and found an Arab people called Querechos, who lived in buffalo-skin tents, and subsisted entirely on that animal. Having communicated with El Turco, these Querechos confirmed his statements. Coronado was now marching in a north-eastern direction; every step carried him farther from the true position of Quivera. These Nomadic Querechos directed him to march eastwardly, where he would find a large river, which he could follow ninety days without leaving a populous country, and that this river was more than a league broad. Continuing their march in the same course, they reached extensive plains, and came into the midst of incredible multitudes of the bison. The flying natives were again encountered in their march towards the east, and El Turco asserted that they were now but two days' march from a town called Haxa. There was an Indian in the army, named Sopete, a native of Quivera, who is called "a painted Indian," who constantly affirmed that El Turco was a liar. Still, Sopete was not believed, because the Nomades, in whom we may probably recognize the modern Comanches, concurred with El Turco. But neither the warnings of Xabe nor Sopete were regarded. On, Coronado went, traversing immense plains, seeing nothing for miles together but skies and herds of bison; hundreds of these they killed. Gulfs and valleys, which were occasionally encountered, formed no impediment to the indomitable zeal and courage of his followers. Literally, they overcame every physical obstacle. It is not stated that they altered their course from east. For seven and thirty days they pushed on, horse and foot. It was said, on the authority of an Indian woman captured, that they had reached to within nine days' journey of the advance party of De Soto. From the accounts given, Coronado must have marched seven or eight hundred miles east of the point at which he crossed the Rio Grande. He was forty days, with a light party, in retracing his steps to Cicuy×; and he had penetrated, without doubt, through portions of Texas and far into the present area of Arkansas, the supposed "Arache" of Caste×¡ada.

The ardently sought Quivera still eluded discovery. It was the golden town of this talismanic name that was to reward the toils of these arduous and harassing journeys through immense solitudes, which were only relieved by countless herds of the bison, and their flying enemies, the Indian nomades of the prairies. At length Coronado, when he had probably reached the great south branch of the Arkansas, determined to send his army back; and at the same time, taking a light party of cavalry, to continue

31

the search a little further. As a preliminary step to these movements, El Turco was closely examined as to the cause of his numerous and persevering falsehoods. The Indian, if not taken entirely aback by these examinations, was put to extremities; and, from whatever cause, confessed that his design had been to entangle and mislead the army, and cause its destruction on these bleak wastes, and level plains of grass. On this discovery of his bad motives, Coronado ordered him to be immediately strangled. This was done with military precision; and thus perished a man who had exercised a leading influence, for a long time, in determining the movements of this army; who seemed, indeed, reckless of truth in his assertions; but who, if the secret workings of his mind could be unfolded, perhaps thought himself to be doing the general cause of the Indian an heroic service, by leading its direst enemies on to inevitable destruction. Such fanatic principles had once nerved the excited but mistaken hands of the Turkish assassin of Kleber, on the banks of the Nile; and, with the perhaps more justifiable sympathy, those of a Charlotte Corday, in the dark revolutionary spasms of France.

After this act, the army marched back, under trusty Teyas guides; who led them, in twenty-five days, a distance which they had, by involved courses, been thirty-seven in originally traversing. Coronado spent a few days more in his search, and then returned, and rejoined his forces west of the Rio Grande; to which he brought the report that he had visited Quivera, which is said to exist "at the foot of the mountains bordering the sea," a term that would puzzle the wit of any sane geographer. The description given of its position, resources, and population, is at least so vague, that the term appears to be used by Caste×¡ada rather as something to salve disappointed hopes, or garnish over ill formed or executed plans of discovery.

Every practical object of the expedition had indeed failed. There was not only no new Mexico or new Peru, as it was fondly hoped there would be, to serve as the basis of conquest and discovery, but not even a particle of gold or silver found. Instead of it, they had found rough mountain tracts, or vast deserts of sand, covered with grass, generally without forests and without water, and occupied by tribes without civilization. The valleys susceptible of cultivation constituted but an inconsiderable portion of the whole country, and could only be made productive by irrigation. The Indians who occupied these, often lived on high castellated pinnacles of sandstone rock, of which they had taken possession, and which they had rudely fortified against the wild roving tribes. They cultivated maize in isolated valleys, far separated from each other by wide deserts. There were some slight traces of a fixed industry, and incipient art; but there were few, and very detached elements, out of which to construct a civil government.

Coronado, when he had reached his head-quarters at Tigouex, turned his thoughts on a return to his government at Gallicia; not, it would seem from Caste×¡ada, in accordance with the opinions of the body of his army, who sought to explore further.

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This idea of a return he did not, at once, reveal; but promised the army to lead them forth again the next season, to pursue his discoveries. Events so fell out, in the course of the season, as to favor his views, and at the same time secure the approbation of the officers and troops; and in the month of April, 1543, the whole army took up its line of march for Mexico. Thus terminated the expedition of Coronado.

Having called the attention of Mr. R. H. Kern, U. S. Topographical Service in New Mexico, to the route pursued by Coronado, he concurs in the general geographical determinations above stated.

"In tracing Coronado's track, on the accompanying map, reference (he remarks) has been made to old Spanish MS. charts, to mark it as clearly as possible where my personal knowledge failed, and to confirm the accuracy of such positions as have fallen under my own observation.

The narrative of Castenada is written in the vague, rambling style peculiar to all the histories left us by the Conquistadores and early monkish explorers. And so provoking is this fault, that one cannot help applying to them his own words: ‘If they are important, they reduce them to nothing; and if they are insignificant, they soon become so serious and surprising that they can scarcely be believed.’

In view of this, and from their crude way of keeping their courses and measuring distances, I have been induced to rely on my own knowledge as much as on Caste×¡ada's narrative.

No difficulty occurs in tracing the march as far as Culiacan, as we have Pascuara, Compostella, and Chiamatla, to fix it with certainty: that place has been used as a point of departure, and the following brief synopsis of the journey thence is offered.

After leaving Culiacan, and striking north to the Sonora river, where a colony was planted, the army travelled the same general direction to Chichiticale, thence across the desert to the Gila and the Zu×¡i rivers, to Cibola or Old Zu×¡i. Here, striking east, it passed by Acuco or Acoma, and entered the valley of the Rio Tigouex, or Del Norte. Thence by way of Cicuye or Pecos, it penetrated to the buffalo range on the banks of the Canadian river, and returned to Tigouex by way of Quivera and Cicuy×.

Subordinate expeditions were sent, at different intervals, to examine the adjacent countries, and penetrated as far as the Rio del Tizou (Big Colorado of the West), in the region of the Gila and the Big Ca×¡on, to the Gulf of California, and to the villages of Hernes or Jemez, Braba or Taos, and Tutahaco. These will be treated of after finishing the route of the main body of the army.

The first place mentioned by name is Chichiticale, no trace of which can be found on any of the maps that I have had access to, and an arbitrary position has been assumed, but as nearly correct as possible from the data on hand. It seems to have

33

been rather a house than a town, but is possessed of an importance arising from having been visited by Cabe×a de Vaca some years previously, and its being the last place on the edge of the desert lying south of Cibola.

Three days after leaving this place, the army came to a river running in a deep ravine, which from its situation in regard to the point assumed in Chichiticale, must be the Gila. Within eight leagues of Cibola another river was encountered, which from the color of its water was called the Vermejo. This river must be the Little Colorado; but, as I incline to the opinion that Old Zu×¡i is synonymous with Cibola, I think this second river was Zu×¡i creek — a miserable apology, to be sure, for anything bearing the name of river, but having a sufficiency of reddish muddy water in the rainy season, to have attracted Caste×¡ada's attention, especially as it seems to have been directed to the most insignificant objects.

My reasons for giving the preference to Old Zu×¡ni over Moqui as being the same as Cibola, are as follows : —

That mention is made of a province called Tusayan, lying twenty-five leagues from Cibola and to the north-west, where were seven cities, but with no intermediate population — the account of Don Pedro de Tobar's visit to this province — his mention of the inhabitants offering him cotton cloths — the fact of the expedition to the Bio del Tizou, under Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, passing through Tusayan on his route ; the similarity of Caste×¡ada's description of the valley of Cibola to that of Old Zu×¡i — its situation with reference to the Pueblo where the army encamped the first night after leaving Cibola, and its distance from Acuco, or Acoma, and the Rio Tigouex, or Del Norte.

The only argument in favour of Moqui is, that there are still seven villages extant, comprised under that general name. But Old Zu×¡i formerly stood on the Big Mesa, a couple of miles to the east of the present village, and numerous ruins bearing more or less the marks of time, are still found up the valley of Zu×¡i creek as far as the Ajo del Pescado. No other place, except Tusayan, is mentioned where cotton fabrics were offered to the Spaniards, and even at the present day the Moquis and Pimos are the only people in New Mexico who manufacture the same material.

Again, if Moqui be assumed as Cibola, where will we find the village at which the army encamped on its first day's march? Caste×¡ada says, most explicitly and truly, that there were no inhabitants between Tusayan and Cibola.

These are some of my reasons for supposing Cibola and Old Zu×¡i to be the same;

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They are briefly stated, perhaps too much so, but no more time was at my disposal to enter into the subject in a more detailed manner.

During the stay of the army at Cibola, some of the people of Cicuy× (Pecos) visited the general, and on the strength of their representations, Hernando de Alvarez was ordered to take twenty men and accompany these Indians to their own country, which lay some seventy-five leagues towards the east, and then return and give an account of what he may have seen. Five days were occupied in reaching Acuco, or Acoma, three days from this place brought him to Tigouex, situated on a river of the same name, and which is, undoubtedly, the Rio Grande del Norte. Five days thence, he arrived at Cicuy×, or Pecos. Here the wonderful stories of the Turk drove all idea of the bisons from his head, and he returned and gave an account of what he had seen, and what had been told him.

In the meantime, Coronado had left Cibola, with part of his force, to visit Tutahaco, which lay some distance down the river, below Tigouex. After leaving the latter place, he must have travelled on the sandy plains to the west of the valley, for mention is made of his party being two days without water, and at last finding it in a range of snow-covered mountains; these must be part of the high ridge, that begins in the Sierra de las Ladrones, and running almost parallel to the river as far as El Paso.

As many of the present Mexican towns are built upon the sites of former pueblos, the eight, mentioned under the name of Tutahaco, may have occupied the places now held by some of the Mexican villages. The numerous changes incident to such a lapse of time, and the destruction of the archives of New Mexico prior to 1680, render abortive all attempts at locating these lower villages with any degree of certainty. Another officer, on the return of the general from Quivera, travelled down the river for eighty leagues, and discovered four large villages, which gave in their submission. Allusion is made to the disappearance of the river beneath the surface; but his orders restricting him to a distance of eighty leagues, he did not push on to the place where it reappears.

The main body of the army, under Don Tristan de Arellano, having rested at Cibola the length of time specified by the general, took up its line of march for Tigouex. Following up the valley of Zu×¡i creek to the Ojo del Pescado, their course at this point turned a little more towards the south, and the first night's camp was passed at

35

the Inscription Rock. Thence nearly east, they crossed the Zu×¡i Mountains at the Ojo de la Jarra, and descended to the Pueblo of Acuco, or Acoma, and finally joined the general at Tigouex.

Passing by the siege and surrender of that place, two events are mentioned, which deserve a passing notice. One, is the sending a captain to Chia; and the other, the visit of six Spaniards to Quires, a province composed of seven villages. Chia is evidently the same as Silla or Cia. It is on the Rio de Jemez, and about four leagues from the Rio Tigouex; the present name, in their own dialect, is Tse-ah. The pueblos composing the province of Quires, were those extending from San Felipe to San Juan; the former being now known as San Felipe de Queres. On the 5th of May, the army took up its march for Cicuy×; but beyond the simple announcement of the distance being twenty-five leagues, not another fact is presented to assist us in the elucidation of the route pursued.

Cicuy× is described as but one pueblo, built upon a rock lying in a narrow valley, in the midst of pine-covered mountains, forming a great square, the centre of which is occupied by an estufa; the whole was encircled by a low stone wall. It is also recorded as the last village lying towards the great plains. These points are applicable to Pecos, and to that alone; and I have no doubt this and Cicuy× are the same. In the dialect of the Pecos Indians, the name is A-cu-lah. It has always been exposed, on account of its frontier situation, to the attacks of the Comanches; and within the last fifty years, it lost in one battle with this warlike tribe, some two hundred warriors. At the present time, the whole tribe numbers some sixteen hundred, scattered among different pueblos.

Some difficulty occurs in tracing the route of the army after leaving Cicuy×; the description and localities of rivers met with in the great plain, render it necessary to change the reading of its course from north-north-east, to south-south-east. The height of the mountains to be crossed by travelling the first course, and the impossibility of striking the Pecos river in that direction where it is large enough to render it necessary to be bridged, or even of meeting with it at all, have induced me to suppose the course I have indicated to be the proper one. Even if it did go in a north-northeast direction, the Canadian would be the first river likely to have lain in their path; but we have Caste×¡ada's distinct assertion that Cicuy× lay on this very stream, not

36

only in his narrative of its outgoing, but in the account of its return, where he says, "we reached the river Cicuy× more than thirty leagues below the place where a bridge had been built the first time we crossed it. We ascended it thither by following the banks;" and further on, he says, "The guides declared that this river, at a distance of more than twenty days' journey, threw itself into that of Tigouex."

Pecos is situated near the river of the same name, and about thirty miles from its source in the mountains. The valley is hemmed in by high and densely-timbered peaks and mesas, on the eastern and western sides; to the north, the snow-covered mountains lying north-east of Santa F× are distinctly visible; whilst to the south, the country is broken up into rugged and detached table-lands, affording no very serious obstacles to the march of the army in that direction.

Assuming, therefore, the course to be towards the south-east, the army struck the Cicuy× River, near the mouth of the Gallinas, about lat. 35°; and as it was during the time of the thawing of the snow, the volume of water could easily have been swollen to the size mentioned; ample timber could be found in that vicinity for the construction of the required bridge. Ten days after leaving this point, they encountered a band of the Querechos (Apaches ?) who lived in lodges made of buffalo-skins, and supported themselves by hunting those animals. Two days afterwards, these Indians were again met with. Their story of the numerous villages and big river to be found by travelling towards the rising sun, was similar to that of the Turk; but this is easily accounted for by the fact of their having held communication with the Turk on the subject.

The general course must have been towards the east, for they seem to have followed the one indicated by the Querechos; and the next day after their second meeting with that people, they came upon an immense herd of buffaloes, the greater part of which disappeared in a ravine, taking three of the horses with them; these were, however, subsequently recovered. Don Rodrigo Meldonado was despatched from this place, with his company, on a voyage of discovery; and came upon an immense ravine, in which he found many Indian dwellings, and the same that Cabe×a de Vaca and Dorantes had passed through. I regret not having Cabe×a de Vaca's narrative to refer to, for the truth or falsity of this my opinion, in thinking this ravine and the Ca×¡on of the Canadian, the same. No distances are even alluded to by Caste×¡ada, in the march of either the advance party or main body; and I have formed my opinion simply on the supposed fact of the route being to the east, after meeting with the Querechos, and the description of the ravine answering to that of the Canadian River, not only from its immense size, but from its being the home of the Apaches, a nomadic tribe with manners and customs precisely like those of the Querechos. Three or four days' journey made by a reconnoitring party, sent out whilst the army was lying in the ravine above

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mentioned, brought it to some more cabins that lay over an extent of country requiring three days to traverse; the inhabitants were called Teyas, and the name of the place Cona. Here guides were furnished them, who took them to another great ravine, most probably the ca×¡on of Red river, and this is the most easterly point reached by the famous expedition in search of the seven cities of Cibola.

In this valley the army rested some time; when, the supplies beginning to fail, and the general having found out the deception practised on him by the Turk, a council of war was called, when it was decided that the general, with a small portion of the force, should go in search of Quivera, whilst the rest, under command of Tristan de Arellano, were to retrace their steps to Tigouex. The points we have to bear upon the locality of Quivera, are the assertions of the Teyas that it lay to the north of Cona, Caste×¡ada's that it lay to the "west, in the midst of the lands which reach to the mountains bordering the sea," and the existence at the present day of a large ruin lying between the Pecos and Del Norte rivers, at the foot of the Sierra de los Jumanes, and bearing the name of "Gran Quivera." If this latter place be not the same, I am at fault, for I am unacquainted with any other village that will answer one single point described above.

The ruins of the modern Quivera indicate a place of some former magnitude, and even (the remains of) a stone aqueduct are said to be found there. Caste×¡ada's description of its situation with reference to the ravine where the army halted, would seem to indicate this as the spot; but he also describes the inhabitants as having the same manners as the Teyas, though living in houses like those of New Spain. These ruins bear too much the stamp of the usual terraced houses of the Indians of New Mexico, to suit his description; but might they not have been constructed by the same people, under the direction of the priests, especially as the coat-of-arms of Spain, cut in stone, is still discernible over the entrance to the church? The reference to the flat character of the country, and the range of mountains in which old Quivera was situated (it being at this place that they were first perceived), is applicable to no other place than the ruins known now under the name of Quivera. The allusion to the river Espiritu Santo, Mississippi, having its rise in this region, is of course not worth a notice, for the early travellers had but a vague idea of the water-courses of the countries they traversed.

Coronado was forty-eight days in reaching Quivera — and if this be the same as the present Quivera, I cannot imagine how he could have consumed so much time — it rather opposes the idea of the two places being the same; but as my own personal knowledge of nearly the whole Territory of New Mexico does not enable me to select another place, I must reiterate the opinion that Quivera, the last village visited by Coronado, was at or near the ruins bearing the same name now.

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The army, after spending some time in collecting buffalo-meat, returned to Tigouex, consuming only twenty-five days on the retreat (and much of that time lost), whilst thirty-seven were expended in the advance.

A brief notice of the minor expeditions, and I have done.

The first was made by Don Tristan de Arellano, by descending the Sonora river to the sea (Gulf of California).

After the departure of the army from Sonora, Melchior Diaz, taking with him twenty-five men, turned his steps in a westerly direction, in the hopes of discovering the coasts. He arrived in a province where he found men of a prodigious size, dwelling in houses scooped out of the earth, and covered with straw; these were built on a river of great size, called the Tizou, from the circumstance of their carrying a lighted brand to keep themselves warm — the operation being performed by shifting it from hand to hand. These were the Cu-cu-pahs, who inhabit the country adjoining the Big Colorado of the West, and lying south of the Gila. I have traversed this river (the Colorado) from lat. 35° 8', to the Gila; the same manners and customs (as those described by Caste×¡ada) are peculiar to all the different tribes inhabiting its valley, even to the use of the brand for the purpose of warming the body. These Indians, as a mass, are the largest and the best formed men I ever saw —; their average height being an inch over six feet. After marching to the spot where Alar×on had brought his ships, and finding the letter left at the root of the tree, Diaz travelled up the Tizou, or Colorado river, until an opportunity presented of crossing it. Thence following the coast of the Gulf of California until an accident caused his death, when his party retraced its steps to Sonora.

Whilst the army was lying at Cibola, Don Pedro de Tobar was despatched to the province of Tusayan (Moqui), composed of seven cities, and on his return, Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas was ordered to extend his explorations in that direction as far as the Rio del Tizou, of which the people of Tusayan had spoken to Tobar. This river is the Big Colorado of the West, and the chasm described is the Big Ca×¡on of that river.

In carrying out this order, Cardenas passed through Tusayan, or Moqui, and visited the Cascade, on the Little Colorado. No other river in North America passes through a ca×¡on equal in depth to the one alluded to. The description is made out with rare truth and force. We had a view of it from the San Francisco mountain, N. M., and judging from our own elevation and the character of the intervening country, I have no doubt the walls are at least 5000 feet in height. The desert country lying between

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Moqui and the Big Colorado answers with equal truth to that described in the narrative. After travelling along the Big Ca×¡on for some days, this party returned to Cibola.

In the summer of 1442, Don Tristan de Arellano ordered Captain Francisco Barrio Nuevo to ascend the river with some soldiers, in a northerly direction. Two provinces were visited, that of Hernes (undoubtedly the present Jermz), and Yuque-Yunque; the latter probably being in the vicinity of Abequin.

Twenty leagues further on, in ascending the river, they found a large and powerful village called Braba. This and Taos I think are the same, from the fact of its being built on both sides of the river (Rio de Taos), and joined by bridges; its high, cool situation, and its position being the furthest to the north-east, and I doubt much the assertion, that Alvarado "visited this Pueblo whilst seeking to discover Cicuy×."

The expedition despatched at the same time to Tutahaco, I have already alluded to.

Of the identity of the following named places enumerated in Part II., Chap. 6, I think there can be no doubt.

Cibola — Old Zu×¡i.
Tusayan — Moqui.
Acuco — Acoma.
Tigouex — Isleta, or some Pueblo in its vicinity.
Tutahaco — The position can be identified, but not the places.
Quirix — San Felipe and adjoining Pueblos.
Cicuy× — Pecos.
Hemez — Jemez.
Aquascalientes — Perhaps near the town of the same name.
Yuque-Yunque — Possibly, Abiquin.
Braba — Taos.
Chia — Silla, or Pia.

The foregoing conclusions are submitted for your consideration. I have depended almost as much on my own personal knowledge, obtained during a residence of some years in New Mexico, as on the vague and exaggerated details of the narrative.

As I expect to leave in a few days to visit New Mexico, an opportunity may be afforded me to collect more information on this interesting subject. Accompanying, you will find a condensed map of the route (Plate 3), and four views: The rock of Cibola, or Old Zu×¡i; Acuco, or Acoma; Cicuy×, or Pecos; Braba, or Taos."

The ultimate point reached by Coronado, cannot be determined with precision. Mr. Kern fixes the position of Cicuy× (Cicoua), with great probability, on the head waters of the Rio Pecos. It is probable that Coronado, after quitting his head-quarters

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at Tigouex (Tehoua), in the spring of 1542. and crossing the river Tigouex, which is the Rio Grande del Norte, followed up its eastern banks by the usual Indian path to the stream on which Santa F× was afterwards founded; and thence eastwardly, by the Indian trail, to the Pecos. He was accompanied by the chief, Bigotes, of Cicuy×, and under the particular guidance of the illusory Teyan Indian, El Turco, both of whom were anxious to return to their native country on, or north of, the Pecos. El Turco, who had described Quivera so glowingly, led him, in truth, away from this vaunted gold-yielding town which he was searching for, into the illimitable and townless, and forestless buffalo plains, into which he was finally plunged. The time employed in the march from his head-quarters at Tehoua, to the town of which Bigotes was a chief, comprised a period of five days, which, at the rate of progress where it can be appreciated, would carry him from the one spot to the other.

In Edwards's narrative of Colonel Doniphan's expedition in 1847, during the Mexican war, he describes the ruins of an Indian town called "Pecas," on the head-waters of the Pecos river, which occupies the probable position of Sikoua (Cicuy×). He speaks of the place as an Aztec ruin — of the church as being one of large dimensions, which had been formerly used as a location for burning the eternal fire, and of its having an antiquity of five hundred years — points of tradition which he heard at the place, and which may be readily excused as the imaginings of popular antiquarian rumor; of no value, but which may be employed to denote it as the site of a very old Indian town.

Mr. Kern limits the exploration of Coronado north-west of Sikoua entirely to the regions west of longitude 100°, and south of latitude, about, 35°. From the recent explorations of the sources of the Eed river by Captain R. B. Marcy, U. S. A., and the peculiar mineral formations it discloses, it does not seem probable that the extensive beds of a substance so noticeable as the sulphate of lime found there, would have escaped the observation of Coronado and his parties, had they reached this extensive tract. The data given by Caste×¡ada, although the courses and distances of his narrative are often confused or vague, lead to the belief that the expedition had entered the region designated by Moscoso as the province of "Los Vasqueros," and that it traversed portions of the vast buffalo ranges north of latitude 45°.

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Title II. — Subjective Division, Manners and Customs — General Analysis of Title II.

Title II., Let. A., Vol. II.

General View of the Manners and Customs of Man in the Hunter State. Aboriginal Man, and the Influence of the Continent on Him. Constitution of the Indian Family. Forest Teachings. Arts of Hunting and Fishing. Incidents of War — and Peace — of Birth — of Death. Amusements and Games. State of Women in Savage Life. Characteristic Dances of the Tribes.

Title II., Let. B., Vol. III.

Generic Traits of Indian Mind. Dignity of Indian Thought. Basis of Mental Character. Customs denoting a Foreign Origin. Persic and Hindoo Customs. Distinctive Phases of the Hunter State. Its Government Patriarchal. Influence of the Wilderness on the State of Woman. Costumes. Male and Female Costume. Winter and Summer Dress. Implements and Accoutrements in War.

Title II., Let. C., Vol. IV.

Traits of parental Affection. Regard for the Demented. Cruelty of the Barbarous Tribes to their Prisoners. Instance of gross Superstition. Manners and Customs of the Winnebagoes and Dacotahs. Character, and striking Manners and Customs of the Moqui and Navajo Tribes of New Mexico. Buffalo-hunting on the Western Prairies.

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II. Manners and Customs. C. — Synopsis of Paper Third.

1. Social State of the Indians.

a. Traits of Filial Affection.
b. Parental Affection of Nodow×qua.
c. Respect for Lunatics.
d. Instance of this in Oregon.
e. Horrid Sacrifice of a girl, Haxti, by the Pawnees.
f. Sacrifice of a Son by a Dacotah, to an offended Deity.

2. Manners and Customs of the Winnebagoes.

1. War.

198.War; Enlistments; Rendezvous.
199. Subsistence.
200. Subordination in Battle, &c.
201. Stratagems.
202. Captives.
203. Personal Servitude.
204. Chastity.
205. Costume.
206. Head-Dresses.
207. Arms and Implements.

2. Death and Its Incidents.

211. Funerals, Dress, &c.
212. Places of Sepulture.
213. 214, 215. Position of the Corpse, &c.
216. Scaffolding the Dead.
217. Funereal Ensigns.

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218, 219, 220, 221. Ossuaries, Charnel-Houses, Incinerations, &c., Oriental Customs.
222. Funereal Fires.
223. Grave-Posts and Inscriptions.

3. Moral Traits and Arts.

224. Monumental Structures.
225. Orphans.
226. Treatment of the Poor and Aged.
227. Dwellings, Villages.
228. Mode of navigating Streams, &c.
229. Are they Mechanics?
230. Mode of Cooking.
231. Curing Meats.
232. Spontaneous Means of Subsistence.
233. Resorts in Times of Scarcity.

4. Costume.

234. Ordinary Dress.
235. Changes of Dress for the Seasons.
236. Ornaments and Amulets.
237. Use of Dyes and Pigments.
238. Badge of Office.
239. Physical Traits.
240. Texture of the Indian Skin.

3. Manners, Customs, and Opinions of the Dacotahs.

191. Hunting — its Seasons, and peculiar Animals.
192. Laws of the Division of the Spoil; Secret Arts.
193. How different Animals are Trapped, Shot, or Decoyed.
194. Mode of drying and dressing Skins.
195. Manner of taking Fish; Various Ways.
196. Children taught the Use of the Bow and Arrow.
197. Indians of the Upper Mississippi have abandoned the Use of the Bow in Hunting, &c.
198. How War-Parties are raised and conducted.
199. Power of the War-Chief; Reliance on magic Medicines.
200. What an Indian Battle is.
201. A Whistle blown before Battle.
202. Prisoners tied; Children adopted.
203. No Slavery in the pure Hunter State.
204. Females respected; Superstition here.
205. War-Costume.
206. Hair braided in War.
207. Arms.

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208. Scalp-Dance, danced by Women only. Various Dances to the Sun, Moon, Thunder, Giants, &c.
209. Ball-Playing.
210. Sioux Gambling.
211. Customs when a Man dies.
212. Graves — how made.
213. Corpse — how placed.
214. If slain in Battle, how treated.
215. Ordinary Deaths.
216. Indian Coffins; Fact of the Red Squirrel.
217. Flags.
218. Sioux gather the Bones of the Dead from Scaffolds, and inter them.
219. No Charnel-Houses.
220. No Incineration of Bodies.
221. Scarify themselves — cry aloud — carry Food to the Dead.
222. Funereal Fires.
223. Make no Mounds ; Use Grave-Posts.
224. Not Energy enough to build Mounds.
225. Orphans — poor indeed.
226. Care of the Aged.
227. Sioux Lodges — how made — their Size.
228. Canoes — their Structure.
229. Imitative; hate Labor.
230. Women cook — overdo Meats; Dislike Milk — no set Time for Meals.
231. Mode of jerking Meat; Fish smoked ; Chippewa Mode.
232. Roots eaten — Wild Fruits — Honey — None of the Latter prior to 1819.
233. Things eaten in Stress; Women commended for their Industry.
234. Costume, Male and Female — its Cost, and Description.
235. Dress gaily on some Occasions; Chiefs the meanest clad.
236. Value Ornaments — Silver, Wampum, &c.
237. Dyes obtained from Flowers, Roots, Barks.
238. No Badges of Office.
239. Fashion of Wearing the Hair.
240. Physiological Fact respecting the Indian's Skin and Color.
241. Power of Thought.
242. Have not produced a Professional Man.
243. Repeat Traditions — have mental Invention.
244. Speakers use Metaphors and Parables; Repetitious.
245. Sioux have little Picture-Writing, and that confined to Subjects of War.
246. They pronounce some foreign Sounds readily.
247. Dacotahs ascribe to every Person four Souls.
248. They tell Stories of Transformations, Ghosts, Fairies.
249. A Moral in some of their Tales.
250. Use two Kinds of Drums, a Flute, and Rattles.

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251. No Rhyme — no Indian Poets.
252. No "Music-Boards."
253. Indian Choruses fixed.
254. Lament of Kitchina.
255. A peculiar Chorus for each Dance.
256. They worship the Sun and Great Spirit.
257. Cradle-Songs, a Kind of Humming.

4. Manners and Customs of the Moqui and Navajo Tribes of New Mexico.

Dec. 25th. Pueblos of Laguna. Curious Church, and Ceremony. Song to Montezuma. Baskets of rude Images of Animals offered to the Great Spirit. Extraordinary Bird Concert. Singular Dance of Men and Women.

Dec. 26th. Dancing and Addresses. Dec. 27th. Amusements of a Holiday.

Dec. 28th. Abandonment to Diversions.

Dec. 30th. A Funeral. Handfuls of Earth, and Jars of Water, thrown in the Grave.

Dec. 31st. Position of Laguna. Man in a State between Civilization and Barbarism. Population. Government. Ideas. Arts. Costume. Moral Character.

Jan'y 1st. An Indian Orator. Village Criers.

Jan'y 2d. Charnel-Houses. Rabbit-Dance.

Jan'y 8th. An Indian Procession. Estufa. Ceremony of the Malinche.

Jan'y 9th. Ceremony of the Malinche repeated. Arrow-Dance.

Jan'y 15th. Pueblo of Lima. Population. Traditions. Albinos.

March 31st. First Towns of the Moqui. Curiosity. Smoking. Corn. A high Place on the Rocks. Mode of building, &c.

April 1st. Singular Dance of the Moqui. Costume, Male and Female. Indian Vocal Music. Customs described.

April 2d. Account of the Moquis. Population. Government. Their opinion of the Americans. Tradition of their Origin. Nine Races of Men. Resources. A sacred Fire kept up. Products raised. Females select Husbands. Polygamy unknown. No fermented Liquors. A happy People. Seven Villages in one Valley. Harno differs in Language. Customs at large.

April 3d. Temperature. Return.

April 5th. Myths of the Aborigines of New Mexico. Curious Traditions of Santiago of the Creation of the World, Man, &c.

5. Hunting the Buffulo on the Western Prairies.

(A.) The Bison — Its Ranges, Character, and Mode of Hunting.

Former range of the Animal east of the Mississippi. Term applied to it by Linnseus. An Animal of cold Latitudes. A formidable Enemy to the Hunter. Its History. Hordes of it West, seen by early Travellers. A Mode of decoying them.

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(B.) Sport of Buffulo-hunting on the Open Plains of Pembina.

1. Diminution of the Buffalo.
2. Great Slaughter created by the Robe-Trade.
3. Chase of the Animal, on Horseback.
4. Power of Scent of this Animal.
5. The Bow and Arrow an Effective Arm.
6. Power of the Lance.
7. Pursued fatally on the crusted Snow.
8. A Herd on the Ice.
9. Size compared with the Cow (Plate 8).
10. A Hunting-Party on Horseback.
11. Incident of an accidental Shot.
12. Charge upon a Drove.
13. Pursuit next Day.
14. Thrown before an enraged Buffalo Bull.
15. A Predicament.
16. A Bison charges on a Man.
17. Lake of the Spirit Land.
18. Trophies of the Chase.
19. Results of Twenty-Two Days' Hunting.
20. Character of the Boisbrule Hunters of Red River.
21. The Animals hunted by them Annually.
22. Narrative of an Expedition for hunting the Buffalo.
23. Picturesque View of the Camp and Prairies.
24. Prairie compared to the Ocean. Geographical Data.
25. Unerring accuracy of the Boisbrule woodsmen.
26. Enormous and fierce Cranes.
27. Mal de Bœuf.
28. A Band of Buffalo Bulls.
29. Fierceness of the Animal.
30. A Herd of Cows.
31. Long and keen Sight of the Hunters.
32. Necessity of calmness in Action.
33. An Indian tossed on the Horns of a Buffalo.
34. Dangers of the Hunt.
35. Expertness in Loading and Firing.
36. Immense Slaughter of Animals.
37. Mode of Dressing the Animal — the Parts technically named.
38. Wolf Meat.
39. How the Flesh is jerked — Pemican.
40. Hide — what done with.
41. Elk, Antelope, Deer, Hare, Badger, Grizzly Bear.
42. Horse hunts without his Rider.
43. Instincts of the Horse.

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44. Great Numbers of the Buffalo.
45. Perilous Scene.
46. Beaver-Dam — its admirable Structure.
47. Substitute for Fuel.
48. Cold and Snow no Impediment to Hunting.
49. Description of the Buffalo.
50. Buffalo Calves.
51. Immense Results of the Hunt.

1. Social State of the Indians. — (A.) Traits of Parental Affection — of Regard for the Demented, and of Extraordinary Cruelty Under the Influence of Superstition.

(a.) FILIAL and parental affection is often exhibited by the North American forest tribes in the most marked manner. An example of filial regard has been narrated in a prior part of this work (Part II., p. 142), in the conduct of an aged chief, which has no parallel, so far as we recollect, in heroic history; and Bianswa deserves to have his name inscribed among those who have made the noblest sacrifices to filial piety.

(b.) A very striking instance of devotion in a daughter for an aged father, occurred in the vicinity of Michilimackinac. Gitchy Naigow (Anglice, Great Sand Dune), was a Chippewa chief, who, during a long life, maintained a reputation for bravery, vigorous exertion, and policy in Indian life, in the region of the Upper Lakes. He was a warm friend of the French during their supremacy in the Canadas; and an actor in the scenes of peril that preceded, and followed the fall of Quebec, in 1759. He had been one of the assailants at the memorable capture of old Fort Michilimackinac, in 1763, and is mentioned by the name of Le Grand Sable, as one of the most sanguinary actors on that occasion. He lived many years afterwards, shifting his tent as the seasons changed, from the open shores of Lakes Huron and Michigan, to the thick woods which are the shelter of the natives from the wintry winds. Eighty years and upwards had now whitened the locks of the aged chief, and he felt that his continuance in these scenes must be short, when he accompanied his relatives for the last time, during the month of March, from the borders of the water, to those forests which yield the acer saccharinum, or sugar-maple. This is a season of enjoyment with the

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Indians, and they usually remain at their sugar-camps until the sap assumes too much acidity to be longer capable of being made into syrup, and the trees begin to put forth leaves. In the mean time, the days of the enfeebled patriarch, who had pitched his tent in a hundred forests, approached their close. It was found that, when they had packed up their effects to return to the open lake, he was unable to sustain the journey. His daughter, Nodow×qua, the wife of Saganash, determined to carry him on her shoulders, that he might, for the last time, be permitted to witness those refreshing shores. For this purpose, as soon as the carriers were ready to move, she took her long and stout deer-skin apecun, or head-strap, and fastening it around his body, bent herself strongly forward under the load, then rose under the pious burden, and took the path for the lake. (Plate 4.) It is usual to put down the burdens at set places, and to proceed by rests (onwaibe by onwaibe) on their way. These she obeyed, and brought him safely to the open shores of Lake Michigan. The distance was about ten miles. (Plate 4, Part IV.) I obtained these particulars from the woman herself, at Michilimackinac, in 1833, when she was aged. The feat of ï¿½neas in carrying Anchises, when infirm, on his shoulders through the flames of Troy, has long been celebrated, but is rivalled here by an Algonquin woman. Poetry has embalmed the one act, let history do the same for the other.

(c.) Regard for lunatics, or the demented members of the human race, is a universal trait among the American tribes. It is even found among the Indians of Oregon, who have been often, perhaps not erroneously, supposed to be inferior in their mental endowments, to the tribes of the Atlantic slope, and of the Mississippi valley. At an encampment on the Kooskooskie river among the Shoshonees, two distinguished travellers, in 1806, were visited by a great number of Indian men and women who evinced the greatest gaiety and good-humour.

(d) Among other exhibitions, was that of an Oregon female who appeared to be demented. She sang in a wild, incoherent manner, and would offer to the spectators all the little articles she possessed, scarifying herself in a horrid manner, if any one refused to accept her presents. She seemed to be an object of pity among the Indians, who suffered her to do as she pleased without interruption; respect for her lunacy being considered by the Indians as a perfect exemption from all responsibility.

(e) But what are we to say of human sacrifices? It is painful to turn to the dark aspects of humanity which present a reverse to the foregoing humane trait. Flowers and fruits, or, at most, a ram, in the early season, were the peaceful offerings which Greece and Rome presented to Ceres for the abundance of the earth. The Egyptians had rendered similar tribute to her, under the name of Isis. It remained

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for the barbaric tribes of the banks of the Missouri, between whom, and the Greeks and Romans, not the slightest connexion exists in any way, to offer human blood — the life-blood of a young virgin captured in war, to propitiate the deities of a dark imagination.

The evidences of the following barbarity are well authenticated. They came to me from the banks of the Upper Missouri, about ten years ago. In the fierce wars carried on between the Sioux and Pawnees, the latter took prisoner Haxt×, a Sioux girl of fourteen. This incident happened in the month of February, 1837. The season of corn-planting in these latitudes is, usually, from the middle of March to the middle of April. They treated her with every usual mark of favor during her captivity. They supplied her, indeed, with abundance of the choicest food, as if they had designed to fatten their victim to the utmost. Of this purpose, and of her ultimate fate, she was kept in profound ignorance. They refused a ransom offered for her by some traders who had got knowledge of the affair.

In a council of eighty warriors, two days before the tragedy to be narrated, it was determined, while they gratified the spirit of revenge against their enemies, the Dacotahs, to offer her, as a sacrifice to the spirit of fecundity in a new corn-crop, which they were prepared to plant. At the breaking up of the council, she was brought out, accompanied by the whole body of counsellors, who accompanied her from wigwam to wigwam around the whole encampment. Each one presented her a small billet of wood and some paint. These symbols of her doom, of which she appeared to be ignorant, she handed to the warrior next to her, and he passed them on, until they had been handled by all, and a little wood and paint been added to the quantity by the inmates of every wigwam.

On the 22d of April she was led out to the sacrifice, but not until she came upon the ground did she conjecture her fate. They had chosen the place of her suffering between two trees, which stood about five feet apart. Three bars of wood were tied across from tree to tree, at a convenient height above the ground. A fire was kindled below them, the blaze of which was so graduated as just to reach her feet. She was directed to mount the middle bar. Two warriors, at the same moment, mounted the other bars, and taking hold of her at each side, held fire under her arm-pits until she was nearly dead. The warriors formed a wide circle around. At a given signal, each one drew his arrow, and letting fly at the same moment, filled every part of her body literally with the missiles; these stood so thick, that scarce a pin's-head could be placed between them. The arrows were immediately removed, and the flesh, in small pieces, completely cut from her bones. This flesh, of which the pieces were not larger than a half-dollar, was put into baskets. All this was done while the flesh was still quivering, and before the life was quite out of it.

These baskets of human flesh were then taken to the field for planting corn. The principal chief took a piece of the flesh and squeezed a drop of blood out of it upon

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the planted corn. His example was immediately followed, till every piece of the flesh had been thus appropriated.

This horrible event took place about one hundred and sixty miles above Council Bluffs, and is vouched by creditable witnesses, who have given publicity to the same. Thus far, this incident stands single and unparalleled for its atrocity, and invests with unusual interest the name of HAXTI.

(f.) The ordinary sacrifice of prisoners captured in war by the forest tribes, is a trait so well known, and has been so often described, that it is sufficient here to allude to it. The last known and prominent instance of this barbarity, is believed to have been that of Colonel Crawford, in 1782, These sacrifices were made to appease the spirit of vengeance in war, and not as a religious rite, or offering to any Indian deity. There have been, however, some isolated cases of offerings to an offended deity, or spirit, as when, on a certain occasion, a Dacotah Indian was so alarmed by the sharp and repeated strokes of lightning which fell around him, that deeming the Thunder God incensed at him, he seized his gun and shot down his own son, in a moment of alarm, as an offering to appease him.

2. Manners and Customs of the Winnebagoes.

THE ensuing observations respecting the manners and customs of the Winnebago tribe, from Mr. Fletcher, derive value from his residence, for several years, in an official capacity among them, as well as from the authentic light which they cast on their history and character.

(A.) War — Enlistments — Rendezvous — Subsistence.

198. "The Winnebagoes were once a warlike people, but for several years past they have been at peace with the neighboring tribes, and are, at the present time, disinclined to war. Their military or war system is very simple, and is here given on the authority of Taw-nee-nuk-kaw, the head war-chief of the tribe.

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Nothing but the taking of life is considered just cause of war. When an Indian has had a relative killed by Indians of another tribe, and wishes to raise a war-party to avenge him; in case the enemy is not in the immediate neighborhood, and instant action for self-defence is not required, he in the first place fasts until he has a favorable dream; if, perchance, he has had a bad dream, he gets up and eats, and commences his fast again, and continues until his dream is favorable to his purpose; he then makes a feast, invites his friends, relates his dream, and asks them to go with him on a war path. The war-chief is usually invited to take command of the party.

All who join the party, volunteer; none are compelled to serve, and those who volunteer do not obligate themselves to serve during the war, or for any fixed time. If a warrior turns back after starting on a war-path he is laughed at, perhaps, but not punished for deserting. The man who gets up the party, and his friends, furnish a feast at starting; after that, each warrior takes care of and supports himself. The Indian goes to war on his own "charges;" no munitions of war, subsistence, or transportation are furnished at the public expense; each warrior furnishes himself with arms and ammunition. To these facts the peculiar character of Indian warfare is to be attributed; having no commissary department, they cannot subsist an army; and when, under a general and strong excitement, several hundred warriors start together on a war-path, they are, from necessity, obliged in a short time to separate in search of subsistence.

The Indian who raises a war-party furnishes a horse and as much wampum as he is able; the war-chief also furnishes something. The warrior who takes the first scalp receives the property furnished by the man who got up the party; and the warrior who takes the second scalp receives the property furnished by the war-chief.

199. Warriors start for the first place of rendezvous, singly, or in squads, as may be most convenient. No order is observed. After they are assembled, and before starting on the war-path, they dance, and sacrifice dogs and deer-skins dressed white. Each warrior carries a bag made of skins or rushes, in which is carried a root. Before going into battle they chew this root, swallow some of its juice, and put some of it on their bodies to make them brave and keep them from being hurt. This medicine does not have the effect to deaden pain. After the ceremony of the dance is concluded, the party start in single file, the war-chief at their head. When they arrive in the neighborhood of their enemy, they have a vanguard when marching, and sentinels stationed when encamped at night. Neither priests nor jugglers are consulted respecting the result of a campaign; the dream of the warrior who raises a war-party is relied on.

200. The war-chief directs the movements of the party, and commands in battle; he plans the attack, issues orders to his braves and assigns them their post. They

53

sometimes fight in line when they happen to meet an enemy in the open field by day. In such case, they commence firing as soon as they come within range, and then advance, the object of each party being to drive the other from the field. When one party breaks and retreats, the other pursues, killing with the knife and war-club. The wounded retire to the rear.

201. The usual plan adopted by the party making the attack is, first, to ascertain by reconnoitring, the exact position of the enemy, then start upon him in the night, and at a given signal attack him promiscuously. The war-whoop is not used as an order or signal after commencing an attack, but, like the shout of the white soldier in battle, is intended to defy the enemy, and exult in success.

202. Sometimes a war-party agree to take one or two prisoners. If a warrior wants a prisoner for the purpose of adopting him into his family, he is allowed to take one. No important ceremony is observed in adopting a prisoner. Without a previous arrangement, male prisoners are seldom taken in battle. Quarter is neither given nor asked; the Indian, when outnumbered and surrounded so that he cannot retreat, knows that it is useless to surrender, and fights to the last.

When, as it sometimes happens, a warrior is taken in battle, and his captor does not wish to adopt him, and the war-chief is not present to decide his fate, he is bound and taken to the village where that chief resides. The prisoner is then made to go about in the village, and if he enters the lodge of the war-chief, he is condemned to die, but if the war-chief shuts his lodge against him, his life is safe. The war-chief has the power of life and death in the case. They do not bury their dead who fall in the field of battle, neither do they strip them of their ornaments, but leave them as they fall. They kill and scalp the wounded of their enemy. Sometimes Indians, after being scalped and left for dead on the field of battle, recover and get back to their tribe. There are individuals now living, who have recovered under such circumstances.

203. They do not make slaves of their prisoners if their lives are spared. They generally marry, and are treated as members of the tribe.

204. The Winnebago warriors say that chastity is, by their tribe, uniformly respected in war. They say that the Great Spirit has told them not to abuse the women.

205. The warriors start on the war-path attired in their usual dress, but go into battle divested of most of their clothing. They paint their faces and bodies so as to appear as hideous as possible. They use vermilion and most of the pigments employed by painters, and when these cannot be obtained they besmear their bodies with clay. The feather of the war-eagle is worn by those warriors who have taken a scalp in battle.

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206. Some wear frontlets, and this ornament is constructed of various materials, and in various shapes and patterns. They wear a small portion of the hair on the top and back part of the head long, and braided in two or three braids; the balance of their hair is generally cut similar to the fashion of the whites. They do not show any part of the head. Their ornaments are worn in battle; these consist chiefly of necklaces of animals' claws, bracelets, and rings.

207. Since the introduction of fire-arms among them, those who can obtain the gun and rifle prefer to use them, instead of the bow and arrow. The war-club, tomahawk, and knife, are still used as weapons. The scalping-knife does not differ from the common knife used by the Indians in hunting.

Death and its Incidents.

211. It is characteristic of an Indian to suffer in silence, and die composedly. When an individual in this tribe dies, the relatives, if able, procure a new suit of clothes, in which they dress the corpse; then, if practicable, procure a coffin, and bury the dead as soon as the necessary preparations can be made. They do not address the dead as if living, or capable of hearing. They usually bury a pipe and some tobacco with a male adult, and sometimes deposit a war-club in the grave of a warrior.

212. Graves are usually made in dry ground, and dug from two to four feet in depth. No tumulus or barrow has been erected by this tribe to the memory of their chiefs, in modern times. Indian graves are usually excavated imperfectly, always shallow, and sometimes not deep enough to prevent effluvia from the body, and to protect it from wild beasts. They usually place some protection around graves, by setting boards or poles in the ground, meeting at the top over the grave. In addition to this, the graves of chiefs and distinguished men are sometimes enclosed with pickets.

213. Graves are dug east and west, and the dead buried with the head towards the east; the reason given for this is, "That they may look towards the happy land in the west."

214. The dead are sometimes deposited in a sitting posture. An excavation is made, and the body placed in it, facing the west, with the head and chest above the surface of the ground.

215. This tribe do not embalm the dead. They clothe the corpse in full dress, and when a coffin cannot be obtained, they sometimes substitute bark.

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216. Sometimes parents scaffold their dead children in order that they may have them in sight. Sometimes the dead are disposed of in this manner, in compliance with their wish expressed while living, and sometimes the dead are scaffolded as a matter of convenience, to avoid the trouble of digging a grave in frozen ground.

217. White flags are frequently placed at the head of graves, and sometimes the United States flag is placed over the graves of chiefs and distinguished persons. These flags are supposed to remain until worn out.

218. It does not appear, from the traditions of this tribe, that they ever collected and re-interred the bones of their dead.

219. It is probable that this tribe never used charnel-houses.

220. Incineration of bodies is never practised by the Winnebagoes.

221. Black is the garb of mourning. They make great lamentation for the dead, but do not scarify themselves in token of mourning. When a family bury a member or relative, they black their faces and bodies, sometimes put on sackcloth, and do not wash or comb their hair until they make a sacrifice. This is done by procuring goods, and hanging them over the grave of the deceased, when their friends are invited to meet. After singing and dancing about the grave, the party is divided, and the goods in some way gambled for, either by a game of ball, moccasin, or cards. It is customary to visit the grave of a relative four times. Mothers carry images or bundles of clothes to represent a child lost by death. Men do not suffer their beards to grow long, in token of mourning for the dead.

222. Fires are kindled at the graves of the dead, and continued four nights; the object is to light the spirit on its journey to the spirit-land.

223. Grass and rubbish are cleared away, and the surface of the ground around a new-made grave is swept in a circle from six to twenty feet in diameter. This is done to prevent evil spirits from creeping up to the grave. A roof constructed of bark, boards, or some other material of wood, is made over the grave, and sometimes a post some six or eight inches in diameter, and three feet in height, is set at the head of the grave. On these posts they paint hieroglyphics, representing, not the epitaph of the dead, but the achievements of the warriors who dance at the grave and relate their exploits while the record is being made.

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(C.) Moral Traits, Arts, &c.

224. It is not known that any mounds are now being built by Indians in the northwest territory of the United States.

It is believed that some tribes of Indians could have mustered a sufficient number of laborers, including women, to erect the largest artificial mounds found in the west, provided they could have been furnished with subsistence and tools; but the present race of Indians lack the energy necessary to undertake and prosecute works of such magnitude; and, considering their habits and customs, it is difficult to assign a motive for such an undertaking. These mounds may have been erected for national monuments, and sepulchres for the illustrious dead. The old men of this tribe give it as their opinion, that such was their purpose and use; but the traditions of the tribe make no mention of the origin or use of these mounds. It is not reasonable to suppose that a tribe of Indians who subsisted by the chase, would erect these works for fortifications, as it would be impossible for them to procure subsistence sufficient to enable them to sustain a siege for any considerable length of time.

225. Orphan children are usually supported by their nearest relatives. When they have no relatives able to support them, they are maintained by individual charity. No provision is made for them at the public expense.

226. Aged and infirm persons sometimes suffer in seasons of scarcity. They receive their share of the annuity of the tribe; and when that is exhausted, and they have no children or near relatives to whom they can apply for aid, they often receive voluntary contributions from their friends and neighbors. The chiefs also interest themselves in behalf of such persons, and request their agent to give them an extra share of the public annuities. The organization of savage society is such, that few, if any, persons can be found, who have not some relatives who are bound by its usages to afford them the last rites of humanity.

227. The bands of this tribe build their summer lodges in villages. These lodges are built by setting posts or poles in the ground, and covering them with bark. Ash, elm, and linn, are used for this purpose. (See Plate 23, Part II.) The shape of the lodge is similar to that of a log cabin, and differing in size according to the number of persons in the family or families who occupy them. Said lodges are from twelve to forty feet in length, and from ten to twenty feet in width, and about fifteen feet in height from the ground to the top of the roof. These lodges are built near the field or fields they cultivate, and are occupied several summers. A lodge forty feet in length, and sixteen in width, will accommodate three families of ten persons each. There are

57

no windows in these bark lodges. They generally have two doors, and a space through the centre; with benches or berths on each side for sleeping. The fires, one for each family, are made along the space through the centre of the lodge. The smoke escapes through apertures in the roof. These lodges were formerly built by the women ; latterly, however, the men assist in building them.

The summer lodge is made of lighter materials, and is portable. When on a hunt, these lodges are frequently removed from place to place. When a family removes to a distant location, the frame of the lodge is left standing, and the covering only is removed. The Winnebagoes use skins, mats made of flags, and bark, for enclosing their winter lodges. The Chippewas cover their lodges with birch bark. The frame of these lodges is made by setting small poles in the ground, and binding the tops together, thus forming an arch high enough for a man to stand erect in the centre.

228. The Winnebagoes use chiefly canoes made of logs, which they excavate and finish with great skill. The axe and an adze, constructed for the purpose, are the tools used. These canoes carry from two to fifteen persons. The Chippewas use the bark canoe; they are the most skilful canoe-builders in this country, and probably the most skilful in the world. The frame of the bark canoe is first made of pine, cedar, or some light wood, and then sheeted with birch bark. The edges of the sheathing are lapped, and sewed with thin filaments of elm bark; the seams are then covered with gum, and thus rendered impervious to water. The log canoe is the most durable. The bark canoe the most convenient when portages are made.

229. This tribe has made considerable advancement in civilization. A portion of them subsist chiefly by agriculture, and have adopted the use of the common farming implements, and a few of the mechanical tools used by the whites.

230. The Winnebagoes have no regular periods for meals; they eat when hungry, provided they have aught to eat. They generally boil their food, and cook it until it is well done. Their skill in boiling fish consists in keeping it heated for a long time over a slow fire. They use brass, iron, and tin vessels in cooking. Before they procured metallic vessels, they sometimes boiled their food in wooden vessels, or troughs, by putting heated stones into the water contained in them. They use but little salt, and do not relish milk.

231. Provisions are usually cured by hanging them in the smoke of their family fires. They preserve fish, and all kinds of meat taken in their hunts, by smoking. The tail of the beaver is parboiled before it is smoked.

232. It is difficult to estimate what proportion of their support those bands in this tribe, which rely on the chase for subsistence, derive from the "spontaneous fruits and productions of the forest." Wild rice is the most important article for food that grows

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spontaneously. Whortle-berries, black-berries, rasp-berries, straw-berries, and cranberries, are delicacies which they enjoy in their season. They get but little wild honey, an article of which they are not very fond. They manufacture maple sugar to considerable extent. In a favorable season, they produce some 15,000 pounds of this article, the labor of which is performed chiefly by the women.

233. In seasons of scarcity, they are sometimes straitened for provisions. At such times, they use their resources economically; and if the ground is not frozen or covered with snow, they dig wild potatoes, artichokes, and other nutritious roots. Suffering by famine is seldom known in this tribe; their large annuities, together with the proceeds of their labor and hunts, are sufficient to secure them against extreme want.

(D.) Costume.

234. Indians of both sexes consider the Mackinac blanket an essential article of dress at all times. White blankets are preferred in the winter, and colored in the summer. Red is a favorite color with the young, and green with the aged. Three point blankets are worn by men, and two and a half point by women. The calico shirts, cloth leggins, and buck-skin moccasins, worn by both sexes, are similar. In addition to the above articles, the women wear a broad-cloth petticoat, or mantelet, suspended from the hips and extending below the knee. No part of the garments worn by this tribe is made of materials the growth of their own country, except that their leggins and moccasins are sometimes made of deer-skins, dressed by themselves. Blankets and mantelets last about one year. Leggins, moccasins, and shirts, last but a short time. A common dress for a man costs about $12; for a woman, about $15. A holiday dress, with ornaments, costs about $100.

235. The Winnebagoes adapt their dress to varying circumstances, occasions, and seasons. The chiefs wear nothing peculiar to designate their office, except it be medals received from the President of the United States. The habits of the Indians of this tribe, respecting undressing for bed at night, are similar to those of the whites.

236. These Indians attach great value to ornaments. Wampum, ear-bobs, rings, bracelets, and bells, are the most common ornaments worn by them. Head-dresses, ornamented with eagles' feathers, are worn by the warriors on public occasions. Warriors only are allowed to wear the feather of the war eagle. Most of the ornaments worn by the Winnebagoes are procured from their traders.

237. Some of the young men and women of the tribe paint their blankets with a variety of colors and figures. This is usually done with vermilion and other paints,

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purchased of their traders. Vegetable dyes are used but little by them. They do not tattoo their bodies. A large majority of the young and middle-aged, of both sexes, paint their faces when they dress for a dance, and on all public occasions. Vermilion, prussian blue, and chrome yellow, are generally used for this purpose. The men frequently besmear their bodies with white clay when they join a public dance.

238. They have no badge of office.

239. The Winnebago women wear no curls or false hair; they uniformly, old and young, divide the hair from the forehead to the back of the crown, and wear it collected in a roll from the back of the neck, confined with ribbons and bead-strings. The men and boys wear their hair cut similar to the whites, except that they all wear a small quantity on the back of the crown long and braided, which braids are tied at the end with ribbon. These Indians have but little beard, which is usually plucked by tweezers. Only one or two men in this tribe wear whiskers.

240. The skin of the Indian is thinner than that of the white man, the surface is smoother, and the lines or indentations more regular.

[The fact brought to notice by Mr. Fletcher, in the concluding sentence of the above remarks, is believed to be a general one among the traits of the North American Indians, and commends itself to the attention of physiologists. After this general survey of the manners and customs of the tribes who have so long occupied a position on our frontiers, and filled so prominent a niche in Indian history as the Winnebagoes, it will be appropriate to introduce the manners, customs and opinions of the Sioux or Dacotahs — a cognate, but still more numerous and important tribe.

3. Manners, Customs, and Opinions of the Dacotahs.

These remarks on the Dacotahs are from Mr. Philander Prescott — a man who is well acquainted with their oral language and customs, who has had many years of personal observation among these tribes, is intimately acquainted with their opinions, and whose judgment on the scenes passing before him is believed to be at once accurate, and perfectly candid and truthful.]

191. "There are four seasons for hunting. In spring, furs and wild fowl; in summer, deer are hunted; in the fall, furs and deers; in the winter, deers and furs. In spring, muskrats, otters, beavers, minks, martens, fishes. In summer, red skins of deer. In fall, muskrats, coons, otters, beavers, and deers. In winter, the same. Buffalo are

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hunted mostly on horseback, with guns and the bow. I have heard Indians say that they have shot an arrow clear through a buffalo, and the arrow fell to the ground on the other side.

192. Hunting is carried on as a common livelihood, and all join in for the support of their families, when they can be kept sober. Hunger drives many of them out hunting. If a man kills a deer, the one who gets to him first receives the best piece. Sometimes the slayer gets nothing but the hide, for when they are very hungry there is great pulling and hauling for the meat. The chief never interferes. The strongest is the best fellow, and keeps what he gets. They have no secret arts, only their jugglery and the medicine-dance. Any one belonging to the medicine-dance can act as doctor, priest, juggler, or any thing else that he can perform. They steal, get drunk, murder, do all sorts of mischief, and notwithstanding all this are looked upon as great medicine-men. Morning and evening are the most suitable hours for hunting. These Indians do not hunt at night.

193. Bears and wolves are shot with a gun. The antelope is a singular animal, and is easily decoyed by hiding yourself in the grass and sticking something red on a small stick and raising it above the grass a little. The antelope will come to see what it is — they raise the red article every now and then, and let it fall again. The antelope keeps approaching. In this way they decoy them close enough to be shot. The Indians use baits for beaver of different kinds. An Indian who can kill a large number of beavers thinks himself a great medicine-man. The Indians pretend to say there is a great art in setting traps for beaver, to be successful. They pretend to charm some kind of animals by mimicking them, and sometimes succeed in killing game in this way.

194. The drying or curing skins is done by the women mostly, unless the men should be on a hunt alone; then, of course, they have to cure the skins themselves. After the hide is taken from the animal, it is brought home, and the women take the flesh off with a bone, carried with them for that purpose, sharp at one end. This meat, when taken off, is about as thick as the skin itself, and is generally roasted by the women, and eaten, after the hair is shaven off with a very sharp knife. Then small holes are cut all round the skin; strings run all round, which are lashed to the poles of the lodge inside; the fire dries it in one night; in the morning, it is taken down and folded to the size of the pack, convenient for travelling; say one foot by eighteen inches long. When they dress them, they take the grease off, as tanners do; then dip them into water wherein are brains of deer; boil and stretch them on four square poles tied, and pushed into the ground. They then commence scraping with a scraper made either of bone, horn, or iron. A fire is kept up to dry slowly. The women

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scrape until dry; then dip the skin in the brain-water, and scrape dry again; then dip in the water a third time; and every time the water is wrung out before the skin is stretched. If, after all this working, the skin is hairy or stiff, it is drawn over a cord as large as the finger, for some time, as hard as they can pull, which softens it much: sometimes this is the last process, except smoking. This is done by digging a hole in the ground about a foot deep, putting in a little fire and some rotten wood, when the skin is sewed into a bag and hung over the smoke: in ten minutes the skin is ready for use. An Indian may bring in a deer in the morning, and before bed-time his wife will have some moccasins made of the skin. The skins killed out of season are of a dark color; and the hair scanty, short, and thin.

195. They spear fish, and also take them by hook and line. They spear them under the ice in the winter by cutting a hole about six inches across and covering themselves over with a robe; then they can see the bottom. They make a small fish of wood and tie a string to it, and fasten it to a little stick, giving it a slight jerk now and then. They cause this wooden counterfeit to play about, and the fish will dart at it, when, at that moment, the spear is thrown and strikes the fish. Some Indians make fish-weirs. Little boys shoot the small sun-fish with a bow and an arrow, with a little spear fastened to it. A string is fastened to the middle of the bow, and this to the arrow, so that when the fish is speared it can be pulled up. This is done in the same way as above, through the ice. The Indians dry the fish to cure them, and they keep good for a long time cured in this way.

196. Children are taught, when young, to use the bow and arrow, shoot, spear, and hunt. They commence hunting at about twelve years; that is, large game. Widows are often supported, as far as the chase will support them, by their sons. I have not known the Sioux women to make use of fire-arms for hunting.

197. The Indians of the Mississippi have abandoned the use of the bow in the chase, but carry it about as a weapon of defence. On the Upper St. Peter's river, the bow and arrow are much used in hunting buffalo. The common shot-gun is employed for deer and buffalo. A few use the rifle for shooting deer. The Indians, for the fall-hunt, are supplied mostly by the traders with ammunition: from one pound to twelve is about the amount each Indian gets for his fall-hunt, according to the character and capacity of the man. In the spring about the same amount is furnished. The price is about one dollar a pound. The traders furnish all that are willing to hunt and are the most inclined to be honest. They get from five to thirty traps, and some from the annuities also, but they lose and waste a great many. Many of the Indians do not

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kill in the course of the year as much in amount as they receive from government in annuities.

198. War-parties are raised by any person who feels aggrieved, or has had a relative killed. If he cannot carry out his designs, he will employ some one else whom he thinks is able to make a successful trip. The head of the party must be a great medicine-man, a prophet, or in some other way distinguished. The war-chief makes a dance every three or four nights, for two or three weeks before the party marches. This is in the lodge. All join who choose, and any one can return, if he so please, after they have started. They have nothing like enlistment. Every man acts much as he pleases. On these excursions the war-chief makes laws after they get started, which, if any one breaks, he gets his gun broke, and blanket cut, by five or six warriors who are appointed for that purpose by the war-chief. They dance when they come in the neighborhood of the enemy's country. Every man furnishes his own provisions. There is no public arrangement for these war-parties. Every man acts for himself.

199. The order of the march is made by the war-chief. He tells the party where they will camp, what they will kill, and what they will see during the day. The war-chief makes his dances, which is all the ceremony before the march. They move as suits themselves — in Indian file, generally. They have no rules for that purpose. They have very good roots, which they apply to wounds. They have many roots they use for food. In these war excursions, they pretend the medicine in their war sacks will give them courage and success, without eating of it. Great precaution is used on the march. Three or four are always sent ahead of the party as spies, who stop two or three times in a day, and let the party come up, and tell what they have seen and heard; and then there is a little council on the subject.

200. The chiefs have very little command or control of a village, or in the war; and chiefs do not often go to war. In battle there is no order. After the battle commences, there is no concert nor calmness. Every thing is irregular. If they retreat, each one makes the best of his way home he can.

201. The plan of attack is made known to the party by the war-chief, if possible. The spies reconnoitre the enemy's camp, and the plan of the battle is then fixed. When they are near enough they have a whistle to blow, at which sound they all fire; then the war-whoop comes, and they charge on the enemy. There is no order of retreat. No rallying-place named. When the worsted party flies, their antagonists follow in irregular pursuit.

202. Prisoners have their hands tied behind them, and have to walk with the war-party. We hear of no persons having been burnt in modern times. Captive children

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are adopted into families willing to receive them, and are treated in the same way as their own children.

203. There is no such thing as slavery or involuntary servitude among the Indians, the condition of equality being universally recognised among them.

204. They generally treat female captives with respect. We hear of no violation of chastity in their war-parties. During their absence, the cause of their being chaste on these excursions, they say, is that they may not bring vengeance down upon their own heads; that is, displease the spirits of the deceased and the war-medicine, as they would be made to suffer for their incontinency. They must keep themselves from women all the time they are out at war. Superstition has a controlling influence over them, in this, as in other respects.

205. A common dress is used in war, with frontlets of honor on the head. When they are about to make the attack, they then put on all their finery. Red and black paint are the most used. Sometimes one side of the face is painted red, the other black; some are streaked, some spotted, &c. Eagle feathers are worn. The tail of the bird is the part used.

206. The hair is braided. If they kill an enemy, they unbraid the hair, and black themselves all over, and wear a small knot of swan's-down on the top of the head. They dress as mourners, yet rejoice. The head is not shaved. Some few of them have necklaces of bears' claws. They have many ornaments for the ears, arms, legs, and feet, together with little belts.

207. Fire-arms are principally used in war at present. War-clubs, bows and arrows, as well as knives, are carried; all of which are used after an enemy is shot. The same knife is used for all purposes.

208. The war-dance is danced by males alone, before they go to war. The scalp-dance is danced by the women. The men sing and beat the drum. The women sing also. The dance of the braves is performed by the men. They dance to the thunder. The great medicine-dance is danced by men and women. The round-dance is also danced by both sexes. This dance is designed to appease the thunder that they suppose is or may be displeased with them. The dance to the sun is performed by two young men, with several men beating on raw hides. They dance for two days and nights. The dance to the moon is danced by the men; they dance all night, and at daylight they

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fear the dawning light, and stop. The dance of the giant is danced by both men and women; they move round a large kettle of boiling meat, and as they dance round, they thrust their arms in, and pull out pieces of meat, and eat, without burning themselves. They say the children learn all the choruses by hearing the parents sing them. They enter the ring of dances at the age of five years; some of them, somewhat older. They have a fish-dance, at which they eat raw fish.

269. Ball plays are played by both men and women, and heavy bets depend on the issue. I believe there is but one kind of ball playing. One village plays against another. The boundaries are near a half mile. The ball is started from the middle. Each party strives to get the ball over the respective boundaries; for instance, the boundaries are east and west; one party, or village, will try to carry the ball west, and the other east. If a village or party gets the ball over the eastern boundary, they change sides, and the next time they have to try and get it over the western boundary; so, if the same party propels it over the western boundary, they win one game, and another bet is played for. The ball is carved, and thrown in a stick about two or three feet long, with a little circle at the end to assist in picking it up. This hoop has some buckskin cords across to keep the ball in. I have known an Indian to throw the ball over the boundaries in three throws. When it is seen flying through the air, there is a great shout and hurra by the spectators. They sometimes pick up the ball, and run over the lines, without being overtaken by any of the opposite party. Then a great shout is raised again, to urge on the players. Horses, guns, kettles, blankets, wampum, calico, beads, &c, are bet. This game is very laborious, and occasionally the players receive some hard blows, either from the club or ball. I once saw a man almost killed with the ball; he stood in front of the player that was going to throw the ball, who threw with great force and aimed too low. The ball struck the other in the side, and knocked him senseless for some time. As to the effects, I do not perceive that any serious evil results, if we except the gambling. Ball is generally played in May and June, and in winter. They do not race much.

210. They play with a dish and use plum-stones figured and marked. Seven is the game. Sometimes they throw the whole count; at others they throw two or three times, but frequently miss, and the next one takes the dish. The dish which they play in is round, and will hold about two quarts. Women play this game more than the men, and often lose all their trinkets at it. The play of moccasins is practised by the men, and large bets are made. In this game they take sides; one party playing against the other. One side will sing, whilst one man of the other party hides the ball in a moccasin. There are three moccasins used for the purpose. The

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man takes the ball or stick between his thumb and forefinger, and slips it from one moccasin to another several times, and leaves it in one of them and then stops, something like thimble-play. The party that have been singing have to guess in which moccasin the ball is; for which purpose one man is chosen. If he guesses where the ball is the first time, he loses. Should the ball not be in the moccasin that he guesses the first time, he can try again. He has now two moccasins for a choice. He has now to guess which one the ball is in. If he is successful, he wins: if not, he loses. So they have only one chance in two of winning. When one side loses, the other side give up the moccasins to the other party to try their luck awhile at hiding the ball. They have no high numbers in the games. They now play cards mostly for bets and amusement. Some play away every thing they possess, except their wives and children. I never heard of their having gambled them away.

211. When an Indian dies, he is wrapped up in the clothes he died in, and is laid upon a scaffold. If his friends think enough of him to cover him decently, they do so by throwing new blankets, white, scarlet, &c, over him. Calico is also thrown over the dead body in some instances. As many as two blankets are thrown over a corpse, but these do not remain. When the corpse is abandoned, these are all taken off but one. The rest are kept to make a great medicine-dance with, for the repose of the spirits. A few words are addressed to the spirit of the departed, and all present burst into a flood of tears and wailing. The character of the address is for the spirit to remain in his own place, and not disturb his friends and relatives: and promises are made on the part of the mourners to be faithful in keeping their laws and customs in making feasts for the departed spirits. The practice of burying implements with the dead is not practised by the Indians, except it is by particular request. This is done for the spirit to make use of the implements the same as in this life — to make a living by them. Implements of note have never been dug up in this country.

212. Graves are generally made on the highest land they can find. Sometimes these are situated on lowlands. The corpse is put in, sometimes with all the limbs drawn up, sometimes extended. The wood and earth are put over the grave, the pickets lying slanting both ways until they meet at the top. These pickets are put all around, about two rods square. This is about all that is done, except that a flag is sometimes put up at a grave, and remains there until worn out.

213. The corpse is placed in any direction and position, as the Indians are not mathematicians, nor precise in any of their works. It is natural to suppose their burying-grounds would be very irregular.

214. The Sioux do not bury in a sitting posture, except when they have been to

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war, and one of them has been killed; in which case they set him up and dress him in all the finery they can obtain.

215. The dead are wrapped in the dress they die in, and sometimes there are other fine dresses put on over that.

216. Some are put in barks, some in boxes, and others are only wrapped in skins or blankets. Beasts of prey seldom ever touch them. The little red squirrel they say sometimes devours the corpse, and therefore the Indians will not eat that animal.

217. Flags are hung up over chiefs and warriors. For other Indians, a piece of white cotton is used instead. This custom is ancient.

218. The custom of the Sioux or Dacotahs is, to gather the bones of the dead about one year after they have been put up in a scaffold, and mourn over them for the last time as the final honors for the remains of the body. The ceremony is public wailing, and much grief is displayed.

219. The Sioux have no charnel-houses.

220. Incineration of bodies is not practised.

221. They scarify themselves, and cut their long hair off to about half its original length. The men black their faces and bodies, wear old clothes, and go barefoot. When they possibly can, the women cut their hair, scarify, wear old clothes, go barefoot and bare-legged, and tear the borders off their petticoats. The dead are lamented by wailing to the height of their voices. They can be heard two or three miles in a calm evening. For one year they visit the place of the dead, and carry food, and make a feast for the dead, to feed the spirit of the departed. The Sioux do not carry images of the departed, but the Chippewas do. The Indians have no beard.

222. When a person first dies and is put upon a scaffold, they sometimes light a fire somewhere near. The rubbish is all cleared away from under the scaffold, and every thing is kept clean around the place.

223. They make no mounds. Sometimes they put up grave-posts, and paint characters on them, denoting the number of enemies killed, prisoners taken, &c.

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224. There are several long mounds, or mound-like eminences, in the Sioux country, on the St. Croix, St. Peter's, and Mississippi rivers, most of which are supposed to be natural. Some are fifty feet high. I think the Sioux have not energy enough to build such mounds.

225. The orphans go to some of the nearest relations. Very seldom does the chief look after any but his own, and he is generally so poor that he cannot take care even of his own children as he should do.

226. The children take care of their aged parents: if none, the next of kin take care of them, and they are buried by the same persons.

227. The lodges are from eight to fifteen feet in diameter, about ten to fifteen feet high, and made of buffalo-skins tanned. Elk-skins are used for this purpose also. The summer-house is built of wood, or perches set upright, twenty or thirty feet long, by fifteen or twenty wide. The perches are set in the ground about one foot, and are about six feet out of ground. Over this is put a roof of elm bark. They are very comfortable for summer use. The lodge of skin lasts three or four years: the lodge of wood seven or eight years. The skin lodge they carry about on their backs and on horses through all their winter hunts. It is made in the shape of a funnel. This accommodates from five to ten persons always. In some lodges, the Sioux of the plains say they have feasted fifty warriors with ease. About four feet is what one person would occupy. The women construct and remove the lodges.

228. Canoes are made of wood dug out of large trees by the men and women. The Sioux build but few bark canoes, and even these are poor and ill-constructed. The wood canoes run light, and carry from one to fifteen persons. They are from eight to twenty feet long.

229. They are no mechanics. They would like to have every thing the whites have, but do not wish to work for it. They say it is a shame for a man to go to hard work, and would rather spend all their lives in ignorance and misery than adopt the white people's plan of living by hard work. Very few mechanical tools are in play by the Indians, still they like to have them. A saw, drawing-knife, auger, gimlet, adze, and large axe, are about all they care about. Files and wood-rasps are called for often.

230. The women do the cooking. Raw meat is seldom eaten, only in some particular dances. The meat is cooked done and often roasted. I believe they can boil the fish full as well as the whites. Some kinds of fish they boil whole. Salt is used, but not a large amount. Milk they do not relish. I never heard of their using bark or wood to boil in. Tin, sheet-iron, copper, and brass, are the kind of kettles now in use. The clay pots have disappeared altogether. They have no regular time for meals.

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231. The meat, in curing it, is cut into thin slices, some a foot, some two feet square, and laid on a frame, over a gentle fire, until it is dry. They use no salt. Everything is dried. The meat of all kinds of animals is dried. The beaver-tails are boiled, then dried. Fish are cut thin and laid over a fire and dried. The Chippewas hang the white-fish and toulabe, a species of white-fish, up by the tail. They run a sharp stick through the tail, and put ten on a stick. This is in the fall. The fish keep all winter in this way, fresh and good.

232. Very little reliance is put on the spontaneous products of the forests of the country. Roots are much used and serve them for food, and are of great benefit to them in many instances. Plums, whortleberries, cranberries, hazlenuts, tipsinah, and psinchah, are found in abundance in the ponds, and are used for food. Tipsinah is found in the prairies, and used for food also. Wild-honey is found of late years in this country. When I first came into the country, in 1819, there were no bees to be seen. The Indians are remarkably fond of honey, but make bad use of it. They put a quantity of it, comb and all, dirt, too, into a kettle, and boil it, and make a feast of the hot honey, dirt, comb, and water. The consequence is, that they are not able to retain it on their stomachs. Sugar-making is carried on to some extent amongst the Sioux, but they are so fond of sweet things they do not sell much. The children eat it almost as fast as they make it. The children get fat on it. Rice is gathered in small quantities, by some of the Sioux, from the lakes.

233. The bark of the wood-bean and butternut is used on these occasions. They do collect old bones if they have the least appearance of marrow or fat in them, and boil them to get the fat out of them. Moss is not eaten by the Sioux. The facts are, the Indians are unaccustomed to agriculture, and do not plant sufficient for a year's supply. The men are indolent. The game is getting scarcer every year, and of course the Indians must suffer. The laws of God teach us, if we will not work we shall not eat, which we see carried out amongst the Indians. Were the men, as industrious as the women, they would be much better.

234. The dress of the men is a blanket, a shirt, breech-cloth, leggins, and moccasins. The women, a blanket, mantlet, petticoat of blue cloth, leggins, and moccasins; all white people's manufacturing, except the moccasins. These dresses last from four to six months. They require about two suits per annum. They wear out more clothes than white people do. The cost of the dress is about from twelve to fifteen dollars for the males, and about ten to thirteen for the women, without ornaments, &c.

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235. They have but one kind of dress, that is cloth and blankets, on days of plays and dances. They wear costly dresses, many of them. Their frontlets and trophies of war are all displayed by the men on these occasions. The civil-chiefs and war-chiefs are distinguished from the rest by their poverty. They generally are poorer clad than any of the rest. The men take their shirt and leggins off at night, most generally. The women take their leggins off only. The moccasins are taken off of all and hung up in the smoke to dry. The woman keeps her blanket, mantlet, and petticoat on. The man keeps his blanket and breech-cloth on.

236. Ornaments are used and highly valued by all, both great and small. Silver and wampum, brooches and ear-bobs, otter-skins, polecats, bear's claws, crows, red-birds, ermine, are about all the skins used. Shells are not often used; if they use any, they are imported. The war-eagle's feather is highly valued, and an Indian thinks as much of them as an officer would of his epaulettes. The ornaments furnished by the fur-trader are all of American manufacture.

237. Dyes are made from flowers mostly, and roots and barks of trees. They dye red, purple, blue, black, green, yellow. The red dye is made from the top of the sumach and a small root found in the ground, by boiling. Yellow is from flowers by boiling. Black is from maple-bark, butternut, and black mud taken from the bottom of the rivers. Vermilion is still sold them in considerable quantities; red clay, blue, and yellow, are also used by the men to paint their faces and bodies. Oxide of iron is found, and makes paint very much like Spanish brown, and is much used by all the Sioux. They sometimes puncture the skin for ornament, as well as their arms and breast, forehead or lips, but not often. The men make many imprints on their blankets with paint, as marks of bravery, &c.

238. None.

239. The hair of both sexes is worn long, and tied, or braided. They have no beards. The hair is cultured, and they all like long heads of hair. They sometimes part the hair from superstitious motives, and sometimes for ornament.

240. The skin of the Indian is fully as thin as that of the white person, and as fair and as soft, also. It is of a copper-color, some dark, some approaching to white, some yellowish. I never examined any one of them by a magnifier (the instrument is wanting).

241. The capacity of the Indian is limited in one sense, but in another it is not. For their own way of livelihood they have considerable capacity. Their minds run

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upon their wars and family jars, and an Indian's mind is how to get something to eat. They have many moments of pleasure, telling stories, and have many grave councils. Their men are generally grave and sober looking. Education is yet to be tried. Education without Christian principles will not increase the affections much. An Indian appears to reflect much. In some, the moral properties prevail; in others, they do not.

242. None. (Physician, linguist, or moralist).

243. They repeat traditions to the family, with maxims, and tell their children they must live up to them. They must have powers of invention, for they tell some most singular fictions.

244. In their speeches they use many metaphors and parables. Some of them are quite eloquent, but they use many repetitions.

245. Picture-writing is very limited among the Sioux. The most they use is by the warriors denoting facts of bravery. Wounds, prisoners, and killed are about all the picture-writing they have. They cannot record songs nor stories, and, in fact, they have no songs of note. Four or five syllables is about all the song I ever heard among the Sioux.

246. The missionaries have introduced new sounds to our alphabet, which the Indians pronounce readily, and learn to read very easily. Some of these sounds will not agree with those of other nations.

247. The Indians tell many tales about the departed spirits troubling them. They say one person has four souls; one goes to the land of spirits, one goes in the air, one remains about the corpse, and one stays in the village. Stories of giants are often told, and of all kinds of dreams, and hunting, war, &c. These tales do not give much, if any, insight to a future state, but they agree with the present manners and customs very well.

248. These stories give the accounts of transformations and the powers of sorcery and jugglery. Fairies, ghosts, spirits, and all kinds of evil ones are seen and told of, as well as interviews with the Great Spirit.

249. Some of them convey moral ideas and some immoral. They suppose the Great Spirit made animate and inanimate forms, and never go into any discussions, or pry into futurity any further. The tales are long and tedious to translate, and therefore I leave

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them for the present; but if you still wish it, I will, at some future time, endeavor to translate and furnish some of the most remarkable.

250. Indian music is very simple. It consists of about four notes. The choruses are many and very regular, and are sung in the highest strains of the voice. The Indian flute is made of two pieces of cedar, half round, then hollowed out quite thin, with four holes in it, and glued together. They blow it at the end. The upper hole has a regulator, a small roll of buckskin, a little below the hole. It is raised or lowered, and the power of the note is affected by so doing. They have two kinds of drums. One is made like a tambourine, with a skin drawn over a keg. The rattle is a gourd-shell with beads in it. Sometimes they make them of birch bark. They make rattles of the claws of the deer. Of these they take two or three hundred, and bore small holes in the narrow end, and tie them to a short stick, jerking them up and down to make them rattle.

251. There is no rhyme or character in the Indian song. The words are not collected so as to observe laws or quantity. There are no Indian poets in this country.

252. We have none amongst the Sioux. (Music boards.)

253. Choruses are about all the Indians sing. They have probably four or five words, then the chorus. "They have brought us a fat dog;" then the chorus goes on for half a minute; then a repetition again of the above words, "They have brought us a fat dog." Thus the song in a scalp-dance, "Many a large fat enemy has been brought in," (wahkin) is used in the choruses; meaning some foreign power, but not the Great Spirit. Tukensha, a rock or grandfather, is often appealed to in choruses for aid.

254. Every person aggrieved makes his own complaint, and it is pitiful to see a married person commence wailing and singing "kitchina tukah!" then wailing again, "kitchina" — men's friend. These are all the words. The same way in other deaths the deceased is bewailed. "Your death has left my son-in-law miserable or poor," as the case may be, these are about all the words used in mourning.

255. The Indians have a chorus to every kind of worship and dance; but as I am not acquainted and cannot read music, I cannot give the airs. In some of the choruses some foreign power is kept in view that they sing to, or try to charm. The Aurora Borealis is one of the principal objects the war-chief prays to, in going to war. They collect the old women. Many objects are appealed to in all their worship, such as the rocks, (to konsh,) and the earth, (ochishee.)

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256. They have a worship of them, but I never saw them worshipping the Great Spirit. Their choruses are solemn, and conducted with much decorum.

257. Cradle songs, I know of none. The child is sung to, by the women humming or making a whistle through the teeth. I do not know that I ever heard a father sing to a child to put it asleep, or to stop its crying. I have heard the father sing to them to make them dance, which is about all the singing accorded to children. All the sculpturing we see is on some of the war implements and cradles, and some of them are quite fanciful."

4. Manners and Customs of the Moqui and Navajo Tribes of New Mexico.

Dr. P. G. S. Ten Broeck, Assistant Surgeon in the United States' Army, while stationed at the most advanced posts in New Mexico, west of the Rio Grande, in 1851 and 1852, performed several excursions into the more remote towns and villages of the Moqui and Navajo tribes. Five or six months were occupied in these excursions, in which he became deeply interested in their manners and customs, which he recorded in his journal on the spot, while the impressions created on his mind were fresh and full. He has, at my request, furnished the following extracts from his journal. They present these tribes, of whom many false reports have been circulated, in a new and interesting light. Their idiosyncracies are, in many respects, remarkable.

The several bands of the Moqui tribe, of whom we have had the last information, are shown to be cultivators of the soil, and to raise large flocks of sheep, from whose wool a very compact and beautiful species of blanket is woven. Yet these sheep are never shorn until after death. The Indians possess no process of dressing them, which is not simply an aboriginal art; nor of tanning any species of skin, or converting it into leather. They are a semi-agricultural and pacific people, not engaging in wars and predatory excursions, like the more fierce and military Navajoes near them. They dwell, indeed, within the territorial area of the latter, with whom their language denotes an affinity.

These new views of the low domestic condition and arts of these tribes, tend to take away from the overcharged accounts of Coronado and his contemporaries, which we promulgated in his expedition to Cibola, in 1542 — an era, indeed, of extravagant excitement and description. (Pueblo of Laguna: Plate V.)

"Dec. 25th, 1851. — I attended church to-day, and witnessed a curious spectacle. The church is quite a large building of stone, laid up in mud, and is surmounted by a wooden cross. It is long and narrow, and the walls are whitewashed in much the

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same style that the Indians paint their earthen-ware. The front is continued about ten feet above the roof, the whole overtopped by the cross, and in this wall are three arches, containing as many sized bells, whose tones are by no means orphean, and which are tolled by Indians standing on the roof and pulling cords attached to the different clappers.

The Indians appear greatly delighted in jingling these bells upon all occasions; but this morning they commenced very early, and made, if possible, more noise than usual. After breakfast I entered the church, (we — officers and men — are all quartered in the priest's house, which is directly adjoining the church,) and found the people assembling for worship, the men in their best blankets, buckskin breeches, and moccasins, and the squaws in their gayest tilmas. Many of the latter wore blankets of red cloth, thrown over the ordinary colored tilma or manta. Candles were lighted at the altar, within the limits of which were two old men performing some kind of mystic ceremony. Soon an old ragged dirty-looking Mexican commenced reciting the rosary of the Virgin Mary, and all who understood Spanish joined in the responses. When the rosary was finished, this same old fellow sang a long song in praise of Montezuma, which he afterwards told me was written by himself, the burden of which was "Cuando! cuando! nabro otis Montezuma cuando!" This being ended, some other ceremonies which I did not understand were gone through with by the Indians; speeches were made by the governor and some of the old men, and the congregation then quietly dispersed to prepare themselves for the pastimes of the afternoon. As they were passing out, I noticed that a great many of them carried in their hands little baskets containing images; some of sheep and goats, others of horses and cows and other domestic animals, and others again of deer and beasts of the chase, quite ingeniously wrought in mud or dough. Inquiring the reason of this, I was told that it was their custom from time immemorial that those who had been successful with herds, in agriculture, in the chase, or any other way, to carry images, (each of that in which he had been blessed during the past year,) to the altar, there to lay them at the feet of the Great Spirit. But I have deferred until the last, what was to me by far the most curious and interesting in this singular Christmas service. I mean the orchestra. Just over the entrance door there was a small gallery, and no sooner had the Mexican commenced his rosary, than there issued from this a sound like the warbling of a multitude of birds, and it was kept up until he had ceased. There it went; through the whole house, bounding from side to side, echoing from the very rafters — fine, tiny warblings, and deep-toned, thrilling sounds. The note of the wood-thrush and the trillings of the canary bird, were particularly distinct. What could it mean? I determined to find out, and having worked my way up into the gallery, I there found fifteen or twenty young boys lying prone upon the floor, each with a small basin two-thirds full of water in front of him, and one or more short reeds, perforated and split in a peculiar manner. Placing one end in the water, and blowing through the other, they imitated the notes

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of different birds most wonderfully. It was a curious sight, and taken altogether — the quaintly painted church; the altar, with its lighted candles and singular inmates; the kneeling Indians in their picturesque garbs; and above all, the sounds sent down by the bird orchestra — formed a scene not easily forgotten. I believe I was more pleased with this simple and natural music, than I have ever been with the swelling organs and opera singers who adorn the galleries of our churches at home. About four o'clock this afternoon, a party of seven men and as many squaws appeared in the yard in front of the church, accompanied by an old man bearing a tombe, and commenced one of their dances. The tombe is a peculiar drum, used by all the Indians in this country at their festivals. It is made of a hollow log, about two and a half feet long, and fifteen inches in diameter. A dried hide, from which the hair has been removed, is stretched over either end, and to one side a short pole is lashed to support the instrument when played upon, (See Plate 7). A drumstick, like those used for the bass drum but with a longer handle, is employed in playing; and with this they pound away with great energy, producing a dull roar which is audible at a considerable distance, and is almost deafening to one unaccustomed to it, if approached too near. The dancers were accompanied by a band of elderly men, who immediately commenced singing in time with the bum-bum of the tombe. All the dancers appeared in their best attire; the men and squaws wearing large sashes most fancifully worked and dyed, and also eagle and turkey feathers in their hair, and hanging down their backs; and from the waist of each was suspended a skin of the silver-grey fox. The men's legs were naked from the knee down, and painted red.

Their hair hung loose upon their shoulders, and both men and women had their hands painted with white clay, in such a way as to resemble open-work gloves. The women had on beautifully-worked mantas, and were bare-footed, with the exception of a little piece tied about the heel, which looked like that part of an embroidered slipper. They all wore their hair combed over their faces, in a manner that rendered it utterly impossible to recognize any of them. Every man carried in his hand a gourd, partly filled with little pebbles, which he shook in exact time with the music. They dance with a kind of hop-step, and the figure is something like a countermarch; the couple leading up towards the church, and then turning, filed back again. The squaws each carried in their hands a square-cut piece of corn husk, which is held between the thumb, at its base, and the root of the fore-finger. They keep their elbows close to their sides, and their heels pressed firmly together, and do not raise the feet, but shuffle along with a kind of rolling motion, moving their arms, from the elbows down, with time to the step. At times, each man dances around his squaw; while she turns herself about, as if her heels formed a pivot on which she moved. Dancers, tombi, and singers, keep most excellent time; and there is no discord among the gourds. After dancing a short time in front of the church, they went into the Plaza, and continued till dark, when they separated.

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Dec. 26th. — The dancing began at an early hour this morning, and was continued till dark. There were two or three parties dancing, each having its own tombi and singers; and at times the din was almost deafening. The whole population of the town was out, all dressed in their best, as well as many from the neighboring pueblos; and every one seemed to be enjoying himself to the utmost. Old Jose Maria, the governor, would every now and then stop singing, and come over to me, to ask me if it was not delightful. What a simple, happy people they seem to be! But much I fear that ere long civilization will break in upon them, and, opening their eyes to a thousand wants of which they at present know nothing, will render them discontented and unhappy. The dancers to-day, as yesterday, are decked out in their gala costume, and go through the same dance as last evening, which is very similar to our quadrilles. I spent nearly the whole day in the Plaza, and never saw a people enter into anything with so much spirit. Many of the dancers were on the "light fantastic toe" nearly all the time, from morning till night; but did not show any symptoms of fatigue. The old tombi chap would sometimes break down, but found no difficulty in getting some one "to spell him awhile."

Dec. 27th. — Dancing again commenced in the Plaza, the same as yesterday.

Dec. 28th. — The dances are still continued, with unrelaxing vigor.

Dec. 30th. — To-day I saw an Indian funeral. The grave was dug in the churchyard, just under our windows; the church-bells were tolled, and the corpse, sewed up in a coarse blanket, was lowered into its narrow house at the last stroke of the bell. When it was placed in the grave, each friend of the deceased threw in a handful of earth; and then the females of the family approached in a mournful procession (while the males stood around in solemn silence), each one bearing on her head a tinaja, or water-jar, filled with water, which she emptied into the grave, and whilst doing so commenced the death-cry. They came singly and emptied their jars, and each one joined successively in the death-cry; till the sad lament, growing louder and louder, swelled through the whole place. Out of the yard they passed in Indian file, and down the street, sending forth their doleful cries; and long after I had lost sight of them, I could hear their plaintive moans. Never in my life have I heard any sound so touchingly sad and plaintive; and this same death-lament of these Indian women is ringing in my ears still, and will for weeks to come.

As the women left, the men commenced filling up the grave; and in a few minutes all was over, and I saw but the soldiers playing foot-ball in the street below.

Dec. 31st. — Nothing of interest has occurred to-day, and I might as well pass the time by giving a sketch of the pueblo and its inhabitants. Laguina (Plate 5) is situated

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45 miles west of Albuquerque and the Rio Grande, and is inhabited by Pueblo Indians, a race which holds an intermediate place between the civilized man and the wild tribes. They live in fixed abodes, and cultivate the soil; and many of them have embraced the Catholic faith, but still retain a tinge of their ancient superstition, preserve the sacred fire, &c.

The town is built upon a slight rocky eminence, near the base of which runs a small stream, that supplies them with water. Their lands are in the valley to the north. The population is about 900. Their houses are built of stone laid in mud, and like all the other pueblos, consist of several stories built up in a terrace form; and as they have no doors opening upon the ground, one must mount to the roof by means of a ladder, and then descend through a trap-door in order to gain admittance. The government consists of a governor, elected annually by the people, who has the entire management of the affairs of the pueblo, and is the referee in disputes, &c. He has a council of old men, called caciques. Under the Mexican government, they had an alcalde, but the office has been abolished. They have a kind of underground room, called the Estufa (Plate 6), which is like our city halls, and is their general assembly room, where all their councils are held, and propositions for feasts, dances, &c, made. In another place the sacred fire, which is attended by the oldest men, and never allowed to go out, is kept burning. They have also a war-captain, who is chosen from their most distinguished braves. No man or woman is allowed to marry out of the pueblo, without the consent of all; nor is a person allowed to sell anything, without previously obtaining the assent of the town. In weaving and spinning they use a spindle, very like a tee-to-tum, and a single upright loom. The men all knit their own stockings. They use mill-stones similar to those employed by the Mexicans; and upon these they grind a very fine flour from corn, which is made into paste, and baked on a flat stone in sheets not thicker than letter-paper, and of an interminable length. This bread is called gugave. They all make earthen-ware, some of which is beautifully painted. Their costume is very singular. The men wear no head-dress, except it be a handkerchief folded and tied around the head. The dress of the men is a small blanket or tilma, which reaches to the waist, and has a hole for the head to pass through, and instead of which some wear a buckskin hunting-shirt; buckskin knee-breeches, dyed a deep red, and buttoned up at the side with brass buttons; long blue stockings, tied at the knee; leggins of buckskin, and moccasins of the same material, with hide soles. A blanket, thrown over the shoulders, completes their dress. Their hair is parted transversely across the head, from the front of each ear; and the front hair is combed over the forehead, and cut square off on a line with the eyebrows. The back hair is allowed to grow ad libitum; and being carefully braided, is doubled up in a bunch four inches long, and bound round with a broad red band. When dancing, they untie their hair, and let it fall over the shoulders; and I have seen amongst them the finest heads of hair I ever beheld. The boys, until eight or ten

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years old, wear their back hair cropped short, to encourage its growth, while that in front is allowed to grow.

The dress of the women is a claret-colored manta, having an aperture to receive the head, and reaching below, and behind to a little below the knees, and is bound around the waist by a colored scarf; also a pretty little buckskin moccasin, to which are attached leggins of the same material, wound around the legs as high as the knees, causing them to appear preposterously large, while the feet seem proportionably small. When out of doors, they have a tilma, or square blanket (about four feet square), of the same material and color as the manta over the top of the head; and it hangs gracefully adown the shoulders and back, somewhat in the manner of a rebosa, In fact, a young Pueblo squaw, with her embroidered manta, tilma, and buckskin leggins, balancing her gaily-painted water-jar upon her head, as she waddles (they do waddle, that's a fact!), is not so hideous a looking creature as one might suppose. Some of them are very pretty.

For state occasions, their mantas and tilmas are prettily embroidered in borders. Many of their habiliments are really beautiful. The women wear their hair like the men, except that the front part is long enough to reach to the chin. When dancing, they loose the hair, and comb the front completely over the face.

The women, at a dance, wear huge pasteboard coiffures (Fig. 5, Plate 7), like turrets, which are painted symbolically, and adorned with feathers. These head-dresses are similar to those used by the ancient Aztecs, from whom the Pueblo Indians are supposed to be derived. They are honest and virtuous people, I believe; and certainly their reputation is superior to the Mexicans in this respect. They have a church, and had a padre among them, but have none now, and say they do not wish for one; and in truth, the example set them by the priests they have had of late years, has been anything but beneficial. There is no priest in any of the neighboring pueblos, either. Ten miles from here, on the road to Cebolleta, is a small pueblo called Pohanti; and twelve miles south-west is a large one called Acoma, which is built on a rock rising out of the plain; and its inhabitants are more warlike than those of Layma. [Vide Title I.]

Jan. 1st, 1852. — Last night I was awakened at midnight by the Indians dancing and singing about town, with one of those accursed tombes, to which gongs are nothing in comparison. There has been no drumming to-day. I believe I have said nothing yet, of the old Indian who lives a few doors below us, and seems to have such an exalted idea of his own oratorical powers. He comes out on the rock in front of his house often, twenty times a day, and harangues away at the top of his voice, for a longer or shorter period. His being out a moment ago occasioned my writing this. I wish very much to know what he has been saying. There are several such characters about town, and it is to be supposed they speak when the spirit moves them. When the governor requires anything done, he sends one or two old fellows around who act as

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town-criers, and shout out their message at the foot of each ladder. These Indians are capital runners. They travel with ease forty or fifty miles between sun and sun.

Jan. 2d. — Nothing new to-day; no dancing, or anything of that sort. I may as well spend my time in jotting down what I have learned of the customs of this singular people. I have spoken of their burials. The great men are all buried in the church, and none of their bodies are allowed to remain long in the grave; but, after a certain time, are disinterred, and the bones placed in store-houses built for the purpose. One of these, on the east side of the church, has fallen down, and discloses an immense pile of skulls and cross-bones. This Pueblo is very old, as the deep-worn trails in the solid rock testify. There are Spanish papers which go back over two hundred years; and speaking of dead men, reminds me of their feast of the dead. They believe that on a certain day (in August, I think) the dead rise from their graves and flit about the neighboring hills, and on that day, all who have lost friends, carry out quantities of corn, bread, meat, and such other good things of this life as they can obtain, and place them in the haunts frequented by the dead, in order that the departed spirits may once more enjoy the comforts of this nether world. They have been encouraged in this belief by the priests, who were in the habit of sending out and appropriating to themselves all these things, and then making the poor simple Indians believe, that the dead had eaten them. About the first of September they have the rabbit feast — a religious ceremonial of which I was unable to ascertain the nature. On the appointed day, nearly all the inhabitants of the village, male and female, sally out on horseback, and repair to some spot where rabbits and hares are known to abound. The men, with the women just behind them, form a large circle, and then gradually close in. Each is armed with a curved stick, somewhat resembling a scimitar in shape, which they throw with surprising accuracy. When a rabbit or hare starts up, the nearest man pursues, and when about fifteen yards from it, throws his stick. Should he miss, he is laughed and jeered at; but if he kills the rabbit, it is picked up by the nearest woman (he riding on) who does not fail to remember who killed it, and at the end of the hunt, gives each of the hunters the animal he has slain.

This sport is continued until nightfall, when they return to the village. The game is then cooked, and feasting and dancing are kept up till morning.

When a war-party has been out from the village, it halts, on its return, at the outskirts, and sends in a messenger to announce its arrival. Should they have been unsuccessful, and have lost any of their number, they are met by a deputation of men and women, the latter chaunting the death-cry, and conducted sorrowfully to their homes. On the contrary, if they have succeeded and bring scalps with them, the men and women rush tumultuously out to lead them home in triumph. The women are arrayed in red tilmas, and the wives of the fortunate braves who took the scalps, seize the gory tokens and bear them in exultation to the village, while the old men march

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at their sides, singing the war-song. Arrived at the village, the scalps are placed upon a pole, and borne about the pueblo; the scalp-feast and dance are kept up for several days and nights. They have also an annual scalp-feast, when they dance over the scalps last taken.

Jan. 8th. — At sunrise this morning, all the men of the pueblo, preceded by one of their abominable tombes, marched through town, singing the war-song. They went along in two files, and every man was dressed in his best bib and tucker; while between the files were the warriors, and most grim-looking beings they were. Their hair was well greased, and a circle of fine white feathers, which looked like down, was pasted around their heads. Their bodies were entirely naked, with the exception of a kind of petticoat made of deer-skin, painted symbolically, which reached from the waist to a little below the hip-joint. This was fringed on the bottom with the teeth and hoofs of deer, which made a clattering noise when they moved. They had on also their moccasins, and necklaces made of the claws of the grizzly bear. Their faces and bodies to the knees, were painted a deep black, relieved on the shoulders and chest with crosses and marks to indicate the ribs. About the middle of the arm was a band of leather painted white, and the band on the wrist was of the same color. The legs, from the knee down, were painted a bright red. Each carried a bow and two or three arrows in his hand. As they passed through town, the women in red tilmas rushed down from the houses and joined the procession, dancing sideways on the outside of the files, and holding their tilmas as a lady does her dress in a dance. The procession would march a short distance, chanting the war-song, and then suddenly stop and dance awhile. When they had thus made the whole circuit of the town, they all retired to the Estufa.

From the Estufa there soon issues one of the warriors, accompanied by a band of his particular friends — a tombe — and the malinchi. The malinchi is a young virgin, who is attired in the most beautiful manias. She has a skin of the silver-grey fox hanging from her right wrist, and bells, which jingle at every motion, are fixed to the end of her embroidered scarf. She dances among the singers for a time, and concludes with the fieeka or arrow-dance, of which I will speak in its proper place. I should wish very much to give a correct description of her dress, which was really very beautiful, and of which a vivid idea can be conveyed only by a painting. They entered the plaza by the south entrance, shouting the war-whoop, while the grim warrior followed, silent as death itself. Having assumed a position near the south side of the square, the tombe strikes up, and the friends commence a song, in which they commemorate the deeds of their ancestors, and highly eulogize the feats of this particular brave, who, silent and grim, is keeping up a most monotonous sort of dance some four paces in the rear, to which his necklace and fringe lend a clattering kind of dry bone accompaniment, whilst the malinchi, with her jingling bells, goes gliding in and out among the crowd. When they have sung a short time, a delegation of females from the family of the

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brave, makes its appearance, carrying baskets filled with guavas, wheat-bread, roasted corn, pi×¡ones, dried fruit, cooked meat, &c., which they at once proceed to throw amid the crowd, when a general scramble ensues. This is a great time for the boys, who manage to get their bellies well filled. After they have emptied their baskets, the women retire, unless the mother of the brave should chance to be with them, for it is her privilege to take her place at the side of her son; and with elbows fixed to her side, and body and arms (from the elbows down) moving, she keeps time to the music. After dancing and singing fifteen or twenty minutes, the sound of another tombe is heard, and another brave, with a malinchi, and his friends shouting and whooping, enter on the north side, and ranging themselves opposite to the first party, commence the same kind of performance. The tombe of the first party then ceases, and one of the men going out, leads the brave up in front of his friends, who are drawn up in two ranks. Here he is placed upon one knee, and his bow and arrow still in his hand, when the malinchi commences the fleeka or arrow-dance. This is really beautiful. At first, she dances along the line in front of him, and by her gestures shows that she is describing the "war-path." Slowly and steadily she pursues, and suddenly her step quickens — she has come in sight of the enemy. The brave follows her with his eye, and by the motion of his head implies that she is right. She dances faster and faster — suddenly she seizes an arrow from him, and now by frantic gestures it is plain that the fight has commenced in right earnest. She points with the arrow — shows how it wings its course — how the scalp was taken and Laguna victorious. As she concludes the dance and returns the arrow to the brave, fire-arms are discharged, and the whole party wend their way to the Estufa, to make room for another warrior and his friends; and thus the dance was maintained — warrior succeeding warrior until dark.

The governor took me down into the Estufa, and showed me the scalps (three) which were taken from some Navajoes, in October last. They came into the valley above, and stole some stock belonging to the Pueblo, but were pursued, and one taken by the warriors, who recovered the property and seized these scalps. I saw the warriors sitting bolt upright upon a bench placed on a kind of dais. The governor informed me that they are not allowed to speak during the two days the dances continue. I have spent the whole day in the plaza, looking at the dances.

Jan. 9th. — To-day, the performances of yesterday have been repeated, with the exceptions, that one of the warriors appeared clothed in a lion's skin, and that in the arrow-dance one of the warriors got up and performed a kind of shuffling interlude with the malinchi, which I did not consider an improvement.

Jan. 15th. — We stay at Zu×¡i (see Plate 2) to-day. This Pueblo is built in the middle of a large plain, which is cultivated by the people. It is much larger than Laguna, and contains some 4000 inhabitants. The houses are larger, higher, and

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better constructed. This people have been much harassed by the Navajoes, with whom they wage constant war, and to defend themselves against whom they have placed around all the trails leading to the town, pits, ten feet deep, and just large enough to receive a horse, at the bottom of which long and sharp-pointed stakes are planted upright, and which are covered over with earth and bushes, in so artful a manner that no one would suspect their existence. When Colonel Sumner was encamped near here last summer, his command lost several horses and mules by falling into these pits. The Zu×¡ians have flocks and herds, and they weave, spin, and knit, like the Lagunians, but their painted earthenware is far prettier. Their language is different from that of any of the other Pueblos. They are supposed by some to be descended from the band of Welsh, which Prince Madoc took with him on a voyage of discovery, in the twelfth century; and it is said that they weave peculiarly and in the same manner as the people of Wales.

There are among them some albino-looking Indians, with perfectly white hair, light blue eyes, and a dead white complexion which exposure to the sun does not darken. Their features are generally Indian. I saw here two eagles in cages; also a number of fine turkeys, the first I have seen in New Mexico.

March 31st. 1852. — Between eleven and twelve to-day we arrived at the first towns of Magui. All the inhabitants turned out, crowding the streets and house-tops to have a view of the white men. All the old men pressed forward to shake hands with us, and we were most hospitably received and conducted to the governor's house, where we were at once feasted upon guavas and a leg of mutton broiled upon the coals. After the feast we smoked with them, and they then said that we should move our camp in, and that they would give us a room and plenty of wood for the men, and sell us corn for the animals. Accordingly a Magui Indian was despatched with a note to the sergeant, ordering him to break up camp and move into town. The Indian left on foot at half past twelve P. M., and although it took an hour to catch the mules and pack up, the men arrived and were in their quarters by six P. M. The camp was about eight and a half miles from the village. He could not have been more than an hour in going there, but they are accustomed to running from their infancy, and have great bottom. This evening we bought sufficient corn for the mules at $5.00 per faneja, (two and a half bushels,) paying in bayjeta or red cloth, and they are now enjoying their first hearty meal for many days. The three villages here are situated on a strong bluff, about 300 feet high, and from 30 to 150 feet wide, which is approached by a trail passable for horses at only one point. This is very steep, and an hour's work in throwing down the stones with which it is in many places built up, could render it utterly inaccessible to horsemen. At all other points they have constructed footpaths, steps, &c., by which they pass up and down. The side of the rock is not perfectly perpendicular, but after a sheer descent of sixty or seventy feet there are

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ledges from five to eight yards wide, on which they have established their sheep-folds. The bluff is about 800 yards long, and the towns are some 150 yards apart. That upon the southern point contains fully as many inhabitants as both the others, and the houses are larger and higher: horses cannot reach it, as the rock is much broken up between it and the second town.

The houses are built of stone, laid in mud, (which must have been brought from the plain below, as there is not a particle of soil upon the rock), and in the same form as those of the other Pueblos. They are, however, by far the poorest I have seen. The stories are but little over six feet high, and scarcely any of the houses can boast of doors or windows. The rafters are small poles of pi×¡on, seven feet with centre-pole, and supporting posts running lengthways through the building. Over these, and at right angles with smaller ones, poles covered with rushes are placed, and a coating of mud over all forms the roof. They are whitewashed inside with white clay. Hanging by strings from the rafters, I saw some curious and rather horrible little Aztec images made of wood or clay, and decorated with paint and feathers, which the guide told me were "saints;" but I have seen the children playing with them in the most irreverent manner. The houses are entered by means of ladders, as in the other Pueblos. The bluff runs nearly north and south, inclining a very little to the north-west. When a quarter of a mile from its foot, it is impossible for a stranger to distinguish the town, as, from the little wood used, there is no smoke perceptible, and the houses look exactly like the piles of rocks to be seen on any of the neighboring misas; and I did not know where the Moqui was until fairly on the top of the ridge and just entering Harro, the first town, which is situated on the north end. We are stopping in the middle town. The Moquis say that one week ago, three Mexicans and two Americans passed through here, who stated that they had been travelling with the Coyoteros, who attacked them and killed five Americans of the party; and that just after, other Americans came up, killed three Coyoteros, and ran off with much stock. This party, on leaving here, took the trail for the Canon de Chilly. There is a mountain, in the plain, south-west from Moqui, which is covered with perpetual snow, and called by the Navajoes, Cierra Natary — the chief mountain.

They say that by riding very fast, one can go from here to the river in a day, or in two, by easy marches. The Navajoes say that a large party of Americans have been living all winter on the river near this mountain, one day's easy ride from here. When there is great drought in the valley, the Moquis go in procession to a large spring in the mountain for water, and they affirm that after doing so, they always have plenty of rain. I saw three Payoche Indians to-day. They live on a triangular piece of land, formed by the junction of the San Juan and Colorado of the West, and, I believe, never come into the settlements to trade. There is no running stream near here, and they obtain all their water from a small spring near the eastern base of the mountain, or rather bluff. They do not irrigate, nor do they plough, as they have no cattle,

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and I have not seen ten horses or mules about the place. The valley is most miserably poor, but there are thousands of acres in it. They plant in the sand.

April 1st. — I was quite sick last night with a most awful headache, and had a chill in the evening. I was awakened at midnight by the Indians, who were singing and dancing in the Plaza for some hours, doubtless in preparation for to-day. I have been trading to-day with Moquis, Navajoes, and Payoches, and going now and then to look at the dancing in the Plaza just behind us, which, they tell me, is a religious ceremony to bring on rain.

The weather to-day has been very disagreeable, with a cold wind from the south. As I have been under the weather, we have not yet had our grand talk with the Moquis, but I hope will have it to-morrow.

The dance to-day has been a most singular one, and differs from any I have ever seen among the other Pueblo Indians; the dresses of the performers being more quaint and rich. There were twenty men and as many women, ranged in two files. The dresses of the men were similar to those I have described at Laguna during the Christmas holydays, except that they wear on their heads large pasteboard towers painted typically, and curiously decorated with feathers; and each man has his face entirely covered by a vizor made of small willows with the bark peeled off, and dyed a deep brown. They all carry in their hands gourds filled with small pebbles, which are rattled to keep time with the dancing. The women all have their hair put up in the manner peculiar to virgins; and immediately in the centre, where the hair is parted, a long, straight eagle's feather is fixed, (Plate 7, Fig. 5). They are also adorned with turkey and eagle's feathers, in much the same way as the malinchi of the Lagunians. But by far the most beautiful part of their dress is a tilma of some three and a half feet square, which is thrown over the shoulders, fastened in front, and, hanging down' behind, reaches half-way below the knee. This tilma is pure white. Its materials I should suppose to be cotton or wool. Its texture is very fine, and it has one or more wide borders of beautiful colors, exceedingly well wrought in, and of curious patterns. The women also wear vizors of willow sticks, which are colored a bright yellow, and arranged in parallel rows, like Pandean pipes. On each side of the files is placed a small boy, who dances or canters up and down the line, and is most accurately modelled after the popular representation of his Satanic majesty's imps, (Plate 7, Fig. 4). With the exception of a very short-fringed tunic, reaching just below the hip joint, and a broad sash fastened around the waist, the boy is entirely naked. On his head he wears a thing like a sugar-loaf painted black, which passes over the whole head, and rests upon his shoulders. Around the bottom of this, encircling his neck, is a wreath made of twigs from the spruce-tree, and on the top are fixed two long feathers which much resemble horns, and are kept in their places by a connecting string. The whole body is painted black, relieved by white rings placed at regular intervals over the whole

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person. The appearance of these little imps, as they gambolled along the line of dancers, was most amusing. They had neither a tombe accompaniment, nor a band of singers; but the dancers furnished their own music, and a most strange sound it was, resembling very much the noise, on a large scale, of a swarm of blue-bottle flies in an empty hogshead.

Each one was rolling out an aw, aw, aw, aw, in a deep base tone; and the sound, coming through a hollow vizor, produced the effect described. The dance was a most monotonous one, the dancers remaining in the same place, and alternately lifting their feet, in time to the song and gourds. The only change of position was an occasional "about face." When the first came in, two old men, who acted as masters of ceremonies, went along the whole line, and with a powder held between the thumb and fore-finger, anointed each dancer on the shoulder. After dancing awhile in the mode above described, the ranks were opened, and rugs and blankets being brought and spread upon the ground, the virgins squatted on them, while the men kept up a kind of mumming dance in front. Every third or fourth female had at this time a large hollow gourd placed before her, on which rested a grooved piece of wood, shaped like an old-fashioned washboard; and by drawing the dry shoulder-blade of a sheep rapidly across this, a sound was produced similar to that of a watchman's rattle. After performing the same dance on each side of the Plaza, they left, to return again in about fifteen minutes; and thus they kept it up from sun-rise till dark, when the dancing ceased.

As appendages to the feast, they had clowns who served as messengers and waiters, and also to amuse the spectators while the dancers were away. The first batch consisted of six or eight young men, in breech-clouts, having some comical daubs of paint on their faces and persons, with wigs made of black sheep-skins. Some wore rams' horns on their heads, and were amusing themselves by attempts at dancing, singing, and running races, when they were attacked by a huge grizzly bear (or rather a fellow in the skin of one), which, after a long pursuit, and many hard fights, they brought to bay and killed. They then immediately opened him, and took from out of his body a quantity of guavas, green corn, &c.; which his bearship had undoubtedly appropriated from the refreshments provided for the clowns. But no sooner had they disposed of Bruin, than a new trouble came upon them in the shape of two ugly little imps, who, prowling about, took every opportunity to annoy them; and when, by dint of great perseverance, they succeeded in freeing themselves from these misshapen brats, in rushed eight or ten most horrible-looking figures (in masks), all armed with whips, which they did not for a moment hesitate to apply most liberally, to any of the poor clowns who were so unlucky as to fall into their clutches. They even tied some hand and foot, and laid them out in the Plaza.

It seemed they were of the same race as the imps, and came to avenge the treatment they had received at the hands of the clowns; for the "limbs of Satan" returned

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almost immediately, and took an active part in their capture, and in superintending the flagellating operations. Such horrible masks I never saw before — noses six inches long, mouths from ear to ear, and great goggle eyes, as big as half a hen's egg, hanging by a string partly out of the socket. They came and vanished like a dream, and only staying long enough to inflict a signal chastisement on the unfortunate clowns; who, however, soon regained their wonted spirits, after their tormentors left; and for the rest of the day had the field to themselves.

The simple Indians appeared highly delighted by these performances; and I must avow having had many a hearty laugh at their whimsicalities.

While the dances were going on, large baskets, filled with guavas of different forms and colors, roasted ears of corn, bread, meat, and other eatables, were brought in, and distributed by the virgins among all the spectators. The old governor tells me, this evening, that it is contrary to their usages to permit the females to dance; and that those whom I supposed to be young virgins, were in fact young men, dressed in female apparel for the occasion. This is a custom peculiar to the Moquis, I think, for in all the other Pueblos I visited, the women dance.

April 2d. — Snow fell last night, and it has continued all the forenoon. The weather is very cold and disagreeable, with a strong south wind blowing. We hired a Navajo Indian to take our horses over to the other side of the mountain (about six miles) to graze them; and as the weather would not allow us to visit the other four towns, we seated ourselves down with the governor, and other principal men; smoked, and had our "big talk," obtaining from them as much information as possible, relative to their history, customs, origin, religion, crops, &c.

The principal ruler was present.

This government is hereditary, but does not necessarily descend to the sons of the incumbent; for if the people prefer any other blood-relation, he is chosen.

The population of the seven villages, I should estimate at 8000, of which one-half is found in the first three. They say that of late years, wars and disease have greatly decreased their numbers. They spoke of fevers and disease, which I suppose to be phthisic and pertussis. They observe no particular burial-rites. They believe in the existence of a great Father, who lives where the sun rises, and a great Mother, who lives where the sun sets. The first is the author of all the evils that befall them — as war, pestilence, famine, &c.; and the great Mother is the very reverse of this, and from her are derived the blessings they enjoy — fertilizing showers, &c. In the course of the "talk," the principal governor made a speech, in which he said, — "Now we all know that it is good the Americans have come among us; for our great father, who lives where the sun rises, is pacified, and our great mother, who lives where the sun sets, is smiling; and in token of her approbation, sends fertilizing showers (it was snowing at the time), which will enrich our fields, and enable us to raise the harvest

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whereby we subsist." They say it generally rains this time of the year. Of their origin, they give the following account.

Many, many years ago, their great Mother brought from her home in the west nine races of men, in the following forms: First, the deer race; Second, the sand race; Third, the water race; Fourth, the bear race; Fifth, the hare race; Sixth, the prairie-wolf race; Seventh, the rattlesnake race; Eighth, the tobacco-plant race; Ninth, the reed-grass race. Having placed them on the spot where their villages now stand, she transformed them into men, who built the present Pueblos, and the distinction of races is still kept up. One told me he was of the sand race; another the deer, &c. They are firm believers in metempsychosis, and say that when they die, they will resolve into their original forms, and become bears, deer, &c., again.

The chief governor is of the deer race. [Here is the totemic element. — S.]

Shortly after the Pueblos were built, the great mother came in person, and brought them all the domestic animals they now have; which are principally sheep and goats, and a few very large donkeys. They have scarcely any horses and mules, as there is no grass nearer than six miles from the rock; and their frequent wars with the Navajoes render it almost impossible to keep them. The sacred fire is kept constantly burning by the old men; and all I could glean from them was, that some great misfortune would befall their people, if they allowed it to be extinguished. They know nothing of Montezuma, and have never had any Spanish or other missionaries among them. All the seeds they possess were brought from where the morning-star rises. They plant in May or June, and harvest in October and November. They do not plough or irrigate, but put their seeds in the sand, and depend upon the rains for water. They raise corn, melons, pumpkins, beans, and onions; also a cotton, of which I procured a specimen, and a species of mongrel tobacco.

They have also a few peach-trees, and are the only Pueblo Indians who raise cotton. They have no small grain of any kind. They say they have known the Spaniards ever since they can remember. About twenty years ago, a party of about fifteen Americans, the first they ever saw, came over the mountains and took the Zu×¡i trail. Six years afterwards, another party, with four females, passed through. Their crop last year was very small, and sometimes fails them entirely on account of the drought. For this reason they hoard up their corn, and that sold us was four years old. Roasting-ears, hanging around the room, are of the same age.

Their mode of marriage might well be introduced into the United States, with the Bloomer costume. Here, instead of the swain asking the hand of the fair one, she selects the young man who is to her fancy, and then her father proposes the match to the sire of the lucky youth. This proposition is never refused. The preliminaries being arranged, the young man on his part furnishes two pair of moccasins, two fine blankets, two mattrasses, and two of the sashes used at the feast — while the maiden, for her share, provides an abundance of eatables, when the marriage is celebrated by

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feasting and dancing. Polygamy is unknown among them; but at any time, if either of the parties become dissatisfied, they can divorce themselves and marry with others, if they please. In case there are children, they are taken care of by their respective grandparents. They are a simple, happy, and most hospitable people. The vice of intoxication is unknown among them, as they have no kind of fermented liquors. When a stranger visits one of their houses, the first act is to set food before him, and nothing is done "till he has eaten." In every village are one or more edifices under ground, and you descend a ladder to get into them. (Plate 6.) They answer to our village groceries, being a place of general resort for the male population. I went into one of them — it was stifling hot, and all the light and air came through the scuttle above. In the centre was a small square box of stone, in which was a fire of guava bushes, and around this a few old men were smoking. All around the room were Indians naked to the "breech-clout;" some were engaged in sewing, and others spinning and knitting. On a bench in the back-ground sat a warrior, most extravagantly painted, who was undoubtedly undergoing some ordeal — as I was not allowed to approach him. They knit, weave, and spin, as in the other Pueblos, and besides make fabrics of cotton.

The chief men have pipes made of smooth polished stone, and of a peculiar shape, which have been handed down from generation to generation. (Fig. I, Plate 7.) They say their pipes were found centuries ago, by their forefathers, at the bottom of the water, in a very deep ravine in a mountain to the west, and that they were found already made in their present form.

Their year is reckoned by twelve lunar months. They wear necklaces of a very small sea-shell, ground fiat (doubtless procured from California), which, they say, was brought to them by other Indians who lived over the mountains to the west, and say they obtain them from three old men who never die. Several Navajoes, who were present at the conversation, appeared perfectly friendly. I saw, to-day, a Navajo chief, named Cavallada, who has a paper from Governor Calhoun, making him a chief.

The villages of the Moquis are seven in number, (Plate 7), and more nearly correspond to the seven cities of Cibola, (spoken of by Mr. Gallatin in his letter to Lieutenant Emory, U. S. A., T. I.), than any which have yet been discovered. They are situated in the same valley: they are upon the bluff. Oraivaz, called Musquins by the Mexicans, is almost due west from the bluff, and about thirty miles distant. There is another town at twenty miles "W. by S., and two more about S. S. W., and some eight or ten miles distant from the first three. Of these, the two at the southern extremity of the bluff are the largest, containing probably 2000 inhabitants; Oraivaz is the second in size. They all speak the same language except Harno, the most northern town of the three, which has a different language and some customs peculiar to itself. It is,

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however, considered one of the towns of the confederation, and joins in all the feasts. It seems a very singular fact that, being within 150 yards of the middle town, Harno should have preserved for so long a period its own language and customs. The other Moquis say the inhabitants of this town have a great advantage over them, as they perfectly understand the common language, and none but the people of Harno understand their dialect. It is the smallest town of the three. The dress of the men, when abroad, is similar to that of the other Pueblos. When at home, they have a great fancy for going in "puris naturalibus," meaning nothing but the breech-clout and moccasins. If they slip out for a moment, they perhaps throw a blanket over their shoulders. They dress their hair like the Lagunians. I was much amused with one fellow who had a kind of full dress on, which he had obtained from the Eutaws of the Great Salt Lake, who were here last fall. (The governor showed me a letter signed by one Day, an Indian agent, and Brigham Young, the Mormon governor, which the Eutaws had with them. This was their first visit, but they are to return next fall). This coat was made of alternate pieces of red and blue cloth, with large bright buttons, shoulder-knots and tops of horse-hair; and with it buttoned up to the chin, and naught else on, he would strut about with as much self-satisfaction as any Broadway dandy. The women are the prettiest squaws I have yet seen, and are very industrious. Their manner of dressing the hair is very pretty. While virgins, it is done up on each side of the head in two inverse rolls, which bear some resemblance to the horns of the mountain-sheep. After marriage they wear it in two large knots or braids on each side of the face. In the northern town they dress their hair differently — the unmarried wearing all the hair long and in two large knots on each side of the face; and after marriage parting it transversely from ear to ear, and cutting off the front hair in a line with the eyebrows-. These people make the same kind of pottery as the Zu×¡ians and Lagunians.

April 3d. — The frost seems to have had the desired effect, for it snowed again last night, and has been alternately snowing and clearing off all day; and while the sun was clouded, we had very cold and disagreeable weather.

We started at 9 A. M., and were truly an hour getting down the trail, so slippery was it from the melting snow. We have had a very fair sample of the hospitality of these kind people to-day. It being known that we were to depart this morning, woman after woman came to the house where we were stopping, each bringing either a basket of corn, meal, or guavas to give us, that we might not suffer for food while on the road home. The governor killed a sheep, and presented it to us. When we were fairly started, and passing through the towns, the women stood at the tops of the ladders, with little baskets of corn-meal, urging us to take them.

April 5th. — MYTHS OF THE ABORIGINES OF NEW MEXICO. — Old Santiago, our guide and interpreter, is a Navajo Indian, who was for some time a prisoner among the

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Mexicans, and speaks Spanish tolerably well. He is well versed in the lore and legends of his race, and while on the march, I have had many interesting talks with him. His history (the Navajo creed) of the origin of man is so curious, that I cannot refrain from writing it out; but first I will premise a little, and as I have heretofore said nothing of the Navajoes, give a slight sketch of this tribe.

The Navajoes are, to all intents and purposes, a nomadic race, although not as entirely so as the other wild tribes. They live more as did the olden patriarchs, moving from place to place with their flocks and herds, and stopping and building small log shanties wherever they find the best pastures. They plant corn, beans, and wheat, and weave blankets and mantas for clothing. Their government is also purely patriarchal, there being no chiefs; but each wealthy man has his own band of retainers and servants, who are called his family. I should think they were very similar to the Scottish Highland clans in this respect. Polygamy is very extensively practised among them. The following is their belief of the origin of man. Many years ago the Navajoes, Pueblos, Coyoteras, and the Americans all lived under ground, in the centre of the Cerra Naztarny, (one of the four before-mentioned mountains,) on the Rio San Juan. Here they subsisted on meat alone, for all the birds of the air were there, and the only light was a kind of daybreak, which lasted but for a few hours out of the twenty-four. Among the Navajoes were two dumb men, who played the Indian flute, (an instrument resembling the flageolet), and one of these accidentally touching one day the top of the cave, there was heard a hollow sound, and immediately the old men conceived the idea of boring through to see what was inside. The flute being placed against the top of the cavern, the raccoon first ascended through it and attempted to dig his way out, but did not succeed. Coming down, the moth-worm took his place, and, boring a hole through the roof, found himself upon the inside of the mountain, and surrounded by water. Having thrown up a little mound, he sat himself down and began to look around, when he discovered four great white swans, placed at the four cardinal points, each carrying an arrow under either wing. The swan from the north first rushed upon him, and having thrust an arrow through the body of the poor worm on either side, he withdrew them, and examining them attentively, exclaimed, "He is of my race," and retired to his station. This was repeated by the other three, and when the ordeal was gone through with, and each had resumed his former place, four great arroyas were formed, to the north, south, east, and west, which drained off all the water, and left in its place a mass of soft mud. The worm now descended, and the raccoon passed up, but the first jump he made he went mid-leg deep in the black mud, by which his paws and legs were stained so black that the marks have remained to this day. The raccoon having gone down, the wind ascended and dried up the mud. After this, the men and animals began to come up, and their passage occupied several days. First came the Navajoes, who had no sooner got up than they commenced playing patole, of which they are to this day most passionately fond. Then came the

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Pueblos and other Indians, who cut their hair, and who at once commenced to build houses; and lastly came the Americans, who started off towards the point where the sun rises, and have not been heard from until within a few years past. When under the ground, all spoke the same language; but when they came out, an instantaneous change of dialect took place. As the beasts and birds issued forth, they betook themselves at once to the woods and plains; but none of the domestic animals went with them while below the ground. These were all given to them by their great Mother, shortly after they came up. The earth was at first very small, and there was no heaven; neither had they sun, moon, nor stars, and were blessed with the few hours of dawn only which they had enjoyed below. A council of the old and wise men being held, it was determined to make a sun, moon, and stars. Building a very large house, the old men of the Navajoes commenced the manufacture of the sun; while to the old men of the other tribes was confided the making of the moon, heaven, and stars. The sun and moon, when finished, were given in charge to the two dumb fluters, who have been carrying them ever since. The world being very small, the first day that the dumb man started with the sun, he brought it too near the face of the earth, and came very near burning it up. Then the old men puffed the smoke of their pipes towards it and it retired, and since it first started has been moved back four times, to keep pace with the growing world. When the heavens were made, the people commenced broidering the stars upon it in a beautiful manner, so as to represent bears, fishes, &c.; but while thus employed, a prairie-wolf rushed in and exclaimed, "Why are you taking so much trouble in making all this embroidery? just stick the stars about any where;" and suiting the action to the word, he scattered the pile of stars all over the heavens. Thus we have only a few constellations, and the impudence of the prairie-wolf has given us the stars so singularly scattered over the firmament, instead of the beautiful images which the Navajoes had intended embroidering. The springs of water, being made to fit the world when small, as it increased in size were correspondingly stretched apart, and this is the reason why we find them so few and so distant from each other. When all was completed, and the sun and moon set well a-going, the old men made two tinages or water-jars; one of which was most gorgeously painted on the outside, and very beautiful to the eye, but contained worthless trash; while the other was of plain brown earthenware and had no paint to render it beautiful, but contained flocks, herds, and other things of great value. Calling up the Navajoes and Pueblos, they gave the first choice (having the tops of the jars covered) to the Navajoes, who immediately seized upon the beautiful but worthless jar, while the other, so rich, fell to the lot of the Pueblos. Then the old men said: "Thus it will always be with the two nations. You, Navajoes, will be a poor and wandering race; destitute of the comforts of life, and ever greedy for things on account of their outward show rather than their intrinsic value; while the Pueblos will enjoy an abundance of the good things of this life, will occupy houses, and have plenty of flocks, herds, &c." To this day the two nations have these distinguishing traits. If a Navajo

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sees a thing that pleases him, he will make any sacrifice to obtain possession of it, whether he need it or not; but a Pueblo will buy nothing which is not of some use and which he does not actually want. About this time there rose up a man among the Navajoes who was a most inveterate and successful gambler, and who went through the whole nation, winning all they possessed, even to their persons. When he had won the whole tribe, he was taken by one of the old men, and being placed like an arrow on a bow-string, was shot up into heaven. After a short absence he returned, bringing with him fire-arms and the Spaniards. Soon after his return he left his people and went into Mexico, where he now is — for the old men say he can never die. The Spaniards went to the Rio Grande, where they formed settlements. Four days after the Navajoes came up out of the mountain one of them died, and the body was laid on one side; but four days after, when sought for, it had disappeared. One of the old men then went down into the mountain to look for the dead man, and found him there combing his hair. Since then he has several times been heard to cry out, "All who die will come down here to live with me in our first home," and for this reason the dead are put in the ground. The old men say that the world is, as it were, suspended; and that when the sun disappears at evening, he passes under and lights up our former place of abode, until he again reappears at morning in the east.

Hitherto the people, having no grain of any kind, had subsisted solely upon the flesh of animals, and such roots and herbs as the country afforded. One day a turkey-hen came flying from where the morning star rises, and alighted in the midst of a circle of the wise men of the Navajoes, and when shaking her feathers an ear of blue corn fell to the ground. This was immediately divided into four equal parts. The point was given to the Coyoteros, who to this day raise small corn; the next portion to the Navajoes, whose corn is somewhat larger; the next to the Pueblos, whose corn is much better, and the but-end to the Mexicans, who have very large, fine corn. At a subsequent visit the turkey-hen brought white corn, and afterwards wheat, &c. In fine, all the seeds they possess were brought by this benevolent turkey.

When smoking, they always puff the smoke upwards, which they say brings rain. The old men say that having come out from below with them, the Americans are necessarily of the same stock, and therefore we should remain at peace with each other, and that it is evident the Great Mother is well pleased to see us living in friendship, as she is now sending plenty of water from the sky to give them a good crop.

While talking upon these matters, an Indian asked me with the greatest gravity how long our men said it was since we first came up out of the mountain.

Asking Santiago what ideas his people had of the Americans — their number and place of abode — he answered that the old men told them that when we went towards where the sun rises, we had settled in a little corner of the earth; but having been very prosperous and our tribes increasing greatly, we had filled up this little corner to running over, and finding no abiding place in our own land, had been forced out, and thus some of us returned to our original country."

92 5. Hunting the Buffalo on the Western Prairies.

The Bison — its Geographical Ranges, and the Manner of its Capture.

(a). HUNTING, next to war, is the most prominent field of Indian triumph. There is nothing, indeed, in which his strength and agility are more fully displayed, than in hunting the bison, or buffalo.

De Soto found this animal after he had crossed the Mississippi, and entered deeply into the present area of Arkansas and Missouri.

It was not found east of the Mississippi, in the same latitudes. Florida, which is quoted by authors as its range, was then (300 years ago) a term embracing the greatest part of North America; but there is no evidence that this animal ever inhabited the present limits of Florida. We are not informed that its bones have been discovered in its sands or alluvions; while its tertiary beds, along with those of Alabama, have yielded to naturalists the osseous remains of stranded whales, ichthiosaurii, and other extinct species.

The term vaca, applied to it by De Soto, and the word boef, subsequently employed by the French, who found it plentiful in Illinois, were merely indicative of its identity with the Bos family, and were confined to that signification. Linnasus found it a peculiar species, to which he applied the term Bison, as contradistinguished from the Asiatic buffalo. The term buffalo appears to have been early applied to it; and it is so generally in vogue in America, that it would be wholly impracticable now to alter its use, were it attempted.

The bison is an animal common to temperate latitudes, and capable of enduring cold, rather than hot climates. It was found in early days to have crossed the Mississippi above the latitude of the mouth of the Ohio; and at certain times, thronged the present area of Kentucky. It not only ranged over the prairies of Illinois and Indiana, but spread to southern Michigan, and the western skirts of Ohio. Tradition says that it was sometimes seen on the borders of Lake Erie. It was also common to the southern parts of Wisconsin, and crossed the Mississippi into Minnesota above St. Anthony's Falls, for the last time, it is believed, in 1820.

Seen in its native haunts, it is a fierce and formidable object of hunter prowess; and when wounded, will turn on its enemy. It has a thick mane, which covers the whole neck and breast, and is prominent on the hump. The horns are black, turned upwards slightly, and stout and large at the base. Its eyes are red and fiery, and

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its whole aspect furious. The annexed figures, Plate 8, of the common and buffalo cow, in a partial state of domestication, were taken with the daguerreotype, at Fort Snelling; and will give an exact idea of their relative size and comparative weight.

This species was first seen in a single individual observed by Cortez and his followers, in 1521, in the kind of menagerie, or zoological collection of Montezuina, in Mexico. To this place the animal had been brought from the north, by Indians, to whom the collection of rare birds and quadrupeds had been committed by the native monarch. It was not, however, till the expedition of Coronado north of the Gila, in 1542, that its natural ranges were penetrated. It was not found at all in the high lands of New Mexico. The Spanish adventurers had passed the Rio del Norte, and entered the region of the great southern fork of the Arkansas, before they encountered the immense herds of it which they describe. So headlong were the droves of these animals following each other, that they sometimes pitched into and filled up entire gulfs and defiles lying in their track.

The numbers of this animal seen on the western prairies, at favorable points, is amazing. Lewis and Clark, in descending the Missouri, in July, 1806, on passing the environs on White river, estimate that they beheld twenty thousand on the prairies at one time. At another place, they remark, that such was the multitude of these animals in crossing the river, that for a mile in length the herd stretched as thick as they could swim, from bank to bank, and the travellers were stopped in their descent till the herd passed.

One of the modes of taking these animals, at the period of the passage of these adventurers through the Missouri valley, where it presented rocky banks, is described thus. An active young man is selected as a decoy, by disguising his body in the skin of the animal, and putting it on, with the head, ears and horns. Thus disguised, he fixes himself at a point between a herd of bison, and the cliffs of the river. Meantime, his companions get in the rear, and on the sides of the herd, and press them onward. Taking the Indian decoy for a real animal, they follow him to the brink, and then stop; and the decoy concealing himself in some previously selected crevice, while the herds in the rear, rushing headlong forwards, push the foremost over the precipice, down which they are dashed, and killed. A hundred carcasses, or more, were found in a single locality on the shores of the Missouri. They are often captured by the Indians early in the spring, while crossing the Missouri in search of fresh grass. It is customary for the natives to fire the prairies, in the spring, which leaves a smooth scorched surface. The animal is thus driven, in hordes, to cross the river on the ice, in search of new grass; and as the ice breaks under their weight, numbers of them are left floating on isolated cakes of ice, sometimes of but a few feet surface; from which

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they tumble into the water, and are easily captured by the Indians in their ice-boats. This procedure was witnessed by the travellers above named, in March, 1805, while encamped at Fort Mandan.

The mode of chasing this animal on the prairies, is replete with peril and enterprise. These sports are described in the following pages, by the Hon. Henry H. Sibley, of Minnesota.

Sport of Buffalo-hunting on the Open Plains of Pembina.

By HON. H. H. SIBLEY, M. C.

1. There is too much reason to fear that the buffalo, or American bison, which is the subject of this paper, will soon become extinct as a denizen of the wilds of the North American Continent. To what extent this animal roamed over the Atlantic slope of the Alleghany mountains in ages past, is uncertain, but there are men yet living who have seen large herds upon the Ohio, and its tributary streams. Two individuals were killed in 1832, by the Dacotah or Sioux Indians, upon the "Trempe a l'Eau" river, in Upper Wisconsin, and they are believed to have been the last specimens of the noble bison, which trod, or will ever again tread, the soil of the region lying east of the Mississippi river.

2. The multitudes of these animals, which have hitherto darkened the surface of the great prairies on the west of the "Father of Waters," are fast wasting away under the fierce assaults made upon them by the white man as well as the savage. From data, which, although not mathematically correct, are sufficiently so to enable us to arrive at conclusions approximating the truth, it has been estimated that for each buffalo-robe transported from the Indian country, at least five animals are destroyed. If it be borne in mind that very few robes are manufactured of the hides of buffalo, except of such as, in hunter's parlance, are killed when they are in season; that is, during the months of November, December, and January, and that even of these, a large proportion are not used for that purpose, and also that the skins of the cows are principally converted into robes, those of the males being too thick and heavy to be easily reduced by the ordinary process of scraping; together with the fact, that many thousands are annually destroyed through sheer wantonness by civilized as well as savage men, it will be found that the foregoing estimate is a moderate one. From the Missouri region, the number of robes received, varies from 40,000 to 100,000 per annum, so that from a quarter to half a million of buffalo are destroyed in the period of each twelve months. So enormous a drain must soon result in the extermination of the whole race; and it may be asserted, with much certainty, that in twenty years from

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this time, the buffalo, if existing at all, will be only found in the wildest recesses of the Rocky Mountains. The savage bands of the "West, whose progenitors have, from time immemorial, depended mainly upon the buffalo, must, with them, disappear from the earth, unless they resort to other means of subsistence, under the fostering care of the General Government.

3. The chase of the buffalo on horseback, (Plate 9), is highly exciting, and by no no means unattended with danger. The instinct of that animal leads him, when pursued, to select the most broken and difficult ground over which to direct his flight; so that many accidents occur to horse and rider, from falls, which result in the death or dislocation of the limbs of one or both. When wounded, or too closely pressed, the buffalo will turn upon his antagonist, and not unfrequently the latter becomes the victim in the conflict, meeting his death upon the sharp horns of an infuriated bull.

4. In common with the moose, the elk, and others of the same family, nature has furnished the buffalo with exquisite powers of scent, upon which he principally relies for warning against danger. The inexperienced voyager will often be surprised to perceive the dense masses of these cattle urging their rapid flight across the prairie, at a distance of two or three miles, without any apparent cause of alarm; unaware, as he is, of the fact, that the tainted breeze has betrayed to them his presence, while still far away. In approaching the quarry, whether on foot or horseback, the hunter must take the precaution to keep well to leeward. The man walks by the side, and as much as possible under cover of his horse, until within a distance, nearer than which it would be impolitic to attempt to advance. The buffalo gaze, meanwhile, at their approaching enemy, uncertain whether to maintain their ground or take to flight. The hunter vaults into his saddle and speeds towards his hesitating prey, and then commences the race which to the latter is one of life or death.

5. The bow and arrow in experienced hands constitute quite as effective a weapon in the chase of the buffalo, (Plate 9), as the fire-arm, from the greater rapidity with which the discharges are made, and the almost equal certainty of execution. The arrow, which is less than a yard long, is feathered, pointed with iron, and with small grooves along it, to allow of the more rapid effusion of blood when fixed in the animal. The force with which an arrow is propelled from a bow, wielded by an Indian of far less than the ordinary physical strength of white men, is amazing. It is generally imbedded to the feather, in the buffalo, and sometimes even protrudes on the opposite side. It is reported among the Dacotahs or Sioux Indians, and generally credited by them, that one of their chiefs, Wah-na-tah by name, who was remarkable, up to the close of his life, for strength and activity of frame, and who was equally renowned as a hunter and a warrior, on one occasion discharged an arrow with sufficient force

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entirely to traverse the body of a female buffalo, and to kill the calf by her side. For the accuracy of this statement I do not, of course, pretend to vouch. The arrow is launched from the bow while the body of the victim is elongated in making his forward spring, and the ribs being then separated from each other as far as possible, allow an easy entrance to the missile between them.

6. The same instant is taken advantage of by such of the western Indians as make use of long lances wherewith to destroy the buffalo. Approaching sufficiently near to the particular cow he has selected for his prey, the hunter allows the weapon to descend and rest upon her back, which causes her at first to make violent efforts to dislodge it. After a few trials, the poor beast becomes accustomed to the touch and ceases further to notice it in her great anxiety to escape from her pursuer, who then, by a dexterous and powerful thrust, sheathes the long and sharp blade in her vitals, and withdraws it before the animal falls to the ground. This mode of slaughter is successful only with those who have fleet and well-trained horses, and who have perfect reliance upon their own coolness and skill.

7. When the alternate thawing and freezing during the winter months have formed a thick crust upon the deep snows of the far north-west, the buffalo falls an easy victim to the Indian, who glides rapidly over the surface upon his snow-shoes, while the former finds his powers of locomotion almost paralyzed by the breaking of the icy crust beneath his ponderous weight. He can then be approached with absolute impunity, and despatched with the gun, the arrow, or the lance. (Plate 10.)

8. It sometimes happens that a whole herd is surrounded and driven upon the clear ice of a lake, in which case they spread out and fall powerless, to be mercilessly massacred by their savage pursuers. It is a well-known fact, that several years since nearly a hundred buffaloes attempted to cross Lacqui Parle, in Minnesota, upon the ice, which not being sufficiently strong to bear so enormous a pressure, gave way, and the whole number miserably perished. The meat furnished a supply of food for many weeks to the people at the neighboring trading-post, as well as to the Indians and to the wolves and foxes.

By these various methods, and by others which might be designated, are the buffalo circumvented to their destruction. The Indians are notoriously improvident and cruelly wanton in the disposition they indulge to destroy game of any and every kind, even when not impelled by necessity; and I regret to repeat that their white brethren are not behind them in this particular. I have seen buffalo and elk slaughtered for no other purpose than to obtain the tongues and marrow-bones, the remainder of the carcase being left uncared for and untouched.

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9. The accompanying Plate, 8, affords a life-like view of a female buffalo and domestic cow. It will be perceived that the former is considerably the tallest; but there is in reality not much difference in the weight of the two, inasmuch as the latter is of thicker and more compact form. The same remark is applicable to the males of the two species. Occasionally there are found, as in the case of our domestic cattle, enormous specimens of the buffalo of both sexes, but as a general thing there is not much disparity in the size of these two branches of the same great family.

10. The hunting party was composed of nine men, including myself. Continuing our course south-westwardly, we reached Lac Blanc, a fine sheet of water, which bore upon its surface swans, geese, and ducks in great numbers, which we did not disturb, as there were fresh "signs" of elk and traces of buffalo. From this point we followed a small stream which ran through very swampy ground, and which was literally covered with wild fowl. These poor creatures were not at all shy, giving evidence of their utter ignorance of the arts of the great destroyer, man. In fact, geese and wild ducks were innumerable, and I doubt not that either of the good shots of the party might have destroyed a thousand in a day. But we were in search of nobler game, and not a single discharge of a gun was permitted.

11. During the day, the gun of one of the men went off by accident, and caused me to lose a shot at three buffaloes. They had been quietly feeding along the stream, when, hearing the report, they dashed off into the open prairie. After holding a counseil de guerre, we concluded not to follow them until next morning, as the day was already far spent. Selecting a favorable spot, we encamped, and the arms of the party were put in order for the expected sport. A large buck came out of the woods at the opposite side of the rivulet without perceiving us, but we would not allow him to be shot at. The next morning Jack Frazer was despatched with the most active of the Canadians to reconnoitre. In a short time they returned, and reported that three buffaloes were lying down in one of the low places in the prairie. Two men were placed in charge of the carts, with directions to proceed slowly along at an angle slightly deviating from the line to the buffaloes, while the rest of us, seven in number, mounted our horses and prepared for the chase.

12. Approaching the bulls within three hundred yards without being discovered, we charged down the hill upon them at full speed. The first flight of the buffalo is comparatively slow; but when pressed by the huntsman, the rapidity with which these apparently unwieldy animals get over the ground is surprising. Alex. F. and myself having the best horses, each of us singled out a victim; leaving the third to be dealt with by the remainder. We were shortly alongside, and our double-barrels told with deadly effect, the huge beasts rolling on the ground in death within a hundred yards

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of each other. The other horsemen followed the remaining bull, but notwithstanding each man positively asserted that they had surrounded him, the animal escaped, and his pursuers were brought to a sudden halt by the sight of a large herd of buffaloes, (Plate 11), which they were unwilling to disturb until we joined them. Meanwhile, the prairie had been fired by some Indians to the windward of us, and as the wind blew violently, the flames approached us with so much rapidity that we had not time to secure the meat of the two buffaloes we had slain. It was decided to attempt a passage through the naming barrier, leaving the men with the carts to gain a shelter before the fire should overtake them. Five times did we approach the raging element, and as many times were we repulsed scorched and almost suffocated, until, by a desperate use of whip and spur we leaped our horses across the line of fire, looking, as we emerged from the cloud of smoke, more like individuals from the lower regions than inhabitants of this earth.

13. It required some minutes to recover from the exhaustion attendant upon this enterprise; when being fully prepared at all points, we went off in search of the herd. We shortly discovered them on the top of a hill, which was bare of grass, and to which the fire had driven them. Alexander F. and myself gained their rear, while the rest of the party placing themselves out of view, waited for our charge. While we were yet half a mile distant, the dense mass set itself in motion, and the several hundreds of buffalo composing it took to flight. We were soon among them, and the discharge of fire-arms from all the horsemen was incessant and well sustained. Alexander F., and myself, had each shot two cows, and others of the party had succeeded in bringing down an animal or two, when we all bore down en masse upon the ranks of the affrighted buffalo. Jack Frazer's horse stumbled over a calf, fell, and threw his rider headlong from the saddle. Merely casting a glance to satisfy ourselves that Jack's neck was not broken, away we sped, until horse after horse gave out, and in a short time I found myself alone with the herd, the nearest of my companions being a quarter of a mile in the rear.

14. There was a very fine, fat cow in the centre of the band, which I made several attempts to separate from the others, but without effect. She kept herself close by the side of an old bull, which, from his enormous size, appeared to be the patriarch of the tribe. Resolved to get rid of this encumbrance, I shot the old fellow behind the shoulder. The wound was mortal, and the bull left the herd, at a slow gallop, in a different direction. As soon as I had discharged my gun, I slackened the speed of my horse to enable me to reload, determined to pursue the retiring mass, and trusting to find the wounded animal on my return. Unfortunately, I changed my mind, and rode after the bull to give him the coup de grace. I rode carelessly along with but one barrel of my piece loaded, when, upon approaching the buffalo, he turned as quick as

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lightning, in order to charge. At this critical instant I had released my hold of the bridle-rein, and risen in my stirrups. When the buffalo turned, my horse, frightened out of his propriety, made a tremendous bound sidewise, and, alas, that I should tell it, threw me out of the saddle and within ten feet of the enraged monster! (Plate 12). Here was a predicament! I was face to face with the brute, whose eyes glared through the long hair which garnished his frontlet like coals of fire — the blood streaming from his nostrils. In this desperate situation, I made up my mind that my only hope of escape was to look my adversary in the eye; as any attempt to fly would only invite attack. Holding my gun ready cocked to fire if he attempted a rush, I stood firmly, although, I must confess, I thought my last hour had come! How long he stood there pawing and roaring, I have not now the least idea, but he was certainly slow in deciding what he should do. At length, he moved away, and I gave him a parting salute that let out the little blood remaining in his body. He walked a short distance and fell dead.

I did not fail to render due homage to that Almighty Being who had so wonderfully preserved my life. The frequenter of Nature's vast solitudes may be a wild and reckless, but he cannot be essentially an irreligious man. The solemn silence of forest and prairie — the unseen dangers which are incident to this mode of life — and the consciousness that Providence alone can avert them — all these have the effect to lead even the thoughtless man, occasionally, to reflection.

15. The only one of my party within view now came up. I was so near the buffalo when dismounted, that he believed I had struck him with the barrels of my gun. I despatched my comrade in search of my horse, which, as is usual in similar cases, had followed the herd of buffalo at full speed. I now felt much pain in one of my feet, which had received a serious blow when I fell. I had to use my hunting-knife to free me from sock and moccasin; and in ten minutes I was unable to walk, or even stand, without support. Knowing the man who had gone after my horse to be a mere tyro in woodcraft, I feared he would not be able to find his way back to me; and being ten miles from camp, with no fuel to light a fire, and clad in scanty Indian costume, the prospect of spending a cold October night where I was, seemed anything but agreeable. I had no other alternative than to load my gun heavily with powder, and discharge it in quick succession; hoping that some of my comrades would hear the reports, and come to my aid. After a short time spent in this pleasant exercise, I perceived Jack Frazer; who, having recovered his horse, was looking for the rest of the party, when the sounds from my gun attracted his attention. I hurried him away after the missing man, and he soon returned with him and my horse. When I mounted, it was with difficulty I could support myself in the saddle.

16. On our way to camp, we discovered a single buffalo cow feeding. Jack started

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off in pursuit; and I had the pleasure of seeing a most beautiful chase, albeit unable to take part in it. The cow made for the height of land opposite; and as he reached the summit, Jack overtook her, when she turned and charged him furiously. I feared it was all over with him, for the animal was within three feet when he discharged his gun, I saw her fall, before the report of the piece sounded in my ears; the ball had broken her neck. Had it taken effect in any other part, Jack must have been seriously injured, if not killed.

When we reached the camp, all the party were assembled. The injury I had received was of too serious a nature to allow of rest. I passed a sleepless night; and being satisfied that it was necessary to have surgical aid as soon as possible, I determined to return home — offering, however, to leave four men with Alexander and Jack if they were disposed to continue the sport. The disappointment was great, but my hunting companions refused to abandon me; and it was arranged that the next day should be employed in securing the meat of the slain buffalo, and the day following we should depart homewards.

17. In the morning, while the men went in search of the meat, we rode over to obtain a view of "Minday Mecoehe Wakkon," or "Lake of the Spirit Land." This beautiful sheet of water has an island in it which the Sioux Indians never venture upon, as they believe it to be the residence of demons. Their traditions relate, that in days of yore, several of that tribe landed upon the island from a canoe, when they were instantly seized and devoured. Hence the name. We saw several otters disporting themselves in the lake, apparently not much afraid of us, or of the island.

18. When all was ready for our departure, I told my two hunting companions that as our progress with the loaded carts would necessarily be slow, they would have time to scour the country on either side of us, and rejoin us at night. This plan suited them well, and they were off bright and early; while we retraced our trail, myself, on horseback, leading the procession. During the day, we fell in with a large herd of elk; but they were too watchful to be circumvented by the bungling voyageurs who were with me, and who attempted to approach them. I was not in a condition to accompany and direct the men in their movements. Alexander F. and Jack rejoined us in the evening, with three buffalo tails pendent at their belts — trophies of the number slain. They had fallen in with several large herds of buffalo, and might have killed many more; but as the meat could not be cured for want of time, they very properly abstained from useless slaughter.

19. We hastened towards the Mississippi as fast as our trammelled condition would allow; occasionally shooting a few wild fowl, wherewith to make a bouillon in the evening. We reached our domicils at the mouth of the Minnesota river, after an

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absence of twenty-two days, having, in the interval, killed sixteen buffaloes, three elk, eight raccoons, twelve wolves, seven geese, two hundred and forty-four ducks, eighty grouse, and sundry small items not worth mentioning.

20. In the northern part of Minnesota, on both sides of the line dividing the United States from the British possessions, there is to be found a large population, consisting mostly of mixed bloods. These men possess, in an eminent degree, the physical energy and powers of endurance of the white man, combined with the activity, subtlety, and skill in hunting, of the Indian. They are fine horsemen, and remarkably dexterous in the chase of the buffalo. Half farmer and half hunters, they till the ground, and raise fine crops of wheat and other cereals, while semi-annually they repair to the buffalo region to procure meat, which they cure in divers ways, and dispose of to our own citizens and to the Hudson Bay Company for the supply of their remote inland trading-posts. Being numerous and well supplied with horses, oxen, and carts, the number of buffaloes annually slaughtered by them is astounding. I shall conclude this article with an interesting description of the peculiar habits and mode of hunting of these people, furnished by the Rev. Mr. Belcourt, a Catholic priest residing among them in January, 1851. From my own personal acquaintance with many of the half-breeds, as well as with Mr. Belcourt himself, who is justly esteemed as a gentleman of integrity and veracity, I can confidently endorse the general correctness of his statements, as contained in the following pages.

21. I can now state to you understandingly the mode of buffalo hunting practised by the people of our country, having accompanied them in one of their excursions. I should first remark, that the autumnal hunt engages the attention of comparatively few men, for the following reasons. A portion of the half-breeds, who have not the means of passing the winter in the settlements, spread over that part of the country where they can subsist themselves and families during the cold weather by the chase of the elk, the moose, and the bear: others, hoping to reap more profit by trapping the fur-bearing animals, seek the haunts of the marten, the fisher, the otter, and the beaver, in the wooded region and along the water-courses and lakes; so that ordinarily not more than one-third assemble for the fall hunt of the buffalo.

22. The returns of the previous summer expedition had shown but a "beggarly account of empty boxes." After a long march during the warm weather, the half-breeds had made their appearance with carts less than one-quarter laden, and even this scanty supply of meat was in bad order. This was as much owing to the want of union and method on the part of the hunters themselves, as to the scarcity of the buffalo. Now that it was understood that they were to be accompanied by a priest, a general feeling of confidence was restored, as it was expected that he would act as

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umpire, if difficulties should occur, and do all in his power to promote harmony in the camp. Preparations for the campaign were, accordingly, made at St. Boniface and the White Horse Plains, and they took up the line of march, one after the other, until the ninth of September, when I myself brought up the rear. The place of rendezvous was designated at a spot on the banks of the Pembina river, not at the site of the old establishment, but about a day's journey above it. I arrived at the point indicated on the third day after my departure from the settlement.

23. From the summit of the hill, which reared its crest about two hundred feet above the surface of the river, I discovered the camp, which was composed of about sixty lodges. These were pitched in the open prairie, and near them grazed tranquilly several hundred head of horses and oxen. In the distance, the younger hunters, having followed the sinuosities of the stream, were returning laden with wild fowl; while in an opposite direction, children could be seen bending under the weight of fish, of which the river furnished a great abundance. Carts traversed the plain on all sides, with fire-wood, spare axles, lodge-poles, and materials for the construction of cart-bodies and lattice-work, whereupon to dry the meat. It became necessary to provide a full supply of all these articles, as we were about to launch forth into an immense prairie, without a single tree to serve as a landmark to the voyagers.

24. On the fourteenth we raised the camp and ascended the opposite hill. From thence we viewed, like the ocean in its vastness, that succession of hill and valley, of constantly-occurring uniformity, which extended to the Missouri river; nay, I might say to the very base of the Rocky Mountains. Here it was necessary to determine the precise direction to be taken. As the Red river hunters had not joined us, we judged it proper not longer to follow the mountain on that side, lest we should do them an injury by raising the buffalo before them on the route we expected them to take. On the other hand, we were aware that a certain number of half-breeds had gone to establish their winter quarters near the end of the Turtle mountain, and on Moose river; consequently we could hope for no success if we followed their trail. It was decided at length that we should pursue a middle course; first south of east, until a certain distance had been accomplished, and then change to south-west, so as to visit Thicket lake, Hole Mound, Devil's lake, the Little Fork of the Cheyenne, Basswood lake, and the Dog's lodge. The decision having been publicly announced and the guides appointed, we proceeded on our way. The carts, to the number of two hundred and thirteen, were ranged in three lines, one line being drawn by oxen and the other two by horses. These formed a much longer train than one would imagine, if not aware that to each vehicle lodge-poles, fifteen or eighteen feet in length, were attached.

25. And now the horsemen disperse in every direction, to wend their way only at

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night to the point beforehand indicated as the camping-ground. Like veteran mariners, these children of the prairie march during the entire day over hill and dale, offering to the eye of a stranger no distinctive features whereby to shape his course, and yet make their way unerringly, even in the darkness of night, to the camp.

26. At an early hour we halted and arranged matters for passing the night, awaiting meanwhile the report of the scouts with much impatience. The first who appeared was my own hunter. He had seen no buffalo, but he brought back with him two cranes, one of which measured eight feet and three inches between the extremities of the wings. This bird, the flesh of which is not pleasant to the taste, abounds in that part of the country, its food being principally roots, which it digs up with its beak. When wounded it becomes a dangerous antagonist, for raising itself to its full height, it turns upon the hunter and strives to pluck out his eyes. It has happened that young savages have had their bowels pierced and lacerated by this furious bird.

27. About sundown all the hunters had come in with the exception of two, and fresh signs of buffalo had been seen. The following day the number of look-outs was augmented. About ten in the morning, the two young men who had been so long absent, joined us laden with fresh meat, and when the scouts returned in the evening, that article was extremely abundant. But the flesh of the bulls is no delicacy, nor is it easy of digestion; however, I was served to the choicest part, viz., the tongue; "for," it was remarked to me, "you are not accustomed to eat of this meat, and if you partake of any other portion, you may be seized with the buffalo sickness," — mal de bœuf. This ailment, so far as I could divine, is nothing more or less than indigestion. The flesh has the consistency of leather, and as the hunters, flushed with health, are blessed with a fierce appetite, they do not sufficiently masticate this tough food, and often suffer in consequence.

28. At length we had good reason to believe that on the morrow we should fall in with a herd of cows. I accordingly made preparations in the morning for joining the hunters, who were in high glee at the brilliant prospects, and made the prairie to resound with their boisterous mirth. We had hardly rode along for half an hour, when we discovered a herd of bulls. They were distinguished as such from the fact that they do not huddle together in the herd as do the females. We approached them at a slow gait, and they fed tranquilly until we arrived within three or four hundred yards. We then reduced the pace of our horses to a walk, knowing that, by so doing, the buffalo would not take to flight until we were very near them. Still, not being overanxious to receive a visit from us, they began to manifest signs of ill-humor. Some threw dust in the air with their fore-feet, others rolled upon the ground, and then, with the agility of a hare, sprang up in an instant. Others again, with more gravity of

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deportment, looked at us fixedly, uttering, occasionally, a low bellow; the sudden jerk of the tail alone, giving assurance that our presence was no more acceptable to them than to their companions.

29. When the signal is given we spur our horses towards them, and before us fly with rapidity, the thick and heavy masses. Several are overthrown at the first discharge; others, feeling themselves mortally wounded, stop suddenly, and tear up the earth in their fury, or strike it, like rams, with their fore-feet. Under the shaggy tufts of hair, their eyes sparkle with rage, and warn the most intrepid of the hunters to keep at a respectful distance.

30. This chase, which lasted but a quarter of an hour, was scarcely brought to a close, when a cloud of dust was perceived rising from the top of a hill in the distance. I had no time to ask the cause of this, before each man sprang to his saddle, crying out, cows! cows! (la vache! la vache!) Although a dozen huge bulls lay dead upon the ground, not even a tongue was taken.

31. In a very short time we reached the eminence, where I expected we would find ourselves in close proximity to the animals which had been announced with so much assurance, but, to my surprise, I could perceive none. At length, I was made to remark, several miles away, certain objects, which, as there was a mirage, appeared to me to be trees, but even at that distance the keen eyes of the hunters recognised them to be, not trees, nor even bulls, but cows.

32. The men here all assembled to the number of fifty-five. Even the horses seemed to partake of the joy and ardor of their masters. To moderate the fierceness of the steed was difficult, to restrain that of the hunter was much more so. But to ensure success, we must advance together, quietly and warily, until within two gun-shots of the herd. If, on the contrary, as is the case when the half-breeds have no acknowledged leader, those possessed of fleet horses advance at full speed, leaving to the others no chance to secure a portion of the prey, there arise discord, quarrels, hatred, and all their train of evils.

33. The instinct of the buffalo causes them to huddle closely together when pursued. The males, if separated from the cows, then rejoin them; the latter, however, being the swiftest, always keeping in the front ranks. To reach them, therefore, it becomes necessary to pierce the dense phalanx of bulls, which is a dangerous experiment. During the hunt of the previous summer, an Indian, thrown headlong from his horse, which had been overturned by a bull, was made the sport of the latter for several minutes, being tossed into the air repeatedly, and each time received, bleeding and

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lacerated, upon the sharp horns of the infuriated beast. To give an idea of the monstrous strength of these animals, it is sufficient to state, that one of them in traversing the line of carts, struck a vehicle to which a horse was attached, and which was laden at the time with more than a thousand pounds' weight, and hurled it over and over three or four times.

34. Another great danger to which the hunter is exposed, is that of finding himself in the direction of the bulls, which are sped heedlessly on every side, and whistle in a frightful manner, while the whirlwinds of dust prevent any object being seen at a distance of ten yards. Lately, in a chase, one of the men received a bullet in his belly, but, luckily, the wound did not prove to be mortal. On another occasion, the ball traversed the coat, shirt, and flesh of a hunter, and was only arrested by the breast-bone. Providentially, no such accidents occurred to turn our excursion into one of mourning. It can hardly be supposed, that, in view of so many dangers, the horseman can divest himself entirely of a certain apprehension, sufficiently vivid, however, to impress itself upon his countenance.

35. The rapidity with which the half-breeds charge their guns is astonishing, it not being an uncommon occurrence for one of them to shoot down three buffaloes in the space of an acre (arpent). Their manner of loading is, not to use wadding after their first shot is discharged. They prime their pieces, then pour powder into the muzzle from the horn, the bullet being taken from the mouth and slipped down on top of the powder, the saliva causes it to adhere sufficiently long for their purpose. The horse, meanwhile, is abandoned to his own guidance, but so admirably are these animals trained, that the mere motion of the body of the master to the one side or the other, is instantly understood and obeyed.

36. After the first day's course, which lasted not more than half an hour, I counted one hundred and sixty-nine cows lying dead upon the plain. The next day one hundred and seventy-seven were killed. The third day, although many of the hunters chose to repose themselves, one hundred and fourteen were destroyed; and on the fourth one hundred and sixty-eight, making, altogether, six hundred and twenty-eight buffalo. It would be supposed that these would suffice for the loading of two hundred and thirteen carts; but such was not the case, many more being needed to complete it. It is true that much of the meat is squandered and lost on account of the careless manner of curing it.

37. The hunt of the day being ended, the quarry is placed upon its knees, and the hind legs are stretched out to their full length, so that the animal is sustained principally upon its belly. (Plate 13.) The small hump is first taken out. This is a protuberance

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of flesh about the neck, weighing about three pounds, and is attached to the large hump. The skin is now divided along the back-bone, and is loosened, after which, the operation of slicing and curing is commenced, of which the following are the details, with the technical words used: —

1. Les depauilles — are taken from each side of the animal, from the shoulder to the haunches. They are separated from the flesh underneath by a cartilaginous membrane, or thin skin.

2. Les filets — are the great muscles, covered with flesh, which connect the shoulder- blades and haunches.

3. Les bricoles — two strips of fat, which run from the shoulder to below the neck.

4. Les petite filets du cou — small muscles which spring from a point near the end of the gros filets.

5. Le dessur de croupe — which begins above the flanks.

6. Les deux epaules — the shoulders.

7. Les dessous d'epaule — strips of flesh between the sides of the breast-bone and shoulders.

8. Lepis — the flat part surrounding and containing the udder.

9. Le ventre — the belly.

10. La panse — the tripe, esteemed by the half-breeds as a great delicacy.

11. La grosse basse — the large hump which has its greatest elevation between the shoulder-blades. It is a mass of flesh covering thin wide bones, which are inclined backwards, like the dorsal fin of a fish. The flesh has a delicious flavor.

12. Le gras — the tallow inside the animal.

13. Les plats cotes — the ribs.

14. La croupe — the rump.

15. Le brochet — the breast-bone.

16. La langue — the tongue.

28. What remains is left for the wolves. Cutting-up is a labor which brings the sweat from the hunter, but our people display a surprising rapidity and adroitness in performing it, Sometimes, in ten hours' time, as many buffalo have been killed and dissected by one man and his family. The profuse perspiration affects them very much, causing inordinate thirst, so that they take the precaution to supply themselves with a keg of water, which is transported on the cart that goes to the meat. When this is neglected, the suffering is almost intolerable, and the means taken in some measure to assuage thirst, is to chew leaves, or even the cartilaginous portion of the nostril of the slain buffalo. If the hunter becomes hungry, he devours the kidneys, which are cooked after a fashion, by immersion in the gall-bladder, or eaten raw.

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29. The meat, when taken to the camp, is cut by the women into long strips about a quarter of an inch thick, which are hung upon the lattice-work, prepared for that purpose, to dry. This lattice-work is formed of small pieces of wood placed horizontally, transversely, and equi-distant from each other, not unlike an immense gridiron, and is supported by wooden uprights (trepieds). In a few days the meat is thoroughly desiccated, when it is bent into proper lengths, and tied in bundles of sixty or seventy pounds weight. This is called dried meat (viande seche). Other portions which are destined to be made into pimikehigan, or pemican, are exposed to an ardent heat, and thus become brittle, and easily reducible to small particles by the use of a flail; the buffalo-hide answering the purpose of a threshing-floor. The fat, or tallow, being cut up and melted in large kettles of sheetriron, is poured upon this pounded meat, and the whole mass is worked together with shovels, until it is well amalgamated, when it is pressed, while still warm, into bags made of the buffalo-skin, which are strongly sewed up, and the mixture gradually cools and becomes almost as hard as a rock. If the fat used in this process is that taken from the parts containing the udder, the meat is called fine pemican. In some cases, dried fruits, such as the prairie-pear and cherry, are intermixed, which forms what is called seed pemican. The lovers of good eating judge the first described to be very palatable; the second, better; the third, excellent. A taureau or pemican weighs from one hundred to one hundred and ten pounds. Some idea may be formed of the immense destruction of buffalo by these people, when it is stated that a whole cow yields one half a bag of pemican, and three-fourths of a bundle of dried meat; so that the most economical calculate that from eight to ten cows are required for the load of a single vehicle.

40. To make the hide into parchment (so called), it is stretched on a frame, and then scraped on the inside with a sharpened bone, and on the outside with a small but sharp-curved iron, proper to remove the hair. This is considered, likewise, the appropriate labor of the women. The men break the bones; which are boiled in water to extract the marrow, to be used for frying, and other culinary purposes. The oil is then poured into the bladder of the animal, which contains, when filled, about twelve pounds; being the yield of the marrow-bones of two buffaloes.

41. In addition to the buffalo, the quadrupeds found in the prairie are the elk, the antelope, the deer, the small prairie-dog, similar to the fox, the badger, the hare (which differs from that found in the woods, being larger and swifter than the latter), the muskrat (remarkable for its fecundity), the wolf (in large numbers, whose interminable howlings during the hours of darkness, prevent those unaccustomed to the wild life of the plains from sleeping), and lastly, the grizzly bear, of which one was seen at Bass-Wood Lake, but escaped from its pursuers.

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42. While we coasted along the shore of Devil's Lake, a sheet of water about ten miles long, and two in width, some of the horsemen went off in pursuit of a small herd of cows. One of them fell from his saddle, and was unable to overtake his horse; which continued the chase as if he, of himself, could accomplish great things — so much do these animals become imbued with a passion for this sport!

43. On another occasion, a half-breed left his favorite steed at the camp, to enable him to recruit his strength; enjoining upon his wife the necessity of properly securing the animal, which was not done. Not relishing the idea of being left behind, he started after us, and soon was alongside; and thus he continued to keep pace with the hunters in their pursuit of the buffalo, seeming to await with impatience the fall of some of them to the earth. The chase ended, he came neighing to his master, whom he soon singled out, although the men were dispersed here and there for a distance of miles. When the camp is changed, the lodges are placed in positions so relatively different that the hunter, on his return, is not unfrequently obliged to search a considerable time before he finds his own domicil. Not so with his horse; which, although he may have been left at a considerable distance, comes at a given hour, and without manifesting any signs of uncertainty, marches straight to the proper habitation, and striking the skin door with his fore-foot, demands the measure of barley as the usual and well-earned price of his day's labor.

44. On the 25th we encamped on the Cheyenne, the longest tributary of the Red River of the North. We had here in full view immense herds of buffalo, I myself having counted two hundred and twenty in the area of a single square acre of ground. Both sides of the river were covered with them, as far as the eye could reach. Judge, then, if possible, of the quantity of game upon these prairies. How deplorable that the Hand which distributes daily food from this source to so many people, should not even be known or recognized by the major part of them! For it should be borne in mind that the Christian half-breeds are not to be compared in number with the many nations of savages whose nourishment is constantly and exclusively drawn from the products of the chase.

45. As I almost invariably accompanied the horsemen in their excursions from the camp, I was an eye-witness to a most perilous scene in which they were the actors. They were in close pursuit of a large herd of cows, and at the height of speed, when they arrived p×le m×le with the buffalo on the summit of a precipice lined with rocks above and below, man, horse, and chase, falling and rolling over each other in such confusion, that it was difficult to conceive how any escaped instant death, either from the effects of the fall itself, or by being crushed by the ponderous masses. Strange as it may appear, only one man remained senseless upon the ground, and he soon recovered;

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a couple of horses arose limping, and a few cows had one or more of their legs broken. The hunters who had been dismounted in this frightful melee, arose with yells and shouts, to reassure their companions, regained their saddles, and resumed the pursuit, making their whips to crack, so as to recover their lost ground; for it may well be believed that the herd had not meanwhile awaited their convenience. So soon as I was satisfied that no serious accident had occurred, I spurred forward my steed, and discharged my gun at a cow, which immediately subsided. I arrested my career, although strongly tempted to proceed, for I felt that I would have no excuse in further exposing myself to peril and to blame.

46. One of the half-breeds, in returning from the chase, followed the windings of the stream, and observed signs of beaver along its banks. The day following he caught five of these amphibia in his steel traps. I was led by curiosity to go and examine the dam which they had constructed, and most admirable was the workmanship. Although no wood was to be found save willows of the size of one's finger, yet the dam was so solidly constructed of this apparently frail material, that it served as a bridge for the buffalo. I myself crossed the stream upon it with my horse.

47. The supply of fire-wood which had been brought from Pembina being entirely consumed, our people had to use the dung of the buffalo for fuel. This, when dry, produces an ardent but transient flame, sufficient for cooking our daily food; but it evolves a smoke which, to the nasal organs of a stranger, is far from being agreeable. The want of wood interfered much with the curing of the meat, the sun not having sufficient power to dry it. It became necessary, therefore, to change our locality, and shape our course to the islands of timber in the vicinity of Basswood lake. This spot is most picturesque, and the views from it varied and beautiful. The lake, which is in a basin surrounded with hills, is extremely salt, but the springs which flow into it afford an abundance of pure fresh water. The slopes of the surrounding eminences are well furnished with oak, ash, and bass-wood. From the top of the hills we discover at no great distance the Dog's Lodge, a mound which serves as a look-out place for the Sioux Indians when engaged in war. In another direction are the heights called Les Grands Coteaux, which extend to and beyond the Missouri, on a parallel line with the Stony Mountains.

48. Arrived at this point on the second of October, we remained until the sixteenth, being during that time constantly in the midst of the buffalo. On the tenth we had a heavy fall of snow, when the mercury fell to 5° below zero, where it continued for two days, and the lake was frozen over. Six days after, the weather had so much moderated that no snow was left upon the ground. The cold had by no means retarded our labors. On the contrary, each one, fearing a premature winter, worked day and

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night, the more indolent usually being now the most untiring, as they had good reason to apprehend that they would be left behind by their more industrious companions.

49. I cannot close my remarks relative to the buffalo without giving you a just idea of their size and conformation. As is the case with others of the animal creation, the male is considerably larger than the female. The horns of the bull scarcely emerge from the dense mass of hair which covers a part of the head and neck, and gives them a startling appearance; while the cow, not being provided with such a profusion of hair, her jutting and more curved horns make her distinguishable from her mate at quite a distance. I measured a bull of middle size, and found that he was eight feet nine inches in girth, nine feet two inches long, twenty inches from the nose to the top of the head, length of tail one foot three inches, and twenty inches between the eyes. The longest rib in the rump, with an inclination of twenty degrees on the back-bone, was twenty inches long.

50. Although the summer hunt is the most favorable for catching and domesticating the calves, I was smitten with the desire to secure one. At my request, a hunter pursued and lassoed a youngster, but it died five or six days after of fatigue, as was asserted; but in my opinion its death was caused by ennui, as it refused nourishment and appeared to pine away. In the spring the calves are easily weaned, and when trained to labor become quite useful. One farmer, who had broken a bull to the plough, performed the whole work of the field with his aid alone.

51. Finally, on the sixteenth of October we resumed our march homewards, having upon our carts the proceeds of 1776 cows, which formed 228 pemican bags, 1213 bales of dried meat, 166 boskoyas or sacks of tallow, each weighing 200 pounds, and 556 bladders of marrow of twelve pounds each. The value of these articles was about £1700, from which deducting £200 for the actual expenses of the trip and the wages of certain hired men, there remained £1500 to compensate fifty-five hunters and their families for two months labor, computing from the day of our departure to that of our return.

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Title III. — Subjective Division, Antiquities. — General Analysis of Title III.

Title III., LET. A., VOL. I.

General Archaeology. Antique Skill in Fortification. Erection of Tumuli. Vestiges of Labor in the Mississippi Valley. Antique Horticultural Beds. State of Arts and Miscellaneous Fabrics. Attempts at Mining and Metallurgy. Ante-Columbian Antiquities. Question of Antique Inscriptions. Dighton Rock — an Example of the Indian Kekeewin.

TITLE III., LET. B., VOL. II.

Evidences of Indian Antiquities, continued. Truncated Mounds, or Platform Residences, of the Florida Indians. Antique Enclosures and small Mounds on Cunningham's Island, Lake Erie. Inscription Rock. Description of Arch×ological Articles from South Carolina and New York. Embankment and Excavations on an Island at the Source of the Wisconsin and Ontonagon Rivers.

TITLE III., LET. C., VOL. III.

Record of Newly-discovered Antiquities, continued. Pictographic Inscription from the banks of the Hudson. Antique Pottery from the Mounds of Florida and Georgia. Antique Colored Pottery from the banks of the River Gila, New Mexico. Explanation of the Inscription in the Character of the Kekeewin, from Lake Erie. Ancient Metallic Plates exhibited at the Muscogee busks.

TITLE III., LET. D., VOL. IV.

(a.) A sketch of the Antiquities of the United States. The true Type of Ancient Semi-Civilization and Aboriginal Art, denoted by Antiquities. Indian Art, Architecture, Fortification, and Agriculture, at the close of the Fifteenth Century. Intrusive Elements of Art. Considerations of the various proofs of Art in the Mississippi Valley. Their Object, Character, and Age. Testimony of General G. R. Clark, and other Western Pioneers and Observers. Summary of Facts. Metallurgy. Pottery. Sculpture. Ancient Cloth from the Mounds. Antique Copper-mining on Lake Superior. Picto-graphic Inscriptions from the Alleghany River. Fort Hill of Elmira. (b.) An Essay on the Congaree Indians of South Carolina. (c.) New elementary Facts in the current discovery of American Arch×ology.

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III. Antiquities. D.

(A.) A Sketch of the Antiquities of the United States. — The Character and Type of the Ancient Indian Art Considered — The Number, Position, and Character of the Western Tumuli, and Defensive Earth-works — The Pure Hunter State One of Anarchy, Ferocity, and Depopulation — The Intrusion of Foreign Elements into the Arts of the Mississippi Vallery — Roman, Grecian, Icelandic, Erse, Celtic, and Toltec Elements Considered — Rapid Decline of Indian Arts on the Discovery — State of these Arts, and of the Indian Power, at that Epoch.

ANTIQUITIES are destined to throw some of the strongest lights on Indian history. Philology furnishes, indeed, the true key to unlock the ancient affinities of nations, as revealed by their languages; but we perceive in monuments, and vestiges of art and labor, a species of evidence that, so far as it goes, every one is ready to admit. It speaks a rude symbolic language, in which the alphabet is, ruins and fragments of broken architecture, statuary, tumuli, and earth-works, and other evidences of the by-gone energies of men, which can hardly be mistaken. These vestiges restore the true type of arts, and tell in unmistakeable tones, the story of ancient manners, customs, and employments.

It is from these membra disjecta that we must erect the edifice of the ancient civilization of nations. Greece is not less surely known by her temples, architecture, and monuments of the fine arts, than by her literature, history, and poetry; and were the latter swept from existence, her monumental remains alone, would attest her intellectual supremacy. We judge of Egypt in the same manner. Her style of architecture, and her hieroglyphics, disclose a peculiar line of arts. Her literature is, in fact, written in pyramids and architectural ruins; which seem, by their indestructibility, to defy time. Something of the same kind may be said of the yet older wrecks of civilization in exhumed Nineveh and Babylon, as exhibited by the recent researches of Layard.

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Devoid of letters as this period was, except the lights we obtain through the pages of the Pentateuch, (Layard's Second Expedition, p. 611), and from the uniform characters deciphered by modern arch×ologists on blocks of stone and bricks, these remains of the Tigris and Euphrates yet speak of a type of civilization as distinct from that of Egypt, as the latter is from that of Greece or ancient Rome; or as these are from the Gothic and Celtic monuments of the Medi×val ages.

When the lofty models of ancient art come to be compared with the rude scarifications of the surface of the soil, the heaps of earth, and the inartificial ditches, mounds, and earth-works found within the limits of the United States of North America, it is not difficult to perceive that we have wandered very far from the ancient seats of arts and civilization of the old world, and are surrounded by the merest vestiges of barbarism. Our aborigines have also wandered far from the prototypes of architecture found at the seats of the semi-civilized tribes of Peru and Mexico. The monuments of Palenqu×, of Cholulu, and of Cusco, appear, indeed, to bear silent and mysterious witness of the transference of some of the Asiatic models, in a peculiar form, to the New World. But these arts and institutions, if thus derived, did not extend, in their highest state, to the northern latitudes of the continent occupied by the area of the United States, which was filled, not densely, by brave, roving, and predatory tribes of hunters, who pursued their enemies with the rapacity of wolves, and where they were found to be most advanced in the social scale, had not consolidated their institutions.

They could, where the fertility of the soil enabled them in accumulated numbers to dwell together, erect a tumulus, to serve as the apex of a sacrifice, to lift the residence of a ruler above the plain of the village, or, it may be, to constitute his rude mausoleum. They were very apt in occupying acute and isolated geological eminences for the same purposes. They sometimes placed their dead in natural caves in the limestone and sandstone rock. But they were themselves satisfied to live in huts built of temporary materials. They also cultivated limited fields of the zea maize, but their main reliance was the flesh of the wild animals whom they chased through magnificent and almost boundless forests. They adopted their totems or armorial badges for their triumphs in these scenes; and they turned with the ferocity of the tiger and megalonyx on other tribes of hunters of the same generic stocks, who presumed to trench on their hunting-grounds. If they fortified a village, in their warfare, it was some sharp defile or commanding point, or a gorge, or eminences where nature had done nearly all the work. They were natural engineers of this forest-castrementation. Their art and skill were adequate to resist an attack of barbarian tribes, who knew no more, in this line, than themselves. But to dignify these remains by the name of monuments of military science or geometrical art, evinces an entire misconception of the people of this era. It was an era in which savage tribes contended for mastery by such arts and skill as savage tribes knew. The question of boundaries was ever one of vital importance, but it was one that perpetually changed and fluctuated. The area

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of this field of conflict, estimating it from the mouth to the source of the Mississippi, and from the banks of the Missouri to the Atlantic, reached a thousand miles from south to north, and not less than eighteen hundred from west to east. But while they evinced the ferocity of tigers, wolves, and vultures, they fell under an equal law of the rapacity of species; and their numbers, which, by fixed industry, would have swelled to millions, were continually thinned by war and disease; and hence it is that entire tribes have passed from existence, and their bones are daily turned up by the plough, in every fertile plain and valley between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

We stand in the Mississippi valley, beholding, indeed, immense forests of exuberant fertility, where nature has wrought on a magnificent scale, but where man, in the long centuries which preceded the discovery, has done but little — very little. There are some evidences which remotely connect the tribes of the Mississippi valley at ancient and unknown periods, with the tribes of ancient Central America. Traces of a similar mode of the general expression of ideas in the language of pictographs; traces of the worship of the sun and moon; of a national trait in erecting the residences of their priests and leaders on terraces or teocalli; general-agreements in arts and in the physical and moral types; together with a general unity in manners and customs, all bespeak similarity of origin.

These evidences relate primarily to periods either after the culminating of the Toltec and Aztec dynasties, or before they had fully consolidated their power. They are clearly posterior to the era of the semi-civilization of Mexico, Peru, and Yucatan.

A very striking evidence of the commercial element of a more intimate connection of the original masses of tribes and their progression northward, is preserved by the zea maize, a tropical plant, which propagated itself northwardly and eastwardly with the spread of the tribes. The cotton-plant does not appear from De Vaca to have reached much north of the Gila, or east of the Rio Grande. The vast and naked plain of Texas — the co-terminous link between ancient Florida (the present United States) and Mexico — is entirely without aboriginal monuments of any kind, (Vide Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies;) and the ancient line of Mexican semi-civilization cannot be extended beyond the latitude of Cicuy×, on the sources of the River Pecos of New Mexico, N. lat. 36°, and long. 104°, a point visited by Coronado in 1542, (Vide Kern, ant×, Gen. History.)

The tobacco-plant supplies a similar species of historical proof. This plant, at the earliest dates, was confined to the latitudes of the area of the Southern States, whence it was an article of traffic with the more northern tribes. It had not reached and become an article of cultivation as far as the southern borders of the Great Lakes, at the breaking out of the war of 1812, at which time the supplies of it, required by Tecumseh for his negotiations, were obtained through the traders from Virginia and Kentucky. (Vide Fletcher on the Winnebagoes, Title II., ant×.)

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ANCIENT EPOCH OF INDIAN ARTS.

IN contemplating the evidences of occupancy in the present area of the United States prior to 1492, the epoch of acknowledged history, we are compelled either to discriminate, making distinct periods of the actual vestiges of the several elements of population, or to admit the proof of such elements as existing prior to, and contemporaneously with, the Spanish and the aboriginal or Indian period. It is undeniable that by doing this, confusion of the particular arts of races is avoided, and the Indian type of occupancy left more clear and fixed.

We may dismiss entirely from this consideration all such vague traditions and speculations of reproduced Grecian and Roman imaginations, and of pseudo-ethnology of modern date, (Vide London Ethnological Journal), as regards the Mediterranean Sea as the inceptive area of commercial energies here. That the Grecians or Romans, by any sober probabilities, reached the American continent, and left monuments here at any time or place before the close of the fifteenth century, is by no means probable, and the observations made before the Amer. Ethno. Society, on the supposed discovery of a Grecian inscription in the Mississippi valley, by a writer who has entered the lists as an ardent advocate for a higher civilization in the ancient inhabitants of that valley than its monuments denote, proves the caution which is required in discussions of this kind.

The proofs which have been produced of the claim of the Scandinavians to have visited and discovered the north Atlantic coasts of America, reaching from Newfoundland to about 41° 30', rest on entirely different grounds. And the archaeologist is under obligations to admit and acknowledge the vestiges of this epoch of discovery, whenever they occur. The periods of these visits, landings, and settlements, temporary or permanent, admitting the Copenhagen record, (see Antiquitates Americana), extends from A. D. 1000 to 1347, in which latter year the records of the sagas notice the last voyage from Greenland to Markland (Nova Scotia). It is not affirmed by the historians and scholars of the north that a settlement, continuous for years, existed during all this period of more than three hundred years, if for any considerable part of it; but that this was the general era, during which, the inhabitants of the coasts of Greenland and America were cognizant of each other, and during which these seas remained open to Iceland voyagers and adventurers. Nor do these evidences make the Northmen the discoverers of the tropical latitudes of the United States. They hint, however, an

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earlier period of discovery and settlement by the Erse or Celts of Iceland, on the coasts lying between Virginia and Florida, a region known under the Icelandic name of Huitramannaland, i. e., the land of white men; (Humboldt's Cosmos, Vol. II., p. 607).

The testimony of the Icelandic sagas rests on proofs which are admitted by historians, although but lately introduced into the field. But there is a species of proof brought forward in this connection, which is of a wholly different character. We allude to the use which has been made of the Dighton Rock inscription, and the very modern structure which has been denominated "Newport Ruin." These are conceived to be fallacious as histrionic proofs. The former (Part I., and Part IV., Title III.) is a well-characterized pictographic inscription, due to the Indians; the latter, an economical structure, built, probably, after the landing of the Pilgrims, or in the reign of Charles II. (Vide Letters of Dr. Webb, herewith.)

There is a single written Indian tradition, put on record in 1825, by David Cusic, an educated Tuscarora, of the Ante-Columbian wreck of a ship from Europe on the North Carolina or southern coasts, and of the origin of a colony of white men, from the survivors of that wreck. "These survivors," he remarks, "obtained some implements, and after many years the foreign people became numerous, and extended their settlements;" but they were, in the end, destroyed. (Sketches of the History of the Six Nations, Lewistown, Niagara County, New York, 1825, p. 8.)

M. Charlevoix supposes (Journal of a Voyage to North America, Vol. I., p. 316) that he recognized a Grecian element in the sounds of the sonorous Iroquois language — a remark which is explicable on that principle of vague analogy in listening to strange and barbarous languages, which is adverted to by the philologist, W. Von Humboldt. (Cosmos, Vol. II., p. 609.)

The same idea of a Greek element in the Iroquois has been advanced in modern times, but wholly, it is conceived, without logical or admissible proofs. If the Iroquois language is to be compared with the Greek, there should be shown some analogies in its grammatical construction, and not alone disjointed examples given in the lexicography. I found, in 1845, a dual in the Oneida and Onondaga dialects, which is the greatest refinement I have found to exist in any American Indian language. The nearest approach, in delicacy of thought, to this grammatical trait, I observed among the Chippewa family of the Algonquins at St. Mary's Falls, at the foot of Lake Superior, in 1822. That family possess an inclusive and an exclusive plural pronoun, in the first person. (Vide Title IX., Part. I.)

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Assertions of a Celtic element in the Indian languages of the ancient Huitramannaland, (Virginia), have frequently been made. These first originated in America, in 1782, in certain accounts given by Isaac Stuart, of South Carolina, an early Western trader. They have been repeated in various forms, at successive periods, by Davey, Sutton, Hicks, Lewis, Beaty, Rogers, and Filson. The last notices of the subject are given by Mr. Gr. Catlin. (Vide Letters and Notes). The discovery of a Welsh element in the Indian languages is wholly without proof of a philological character; nor can it ever be determined, without full and accurate vocabularies of the several Indian languages involved. Hasty observers may have been easily mistaken by accidental analogies of sound, in hearing languages which are so strange to European ears as the Indian; and we feel assured that, in the present state of the knowledge of the principles of the Indian languages in the United States, there has not been the slightest discovery of that Welsh, or any other form of the Celtic. In 1847, I published a vocabulary of three hundred Tuscarora words obtained from William Chew, an approved interpreter in that nation, at their residence in Niagara County, N. Y., which proves it to be a marked idiom of the Iroquois. It is entirely free from the peculiar consonantal sounds of the Welsh, in ll and th, and without lexicographical resemblances. (Notes on the Iroquois, p. 393).

Some inscriptive testimony has been referred to in this discussion. An inscription in, apparently, some form of the Celtic character, came to light in the Ohio valley, in 1838. This relic occurred in one of the principal tumuli of western Virginia (the ancient Huitramannaland). It purports to be of an apparently early period, namely, 1328. (Trans. Amer. Ethn. Soc., Vol. I., p. 380.) It is in the Celtiberic character, but has not been deciphered. Its arch×ology appears corroborative of the Cimbrian and the Tuscarora traditions respecting a white race in Ante-Columbian periods, in this part of America. This fact was announced to the Royal Geographical Society of London, in 1842. (Vide its Journal.) A more full account of it is given in the Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, Vol. I., p. 269. A perfect copy of the inscription, taken from the stone in sealing-wax, with full details of its geographical position, is given in an anterior page of this work (Part I., p. 120). M. Jomard, on receiving a copy of this inscription from Mr. Vail, deems it to be of Lybian origin. This comprises the Celtic testimony, so far as it has been revealed or recorded.

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SCANDINAVIAN CLAIMS.

The evidences of the Scandinavian element of occupancy are contained in the body of Icelandic Sagas and Eddas of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, which have been published in 1837, in the Antiquates Americanes. These evidences embrace the maritime, historical, and literary record of the ages quoted; and it; has been exhibited with such references to the state of ancient geographical and astronomical science, during the medi×val ages, as secures respect. Most stress is laid, by the Danish historians, on the narrations of Eric the Red, Thorfinn Harlsefne, and Snorre Thorbrandsson, which are ascribed to the twelfth century. These data are considered with the exactitude of the ancient system of Icelandic genealogical tables. (Vide Rafn. Anti. Amer.) A Runic inscription was discovered in the autumn of 1824, on the summit of the island of Kingiktorsoah, in Baffin's Bay, in the latitude of 72° 55', which yielded the date of A. D. 1135. Other monuments of a similar character, bearing inscriptions, have been found at Igalikko and Egregrit, in latitude 60° 51'. Ruins of buildings at Upernavik, in latitude 72° 50', further indicate that these northern seas and gulfs were well known to, and freely visited by the Greenland fishermen and adventurers, during the era of of these American discoveries. (Cosmos, Vol. II., p. 605.)

The area of Massachusetts and Rhode Island has been in vain appealed to for equally satisfactory monuments of Scandinavian occupancy. It is quite admissible, however, that these coasts should have been visited in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries. The ancient inscription on a boulder of greenstone rock lying in the margin of the Assonet, or Taunton river, in the area of ancient Vinland, was noticed by the New England colonists so early as 1680, when Dr. Danforth made a drawing of it. This outline, together with several subsequent copies of it, at different eras, reaching to 1830, all differing considerably in their details, but preserving a certain general resemblance, is presented in the Antiquates Americanes (Tab. XI., XII.), and referred to the same era of Scandinavian discovery. The imperfections of the drawings (including that executed under the auspices of the Rhode Island Historical Society, in 1830, Tab. XII.), and the recognition of some characters bearing more or less resemblance to antique Roman letters and figures, may be considered to have misled Mr. Magnusen in (his interpretation of it. From whatever cause, nothing could, it would seem, have been wider from the purport and true interpretation of it. It is of purely Indian origin, and is executed in the peculiar symbolic character of the Kekeewin. (Vol. I., Title VI.) Having examined the mode of communicating ideas by symbolic figures, practised by the Indians of the West, there could be no hesitation, judging by the Copenhagen plates, that this inscription was of that character. I furnished a paper, in 1839, for the Biblical Repository, conducted at New York by Dr. Absalom Peters, expressing this view,

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and taking the distinct ground that the inscription could not be regarded as a specimen of any known form of the Runic, of any age, however remote or eccentric. Having visited the locality of the Dighton Rock, and examined the inscription, in 1847, its true character, as an example of the ideographic system of the Indians, was clearly revealed to my mind. I had no hesitation in adopting an interpretation of it made in 1837 by an Algonquin pictographist, called Chingwauk, in which he determined it to be the memorial of an ancient Indian battle. The details of this are given in Part I., p. 114. It was perceived that no exact representation of it had ever been made, and no new attempt to make one was then attempted, being without proper apparatus; certain discrepancies were pointed out in Part I., Plate 36, of this work. These, after a lapse of six years, are indicated in a daguerreotyped view of the inscription, taken daring the summer of the present season (1853). By this process of transferring the original inscription from the rock, it is shown to be a uniform piece of Indian pictography. A professed daguerreotypist from Taunton attended the artist (Capt. E.) on this occasion. On the uniform dark surface of the rock, no incidence of light could be obtained, after the most careful cleansing of the surface, sufficient in power to reflect the lines of the inscription. These lines are deeply sunk, as if by rubbing with a hard substance; and appear, when carefully studied, of nearly uniform breadth. As the solar rays are, however, reflected with great perfectness from a white surface, the lines were traced with chalk, with great care and labor, preserving their original width. On applying the instrument to the surface, the impression herewith presented (Plate 14) was given. It presents a unity of original drawing, corresponding to the Indian system, which cannot fail to strike the observer. It is entirely Indian, and is executed in the symbolic character which the Algonquins call Kekeewin, — i. e., teachings. The fancied resemblances to old forms of the Roman letters or figures, which appear on the Copenhagen copies, wholly disappear. The only apparent exception to this remark, is the upright rhomboidal figure, resembling some forms of the ancient diamonds, but which appears to be an accidental resemblance. No trace appears, or could be found by the several searches, of the assumed Runic letter Thor, which holds a place on former copies. Rock inscriptions of a similar character have, within a few years, been found in other parts of the country; which denotes the prevalence of this system among the aboriginal tribes, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. It is more peculiarly an Algonquin trait, and the inscriptions are called by them Muzzin×biks, or rock-teachings; while the elements of the system itself are called, as above stated, Kekeewin and Kekeenowin. Nor does this discovery militate against the general body of Scandinavian testimony respecting the Ante-Columbian discoveries in America. That testimony remains undisputed, even in more southerly latitudes of the United States. These comprise the notices of the Scandinavian monuments of the United States, so far as they have been recognized.

It may be proper, in closing this summary of monumental proofs of the Scandinavian

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era in the United States, to advert to the so-called "Newport Ruin," of which a correct engraving, identifying the style of architecture, taken by Captain S. Eastman for this work, is given (Plate 15). The details brought forward by the Rev. Edward Petersen (vide Hist. Rhode Island, pp. 168, 171, 175), denote that this structure did not exist on the first settlement of Newport, and that it cannot be traced back to the origin of the Rhode Island colony, in 1638. Evidence is produced that it was erected for the simple purposes of a windmill, by Benedict Arnold, the first governor of that colony, after an approved plan of construction first introduced into England, as we elsewhere learn, by the noted architect Inigo Jones.

This subject, having been originally commented on by Dr. Thomas H. Webb, at the request of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquarians at Copenhagen, has been referred to that gentleman for his maturer remarks on a rather anomalous question in American arch×ology; at least one that was misunderstood in the earlier period of our antiquities. His observations are hereto appended, together with a new and carefully-drawn view of the structure, which is now, at least, standing at one of our most celebrated watering-places, a curiosity as well as an architectural "ruin," if shorn of a higher character. (Vide sequel.)

INDIAN PERIOD OF ART.

THESE details of a portion of the proofs of the ante-Columbian occupancy of America properly precede the consideration of its Indian antiquities, and leave us free to investigate the state of Indian art, as it existed at, and prior to, the epoch of the discovery. It is essential clearly to establish this state of art, and to keep it constantly in view during the great and violent changes wrought in the whole frame of Indian society, arts, and institutions, at separate periods, by the introduction of European knowledge, arts, and fabrics. It may be asserted that whatever the arts of the aborigines were, at the various latitudes in which the civilization of Europe came into contact or conflict with them, these latter arts were sure to decline before the superior European skill and knowledge. For, if an Algonquin or an Iroquois on the Atlantic coast could, in 1500, manufacture a very good earthen pot or a splendid bow and arrow, he would not many years continue to cultivate these arts, when he could, by the exchange of a few skins, obtain in place of the one a light brass kettle, and for the other, a gun. Nor would he long continue to clothe himself with lynx, black-fox, and beaver skins, when for a tithe of their worth he could procure the woollen blankets and cloths of England, France, and Holland. He might prefer, indeed, to carve and engrave his pipe from fissile stones, as he did of yore, but it was inevitable that the state of native art should decline. We must admit that the ancient Indian was a better artist than the modern. This is a fundamental truth in our arch×ology.

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It is not supposable that a superior and inferior state of art could long flourish together at the same latitudes and longitudes in America. Would a hunter continue to make fire by percussion, when the price of a single marten's skin would purchase him half-a-dozen gun-flints and a fire-steel, by which he could accomplish his object as if by magic, wherever he roved? A pound of linen net-thread, or a dozen hooks, would save him the labor of weeks in fabricating his native hemp, or scraping into hook-shape the condyle of a muskrat, or a pickerel's dorsal spine. Such rude arts as the weaving of rushes or shot bags by the hard labour of women, might continue. But the exhibition of a fathom of scarlet or green, or even list-cloth, would sweep into utter insignificance, in the warrior's mind, all interest in macerating and dyeing the inner bark of the linodendron, or drawing figures on the brain-dressed skin of the finest doe. The gorget of white pearl or pink nacre of the sea-conch; the necklace of minute univalves gathered on the sea-beach, and the heavy bracelet of native copper, would be at once replaced by glittering and eagerly-sought ornaments of silver. And what likelihood existed that an axe of stone or a trap of wood, however ingeniously constructed, or the spear of bone, should long retard the introduction among the tribe, of articles of superior workmanship, made from the best of steel? Considerable as was the art of the Indian in 1500, it fell, therefore, suddenly before the presence of civilization.

Pottery was an Indian art that was carried to much practical perfection, and was well adapted to all purposes of cookery and forest housewifery; and this art, from the mere cheapness of the article, as the product chiefly of female skill, would survive longer in remote positions. But it fell into disuse between the Atlantic and Mississippi almost immediately on the settlement of New France. Wherever the Indian was superseded by the European article, be it metal, porcelain, or mineral matter, the latter was preferred. The gun, the vase of earthen, the brass kettle, the fire-steel, and the flint, were thus committed to the grave, when the owner died, under the impression that he would require them in another state; and these articles, where they have still survived decomposition, are the best tests of the age of the buried corpse.

The Indians of St. Domingo, Cuba, and the entire group of the Caribbean Islands, at the close of the 15th century, had little skill beyond the formation of their implements, canoes, and light abodes and fabrics of personal ornament; and little that denoted art, in the European sense of the word. In Hayti, the natives gathered small quantities of gold in the diluvial gorges of their highlands, which they wore as ornaments. But they were neither miners nor metallurgists. In physical traits and manners they were deemed to be Asiatics, resembling the tribes who, at that era, thronged the ports of the East Indies; and this resemblance satisfied the discoverers, without minutely examining the question of arts.

It was not, in fine, until Cortez reached Cholula and the valley of Mexico, twenty-eight years after the discovery, that the Mexican type of semi-civilization was discovered, and the surprise excited by this, was carried to a still greater height in a few

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years, by the buildings and institutions found by Pizarro at Cusco and Quito. These constituted two marked types of semi-civilization, differing from each other; in which the political and social condition of the rulers and gentry of the tribes was exalted, with but little or no effect, however, upon the moral sentiment. There is a Peruvian tradition, that the dynastic element was foreign; and a strong suspicion exists that Manco Capac had an oriental origin different in type or time from the mass; for it was this superiority that the Children of the Sun asserted.

TOLTECAN EPOCH.

It is not proposed to re-examine these two ancient forms of Indian society, or to analyse their architecture, astronomy, or civil polity. And they are only here referred to, as furnishing points of comparison in speaking of the condition of the tribes of the present area of the United States, at the time of its discovery and first settlement.

On one topic only, namely, the state of metallic art at the discovery, has it been deemed proper to re-examine the facts. It was desirable to be more surely informed on the native mode of weaving; the skill of the Indian gold and silversmiths; the question of bronze and bronze-cutting instruments, and, as a consequence, the general state of aboriginal arts and artizans. These topics have been examined by Mr. Thomas Ewbank, and the results are given in Title X., on the ancient "State of Indian Art."

Art and opinion, agriculture and religion, were propagated northward, but they did not keep an equal pace. There were evidences that the worship of the sun had passed the 30° of north latitude, and had been introduced into ancient Florida and the Mississippi valley, and spread indeed, as an acknowledged dogma, among the tribes who went north-eastwardly across the Alleghanian chain. The tribe of the Natchez are known to have recognized and practised the impressive system of sun-worship so late as the settlement of the French in Louisiana, (Du Pratz), and its rites are carried by Algonquin tradition even to the banks of Lake Superior. (Ontwa Notes.)

PERIOD OF DE SOTO.

When De Soto returned from his explorations west of the Mississippi, in 1542, he proposed to his followers to found a colony on the east banks of the Mississippi, among the Quigualtanji, who were fire-worshippers and manifestly identical with the ancient Natchez, (Vide Vol. III., p. 49).

There were no temples, teocalli, or builings, north of the central latitude of the Gila; but there were artificial constructions or heaps of earth, which bore a certain resemblance to the teocalli of Mexico in the shape of mounds, with this difference, namely, that the mounds were simply truncated, so as to receive a structure of wood; whereas the teocalli consisted of several terraces. These mounds were also imposing though

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generally small, reaching from nine to ninety feet elevation, and spreading over a diameter from twenty to six hundred and sixty-six feet. (Vide Vol. I., Plate V). De Soto encountered two stockaded works, built of timber, namely, at Mauvila, where he fought his great battle, and at the mouth of the Tazoo river; but he nowhere witnessed structures of stone for either purposes of defence or of worship. Neither did he observe any statues or figures sculptured from stone, other than the miniature sculpture of pipe-bowls, cut, generally, from soft materials, which is an art of the existing tribes of Indians; an art which is believed to be the only one of their ancient peaceful ones that the United States Indians have retained, in their descendants, to the present day.

De Soto, on reaching "Talise," in 1540, found it to be "fortified with ramparts of earth and strong palisades." (Irving's Conquest of Florida, p. 253). The same degree of art, but exhibited more elaborately, was found in the defences of the larger town of Mauvila. "This fortress stood in a fine plain, and was surrounded by a high wall formed of huge trunks of trees driven into the ground, side by side, and wedged together. These were crossed within and without by smaller and longer pieces, bound to them by bands made of split reeds and wild vines. The whole was thickly plastered over with a kind of mortar made of clay and straw tramped together, which filled up every chink and crevice of the wood-work, so that it appeared as if smoothed with a trowel. Throughout its whole circuit the wall was pierced, at the height of a man, with loop-holes, whence arrows might be discharged at an enemy, and at every fifty paces it was surmounted by a tower capable of holding seven or eight fighting-men." (Conq. of Flor., p. 262). This was the highest state of the building art De Soto found in Florida. On reaching Chicaza, the Indian village, though finely located on an eminence, was built of "reeds and straw," (p. 295). On reaching the Yazoo, De Soto came in sight of an Indian fortress called Alibamo, (p. 203). It was "built in the form of a quadrangle, of strong palisades. The four sides were each four hundred paces in length. Within, the fort was traversed from side to side by two other palisades, dividing it into separate parts. In the outer wall were three portals, so low and narrow that a man could not enter them mounted on a horse," (p. 304). Thus far, De Soto, in his march across Florida, had found no Indians making a stand for defence at a mound. On reaching the village of Chisca, on the banks of the Mississippi, he found the dwelling of the chief and his family seated on "a high artificial mound" (p. 310), ascended by two ladders or cased steps. But it was evidently not regarded by the Indians as a "fortress," for not only did they not assemble there to fight, but the enraged chief, on seizing his arms to join the fray, attempted immediately to descend to the plain to engage in the fight; and on the conclusion of a verbal treaty, it was remarkable that the Indian ruler stipulated that the Spaniards should not ascend his honored, and, perhaps sacred, platform-mound, (p. 312). Here seemed the sentiment of sacredness attached to the priest's residence on a Mexican teocalli.

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It is stated (Vide Vol. II., p. 83) that the dwellings of the caciques of Florida in 1540, were uniformly erected on high truncated mounds, or artificial platforms; and that the first structure, in locating a new village, was the chief's platform, which was made of earth carried from other places. Around this artificial nucleus the populace built their huts. Garcilaso de la Vega, who was himself, by the mother's side, the descendant of an Inca, and who may therefore be supposed to have known the respect due to an aboriginal ruler, states this. (Pickett's History of Alabama, Vol. I., p. 165). These platform mounds extend, in the Mississippi valley, as high as Prairie du Chien, where one of them, deeply truncated, exists, and is now occupied by a gentleman for the purpose of a residence. The celebrated work at Marietta is believed to have been one of those elevated cacique platforms.

TESTIMONY OF MODERN PIONEERS AND OBSERVERS.

West of the Mississippi, where his track was traced thirty-five years ago, as denoted in Title VII., Let. C, (vide, also, Scenes and Adventures in the Ozarks,) De Soto found nothing but barbarian tribes. There was neither fortification nor mound, the tribes being of a decidedly fierce and aggressive character, and exceeding in ferocity any he had encountered east of that great geographical line. To determine the kind and state of art which were necessary to erect the mounds and mound-platform, and characterize the mound-builders, it would facilitate the enquiry by fixing beforehand the object of these structures. Much speculation has been indulged in on this subject. It is apparent, from the body of writers, early and late, that they were intended to be primarily tumuli. This was the opinion of Jefferson (vide Notes on Virginia). They are of all sizes, from an artificial height of a few feet, to eighteen or twenty in circumference, and ninety feet in altitude; sometimes reaching a base of seven hundred feet (Vol. I., p. 52). Their magnitude appears to have been dependent upon the size of the town or village, and the amount of its population. It rested, also, on the fact whether the structure was designed to be a public or a private tumulus, or mausoleum.

No thought existed, at that day, that Indian art could not accomplish these works. "These works," says Governor Cass, an acute observer, "are scattered through the whole valley of the Ohio, and through much of the Mississippi country. They are found as far north, at least, as Lake Pepin. They are not confined to any particular situation. We find them on hills and in valleys; in positions favorable to military defence, and in others where they are completely commanded by elevated ground, and where defence would be impracticable.

"A supply of water has not been deemed an indispensable requisite. Between Detroit and Chicago, in the midst of an immense plain, and remote from any stream, one of these works yet remains. There are others similarly situated with regard to

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water, and upon the Muskingum there are some on the most barren and elevated hills.

"They are found in every state of preservation and decay. In some, the walls are at least fifteen feet high, particularly near Newark and Lebanon, Ohio; and the whole work is as distinct as it was on the day of its completion. Others are almost mouldered away, and it is difficult to distinguish them from the natural inequalities of the ground. Some of them have ditches, and some of them are without; and these ditches are as often found on the inside as the outside of the walls. There is an elevated mound in Marietta, enclosed with a wall, and having a ditch between the wall and the mound. It is impossible that this wall and ditch could have been made for any purpose of defence, because the elevation of the mound, which occupies the whole interior space, would have exposed those within to the attack of the assailants. Their form is as various as their situation. They are square, round, elliptical, hexagonal, and in almost every shape which fancy can imagine." (Ontwa, Notes, p. 118.)

That the tumulus proper was not intended as a work of defence, could not be more conclusively shown, than it is by these remarks of a person who is very familiar with the topic of western antiquities. The mound was, however, frequently, when erected on low grounds, connected with walls and ditches, which, in these cases, were clearly designed to defend the mounds themselves, which were the sepulchres of their forefathers, and may, under the mythologic belief of the Indians, have been designed to excite the defenders to greater acts of heroism. It was thus that the ancient Indian earth-works, from Florida to the peninsula of Michigan, were interposed irregularly, in their plan, embracing defensive works, tumuli, altars, and barrows, of all grades, and occupying as miscellaneous positions.

If these objects were all present in the plan, as shown in the vestiges of earthworks, much of the confusion and mystery of these works disappears; they are shown to be of extemporaneous origin, or occasional reliance. A tumulus — a line of wall —a ditch — ovate enclosures — exact circles and squares, and the irregular outlines and salient points, connected with hills and precipices, are explicable features. No military man would ever erect a ditch within a wall, or erect a mound for defence without one.

The devotional element has been distinctly recognized by Dr. Davis, (Vide Monuments of the Mississippi Valley) in the small altar-mounds found in the Scioto Valley. (Vide Vol. I., p. 51). The offerings at these altars are, by the necessity of the Indian institutions, totemic, or clanic. By offering a sacrifice or vow, and depositing the instrument upon the altar, the faith and courage of the votary would be certainly enlivened and strengthened. The wonder should rather seem to be, that this influence should not be appealed to, if possible, whenever a system of defence was planned, permanent or temporary. Nor should we look for much perfection of plan in a people who lived a life of perpetual vicissitude. Walls of earth were raised, and ditches dug, not evidently with any regard to the object of European plans, or systems of defence.

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The dart and club were all that appear to have been provided against. Where a village or large flat area occupied an eminence, having perpendicular or abruptly sloping sides, it was surrounded by palisades and an outer wall, agreeably to the configuration of the ground and its natural approaches, and not according to the rules of military fortification. (Vide Arch×. Am., Vol. I., pp. 145, 156, Plates VII. and XI., et seq.) "The walls of these works," it is observed, "exactly follow the brow of the hill" (p. 158). Such, according to Dr. Drake, was the cause of the very complicated and remarkable works in the Little Miami valley, and of others, in the West, which were not planned, agreeably to that observer, as purely military works; but were mere lines to encompass fields and villages, intended to interrupt sudden surprises. (Pict. of Cin.) The "rock-fort" mentioned by Mr. Pickett, on Little river, was geological, and derived its shape, as he states, entirely from its isolation and precipitous sides, scarcely any labor having been devoted to it. (Hist. Ala., Vol. I., p. 174; also Plate in Vol. II.)

It is mentioned by Colonel Hawkins (Vide MS. copy of Sketch of the Creek Country, in the Historical library of Mr. Peter Force, Washington,) that there are five conic mounds of earth on an isolated bluff on the River Coosa, which he regards as places of refuge, in high water. The largest of these artificial mounds of refuge is thirty yards in diameter, and seventeen feet high; and the base of each of the mounds on the bluff is forty-five feet above the river. The maximum rise, in late years (1793 to 1799) of this river, he states to be forty-seven feet — thus lifting the fugitives from the flood, nineteen feet above the point of inundation. He also mentions, as a tradition, then current, that the Creeks, from the era in which they had dwelt in the valleys west of the Mississippi, and prior to their migration, had been in the habit of constructing such mounds of refuge as shelters from the sudden inundations of those rapidly rising waters, in the great slopes east of the Rocky Mountains. These artificial mounds, it is stated by that observer, were also designed to entomb the remains of their distinguished men. (Vide Sketch.) Every such suggestion helps to disrobe the subject of Western mounds of their imputed mystery.

But we are to enquire, does the mound, or the defensive work, or any of their surrounding objects, of antiquarian character, imply a degree of skill, or art, or of mere manual labor, superior to that which may be assigned to the ancestors of the present race of Indians? Agreeably to the ideas exhibited at pp. 44 and 49, Vol. I., mounds may be considered as tumuli proper, propyla or redoubt mounds (at the outer or inner side of gates), and barrows, or small structures of earth, generally under nine or ten feet in height. To these may be added, the small Sciotic mounds of sacrifice, the eccentric totemic, or imitative mounds, and the massive truncated square or oval platform-mounds. (Vide Title III., Vol. II., p. 83.)

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TOTEMIC MOUNDS.

The totemic mounds are the simplest structures of all. They reveal one of the characteristic features of Indian society and institutions, by which they are observed to exist in totems or clans. The mound consists simply of the figure of the quadruped, bird, or reptile, representing the clan or affiliated family of the builders. Wisconsin is most noted for this species of mound. While these imitative structures extend over the prairies, or level grounds, sometimes seventy feet or more, their utmost elevation is not over eight or nine feet, but often less. (Vide Am. Jour. Science. Owen's Sur. Rep.) Their object appears to be, by raising mounds on the prairies, with a peculiar mineralogic pictography, to create a symbolical record which shall be understood by their countrymen. They constitute a species of symbolic mounds. Nothing could be more characteristic of these people, or within the means and power of being comprehended by the hunter-tribes, than these earth-formed pictographs. It is antiquity adding its voice to modern Indian history.

In ascending in the scale of earth-works, we first encounter the small Sciotic, or sacrificial mound (vide Vol. II., p. 51), which may be likened, for shape, to a small inverted blunt cone, or tea-cup. It is, in fact, a mound raised on an ancient altar, or hearth of clay, on which fire has been employed till the bed has become semi-baked. Articles offered in sacrifice on these altar-hearths, are often found partly calcined; as stone pipes, which have been ingeniously carved. When circumstances determined that this sacred hearth, which was only raised a few feet, should be abandoned and a new altar made, earth was heaped over it, giving the structure its peculiar appearance. None of these altar-mounds have been described which exceed a height of eighteen feet, with a base diameter of twenty-five.

The third species of tumulus, the propyla or redoubt-mound, is invariably placed opposite the opening left in ancient works for gates, or sally-ports. But do the tumuli, or mounds proper, or the square and oval, civic or platform-mounds, presuppose a species of skill, or an amount of labor, which was beyond the capacities of the semi-hunter state, or did they transcend the capacities of the corn-growing tribes? It is to be observed that both the largest ceremonial and sepulchral tumuli and civic mounds, are found in situations which had the heaviest population — such as the position of the Cahokia, the Grave Creek, and Monk mounds. Such were also the probable conditions attending the execution of the works at the mouth of the Muskingum, and in the valley of the Great and Little Miami, and the Scioto, in the Ohio regions, and of the large tumuli formerly existing along the banks of the Kaskaskia river of Illinois.

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AGE OF THE MOUNDS.

Could we determine the age of these works, one great object in their consideration would be attained. The opening of the great tumulus of Grave Creek, in western Virginia, in 1838, revealed the mode which brought structures of earth of this capacity within the means of the semi-industrial tribes. The cortical layers, counted in the mature and heavy forest trees, which covered the summit of this structure, denoted the period of its completion to have been at, or soon after, the close of the twelfth century (vide Am. Ethn. Trans., Vol. I.); but there was no proof elicited to contradict the impression that it had not been commenced centuries earlier. It was evident that the lowermost of the two ancient vaults discovered, was of vastly the most ancient era. It appeared conclusively, that the structure was the result of comparatively trivial sepulchral labors, during an immense period; one age and tribe having added to another the results of its easily accomplished and slowly accumulating toils. It appeared that a mound-like, natural hillock, had been selected as the place of the first interment. By the original surface-line of the sod, disclosed by the lower gallery, it was further shown that the first interment was in a vault some six feet below the sod-line, over which earth was heaped — probably by carrying it up in leather bags, from the surrounding plain. The personage interred — from his ornaments, and the attention bestowed in excavating a square vault, lined with timber and covered with stones — was a patriarch, or ruler of rank. Accumulations of irregular artificial strata of yellow and black sand, with carbonaceous appearances, and alkaline and acidulous properties, denoted the rise of the structure through the slow process of the incineration or natural decay of human bodies. Such was the great epoch devoted to these sepulchral labors, that the bones had undergone entire decay, and every osseous vestige submitted to decomposition and become blended with the earth.

It is an interesting question to determine how long human bones will lie in the soil, before submitting to entire and complete decomposition. I have seen no observations, American or European, on this subject. The Rev. J. M. Peck, of Illinois, remarks, in a recent MS. communication, that in examining the old French burial-grounds of the West, he has found every vestige decayed, at one hundred years. The period would be greatly affected by moisture and the geological and mineral constitution of the soil.

That the earth of this tumulus was highly charged with particles of animal matter, was shown in a remarkable manner, by the vaulted room which was excavated and fitted up as a local museum, at the end of the lower horizontal gallery formed by Mr. Tomlinson, in 1838. This vault, in a short period after it was roofed and finished, revealed the fact that the rains, falling on the surface and sides of the mound, served to precipitate these animal principles. Sinking through this antique mausoleum of earth for a maximum depth of sixty to seventy feet, each particle, on reaching the

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roof of the museum-vault below, came charged with a subtle white fluid, which, assuming tenuity at the point of contact with the atmospheric air, depended from the roof in white folds, which gave a truly sepulchral appearance to this vast, damp, and gloomy charnel-house. (Am. Eth. Trans., Vol. I.) A labor in the original construction of this tumulus, which was thus shared in, by the succeeding generations of a thousand years, and which had been gazed at for more than a century (since 1780), as too stupendous a task for savages to perform, thus lost, at once, its wonder as an antique monument. A similar process of accurate observation would doubtless disenchant other monuments of western aboriginal art, or forgotten labor.

It was, too, on the comparatively elevated and level summits of the Grave Creek flats, which present a mellow and fertile soil, that the natives had a suitable position for cultivating their favorite grain, the zea maize. The same remark may be made of the contiguity of the most fertile lands, at the sites of the principal western earthworks, in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio. By this means, the aboriginal population had a means of subsistence and fixity, which the mere labors of the chase fail to bestow.

In the discovery of an antique fort by Dr. John Lock, in 1838, on an elevation in Adams County, Ohio, the testimony, drawn from the cortical layers of trees found on it, denoted the 12th century as the period of its abandonment. In the antique garden-beds discovered in Michigan, in 1827, by markings in the surface of the soil, bearing detached trees, (Vide Vol. I., p. 54), the date of the abandonment of the peculiar species of cultivation is denoted by the same kind of testimony to have been 1502 — being ten years after the discovery of St. Domingo by Columbus — a period too early for any known or acknowledged European labor in that quarter — Virginia not having been discovered until eighty-two years later. Nor could these beds be attributed to stragglers from the expedition of Narvaez and De Soto, since these were of largely subsequent dates; i.e., 1527-1540.

The oldest inscription in America, other than the muzzin-abiks or rock-pictographs of the Indians, is one discovered in Onondaga County, New York, bearing the date of 1520; — an inscription, manifestly sepulchral, which appears to have been due to gold and silver hunters who accompanied the ill-fated and chivalrous De Leon, (Vide Notes on Iroquois). But there are no indicia of this kind respecting the mound-period.

With regard to the platform mounds, it is the recorded tradition of the Muscogees and Appalachian tribes, that these were public works, laid out on the selection of a new site for a town, and engaged in immediately by the whole tribe, to serve as the official seat for their chief ruler, (Pickett's Hist. Alabama). But little absolute art was required to build a tumulus — a raised teocalli platform or earth wall, such as that of Circleville, Ohio. The actual place in the heavens of the rising and setting of the sun, without marking its solstitial changes, was sufficient to guide the native builder in determining, with general exactitude, the cardinal points. There is no evidence of

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any instrumental laying out and surveying of a plan, such as the use of a compass presupposes — the only fragment of this instrument ever discovered in American antiquities being one of the period of European occupancy, which was found with the remains of Gallic colonization, in Onondaga County, New York, of the date of about 1655 to 1666. This relic of an unsuccessful effort to plant a mission, is figured in Vol. II., Plate 51, along with a small brass pocket-compass box, and a horse-shoe of the heavy, inartificial Canadian pattern; all of which belong to the same period, (Notes on the Iroquois). For the earliest notice of this intrusive element of European civilization, we are indebted to the philosophic ardor of the late De Witt Clinton, (Vide Trans, of Lit. and Philos. Soc. of New York). Charlevoix gives the date of the settlement of the colony in Onondaga to be 1656, (Hist. New France). The date of the antiquities of the Mississippi valley, as before denoted, is centuries anterior to this.

EPOCH OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN TUMULI.

A new period of geographical and antiquarian discovery followed almost immediately the conclusion of the definitive treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States. This event gave scope for the spirit of geographical and commercial enterprise which had been constantly pushing from the Atlantic shores westward. The initial point of settlement, consequent on this treaty, was Marietta, at the mouth of the Muskingum. Accounts of these antiquities were first published by Dr. Manasseh Cutler and the Rev. Thaddeus M. Harris, with diagrams of the antique works drawn by Gen. Rufus Putnam, made immediately after the settlement of the town. These accounts and reports of the country having been peopled at an anterior period, and of the ruins of ancient occupancy being now overrun by the forest, created a strong sensation at a time when antiquities had not at all been studied in the United States.

It was found, as the country settled, that not only at Marietta, but in the valleys of the Miami, Scioto, Grave Creek, and various other places, there existed the most unmistakeable evidence of such ancient and abandoned occupancy, which immediately became the fruitful theme of speculation. From 1788, the date of the settlement of Marietta, to 1820, a period of great enterprise in extending the settlements of the West, this theme was under continual popular discussion, and found its way into the evanescent publications of the day. One of the most remarkable of these discoveries of the mound-period in Ohio, was made by opening a small tumulus at Marietta, in the month of June, 1819, by Dr. S. P. Hildreth of that town. This mound was estimated originally to have been about ten feet high, and thirty in circumference. Standing in one of the streets of the town, it was completely removed. It turned out to be the tumulus of a single person, whose skeleton denoted a height of about six

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feet. With the remains were found the exterior silver ornaments of a sword-belt, its silver bosses, and a plummet of copper and silver, which are described and figured in the Trans, of Am. Antiq. Soc. Vol. I., p. 168. This discovery, which is not, however, conclusive of the era of the Marietta works, appears to throw light on their history. Its discovery has all the necessary character of authenticity which is imparted by the scientific experience and moral standing of the person who announces it. These indications of an intrusive civilization in the Ohio valley, were further sustained by observing what purports to be the ruins of a covered way leading from the elevated platform to the Muskingum river — an unique discovery, conclusively denoting more purpose and foresight than is to be observed of the pure Indian epoch in other places.

In 1820, C. Atwater, Esq., published a description of all the antiquarian remains of the West then known, (Vol. I., Arch×. Am.) The same facts in our western archaeology were reproduced in 1848, with new plates and surveys of the ancient works by the Smithsonian Institution, together with such additional discoveries as had been made up to that period, (Vol. I., Smith. Cont. to Know.) By this work our means of accurate knowledge of the facts is considerably advanced. The old theory of Mr. Atwater and the first observers is, however, adhered to; namely, that these works are due to a people of higher civilization than the ancestors of the existing aboriginal race. This theory invites more scrutiny than it has received. It must be borne in mind that the Toltec, the Aztec, the Peruvian, and even the Yucatan state of art and civilization was infinitely superior to any grade of art which can be affirmed of the earth-works of the Mississippi valley; and that the tendency of Indian emigration has been shown, by the transfer of tropical fruits and plants, (as the zea maize, and cotton and tobacco plants,) to have been from the region of Central America, where Coxcox first landed (Vide Boturini), towards, and into the temperate and northern latitudes.

To meet the theory of transferred Indian civilization, the remains of military occupancy were, at an early day, attributed to De Soto. This idea was communicated, by Dr. N. Webster, the lexicographer, in 1789, in a series of essays, to Mathew Carey of Philadelphia, for the pages of his American Museum, (Am. Mus. for 1789,1790). It is shown in preceding observations, (Vide Vol. III., Plate 44,) and by the accompanying record of personal observations made in 1818 and 1819, Title VII., that this discoverer did not reach further north, along the east banks of the Mississippi, than "Chicaza" — the upper Chickasaw bluffs, in the present State of Tennessee. These lie in north latitude about 35°. After crossing the Mississippi at that point, his utmost marches toward the north terminated at a place called Coligoa by his narrators. This place must be assigned to the mineral tract of country on the sources of the river St. Francis, in Missouri, visited by me in 1819, (Vide my Lead Mines). Coligoa (the St. Michael of the era of Crozat) is a few minutes south of latitude 37°. It is impossible that any of the remains of earth-works commented on by Dr. Webster, could have had their origin in the period of De Soto's exploration. The striking remains of earth-works in

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the Ohio valley lie several hundred miles north of the utmost points reached by the Spanish adventurer. Besides which it is known, from the journal of De la Vega, that he never permanently fortified, and then but slightly, a single place but that of Auti-anqua his picketed camp, on the north banks of the Arkansas, where he sojourned during the winter of 1542. This was the western terminus of his expedition.

The speculations of Dr. Webster in the Am. Mus. chanced to meet the eye of Gen. George Rogers Clark, which brought a new observer in the field. This celebrated and extraordinary military western partizan commander, who had traversed the region under the orders of Virginia, had with the energies of a Hannibal achieved the conquest of the Illinois country in two campaigns, during the latter period of the American Revolution. Gen. Clark was a man extensively acquainted with western geography as well as with the Indian manners and customs. He believed, from the inspection of these remains of embankments, redoubts, and mounds of earth, that they were due to the predecessors of the present race of Indians, or of men of similar language, manners, customs, and arts.

In a manuscript memoir, communicated to me by Lyman Draper, Esq., of Wisconsin, one of the literary associates of Gen. G. R. Clark, this early and competent observer expresses himself fully on this topic.

"I have," says he, addressing the editor of the magazine, Mr. Carey, in a manuscript memoir now before me, never published, "somewhere in your Museum read a long account of the march of De Soto through these countries. He is brought to Lexington, taken to the mouth of the Muskingum across to the Missouri, &c, fortifying the country he passed through, and all those immense works are ascribed to him. I think the world ought to be undeceived on this point. So great a stranger to the western country as Mr. Webster appears to be, ought to have informed himself better before he ventured to palm his conjectures on the world.

I don't suppose there is a person living who has actually had the chance of knowing from personal observation, the geography and natural history of the back country better, if so well, as I do myself; it having been my study for many years. I have made the calculation, and venture to inform you that if there were paved roads from each of those fortifications to the other, throughout the western country, De Soto could not have visited the whole of those works with his army in four years, allowing him the common season for marching. Those works are numerous in every part of the western country, but more so in the Pittsburg Country (or Ohio valley) than elsewhere. There you will find them on high mountains; they are larger as you descend towards the Mississippi. There is not a place on the Ohio that we have attempted to fortify, from Pitt down, but we find ancient works. De Soto might have been on the Ohio, but no vestiges remain to prove it. As for his being the author of those fortifications, it is quite out of the question. They are more numerous than he had men; and many of them would have required fifty thousand men for their occupancy. Some

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of them have been fortified towns, others encampments entrenched; but the greater part have been common garrisoned forts, many of them with towers of earth of considerable height, to defend the walls with arrows and other missile weapons.

That the people had commerce is evident, because the mouth of every river has been fortified; where the land was subject to floods, it has been raised out of the way of water. That they were a numerous people is also evident, not only from their many works, but also their habitations being raised in low lands. I had frequently observed, scattered in what we call the low country on the Ohio, little mounds that I took to be graves, such as Mr. Jefferson describes (Notes on Virginia), which are frequent all over this country, but could not comprehend them. What could induce the people to bring their dead several miles from the high into the low lands for burial?

In the spring of 1780, I lay encamped with a force a considerable time near the mouth of the Ohio. I was extremely anxious to find some high ground near the point of junction. I had every acre of the country for several miles explored, but found the whole region subject to inundation, and was about to leave, when a man came running into camp almost out of breath, and with joy informed me that he had found a spot of high land not far from that locality, and which they had not before noticed. Pleased with the information, I went to the place, and to my astonishment found the foundation of a town raised in that low country. The few stones that lay scattered we could easily discover had come from a quarry up the Mississippi. This plat was in the shape of an L, with the angle pointing up the Mississippi, and might have contained about forty huts. I viewed this with great pleasure; although of no other use to me at this time, it explained to me the cause of the little mounds I had observed in the low country, and informed me that the whole of this country had been too populous; that good land was scarce, and that they raised habitations throughout these low countries, and for the convenience of commerce or some other cause, they had raised the foundation at the point sufficiently large to answer their purpose. I say the point, because I make no doubt but that it was very near it, when built; although at a very considerable distance at present, as the rivers have left it. I neglected at the time noticing which river it probably was on, as I make no doubt it was on the bank of one or the other. I rather think it was the Mississippi, as the land on that river is higher than that of the Ohio in those parts.

That they had great armies in the field is evident; the fortified lines in different parts would have required immense armies to man them. One in the Choctaw country is several miles in length — the one Mr. Carver mentions (Carv. Trav.), and many others in different directions, but at considerable distances from each other.

That important passes were attended to by them is evident, because they are fortified. Thousands of men have passed the Cumberland Gap, and perhaps but few observers have taken notice of the curiosity there. The gap is very narrow, and what is generally viewed as a little hill that nearly fills up the gap, is an ancient fortress for the

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defence of the place — a fine spring breaking out within a few yards of it. That they made use of wells is evident, because they yet appear, in many places, as little basins by the earth washing in. The one in the ancient fortress at Louisville, was filled up by Captain Patten, who made use of part of the old wall for that purpose.

Covered ways to water are common; causeways across marshes frequent. The high road across Little Grave Creek did, and, I suppose, still passes over an ancient causeway, made of sand and gravel, across a marsh.

The Indian traditions give an account of these works. They say they were the works of their forefathers; that they were as numerous as the trees in the wood; that they affronted the Great Spirit, and he made them kill one another. The works on the Mississippi near the Caw river (Kaskaskia) are among the largest we know of. The Kaskaskia chief, Baptist Ducoign, gave me a history of this. He said that was the palace of his forefathers, when they covered the whole (country) and had large towns; that all those works we saw there, were the fortifications round the town, which must have been very considerable; that the smaller works we (saw) so far within the larger, comprehended the real palace; that the little mountain we there saw flung up with a basin on top, was a tower that contained part of the guard belonging to the prince, as from the top of that height, they could defend the king's house with their arrows, &c.

I had somewhere seen some ancient account of the town of Kaskaskia, formerly containing ten thousand persons. There is not one of that nation, at present, known by that name. Being frequently at that place, and recollecting this story, I one day set out, with a party of gentlemen, to see whether we could discover signs of such a population. We easily and evidently traced the town for upwards of five miles in the beautiful plain below the present town of Kahokia. There could be no deception here, because the remains of ancient works were thick — the whole were mounds, &c. Nature never formed a more beautiful (scene) than this; several leagues in length, and about four miles in breadth, from the river to the high land, and but few trees or shrubs to be seen. This town appears to have occupied that part nearest the river, but not on it, as there is a strip of lower land. Fronting nearly the centre of this town on the heights, is a pinnacle called the Sugar (Loaf), from its figure. It is frequently visited by strangers as a mere curiosity. My visit, perhaps, was from a different motive. I was not disappointed. I at once saw that it was a hill, shaped by a small brook breaking through the (larger) hill, till it had formed a very narrow ridge. This had been cut across, and the point shaped in the form of a sugar-loaf, perhaps to place an idol or a temple on, as it could not be more conspicuous. It is of very considerable height, and you are obliged to wind round it to ascend on horseback.

I think the world is to blame to express such great anxiety to know who it was that built those numerous and formidable works, and what hath become of that people. They will find them in the Kaskaskias, Peorias, Kahokias (now extinct), Piankashaws,

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Chickasaws, Cherokees, and such old nations, who say they grew out of the ground where they now live, and that they were formerly as numerous as the trees in the woods; but affronting the Great Spirit, he made war among the nations, and they destroyed each other. This is their tradition, and I see no good reason why it should not be received as good history — at least as good as a great part of ours.

At what time this great revolution should have happened, which certainly hath taken place in this quarter, I never could get any satisfactory answer, only that it had been the case, as it is beyond their calculation of time. But I am convinced that it was anterior to five hundred years, and I don't think it difficult to make a tolerably satisfactory conjecture of the time, at least, within a few ages. It may appear strange how it should be possible to discover this, but so it is." [MSS. G. R. C.]

INDIAN TRADITIONS ON THE TOPIC.

These observations of General Clark terminate as a fragment. They do not appear to have been transmitted to the editor of the Museum, at Philadelphia — at least, they are not found in its published numbers; and we have inserted them from the manuscript transmitted as above stated. Baptiste Ducaign, who is particularly referred to for this tradition, was a Kaskaskia chief of intelligence and note, living on the Kaskaskia river, in Illinois, during the latter part of the eighteenth century. This is not the only Indian tradition giving an account of these antiquarian monuments of a bygone era, which have elicited so much remark. The traditions of the ancient tribe of the Lenni Lenape, recorded by Mr. Heckewelder, in 1819, distinctly refer to a general war with more southerly and westerly nations, against whom this once warlike and powerful tribe was engaged, in close alliance with the Iroquois. (Trans. Amer. Hist., and Lit. Com. Am. Philos. Society, Vol. I., p. 30, Philadelphia, 1819.) They are called by him, Alligewi — a name, in the traditionary sounds of which he concurs with Col. Gibson, mentioned in Jefferson's Notes, an early resident of Pittsburgh, and a dealer with the Indians in the upper parts of the Ohio valley, who spoke several of the Indian languages. Heckewelder says that they were a remarkably tall and athletic people; and that they embraced persons of gigantic growth compared to the Lenape. They had built regular "fortifications and entrenchments," many of which he had seen, and two of which he describes. One of these was located near the mouth of the river Huron (now called Clinton river), Michigan, which empties itself into the north side of Lake St. Clair, about twenty miles from Detroit. In the year 1786, when this discovery was made, the ground was owned and occupied by a Mr. Tucker. The other work referred to, was seated on the south banks of Lake Erie,

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east of Sandusky bay, and on the river Huron, of Ohio, about six or eight miles from the open shores of Lake Erie. It consisted of two proper entrenchments, or walls and banks of earth, regularly formed, with an outer ditch. These entrenchments were a mile apart. Outside of the gateways, or sally-ports, of each wall, were a number of "large, flat mounds," which his Indian guide affirmed contained the bones of hundreds of the slain Alligewi. (Trans. His. and Lit. Com. Am. Ph. Soc. p. 30.)

Tradition has further preserved the name of this ancient tribe, or confederacy of mound-builders, under the name of Allegans (see map to Colden's Hist. Five Nations, 2d ed., London, 1750), a word which, with terminations of ×ny, is incorporated into the list of names of our geography, in the terms bestowed on the Alleghany Mountains, and the Alleghany River. (Consult, also, for this tribe, Notes on the Iroquois, p. 305, Albany, N. Y., 1847.)

This account of a western Indian confederacy, is countenanced in that curious publication of the ancient Iroquois traditions, issued in 1825, by David Cusic. This native archaeologist has been above adverted to; the chronology and dynastic terms of his pamphlet are believed to be conjectural, or faulty. He refers to the ancient period of the mounds and fortifications of the West, as the works of ancient southern and western tribes, who had penetrated and occupied the country nearly to the banks of Lake Erie. To these, agreeably to him, the northern tribes, who were more skilful in the use of bows and arrows, opposed themselves. After long and bloody wars, which are conjectured to have lasted centuries, the Algonco-Iroquois confederacy of tribes prevailed. The towns and forts in the Mississippi valley fell before these ancient conquering tribes, and the works were totally destroyed, and left in heaps of ruins. (Cusic's Sketches of the Ancient History of the Six Nations, p. 13.)

Seneca tradition, as related on the authority of the Indians, by De Witt Clinton, (Vide New York Hist. Collections, Vol. II., p. 37), and Cherokee tradition, as stated on like authority, at a subsequent era, to Mr. J. C. Calhoun (Notes on the Iroquois, p. 161), denote an ancient and bitter feud of a most inveterate kind, and long standing, between the southern and northern tribes. That the ancestors of the Iroquois had been parties in this ancient war against the southern intruders, or Alleghans, may be inferred. Remarks affirmative of this ancient warfare, are made by Gov. Clinton, in his historical discourse. (N. Y. Hist. Col., Vol. II., p. 63.)

The epoch of these old and general native wars, so obscurely yet certainly pointed to, is deducible chiefly from the state of the arch×ological vestiges. The cortical annular layers in the growth of large and mature trees, occupying the walls and interior areas of the abandoned works, tell a tale, of which we must judge from tumuli, and fortified camps and towns. These data indicate parts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as the active period of tumult among the Mississippi valley tribes. A great diminution of the Indian population may be admitted to have been one of the consequences of such furious sanguinary wars. These wars form a crisis in their history, which may

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be conjectured to have produced great changes of location, and great subdivisions of tribes, clans, languages, and habits. Preliminary or directly causative of these wars and divisions, we may recognise the disturbance created in our Indian history by the Toltecan movement. To determine the state of art, and consequently the state of semi-civilization (which is contended for), of the ancient inhabitants in the Mississippi valley, and of the mound period, of which these vestiges are the only history left, we must draw the chronology employed from the remains themselves. The distaff is one of the oldest evidences of human civilization. This art appears in the very dawn of Grecian history, and it is intimately interwoven in the descriptions of the various phases of art down to the modern days of Arkwright, and a Watts and Bolton. The spinning and weaving by machinery marked an era. The substitutes for the distaff, in the cotton-growing latitudes of Mexico and South America, as is clearly shown by Mr. Ewbank, in the papers on ancient Indian art herewith published, (vide Title X.), was effected by a simple movement resembling the top, or tee-to-tum, whirled in a bowl. From the thread thus obtained, a species of weaving was effected by the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians. This is traced, in the diffusion of the art, as far north as the Rio Gila. (Vide Cabe×a de Vaca.) The tribes of the Mississippi valley had not the cotton plant, even so late as De Soto's day (1542). They employed the fibre of certain plants of the hemp species, or of the inner macerated bark of certain trees, for garments. These, by a toilsome manipulation of the females, were woven into tilmas and mantles by a kind of hand-loom, such as is still in use by the descendants of these tribes (vide Vol. II., Plate 77, Fig. 8), and into bags and mats. The hand-weaving of nets, from rushes and twine of a native make, is another art of probably early use. After the introduction of woollen goods, the Indian females of North America used a woof of the yarn of unravelled cloth, together with a native warp, of vegetable material, which greatly complicates the fabric. It is believed the samples taken from a mound in the West, exhibited by Mr. Foster, in 1851, at a meeting of the American Association for promoting Science, were of this species; and consequently, these indices are of suggestive importance.

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How little improvement has marked the rude native mode of spinning and weaving, as thus described, is shown, by examining modern specimens of native production, in the same type of art. The common coarse mushkemoot of the Algonquins and of the Dacotahs of the Upper Mississippi, at this day, consists of a mixed fabric of vegetable fibre and of wool, produced by unravelling old cloth of European or American fabric. In articles designed by these tribes for ornament in hunter-life, such as shot and tobacco-pouches, small porcelain beads, white or colored, of European make, are introduced into the texture. It is in this respect alone, that the modern Indian hand-weaving of the "Mississippi valley" tribes of the present era, excels the ancient fabrics.

Does the state of their metallurgy indicate a higher skill? Soldering is an art unknown to the Mississippi valley mound-builders. All the antique bracelets of copper disinterred from these mounds, which have been examined, are merely bent slips of the metal, hammered out, and brought into contact without interfusion. If it be meant to unite the opposite ends of a piece of metal, which has been bent to form a circle, as a ring or bracelet, it requires a composition of some of the semi-metals, under the force of the blow-pipe, to produce union. This is a primary point of the smith's knowledge. It is an ancient art — so ancient, indeed, that Winckleman, in his Century of Inventions, does not fix it. Nothing of this kind — no evidence, indeed, that the blow-pipe was known at all to the Western mound-builders, has been disclosed. In the five bracelets of native copper found in 1838, in the inferior vault of the large Celtiberic tumuli of western Virginia, (Vide Plate 31, Title III., Vol. I.), no traces of this art were appreciable. No bracelets or other objects of metal have, indeed, been discovered in the numerous mounds of the Ohio or Mississippi valleys, which denote the existence of this art.

The proofs derived from pottery are very indicative of aboriginal periods. The potter's art is very ancient. It is mentioned in Job, which is generally thought by commentators (Vide Barnes' Notes on Job) to be the oldest book of the Pentateuch. The potter's wheel is distinctly referred to by Isaiah and Ezekiel. By the mechanical principle of this invention, a mass of plastic clay, placed on a whirling disc of wood, is, by the centrifugal force given by a crank and foot-lathe, impelled from its centre to its circumference, where being met by the hand, or with a simple former or stick, the humid clay rises, assuming such shape as art may design to give it. There is no evidence whatever that this wheel was used in America at the period of its discovery. All the Mexican and Peruvian pottery examined, is found to have been formed by a species of handicraft, without machinery. It exhibits no stri× to denote the centrifugal force, and it is without exactitude of diameter. Least of all, are these requisites present in the Mississippi pottery. This article is found, in every instance, to be unglazed. The aborigines knew nothing of the vitric art. We have examined

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specimens from the Gila (Plate 20, Vol. III.); from the sea-coast mounds of Florida (Plate 45, Vol. III.); and from the valley of the river St. Mary's, Michigan, connecting lakes Huron and Superior (Plate 22, Vol. I.); without detecting, by the closest scrutiny, a vitreous surface at all. Nor has it been observed, in very numerous instances, in the inspection of fragments of pottery taken from the sites of old Indian villages in the Southern, Western, and New England States.

The area covered by relics of the Indian pottery in the United States, is very extensive. Fragments of this aboriginal pottery, taken from the valleys of the Merrimack, the Connecticut, the Hudson, Delaware, Susquehannah, the Congaree, Savannah, and Alabama, are nearly identical in their composition and mechanical texture; and it is such as also agrees with the vases and fragments from old sites of Indian earth-works and occupation, in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. This antique pottery is a very coarse and peculiar species of terra-cotta; it admitted, from its coarse texture, the application of sudden heat. The tendency of the aluminous material of common clay to shrink and crack, is counteracted by silicious granitical particles, or by finely pulverized shells. The ancient akeek, or hominy-pot, of all the tribes east and west of the Alleghanies, was generally used like the sand-bath in operative chemistry. It was set in a bed of coals or ashes; it could be suspended, when used to cook fish, by a tripod, with bark strings, as figured in Plate 22, Title III., Vol. I.

In Florida, and the southern States, vases and porringers were made from the same coarse materials. Human figures were sometimes moulded from the plastic mass, of which Dr. Troost has exhibited antique specimens, found in caves or mounds in the State of Tennessee, which are thought by him to indicate the transference to this hemisphere of the phallic worship of India. (Trans. Am. Eth. Soc. Vol. I., p. 355.) Mr. C. Atwater has given a figure of a triune vessel of clay, found four feet under ground, at Caney fork, in the valley of the Cumberland river, Tennessee. (Arch. Amer., Vol. I., p. 238.) Are any of these specimens of art superior to the state of the potter's art possessed by the ancestors of the American aboriginal tribes? It is believed they are not.

PIPE SCULPTURE.

Another proof of the ancient state of art of the tribes of the United States, arises from the study of the enamels, wrought shells, and pipes, both sculptured and earthenware. Of the latter, it is manifest the well-made ornamented pipes of baked clay, attributed to the skill of the United States families of Indians, such as are drawn in Plate 8, Figures 1, 5, 6, Title III., Vol. I., were not, in any instance, due to these tribes. They were manufactured in Europe for the Indian trade. Beads, enamelled and plain, were also freely exported for this trade. At the beginning of the

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sixteenth century, Holland, France, Germany, and England, had made great advances in the arts of making glass, glass enamels, and fabrics of beads and amulets of every kind. These articles evince the application of the vitric art to the species of mixed articles, intermediate in their character between glass and enamels of earths and metallic oxides. These were precisely the articles which they freely exported to America in those early ages, to be sold to the Indians, and which are brought to light in the Indian graves of the era. These glassy and semi-vitric articles were generally highly colored, sometimes striped and mottled, to suit the tastes of the natives. Fabrics of this nature are also found in the tumuli of the period of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Such are the articles noticed on Plate 24, Figs. 7 to 13, Inf., Vol. I., Title III. These relics were first brought to light by discoveries in western New York, in 1817. (Vide Lead Mines of Missouri, 1819.)

The sculpture of pipes from stones and various brittle species of mineralogy, was, however, an ancient and truly Indian art, as is most completely shown by all ages of Indian sepulture, and particularly by those of the mound epoch. It is a mistake to suppose that the pipe-sculptures of the Scioto valley — the ancient capital of Indian power in the Ohio valley — evinces a state of art superior to the general aboriginal type. Mr. Squier (vide Monuments of the Mississippi Valley), who advances this idea, deceives himself if he imagines these offerings from the altar-mounds of that valley denote a higher state of art than the Toltecan or Aztec era, the state of pipe-carving of the old Allegan tribes, or even that of some of the United States Indians of the present day.

From the earliest date, a character of sacredness has been attached, by the American tribes, to the incineration of tobacco; an article which has been in use as an acceptable gift to the deity. It was supposed by them to be the most desirable of all offerings to the Great Spirit; and it entered largely into their ceremonial rites and social pleasures. The art of sculpture, with them, was concentrated on this single branch —namely, making of pipe-bowls. These were wrought, usually, from steatites, serpentines, shales, soft tertiary red stones, or other fissile indurated minerals. Even fossil coal has been found as the material. The object of art was to conceal the chief design of using it as a smoking apparatus, under some animated form, as a lizard, frog, bird, or quadruped, which was sculptured often with considerable spirit and justness of proportions.

It has been previously remarked, that this Indian pipe-sculpture exhibited the highest degree of art reached by the aboriginal chisel. (Vol. I., Title III., p. 74.) A fine specimen of it is shown in a mass of hard, white, compact carbonate of lime, representing the common lizard of these latitudes. (Vol. I., Title III., Plate 9, Fig. 2.) The original was obtained from an antique grave in the straits of St. Mary, Michigan. A specimen of proficiency in the art is shown in a variety of mottled steatite from Western Virginia (Vol. I., Title III, Plate 8, Fig. 4). Another is exhibited

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in a very fine specimen of translucent green serpentine, obtained from Onondaga, New York, the ancient area of the Iroquois occupancy, in Vol. I., Title III, Plate 9, Fig. 4. In Plate 13, Figs. 1, 2, 3, Vol. I., Title III., an idol, eleven inches in height, one of their local deities, wrought from a slab of neutral-colored sandstone, is disguised under the form of a smoking-pipe. A similar idol of stone was disinterred, several years ago, on opening a tumulus at Nashville, Tennessee. (Archse. Amer., Vol. I., p. 210.) Of analogous structure was a rude idol of stone, nineteen inches high, which was disinterred at Natchez, Mississippi. This is figured by Mr. C. Atwater, at p. 215, Archse. Amer., Vol. I. The birds of prey and reptiles, chiselled chiefly from sandstone, found buried in the small altar-mounds in the Scioto valley, constitute a feature in this forest-sculpture which is not at all at variance with other evidences of the sort, from the hunter age of America. They evince, indeed, the first rude awakening of artistic skill in sculpture in the hunter-state. That they should have been considered as affording evidence of a phasis of society at all above that of the ancestors of the existing tribes, before these were known to Europeans, is the only surprising fact connected with the publication of the paper above adverted to. (Vide Smithsonian Cont. to Knowledge, Vol. I.)

The discovery and settlement of America operated most directly, as has been indicated, to destroy the incipient grades of Indian art, by offering the tribes, at all points where commerce was established, better fabrics, as blankets and woollens, in exchange for skins. Europeans gave them iron and brass for the rude clay pots; steel for wooden traps; gunpowder and the rifle and gun for bows and arrows; fire-steels and flints for the painful process of percussion; the White-chapel, for the bone needle; the steel awl for the aishkun or tip of the deer's horn; and, in fine, a style of arts so superior to all the aboriginal modes of meeting the common wants of life, that the latter fell into disuse as soon as the European fabrics could be obtained.

These were practical things which the Indians could comprehend. Even the boasted knowledge of the Mexicans and Peruvians fell before the introduction of European art, and could the confessedly inferior type of the Mississippi Valley Indians withstand it? The very impulse and cause of the Iroquois supremacy is asserted to have arisen from the introduction of the gun; while the use of iron implements, instead of stone and bone, at once swept every Indian contrivance for these purposes into disuse.

So rapid was the decline of Indian art, that pottery such as the Indians made, which was in general use by them in the 15th century, sunk in fifty years into the class of antiquities.

The only art that withstood this shock of the introduction of European skill, was the pipe-sculpture; the "Western Indians had several quarries of suitable material for this

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purpose. One of the most remarkable of these was the locality of red, compact stone, east of the Missouri, at the eminence which is called Coteau des Prairie, in Minnesota. This stone consists of indurated aluminous strata colored with red oxide of iron, which is in a high degree fissile and gritless; it was, if we may judge by sepulchral specimens of the pipe, one of the earliest localities of the material known to the Indians. This clay constituted an object of traffic with the tribes, as is indicated by the graves and tumuli, from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. Their skill in working this substance, and decorating the pipe-bowls with images of men, reptiles, &c, is denoted in Vol. I., Title III., Plates 49, 70, 71. Tribes seated on the sources of the Mississippi — on the summits of the Rocky Mountains — in the plains of Oregon, and other remote districts, have retained this art, together with the sister arts of hunter-life; of making bows, arrows, clubs, barbs for fishing, and the old monoxylas or wooden light betula canoe. (Information, Vol. I., p. 76. Vol. II., Plates 72, 73, 74, 76. Vol. III., Plates 34, 35.)

ANTIQUE COPPER-MINING.

There is another topic of much interest in Indian art, which has been thrown into this discussion of late years, by the discovery of extensive copper-mines of an antique period, in the basin of Lake Superior. Having been employed by the United States government in 1820, to explore that region in reference to its mineral wealth and probable national value, and having subsequently resided for nearly twenty years in that general area, my attention has been drawn strongly to the subject. Prior to 1844, the discovery of some heavy implements of hammered copper in St. Mary's valley, and the visible indications of ancient works near the falls of the Ontonagon river, constituted almost the only proofs, that the manifest affluence of the region in this metal, had been the object of mining operations; but it was never conjectured that any labor of much note had been attempted by the aborigines. Judging them by their descendants now living, they did not seem capable of having attempted, far less executed, these ancient works. These indications have since been more fully and elaborately examined. The extraordinary fact that the veins of trap-rock of that region contained metallic copper, is no longer novel to geology. As little so is the fact that these veins, which exhibit extensive lines of geologic development, at or near the surface, have been the object of mining at a former period. In a paper on this subject, from Colonel Whittlesey (Vol. I., Title III.), the evidences of this period of ancient mining have been described. The question is one of startling and phenomenal interest in our antiquities. It would seem, on first view, that the ancestors of the Indian race could not have executed these ancient works. Yet, aboriginal skill, industry, and energy, were adequate to all the architectural, mechanical, and mining labors of Mexico and Peru — labors, which, without mystery, were ascribed to the aborigines. Must we

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require foreign art to account for a far inferior style of art, combination, and energy here? Were not the stone forts of Tlascalla, the Pyramids of Cholula and Astalan, the city of Mexico itself, and the Temple of the Sun, superior efforts to the series of works at Marietta, on the Cahokia, the Licking, the Scioto and the Miami, and the ancient mining labors of the basin of Lake Superior?

When the latter are examined, it is found that they do not exhibit evidences of high art. The chief agent in disintegrating and working the trap-rock, appears to have the alternate application of fire and water. When the denuded rock had been calcined and water applied, mauls of hard stone, held by a weight in the centre, were applied to beat off the partially calcined rock. Numbers of these ancient mauls are disclosed at the mines, together with wedges of stone and copper. To descend into shafts, the trunks of trees, clipped of their limbs, were let down. The remains of levers of wood, which were used to pry up masses of metal, are found. Earth has filled these ancient trenches and galleries, which latter are in all cases open to the surface. Upon these works, trees have grown since the period of their abandonment. It is only, it would seem, necessary to allow ages to have passed, instead of brief periods, to take from these old works all their wonder.

It is impossible to contemplate any fixed state of arts and industry without supposing a commerce. And this was the apparent cause of the ancient diggings. The country and climate were adverse to agriculture, and it could not sustain great numbers of miners at one time. Those who worked the mines were, therefore, periodical laborers. That the products were scattered widely by traffic, from the fall of St. Mary, is denoted by the examination of the tumuli and graves, from New England to the Mississippi, in which articles of copper are found. The mode of Indian traffic is from tribe to tribe. In this way long voyages and risks are avoided, and the products of different latitudes supplied. Some of this copper was probably sent not only over the area of ancient Florida, but found its way out of the mouth of the Mississippi. In return, the Mississippi valley tribes received the green translucent serpentine, used for pipes, and obsidian, for knives, from Mexico, together with ornamented shells and silvery mica from the West Indian Islands, and other foreign objects which have been found among the antiquities of this valley. The shells and serpentine have been traced as far north as Onondaga in New York, and Beverly in Canada West. (Vol. I., Title III.)

ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS AND MOUNDS.

But it may be enquired, had the ancestors of the present race of Indians skill to erect the fortifications and earth-works which are scattered through the Mississippi valley? An antiquarian writer, who lived in Ohio, where these works have always commanded great interest, writing in 1820, discredits the particular fact of the military character of most of these works, as well as their actual number. "First

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then," observes Mr. Atwater, "as to the immense number of military works; they are not here. The lines of forts, if forts they were, commencing near Cattaraugus Creek, New York; those at Newark, at Circleville, on Paint Creek; one on the Miami, and one opposite Portsmouth — have been described. And I by no means believe that even all these were real forts. Between the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghanies, the Northern lakes and the Mexican Gulf, it may be possible that there were, originally, about twenty forts to defend a country nearly as large as Europe, and these were, probably, two thousand years in building, situated, too, in a thickly-settled country. By assuming facts existing only in the writer's imagination, how easily we can prove whatever we please!" (Arch×. Amer., Vol. I., p. 207.) Mr. Atwater, who was, however, but meeting the arguments of a speculative writer on the western antiquities, asserted fundamental truths of higher value than other portions of his articles imply. He was a believer in these earth-works, however overrated by the popular mind, being archaeological evidences of a dense occupancy of the Mississippi valley, by a people of superior civilization and of another race, anterior to, and different from, the ancestors of the Indians.

In a preceding part of these sketches, Gen. Clark has discussed this question well. The extensive personal knowledge of this gentleman of these western antiquities; of the manners and customs of the aborigines; of Indian defensive works, and of military science generally, in which latter he so much distinguished himself, give great weight to his opinions. He deems these encampments, ditches, and lines of defence, to be due entirely to the ancestors of the present race of Indians. In favor of this conclusion he adduces the additional testimony of Indian tradition. Sixty years have passed since his examinations were made. The Mississippi valley, which was, at that era, a vast and sublime wilderness, has since been filled with a civilized population of the Anglo-Saxon and the various Celtic races of Europe. By the seventh census of the United States, just issued, there have been established in this interval, thirteen new states and territories, containing 8,000,270 souls. (Vol. II., p. 607.) The labors of agriculture have obliterated many of the earth-works, and made it more difficult to form a judgment of their extent and character. We have, ourselves, within a period commencing in 1812, viewed many of these earth-works and tumuli, with a common feeling of the vague and unknown, which whispers to the mind of the beholder, as he glances at their enigmatical character, and then at the untutored Indian beside them, in tones of mystery and wonder. The impressions left are, that they cannot be ascribed to a people of high civilization. No people possessing any high degree of art and knowledge would have constructed such inartificial and eccentric works, which are incapable of enduring a siege. Entire towns were often embraced in lines of defence, together with the tumuli.

But their defence became unnecessary in the progress of their history, long before the European era. It was no longer necessary to protect towns by stockaded walls,

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when the power that erected them was destroyed, and when they ceased to be threatened with attacks. Spain, France, Holland, Sweden, and England, who successively wielded power in America, exerted themselves to convince the Indians of the folly and madness of their hostilities, and to keep them at peace with each other.

MOUNDS DILUVIAL.

With respect to the mounds, a single remark may be added, which appears to me to have pertinency. That many of these mounds were made by human labor, is unquestionable; but it is also past a doubt that many of them are of geological origin. One of the most perfect and regular of these structures in form and shape, is that of Mount Juliet, on the Desplains, in northern Illinois. I was impressed by its regularity of outline and its perfect isolation of position in 1821, when I published a view of it. (Trav. in the Central Portions of the Miss. Valley.) In 1839, the excavations for the Illinois Canal required to be carried through its eastern face, laying bare nearly its entire front and disturbing about one-fourth of its cubical contents. These excavations proved it to be of diluvial origin, the formation consisting of parallel strata of sand, clay, water-worn pebbles, and boulders in their usual order, with every mark of having assumed these positions from deposition. At the time of the introduction of plank roads and railroads into Illinois, several of the western mounds were laid open; particularly on the lines of road across the American Bottom, and on the route of the Caseyville, Ohio, and Mississippi railroad.

In most of the instances in which mounds were cut through or impinged on, regular developed diluvial beds were disclosed. It is affirmed that this result was verified in as many as nine out of ten cases. The great double-mound of St. Louis is purely geological. It was carefully examined by me in 1818, before the city had extended much in that direction. Strata of sand, clay, and gravel, with small boulders, were found to constitute the entire elevations. These strata had only mingled on its declivities, but a little excavation was sufficient to show that the interior was horizontal and unmixed. To add to the popular idea of their being artificial, Indian graves had been dug in its sides and on its summit. It is a uecessary conclusion, that form, size, and external shape cannot be relied on as evidences of artificial construction.

Science has discredited the idea that ours is a new world, in any other sense than the recency of its discovery by Europeans. Before the light of civilization had dawned where it has since shone with most brilliancy, the Indian had probably launched his canoe upon our waters, and erected his frail wigwam upon our shores, as he did in the age which immediately preceded us. Yet, within the wide borders of the United States, under various climates, and very considerable variety of geographical position, he has not advanced one step beyond the rude state of barbarism in which he was

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found. Antiquities prove that he has greatly receded. He has yielded before the new epoch. When he leaves the soil to be succeeded by the European, that soil seems fresh from the hands of nature. In the absence of all other memorials of the previous existence of the human race in this area, the occasional occurrence of inconsiderable and scattered mounds, and semi-military vestiges, owing their origin, in fact, to the rudest states of human society, has attracted much crude speculation.

"In speaking thus," says an observer of shrewdness and accuracy, long resident in the west, "I am not unmindful that there exists in the valley of the Ohio, and perhaps elsewhere, ramparts of earth which have been construed into evidence that the races of savages known to us have been in a more civilized condition, or that they were preceded by a people who had made some progress in the mechanical arts. But imagination has been allowed to indulge in visions of the kind upon foundations so slight, as to justify incredulity in the sufficiency of the appearances referred to, to warrant the inferences deduced from them. If our portion of this continent had ever been the residence of a civilized people, the fact would be attested by less equivocal testimony. In our climate the tnrf with which nature would envelope the ruins of the habitations of departed civilization, would form monuments of their existence that time could scarcely obliterate. Even the slight impressions left upon the surface of the ground by their rude tillage, may be sometimes observed long after the tribes to which they must be attributed, have retired, and, perhaps, become extinct. Yet we traverse interminable forests and boundless plains without discovering the slightest indications that the soil has ever been disturbed by the hand of man. To what era then can we refer the existence of any thing but barbarism in this country, before it became known to Europeans?" (Major John Biddle, Historical and Scientific Sketches of Michigan, p. 174: Detroit, 1834.)

We may, on the most enlarged view which can be taken on the subject, recognize in the mounds, earth-works, and mural monuments of the Mississippi valley, the results and final extinguishment of that impulse toward civilization which was commenced by the Toltecs of Mexico. It cannot be inferred, from our present survey of the languages, that large numbers of the Toltecs mingled in this exodus of tribes from the interior of Mexico to the Northern hemisphere; but the movement which led to their downfall in the twelfth century, and gave the sovereignty to the Aztecs, appears, from monumental indicia, to have impelled them northward and eastward, disturbing other tribes impinged on in their progress towards Florida and the Mississippi valley, and across the Appalachian range into the Atlantic slopes. The traditions of the tribes, even of central New England, point to such a migration. They came from the south-west. Their traditions place in the south-western tropical regions, the residence of the benevolent god, from whom they affirmed that they had derived the gift of the zea maize. (Boger Williams' Key.) The Lenno Lenapees had also a distinct tradition of their origin in the South and West; and of their crossing the Mississippi river. The Shawnees trace themselves to Florida. (Trans. Amer. Arch×.) The Winnebagoes have a tradition

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that they came from Mexico. (Notes to my Geo. Rep., 1822.) The whole Algonquin family, till the mass of continually dividing tribes reached the confines of New England, trace their origin south and west. After reaching the grand geographical point of the St. Lawrence, and ascending the Utawas into the Great Lake basins, they date their origin east, and call their New England kindred Eastlanders. (Algic Researches.) The Muscogees assert that they came from the Red River valley, west of the Mississippi. (Pickett's Hist. Ala.) The ancient Chigantalgi, whom De Soto found on the east banks of the Mississippi, as high as the Yazoo, had the worship of the Sun, established with all the fixity and rites of the Toltecs. (Garcilaso de la Vega.) From these we date the Natchez, who still, at the period of their overthrow by the French, retained the art of mound-building, two of which structures they erected in the Ouichita valley. (Du Pratz.) The large mound developments formerly existing on the Kaskaskia and Cahokia rivers in Illinois, display traits of the Toltecan arts of building, and of their religion and mythological ideas. The ancient displays at Marietta, at the mouth of the Muskingum, the circular walls of Circleville, and the striking remains on Paint Creek, the Little Miami, and in the Scioto valley generally, all within the limits of Ohio, have the same air and traits of the southern element-worshippers.

The fullest consideration of the Indian history and character, denote these works to have been built by aboriginal hands. That these beginnings of an Appalachian Indian empire, were finally frustrated by the surrounding barbarous tribes, is denoted by the few traditions recorded. It fell, we may affirm, by division, anarchy, and mutual distrust; nor should the remains we behold, upon which the ancient forest has regained its foothold, create the wonder to which the settlement of the Mississippi valley has given rise. It should not be deemed incredible that the tribes of this region should have derived their impulse in mound-building, entrenchments, and the deification of the sun, from the south; nor, that, after the acquisition of considerable power, they should have totally lost it in intestine struggles, or that then the region should be entirely overrun by the pure hunter and barbarous tribes.

The Toltecan element of semi-civilization in North America, has commanded the respect of historians. It towers high, in the scale, above every Indian effort made in this part of the continent: Mr. Prescott, in his luminous survey of the Mexican civilization, regards it as a peculiar and indigenous effort of the Indian mind, which exhibits nothing disproportionate in its advances, unless it be their extraordinary proficiency in astronomy (Conq. Mex., Vol. I., p. 111). To ascribe the arts of building and sepulture to foreign races of anterior epoch, appears to be erecting a mere hypothesis, whatever advances we may allow them to have possessed, indigenous or derivative. If the striking developments of Mexico and Peru are deemed to be an indigenous and independent achievement of the Indian mind, there seems still less

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reason to believe that the more rude essays in art of the United States tribes are not of Indian origin.

Another remark may be made, before closing these observations. Great sympathy has, from the religious element of the country, been, from the first, excited by the Indian race, under the impression that in these tribes we behold descendants of the Hebrews. Much zeal, and some learning and research, have been devoted to this subject; which is one that we may take up in a future paper. It may be sufficient here to say, that the materials employed in the discussion of the topic have been scanty and inconclusive; sometimes of a doubtful character, and always urged with a degree of zeal, and a fixity of preconceived theory, which detracts, in no small measure, from the soundness of the conclusions.

Of antiquities which can be ascribed to this branch of American arch×ology, there appears to be but little commanding respect. It is undoubtedly true that the Indian mind, like the Jewish, is strongly deistic; that it is as strongly opposed to a foreign religion, which was unknown to their fathers; and it is utterly opposed to the claims of a Saviour, if it does not, at all times, as determinedly hate Jesus Christ. The comparison of the manners and customs has been vague, and loses much of its value from the spirit of prepossession before referred to. (Vide Adair and Boudinot.) Of the Hebrew language, there is little to arrest attention besides a similar amalgamated use of the verbs and pronouns, a strong analogy of sound in the first and second pronouns, and the employment of the same binal roots (in the Algonquin), for the remarkably restricted use, in both languages, of the substantive verb. (Vide Title, Vol. I.)

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NEWPORT RUIN.

By Dr. Thomas H. Webb.

This unique structure has attracted much attention in bygone times: it has furnished a theme for the Poet, and material for the Novelist; it has proved a matter of interest to the Historian, and of speculative research to the Antiquarian — yet after the numerous examinations that have been instituted, the diligent investigations that have been made, but little if any additional light is reflected upon the question at issue, and as heretofore it has been, so probably hereafter it will be, known only as the "Old Stone Mill."

About fifteen or twenty years since, renewed interest was awakened in relation to the Ante-Columbian history of America, in consequence of certain inquiries made in

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publications issued by the Royal Society of Antiquaries at Copenhagen — an institution which numbers among its members some of the most learned men in Europe, and which stands pre-eminent for the extent and value of its historical explorations and discoveries, as well as for the judicious course it has adopted in arch×ological, philological, and, in its broadest sense, ethnological pursuits. In the course of a correspondence, originating from queries propounded by said society, the inquiry was made by me — If the Northmen ever visited this country, and here erected structures either as look-outs or places of defence, what sort of buildings probably were they? The reason for putting this question shall hereafter be made known.

In answer, I was informed that most of the structures of the kind alluded to, were unquestionably of wood, and must long since have gone to decay. A description of these was furnished, which neither presented nor suggested any resemblance to the ruin at Newport. Still, in fulfilment of my obligation, I transmitted an account of it, accompanied by drawings prepared at my request, by F. Catherwood, Esq., representing a view of the exterior, of the interior, a ground-plan, and a vertical section.

These preliminary remarks are made to show that what I here relate is not mere off-hand assertion, arising from a momentary or casual visit and inspection, but the result of much inquiry and research, there being reasons for my devoting considerable time to the subject, and for investigating it as thoroughly as possible. Although Mr. Catherwood's drawings answered the general purpose for which they were designed, they are not so minutely accurate as is desirable, and the ones recently made expressly for this work are decidedly preferable.

This structure is situated in the town of Newport, near the south extremity of the island of Rhode Island. It is located on the north side, near the summit, of the hill upon which the upper part or rear of the town is built; and is so placed as to command a view of the noble harbor that lies to the west. It is constructed of ashler or rough stone, (greywacke, which abounds in the vicinity,) strongly cemented together by a mortar composed of lime, sand, and gravel, which must have been of a most excellent quality, as it has become almost as hard as the stone itself. The building looks as if once partially or entirely covered by cement of a similar character to that of the mortar. Its height is twenty-four feet six inches, and was originally, we should think, somewhat greater. Its outer diameter is twenty-three feet; its inner, eighteen feet nine inches. It is built upon arches, which are supported by eight columns. Its height from the ground to the centre of the arch is twelve feet six inches. The entire height of the column is ten feet one inch; viz., the base one foot six inches, the shaft seven feet nine inches, and the capital ten inches. The diameter at the base is three feet nine inches; above the base three feet two inches. The foundation, as I am credibly informed, extends under the columns to the depth of between four and five feet from the surface of the ground. The columns have no regular capitals; the uppermost layer of stone projects a little beyond the others constituting the shafts, and the columns stand

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out somewhat beyond the structure raised thereon. The projection is found on the outer half of the columns only, thus making, as it were, rude semi-capitals; upon the inner half, the shaft of each, from its base to the spring of the arch, is a straight line. On the east side of the interior, high above the arches, are to be seen the remains of a brick fire-place. There are also three windows; viz., one facing to the north, one to the south, and one to the west. One of them has slanting sides, inclined towards each other from without, inwards; thus giving it the appearance of an embrasure: it may, perhaps, have been thus constructed in reference to the admission of light. Two recesses, or cupboards, may likewise be noticed. Immediately above the columns are hollow places, in which, we presume, originally rested the ends of the timbers which sustained the floor. If so, however, there must have been two stories, or the recesses could not be available, or at least conveniently accessible. There are nothing but the bare walls now standing; neither roofing, nor any portion of the interior fitting-up, remaining. The space below, or column-encircled area, seems to have been entirely left open; and there does not appear to have been any rampart, ditch, or inclosure, around the structure; or if there originally were, all vestiges have, in the lapse of time, been completely obliterated.

The accompanying engraving, Plate XV, from drawings made by S. Eastman, Capt. U. S. A., will convey a clearer idea of the structure, than any written description can.

The questions naturally arise, for what purpose, when, and by whom, was this erected?

By some it is conjectured to have been built and employed for a watch-tower, to prevent the early colonists being surprised by hostile Indians.

It has, however, usually been styled the Old Mill. Everything about it, as many of those who have examined it the most attentively think, throws discredit upon the supposition that it was erected for, although from what we can gather, we doubt not but that it may have been at some period used as, a mill. No similar structure, built in early or in recent times, for any purpose whatever, is to be met with in this vicinity, or in any other section of our country, so far as we have been enabled to ascertain, or have any reason to believe.

What now constitutes the State of Rhode Island, was first settled by the whites, in Post-Columbian times (using that expression in contradistinction to Ante-Columbian, as, since the satisfactory evidence that has been adduced of the early visits of the Northmen to this country, it would be manifestly incorrect to speak of the period we are now referring to, as that in which the first white settlers located themselves here),

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we repeat, the State of Rhode Island was first settled by Europeans, in Post-Columbian times, in the year 1636. Two years afterwards, the island of Rhode Island, having been purchased of the Indians, was settled; originally at the north, and subsequently at the south end — that is to say, at Newport. The earliest manuscript record of which I have knowledge, wherein an allusion is made to the stone structure, is the will of Governor Benedict Arnold; this was executed "ye four and twentieth day of December, Annoque Domini, 1677," being about forty years from the date of the settlement of Newport. In this instrument, it is referred to as his "stone-built windmill." The following are extracts from said will.

"My body I desire and appoint to be buried at ye North East corner of a parcel of ground containing three rod square, being of and lying in my land, in or near the line or path from my dwelling house, leading to my Stone built Windmill, in ye town of Newport, above mentioned," &c.

Again: "I do also give and bequeath," &c, "ye other and greater parcell of ye tract of land abovesaid upon which standeth my dwelling or Mansion House and other buildings thereto adjoining or belonging as also my Stone Built Wind Mill, and in ye said," &c.

These allusions certainly favor the supposition that the building was erected for a mill, although they by no means conclusively prove it. The structure might have been designed for quite another purpose, or might have been found here by the colonists, and been converted, by Governor Arnold, into a mill; as, for such a purpose, a movable wooden top, like that of a modern wind-mill, could easily have been raised upon it. Indeed, some aged inhabitants of Newport, who were living twenty-five years since, spoke of it as having been thus used in their early days.

It was also at one period called the Powder Mill. Not, probably, from gunpowder having been manufactured, but because, for safe-keeping, it was deposited there; in other words, from having been used as a powder magazine. The following is the copy of a declaration, relating to this and another point, which was furnished me some years since.

"Mr. Joseph Mumford, now residing at Halifax, in the British Province of Nova Scotia, aged about 80 years, formerly of Newport, in the State of Rhode Island, states that his father was born in the year 1699 in said Newport, and that his father always spoke of the Stone Mill in this town as the Powder Mill; and that when he was a boy his father used it as a haymow — that there was a circular roof on it at that time, and a floor above the arches — that he has himself, when a boy, repeatedly found powder in the crevices, sometimes to the amount of two or three pounds, and has likewise known other boys to find quantities of it. Dated Nov. 17, 1834.
(Signed) Joseph Mumford."

It may not be altogether superfluous to direct attention to the fact that the period above alluded to was anterior to the Revolutionary War, inasmuch as some writers have

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erroneously stated that the structure was used as a magazine, during the war of 1812. From Mr. Mumford's statement, it would seem that the hollow places above the columns may have been made at the time this structure was used as a haymow, in order, perhaps, to place a flooring or platform as low as possible, and thus obtain more storage room; so that the apparent want of wisdom, in placing the recesses so high, is removed, as the reasonable supposition is, that the original flooring was elevated some feet above the centre of the arches.

The interrogatory may with reason be put — "If this structure were here when the English first located themselves at Newport, would they not have taken particular notice, and made special mention of it?" But on the other hand, it may be asked, "If it were erected subsequently, is it not reasonable to suppose that such a remarkable transaction would have been duly chronicled?" The singularity of erecting such an unique piece of architecture, at such a time, it may plausibly be surmised, would have been noised far and wide throughout the colonies; and some of the writers, who were taking due note of the events of the day, to transmit to the mother country, or for the information of those dwelling in the land of their adoption, would certainly have penned a line or two in reference to the strange building-fancies of the Rhode-Islanders.

That the neighboring inhabitants were not ignorant of passing transactions in the island colony, is abundantly evident; and that they watched with a scrutinizing eye everything which was there going on, cannot for a moment be doubted, knowing as we do that they entertained a great jealousy towards them. But we will not extend these remarks, not intending at present to discuss the subject at length.

Among the first settlers of Newport was Peter Easton, who was in the practice of noting down important events and occurrences in the colony. Some years since, a fragment of his original diary accidentally came into my possession. In this, under date of 1663, I find the following entry, viz.:

"This year we built the first wind mill."

As he makes this simple announcement without comment, and unaccompanied by details, notwithstanding his accustomed particularity, it appears nearly, if not quite conclusive, that "the first wind mill," by him alluded to, was a mere temporary building, and not the stone structure under consideration.

As already in substance remarked by me, if found standing when Newport was first settled, it is singular that a man like Peter Easton should not have made mention of it; whilst on the other hand, if constructed afterwards, but yet in the early times of the colony, as in that case it must have been, it is as singular, considering the strifes and contentions of the day, and the animosities which prevailed between this and the neighboring colonies, that the raising of such an unique pile did not attract the attention, arouse the fears, and call forth the animadversions, of some writer of the period. View the subject as we may, difficulties will still meet us.

It would be easy to write pages of hypothesis relative to it, but such a course would

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avail naught; I deem the better one is to furnish all the reliable facts which can be attained, and leave each one to deduce from them his own inferences. I will simply state, in conclusion, that my opinion is, the structure was erected far within Post-Columbian times; though for what purpose I am in doubt, and by whom I am not prepared to say.
[Boston, October, 1853.]

(B.) An Essay on the Antiquities of the Congaree Indians of South Carolina. — By Rev. Geo. Howe.

The most considerable streams in South Carolina, and especially those which, taking their rise in the Apalachian Mountains, traverse the State in their way to the ocean, receive their names from the Indian tribes which were found occupying their shores at the advent of the white man. The Catawba, rising in the mountains of North Carolina, on receiving the Wateree creek, becomes the Wateree river, and was the favorite abode of Indians of that name. The Saluda and Broad, uniting at the town of Columbia, form the Congaree, and this, after its junction with the Wateree, becomes the Santee, which bears this name till it falls into the broad Atlantic. The Broad river was called by the Catawbas Eswau Huppeday, or Line River, because it was the established line between them and the Cherokees. Of the Congarees, who gave their name to the river which is formed by the confluence of the Saluda and Broad, little is historically known. The earliest European voyager, who travelled through the country and has left behind him any account of the tribes occupying it, is John Lawson, afterwards Surveyor-General of North Carolina. He left Charleston on Saturday, Dec. 28, 1700, in a canoe, and threading the bays and creeks of the coast, entered the Santee on the Friday following. He soon after encountered a party of the Sewee Indians, who have given their name to the Sewee bay, near the mouth of that river, and whom he represents as having been formerly a large nation, but at that time much diminished in numbers — by intemperance, by the ravages of the small-pox, and by a disaster at sea which reduced still more the remnant of this people. Under the mistaken idea that England was not far from the coast, they fitted out a large fleet of canoes laden with skins and furs for the purpose of traffic, embarked all their able-bodied men, leaving the old, impotent, and those under age, at home. A part of their fleet was destroyed by a storm, and the remainder taken by an English vessel, which sold them as slaves in the West India Islands (pp. 11, 12). After passing the settlement of the French Huguenots, which he describes as already a thriving community, he visits the "Seretees or Santees" (Zantees), some of whose customs he describes in passing. Their corn-cribs set up on posts, and made tight, so as to be out of the reach of vermin, resembled those which we have often seen among the farmers and smaller planters

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who have succeeded them on their soil, save that the modern crib is usually nearer the ground and less carefully secured. Their burial customs were peculiar. "Near these cabins are several tombs made after the manner of these Indians, the largest and chiefest of them was the sepulchre of the late Indian king of the Santees, a man of great power, not only among his own subjects, but dreaded by the neighboring nations for his great valor and conduct. The manner of their interment is thus — a mole or pyramid of earth is raised, the mould thereof being worked very smooth and even, sometimes higher or lower, according to the dignity of the person whose monument it is. On the top thereof is an umbrella, made ridge-ways like the roof of a house. This is supported by nine shakes or small posts, the grave being about six or eight feet in length, and four feet in breadth, about which is hung gourds, feathers, and other such like trophies, placed there by the dead man's relations, in respect to him in the grave. The other part of the funeral rites are thus — as soon as the party is dead, they lay the corpse upon a piece of bark in the sun, seasoning or embalming it with a small root beaten to powder, which looks as red as vermilion; the same is mixed with bears' oil, to beautify the hair. After the carcass has laid a day or two in the sun, they remove it and lay it upon crotches cut on purpose for the support thereof from the earth, then they anoint it all over with the forementioned ingredients of the powder of this root, and bears' oil. When it is so done, they cover it over very exactly with the bark of the pine or cypress tree, to prevent any rain to fall upon it, sweeping the ground very clean all about it. Some of his nearest of kin brings all the temporal estate he was possessed of at his death, as guns, bows and arrows, beads, feathers, match-coat, &c. This relation is the chief mourner, being clad in moss, and a stick in his hand, keeping a mournful ditty for three or four days, his face being black with the smoke of pitch-pine mixed with bears' oil. All the while he tells the dead man's relations, and the rest of the spectators, who that dead person was, and of the great feats performed in his lifetime; all that he speaks tending to the praise of the defunct. As soon as the flesh grows mellow, and will cleave from the bone, they get it off and burn it, making the bones very clean, then anoint them with the ingredients aforesaid, wrapping up the skull (very carefully) in a cloth, artificially woven of possums' hair. The bones they carefully preserve in a wooden box, every year oiling and cleansing them. By these means they preserve them for many ages, that you may see an Indian in possession of the bones of his grandfather, or some of his relations of a longer antiquity. They have other sorts of tombs, as when an Indian is slain, in that very place they make a heap of stones, (or sticks, where stones are not to be found) : to this memorial, every Indian that passes by, adds a stone to augment the heap, in respect to the deceased hero," (pp. 21, 22.) In another place, Lawson represents the Indians as making a roof of light wood, or pitch-pine over the graves of the more distinguished, covering it with bark and then with earth, leaving the body thus in a subterranean vault, until the flesh quits the bones. The bones are then taken up, cleaned, jointed, clad in white-dressed

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deer-skins, and laid away in the Quiogozon, which is the royal tomb or burial-place of their kings and war-captains, being a more magnificent cabin, reared at the public expense. This Quiogozon is an object of veneration, in which the writer says he has known the king, old men, and conjurors, to spend several days with their idols and dead kings, and into which he could never gain admittance," (pp. 179-182.)

After travelling about seventy-five miles, which occupied them about five days, they reached the town of the Congarees. This he describes as consisting of some dozen houses, though the tribe had often straggling plantations up and down the country. He found them occupying the river bottoms, having "curious dry marshes and savannahs" near. They had large stores of "chinkapin nuts," kept in large baskets for use; and "hickory nuts," which they beat betwixt two great stones, "then sift them, and so thicken their venison broth therewith; the small shells precipitating to the bottom of the pot, while the kernel, in the form of flour, mixes with the liquor. Both these nuts made into meal make a curious soup." When he arrived among them, he found the women engaged in some game, which, though he looked upon it for two hours, he could not understand. "Their arithmetic was kept with a heap of Indian grain." He represents these Indians as "kind and affable to the English, the Queen being very kind; giving us," says he, "what rarities her cabin afforded; as loblobby, made with Indian corn and dried peaches," (pp. 28, 29.) The existence of the peach among the Indians he elsewhere adduces as evidence of the eastern origin of the Indian tribes, (p. 170.) And we may here allude to the circumstance, that one of the finest varieties of the peach we now enjoy in Carolina, is commonly known as "the Indian peach," a variety we have not met with at the north. The sewee or Carolina bean, known over the United States, bears the name of the Sewee Indians. The red or cow pea, one of the most useful crops of the south, Lawson partook of among the Indians; and then, the Indian corn and tobacco we have received from the native tribes, as we have received various other vegetables which our gardens yield from the Africans among us, such as the egg-plant or Guinea squash, the okra or gumbo, the Guinea corn and other vegetable productions. "These Congarees have abundance of cranes and storks in their savannahs. They take them before they can fly, and breed them as tame and familiar as a dung-hill fowl. They had a tame crane at one of these cabins that was scarce less than six feet in height, his head being round, with a shining natural crimson hue which they all have," (p. 29.) In another place he says, "They are above five feet high when extended; their quills are excellent for pens; their flesh makes the best broth, yet it is hard to digest. They are easily bred, and are excellent in a garden to destroy frogs, worms, and other vermin, (pp. 145, 146.) He extols the beauty of the Congarees. "These are a very comely sort of Indians; there being a strange difference in the proportion and beauty of these heathens. The women here are as handsome as most I have met withal, there being several fine-fingered brounettas among them." Their hospitality is applauded. "When their play was ended, the

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king or Cassetas wife invited us into her cabin. (The men of the tribe were absent on a hunting expedition.) "The Indian kings always entertaining travellers, either English or Indian; taking it as a great affront if they pass by their cabins, and take up their quarters at any other Indians house. The Queen set victuals before us, which good compliment they use generally as soon as you come under their roof." Again: "The Queen got us a good breakfast before we left here." The following instance of medical practice occurred as an accompaniment. "She had a young child, which was much afflicted with the cholick; for which distemper she infused a root in water, which was held in a gourd: this she took into her mouth and spurted it into the infant's, which gave it ease.", "After we had eaten, we set out with our new guide for the Wateree Indians" (pp. 28-30.)

The Congarees are represented as a people inconsiderable for numbers. "These Indians are a small people, having lost much of their former numbers by intestine broils; but most by the small-pox, which hath often visited them, sweeping away whole towns; occasioned by the immoderate government (improper treatment) of themselves in their sickness. Nor do I know any savages that have traded with the English, but what have been great losers by this distemper, (p. 28.) Putting the "Wateree and Chickaree Indians" in comparison, he says, "This nation is more populous than the Congarees and their neighbors; yet understand not one another's speech, (p. 32.) But the Waterees, on their part, were despised by the Waxsaws as a "poor sort of Indians" and among these last they found more style and a higher manner of living, (pp. 33-36, et seq.)

The next notice we find of the Congarees, is fourteen or fifteen years later. In 1715, to the great disappointment of the inhabitants of Carolina, the Congarees, the Catawbas, and the Cherokees, united with the Tamasees in a war of extermination against the colonists. The conspiracy embraced every tribe from Florida to the Cape Fear. The southern division of the Indian force consisted of about 6000 bowmen; the northern, among whom were the Congarees, of between 600 and 1000. The massacre of Pokataligo was perpetrated by the southern division; the church of stone was burnt, and all the inhabitants south of Charleston fled for refuge to that city, or were miserably slain by the cruel enemy; such as had no friends among them being subjected to the fiercest tortures. The northern division, among whom were the Congarees, advanced beyond Goose creek on the way to Charleston, and murdered the family of John Hearne. During this expedition, Captain Thomas Barker, who opposed them with a company of about ninety mounted militia, fell into an ambuscade, and, with several of his men, was slain; and in the Goose creek settlement, seventy white men and forty negroes, who had hastily entrenched themselves, rashly agreeing to terms of peace, admitted the Indians within their breastwork and were by them inhumanly butchered. After the

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Yamassee war was brought to a close by Governor Craven, the Congarees seem to have confined themselves to their ancient haunts. In 1722, some eight years after, a fort or garrison was in existence among them to protect the settlements below from hostile incursion. In 1730-1733, Thomas Brown had taken up his abode near this fort, as an Indian trader, and had, perhaps, been preceded by others in the same capacity, as travelling merchants. At what time the Congarees disappeared from their ancient haunts is not accurately known. Grants were made in Amelia township, laid out on the southern side of the Congaree, as early as 1735, and in the township of Saxe Gotha, north of Amelia, in 1737. In 1735, Thomas Brown, Indian trader at Congaree, Old Fort, purchased of the Waterees the lands between the Santee (Congaree) and Wateree as far up as the Catawba Fording-Place. About this time then, we may suppose they began to change their residence. What became of them, history does not inform us; but they probably withdrew to the north-western part of the State, and were merged in the great body of the Cherokees.

Various implements and utensils of the Congarees have been found about the places of their former abode. The smaller implements have partly been ploughed up in the field, and partly they have been picked up since the freshet of 1852. I have many hundred arrow and spear heads, and many more are in the possession of others. The longest of them is four inches and a half in length — the shortest less than three-fourths of an inch. Some are of quartz, others of flint, others of jasper, others of horn-stone, and a few of coarser materials. And as to the color, they are of all the various hues which these several mineral substances assume. Some are of beautiful shape and colors, and exquisitely formed by the process of chipping described on p. 467, Vol. III. of Hist. and Cond. of the Indian Tribes. The last one, on the lower left-hand corner of the Plate, seems to be a piece of stone, divided according to its natural cleavage, preparatory to being manufactured into a spear-head. Among the number may be found some with jagged edges evidently designed for fish-spears. With a magnifying glass and in the clear sunlight, the form of these various arrow-heads may be seen, and the material of each pretty well understood. At the bottom of the Plate and lying on the table, are several other implements. At the extreme left is an axe of stone six and a half inches long by three broad, with a groove around the head to receive the handle. Next are two stone chisels or fleshing instruments, six inches long by two and

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one-fourth broad, and one and a half inches thick, and at the right hand corner a hollowed stone, on which these implements were formed by continual attrition. Near this is a fragment of a tube of stone, perforated and formed with as much accuracy as if turned in a lathe.

The above is a rude outline of this tube or pipe, and of its exact dimensions.

In Plate 16, Fig. A, are specimens of the pots or vases which were washed up by the flood in the Congaree River, in August, 1852. The water, during this freshet, rose in this river six feet above the great freshet of 1840; and will long be remembered for its sweeping destruction, and the loss of human life. It surpassed, too, the freshet of 1796, popularly called "TheYazoo Freshet." But the most striking evidence of the unexampled rise of waters in this stream, is the uncovering of the numerous graves of the Congaree Indians (as is supposed), and the disclosure of their remains by the waters of this flood. These nations would select their place of burial in a spot which they believed high above the reach of the river, and which neither they nor their fathers had ever known overflowed. The extent of ground over which these graves are scattered, along the banks of the river, shows that it was a favorite place of sepulture, and had been long used as such. No Indians have visited there since about 1737-40; and the time when interments were begun by them is wholly unknown. They have probably been made here for centuries. On the plantation of Mr. Jesse De Bruhl, now belonging to Col. J. F. Marshall and Dr. Samuel Fair, the river broke through the cotton-fields in several places, making new channels for its surplus waters, and scooping out the earth to the depth of from three to five feet. Numerous Indian graves were thus exposed to view, the earth being carried away down to the surface of the graves. In these graves the skeletons were lying, in a state of tolerable preservation. The excavation to receive the body seems to have been about three feet long, by about two feet wide, in the form of a parallelogram; and the body to have been flexed, the knees drawn up to the breast, the heels to the hams, the head bent forward till the chin touched the breast-bone, and the hands crossed over the legs. They seemed then to have been laid on the left side, and the head of the graves to have pointed promiscuously to either point of the compass. The skull-bones in this locality were so fragile that none of them could be brought away whole, though often bones, such as the vertebras of the spine (see right hand corner of Fig. A), the bones of the thigh, arm, and leg, could be obtained in any quantity. A cranium from the adjoining

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plantation of Colonel Hampton, which also abounds in Indian relics, will be exhibited in Plate 16, Fig. D. At a short distance from these graves, and indeed interspersed among them, were found many earthen jars or vases, similar to those exhibited in Fig. A. Some were buried less deep, and were washed up and broken in pieces, by the violence of the waters. Indeed, the whole plantation along the river banks was strewed with fragments of broken pottery, bones, and teeth, from the washed-up skeletons, in good preservation. The large jar lying on its side, in Plate 3, and which is from the museum of Dr. Fair, was found uncovered, in an erect position, its mouth even with the surface of the uncovered graves, and filled with earth, with some whitish fragments, as of lime, or decayed bones, interspersed. It had a small hole broken in it at the bottom, as seen in the Plate, which was stopped on the inside by a smooth flat pebble, to be seen lying on the outer edge of the table supporting the vase. None were found without this fractured aperture in the bottom. If human remains were interred in these vases, the aperture may have been made for the escape of the liquid humors of the decaying body. The height of this jar is 1 foot 7 inches; the diameter of its mouth, 14 1/8; inches; its circumference in the largest part, 3 feet 10 inches. The one standing erect has lost a portion of its bottom, which, as was the case with all the rest, was of the shape of the small end of an egg. The height of this vase, as it now stands, is 13 ¾ inches; its diameter, from lip to lip across the brim, 12 ¾ inches; its greatest circumference, 3 feet, 3 inches. These vases are all of a dark brown color, resembling, in general, that of the vase in Plate 22, Fig. 1, Vol. I., Hist. and Cond. of Indian Tribes; and they are ornamented with minute figures, which a strong magnifier will reveal in the daguerreotype. On the left-hand corner of the table is a lump of clay, indurated on one side by heat, and bearing the finger-marks of the women and children; evidently a lump of the very clay out of which these vessels were wrought, as it was left by the Indian potter. On the two corners of the table represented in Fig. A, are fragments of broad shallow vessels, of which none were found whole, which may have been covers for those vases, or, as they have a flat bottom on which they could rest, they may have been broad pans used for culinary purposes. The diameter of one of these crocks is 16 inches; the breadth of the flat bottom 4 inches; the height 5¾ inches; the edge turned over inwards, sometimes smooth, and sometimes crimped or serrated. In front of the upright jar is a peculiar discoidal stone of whitish, translucent quartz, formed with perfect regularity, with a saucer-like depression on either side, the one exactly corresponding to the other. The difficulty is to understand how so unyielding a material could be formed so truly by any instrument the Indian was known to possess. When once made, the discoidal vessel might be used for grinding colors, or for any similar purpose. Next to this is a regularly formed earthen crucible, similar to those used in the modern arts, and bearing marks of the fire; its height about 3½ inches, its width at the top 2½. Whether used for melting ores before the advent of the white man, or in the melting of lead for bullets after they became

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acquainted with the white man's arms, we cannot say. A chewed leaden bullet was picked up on the surface of the ground, near these remains. But the white man has long resided on the same territory which the Indian made his favorite resort before him; the dilapidated dwelling of Governor Pinckney being within a few feet of "the wash" which laid bare these graves. Fort Granby, too, at which there was smart skirmishing during the Revolution, was not far oif, on the opposite side of the river; and Whig and Tory may have wandered, and did wander, over the same spot. The crucible appears to be of the same material with the other pottery. Next these is seen, in the Plate, a very minute vessel of a redder pottery, an inch and a half high, and one inch and three-quarters in its largest diameter, which was either a child's toy, or used for holding some liquids of small quantity. It might be appropriate for holding colors, when these were required. The next small object is a very curious vessel of earth, quite heavy, of a dark chocolate color, a little less than 2 inches in height, 3¼ in its largest diameter, 2½ inches from inside to inside of its brim, covered over with two rows of processes, or blunt, spine-like protuberances, and pierced, though not quite through to the insides, with a row of holes at regular intervals, as an ornamental device. T he vertebrae on the right-hand corner, have before been alluded to. The whole collection on the table is surrounded by a comparatively modern product of Indian art — an arrow-shaped basket of the modern Choctaws, the prop supporting which interferes somewhat with the outline of the vase beneath it.

Fig. B, Plate 16, exhibits several specimens of broken pottery from the Indian burial-place. Specimens of other figures might be furnished.

Fig. C, Plate 16. — At the bottom of the plate is a vase, perfect, except a very small fragment broken from the edge. The form of this jar is the same as the lower half of the large jar in Plate 2 would make, if cut from the superior half. It is seven and five-eighths inches in height and nine and seven-eighths inches in diameter at the top. It was found while digging in a bank at the Saluda Factory, two miles from this place. It has no hole in the bottom like those found on the banks of the Congaree. It contained, when found, human bones. It belongs to the museum of Robert W. Gibbes, M. D., who has kindly furnished this and several other specimens now delineated. This seems to settle the question as to the design of these vases. A still more striking proof of the same is furnished by the museum of the South Carolina College. It has the fragments of a large vase, of the form of those in Fig. A. It has also the skull found in this vase. There were evidently two skeletons in this jar, that of a mother and her infant child, and the size of the vase would allow the bodies of both to be compressed into it. On ascertaining the diameter of this vase from the curvature of the pieces remaining, its mouth could not be less than two feet across, and its height three feet. This jar was from an Indian mound near Darlington, in which great numbers were found.

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There can be no doubt then that these jars were used for funeral urns. Some contained probably the entire remains of the person interred; others possibly contained only the bones of the deceased after they had undergone the process described by Lawson, in the extract of his book found in the preceding pages. Lawson speaks of none of the Indians of his day as burying in funeral urns. He is of the opinion that these vases are the work of a people preceding those whom our forefathers found here. Among the proofs of an earlier race, he mentions the discovery, at the bottom of a well twenty-six feet deep, of "many large pieces of the tulip tree and several other sorts of wood, some of which were cut and notched, and some squared, as the joints of a house are, which appeared in the judgment of all that saw them, to be wrought with iron instruments, it seeming impossible for any thing made of stone to cut wood in that manner." "The next argument is, the earthen pots that are often found under ground and at the foot of the banks where the water has washed them away. They are, for the most part, broken in pieces; but we find them of a different sort in comparison of those the Indians use at this day, who have had no other ever since the English discovered America. The bowels of the earth cannot have altered them, since they are thicker, of another shape and composition, and nearly approach to the urns of the ancient Romans," (p. 170.)

If these reasonings of Lawson are right, the relics now before us carry us up to the Ante-Columbian period without the possibility of doubt. Although the Congarees were found in occupancy by the white man, they may not have resided there for many generations. The Catawbas, above the Wateree in their locality, migrated into the State from Canada, driven out by the French in 1650, and the Savannahs came from the banks of the Mississippi.

At the bottom of the jar are two discoidal stones, the one at the right hand being of conglomerate or pudding stone, three and three-eighths inches in diameter by one and one-eighth inch thick. It belongs to the College collection, and is from Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, and was formerly of the collection of Prof. Brumly. The other measures four inches in diameter by one and a half in thickness, and is from the collection of Dr. Gibbes. On the left-hand corner of the table are two pipes, one of them having a portion of the stem concealed by the border of the picture. The stem, which is broken, is five inches long, the bowl two inches in height. It is from Newberry District, a relic probably of the Saludas, and is of reddish brown earthen. The other pipe, stem one and one-eighth inches, bowl two and one-quarter inches in height, is of a dark brown stone, and is from Abbeville District. The discoidal stone, against which, this leans, is from Lexington District, the territory of the Congarees. It is of dark-colored quartz. The other object of the same kind was found on the plantation of Mr. Benjamin Taylor, on this side of the river, and is another relic of the same tribe. This,

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like the fragment in Fig. A, is of solid translucent quartz. It is five and one-eighth inches in diameter. The other perforated specimen is five and one-half inches in diameter. Beyond this, is a stone mortar of the Saluda Indians, from Newberry District, South Carolina, the cavity five and one-half by four inches.

Beyond this, on the extreme left hand of the Plate, and partly hidden by the border, is an interesting relic, the form and dimensions of which may be better known by this rude pen-and-ink outline.

The dotted lines indicate the form of the internal cavity. A crease on the outside, with slight circular indentations, is also rudely sketched. The internal cavity has a small chambered depression at the bottom. A similar relic in the College cabinet, (to which this also belongs,) is split open, and reveals a like construction. This latter specimen was found by Col. E. A. Brenard, of Lincoln County, North Carolina, nine feet below the surface, while digging for gold. There were no signs above ground that the spot had ever been worked as a mine; but on digging down, unmistakeable evidences of ancient mining were discovered. This relic referred to was made of the Itacolumite or fire-stone, found in that vicinity, and used by Col. Brenard for hearths in his iron-furnaces. With it was found the fragments of a thick earthen pan. It is believed by Col. Brenard and Prof. Brumly of the South Carolina College, to whom I am indebted for these specimens and these facts, that the one was used as a crucible for melting gold, and the other, the pan, for washing the ore. If so, the Indians knew something of metallurgy, at least in reference to the precious metals. The Spaniard

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Miruelo obtained from the natives of the Atlantic coast of Florida, A. D. 1514, small quantities of gold and silver; and D'Allyon in 1515 or 1516, procured by barter, from the Indians of Conibahee in this State, more of the same precious metals. The relic pictured above, is from Beaufort, the very neighborhood of D'Allyon's unfortunate expedition. In front of this relic is an oval stone, which, because imperfectly exhibited in the daguerreotype, is here rudely given.

It is a relic of the Congarees. Returning to the front of the table, we next find there circular stones, one and one-eighth, one and a half, and one and seven-eighths inches in circumference. These were probably used in the games of chance, in which Lawson found the Congaree women engaged, in the absence of their husbands. They are relics of the Congarees.

In the rear, and between two of these, is a curiously shaped object, which is also on the left-hand corner of Fig. D, though somewhat obscured in the representation by

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a paper label pasted upon it. It has a hollow cavity, and two holes passing through it, like an amulet. The shape is represented in the two preceding cuts.

It is wrought out of greenstone. The relic was found in Greenville District, South Carolina, the ancient haunt of the Cherokees. Immediately behind it is an oval stone (of greenstone), worn smooth by attrition; and, standing on its base by this, a pestle of horn-stone, its base slightly convex. Length of the oval stone, five and a half inches; thickness, three and a half; height of the pestle, four and a half; diameter at the base, one and seven-eighths. The oval stone is a relic of the Congarees; the pestle is from Mississippi. Lying on the table, a little to the right of the pestle, are two instruments cut out of bone, of very curious form. Whether used to mix paints, or whether talismanic charms, is a mere matter of conjecture. Somewhat similar shaped objects, only of large proportions, are displayed in pictorial representations of the Morais, or temples of the Sandwich Islanders They were found in Green County, Alabama, below the surface of the earth. Near these, in the Plate, are two pipes of steatite. The largest of these is within one-eighth of twelve inches in length, its largest diameter two and three-eighth inches, the orifice at one end an inch and a half, at the other, one inch. The other pipe is seven inches long. Both are fragments, and are from Pickens District, South Carolina. Behind these is an axe, from the plantation on which the other Congaree relics were found, leaning against which, is an axe of different form, and another smaller one lying on the table. Their outlines are represented in the two following cuts.

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The next cut represents an axe or hatchet of coarse green-stone, from Edgefield.

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The following cut also represents a hatchet from Edgefield District, full size, coarse green-stone.

On the right-hand corner of the table is a pipe from Abbeville District, and beyond it a curious instrument of brown h×matite, bored at each end. They are represented in the following cuts.

The holes bear the marks of a female screw of fine thread, but this may possibly have been made by some hard thread-like substance, wound around something compact, and screwed tightly into the holes. The holes do not extend entirely through. The above relic was brought, by Professor Brumly, from the neighborhood of Mobile.

In Fig. D, the most conspicuous object is a skull from the plantation of Colonel Wade Hampton, adjoining the one on which the principal burial-place of the Congarees (or their predecessors) was found. Indian relics and graves also abound here, and for some distance on the banks of this river. The skulls have, heretofore, crumbled as soon as exposed. This, by great care, was obtained for Doctor R. W. Gibbles, by whom it has been furnished for the purposes of this essay, with many of the relics here described, and who intends it for the Morton collection, in the Academy of Natural Sciences, in Philadelphia. The proportions of the skull are fine, and fully confirm the accounts given by Lawson of the personal beauty of the Congarees, to whom we believe this skull to have belonged. The dimensions of the cranium, as measured by Doctor Gibbles, are as follows: —

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"Longitudinal diameter	6·7
Inter-parietal	6·5
Vertical	6·5
Frontal	4·5
Inter-mastoid arch	16·4
Inter-mastoid line	4·5
Occipito-frontal arch	13·9
Facial angle	—
Internal capacity	—"

On either side of this skull, in the Plate, are Indian hatchets, or fleshing instruments, the largest 9 inches in length. Against this leans a gorget of fine grained green-stone, 5¼ inches in height, 4¼ in its broadest diameter. Below, at the left hand, is a small hatchet, or fleshing instrument, 4½ inches in height. A flat oval stone, 3½ by 1¾, a stone chisel or adze similar to Fig. 2, Plate 39 of Hist., &c. of the Indian Tribes, Vol. II., but narrower. The three next objects have been thought by some to be amulets, or neck ornaments; by others, have been believed to be instruments for twisting bow-strings, or making cord. These are relics of the Congarees. The fourth is from a locality unknown. The last, towards the right, is a spear-head of horn-stone, from Orangeburg District; a relic, perhaps, of the Congarees.

(C.) Elemmentary Facts in the Current Discoveries in American Arch×ology. — Progress or Arch×ological Discovery.

Civilization is rapidly extending its boundaries over the American forest. The building of railroads, canals, and other public works, redoubles our means of observation on the antiquities of remote districts of country. Almost every season brings to light some new fact respecting the ancient condition of the country, while it was under the control of the aboriginal race, or of a still earlier period. The objects brought to notice often excite comment as to their age, but are not, generally, superior in point of arts and labor, to the requirements and abilities of the progenitors to the Indian race, such as these probably were before the discovery of the continent; for this event had a natural tendency to induce the Indian to drop his inferior arts. These indications of a degree of skill, vigor, and combination, superior to that of the ancient race of Indians, have received a new impulse from the discovery of comparatively extensive evidences of ancient mining operations in the basin of Lake Superior. The popular impression is, that such labors denote a more advanced state of society than could have existed in the present stocks; and that they must be ascribed to Asiatic or European,

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or some unknown element of progress, denoting political and commercial capacity of a higher order. Eminent names have been invoked in support of this theory. That there have been found traces of foreign art, in opening some of the ancient places of sepulture, referable to eras prior to any known period of colonization, cannot be well questioned. But it is still to be asked, do these isolated cases affect the general question of progress in civilization of the leading races of Indians who pitched their tents, in the twelfth century, between the Alleghany and the Rocky Mountains? Are they at all equal to the works of the Toltecs? Or was the Mississippi valley, in which the anomalies occur, occupied by a foreign race? It is believed it was not.

The highest evidences of aboriginal art in building, in the knowledge of astronomy, and the most advanced state of polity and government, existed in the tribes under the equinoxes. It is much more natural and simple to suppose that elements of these dynasties and arts were impelled north towards the Mississippi region, and that the migrated people began at an early epoch to re-erect buildings and institutions here, which they had before been accustomed to, than to ascribe such advances to colonies of adventurers from western Europe or Asia. This consideration has been mentioned in the preceding sketches. The new disclosures made by Dr. Howe denote further probabilities of an ancient connection between the Mexican and the United States Indians.

ANTIQUITIES OF THE CONGAREES.

The details presented on this subject by Dr. Howe, in the preceding pages, denote a condition of things on that river, during the Indian antique period, which was not suspected. So little inquiry has indeed been made in the Carolinas, on this head, that new facts from that quarter commend themselves to particular attention. It was known, that in digging in the gold-drift of these States, evidences of human labor had been disclosed in valleys of denudation, (Vide Am. Jour. of Science.) The tortilla-block, found deep below the accumulated debris, points significantly to the Toltecan and Mexican race as the origin of the older or extinct Carolina tribes.

"The gold formation of the south appears to occupy an extensive range, although of but little breadth. It is confined to a narrow belt or strip of schistose rocks, extending from the Rappahannock in Virginia, to the Coosa river in Alabama, varying in width from a few yards to several miles, with its continuity often interrupted by intruding rocks of a more ancient date. The general course of this belt from Virginia to Georgia, is north-east and south-west. After entering the latter State, it bends somewhat more to the westward, until all traces of it are lost in the State of Alabama. It may be said to extend, however, to Canada on the north, gold having been found at Canaan, New Hampshire, and in the State of Maine. It has also been noticed at Middle Haddam,

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on the Connecticut river. Up to the present time, in the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, only, have gold-mines been worked.

The gold-bearing rocks, par excellence, are the talcose and talco-micaceous slates, rocks belonging to the metamorphic series of geologists, ranking next in age to the granite, greasy to the feel, and of all degrees of hardness and shades of coloring. Gold is also found in gneiss, sienite, hornblende, mica-slate and granite. Occasionally it is disseminated throughout the rock, but most generally occurs in veins of quartz, oxide of iron, copper, or iron pyrites. It is usually in a state of minute division, some of the best ores giving no external indications of the richness, the gold only becoming visible on pulverizing the specimen and carefully washing off the sand.

The mines are of two classes, known as ‘vein mines’ and ‘branch’ or ‘deposit mines.’. In the former the metal is found in the solid rock. The deposit or branch mines are usually beds of gravel and quartz pebbles, frequently rounded by the action of water, but sometimes angular. They are mostly confined to the beds of streams in valleys and depressions, and vary in thickness from two to ten feet, though the auriferous portion seldom exceeds two feet in thickness. The gold is not found indiscriminately scattered through these beds, but is generally near the bottom, resting upon the underlying rock. Occasionally beds of clay, sand, or gravel are interposed between the auriferous beds. Not unfrequently the ‘topping,’ as it is termed, or overlying earth, is a rich and productive soil. These deposits, which in California and Australia are developed on an immense scale, for the most part must be referred to the action of causes not at present in operation; since, in many cases, the minerals accompanying the gravel are found in places in rocks separated from the deposit by a mountain ridge, and in others, the deposit is situated on the summit of the Blue Ridge, showing plainly that it must have been formed when the level of the country was different. In all eases the gold of deposit mines has been derived from the destruction of veins by aqueous causes. In fact, they may be seen in the process of formation, where the gold-bearing slate is of a soft nature, the rains disintegrating the rocks and washing the gold down the hill-sides into the depressions. Deposits are more numerous in the States of South Carolina and Georgia than in Virginia or North Carolina, owing most probably to the fact that the slates of the former States are softer than those of the latter. Extensive deposits occur in the upper districts of the State of South Carolina, and in the State of Georgia."

It would appear from the preceding observations of Dr. Howe, that these deposits cross the Congaree, at some point above the town of Columbia. The recent ravages of that stream, and the disclosure, in 1842, of an ancient crucible and washing-pan used for separating the gold-dust from the soil, and another antique crucible from a neighboring district of North Carolina, are, at least, suggestive of the fact.

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Congaree Cranium.

The same flood of the Congaree river disclosed a complete Congaree skull, from one of the ancient Indian graves, a daguerreotype view of which is herewith given. This skull compares most favorably with those of the highest cranial developments of the Indian races, submitted by the late Dr. Samuel G. Morton, (Vol. II., Title VIII.) It is of the type of the squared and rounded head; the flattened or vertical occiput; the high cheek-bones; and the large quadrangular orbits, (Cran. Amer.)

Pictographs from the Alleghany River.
Plate XVII.

We proceed to submit further arch×ological evidences of that unity in manners and customs which appear to link together the whole family of the Indian hunter tribes, east and west, north and south.

There is a district of wild and rugged mountain scenery in the northern parts of Pennsylvania, reaching into the edge of New York, which was formerly a celebrated field of hunter exploits, for the Indian tribes. The deer, bear, and elk were abundant, and the moose and cougar were often found. This region embraces the northern terminus of the Alleghany Mountains, and gives origin to several considerable streams which rush wildly among its gorges, the most noted of which is the Alleghany river. The banks of this stream were in ancient times occupied by an important tribe, now unknown, who preceded the Iroquois and Delawares. They are called Allegans by Golden (vide Map) in the London edition of his work previously quoted, and the river is named Alleghan by Lewis Evans in his celebrated Map of 1755, in which he also gives it the name of Pal×wa Th×£riki, as the synonym of the Shawnees. By the Iroquois, it was known from the earliest times, and is still called the Oh×o — their term for the Ohio. Its rise, on the melting of the snows in the spring, is prodigious: it sweeps on its way, at this season, to unite with the Monongahela, with the majesty of a wide-spreading, resistless torrent. By its far-spread affluents, it was the great way of communication of the Eries and Iroquois tribes with the west and south-west. Their war and hunting parties passed through it, and it was on its banks that we should expect to find inscriptions of their exploits, in the pictographic character. One of the most often noticed of these inscriptions, exists on the left bank of this river, about six miles below Franklin (the ancient Venango), Pennsylvania. It is a prominent point of rocks, around which the river deflects, rendering this point a very conspicuous object, (Plate 17.) The rock, which has been lodged here in some geological convulsion, is a species of hard sandstone, about twenty-two feet in length, by fourteen in breadth. It has an inclination to the horizon of about fifty degrees. During freshets, it is nearly overflown. The

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inscription is made upon the inclined face of the rock. The present inhabitants in the country call it the "Indian God." It is only in low stages of water that it can be examined. Captain Eastman has succeeded, by wading in the water, in making a perfect copy of this ancient record (vide Plate 18), rejecting from its borders the interpolations of modern names put there by boatmen, to whom it is known as a point of landing. The inscription itself appears distinctly to record, in symbols, the triumphs in hunting and war. The bent bow and arrow are twice distinctly repeated. The arrow by itself is repeated several times, which denotes a date before the introduction of firearms. The animals captured, to which attention is called by the Indian pictographist, are not deer or common game, but objects of higher triumph. There are two large panthers or cougars, variously depicted; the lower one in the inscription denoting the influence, agreeably to pictographs heretofore published, of medical magic. The figure of a female denotes, without doubt, a captive — various circles representing human heads denote deaths. One of the subordinate figures depicts, by his gorgets, a chief. The symbolic sign of the raised hand, drawn before a person represented with a bird's head, denotes, apparently, the name of an individual or tribe.

The country is high and rocky on either side of the river, of which the annexed landscape (Plate 17) affords a graphic and characteristic view. At the foot of the inscription rock there is a smaller boulder (see Plate 18, Fig. B,) having on it a single figure.

Fort Hill of Elmira.

Another object which has excited antiquarian interest in the same general region lying north-east of it, is a fortified eminence called Fort Hill, at Elmira. This work, for an account of which we are indebted to Thomas Maxwell, Esq., of Elmira, consists of a prominent point of land on the south side of Chemung river, one of the sources of the Susquehannah. It is situated about two miles above Elmira, Chemung County, N. Y. The plateau, or eminence defended by works, is the crest of a hill, the riverside of which is nearly perpendicular, consisting of slate-rock. On the opposite side this crest is equally precipitous. A narrow ravine, through which a small stream passes, separates two equally steep mountainous hills. The ascent of the fortified point of the hill, which commences at the junction, is very difficult. For some one or two hundred feet, it is barely wide enough for one person to ascend, aided by the scattering shrubbery. The path then widens, so that two persons might ascend abreast with some difficulty, for the next hundred feet. At this distance it widens to about ten or twelve feet, after which, it gradually increases in width to a distance of seventy or eighty rods, where the embankment is formed.

This crest overlooks and commands the surrounding country. It is an admirable military position, viewed in any light. It is defended, on the only assailable side, by

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an earthen embankment of two hundred and fifty feet in length, extending completely across the high ground. A body of men placed on this crest, with missiles, could command the passage of the river, and prevent the ascent, as it is so high and steep as to render it quite impracticable in the face of a foe. The annexed drawing (Plate 19), by Captain Eastman, exhibits the position with topographical minuteness.

The embankment drawn on the Plate is from six to nine feet broad at its apex, and from three to four feet above the natural surface. Tradition speaks of it as having been higher at a former period, and it is supposed to have been palisadoed its whole length. In the centre, there is a vacancy of about twelve feet, at either end of which there is a break in the earth-wall, as if it had supported the fixtures of a gate. The entire hill is now covered with oak. The growth is smaller on the enclosed area than in the forest west of it, denoting that this area had once been cleared. There is room enough in this area for several hundred men to rally. It is approachable only from the west.

In the year 1790, a very large oak tree was cut down on the southern part of the line of this embankment. There is still standing on it a pine stump four feet in diameter. The entire hill is now covered by a forest of thrifty oaks. Not less than six hundred years can probably be assigned for the period of its abandonment, which would indicate a period corresponding to that denoted by the forest growth in the area of the stone fort discovered by Doctor Locke, in Adams County, Ohio, and on the summit of the gigantic tumuli, at Grave Creek, in Western Virginia. The period shadowed forth by these remains of earth-works, appears to be that heretofore noticed, namely, the twelfth century. Changes and tumults among the Indian tribes appear, from whatever data derived, to have been rife, over a vast surface, about that epoch.

ANTIQUE ARTICLES FROM NEW YORK.

In Fig. 3, Plate 20, we behold one of those anomalous implements of the past Indian age, found within the boundaries of New York, the uses of which, from our imperfect knowledge of their ancient customs, is indefinite. It is quite bell-shaped and solid. The material is a hard, black, volcanic stone. This specimen is figured from the State collection at Albany. The perforated implement, Fig. 2, and the fine stone axe, Fig. 4, are from the same collection.

ANCIENT WAR-AXE OF RED TRANSLUCENT QUARTZ.

Plate 20, Fig. 1, is a stone tomahawk of the kind denominated cass× t×te by the French. It consists of two oval blades, united by a round socket, prepared for receiving a handle, the whole being of a solid piece. The material is a red silicious quartz, semi-translucent. It is figured from the collection of Brantz Mayer, Esq., of Baltimore.

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UNIFORMITY OF ART.

The household arts of the Indians, throughout the States bordering on the Atlantic, from Virginia to New England, were identical; no scrutiny being able to denote any special differences in skill in their domestic or economical implements and utensils.

RELICS FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Plates 21, 22. The mode of pounding maize, by suspending the stone pestle from the limb of a tree, as practised by the ancient Pennacooks of the Merrimack valley, in New Hampshire, is represented in Plate 21. The pestle was commonly ornamented by the head of a man or quadruped, neatly carved from greywacke, or compact sandstone, the mortar being also of the same material. The state of arts of the Pennacook Indians appears to correspond to that of the western and southern tribes. We constantly observe, also, that the most precious species of stones and mineral bodies within their reach, were applied to pipe-making. In Plate 22,Fig. 1, we observe the same fine green serpentine which is occasionally found in western and southern tumuli. In Fig. 2, Plate 22, is depicted a fisherman's sinker, of the Pennacook tribe, accurately wrought from stone. Fig. 3 represents the antique skin-scraper of the same people. It was an instrument much used for preparing skins, by the Merrimack Indians. The character of the arrow-head employed by these tribes is shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Plate 22. It consists of various kinds of chert and hornstone.

The Indian gouge, Fig. 1, Plate 23, was often wrought, as is here exhibited, with much art, which was also evinced in the delicately and smoothly-wrought stone tomahawks. Fig. 5. The state of their pottery, Figs. 3, 4, appears to be very similar to that of the tribes who occupied the Middle and Western States. In Fig. 2 is delineated a curiously-shaped stone knife-handle, designed to confine the cutting edges of flinty or obsidian blades.

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Title IV. Subjective Division, Physical Geography of the Indian Country — General Analysis of Title IV.

Title IV., Let. A., Vol. I. [1st Paper.]

Geographical Data respecting the Unexplored Area at the remote Sources of the Mississippi. Character of the Gold Deposit discovered in 1848, on the Territories of the California Indians. Reported Discovery of Tin on the Kansaw Lands. Lead, Copper, and Silver ores on the lands of the Winnebagoes, Menomonies, and Chippewas. Petroleum on the Chickasaw Lands, West. Saline Borings in the Country of the Onondagas. Geography of the Ancient Domain of the Iroquois in Western New York. Lake Action in the Area of Lake Superior. Antique Bones discovered on the Grounds of the Osages. Description of the Oneida Stone. Description of the Chippewa and Sioux Lands which constitute the Territory of Minnesota.

Title IV., Let. B., Vol. II. [2d Paper.]

Natural Caves in the Sioux Country, on the Upper Mississippi. Data Illustrating the Character and Value of the Country of the Yuma and Diegunos Indians, in Southern California, along the surveyed line of boundary between San Diego and the mouth of the River Gila.

Title IV., Let. C, Vol. III. [3d Paper.]

Inquiries respecting the Character and Value of the Indian Country in the United States, with a Map of the Area still possessed by them. Further Facts respecting the Saline Strata of Onondaga. A Geographical Reconnoissance of the Indian Country in California, situated between San Francisco and the boundary of Oregon, being west of the Sacramento River, with estimates of the Indian Population and sundry illustrative facts.

Title IV., Let. D., Vol. IV. [4th Paper.]

Geography of the Indian Country. The Area of the United States still possessed by the Indian Tribes, and its ultimate division into States and Territories. The Policy of early designating Refuges for the Tribes. Sectional View of the Great Lake Basins — being the ancient seats of the Algonquin and Iroquois power, and their striking inter-oceanic position between the Atlantic and Mississippi Valley Tribes. The Sources of the Mississippi a suitable position as a Refuge for the Chippewas.

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IV. Physical Geography of the Indian Country. D. — Physical Geography of the Indian Country.

1. The Territorial Area of the United States Still Possessed by the Indian Tribes; Its Ultimate Division Into States and Territories, and the Policty of Early Designating Refuges for the Tribes.

The Indian domain in the United States, west of the line of the Mississippi and the Missouri, is undergoing an active process of reconnoissance and exploration at the present time. This new impulse of geographical scrutiny into the character and value of the unexplored passages across the continent, denotes a very marked phasis of our history; and, if we mistake not, tells in unerring tones to the Indian tribes, the principles which must limit and control their existence as a power in North America. If they are to abide the crisis, it must be by entering the race of industrial effort. Great events are not of immediate accomplishment, but the pursuits of agriculture and commerce, which are pressing themselves forward, just now, with purpose and steadiness, cannot be resisted.

It was never desirable, or in accordance with the attributes of the Divine mind, as exhibited by the principles of industry, art, or science, education or Christianity, that the Indian of America should be allowed, permanently, to keep such immense and valuable tracts of territory in a state of wilderness, for no higher purposes than that wild animals should multiply, and a system of the most aimless, predatory, and destructive war be continued. To discourage these wars; to teach the bold hunters and forest heroes and sages the futility of these conflicts and struggles of sachems with sachems; to set before them the better principles of a fixed industry, and the arts and practices of civil life; and to lead them on, by the adoption of civil law and knowledge, to strive for the higher moral honors of mankind: these have, from the days of Las Casas, formed the leading principles of the European governments on this continent, and, at least, these have formed ours. It was a great advance in these principles

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when the declaration of American Independence Was made, which, in effect, lifted these aboriginal tribes, as all other tribes of the human race seeking refuge on this continent, to their just rights in the family of mankind. They were immediately admitted to be quasi owners of the large area of soil over which they hunted, and the history of our diplomacy furnishes an irrefragable body of evidence that their possessory right, however before denied, has been uniformly respected during our independent political career. We are limited to the comparatively brief era of about three-fourths of a century. A population which has, in this period, swelled from three to twenty-four millions of souls, (the seventh census gives 23,191,876,) must have required larger and larger concessions from the Indian tribes. And it was perceived by wise statesmen, as early as 1824, (Vol. III., Statistics, p. 573,) that the absorption of the entire aboriginal territory must be a mere question of time. If seventy-seven years have produced in the white population an increase of twenty-one millions, its mere duplication, in equal prospective periods, must require an increased area of soil for the purposes of agriculture, which leaves to the hunter, while he remains such, and subject to its hastening powers of depopulation, the inevitable prospect of extinction; and demonstrates with the clearness of beams of light, that the Indian empire in North America, the day-dream of a sickly imagination, while it adhered to its false principles, was fated to an early and total destruction.

The American government, during the presidency of Mr. Monroe, finding the tribes unable to maintain their position in the conflict of races, habits, and principles, introduced the policy of collecting the remnants of the tribes, and removing them to an independent colony in the area of the indigenous tribes west of the Mississippi. There they have been, in their new position, considerably recuperated and redeemed from intestine wars with each other, taught the value of agriculture and the arts, introduced to the knowledge of a common school education; and some of the tribes are beginning to appreciate the importance of local laws and a legislation suited to their state : this plan has commended itself to the highest approbation.

But such is the rapidity with which the population advances in the new States, and the indomitable energy and spirit with which it presses towards the shores of the Pacific, that the "indigenous tribes," who had received the Cis-Mississippi remnants, are already involved in the question which twenty-five years ago threatened the new tribes, (Vide Plate 24.) And the inquiry now is, how shall these wild hunter tribes be protected? They exist all along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. They inhabit the fertile regions of game and buffalo, at the sources of the Missouri and its upper tributaries. They spread from the Arkansas and Red rivers, into western Texas and New Mexico. They occupy the mountain gorges and passes of California. They are pressed by the natural course of events from the open shores of the Pacific, eastward from the Columbia and Sacramento valleys. The onward impulse of increasing Oregon and of awaking Washington, eschews them. Utah, too, is disturbing

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them in their valley altitudes on the Rocky Mountains. Nebraska, though yet without sovereignty or legality of organization, declines to receive them. The Ottoe, the Missouria, the Omahaw, the Pawnee, and Arickaree tribes — the Mandan, Minnitarees, and Crow or Upsook nation, who were first brought to our notice by Lewis and Clark in 1804, begin to cast furtive glances around them, apprehensive for their territory. The Assiniboins, who have long resorted to Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellow-Stone, as their forest capital, must, in a few years, seek other haunts or resort to other means.

The present is a period of very great geographical activity. Expeditions have been organized and despatched, under an act of Congress, to survey the most feasible route for a rail-road from the Mississippi valley to the Pacific. One of these expeditions under Mr. Stevens, Governor of Washington, has just passed through the territories of the Dacotahs, the Assiniboins, and the Blackfeet, from the Falls of St. Anthony to the Yellow-Stone valley of the Missouri; and is now winding its way up to the summits of the Rocky Mountains, in lat. about 44°, and before these sheets are put to press will have reached its destination at Puget's Sound, the extreme north-western seat of territorial power in the United States. Another expedition of survey is searching the Southern Pass, which was first brought to our notice by the indomitable energies of Col. Fr×mont. Still another is searching the vast elevated plains and ca×¡ons of New Mexico.

Under these influences, the question of the geography of the Indian country assumes new interest, and we expect to be able in a future volume to present a body of information before the public, on this topic, of much value. In the mean time it is deemed fit to submit some general results of observation on the geographical problem involved. We have reached a point in our history, and the distribution of a rapidly and constantly increasing population, when this topic should be met on enlarged grounds. With a degree of enterprise, hardihood, and skill, such as it may be said, without injustice, no other nation has equalled, every proper inducement should be held out to guide this spirit of industry and enterprise, and keep it within the pale of timely legislation.

We cannot resist the tide of civilization that rolls across the Continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Nor can we interpose barriers to that spirit of individual enterprise which has marked, in a striking manner, the diffusion of population west of the Alleghanies; but we can the respective boundaries of population.

Much of our progress in settling the western world and bringing its resources and capacities into notice, is due to individual exertions. Men who have acted as the military pioneers of the region west of the Alleghanies, beginning with Washington himself, served to draw into these latitudes actors of great vigor and individuality of character, under whom the Western States have been planted and settled. They were men who literally took their lives in their hands, and the country is most deeply indebted to them for what it is, and what it promises to be. And the progress of the

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west has created a body of successors to this daring class of pioneers, who were, in the most vital sense, public benefactors. Millions on millions of the richest plains and valleys are spread out before the enterprising citizens of the Mississippi valley, and indeed of the whole broad Union, to invite them to new fields of settlement. It is suitable, that geographical lines of boundary should be thrown out by Congress to these masses, to give fixity to their proportions, and to assure the settlers that the Government will, at proper times, protect and encourage them in their new residences.

But, at the same time, the native population should be duly regarded, and positions assigned to them on the public domains, where they may not only exist, but prosper.

The state of Indian society offers but a feeble resistance to determined men, operating with all the essential elements of civilization. The savage recoils before it like the game that flies before the resistless flames that sweep periodically over his own prairies. He has no fixed industry to fall back on when his game fails him — no stores of letters and knowledge to teach him the fallacy of hunter-life, and no pure faith to sustain him in the hour of trial. He himself needs these protecting legislative laws more, indeed, than the white man. He acquires territorial refuges where he may gird himself for the new encounter with civilization — more terrible to him than the panther or grizzly bear — until he learns the true arts and usages of life. For it is — after all his day-dreams and bright visions of the hunter-life, and all its poetic, but fallacious phases — it is to these arts, and to this newly-acquired wisdom, that he is to be indebted for prosperity, and to be protected from the wide-sweeping blast of barbarity which is hurrying the race, not only to extermination, but urging it on a path that will lead only to perdition.

It is not a part, but the whole geographical subject connected with the Indian territories, that we must encounter. We should not allow the full tides of settlement to overtake us unprepared, when we may be subject to be unduly controlled by personal questions. Nothing can be clearer than that all the continent, capable of tillage, will be settled; and while it lies in its present condition, there is no hindrance, but every inducement, to legislative predeterminations of those boundaries which are to carry its history to future times.

The Indian territory of the United States, lying between the line of the Mississippi and the Pacific, and extending south to the banks of the Rio Grande and the Gila, is delineated in a map which has been expressly drawn to show this fact, in Vol. III., Plate 21, p. 96. By an elaborate table, prepared by the Topographical Bureau, which accompanies the final report of the Census Bureau, just submitted to the Interior Department, to be laid before Congress (Nov. 1853), it is shown that the entire area of territory still possessed by the Indian tribes, is one million, seven hundred and thirty-four thousand, five hundred and ninety-five square miles. The details of the distribution of this territory are as follows:

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a. Indian Territory	187,171	square miles.
b. Minnesota Territory	141,839	"
c. Nebraska Territory	136,700	"
d. New Mexico	210,774	"
e. Northwest Territory.	528,725	"
f. Oregon Territory.	341,463	"
g. Utah Territory.	187,923	"
Total	1,734,595	"

This result, which has been prepared with great care, is of course but approximative of the true area. But it may be deemed sufficiently near the actual quantity to serve all the purposes of generalization. Some two hundred thousand square miles should be deducted for recent purchases in Minnesota, and other territories. And there are questions connected with the details of State and Territorial lines, such as those arising from the completeness of our territorial rights, as well de facto as de jure, arising from the Spanish treaty title in California and New Mexico. Nor, if this were indisputable, would it seem an easy task, if the extinction of the title were desirable at this or future periods, to fix any fiscal value on such vast areas of vacant land as those traversed by the barren ranges of the Stony Mountains. But of this fact there is conclusive testimony; namely, that it is ample to provide suitable locations for the various tribes, who are compelled to transfer their locations.

In discussing this subject, questions of latitude and longitude are of the highest consequence. In all the northern latitudes south of 49° (and farther, into the British territories of Hudson's Bay and New Caledonia), the cereal grains, where the soil is arable, can be relied on as profitable crops, year in and year out. At Cass Lake, on the sources of the Mississippi, in N. lat. 47°, and at the Mission of Red Lake, still within the boundaries of the United States, but a few minutes south of 49°, the zea maize is raised without difficulty. At the Red River settlements, in the Pembina region, it has not been known to fail at all, when not destroyed by floods. At Puget's Sound, as in the Willamette valley, it is always to be relied on. Throughout all this range of latitude and longitude, bordering the national boundary, wheat, oats, rye, and potatoes, amply reward the labors of the husbandman. I have seldom, or never, seen more vigorous productions of the field and garden, than marks the area of Minnesota; and the same vigor of production, by all accounts, marks the region of arable plains reaching west and north-west from the Minnesota, the Sac, and the Crow-wing rivers, to the settlements of Hudson's Bay, on Red River. The great buffalo plains which reach from the sources of the St. Peter's or Minnesota, and Red River of the North, to the banks of the Missouri, and stretch from its great northern bend to the waters of the Cheyenne, the Mouse, and Saskatchawine rivers, are probably, by their climate and fertility, destined hereafter to sustain as dense a population of agriculturists, as any part of America.

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It is in these temperate latitudes that agriculture is performed without irrigation; while its healthfulness and salubrity of atmosphere, summer and winter, render them a geographical theatre peculiarly suitable to the inhabitants of temperate and northern climates. Their occupancy, by full and dense settlements, is a mere question of time; and it is believed that half the period which has marked our national history, will show the best parts of this northern region to sustain as many persons to the square mile as any State in the Union. Compare large portions of the arid tracts of upper Texas, of New Mexico, and of California, with this northern region, for its agricultural capacities, and the former must sink into insignificance.

Commencing on the parallel of north lat. 49° at the Lake of the Woods, and pursuing it to the Pacific, with an inward breadth of some seven degrees of latitude, and it is believed to contain an ample area for eight or ten new Territories and future States, with an average of fifty-five thousand square miles each, excluding arid and mountainous tracts; the germs of but three of which Territories, namely, Washington, Oregon, and Minnesota, have been designated. The outlines of the new Territories may be sketched, without awaiting the course of rapidly developing events. Between the boundaries that must ultimately be assigned to the States of the Pacific coast, and the line of the Rocky Mountains east of them, there is a tract of country suitable for two large Territories, lying on the north and south banks of the Columbia, without trenching on a large interior basin or area, to be set apart for the Indian tribes of that quarter, who can probably be induced in that locality, as game fails, to turn shepherds and graziers, and raise tame animals when the run of wild ones ceases. Beginning on the Pacific, Oregon and Washington form the extreme western head of this new tier of future States. On the east of the mountains, the sources of the Missouri, the valley of the Yellow-Stone, and its natural contiguities of territory, comprehend the present nucleus of another Territory, to be erected on the hunting-grounds of the Upsarokas. South of this geographical line, along the west banks of the Missouri, extends the contemplated Territory of Nebraska.

By extending a line from Big-Stone Lake, a little north of the St. Peter's, westward to the Missouri river, and east to the boundary of Wisconsin, Minnesota would be suitably bounded on the north; and by dropping a line from the C×¤teau du Prairie to the north line of Iowa, there would be left, west of such a line and the Missouri river, a fertile level tract, having the Jacques river running through it, which is now the hunting-ground of the inland Dacotahs.

Between the Upsaroka territory and the source of the Mississippi, in Itasca Lake, extends a vast and fertile tract, which is now the range of the buffalo. A Territory erected on this area, which might bear its cognomen appropriately from the origin of the Father of Waters, would command triple outlets to a market, by the Mississippi, and its great affluents and the lake basins. The remaining area north-west of Lake Superior, and east of the Mississippi, having the north line of Minnesota as a basis,

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would have its western boundary appropriately fixed by a due north line from the Falls of Packagama. This would embrace the still unpurchased mineral region lying on Lake Superior, between Fond du Lac and Pigeon river.

In each of the new territories of the United States, policy requires that there should be a reservation or designated tract, of some 500,000 acres, as a refuge for the resident tribes of the territory, where they may be taught and practise agriculture and the arts. On this subject there is a great delusion. The experiments made sufficiently teach us, that the Indian should be compelled to obey laws. Force alone can teach correct conduct to the wild tribes. They must be compelled to feel the penalty of crime. Over these assigned territories the civil and criminal laws of the Union should be extended and enforced; with the proviso, that no Indian should be incarcerated for debt, nor any property possessed by him levied on for debt, except in cases where the real and personal property of such individuals exceeds a fixed amount. Over each such assigned territory, or Indian community, there should be a General Agent, with full and peremptory judicial and legal functions, to hear and try all cases arising from questions of crime, property, or right. There should also be a military post. Indian sovereignty is, for a hunter tribe, a delusion. There should be but one set of economical, political, moral, and religious truths for red and white men, and whatever conflicts with these, is founded in error. Experience teaches us, that the laws and maxims of civilized life are well calculated to benefit the Indian, and raise his standard of morals and principles.

2. Sectional View of the Great Lake Basins, (Being the Ancient Seats of the Algonquin and Iroquois Power,) and Their Striking Inter-Oceanic Position Between the Atlantic and the Mississippi Valley Tribes. A Suitable Position as a Refuge for the Chippewas.

IF ever there was a country on the face of the earth, which, by a figurative use of language, deserves to be called, "a land flowing with milk and honey," it is the sixfold basin of the great American Lakes, extending from the foot of Lake Ontario to the head of Lake Superior, together with a region draining much of the highlands separating them from the waters of Hudson's Bay. A chain of ship navigation, extending through expansive lakes, by curvilinear lines, for five thousand miles, at an average continental elevation of six hundred feet above tide-water, is a feature in American geography which belongs to no other country on the globe. And this far-reaching line of internal nautical communication is bordered with the most fertile body

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of lands. In addition to its agricultural resources, it yields salt, coal, gypsum, iron lead, and copper, in extensive quantities. It is connected, by canals of perfect lockage, with the Atlantic Ocean, through the Hudson; the Miami of the Lakes; the Ohio; the Illinois; Pox and Wisconsin rivers; and the St. Louis. The area is crossed with railroads, from east to west, north and south, finished, or in progress, for thousands of miles. The respective lakes themselves are navigated by fleets of coasting ships and steamers. Ten millions of inhabitants live on the margin of the States along the borders of these immense bodies of water; which are, indeed, but that they are of fresh water, perfect seas. The flag of the Union is carried on these waters, as another Mediterranean, and they bear armed fleets in time of war.

The Indian — of whose life, condition, and vicissitudes these data are illustrative — yet lingers on several tracts in this great panorama. He looks on the growing creations of civilization, and wonders. He queries, whether in all this display of rapid prosperity, there is also a hope of a permanent abiding-place and fixed prosperity for him. It was, but a few years ago, a part of his hunting-grounds, where he pursued the moose, the elk, the bear, and the buffalo. Here he worshipped the Great Spirit, aforetime, in dreamy hallucinations. It was his, at least, to give names, from his expressive vocabulary, to these magnificent sheets of water, and they constitute traits of his mental history.

These inland seas, linked together as they are by straits, and connected with the Atlantic by canals, form a striking means of approach to the tier of new territories and States we have been contemplating. By them vessels and steamers can approach towards the Rocky Mountains, to the parallel of longitude of Boon's Lick, in Missouri; for this place lies in the same parallel of longitude as Fond du Lac, at the head of Lake Superior.

These great bodies of water are also linked, at several distinct points, through connecting rivers, with the valley of the Upper Mississippi, to which they thus constitute the great outlet to the emporium of New York. They are the natural recipients of several large rivers which flow from the borders of this great valley, in a long line of dividing lands, which stretch from Chicago, at the head of Lake Michigan, to Fond du Lac, at the head of Lake Superior. The whole course of the Upper Mississippi is, in fact, a natural appendage to the trade and resources of this great system of lakes. This will more fully appear from a few considerations.

The parallel of 49° passes north of the great diluvial elevations separating the waters flowing into Hudson's Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, from those of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Mississippi river originates in these eminences, in the Itasca basin, lying in latitude 47° 13' 35", at a distance from the Gulf of Mexico of a fraction over three thousand miles. "This lake," we quote from a MS. Geol. Report of 1822, "rests in a drift formation, consisting of marine sand, pebbles and boulders, which rise to a maximum of 138 feet above the level of the lake. This formation is superimposed on

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green stone trap, sienite, and crystalline hornblende, heavy boulders of which lie at the Kabica falls below Itasca Lake; in the valley of the St. Louis river, and at St. Mary's falls; and they are perceived to be scattered through the basins of Lakes Superior and Huron. The force by which these fragments were carried, evidently operated from the north and north-east; and they constitute a striking geological appearance in the lake basins.

LAKE SUPERIOR.

"This lake has been the central theatre of volcanic upheavals. Not only dykes of melted rocks have been forced up from beneath into elevated positions, but these compact and black rocks, which have a marked extent, have been penetrated with metallic veins of copper, and with traces of silver. It is remarkable that these veins have not been filled with carbonates, sulphurets, and arseniates; but it appears as if the caloric intensity had been such as to reduce these salts and oxides to a metallic state; for it is in this condition that the copper is most abundantly found. The trap rock is seen everywhere to be the copper-bearing rock. A striking instance of this formation occurs at the mouth of the Montreal river, where the entire stream, in order to reach to the level of Lake Superior, is pitched from the height of the vertical red sandstone, at a single leap. This view is represented in Plate 26.

In passing down the southern coast of this lake, from Lapointe to the end of the long peninsula of Keweena, the eye is constantly engaged in scenes of these ancient upheavals of the trap rock. This line of development, after crossing the Ontonagon river, in its course westward, has lifted up the coarse red, or chocolate-colored sandstone from its horizontal, into nearly a vertical position; reaching an extreme elevation of at least eighteen hundred feet in the range called Kaug Wudju, or the Porcupine Mountains. This local chain, seen in the approach from the great copper-yielding peninsula, and mellowed by the distance, has assumed to the natives the shape and appearance of a couching porcupine, its usual attitude of defence. Hence the name — from kaug, a porcupine or hedgehog, and wudju, a mountain. The view is one that owes much of its interest to the magnificence of the water prospect. Vide Plate 25."

ABORIGINAL POPULATION.

The whole region of the upper lakes, which we have been contemplating, is occupied by bands of Chippewas and Ottowas, who are identical in their lineage, language, history, manners, and customs. They were found here on the arrival of the French, in the early part of the seventeenth century, and were called by their historians, together with certain affiliated tribes, Algonquins. The term Chippewa, bestowed by travellers on the tribe occupying the lake, is derived from the native word O-jib-wa, a phrase of doubtful etymology; the penultimate syllable, however, denoting voice, in all its combinations.

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A fine race of men — tall in person, active hunters, brave and expert warriors, good orators and shrewd counsellors, and speaking a language at once soft and sonorous, the Chippewas have exercised a prominent part in Indian history. They were one of the parties to the original treaty made by General Wayne, at Greenville, in 1793, at which they ceded Michilimackinac; and the government is indebted to them for cessions at Detroit, in 1807, at Saginaw, in 1819, and at Sault Ste. Marie, in 1820: they were also one of the parties to the treaty of Chicago, in 1821. It was not till 1836 that they began, with their kinsmen the Ottowas, to cede very large sections of their ancient patrimony in the Lakes, comprehending the northern portion of the peninsula of Michigan, the south and north coasts of Lake Huron, the straits of St. Mary's, and large areas on Lake Superior.

MICHILIMACKINAC.

In 1836, the Chippewa and Ottowa tribes were assembled, en masse, at the United States' Agency on the island of Michilimackinac, to receive the first annuities and presents secured by the treaty of the preceding month of March, by which they had ceded some fifteen millions of acres. This was an event of high importance, and the scene was one of the most imposing known to their history. Between three and four thousand Indians were crowded on the island. They displayed their picturesque costume to the admiration of beholders, who saw their light bark canoes turned up on the narrow lines of beach for miles, backed by their wigwams of bark. This island has always attracted the notice of visitors for its picturesque beauties. Rising to the height of several hundred feet, abruptly from the lake — abounding in sylvan glens and heights, and commanding wide and most magnificent views of the broad sheet of the Huron, and with an air and temperature that is most exhilarating, no scene can well surpass it in varied attractions. Vide Plate 42.

In 1842, these cessions, on Lake Superior, were extended to Fond du Lac. By the treaty of St. Peter's, of 1837, this tribe ceded the tract, from a point opposite the De Corbeau or Crow-wing river, to the highlands which separate the streams flowing into Lake Superior east, from the sources of the St. Croix, Chippewa, and Wisconsin rivers. In 1847 they granted the tract immediately west of the Mississippi river, lying between the Watab and Crow-wing river, to which the Winnebagoes have subsequently been removed; and also a separate tract lying north of Leaf river, extending up the Crow-wing river, and reaching to Ottertail Lake, 46° 24', (Owen), at the south-east source of Red river of Great Lake Winnipeak, which is designed as the future home of the Menomines.

By these treaties, the left banks of the Upper Mississippi were cleared of Indian title, from the ancient settlements and concessions at Prairie du Chien, to the Crow-wing river, latitude 46° 16' 50"; and, on its right bank, from the influx of the

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upper Iowa river. These curtailments of their geographical area were preceded by extensive disturbances in the north.

The year 1832 was marked by a hostile combination of several of the leading tribes of the Upper Mississippi and the Lakes. The Sac chief, Black Hawk, commenced his war. The tribes adjacent to the Sacs and Foxes sympathized with the latter in the hostilities, without openly going into the contest. By instructions early issued, and agents despatched into the disturbed districts, the government reached and checked a growing combination on the Upper Mississippi. Being-selected as one of these agents, and provided with the means of observation, as well as military protection, I pushed these discoveries north to the actual source of the Mississippi, in Itasca Lake. Lieutenant James Allen, U. S. A., furnished an authentic map of the river, as the result of these explorations, from the point at which the search had been dropped in 1820.

The usual results followed this ill-advised project of Black Hawk. He was overpowered and made captive, with his adherents, late in the fall of the same year; and himself and his friends suffered the penalty of attempting to deny or annul a prior treaty, by the necessity they brought themselves under, of making new concessions. Six years of a state of peace followed this war, during which, the progress of white population from the east to the west betokened rapid and extensive changes; and the tribes made incipient arrangements to surrender their line on the Mississippi, below the Iowa river. Wisconsin and Iowa began rapidly to assume strength.

In 1839, surveyors were despatched by the Treasury Department to subdivide the lands lying in northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa; and a valuable report of Mr. Owen, on the topographical and geological features of the country, was published in 1840. This was followed, in 1848, by a report of explorations reaching higher up the east banks of the river, extending to the St. Croix and Rum rivers, which was also replete with topographical and geographical data of the highest value.

These reports were more fully digested and consolidated by him in 1851, including the results of a reconnoissance to Ottertail Lake and Red river, and to the interesting tertiary formation of Mauvais Terre, of Nebraska, on the Missouri, which have been recently published, by Congress, in an elaborate quarto volume of 637 pages, with illustrations.

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ADVANCE OF THE ANGLO-SAXON RACE TO LAKE SUPERIOR.

In 1839, the lands south of Lake Superior, which had been purchased in 1836, were put in a course of survey, which was entrusted to the hands of Dr. Douglas Houghton, who had been geologist and botanist to the expedition to Itasca, in 1837. Subsequently, the tracts purchased at Lapointe, in 1842, were ordered to be surveyed, and committed to the direction of Dr. Jackson. Mr. Agassiz visited the basin of Lake Superior in 1846; and we have, indirectly from him, observations on the courses and intensity of the volcanic eruptions which have convulsed, at an ancient era, this interesting mineral and igneous region.

These surveys and geological observations have been subsequently continued, since the death of the lamented Dr. Houghton, by Charles Whittlesy, Esq., and by Dr. J. G. Norwood; and they are of high value to all who desire to acquire just views of the geological phenomena which are brought into discussion.

In this manner the dominions of science have been extended towards the north and west, and we have become acquainted with the geological structure, productions, and value of the immense line of interior trans-Mississippian Indian country.

Still we have no precise information that reaches beyond the borders of Lake Superior, north of a line extending west from its head, across the Mississippi at the Crow-wing river, to the banks of Red River of the North, and embracing the vast angle of arable country, diluvial drift, and bed-rock, extending to N. latitude 49°, possessed by the Chippewa nation.

I am induced, by this idea, to make the following extracts from a manuscript report of a geological exploration of it, made in 1822, with which I am favored from the Topographical Bureau, by its distinguished chief, Col. Abert.

"A region which Pike had rendered celebrated by his arduous journey la the winter of 1805 and 1806, and respecting which, some leading points in its geography had been at that time left indeterminate, cannot but excite continued interest and curiosity. In generalizing the facts observed in so wide a field, it must be recollected that the expedition had important objects relating to the policy, numbers, and feelings of the Indian tribes, to which questions of this kind were forced to give way; that the transit over the country was necessarily rapid; and that few opportunities of elaborate or long-continued observations occurred on the route. The geologist must often sieze his facts with rapidity, and although he may carry with him materials for generalization, he is compelled, in hasty reconnoissances, to rely frequently upon brief examinations for his knowledge of rocks, soils, displacements and outcrops, the inclination and juxtaposition of strata, &c. Especially is this the case in passing through such a

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country as has been visited, and in exploring a region which is, emphatically, a wilderness. The immense erratic block-formation at the source of the Mississippi, and the heavy marine drift that forms, as it were, a mantle to the rock-strata, effectually prevent observation, except at deep cuttings of streams and detached points. Such means of observation as I had, I have preserved in my memoranda; and in my recollections a panorama of scenes and formations, which constitute a most interesting and magnificent line of lake and river coasts, cataracts, prairies, and forests.

"To prepare the mind to appreciate the record of changes and displacements in the physical structure of the country, it may be observed, that the Continent has experienced some of its most striking mutations of structure arising from volcanic action, at, and north of, the chain of the Great Lakes. That chain is itself rather the evidence of disruptions and upheavals of formations, which give its northern coasts, to some extent, the character of very ancient theatres of volcanic action. These lakes, except Ontario above Kingston and Erie, indicate the boundaries between the primitive and secondary strata. But however striking the fact of this separation may appear at particular localities, such as on the Straits of St. Mary, of which the east and west shores are, at most parts, geologically of different construction, yet nothing in the grand phenomena of the whole region visited, is so remarkable as the boulder or erratic block-stratum, which is spread generally from the highest latitudes of the north, to those of the south. Some of the blocks of rock are enormous, and would seem to defy any known power of removal from their parent beds. The largest of these blocks have the most obscure marks of attrition. Others have had their angles completely removed. By far the greater number of these transported boulders are quite smooth and rounded by the force of attrition. This drift-stratum has been forced and scattered from its northern latitudes, over the surface of the limestones, sandstones, amygdaloids, and trap-rocks of the Lakes. It is mixed profusely with the diluvial soils of Michigan and Illinois; but it is evident that, in its dispersion south, the heaviest pieces have settled first, while comparatively minute boulders have been carried over or spread in the plains and prairies of Ohio, southern Illinois, and Indiana, and more southernly regions.

"Nobody, with an eye to its geology, can mistake the heavy boulder deposits, which mark the southern shores of Huron, and become still more abundant in the valley of the St. Mary's, on the shores of Lake Superior, and along the foaming channels of the St. Louis and the Upper Mississippi. Districts abounding with granitic and sienitic rocks, in place, as that of which the promontory of Granite Point (Nar. Jour.) is an example, had been elevated by the upheaving forces before the sedimentary sandstones of this basin were deposited, since the latter are adjusted accurately to the asperities of the granitical masses. These masses,

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reaching to mountain altitudes, between the Chocolate and Huron rivers of this coast, are re-appearances of the chain of primary rocks which terminate at Gros Point, at the north cape of St. Mary's river. After passing under the sandstones of Point Iroquois; — the Taquamenon Falls; — the sandy tracts stretching from White-fish Point; — the striking elevations of the great sand-dunes of the Grand Marais, and the elevated coasts of the Pictured Rocks, reaching quite to Carp and Chocolate rivers, they rise in the Granite Point Mountains, in conical peaks, which characterize the Superior shores, near Ance Keweena. Continuing west, we next have the trap series, with their copper veins, which stretch westward to, and beyond, Montreal river, till they once more arise in the granitic series lying west of the bay of St. Charles, Lapointe island, and Cranberry river. Still following the primitive development west and north-west, under the sandstone elevations of the Muskego or Bad river, the Namakagon, the St. Croix and Rum rivers, they re-appear, with the same shining and crystalline character, and the same sparseness of mica in their constitution, until reaching the Mississippi river, which they cross above St. Anthony's Falls, between the Sauk and De Corbeau rivers.

"St. Anthony's Falls, a view of which is given in Plate 28, are upon and over the sandstone strata which are overlaid, on the shores, by the metalliferous and carboniferous series. This series rests upon and against the primitive rocks, at, probably, less than half a day's journey above the falls. The Mississippi, at these falls, drops, in fact, into a valley, whose sides form series of picturesque cliffs, embracing wider and wider tracts of the most fertile bottom land, till they reach near to the mouth of the Ohio; — the Cave-in-Rock knobs, and the cliffs of the Grand Tower and the Missouri shore. These form the very expanded geological jaws through which the river pours its waters into its vast diluvial region, constituting that Nilotic delta of which the Balize marks its extreme protrusion into the Gulf of Mexico. Not less than three thousand miles are required for the display and evolutions of this river; and when we revert to its source, it is found to be on a continental summit of less than eighteen hundred feet elevation above the Atlantic. This summit is formed by an upheaval of the crystalline and trap rocks which form such striking displays in the basin of Lake Superior.

FORMATION AT THE SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

"In order to comprehend the geology of this region, it is necessary to premise, that this continental elevation of the granitic series, moderate as it is, bears a heavy mass of drift strata, all of which are the material of pre-existing and broken-down formations. These appear to have been chiefly sandstones, slates, schistose rocks, amygdaloids, and traps; the latter of which have existed in vast dykes in the underlying ranges, conformably to the system exhibited in the basin of Lake Superior. (Vide Geol. Map, herewith.)

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"This height of land begins immediately west of the basin and river of the Rainy Lake. It subtends the utmost sources of the Mississippi, and reaches to the summit, and continues south, of Ottertail Lake, where it divides the utmost tributaries of the Bed River of the North from those of the Corbeau, or Crow-wing river, and the river St. Louis of Lake Superior. This elevated range serves to condense the vapors of the surrounding waters. The drift serves as an admirable filter for this moisture, which is finally arrested by vast beds of clay, resulting from the comminuted clay-slates and schists. To these causes of watery accumulation, are added the usual rains and snows. The effect has been, that the amount of these condensed and atmospheric sources of moisture, sinking into the sandy beds till they are arrested by the argillaceous sub-soil, pours out, in crystal streams and springs, on all sides. It acts, therefore, as the primary water-shed, not only for the Mississippi and the Red River of Hudson's Bay, but is not a small source of supply for the great lakes and the Niagara, and through it, for the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

BASIN OF LAKE MICHIGAN.

"This basin stretches about three hundred and fifty miles, from north to south. It is deeply seated in the lake formation of sandstones, limestones, and schists, including probably the northern edge of the coal strata. The piles of horizontal compact limestone at the entrance of Green Bay; — the solid beds of tertiary clay of Milwaukie; — and the bleak sand-dunes on its eastern shores, extending, with intervals, from the Konomik to the coast opposite the Manito isles, constitute very striking features. At Chicago the wide and level prairie diluvion of the Mississippi valley comes quite to the shores of the lake, forming its southern margin, and developing a striking point of union of the great lake and prairie systems. The sketch of this spot, Plate 27, is drawn from a view taken on the arrival, at that place, of the expedition. It exhibits Fort Dearborn, as it then stood, the house of Mr. Kinzie, the patriarch of the place, the United Indian Agency and shops, and the dwellings of a few traders and residents, who comprised the population of the hamlet."

CHIPPEWA COLONY.

In submitting these remarks on the lake basins and the region at the sources of the Mississippi, occupied by the Chippewas, it may be added, that the latter affords every desirable requisite for a colony of refuge for that nation. The number of its lakes enables the Indians to supply themselves with fish, which are quite abundant in all the larger basins of transparent waters in these regions. The numerous streams by which it is intersected, are scenes of great attraction for water-fowl. They also still afford, in moderate quantities, the small furred animals, whose skins are sought. Most

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of the lakes, indeed all of them whose waters are shallow, afford the species of native rice on which this tribe has so long relied. And notwithstanding the large sphagenous and worthless tracts in some districts, and arid ridges of sand, or hard gravel and sand, in others, the proportion of fertile soil, which, in its natural state, yields maple, elm, and other hard wood species, far exceeds these bad tracts. Maple-sugar is the product of every considerable district; and this item, with its game, completes the list of the reliances of the Indians while they are in a hunter state. And they must continue to be ever desirable resources to them, while they go through the incipient stages of agriculture, and until they can fully and boldly rely on the latter. In addition to this, it is a region covered with forests, and therefore will long supply them fencing and fuel. The labor of digging wells is not required, as running streams and small lakes are so abundant as to supply their settlements with water until they become quite dense. Above all, it is eminently healthful, and its climatic phenomena of spring, summer, and winter, are such as to commend the region strongly to their approbation, habits, and manners.

Assuming the Chippewa population now there, or which is due to the region by existing treaties, at 7000, the area is most ample, and, indeed, suitable for a large colony. The boundary of an Indian colony, in this quarter, might be included in a line running south from the parallel of 49°, so as to strike the outlet of Red Lake; to be continued till it reaches the outlet of Ottertail Lake; thence due east to the Mississippi river, following its channel upwards to the Falls of Puckaguma; thence due north to the national boundary. This would create a compact and shapely territory, avoiding the intermediate valley of Red river, but securing all the upper parts of the affluents to it. It might, under certain conditions, be made to include the entire area east of the Mississippi, to the British possessions on the Rainy Lake boundary; embracing the mineral coasts of Lake Superior, and thus become an appendage to the commercial system of that interior ocean.

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Title V. — Subjective Division, Tribal Organization, History, and Government. — General Analysis of Title V.

Title V., Let. A., Vol. I. [1ST PAPER.]

GENERIC REMARKS ON THE GROUPS OF TRIBES IN THE UNITED STATES.

1. Shoshonee or Snake Indians.
2. Indians of Oregon, the Rocky Mountains, and Pacific Coasts.
3. Comanches, and Texas Tribes generally.
4. Indian Tribes of New Mexico.
5. Dacotahs of the Mississippi, with respect to their Medical Knowledge.
6. Missouri Valley Indians, as affected by Small-pox.
7. Tribes on the Santa F× Trail.
8. Muscogees or Creeks.
9. Massachusetts Indians.
10. Indian Population of Kentucky.
11. Menomonies and Chippewas.
12. Mascotins and Assiguaigs.
13. Chickasaws.

Title V., Let. B., Vol. II. [2ND PAPER.]

14. Niuni or Comanche Nation.
15. Ojibwas — their Traditions.
16. Sioux or Dacotahs, (a.)

Title V., Let. C., Vol. III. [3D PAPER.]

17. Iroquois Republic.
18. Tribes of Oregon and California.
19. Sioux or Dacotah Proper, (5.)
20. Mandans.
21. Iowas, (a.)
22. Iowas and Sacs, (b.)
23. Hochungaras.
24. Winnebagoes, (a.)
25. Eries, (a.)
26. Catawbas.
27. Pimos of the Gila.
28. Moqui of New Mexico.

TITLE V., LET. D., VOL. IV. [4TH PAPER.]
29. Eries, (b.)
30. The Neutral Nation.
31. Navajoes of New Mexico.
32. New Mexican Tribes generally.
33. Root-Diggers, &c., of California.
34. Winnebagoes, (b.)
35. Mascoutins — a lost Tribe.

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V. Tribal Organization, History, and Government. D.

Synopsis of Papers.

1. A Sketch of the History of the Ancient Eries. By H. R. S.
2. Inquiries respecting the Lost Neutral Nation. By J. G. Shea, Esq.
3. An Account of the Navajoes of New Mexico. By Maj. E. Backus, U. S. A.
4. Description of the true State and Character of the New Mexican Tribes. By Lt. Col. J. H. Eaton, U. S. A.
5. Manners, Customs, and History of the Root-Diggers and other California Tribes. By Adam Johnson.
6. Origin, History, and Traits of the Winnebagoes. By Jonathan E. Fletcher, Esq., U. S. Agt.
7. Brief Researches in the Missionary Authors, respecting the Mascoutins of the French Era. By John Gilmary Shea, Esq.

1. A Sketch of the History of the Ancient Eries.

OF the tribes who have figured in American history, and who have left their names on the territory, the fate of none has excited a deeper interest than that of the Eries; and they are perpetually brought to remembrance by the noble lake which bears their name. Charlevoix informs us that they were exterminated in 1655. Other authorities place the event in 1653. The territory occupied by them, agreeably to these authors, was the celebrated valley of the Niagara river. On its south banks their limits extended nearly from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie, with an indefinite breadth towards the Genesee river. But on its northern margin, they were found spreading to

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a certain, but not great distance up Lake Erie, and eastwardly along the northern head-waters of Lake Ontario. According to the most moderate computation, they had twelve thousand souls, and four thousand fighting-men. They are stated to have had twenty-eight villages, and twelve large towns or forts. The country they possessed is described as eminently fertile, yielding the usual articles of Indian production; and it abounded in all the game of its latitudes. They were under the government of a queen called Yagowanea, otherwise called by the French and Senecas, Gegosasa. In 1626, in the outset of the great effort made by New France to civilize and Christianize the Indians, the Eries were visited, and the peculiarity for which they are most celebrated was first brought to notice.

This peculiarity was the fact of their neutrality between fierce and powerful contending nations. Hence they were called by the French the Neutral Nation. They spoke a dialect of the Iroquois. By one authority, this is declared to be a dialect of the Huron type of this language; by another, the particular relationship is stated to be Seneca. The neutrality spoken of was established between these two fraternal warring parties and their respective allies, namely, the Wyandots and Five Nations.

The settlement of Canada by the French, produced a split in the great Iroquois family; the Wyandots adhering to the Gallic side, and the Five Nations to the Dutch and English. In this feud of the Iroquois, the Algonquin tribes, (or, as they were called by the confederates, Adirondacks,) who were at war with them aforetime, were glad to make allies of the French and Wyandots. Between these, the Eries occupied a geographical position on the banks of the Niagara. They had already, from propinquity and habits, formed a close alliance with an Algonquin tribe on the west and north of Lake Ontario, called Mississaugies. They were nearly related to both the Wyandots and Five Nations. Neutrality was their only salvation. It was a delicate position, and required great wisdom to preserve it. Neuter nations, when the period for action arrives, are apt to offend both sides. It was certainly so with the Eries, They finally offended both Wyandots and Iroquois; but it was the latter who turned upon them, with great fury and power, and in a short and sanguinary war, extinguished their nationality.

The cause and events of this war are left in obscurity by the French missionary authors, to whom we are so much indebted for facts in the early epoch of our Indian history in the northern hemisphere. It appears, from researches and quotations which are made in the sequel to these remarks, that the Eries were visited as early as 1626, by the two missionaries, Sagard and De la Roche d'Allyon, who earnestly sought to

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open and consolidate Christian relations with them; but they encountered extraordinary obstacles, and on one occasion a beating, from a misrepresentation of their motives by the Wyandots, who were fearful that such intercourse would lead to a trade with the French of Quebec and Montreal — a trade which they now eminently enjoyed, through the ancient and roundabout way of the great channels of the Ontawa and French rivers, to their advanced position in Lake Huron. Owing to this opposition, Sagard withdrew all his efforts, and confined them exclusively to the Wyandots, among whom he labored, and, in the end, suffered at the stake.

Owing to these causes the affairs of the Eries were not subject to the cognizance of the French missionaries, and when, at the distance of many years later in the century, the way was in some measure opened to their access into the Iroquois country, they found the Niagara valley in the possession of the Onundawaga or Senecas, and the tradition was then fresh that they, the Eries, had been expelled in a bloody war, and exterminated. We have given the traditionary date of this event from the great historian of New France, in a preceding page. It was the enterprise of La Salle that first opened the great lakes to commerce, and by its prestige and consequences, ecclesiastical and commercial, caused geography to recognize the Mississippi river. Sufficient time had elapsed in the new epoch of missionary enterprise in New France, from 1655 to 1678, to cast a dreamy interest over the story of the extinction of the Eries; and their fate and fortunes have ever since continued to be the theme of historic sympathy and regret.

The veil that conceals their history is lifted in a curious, ill-digested, and obscure pamphlet of Indian traditions, by a semi-educated Tuscarora, which was printed in the ancient country of the Iroquois in western New York, in 1825. According to this account, the war was caused by an act of perfidy. Yogowanea, the queen of the Eries, was, in some respects, another Zenobia. She is called the Mother of Nations, (p. 32.) She was placed at the head of the nation, having twelve strong-holds, or forts, under command. Her wampum and peace-pipe were held sacred. The central point of power was at a place called Kienuka, on the Niagara Ridge, and not remote from the present village of Tuscarora. Protected by the sanctity of her character and office, as keeper of the symbolic house of peace, she had a contiguous edifice, where she received messengers and ambassadors from the Five Nations, Wyandots, Mississagies, and others.

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It is evident that her authority extended not only to the foot of Lake Erie, where the strongest fort, called Kaukathay, was seated, but across the Niagara river and along the head of Lake Ontario, where an outrage occurred, which she caused summarily to be punished, which led, indeed, to the fatal breach of the peace, and had the instant effect to forfeit her character for neutrality. The circumstances were these — Two Canandaigua (Seneca) warriors (p. 32) had been received, and began to smoke the peace-pipe, when a deputation of Mississagies, from the north of the Niagara, were announced. They informed her that the two warriors had just returned from the assassination of the son of their principal chief. They demanded the right of blood, and this demand was yielded, contrary to the sanctity of the refuge which they had sought. The visitors were betrayed and executed by the Mississagies. Intelligence of this violation of her office spread in every direction. The Iroquois tribes, who were the aggrieved party, flew instantly to arms. She despatched messengers to explain her position to Onondaga; to Kaquatka (the modern Buffalo), where the principal commander of the Eries resided; she also sent messengers to form an alliance with a powerful savage tribe, called Waranakarana (probably Andastes), who were encamped on the banks of Lake Erie. She went herself to Kaquatka. She raised a very large force, which proceeded rapidly towards the Genesee river.

In the mean time, she had no sooner left her quarters near Kienuka, than a woman slipped off quietly, taking a canoe along the shores of Lake Ontario, and informed the Canandaigua chiefs of the murder of their warriors. Shorikowani, the leading ruler, despatched two fast runners as spies, to proceed to Kienuka, to ascertain the facts. On coming near the fort, they encountered some boys in an old corn-field shooting squirrels, and easily obtained from them the facts, without exciting suspicion. Not waiting for aid from the Cayugas, Onondagas and other confederates, he immediately marched, in hot haste, with a force of fifteen hundred fighting-men, to attack the Eries at Kaquatka. The warriors proceeded in two divisions, led by different chiefs, the old men and women following with supplies. The bravest leaders were placed in command. Shorikowani led the whole, and had taken the precaution to send runners ahead, to observe the motions of the enemy. When he had reached a small lake east of the Genesee river, which is believed to be Geneseo, the army halted at a fart called Hawnesats. At this place the runners returned, and announced that the Eries had crossed the Genesee river with a large force. Shorikowani immediately planned an ambush on each side of the path. The first division, or young men, was directed to bring on the attack. As a decoy, a man was dressed in a bear-skin and directed to sit in the path, and when pursued to lead the enemy into the ambush. The plan succeeded, and brought them into the midst of the crouching Senecas, who set up a most horrible yell. Yet they were defeated, after a severe contest, and forced to flee. Shorikowani's second division now came up and renewed the fight. Both parties fought with great desperation and obstinacy. At length the Eries gave way and fled, but they gave a proof of

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their valor by leaving six hundred slain warriors on the field. They hurried to the Genesee and recrossed it. The leader of the Senecas was content not to press so desperate a foe, and returned to Canandaigua.

When the force of the Onondagas and other southern tribes came up to engage in this contest against the Eries, they mustered five thousand men. It was placed under the command of Shorikowani, a Mohawk. With this body, flushed with the victory of Geneseo, he crossed the Genesee river, and pushed on to attack the strong-hold of the Eries at Kaquatka, determined to extinguish their council-fire. But the place made a brave defence. The Eries hurled their arrows from the fort in such showers, that its capture seemed improbable. In this attack, the great chief Shorikowani was killed by an arrow. This disheartened the besiegers much. They carried back the body of the chief, and buried it, with great state and solemnity, at Canandaigua. Meantime, the siege was continued several days. In the end, the Queen sued for peace, which was granted; whereupon hostilities ceased, and the Eries were left in full possession of the country.

Thus terminated the first war with the Eries. How long, or permanently, the peace made on raising the siege of Kaquatka, was kept, is unknown. There is an authority for dating the first outbreak in 1634. The Eries had shown themselves capable of presenting a bold front, and to be effective combatants with the dart and club; expert in action, and subtle in council. In addition to their own forces, it has been seen that the queen, Yogowanea, had engaged savage auxiliaries. There are notices to show that they pushed their detached forays and scalping-parties as far south as Onondaga.

La Moine informs us that in 1653, the war of the Iroquois with the Eries had newly broken out. But it is seen, by reference to a prior author, that the Senecas for the first time attacked them, under the name of Attenonderonk, in 1647, when they took with great slaughter the town of Aondironons. This town appears to have been in the present area of Canada, north-east of the Niagara; and the onset of the Senecas was so severe, that, owing also to the outbreak of a pestilence, they migrated across the Niagara into the territory of (what is now) New York. If we apprehend rightly the date of Yogowanea's perfidy, and the true era of the rending of the bands of neutrality of the Erie tribe, sixteen years had now elapsed since the great battle of Geneseo, and little less since the unsuccessful siege of Kaquatka. This was not a comparatively long period of struggling hostility between two powers who were still on an equipoise as to strength and numbers, who both occupied a country of exuberant fertility, abounding with all the resources of aboriginal prosperity, and who were indeed, at best, with a few removes of affiliation, of the very same blood and language. They were on a par in bravery, subtlety, and forest wisdom, and the same in their military and tribal organization; governed by popular will, ready at an instant, marching without baggage, and hazarding all for the glory of warlike renown. This contest of Iroquois

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with Erie, was indeed like "Greek meeting Greek." For as yet, it must be remembered that the Iroquois, whose confederacy was not very ancient, had not prevailed against their two greatest foes, namely, the Algonquins and the Satanas. This is expressly stated by the most respectable historian of the Five Nations, who declares that it was the triumph of the confederates over the latter nation, that first inspired them with courage to attack successfully the Adirondacks. But it is certainly a misapprehension, in the vocabulary of words and names which precedes his work, to give "Shaonons" as the equivalent of Satanas (devils). By the term Satana, the Dutch, whose trade, at the era, extended as high as Onondaga or the Genesee, described, doubtless, the fierce and subtle Eries, whose deeds were rife on the breath of rumor. The French denoted them as the Cat nation, but also used this term at the same time, as the equivalent for Erie. Brebœuf uses the terms Eriee-honons and Chats, as equivalents. These authorities leave no uncertainty on the subject. Besides this, the Shawanees, who were also called, at an after period, Ch×ts by the French, and are so called at this clay, were in 1653 still living on the Savannah river, in Georgia, and engaged in desperate wars with the Cherokees.

Of the final war, which overwhelmed the Eries, and, in Indian phrase, put out their council-fire among the nations, I made inquiries, while engaged in taking the State census of the Iroquois, in 1845. Within ten years of two centuries had passed since that striking catastrophe; yet I found tradition, contrary to my expectation, to be alive and even active on the subject. The Senecas called them "Gwageoneh," and placed the turning battles on Buffalo and Eighteen-Mile Creek.

Warfare, with the Indian tribes, is ever conducted by stratagem and ambush. There is, it is believed, but a single instance in American history, in which they have boldly marched to battle against a European force. Tradition represents their war with the Eries as having been preceded by feats of running and athletic sports, which had a sanguinary issue. The Eries secretly mustered their force, and marched towards the Seneca country. In this movement they were discovered by a hunting-party of the Senecas, which had ventured west of the Genesee. The alarm was immediately spread, and the Senecas mustered a large force to meet the invaders. The battle occurred west of the Genesee. The Iroquois divided their warriors into two bodies, and made a fierce attack with their principal body, which, after a severe conflict, was driven back. They were, after falling back some distance, supported by a second body, called the young men, who turned the tide of battle against the Eries. Many were killed, in the hard contest, on both sides — many prisoners taken. The Senecas

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claim to have fought this battle with the Gawagensea alone, and without aid from the southern cantons. It is true that the Senecas always mustered the largest body of fighting-men; but all authorities concur in describing this war of extermination as the result of the whole force of the Iroquois confederacy, who, after a long protracted contest, carried their power completely west of the Genesee, and occupied the country, by conquest, up to the banks of the Niagara. "We are told that this final conquest was effected in two years after the renewal of the war, and that it terminated in 1655. That it was the result of many battles, in a region of large extent, lying on both sides of the Niagara river, is evident. It appears from Brebœuf, writing in 1647, that only four Erie towns were, at that date, on the south side of the Niagara — that the Eries and Petuns, or Tobacco Indians, who were Wyandots, had been pursued and slaughtered mercilessly in West Canada — a fact which is confirmed by the large amount of human bones which are found through that district of country. The result of the war might still have been doubtful against a people who were once estimated at twelve thousand fighting-men, had it not been for a pestilence which prevailed in the country north of the Niagara, which swept off greater numbers than even the club or arrow.

Seneca tradition affirms, that after the defeat of the most westerly bodies of the Eries, on the shores of Lake Erie, the survivors fled to the Alleghany river, called Oheo by them, down which they fled. Some of the French missionary authors distinctly affirm, that portions of them were incorporated with the Iroquois, and that they constituted an increment in the Iroquois missions, and founded that of La Prairie, near the city of Quebec. Their council-fire was, agreeably to the threat of the Onondaga council, put out. Their name was obliterated from the number of tribes. The places where they once dwelt knew them no more. The once sacred peace lodge of Yogowanea was demolished. Niagara ceased to pour its echoes through their lands, to animate them to heroic deeds; and they have left no monument to carry their name to distant ages, but the sonorous epithet of Lake Erie.

The ensuing observations and researches among the folios of the ancient missionary authors, are the result of careful studies. While they present a record of bygone exertions for the advancement and temporary exaltation of a race of men who appear destined to fade away before the firmer and progressive descendants of European stocks, they supply a chain of testimony which was before incomplete, that the long lost "Neuter Nation" of the French missionary fathers was the Eries, whose history and fortunes we have sketched. It is not inconsistent with this view, that some fragmentary portions of the tribe, unwilling to submit to so severe a fate, fled to distant regions in the west and south, as denoted by Evans and Jefferson. But it is to be added, that wherever they went, they were followed with the undying hatred of the Iroquois; and their name and lineage as a tribe are lost.

204 2. Inquiries Respecting the Neutral Nation. — Attinoindarons, Sagard, 351,753; Atiwendaronk, Rel., 1639, '40, '42,'43,'59,'60; Atti-Wandaronk, Rel., 1640-1; Ati-Rhagenrets, Rels., 1671, '73, '79; (MS.) Creuxius, 1790; Rhagenuatka, Rel., 1674, (Ms.)

AMONG the nations belonging to the Huron-Iroquois family, is one termed by the early French historians, the Neutral Nation, from the fact of their standing aloof in the great struggle between the Iroquois on the one side, and the Hurons (Wyandots) and Algonquins (Adirondacks) on the other.

They were of the same race as the Hurons and Iroquois, and lay between them. The Hurons consisted of four tribes: the Attig×¡awantan, the Attigneenonguahac, the Arendahronons, and the Scanonaerat, occupying a small tract on the banks of Lake Huron, not exceeding sixty or seventy-five miles in length, and twenty or twenty-five in breadth. They were of three totems — the Cord, Rock, and Bear. West-southwest of these, in the hills, lay the villages of the Tionontotes, called by the French, Petun, or Tobacco Indians, consisting of two totems, the Wolf and Stag. In New York lay the five Iroquois cantons, called by us the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, with the great totems of the Turtle, Wolf, and Bear, and several inferior ones. Between the Hurons and Petuns on the one side, and the Iroquois on the other, lay the villages of the Neutral Nation, called by the Hurons, Attiwandaronk. Their territory lay on both sides of the Niagara river, and extended from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, the great body lying, however, west of the Niagara. As all trace of them has now disappeared, and no band of them exists to give us their dialect and traditions — as they have vanished entirely as a nation, while the Hurons linger at Quebec, and the Tionontates are steadily advancing in wealth and numbers on the upland plains of Missouri, it becomes a matter of antiquarian research to gather what information may be had touching a nation thus faded away.

They were twice visited by Frenchmen, who have left us written accounts, enabling us to form some definite idea of the extent of their country, their numbers, government, and final ruin.

Appealing to Iroquois tradition, we can find merely that a tribe, governed in early times by a queen named Jegasaga, ruled on the Niagara and inhabited twelve well-fortified towns. The name of the queen, which signifies "Wild Cat," became that of the tribe. Such is the vague account which their tradition gives. Champlain, on his first map, makes no mention of them, locating other tribes in their territory; but on visiting the Huron country, heard of them; but on his map errs by placing them south

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of Lake Erie. In 1626, some years after Champlain's visit to the Huron country, Father Joseph de la Roche D'Allyon, a Recollect or Franciscan friar, proceeded thither, in company with Father John de Brebœuf and Father Anne de Noue, two Jesuits. The latter remained in the Huron country; de la Roche, encouraged by the advice, or guided by the orders of Father Le Caron, the Superior of the Missions, resolved to visit the territory of the Neuters. His object was to explore the country, and especially to discover the mouth of the river of the Iroquois or Niagara, in order to take the Neuters thence across the lake, to trade with the French, and thus furnish the missionaries facilities for entering to preach the gospel. An unbroken forest, five days' journey long, lay between the Tionontates and the Neuters. He reached the first town, and proceeded on through five others to Ounontisaston, the residence of Souharissen, a chief who ruled not only his own village, but all the towns of the Neutral nation, over whom he had acquired supreme authority by his prowess in a war with seventeen diiferent nations. This chief was pleased with the stranger, adopted him, and de la Roche remained three months there, learning the language of the people, and endeavoring to acquire all possible information of the country. His efforts to reach the river which separated the two portions of their territory, excited suspicion. This the Hurons eagerly fanned, prompted by commercial jealousy; for they were loth to see any direct communication opened between the Neuters and French, inasmuch as their importance as traders would fall at once, from the greater proximity of the Neuters to Quebec. By Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, the Neuters, had they wished, could have reached the French post in ten days; while for the Hurons, by French river and the Ottawa, it was a painful voyage and journey of three weeks. The importance of obtaining knowledge of some post or rendezvous on the lake, induced the missionary to brave all, till he was robbed and beaten one clay, while alone in the village, during the hunting season, by some men who came from Ouaroronon, their most distant town, only one day's journey from the Iroquois. Narrowly escaping with life, he yielded to the advice of Breboeuf, and withdrew from the country of the Neuters. The people he describes as friends and relatives of the Iroquois; living in twenty-eight villages, all governed by Souharissen. In manners generally, they resembled the Hurons, but did not engage in commerce, and went perfectly naked, not wearing the usual breech-cloth. Their territory, which Sagard in annotating his letter represents as two hundred and forty miles long, de la Roche describes as fronting on Lake Ontario, opposite to the Iroquois, as blessed with a much finer climate than other parts of Canada, and in soil too, better and finer, producing great quantities of tobacco. Game of all kinds was most abundant; deer taken elsewhere. One large one was here taken from a drove, while the woods teemed with moose, beaver, wild cats, and squirrels, and the marshy grounds and water-courses with bustards, turkeys, cranes, and other kinds of wild fowl. This

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account is corroborated, at a later date, by Brebœuf, who represents the people as raising also the usual crops, maize and beans.

At this epoch they waged no war, except against the Assestagueronons, or Fire Nation, whom the Algic tribes called Maskoutens, and whom the Neuters, as allies of the Ottawas, attacked continually. Another war, however, was on the point of breaking out — they were about to make war on the Hurons for some real or fancied injury; but the difficulty was soon settled, and they continued, in name and fact, neutral for some years longer.

On his return to the Huron, De la Roche wrote a letter, containing a brief account of his visit, which Sagard published in his History of Canada, and Le Clerc, subsesequently, in his Establishment of the Faith.

The capture of Quebec prevented any further missionary attempts for some years, and it was not till 1635 that the Jesuits again entered Upper Canada. In a few years, the objects which had impelled the explorations of De la Roche induced a second attempt, as the existence of missions now depended on direct communication with the French colony.

Two Fathers, the celebrated John de Breboeuf and Peter M. J. Chaumonot, the Huron grammarian, at last set out, in 1640, to found a mission in the Neutral land. Leaving Teananstayae, the last Huron town, a march of four days, answering to the one hundred miles of Bressan, brought them to Kandouche, the first town in the Neutral territory, south-west of the Tionontates, and north or slightly north-west of the "so famous river of the tribe;" that is, of the Niagara, where it emptied into Lake St. Louis, or Ontario. Like his predecessor, Brebœuf proceeded to the town of the great chief; but on reaching this village of Andachkhroh, he found Tsoharissen, the chief, absent on some distant expedition; this was unfortunate — for, from the similarity of name, we may suppose him the same who had adopted De la Roche, as it is not likely that another, "raised up in his place," would have succeeded to the extraordinary powers possessed by that chief. In his absence, the two Frenchmen could not be publicly received; and some Hurons accusing them of sorcery, of a desire to bring in the Iroquois, and of other crimes, made every effort to defeat the object of their mission, and excited a general distrust and hostility. In spite, however, of coldness and inhospitality, they went from town to town, visiting eighteen, and preaching in ten, until at last they reached the mouth of the Niagara. Here Brebœuf saw, at once, that a French post must be established, if they wished to save the Hurons from the Iroquois, and extend Christianity and commerce in the west. A vessel on the lake would have changed the destiny of Canada. The Neuters were, however, so jealous of the two missionaries, that Brebœuf durst not take out his astrolabe to find the latitude of the mouth of the Niagara; which, however, he estimated roughly at 42°.

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Alluding to some map published about that time, he says, that the mass of the nation lay west of the Niagara, and not east, as there represented; that only four towns lay on the eastern side, ranging from east to west, towards the Erielhonons, or Chats. The river he mentions as the river of the Neutral Nation, is clearly described. "This river is that by which our great Huron Lake, or Mer Douce discharges; it falls first into Lake Erie, or of the Cat tribe, and then it enters the Neutral ground, and takes the name of Onguiaahra, till it falls into Lake Ontario, or St. Louis." Bressani, who spent some years in the country, and was among the Hurons and Iroquois while the Neuters were a distinct nation, in his Breve Relatione, places them north of Lake Erie, and the Eries south, giving the former one hundred and fifty miles of territory.

Population: In this space were scattered their towns, in ten of which the missionaries preached. Of these, they computed the population at 5000 fires, or 3000 souls, estimating the whole nation at 12,000, one-third being warriors. Brebœuf intimates that former writers had, in their estimates, included other tribes not properly of the nation.

Towns: Of their towns we have Kandoucho, which was nearest to the Hurons, Khesetoa, which received them kindly, Andachkhroh, the capital, Onguiaahra, the frontier town, on the eastern side of the river, only one day's journey from the Sonontwheronons, or Senecas, and Teotoguiaton, a town, midway between the Neuters and Hurons, where they wintered.

Name and language: The Hurons, as we have seen, called the Neuters Attiwandaronk, as all the spellings would be pronounced in French; this name Brebœuf explains by saying, that they called this people so from their speaking a Huron dialect, its signification being, "People of a language a little different," and he adds, that the general name given by the Hurons to those whom they could not understand, was Akwanake.

Both he and Chaumonot were masters of the Huron language: they spent the winter in a small village, and there, by the aid of a charitable woman, compared their Huron dictionary and grammar with the Neutral dialect, and drew up comparative tables to enable those who spoke Huron to acquire the other. The result of their labors is lost; but Chaumonot, in his curious and valuable manuscripts, auto-biographical and philological, expressly makes the various Neutral, Huron, and Iroquois dialects, parts of the same language.

The missionaries, in the spring of 1641, returned to Huronia, and would have continued the mission but for the new form assumed by the war in the next year: the French were attacked by the Iroquois; several missionaries were taken, those in Upper Canada were left in the greatest danger and destitution; and from 1646 to 1650, the

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Huron and Petun country was deluged with blood; the French missionaries fell amid their neophytes; and the remnant of the two nations fled, one band to Quebec, the other to Green Bay.

Amid these scenes, they tell little about the Neuters, yet we can glean some facts. In 1647, the Senecas for the first time attacked the Attiwandaronk, and took with great slaughter the town of Aondironons, now, by the changes and removals, that nearest to the Hurons. After one or two more reverses, they yielded, and emigrated to New York, probably at the same time as the Scanonaerat, a Huron tribe with whom they afterwards resided. The number of the emigrants cannot be ascertained; but, judging by the Hurons, more than half the nation had probably been swept away by pestilential fevers which raged in the country.

From this period, we have no accounts of them from the Huron country; but the French missionaries soon entered New York. In less than four years after the death of Gamier, and the destruction of the Tionontates, Father Simon Le Moyne, one of the oldest Huron missionaries, entered Onondaga. The reports of the Iroquois country now begin; and from the very first, the Neuters are mentioned as living, a kind of Helots, in the cantons of their conquerors. Of their identity with the Attiwandaronk there can be no doubt, as Le Moyne was perfectly familiar with the Huron country, and the tribes around. The first adult baptized at Onondaga, was a Neuter. They were held in a kind of slavery, but bore their chains impatiently; their numbers gave them confidence — they panted for freedom — and at one time formed a plot to cut off their oppressors; but they relied for success on French aid, and when the missionary to whom they applied gave them no hopes of obtaining it, the plot failed.

By the Iroquois they were called Ati-rhagenrets, variously spelled; and sometimes without the prefix, under the form Rhagenratka. As long as the Jesuit Relations last, that is, till 1680, we find them mentioned as forming part of the motley population of the Iroquois cantons; and one town in the Seneca country, Gandongarae, is represented as made up entirely of Neuters, Hurons, and Onnon-Tiogas. The Neuters, too, are mentioned, in 1674, as forming part of the Christian Indian village just formed at Laprairie. The various races have long since been fused into one nation, losing all distinctive trace of origin; and no clue of names can enable us to distinguish the Neutral element in the present Iroquois race.

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3. An Account of the Navajoes of New Mexico. By Major E. Backus, U.S.A.

THERE is probably no tribe of Indians, within the limits of New Mexico, which has so signally redressed its own wrongs, or inspired its inhabitants with so great a degree of terror, as the Navajoes. Having no permanent habitations, and being in possession of a hardy and active race of horses, they have usually been prepared to resent or inflict injuries, and to appropriate to their own use the property and persons of their neighbors, the Mexicans. A bitter and mutual feeling of hatred has long existed between them; and many years of friendly intercourse will be requisite to efface the recollection of injuries inflicted, and of wrongs unredressed.

The Navajoes occupy a large extent of country directly west from Sante F×, extending from near the Rio Grande on the east, to the Colorado on the west; and from the land of the Utahs on the north, to the Apaches on the south. It is nearly bisected by the Sierra de los Mimbres; and presents to the eye a succession of elevated mountain peaks, of timbered table-lands, of dry and unproductive valleys, and of broken fields of lava. (See Plate 1.) There is no considerable stream of water within their borders; and those traced upon the maps as rivers, are usually dry during three-fourths of the year. There are some excellent springs in the valleys and canons of the mountains; but the water is soon absorbed by the thirsty and porous soil, after having flowed but a few hundred yards upon its surface.

Before the period when New Mexico became an integral portion of the United States, little or nothing had been done towards subjugating the Navajoes. Their depredations upon the citizens of the upper Rio Grande became so frequent and formidable, that in 1846 an expedition was fitted out against them by Colonel Doniphan, who marched into their country, and met their principal men at a place known as the Ojo del oso (bear spring). A treaty was entered into, only to be violated on the part of the Navajoes, as soon as the troops had retired. In the summer of 1849, Colonel Washington marched from Santa F×, with a suitable force, for the Navajoe headquarters, at the Ca×¡on de Chelle. In a collision which ensued, one of the principal

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men, a rich Navajoe, was killed, A satisfactory treaty was finally entered into, and Colonel Washington returned to Sante F× with ample evidence, that the quiet of the frontier would not be disturbed by the Navajoes, without a new and sufficient cause. Nor was an occasion long delayed. The brutal murder of Chopaton, by Mexicans, near Ciboltetta, added to other offences against the Navajoes, soon rekindled former animosities, and the border was once more in a state of anarchy and confusion. Colonel Munroe, the new Governor, made partial preparations, in 1850, for prosecuting the war; but no decided movement was made against the Navajoes until August, 1851, when Colonel Sumner marched for their strong-hold, the Ca×¡on de Chelle, with the determination of punishing them, in the first place — and, secondly, of leaving a strong garrison in the very heart of their country. On the 7th of September, 1851, he arrived at Ca×¡oncitto Bonito, and soon after gave orders for the construction of a military post, to be called Fort Defiance. (Plates 29 and 30.) Its primary object was to enforce the conditions of Washington's treaty of 1849, and its complete success shows the soundness of the policy which induced such a course. I was, at the same time, assigned to the command of the new post, and invested with full authority to effect the objects in view, in such manner as circumstances, from time to time, might dictate. Colonel Sumner proceeded to the Ca×¡on de Chelle, with six companies of dragoons, and a battery of artillery, and after penetrating the Ca×¡on some twelve miles, and finding it impracticable to bring the enemy to a decisive action, he returned to Fort Defiance, and thence to Santa F×. Several unimportant skirmishes took place, in and near the Ca×¡on, with but trifling injury to either party. While the troops were ascending the Ca×¡on, the Indians were on the top of its vertical walls, at so great a height, that the arrows which they fired at the troops below lost their force, and fell horizontally upon the ground. The highest wall of this Ca×¡on is estimated at 1000 feet above the plain. A small peach-orchard was observed in the Canon, as well as some patches of wheat, corn, and beans. The Indians subsequently acknowledged a loss of several men killed; while the troops had but one man severely wounded with a ball, and two slightly wounded with arrows. But few of the Indians had fire-arms, and they showed a far greater willingness to steal, than to fight. Several collisions also occurred at Fort Defiance, between our pickets and small parties of Indians, who presented themselves in a thieving attitude; but they never appeared in force, or exhibited any hostile intention, beyond that of appropriating to their own use our property and animals, in which design they met with a signal defeat, and then retired from the field. About the 20th of October, 1851, forty Moqui Indians, headed by their governor, presented themselves at Fort Defiance, and requested an interview on the part of the Navajoes, who, they said, were desirous of living on terms of peace and friendship with the Americans. A favorable answer was returned, and on the 26th of the same month, a formidable body of Navajoes, well mounted, and armed with guns, lances, bows, and arrows, presented themselves in front of the garrison, and solicited an interview. It

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was at once granted, and resulted in an agreement, on their part, to cease hostilities and depredations against the troops of the United States, the citizens of New Mexico, and the pueblas of Tunice and Moqui. From that day to the period of my departure, in August, 1852, not a hostile act was committed by the Navajoes, and not a depredation, of any magnitude, could be traced to their agency. They unquestionably have among their numbers bad men — habitual thieves, who can only be controlled by the strong arm of power; but, in this respect, they differ but little from the rest of mankind, laws and force being requisite to coerce bad men of all nations, be their skins white, black, or red. As a nation of Indians, the Navajoes do not deserve the character given them by the people of New Mexico. From the period of their earliest history, the Mexicans have injured and oppressed them to the extent of their power; and because these Indians have redressed their own wrongs, the degenerate Mexicans have represented them as a nation of thieves and assassins.

The government of the Navajoes seems to resemble more nearly that of the patriarchal, than any other form. There are many rich men among them, whose possessions consist mainly of horses and sheep. Every drove and flock is necessarily attended by its herders. Hence, every rich man has many dependants, and these dependants are obedient to his will, in peace and in war. The only elective office among them, so far as I could learn, is that of War-chief; and such office, I believe, expires with the occasion which created it. Every rich Navajoe may be considered the chief of his clan, or of his own dependants; and these clans are usually friendly with each other, and make common cause against a common enemy. In addition to the clans referred to, there are many Navajoes who recognize no leader, and who live the lives of vagabonds, stealing indiscriminately, as occasion offers, from friends and foes. They are never trusted by the rich Navajoes, who are in perpetual dread of their depredations.

I could never learn that they have any laws for the punishment of offences. I asked a rich Navajoe how they punished their people for the crime of theft. He replied, "Not at all. If I attempt to whip a poor man who has stolen my property, he will defend himself with his arrows, and will rob me again. If I leave him unpunished, he will only take what he requires at the time." This reply probably referred only to petty thefts. They will always defend their flocks and herds at any hazard.

The country occupied by the Navajoes is not susceptible of a high state of cultivation, on account of its deficiency of water, and the porous character of the soil. A large spring stream will seldom flow a mile upon the surface of the ground, before it is absorbed. Hence the difficulty of irrigating any large body of land; and without irrigation, it is difficult to raise even the fourth of an ordinary crop. An exception to this rule will be found at Tunice and Moqui, Indian Pueblos within the Navajoe territory, where fair crops are frequently raised on a sandy soil, without the aid of irrigation.

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Besides the points named, there are other fertile spots, where water and a fair soil are found combined, though very limited in size. At such points the Indians cultivate small fields of wheat, corn, beans, melons, and a few other vegetables. Their most extensive fields are in the Ca×¡on de Chille, where water, if not on the surface, can always be found by digging a few feet in the sand. They have also a few peach trees at this place, but they are too much neglected to succeed well. A small, but agreeable nut, called the Pi×¡on, grows abundantly in this country; and during a period of scarcity, it sometimes constitutes the sole food of the poorer class of natives, for many successive weeks. It has a thin shell, and contains much oil. Its flavor is much improved by roasting. A small wild potato is also found on the plains near Fort Defiance. It resembles the cultivated potato, but is not usually larger than a hickory-nut. It will unquestionably improve by changing its soil and climate. It forms a considerable item in the food of the Navajoes, from April to June.

The domestic animals of the Navajoes are horses, sheep, and goats; also, a few cows and mules.

Of wild animals, they have the brown bear, antelope, black-tailed deer, wild cat, prairie-dog, and a variety of squirrels; one, with a long fringe of black hair upon its ears, and a broad flat tail, is very beautiful. Its flesh is not eaten by the Indians.

Next to the horse, the sheep is the most useful animal to the Navajoe. The flesh is eaten, in the absence of game; and the wool is carefully preserved, and manufactured into blankets and stockings. The blankets are woven so compactly as to be almost impervious to water; and besides constituting an important part of their clothing, are used as a medium of traffic with the itinerant traders from the Rio Grande. Deerskins are used in making moccasins and breeches. Domestic shirting is purchased from traders. It has been said that the Navajoes and Moquis manufacture beautiful fabrics of cotton. This is partially true of the Moquis; but the Navajoes raise no cotton, while that of the Moquis is of a very inferior quality. Their wardrobes are never extravagantly supplied, and in summer are frequently reduced to a shirt and pair of moccasins.

The habitual position of the Navajoe is on horseback; and few men can be found to equal him in the management of that animal. There are several rich men among them, who have four or five hundred horses; many of which are worth from fifty to one hundred dollars each, and some few will command a still higher price. I was informed, by officers who attended a Navajoe dance at Cienega Juanitto, that they saw at least two thousand horses at that place, feeding on the plains, under the charge of their herders. In addition to the above, at least five hundred Indians were mounted, during the whole day and night. These Navajoe horses are active and hardy, having much endurance, and a fair turn of speed. It is my opinion that, bare-footed and grass-fed, they can out-travel American horses, under the same treatment; but on good roads; with good feed and care, I believe the Navajoe, with all his spirit, would be

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found sadly inferior to the horses of the United States. The Navajoes ride like the Californians, viz., at a rapid rate; and I am induced to believe their horses are identically the same. Their speed and powers of endurance have, in my opinion, been vastly overrated in both cases.

The Navajoes live much in the open air. Their lodges are exceedingly rude structures of sticks, about four or five feet high, with a triangular opening for ingress and egress. On the outside, against the sticks, are placed flat stones and earth, to cover the intervals, and protect them from the weather. As often as they change their grazing-grounds, so often do they repair and re-occupy some deserted lodge; and as their residence in it is to be but brief, the repairs and labor bestowed upon it are of the most meagre and trifling character.

In the autumn and winter, these Indians are found in the southern portion of their country, where there is but little snow, and where their animals can find good pasturage. Early in the spring, they return to the Cienegas and Mesas of the north, where a majority of them remain during the summer.

I once endeavored to persuade a rich Navajoe to build a house, and to live in it. He replied, "A house will be of no use to me. I cannot live in it. I must follow my flocks and herds, where I can find grass and water." He was then asked where he slept. He replied, "Just like a dog — on the grass or chips."

The Navajoes are ranked as a wild tribe, and do not profess the Christian religion. Although it is said that missionaries were established among them, prior to 1680, yet a want of success has left these people in a hopeless state of paganism.

Like all nomadic and unchristianized tribes, the Navajoes are imbued with superstitions, which influence them in all their social and domestic relations. I will state a few facts by way of illustration.

In a deep and secluded ca×¡on of the mountains, near Port Defiance, is a spring which the natives approach with much reverence, and for the purpose of performing certain mystical ceremonies. This spring, they say, was once a boiling spring; but at present, it only boils when approached by bad men, or when the appropriate ceremonies are neglected. They also say the water will sometimes leap twenty feet from its bed, to catch and overwhelm a bad Indian; but as bad Indians dare not approach it, its powers of locomotion are seldom put to the test. I once visited it with three other persons, and an Indian doctor; who carried with him five small bags, each containing some vegetable or mineral substance, all differing in color. At the spring, each bag was opened, and a small quantity of its contents was put into the right hand of each person present. Each visitor, in succession, was then required to kneel down by the spring-side, to place his closed hand in the water, up to his elbow; and, after a brief interval, to open his hand, and let fall its contents into the spring. The hand was then slowly withdrawn, and each one was then permitted to drink, and retire.

No Navajo will ever occupy a lodge in which a person has died. The lodge is

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burned, and the favorite animals of the deceased are usually killed, to accompany him on his intended journey.

They never eat the flesh of the grey squirrel; nor could I induce them to give any reason for declining it. Yet they eat the prairie-dog, which is in no respect prepossessing.

The population of this tribe is stated by Gregg at about ten thousand souls, and I have no reason to suppose his estimate differs materially from the truth.

A Navajo girl is considered the property of her parents until she marries. Prior to her marriage, a contract is made between the father of the girl and the destined groom. The usual consideration paid is five or six horses. Twelve horses is considered an exorbitant price for a wife, and is only paid for one possessing unusual qualifications, such as beauty, industry, and skill in their necessary employments. A female was once pointed out to me, for whom fifteen horses had been paid. She had a tall, fine form, good features, and an agreeable and lady-like expression, with exceedingly quiet manners. Her face was also clean, in which respect it differed from those of most of the Navajo belles, who usually evince a cat-like antipathy to the use of water. When a Navajo woman marries, she becomes free, and may leave her husband for sufficient cause. For this reason, they are treated more kindly than the squaws of the northern tribes, and perform far less of laborious work than the Sioux or Chippewa women; such labor being mostly performed by the poor dependants, both male and female. The females do not usually maintain an elevated character for chastity of sentiment or modesty of manners, a natural result from the nature of their marriage obligations, rather than a fault of the people themselves.

Like many other savage tribes, they are much addicted to gambling. Horse-racing is a frequent amusement, but their favorite game consists of throwing a lance or pole at a rolling hoop, in which they are said to exhibit much skill. I have never seen the game played, and cannot describe its details.

They are usually armed with bows and arrows, and the lance. A few of the rich men only have guns. They are anxious to obtain fire-arms, but it is a wise policy that interdicts the trade, and they only obtain a few from lawless and unprincipled traders, who occasionally infest this frontier.

The Navajoes are not given to intoxication. Some of them have never tasted ardent spirits, and those only ask for it, who have visited the Mexican settlements. They never fail to beg tobacco, which they smoke like the Mexicans, in the corn-shuck.

There are no fixed traders among the Navajoes. The few sent to their country in 1851 and 1852, were itinerants with roving licenses. A worse policy could hardly be suggested. Traders with Indians should not only be reliable men, but they should have fixed positions, that they may be inspected and controlled by the proper authorities. Nothing gives an Indian a worse opinion of white men than the tricks and impositions practised upon them by unprincipled traders. Half the Indian wars of

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our country have sprung from such causes, and it is difficult to say that the other half had not a similar origin.

The feeling of hostility, which I have said exists between Navajoes and Mexicans, is thus explained by Gregg, in his Commerce of the Prairies. He says: "After the establishment of the national independence, the government of New Mexico greatly embittered the disposition of the Navajoes, by repeated acts of cruelty and ill-faith, well calculated to provoke hostilities." And he cites many instances of cruelty in support of his remark. Gregg was unquestionably correct, and similar outrages, repeated at intervals, have tended to foster the same bitter feeling, up to the present day. The Navajoes have not always been the aggressors, but they have so signally redressed the wrongs inflicted upon them, that their name has become a terror to their pusillanimous and effeminate enemies. Gregg says again (in 1844) about fifteen years ago, the Navajoes were subjected by the energies of Col. Vizcarra, who succeeded in keeping them in submission for some time; but since that officer's departure from New Mexico, no man has been found of sufficient capacity to inspire this daring tribe with respect and fear; so that, for the last ten years, they have ravaged the country with impunity, murdering and destroying, just as the humor happened to prompt them. This was unquestionably true in reference to Mexican troops, who were intimidated at the sight of a Navajo. But the American troops had no difficulty, except in bringing them to action. After the cessation of hostilities in October, 1851, the Navajoes approached us with much caution, and seemed to apprehend some act of treachery from us. This feeling must have arisen from their former treatment by the Mexicans. It required months of uniform kindness to efface these early and well-grounded prejudices.

A partial vocabulary of the Navajo language having been prepared by Dr. Ten Broeck, I have refrained from saying any thing upon that subject. Fort Defiance, (See Plate 29,) is nearly in the centre of this nation; and for all practical purposes, is now the head-quarters of the Navajoes. The establishment of this post has exercised a good influence over them, and in all their troubles and difficulties they habitually go to this place for advice and protection. They have recently shown a strong disposition to cultivate the soil, and take every occasion to supply themselves with hoes, spades, axes, &c.

Their country is, generally, too poor to excite the cupidity of the whites; yet it is well suited to their own wants, and it is to be hoped that the Government which has subdued them will protect them, hereafter, from the incursions of that reckless portion of our citizens, which is but too frequently found hovering upon our remote frontiers.

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4. Description of the True State and Character of the New Mexican Tribes. — By Lt. Col. J. H. Eaton, U.S.A.

WITHIN the present confines of the Territory of New Mexico, are found three or four tribes of wild Indians; and interspersed here and there, in various parts of their country, are found small towns or villages of semi-civilized Indians, denominated Pueblo Indians, these last all having, to some extent, acquired the language and many of the customs and manners of the Mexican population of the country; they retain, however, most of the ancient rites, ceremonies, and customs of their progenitors, which are still sacredly observed among them.

In the mountain chains eastward of the Del Norte, and extending throughout the whole length of the Territory, from north to south, is found the Jicarrilla branch of the great Apache nation. In the south and south-west portion, and mainly within and near to the valley of the Gila River, is the great mass of this Apache race, divided into the Gilenos, Mezcaleros, Coyoteros, and White Mountain Apaches, who roam over two-thirds of the whole Territory, and subsist chiefly upon the spoils of their incursions among the Mexican settlements. In the western and north-western portions, embraced between the Del Norte and Colorado of the West, dwell the noted tribe of Navajoes, in regard to whom such fabulous and exaggerated accounts have been given to the world. In the extreme northern portion, north and north-east of the River San Juan, is found the Utah tribe, not less enterprising and noted for their plundering incursions than the Navajoes; but who, dwelling farther from the chief Mexican settlements of the Rio del Norte, have directed their depredations, of late years, less upon them than upon unguarded and careless travellers of the plains.

The Pueblos above referred to, are scattered at intervals throughout the country —the chief of which are Acoma, Isletta, Sandia, Taos, Laguna, Zu×¡i, and Moqui. These are, at the present time, I believe, the most populous and noted for intelligence, and for agricultural and pastoral habits. The inhabitants of these Pueblos, though part and parcel of the great aboriginal race of the American continent, differ in many respects from the wild and marauding tribes, in having the habits, intelligence, and enterprise of a semi-civilized people, and in having been known as such from the period of the expedition of the first Spanish explorers from the city of Mexico in 1541-2. Through what means, or from what source this progression towards civilization has proceeded, still remains, and probably ever will remain, shrouded in obscurity.

The following, drawn from notes taken while residing in the country of the Navajoes, and in travelling through other parts of the Territory, are all the items of the

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history, customs, and habits of some portions of the aboriginal inhabitants, which I was able to gather.

Of the Navajoes. — They are a branch, unquestionably, of the great Apache tribe, which roams, the most enterprising and formidable of all the Indians in or near to New Mexico. Their language is nearly the same as that of the Jicarrilla Apaches, who live in the mountain ridges east of the Rio del Norte. They cultivate the ground, but to a limited extent, and not enough so as to restrain them from occasional depredations, in winter, upon the Pueblo and New Mexican settlements. They raise corn, pumpkins, and melons, and but little wheat. They raise horses and sheep, with a few cattle. They make blankets — some of them pretty in color, of close texture, and of a very durable quality, though this art may have been acquired from the New Mexicans, or the Pueblo Indians. As warriors, they certainly are not formidable — owing their existence and security to the rude and unfertile country to which they evidently have been driven by more powerful enemies. Instead of being peculiarly brave and daring, they owe much of their repute for prowess to the pusillanimity of the Mexicans, rather than to any particular bravery of their own. If they possess any "civilization of their own," I have yet to know it. They do not live in houses built of stone, as has been repeatedly represented, but in caves, caverns, and fissures of the cliffs, or in the very rudest huts, hastily constructed of branches of cedar trees, and sometimes of flat stones for small roofs. The raising of horses is peculiar to them; but they are of the smallest and most indifferent kind. They never, to my knowledge, make butter or cheese, nor do I believe they know what such things are. They certainly have no well-recognized government among themselves, being preeminently of the most democratic habits, rather mobocratic. The chiefs are simply men of influence by virtue of manliness of character, or of wealth in horses or sheep, and are afraid to enforce a command, or exert any control over their respective bands. They have, therefore, neither hereditary nor elective chiefs. The women do not labor as much as Indian women of other tribes, but are very independent of menial duties, and leave their husbands upon the slightest pretext of dislike. A remarkable superstition seems to govern these Indians in their great unwillingness to make known their own Indian names, or those of their friends, being universally known by some Mexican name given to them on their visits to the settlements. They are notorious thieves, the women more than the men. In the winter season they practise the habit of carrying a firebrand in the hand, when travelling from place to place, like the Indians near the shores at the head of the Gulf of California, as related in Caste×¡ada's narrative of Coronada's expedition. If jealous of their wives, they are apt to wreak their spleen and ill-will upon the first person whom they may chance to meet. Several of the chiefs are doctors — but the curative art, with them, does not go beyond singing with the patient, or in other incantations. The welfare of the whole community is a matter which is never entertained by them, individually or collectively — their organization, if

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they have any, being the veriest rope of sand. Dishonesty is not held in check among them; but frequent cases occur of their stealing horses from each other, without fear of punishment from the chiefs, or from the nation at large. No such thing as industry is known among them; and a more lawless, worthless tribe is not to be found in any portion of the United States. Hospitality may, to some little extent, be observed among them, but it is as much as a white man's life is worth, to be among them, except as a trader; then their interests lead them to treat him with good faith and kindness. It is a very erroneous idea, that the Navajo country is shut in by high mountains, so as to be inaccessible to an enemy, except by limited passes through narrow denies. Their country, though rude and wild, is readily accessible by very tolerable roads, even into the Ca×¡on of Chelle, their strong-hold and main dependence. The grossest error, however, is that which describes these Indians "as being the most civilized of all the wild Indians of North America." So far from this, I deem them to be among the most rude, least intelligent, and least civilized of all the tribes of Indians I have ever seen. Some trifling improvement has come from their frequent intercourse with the Mexico-Spanish population of the Del Norte, but not to an extent worthy of particular remark.

In regard to the traditionary history of the Navajo tribe, nothing reliable, or of an authentic traditionary account, can be gathered. The following rather puerile stories, obtained during my sojourn at Fort Defiance, are the best I could gather, and possibly may, in the absence of others, prove of some little interest.

They (the Navajoes) say they came from the valley of Montezuma, which is on the other side of the Sierra de los Utahs, far to the north-east of their present country. (This valley, in their language, is called Dee-p×u-tsah.) The Sierra Blanca of the Mexicans is on the other side (north side) of this valley.

The Apaches call the Navajoes Y×ª-tah-kah. The Navajoes call themselves, as a tribe, Ten×ªai (man). The appellation N×vajo was unquestionably given them by the Spaniards. The valley of Montezuma is six days' journey (say 250 or 300 miles) from their present place of abode. The account of their origin is as follows:

At the first, twelve Navajoes, six men and six women, came out of the earth in the middle of the lake, which is in the valley of Montezuma. They were preceded in their ascent through the ground by the locust and badger; the locust being the foremost and boring the hole for the others; but as he was not very successful, the badger came to his assistance and made the hole larger, so as to enable the Navajoes to come out. As the bottom of the lake was muddy, covering the badger's fore-legs with mud, this is the reason they are black. On arriving at the surface of the earth, the Navajoes found themselves without fire; they were provided with it in the following manner: The animals now found on the earth were then already in existence. The coyote, the bat, and the squirrel were the special friends of the Navajoes, and agreed to aid each other in procuring fire for them. The animals (neither deer nor moose being yet created) were engaged in playing the moccasin or shoe game, having a fire to play by. The

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coyote, having some slivers of gummy pine wood tied to his tail, went to the scene of sport, and whilst the attention of the animals was absorbed in the play, ran quickly into and through the fire, by which the pine slivers were ignited. He then ran off pursued by all the animals, and when tired, by a previous arrangement, the bat took the fire from him and flying hither and thither, dodging first to one side and then to the other, he escaped from pursuit; when, becoming in his turn exhausted, the fire was quickly turned over to the squirrel, who, by great agility and endurance of body, was successful in conveying it to the Navajoes.

After emerging from the earth, one of the six Navajo men died and was placed in the hole from which they all came out. For this reason they burned up his house, and out of fear moved to another place further north. This is the reason why, at the present day, when a man dies, they burn his lodge, or whatever dwelling he may have.

Twelve other Navajoes came out of the ground immediately after the first twelve, and went towards the rising-sun. From these last they think Americans (white people) may be descended. Some time afterwards others came out of the earth, from whom the Pueblo Indians are descended.

The Navajoes became reduced in number by the rapacity of giants and wild beasts to three persons, an old man, an old woman, and a young woman. This last conceived by the sun and brought forth a boy who began to inquire where his father was — the old man and woman replied they did not know. The boy then proceeded in search of his father, and was told by the trees and other terrestrial objects, that the sun was his father. The sun gave the boy a sword with which he killed a giant, the blow from whose death-wound flowed down the valley of the Gallo, (See Map of country between the Pueblo of Zu×¡i, and Covero, New Mexico, in which, in and near to the valley of the Gallo creek, there is a current or dyke of black lava ten to fifteen miles long,) forming the black wall of rock now found there.

After a time, when the Navajoes were in great numbers, they moved down into the country near the Sierra of Ciboletta (San Mateo Mountain), but were so severely treated by their enemies, the Camanches and other Indians, that they abandoned that country and fixed themselves where they now live, in the country about the Ca×¡on of Chelle, as a secure place of shelter from their enemies. There they have lived ever since.

Many years ago the Navajo tribe was afflicted with smallpox, by which a great many died, and their number became very much reduced. The disease was brought among them in obtaining clothing of the Mexicans. Many of their old men are now marked with the effects of this disease.

At the first it was all night and darkness, and the alternation of day and night by the appearance of the sun was produced as follows: The birds and beasts were engaged in playing the shoe game, and their bet on one side was, that the sun would appear; on the other, that it would not. Of the former, were those beasts and birds which go

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about by day; of the latter, those which go about by night. Among the latter was the owl, who had disposed of the stone in the shoe, and of the former was the bluebird, who was hunting for it. The blue-bird found the stone, gaining the game for his side, and the owl lost; this is the reason the owl loves the darkness of night.

The Pueblo of Moqui, and its six neighboring Pueblos, are at an easy distance from the main residences of the Navajoes; the following are the Navajo names for these seven Pueblos : —

Ai-yah-k×n-nee (Moqui), Tset-so-k×t, Qset-so-k×t-pee-ts×e-lee, Kiu-ahs-d×e, 0-z×, Et-tah-k×n-nee, these six all speak the same tongue. The seventh, called Nah-shah-shai, speaks a different language.

The Navajo nation does not number more than from 2000 to 3000 of all sexes and every age.

The Indians of the Pueblo of Zuni. (See Plate 2.) The Pueblo of Zu×¡i is situated upon a small creek called Rio de Zu×¡i, and having its source in the Ojo Percado, (fish spring,) about sixteen miles to the eastward. In their own language, which is peculiar to themselves, and which is not spoken by the Indians of any other Pueblo in New Mexico, they call themselves as a tribe, Ah-shee-wai. Like all other Pueblo Indians, they wear the hair knotted behind, and bound with parti-colored braid; but in front, it is allowed to grow so as to cover the entire forehead; being cut off sharp and square at the line of the eyebrows: this last, they say, is to enable the Pueblos to distinguish each other when they meet, from the wild Indians. Their only head-covering is a colored handkerchief, passed like a band from the forehead to the back of the head. These Indians resemble in all respects (physiognornically) those of the United States. They say they have inhabited their country since the world was made; that originally they, in common with the wild tribes, came from the west; that as the world grew, they became separated from each other. The Navajoes, being separated the furthest, finally came and established themselves near the Pueblos. The Zu×¡ians have many mean and disagreeable traits, being close and tricky in trade, inhospitable, and given to pilfering and lying. They have no substantial tradition of their origin, except the trivial one above mentioned. They are governed by a cacique or head chief, who is their chief priest also. The succession is hereditary in the family of the cacique. A few miles to the south-east of Zu×¡i, on the mesa of Gallisteo, is what is called Old Zu×¡i; but there is no reliable evidence that it was the residence of the ancestors of the Zu×¡ians. On the contrary, I am satisfied that they have been living in their present villages from the time of the Spanish Conquest. They have with them nothing like a traditionary account of the conquest of the country by the Spaniards under Coronado. In a conversation with a very intelligent Zu×¡i Indian, I learned that the Pueblo of Acoma is called, in the Zu×¡i tongue, Hah-k×£o-kee-ah, (Acuco,) and this name was given to me without any previous question which would serve to give him an idea of this old Spanish name. Does not this therefore seem to give color to the

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hypothesis that Coronado's army passed by, or near to, the present Pueblo of Zu×¡i, and that it was their Cibola or one of the seven cities of Cibola? It is plain that from the people of Cibola the Spaniards learned the name of the village to the eastward, situated on an inaccessible rock, and named Acuco. From the same Zu×¡ian, I learned that the seventh Pueblo beyond Moqui is from the tribe or Pueblo of Taos Indians on the Rio del Norte, and that they emigrated to their present abode not many years ago. The Zu×¡ians call Moqui, in their language, Ah-mo-k×i.

The people of Zu×¡i pay much attention to the culture of large fields of corn, melons, and pumpkins. Since the establishment of Port Defiance, a United States' station sixty-five miles beyond them, the public animals have been supplied with all their corn from this Pueblo, purchased from them by the Government. They cultivate also small gardens, surrounding the hill upon which the Pueblo is built, with onions and a few other vegetables. They have large herds of sheep and goats, with great numbers of jackasses or donkeys, of which, for travelling and for the gathering of wood for fuel from the mountains, they make great and continual use.

The fact of there being some four or five Albinos among them, has given rise to the statement that they, as well as the Moqui Indians, are of white origin. These Albinos doubtless owe their white skin, not to dwelling in underground habitations, as has been supposed, but to some cutaneous disease affecting them. [August 3, 1853.]

5. The California Indians — Their Manners, Customs, and History.

By Adam Johnston.

Bonaks, or Root-Diggers.

THIS name seems to embrace Indian tribes inhabiting a large extent of country west of the Rocky Mountains. As the name imports, it was undoubtedly given to that portion of Indians who dig and live on the roots of the earth. This practice is common to all the Indians of California as well as those of the Great Basin west of the South Pass. With these tribes, roots are, for the great portion of the year, their main subsistence, and to procure them is the work of their females. Hundreds of women may be seen at a time, scattered over the hills, with heavy inverted conical-shaped baskets swung on their backs, and long sticks in their hands with which they dig. Thus they toil throughout the day in "root-digging" for their subsistence, while the men of their tribe are lounging in the shade, or engaged in some of their games. From day to day the females pursue this drudgery, and are mostly enabled to procure,

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not only enough for present subsistence, but to lay up quantities for future use. With the early sun they ascend the hills, and continue diligently working until towards evening, when they return heavily laden with the fruits of their labor.

Of the roots used by the Indians for food, the pap-pa, or wild potato, is in many parts, the most abundant. They also gather great quantities of berries of various kinds. The manzaneto or little apple is most used by them. These, with pine-seeds, grass seeds and green clover, with, at times, small quantities of fish and small game, constitute the entire food of the Indians inhabiting the regions of the Sierra Nevada. I have frequently seen those of the San Joaquin valley eating green clover with great avidity. This class of Indians, the Root-diggers, are always found in mild or warm climates which produce quantities of such natural products of the earth as they make use of. Those of them who live in the mountains during the summer season, descend into the valleys, and locate on the streams during the winter.

There are deep valleys, even in the centre of the Sierra Nevada range, where but little snow falls at any time. An account is given of one such of great extent and fertility, in the region of mountains from whence flow the waters of the Mercede river. It was discovered by the volunteers under Major Savage, who pursued a tribe or band of Indians into it who were called the Yo-semety; their object being to bring them before the United States Indian Commissioners. After ascending the mountains for several days, they were obliged to pass through a region of snow, in many places quite deep. When they had reached the summit of the mountain, the Yo-semety valley, (for such they then named it,) broke upon their view a great distance below. In descending, they soon left the snows, and, on reaching the valley, they found a warm climate and plenty of grass and good water. The scenery is described as grand and picturesque in the extreme. The climate is mild and balmy; the soil covered with rich growths of green grass and fragrant flowers of every hue. Majestic pines of immense growth skirt the valley and its water-courses. Magnificent water-falls of over seven hundred feet in height, dash into the valley and wind away to some unknown outlet. The mountain sides are rugged, and rise almost perpendicularly all around to a great height. While the climate is mild and balmy at their base in the valley below, their conic peaks glisten in continued snow. In this isolated spot these wild people had taken refuge, supposing themselves secure from the white man's approach. How greatly were they surprised, when suddenly surrounded by a band of soldiers, bearing in their own hands weapons of death! The Indians were captured, and forced to cross, through the deep snow, that portion of the mountains which lay between them and the valley of the San Joaquin. They were told they must go and meet the agents of the Great Father, who had been sent to see them. On meeting the Indian Commissioners, they were told they must not return to the mountains, but continue in the San Joaquin valley. Fearing to refuse, and sorrowing for their mountain home, they reluctantly consented. A few days, however, served to satisfy

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them with civilized life, and they broke over their compulsory agreement, and returned to the Yo-semety valley of the mountain.

As I have before said, it is the habit of all the Indians who have come under my observation, west of the Great Salt Lake, to "dig roots" to subsist upon. I have myself seen hundreds of females together, bending under their baskets, with their sticks in their hands, wandering over the hill-sides in search of that kind of food. It is rather a novel sight to see a crowd of those half-naked and half-starved creatures thus engaged. In warm climates, where the Indians know nothing about cultivating the earth, and are without ability to get game of any account, they naturally sink back into a life dependent upon the natural products of the earth — the fruits, the seeds, and the roots.

"Root-digging" is common to all the Indians inhabiting mild latitudes in this region; and their present indolent and degenerate condition I take to be the effect, to a great extent, of the mild and enervating climate, under which they have been gradually giving way, or sinking back, for perhaps centuries past. The general characteristics of the Indians of this region are much the same; they are cowardly, treacherous, filthy, and indolent.

Their manner of building lodges is much the same. In the northern, and more cold regions of the country, they excavate the earth several feet deep, the size they wish their lodges. They then sink substantial poles in the ground, around the edge of the excavation, which are bent over and drawn together at the top, forming a dome-like covering. This is then covered with earth, entirely over, to the thickness of several inches, and sometimes over one foot; leaving a small aperture in the centre of the top, for the smoke to escape. Another small aperture on one side, of sufficient size to admit the body feet foremost, completes the structure. These lodges are intended for cold or wet weather; and they generally have others, more temporary, which they use in pleasant weather. In the valleys and warm regions they seldom erect such lodges, except their sweat-house, and "Hung-ie," or large house, for council, the dance, and gambling. All other lodges are but temporary, consisting of bushes, or tule, constructed in conic shape; and appear more as if intended for shade, rather than shelter or protection from the weather.

The females wear their hair short, and the males wear theirs quite long. The custom of tattooing is also common among them, as among the inhabitants of the Polynesian Islands, and New Zealand. I have never observed any particular figures or designs upon their persons; but the tattooing is generally on the chin, though sometimes on the wrist and arm. Tattooing has mostly been on the persons of females, and seems to be esteemed as an ornament, not apparently indicating rank or condition.

The Indians of California have no marriage ceremony, except when a man fancies a female, he speaks to her parents, talks to her, &c. Afterwards, he goes to bed to the girl; and if they remain together agreeably, they are considered man and wife, or rather, she is considered as his property. If she gets up and leaves the man, it is no

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match; nor has he any claim ever after on her. The females are sometimes sold by their parents for blankets, beads, or other consideration; but this is of rare occurrence. They are also sometimes taken in battle from other tribes, and appropriated by the chiefs or captains of the conquering tribe. An Indian man may have as many wives as he can keep; but a woman cannot have a plurality of husbands, or men to whom she owes obedience. Sometimes conflicting claims arise between two or more men in regard to a female. These were usually settled by the chiefs, before I went among them. Since that, such cases were submitted to me, as the official. I universally decided that she belonged to whichever she liked most, and I would cause her to make public choice between the claimants. This was in all cases satisfactory to all concerned. They readily acquiesced in the decision, and never after interfered with each other. There is one remarkable fact connected with the wild Indians of California; that is, they have their rutting seasons as regularly as have the deer, the elk, the antelope, or any other animals.

I suppose each tribe or band of Indians have their peculiar notions regarding their origin. I have heard several of their traditions in regard to it, one of which is as follows. The "Po-to-yan-te" tribe say they came from the coyote, or wolf. I once had a conversation with the chief of that tribe, in regard to the idea the Indians entertained of their origin, existence, &c. As they are always slow to communicate, especially anything touching their superstitions or traditions, I have usually excited them, in advance, by telling something in regard to the whites. On this occasion, I told them of the creation. This interested them greatly; and, for some time after I had got through, they maintained perfect silence, as if running it over in their minds again. The chief asked me if that was the same that the padres believed. On being informed it was, he said it was a strange story, and it was very strange he had not heard it before; that he had lived at the mission of St. John, under the care of a padre, but he had never told him that. Having interested him in this manner, he then told me what the Indians believed, touching their origin and existence, as follows:

The first Indians that lived were Coyotes. When one of their number died, the body became full of little animals, or spirits, as he thought them. After crawling over the body for a time, they took all manner of shapes; some that of the deer, others the elk, antelope, &c. It was discovered, however, that great numbers were taking wings, and for a while they sailed about in the air; but eventually they would fly off to the moon. The old Coyotes (or Indians), fearing the earth might become depopulated in this way, concluded to stop it at once; and ordered that when one of their people died, the body must be burnt. Ever after, they continued to burn the bodies of deceased persons. Then, said he, the Indians began to assume the shape of man; but at first they were very imperfect in all their parts. At first, they walked on all fours; then they began to have some members of the human frame — one finger, one toe, one eye, one ear, &c. After a time they had two fingers, two toes, two eyes, two ears, &c. In

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all their limbs and joints, they were yet very imperfect; but progressed from period to period, until they became perfect men and women. In the course of their transition from the Coyote to human beings, they got in the habit of sitting upright, and lost their tails. This is, with many of them, a source of regret to this day, as they consider a tail quite an ornament; and in decorating themselves for the dance, or other festive occasions, a portion of them always decorate themselves with tails.

I then inquired what they thought became of them when they died, now since they have become human beings. He said the Indians knew nothing about it, but the old women told them that the Spirit neither went up nor down, but took a straight direction over the earth (I think towards the east), and went rapidly on until it came to a great water, where there was a large boat to take the departed across. The good all crossed over in safety, but the bad were carried to the middle of the water, when the bottom of the boat falls out, and they go down and are lost for ever. The good, on reaching the shore, go first into a very large house, where they enjoy themselves in eating, drinking, and gambling until they get tired, and then they scatter away under the shades of the trees of that country.

These Indians have had more or less intercourse with those who have lived at the missions of California, and no doubt have gotten from them these vague ideas of futurity. I have been told, by several aged Indians, that before the Padres came among their people, they were very ignorant — that they only knew, when a child was born, it would grow up like the rest; and when any of their people died, they thought that was the last of them.

On the death of one of their people, they give way to deep grief and mourning. The females black their chins, temples, ears, forehead, and hair with pitch or tar. Indeed, sometimes they black their entire head, face, and breasts, down to the waist.

Their mourning is wild and impressive. I have frequently been present at their funeral rites. On one occasion, Major Savage and myself were overtaken by night at an Indian ranchora or village, on the head-waters of the Chow-chille river, where we were obliged to remain for the night. One of their females was at the point of death, though we were not aware of it when we lay "down. Some time after midnight, we were awakened by a single voice of lamentation, in loud and mournful wail. These solitary notes were continued, at breathing intervals, for several hours. Then other voices broke in from time to time, as the females joined in the mourning. On day breaking, I found the whole camp in great grief, jumping and howling in a most pitiful manner.

After sun-rise, the body of the deceased was tied up in her blanket and rags which she possessed when living, and borne to a spot some hundred yards distant, where her funeral pyre was being raised. The entire camp followed, most of whom were crying and wailing greatly. The body was laid on the ground while the pyre was being built. This occupied considerable time, owing to the difficulty the Indians had in getting wood and bark for the purpose. During this time the mourning was kept up

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in loud and wild wailings. The females were blacked around their chin, temples, ears, and forehead, and jumped and cried like Methodists under excitement, as they uttered their wild lament. They often prostrated themselves upon the ground, and not unfrequently on the body of the deceased. The pyre being finished, the body was placed upon it, with all her baskets, beads, and earthly effects. This done, the pyre was fired all around, and as the blaze enveloped the body, the mourners, who had continued jumping and wailing, seemed to give way to unbounded grief. During this scene, I observed the females, as they jumped about, pointing in several directions, and ejaculating something I did not understand. On inquiry, I learned they were pointing towards places where they had been with the deceased in childhood — gathering food, feasting, or on some other occasions of pleasure, and they were crying, "no more yonder," "no more yonder," "no more yonder."

During the whole time, from the death of the individual, there was one who gave utterance to his sorrow in loud and broken strains. He was naked, as were most of the men, except a small girdle round the middle. As he half cried, half sung his sorrow, he would occasionally speak something distinctly, but without appearing to address himself particularly to the people, or any portion of them. I learned he was the speaker, or what might, perhaps, on this occasion be termed, the priest of the tribe. In the course of the ceremony, groups of Indians would occasionally gather around him. On one occasion, I observed him drawing marks in the sand as he spoke. He said, "we are like these lines — to-day we are here, and can be seen; but death takes one away, and then another, as the winds wipe out these lines in the sand, until all are gone." And drawing his hand over the marks, he continued; "they are all gone even now — like them, we must all be wiped out, and will be seen no more." I witnessed the burning, until the body was almost consumed, and during the whole time the mourners kept up intense feelings of grief and anguish.

After death, the name of the departed is never breathed among them. When death takes one away, the living suppose the name has gone also, and should not be spoken. I am told, that when the name of a deceased person happens to be pronounced among them, there may be observed a shudder to pass over all instantly. They seem to know but little of the past of the living, and endeavor to forget everything connected with the dead.

In all my researches among the Indians of this country, I have not found a single relic to mark the past. They have no monuments, mounds, or tumuli, such as exist in the valley of the Mississippi — no traces of art or architecture of former times — no paintings, or any other relic of antiquity — no war-club, tomahawk, or battle-axe. The manufacture of the bow and arrow is the only item of art to be found among them. They seem to have lived in this simple style for ages past, depending on the natural products of the earth for subsistence, and without a single means of recording thought or action — without idols, sacrifices, prayers, or priests.

227 Origin and History of the Winnebagoes — Their Traditions of the Creation of the World and of Man — Biographical Sketches of Their Living Chiefs — Incidents of the Black-Hawk War — Tribal Rank — Geographical Notices — Wild Animals — Fabulous Monsters — Knowledge of Astronomy, Arithmetic, and Medicine.

By Jonathan E. Fletcher, Esq., U.S. Ind. Agt.

1. ORIGIN: It is difficult to arrive at the correct history of a people who have no written language. When reference can only be had to oral traditions, always vague and often contradictory, much difficulty arises in deciding on the relative claims of such traditions to authenticity. Such are the traditions of the Winnebago Indians, and such is the foundation on which is based the authenticity of what is here related respecting their origin, early history, and migrations. No hieroglyphics, artificial landmarks, or pseudo monuments, can be referred to as proofs on these points, with reference to this tribe; and no information respecting them can be obtained from white persons now living with them. The traditions here given were obtained from the chiefs, and old persons of the tribe.

On the subject of their origin, the Winnebagoes can communicate nothing entitled to credence or respect; unless we give to their traditions such allegorical interpretation as will make them conform to probable facts.

The residence of the Winnebagoes at a place they call the Red Banks, on the west shore of Lake Michigan, and north of Green Bay, appears to be the earliest event preserved by their traditions relative to their history.

The Winnebagoes claim that they are an original stock; and that the Missourias, Iowas, Otoes, and Omahas, sprung from them.

These Indians call the Winnebagoes their elder brothers; and the similarity of their language renders it probable that they belong to the same stock.

Nothing can be gathered from the traditions of the Winnebagoes, to show from what stock of men they sprang.

2. Tribe and geographical position: O-chunga-raw is the name by which the Winnebagoes are called among themselves; also by the Otoes, the Iowas, the Omahas, and the Missourias; they are called O-ton-kah by the Sioux; the Sacs and Foxes, the Pottowatomies,

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the Menomonies, the Chippewas, the Kickapoos, and the Ottowas, call them Winnebagoes. These names have no particular meaning.

The traditions of this tribe extend no further back than their residence at the Red Banks, some eight or nine generations since; and from the fact that the Winnebagoes believe that their ancestors were created there, it is probable that they dwelt at that place for a considerable length of time.

If the traditions of this tribe be correct on this subject, the Winnebagoes had formerly a much larger population than at the present time; and their number was put down vaguely at four thousand five hundred, in the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in 1837; now their actual number is but little over twenty-five hundred. The population of this tribe has increased during the last three years.

Prior to the treaty of August 19th, 1825, the Winnebagoes appear to have had no very definite boundaries to the territory they claimed or occupied for hunting purposes. Said treaty has proved a great benefit to the tribes participant therein, by settling and preventing disputes about their respective boundaries; and has relieved the government, in subsequent treaties with them, from the embarrassment of such disputes.

The Winnebages, in disposing of their lands to the United States, have generally exchanged a large for a smaller quantity; and received for the difference in value, a consideration in money, provisions, and goods. The country they now own contains an area of about 850,000 acres, bounded principally by the Crow-wing, Watab, Mississippi, and Long Prairie rivers. (See Plate 31, Part II.)

3. Ancient or modern location: The Winnebago Indians believe that their ancestors were created by the Great Spirit, on the land they formerly occupied on Lake Michigan; and that their title to said land originated in the gift of it to them by their Creator.

They cannot recollect the first interview with the whites. The first sale of their lands to the government was made in 1829. Some of the signers of the treaty are yet living. Fire-arms, woollen goods, cooking utensils of metal, and ardent spirits, were introduced among this tribe prior to the recollection of the oldest persons now living.

4. Vestiges of early tradition: The Winnebagoes have traditions of the creation and the deluge; but it is impossible to determine what was the character of their traditions of these events, previous to their first interview with the whites. It is not improbable that the traditions of the creation and the deluge, now held by this tribe, are based in part on the scripture account of these events, communicated to them by the whites.

The character of the traditions held by the Winnebagoes, will be seen from the following specimens. Sho-go-nik-kaw (Little Hill), one of the chiefs of the tribe,

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relates the history of the creation as follows : "The Great Spirit at first waked up as from a dream, and found himself sitting on a chair. On finding himself alone, he took a piece of his body, near his heart, and a piece of earth, and from them made a man. He then proceeded to make three other men. After talking awhile with the men he had created, the Great Spirit made a woman, who was this earth, which is the grand mother of the Indians. The four men which were first created are the four winds —east, west, north, and south. The earth, after it was created, rocked about; and the Great Spirit made four beasts and four snakes, and put them under the earth, to steady and support it. But when the winds blew, the beasts and snakes could not keep the earth steady, and the Great Spirit made a great buffalo, and put him under the earth; this buffalo is the land which keeps the earth steady. After the earth became steady, the Great Spirit took a piece of his heart, and made a man; and then took a piece of his flesh, and made a woman. The man knew a great deal, but the woman knew but little. The Great Spirit then took some tobacco and tobacco-seed, and gave them to the man; and gave to the woman one seed of every kind of grain, and showed her every herb and root that was good for food.

The roots and herbs were made when the earth was made. When the Great Spirit gave tobacco to the man, he told him that when he wanted to speak to the winds or the beasts, to put tobacco in the fire, and they would hear him; and that the Great Spirit would answer him. After the Great Spirit gave these things to the man and woman, he told them to look down; and they looked down, and saw a child standing between them. The Great Spirit told them that they must take care of the children. The Great Spirit then created one man and one woman of every tribe and tongue on the earth; and told them, in Winnebago, that they would live on the centre of the earth. The Great Spirit then made the beasts and birds for the use of man. He then looked down upon his children, and saw that they were happy. The Great Spirit made the fire and tobacco for the Winnebagoes, and all the other Indians got their fire and tobacco from them; and this is the reason why all the other tribes call the Winnebago their dear brother.

After the Great Spirit had made all these things, he did not look down on the earth again for one hundred and eighteen years. He then looked down and saw the old men and women coming out of their wigwams, grey-headed and stooping, and that they fell to pieces. The Great Spirit then thought that he had made the Indians to live too long, and that they increased too fast. He then changed his plan, and sent four thunders down to tell the Indians that they must fight; and they did fight and kill each other. After that the Indians did not increase so fast. The Good Spirit took the good Indians who were killed in battle to himself; but the bad Indians who were killed went to the West. After a while, a bad spirit waked up, and saw what the Good Spirit had done, and thought he could do as much: so he set to work and tried to make an Indian, and made a negro. He then tried to make a black bear, and made

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a grizzly bear. He then made some snakes, but they were all venomous. The bad spirit made all the worthless trees, the thistles, and useless weeds that grow on the earth. He also made a fire, but it was not so good as the fire that the Good Spirit made and gave to the Indian.

The bad spirit tempted the Indians to steal, and murder, and lie; and when the Indians who committed these crimes died, they went to the bad spirit. The Good Spirit commanded the Indians to be good, and they were so until the bad spirit tempted them to do wrong."

After relating the foregoing tradition, which he said had been handed down from his forefathers, Sho-go-nik-kaw, in reply to inquiries on the subject, said he believed the earth had been destroyed by a flood, and that he believed it would be destroyed again; that the Good Spirit and the bad spirit will fight; that there will be darkness for four days and nights; that there will be thunders and lightnings; and that the wicked will go to the bad spirit. He said that he believed the Good Spirit will always live, and that after the earth is destroyed he will repair it again.

Taw-nee-nuk-kaw, one of the oldest chiefs of the tribe, gives the following tradition of the Creation:

The Great Spirit created the earth, and looked down upon it, and it was bare. He then made the trees and grass and herbs to grow. After the earth was made, it rolled about; and the Great Spirit made four spirits, and placed them under the four corners of the earth to keep it steady. He then put four kings under the earth, to support it. The four kings were two snakes and two Waw-chuk-kaws. The Great Spirit then created animals, and, after making the earth and animals, he thought of making people to live on the earth; and took a piece of his body, and of it made an Indian. He made him in heaven, and sent him down to the earth. The Great Spirit told the Indian to go down very slow; but the Indian came down like thunder and lightning, very fast; and when he landed on the earth, at the Red Banks on Lake Michigan, he had a war-club in one hand, and articles to make fire with in the other. This Indian was the first chief. The Great Spirit saw that this man was alone, and he made a woman, and sent her down to him. The Great Spirit then made another man, and sent him down to the earth to be a brother to the first man. This man came down in a thunder-storm, and the rain put out the fire which the first man had made. The first man then kindled another fire, and told his brother to keep it. The last man sent down, was the first war-chief. The Great Spirit then made another woman, and sent her down for a wife for the war-chief. The birds that fly in the air, were next made by the Great Spirit: and he then thought that he would make a man to spring from the earth. On a fair day, a man was seen springing from the middle of Lake Michigan. This man was the first land-holder. The Great Spirit then made a man from a he-bear, and made a woman from a she-bear. The man made from a bear was a runner to carry news. After these men were created, they held a council; and it was agreed

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that the second man that came down from heaven should be the war-chief; and that the man made from a bear should be his second in command.

After the Winnebagoes had lived a long time, the Great Spirit looked down upon them and saw that they worked very hard with their stone axes and other tools made of stone; and he created the white man to make tools for the poor Indians.

Taw-nee-nuk-kaw said that his father had told him the story of the Deluge, which had been handed down by their forefathers; but said he did not believe it was true, because he could not believe the Great Spirit would destroy the people and animals on the earth, after taking the trouble to create them. The tradition of the Deluge is believed by a majority of the tribe. Naw-hu-hu-kaw, one of the chiefs, in speaking of the Deluge, gave it as his opinion that it was produced, in part, by a heavy rain, but principally by a strong wind blowing the waters out of the great lakes, and overflowing the land.

The Winnebagoes have no tradition of their ancestors having lived in other lands; or of any quadrupeds which are foreign to America; nor have they any tradition of a more civilized race having occupied the continent before them.

5. No direct term applicable to, or signifying the entire continent, is used by the Winnebagoes. Hitherto, they have considered the country they inhabit as an island. When they speak of the whole country they say Mo-me-nug-raw, the land we live upon; or, Wuck-aw-nee-wee-naw, our island.

6. Reminiscences of former condition: The traditions of the Winnebagoes furnish but a vague and unsatisfactory account of the history and condition of the tribe prior to the time they were visited by the whites; they represent, however, that previous to the time that the French came among them, and introduced wine — and, subsequently, the introduction of rum by the British — they were more prosperous and happy than they have been since; that then they were living in peace among themselves, and at peace with the neighboring tribes, excepting the Sioux; but that, since the whites came among them, they have had many wars. Their traditions also say, that the Winnebagoes made leagues of friendship with the Menomonies, and the Sacs and Foxes; and that the Sacs and Foxes broke the league by making war upon them, and that the Winnebagoes built a fort — that it was constructed of logs or pickets set in the ground. The Winnebagoes know nothing of the origin of the large mounds found in the west; they give it as their opinion, that the numerous small mounds now standing on the prairies in the valley of the Upper Mississippi, were built for dwellings — they say that some Indians formerly lived under ground.

7. Names and events, as helps to history: No very important events, as epochs in the history of this tribe, are spoken of in their traditions. In their wars they have

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suffered losses, and gained victories; but it does not appear that they have ever subjugated another tribe, or that they have ever been subjugated by their enemies.

The old people of the tribe say that the smallpox has prevailed amongst them three times, since their remembrance; they say that this disease was first brought among them by the English. More than one-fourth of the population of this tribe died of smallpox in 1836.

8. Present rulers and condition: Waw-kon-chaw-koo-kah is head-chief of the Winnebagoes. Waw-kon-haw-kaw, Watch-na-ta-kaw, Maw-kuk-souch-kaw, Maw-hee-koo-shay-naw, Zhu-kaw, Sho-go-nik-kaw, and Baptiste Lassallier are next to the head-chief in influence in the tribe. She-go-nik-kaw and Baptiste Lassallier were appointed by the government agent; the others are hereditary chiefs. Waw-kon-haw-kaw is the orator or speaker of the tribe. Taw-ne-nuk-kaw holds the rank of head war-chief.

Waw-kon-chaw-koo-kah, generally known by the name of Wee-no-shik by the whites, succeeded to the chieftainship of his band while a young man; he is now of middle age, and is, both physically and intellectually, a fine specimen of an Indian. In person above the medium height, well-proportioned, faultless in symmetry of form, easy and graceful in manner, he is decidedly the most accomplished and handsome man in his tribe. In respect to mental, social, and moral qualities, it may be said of him, that as a man he is modest, kind, and courteous; as a chief, he is dignified in demeanor, firm in purpose, and just in the exercise of authority towards his band and tribe; but in the transaction of business with the government, he is suspicious, obstinate, and faithless; as a politician, he is plotting, crafty, and cautious; as a warrior, he is brave in battle, and calm and self-relying in danger. Wee-no-shik seems to have cherished hatred to the Americans from his childhood, and has twice taken up arms against them. In the Winnebago war of 1827, he was taken prisoner by General Dodge, on the dividing ridge between the forks of the Pekatonika river in Illinois. His father, and the rest of his band, escaped: Wee-no-shik, then a boy fifteen years old, when surrounded, refused to surrender; he sat on his horse with his gun cocked in his hand, and eyed his foes with defiance and hate. The soldiers had become greatly exasperated by the cruelties perpetrated by the Indians, and, but for the sympathy of bravery, that moment would have been his last. General Dodge saw and admired the intrepidity of the boy, rode up and wrested his musket from him, and thus saved him from the death he at once courted and defied. On being assured by General Dodge that he wished to settle amicably the difficulty between the Indians and the whites, Wee-no-shik consented to guide him to his father's village, which stood where the town of Freeport is now situated: on arriving at the village, they found it deserted. Wee-no-shik was then requested to devise some way to inform his father of his position — to accomplish this he drew, on a piece of bark, a map of the country, and pictures of fifty-seven white men armed, on horseback, and also a picture of himself

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with them, as their guide, and designated the route they would take. This bark he set up in a conspicuous place, and the village was left undisturbed.

In 1832, Wee-no-shik joined Black Hawk, at the head of a band of Sacs, when he invaded the State of Illinois, and commenced the "Black Hawk war." He guided Black Hawk's army from the head of Milwaukie river by a difficult route, crossing the Kickapoo hills to the Bad-axe river, Wisconsin, and subsisted for some three weeks principally upon horse-flesh. He was faithful to the ill-fated band which he had joined, and was taken prisoner near the battle-ground, the day after the fight at Bad-axe, in which fight he was severely wounded in the arm. When brought before General Dodge, and asked whither Black Hawk had fled, he refused to tell. General Dodge said to him, "I saved your life when you were a boy, and I have a right to expect that you will tell me the truth." Wee-no-shik replied, "It is true — you did save my life, but it would have been better for me had you permitted your men to kill me."

Wee-no-shik was made head-chief of the tribe in 1845; this appointment was made chiefly for the purpose of facilitating business transactions, and does not affect his position as chief of his particular band. Like most Indians, he is fond of intoxicating liquor; but unlike most Indians, he sometimes keeps it in his lodge, and drinks with moderation. In regard to his domestic affairs, it will suffice to mention that he has four wives, one of whom is the reputed daughter of Colonel Morgan, late of the United States Army. Wee-no-shik is a believer in the religion of his fathers, and is, apparently, a devout worshipper of the Great Spirit.

Waw-kon-haw-kaw has, for many years, held the position of principal orator of his tribe. He is one-fourth French, and is possessed of good sense and much shrewdness. He has great influence in the tribe, and sometimes takes a fee, as attorney for the traders. He is between seventy-five and eighty years old, and although dissipated, is still robust and healthy.

Watch-ha-ta-kaw is about eighty years of age — has an iron constitution — never was sick; but some twenty years since he lost his right eye. This chief has had twenty-one wives, by whom he has had thirty children — twelve sons and eighteen daughters; five of his sons and fifteen of his daughters are now living. He has six wives living with him at the present time — the youngest is fourteen years old. He is a man of good sense, and great firmness and decision, and has the reputation of great bravery; he has fought the Chippewa and Sac and Fox Indians, and also fought against the United States under the command of Colonel Dickson, a British officer.

Maw-keek-souch-kaw is a middle-aged man: he is the son of a chief, and was, during the life of his father, promoted to the head of a large band on the death of Big Thunder, his uncle.

Maw-hee-koo-shay-naw-zhe-kaw is an honest man, and deservedly respected and highly esteemed by all who know him.

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Sho-go-nik-kaw (Little Hill) is not an hereditary chief; but some fifteen years ago was put at the head of a small party that collected in the neighborhood of the school. By energy and good management he has acquired an influence equal to that of any of the hereditary chiefs, and has now the largest band in the tribe. His mother was a Menomonie, and his father half Winnebago and half Sioux, consequently he is but one fourth Winnebago. In person he is below the medium height, but strongly built and very athletic. He is now about forty years old, is an industrious man, has been a very successful hunter, but has lately turned his attention chiefly to farming, and has done more than any other chief to advance the civilization of the tribe.

Warm-hearted, generous and brave, Sho-go-nik-kaw is the idol of his friends; intelligent, shrewd, ambitious, crafty in design and bold in execution, he is one of the leading spirits of the tribe; raised from the common ranks of the people to his present position, he understands thoroughly the elements of public sentiment, on which he relies to sustain himself, and while he would be considered as the fountain and guide of public sentiment, he is generally content to be its organ, and is careful not to deviate far from its clearly indicated path. Sometimes, inspired by a noble impulse, he will fearlessly advocate and sustain justice and right against any odds, regardless of opposition or consequences; anon he will be found playing the demagogue, and pandering to the worst passions and prejudices of the mob. Ardent in his temperament, he has more energy than firmness, and is guided more by impulse than by principle. As an orator, he is bold and fluent in style, rapid in utterance, and energetic but not graceful in manner. He has twice visited his Great Father at Washington as a delegate from his tribe, and was speaker for the delegation in negotiating the treaty of 1846, in which negotiation he displayed talents highly creditable as a diplomatist. Sho-go-nik-kaw has uniformly been an advocate and patron of the school established in his tribe; from which school his band have received great assistance in the support of their children. In his religious belief he adheres to the traditions of his fathers, although he occasionally attends divine service with the Protestants, and considers himself an honorary member of the Roman Catholic Church. In his domestic arrangements, he approximates nearer to the usages of civilized life than any family in the tribe, the credit of which is, in a great measure, due to his amiable, excellent, and virtuous wife.

Baptiste Lasallier is a half-breed — his father was a Frenchman, his mother a Winnebago, and he exhibits traits characteristic of his parentage. In person, tall and well-formed; in his manner, graceful and somewhat accomplished; in features and complexion, resembling the white more than the red man, and possessing the vivacity and wit of the Frenchman, tempered with the stoicism and shrewdness of the Indian, he can, at pleasure, join the social and festive circle with the whites, or assume the taciturn dignity of a chief in the councils of his tribe. He has an extensive acquaintance with the whites, with whom he is a favorite. His associations with the whites, and his extensive travels among various tribes of Indians, have afforded him a wide field for

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observation. He speaks the English, French, and nine different Indian languages; and here it may be suggested as a matter of curious speculation, whether this untutored child of nature, who, unable to read or write, and without books or teachers, has mastered so many languages, might not have shone conspicuously in the halls of literature, had his lot been cast in civilized life.

This man is now in the prime of life. In the year 1845, he was, by the Government Agent, placed at the head of the most degraded and badly governed band in the tribe. His appointment was an experiment, made with the hope that ambition, if not principle, would lead him to exert himself to elevate the character, and improve the condition of his band. The experiment has mainly failed; he lacks the force of character, and moral principle, and courage, requisite for a benefactor of his race.

Taw-ne-nuk-kaw, is recognised as the principal war-chief of the tribe. His English name is "Gull," and like most of the chiefs he is better known by his English name among the whites. He is now about eighty years of age — has a giant frame, and was, in the prime of his life, the most powerful Indian in the tribe. This man formerly exerted great influence in the tribe; but, morose in his disposition, and overbearing in his manner, he was feared rather than respected. Dissipated in his habits, and unbridled in his passions, his sins have been visited fearfully upon his children; he has buried ten sons, all of them powerful men, and all of them, with one exception, died by violence; six of them were killed in drunken broils. One of his sons was killed by his brother. The old man immediately ordered the murderer to be arrested and slain before him. It is possible that excited passion may have had some agency in stifling the voice of parental affection in the old chief, while acting the part of an inexorable judge in the sentence and execution of his child; but that the conflict in his bosom between affection and duty was agonizing, is fully proved by the impress it made. Crushed to the earth by the stroke, the old man mourns the loss of his sons, and is fast sinking to the grave, with little to console him either in memory or in hope.

The Winnebagoes removed to the Neutral Ground in the Territory of Iowa, in 1840, having, by the treaty of 1837, relinquished their title and right of occupancy to the country they formerly occupied east of the Mississippi river. A part of the tribe manifested great reluctance in leaving their old home, and it became necessary for the Government to remove them by military force.

9. But one language is spoken by the Winnebagoes, consequently but one interpreter is requisite in transacting business with them. Aged persons relate the traditions of the tribe, but this service is not specially assigned to any particular person or class.

International Rank and Relations.

The Winnebagoes bear a respectable, say a medium rank with other tribes. Their tradition assigns them a superior rank, and this relationship appears to be acknowledged

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by the Omahas, Otoes, and Missourias, who call the Winnebagoes their elder brother, and are by them called younger brother. In the absence of authentic tradition or history, it is difficult to decide on their pretensions to original rank and affinities of blood. The name by which they are called by themselves and others, is no certain criterion in deciding this matter; a comparison of the physical and mental characteristics and the religious dogmas of the different tribes, assists in determining their relationship and affinities; but a comparison of their language is the best criterion by which to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.

11. Proof from monuments: This tribe have no monuments to prove the existence of ancient alliances, leagues, or treaties. They have formed alliances and made treaties with other tribes, in which they have exchanged pipes and wampum as pledges of friendship.

12. Proof from totems: It appears that this tribe was anciently divided into clans or primary families, known by the names of bird, bear, and fish families, &c. These clans have not, at the present day, any badges designating their order or rank.

13. Tradition assigns the scarcity of game and rivalries of chiefs and bands as causes of division of tribes.

14. The traditions of this tribe refer to the Red Banks on the western shore of Lake Michigan, as the first and great geographical feature connected with them. Their migrations since, have been south-west and north.

15. Geography: The Winnebagoes have no correct ideas of the natural divisions of the earth, except such as they have gathered from the whites. Many of them suppose the earth to be oval; more believe it to be flat, and all formerly believed it to be stationary, and that the sun revolved from the east to the west during the day, and, at night, returned under the earth to the east. Their ideas of the earth's size correspond with the extent of their travels.

16. The Upper Iowa, Turkey, Wapsipinicon, and Red Cedar, are the principal rivers running through that portion of the Neutral Ground which has, for several years past, been occupied by the Winnebagoes; all of which rivers have their rise north of the Neutral Ground, through which they run in a south-eastwardly direction, and empty into the Mississippi. None of said rivers are navigable within the limits of the country occupied by the Indians.

17. There are no large lakes in the eastern part of the Neutral Ground. The country abounds in excellent springs, one of which, having its rise fifteen miles north-east from

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Fort Atkinson, is the largest in the State of Iowa. It gushes from a cavity in a rock, at the base of a high bluff, runs some two miles, and empties into the Iowa river. This stream is stored with speckled trout, and is sufficiently large for a valuable water-power.

18. The surface of the country in that portion of Iowa which has been occupied by the Winnebagoes, is generally undulating; some portions of it, in the neighborhood of the Iowa river, are hilly and broken. Between the east fork of Bed Cedar and Wapsipinican rivers, the country is level, and some portions of it wet and marshy. The bottoms on the Red Cedar, Iowa, and Turkey rivers, are narrow but fertile. The upland prairies are generally fertile, and bear the fruit raised elsewhere in the same latitude. The agricultural advantages of the country are good, with the exception that the prairies are large and some portions of them distant from timber, which is found chiefly in the neighborhood of rivers. The Indians raise oats, beans, peas, potatoes, and garden vegetables to some extent. Corn is their principal crop.

19. The Neutral Ground is well adapted to the raising of stock. Cattle, horses, sheep, and hogs thrive well, the prairies and woodland affording spontaneously an abundant supply of herbage. Horses owned by the Indians subsist, during winter, by grazing. Springs and rivulets generally supply sufficient water, and wells can be had at an average depth of twenty-five feet. This portion of country has, for several years past, had the best home market in the State. The removal of the Indians and the garrison, will affect the market injuriously.

20. It is believed that the practice of burning the prairies has a beneficial effect on the health of the country, by preventing the decomposition of vegetable matter; but it injures the surface of the soil, kills the young timber, and thus circumscribes the native forests.

21. There are no extensive barrens, deserts, or swamps in this section of the country.

22. No mountains are found in the eastern part of the Neutral Ground; and the quantity of arable land is not materially diminished by rocks and hills. There are a few ridges of small extent, so broken as to be unfit for anything but pasture. No volcanic tracts are found, and no tracts of sand worthy of notice.

23. The climate in this section of the country is healthy: the atmosphere is less humid than in regions further south. Sometimes the streams are swollen by heavy rains so as to overflow their banks and injure the crops in the low bottoms. Tornadoes

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and heavy thunder-storms are not frequent. The variations of heat and cold, and the prevailing winds, will be seen from meteorological tables.

24. No salt springs. Saltpetre-earth or beds of gypsum have been discovered.

25. The Indians discovered lead-ore near the Turkey and Iowa rivers, and formerly smelted the ore for their own use. The furnaces which they constructed for this purpose are still to be seen in several places. These furnaces were constructed by digging in the side of a hill, and placing flat stones edgewise, so as to form a crucible in the shape of an inverted pyramid, with a small aperture at the bottom, from which a spout is dug in the ground for the purpose of draining off the metal. Neither stone-coal nor iron-ore has been found here.

26. Wild game is scarce in this district. The Winnebagoes derive but a small part of their subsistence from the proceeds of their hunts, within their own country. There are a few deer, elk, bear, otter, muskrat, and minx. The fur trade, by creating a market for furs, increased for a time the proceeds of the Indian hunts; but it has had the effect of diminishing the value of the country for the purposes of hunting, by inducing a greater destruction of game than its increase. The buffaloes decrease and disappear earliest. The Indians say that a few years ago the beavers were nearly all destroyed by some disease or pestilence.

27. The traditions of this tribe make no mention of gigantic animals in former periods.

28. No tradition corresponding with the story told by Mr. Jefferson.

29. The Winnebagoes have peculiar notions respecting the rattlesnake, wolf, bear, turtle, and some other animals. For instance, they believe that an evil spirit dwells in the rattlesnake, and that it can send disease when, and to whom it pleases; hence, they seldom kill this snake, even when found about their lodges.

30. This tribe has no tradition respecting the horse, except that they first obtained this animal from the Sioux. They call the horse "shoon-hutta-raw," which means big dog or big servant.

31. Some individuals in this tribe can draw maps of the country which they occupy, which, in the general outlines, are tolerably correct; but their rude drawings evince but little knowledge of the laws of proportion.

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47. These Indians had no correct knowledge of astronomy until a school was established among them. A large majority of the tribe believe that the earth is a plane; some few believe it is oval on the top and flat at the bottom. They believe that the earth is larger than the sun, and have in general no correct ideas of the relation it bears to the sun and planetary system. All the notions they have that approximate to correctness on the subject of astronomy, have been derived from the whites. When asked if they believe the planets are inhabited, they answer, "We don't know."

48. Their ideas of the universe, and their conceptions of the vast field of space, are as erroneous and contracted as their means of information have been limited. They profess to believe that the Great Spirit made the earth, the sun, moon, and stars, for the benefit of mankind. They appear to limit space by the extent of their vision, and not to have discovered that the infinity of space is beyond their comprehension.

49. Their opinion of the nature and motions of the sun is that it is a body of fire, made to keep them warm: that it starts from the east in the morning, goes to the west, and, during the night, returns under the earth back to the east. They have capacity, and can be made to comprehend the correct system of astronomy.

51. The Indians' theory of eclipses is a compound of ignorance and superstition. Some of this tribe believe that when the sun is eclipsed, a bad spirit has seized upon it, and they fire guns at it to frighten it away. Others believe the sun is dying, when eclipsed. They all believe an eclipse ominous of evil.

52. The Winnebagoes reckon twelve moons for a year. They do not keep an account of the days in a year, and have made no attempt to compute a solar year. They divide the year into summer and winter; and subdivide the summer into spring, summer, and fall. They call it winter while there is snow on the ground. The season between the time of the melting of the snow and the commencement of hot weather, they call spring. During the continuance of hot weather they call it summer; and from the appearance of frost to the falling of snow, they call it fall. Spring is the commencement of their year. Their method of dividing the year into twelve moons, brings them at fault in their reckoning, and they frequently have disputes about the matter. These disputes are sometimes referred to the Agent, when occasion is taken to explain to them the cause of their difficulty. They differ somewhat in the names of their twelve moons. The following, however, is the common almanac among them.

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1st Moon	Me-tow-zhe-raw	Drying the earth.
2d Moon	Maw-ka-wee-raw	Digging the ground, or planting corn.
3d Moon	Maw-o-a-naw	Hoeing corn.
4th Moon	Maw-hoch-ra-wee-daw	Corn tasselling.
5th Moon	Wu-toch-aw-he-raw	Corn popping, or harvest time.
6th Moon	Ho-waw-zho-ze-raw	Elk whistling.
7th Moon	Cha-ka-wo-ka-raw	Deer running.
8th Moon	Cha-ka-wak-cho-naw	Deer's horns dripping.
9th Moon	Honch-wu-ho-no-nik	Little bear's time.
10th Moon	Honch-wee-hutta-raw	Big bear's time.
llth Moon	Mak-hu-e-kee-ro-kok	Coon running.
12th Moon	Ho-a-do-ku-noo-nuk	Fish running.

53. The Winnebagoes take no notice of the summer and winter solstices, or of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.

54. The opinion prevails among this tribe, that the Indians will be destroyed at the expiration of thirteen generations from the creation, or at the expiration of three generations after the present. They are now making extra feasts to propitiate the Great Spirit, and supplicate him to extend their time.

55. They have no name for the year, as contradistinguished from winter — no division of time resembling a week — and no division of the day into hours. They reckon time by winters, moons, and nights.

56. They have names for some particular stars.

57. They have nothing resembling the ancient signs of the zodiac, and do not attach personal or other influence to the stars. The moon is not considered by them as having influence on men, vegetation, or animals, and no regard is paid to the particular time of the moon's phases, in planting corn and other seed.

58. The Winnebagoes believe the Aurora Borealis is produced by a bad spirit, and that it is ominous of death. They call the Milky Way death's road, or the road of the dead. They have no theory of the origin or causes of clouds, rain, hail, and winds and tornadoes, except the general one, that they are made and caused by the Great Spirit. They cannot account for comets or meteors, but are superstitious respecting them, and consider them ominous of calamities. They do not attempt to account for the rainbow.

60. A part of the Indians in this tribe believe the paradise of souls is above, but do not define its particular location in the heavens. Some say that good Indians will, after death, go to the paradise above, and that bad Indians will go to the west; others believe that this paradise is located in the west, and that all will go there. Those that believe in the latter theory generally locate their land of souls on an island far in the west.

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61. Arithmetic: The enclosed tables will show the names of the digits used by this tribe, and their method of computing numbers. Some in the tribe can compute as high as millions — they have no occasion for a higher computation. Indefinite and countless numbers they represent by the terms, "leaves on the trees — stars in the heavens — blades of grass on the prairie — and sands on the lake shore." (Vol. II., p. 214.)

62. Wampum was formerly used by this tribe as currency, and a standard of exchange, and is still, to some extent, used as currency. Gold and silver are their principal currency, and standard of value and exchange, at the present time. They understand the denominations of federal money.

66. Medicine: The uncultivated Indian knows nothing of science. The general character of the theory held by the medicine-men of this tribe is a compound of quackery, ignorance, and superstition, added to some practical skill derived from experience and observation. Their practice corresponds with their theory. They administer a few simple remedies, sometimes judiciously, and use incantations, sacrifice dogs, sing, dance, and fast, to aid in effecting a cure; and they sometimes set up toads, turtles, and snakes on sticks around the bed of their patient, to drive away the bad spirits. Taking into consideration the harmless nature of the remedies used, and that they are generally aided by the simple habits, good constitution, and strong faith of the patient, it is not strange that these medicine-men acquire great reputation for skill and success. And Indian specifics (so called) used by empirics among the whites, no doubt owe their efficaciousness chiefly to the same causes. These Indians are careful and tender of their sick. Old people, when sick, are generally nursed with kindness and affection by their children and relatives; but here, as in civilized life, the strength of parental over filial affection is manifest — no nurse is so unwearied, and no watcher so anxious, as the mother by the sick-bed of her child.

The doctors or medicine-men of this tribe usually charge exorbitant fees, and require payment in advance for their services; but when they undertake the cure of a patient, they devote themselves night and day to it, for the term of time agreed on

67. The medical practitioners in this tribe have no exact knowledge of the anatomy of the human frame. They have no professors or demonstrators of anatomy among them, and their knowledge of this subject is probably 110 better than is that of white men who have never made it a study. By cutting up the game taken in hunting, the Indian acquires a general knowledge of the comparative anatomy of animals. The limited knowledge they have of the circulation of the blood, has evidently been obtained from the whites; the medicine-men of this tribe say that the blood flows in the veins — but when questioned on the subject, they appear to be wholly ignorant of the agency of the arteries in producing this current — ignorant of the agency of the lungs

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and air in renovating the blood, and, in fact, ignorant of the entire economy of the system. In view of the conflicting theories advocated by pathologists among the whites, and in the absence of a certain and acknowledged standard on this subject, it is difficult to determine how far the Indian theory of the nature and causes of diseases is entitled to respect. If the success of their practice is considered a fair criterion of the correctness of their theory, the Indian doctor can claim a respectable rank among the disciples of Esculapius. The pathology of the medicine-men of this tribe is based chiefly on a belief in the supernatural agency of evil spirits.

68. They treat fevers, pleurisy, obstructions of the liver, constipations and congestions, nearly in the same manner. Their remedies are bleeding, emetics, cathartics, and cold and vapor baths, together with incantations, drumming, singing, dancing, rattling the gourd, and snakes, toads, turtles and lizards set up on sticks around the patient. This tribe has, from time to time, suffered severely from dysentery, their physicians having not been successful in their treatment of this disease, for which their remedies are principally astringent decoctions of bark and roots. The Chippewa physicians have a higher reputation for skill than have the medicine-men of any other tribe in the north-west. It is said, by good authority, that they have succeeded in curing consumption of the lungs, in some cases in which the disease had become seated and far advanced. Powerful emetics is the remedy they first use in such cases. The seneca snake-root is an important article in the materia medica of the Chippewas, and is much used by the Winnebagoes as a remedy in fevers. (Vide Dr. Pitcher, Title XIII.)

69. It is difficult to ascertain what species of plants and roots are used by Indian doctors for emetics and cathartics, as they are not communicative on this subject. They use the bark of the white elder, both for an emetic and a cathartic; when it is intended to operate as an emetic, they scrape it from the stalk from the root upwards; but when they design it to operate as a cathartic, they scrape it from the boughs downward.

70. Bleeding is generally resorted to as a remedy in fevers. The operation is performed sometimes by using a phlegm made by fixing a piece of flint, or the point of a pen-knife, in a stick; but is more commonly performed by the use of a spring-lancet. The temporary benefit which persons of plethoric habit derive from bleeding, induces them to resort to this remedy often. Sometimes six or eight Indians, apparently in health, may be seen being bled at the same time; the operator, after opening the vein, leaves his patient to bleed as long and as much as he chooses.

They frequently cup a patient for headache, and other local pains. The operation is performed by scarifying with a flint, knife, or lancet, and applying the tip of the horn of the ox or buffalo; a vacuum is next produced by the operator applying his mouth to the small

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end of the horn, and exhausting the air; the operation is thus performed as efficaciously as by the use of cupping-glasses.

Indians, when greatly fatigued by walking or running, sometimes scarify their legs, to obtain relief by bleeding.

71. The bark of the sumach is used as a styptic, besides which they have several other vegetable styptics, which they consider valuable; they also use alum and blue vitriol. They make healing and drawing plasters, which prove efficacious. Bandages and lints are applied skilfully, but are generally removed and replaced oftener than is necessary. A bad wound is seldom suffered to heal by the first attention, but kept open in order that it may heal, as they say, from the bottom.

72. The eminent success which attends their treatment of cuts, stabs, and gun-shot wounds, is owing to the skill and care of the surgeon, aided by the constitution and temperament of the patient. In the first place, they thoroughly cleanse the wound, and if a gun-shot, they extract the ball, if practicable; then, by applying the mouth, and long-continued sucking, they extract clotted blood and extraneous matter that may have entered the wound; then make applications to allay inflammation, and induce suppuration. In addition, generally, to a good constitution, the temperament of the patient aids his recovery; the Indian, when wounded, throws himself on his power of endurance; and submits to confinement and pain, without suffering that nervous irritability which often retards the recovery of the white man.

73. The Winnebago surgeons never amputate a limb; and their practice proves that amputation is not always necessary when declared so by white surgeons. In simple and compound fractures they use splints; and sometimes confine the limb, after reducing the fracture, by tying it fast in an extended position, and thus keep the patient until the bone unites.

They usually remove their sick and wounded from place to place, on litters carried by two or more persons. These litters are constructed by fastening a blanket between two poles. When it is necessary to remove the sick a considerable distance, these litters are suspended on and between two horses, one walking directly behind the other, (Vide Plate 25, Vol. II., p. 180.)

74. Theory of diseases, and their remedy: This subject was referred to Dr. Andros, physician for the Winnebagoes, and his report is herewith submitted.

244 7. Brief Researches in the Missionary and Other Authors, Respecting the Mascoutins of the French Era.

Assistagueronon, or Fire-Nation, Sagard, 201, Rel., 1640-1; Assistaqueronons, Champlain; Attistaeronons, Rel., 1639-40; Ontouagannha, or Fire-Nation, Rel., 1659-60; Mascoutens, or Assistaeronons, Rel., 1670-1, p. 169

By John Gilmary Shea, Esq.

THE earlier French writers, when acquainted with the Hurons in Upper Canada, mention the Assistaeronons, which in the Huron tongue means Fire-Nation. They were at war with the Ottowas, or Cheveux relevez; the latter being supported by the Neutral Nation. Sagard represents them as trading over a distance of 500 leagues, and as dwelling nine or ten days' canoe journey (about 200 leagues) beyond the Ottowas. The latter are placed in Manitouline, at that epoch. Champlain, in his Map of 1632, seems to place them south of Lake Huron; but this is not clear.

The Relation of 1639-40, the next to describe the west, lately explored by Nicollet, mentions several tribes on Lake Michigan, all afterwards better known; but does not speak of the Assistaeronons, or Mascoutins. The only tribe mentioned by him, not afterwards known, is the Rasaouakoueton. The name Attistae, given in this Relation, is from a Huron map by Ragueneau, which has not been preserved. They are occasionally mentioned, down to the ruin of the Hurons, in 1649.

In 1659-60, a nation is mentioned, in a list, under the name of Ontouagannha, or Fire-Nation; but the former epithet is an Iroquois term for those who did not speak their language. (See Rel., 1661-2.) The first European who has recorded a visit to them, is Father Claudius Allouez (Rel., 1669-70, p. 92); he found the Mascoutins on the Wisconsin river, and in the following year (Rel., 1670-1, p. 169), expressly states that they are the tribe formerly called by the Hurons Assistaeronons, or Fire-Nation. Whether Mascoutins had the same meaning, he does not state. Marquette, the next to visit them, speaks in doubt — "It may mean fire." Dablon subsequently treats this as an error, and gives Prairie as the meaning of Mascoutins. In this he is followed by Charlevoix, and confirmed by Schoolcraft. As to situation, Marquette, in 1673, found them mingled with Miamis and Kickapoos, on the head-waters of Fox River, near the portage. (Journal, § III.) Hennepin places them, in 1680, with the Miamis and Foxes, on Winnebago Lake; though Membr×, at the same time, places them with the Foxes on Melleoki (Milwaukie) river, about 43° N. (Discovery of Mississ., p. 150.)

In 1712, Father Marest writes that a short time before the Mascoutins had formed

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a settlement on the Ohio (Ouabache), but that it had greatly suffered from contagious disorders. (Lettres Edif., Vol. XI.)

In the same year the upper Mascoutins, together with the Kickapoos, joined the Foxes in their plot against the French; but they were surprised by the Ottowas and Pottawatomies, and one hundred and fifty were cut to pieces. (Charlev., IV., 95.) They probably suffered still more in the ultimate defeat of that nation.

A few years later, in 1736, a list in the Paris Documents (N. Y. Doc. Hist. I.) reckons the Wolf and Stag tribes of the Mascoutins, on Fox river, at sixty men; but is silent as to any on the Ohio.

In Sir William Johnson's list, 1764, in the same volume of the Documentary History, no allusion is made to them; but Bouquet, in 1764, puts them down at 500 on Lake Michigan; and Hutchins, in 1768, includes them with other tribes in a pretty high estimate. (Jefferson's Notes, 172.) This is the last mention of the Mascoutins of Wisconsin.

In June, 1765, Colonel Croghan was attacked near the Wabash by eighty Indians, chiefly Kickapoos and Mascoutins. (Reynolds' Illinois, 59.)

Under the name of Meadow Indians, we next find the Mascoutins mentioned in Colonel Clark's journal. During a council held by that officer at Caholda, in 1777, a party of this tribe attempted to cut him off by treachery, but were foiled, and Clark availed himself of their defeat to acquire a complete mastery over them. (Dillon's Indiana, 144. Western Annals, 205.) The last mention found of this part of the tribe, is in 1779, when Dodge estimates the Mascoutins on the Wabash with the Piankeshaws and Vermilions, at 800. (Jeff., 173.)

As will be seen, they seldom appear alone, but almost always in connection with their kindred, the Ottagamies or Foxes and the Kickapoos, and like them bear a character for treachery and deceit. The three tribes may have in earlier days formed the Fire-Nation, but, as Gallatin observes in the Arch×ologia Americana, it is very doubtful whether the Mascoutins were ever a distinct tribe. If this be so, and there is no reason to reject it, the disappearance of the name will not be strange. The Mascoutins in Illinois were mixed with the Kickapoos, and at last confounded with them. The latter alone are mentioned in late accounts, and yet seem to be in the same location as the Mascoutins.

The upper section were, in all probability, similarly absorbed in the Foxes after the French war on that tribe.

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Title VI. — Subjective Division, Intellectual Capacity and Character. — General Analysis of Title VI.

Title VI., Let. A., Vol. I. [1st Paper.]

A. Aboriginal Mythology, and Oral Traditions of the Wigwam.

1. Iroquois Cosmogony.
2. Origin of Men — of Manabozho — of Magic.
3. Allegory of the Origin of the Osages from a Snail.
4. Pottawatomie Allegories.
5. Story of the Hunter's Dream.
6. Story of the Red Head.
7. Story of the Magic Ring in the Prairies.
8. Story of the White Feather.

B. An Essay on the Indian Pictography, or Symbolic Writing.

CHAP. 1. Preliminary Considerations.
CHAP. 2. Extreme antiquity of Pictorial Notation.
CHAP. 3. Elements of the Pictorial System.
CHAP. 4. Symbols employed in the Kekeenowin and Medawin.
CHAP. 5. Rites and mode of Notation of Wabeno Songs.
CHAP. 6. Symbols of Hunting, and Feats of the Chase.
CHAP. 7. Symbols of the Prophetic Art.
CHAP. 8. Symbols of Love, War, and History.
CHAP. 9. Universality of the Pictographic System, with the Explanation of Bark-roll
inscriptions presented from Lake Superior.
CHAP. 10. Comparative Views of the Symbols of the Samoides, Tartars, and Laplanders. — Iroquois Pictographs.

249 Title VI., Let. B., Vol. II. [2d Paper.]

A. Power of Indian Numeration.

1. Choctaw,
2. Dacotah.
3. Cherokee.
4. Ojibwa of Chegoimegon.
5. Winnebago.
6. Chippewa.
7. Wyandot.
8. Hitchittee.
9. Comanche.
10. Cuchan or Yuma.

B. Art of Pictography.

1. Census Roll of the Ojibwas.
2. Medicine Animal of the Winnebagoes.
3. Ha×¦kah, a Dacotah God.
4. Indian Signatures, by Symbols, to a Treaty.
5. Menomonie Symbols for Music.

C. Aboriginal Alphabetical Notation.

(a.) Cherokee Syllabical Alphabet.
(b.) Story of the Prodigal Son in this Character.

D. Oral Imaginative Legends from the Wigwam.

1. Allegory of the Transformation of a Hunter's Son into a Robin.
2. Allegory of the Origin of Indian Corn.
3. Fraternal Cruelty, or the Allegory of the Wolf-Brother.
4. Wyandot Story of Sayadio, or the Sister's Ghost.

Title VI., Let. C., Vol. III. [3d PAPER.]

A. Oral Fictions from the Wigwam.

1. Hiawatha, or the Iroquois Quetzalcoatl.
2. A Fairy Tale of the Boy-man, or Little Monedo.
3. Trapping in Heaven.
4. The Story of the Great Snake of Canandaigua — an Allegory of the Origin of the Senecas.
5. Shingebiss — an Allegory of Self-reliance in the Forest.

B. Poetic Development of the Indian Mind.

6. Song of the Okogis.
7. Chant of the Hawks.

250 Title VI., Let. D., Vol. IV. [4th Paper.]

A. Indian Pictography.

1. Ogellala Inscription on a Buffalo robe.
2. Comanche Inscription on the Scapula of a Bison.
3. Symbols on the trunk of a Tree in California.
4. Symbols from a Sandstone Rock on the Little Colorado, in New Mexico.
5. Symbolic Transcript from a Rock in New Mexico, in Lat. about 34°, 40'.
6. Symbolic Characters from the Valley of the Gila.
7. Pictographic Inscription from Utah.
8. Mixed, or Indo-European Inscription by a Utah Indian.

B. Oral Traditions and Fictions from the Wigwam. 1. A Shawnee Tradition purporting to be Historical.
2. Thanayeison, a Western Iroquois, to Conrad Wiser at Kaskaskia, in 1748. — An Allegorical Account of the first coming of the Whites.

C. Indian Shrewdness and Business Talent in Public Speaking.

1. Wabashaw before the British Commanding Officer at Drummond Island, at the close of the war of 1812.
2. The Shawnee Prophet before the U. S. Agent at Waughpekenota, Ohio, on agreeing to migrate to the West, in 1827.

251

VI. Intellectual Capacity and Character. D.

A. Indian Pictography, from Rocks, Trees, Animals, Bones, and Dressed Skins.

1. Ogellala Figures on a Buffalo Robe. — Plate 31.

BY the term pictography, it is intended to designate that mode of ideographic notation which is peculiarly characteristic of the United States Indians. The term picture-writing has been applied to that improved form of it which was common to the Toltecs and Aztecs, and which excited such attention on the conquest of Mexico. This advanced state of the art consisted chiefly in a more systematic position, and exact and uniform size of the symbols, in their being generally colored in deep and bright hues, and in the invention of sub-symbols, to denote the several tlilpalli, and other periods of their astronomical system. But there was no evidence that it had extended, in this improved form, farther north than the limits of the semi-civilized tribes of Mexico. It was already the peculiar business of picture-writers and pictorial clerks, who devoted themselves to this branch of native scriptography, which is, in itself, a proof of the progressive state of civilization among them.

Amongst the forest and prairie tribes of the United States, there were symbols invented, at the earliest known dates, to represent and identify families. These were denominated Totems by the Algonquins, and the term has come into general use, for the same thing, among all the forest tribes. Such marks were rudely cut or painted on blazed trees, inscribed on bark rolls or wooden implements, and sometimes cut on the smooth faces of remarkable rocks. The successful hunter thus advertised his tribe of his prowess. The successful war-captain did the same. The native priest was more elaborate, and drew his symbols on tablets of wood, or scrolls of bark. His sacred songs were noted down, in this way, by a series of symbols, which recalled to his memory the words and choruses. In this way he sings his score of forest notes.

These are also, if the historical portions of these rude pictographs are closely scrutinized, perceived to be some symbols for clays, months, or years, and for numbers. Thus, plain perpendicular or diagonal strokes denote, ordinarily, the number of men

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or things, or events. A cross above the skull has been interpreted to mean forty — and a series of interlaced crosses a multitude. A small circle near the principal symbol indicates days, months, years. Vague as this mode is, it gives a species of information in inscriptions, which, without them, would be still more vague.

In examining pictographs of the United States tribes, it is easy to discriminate those of the forest tribes, and the higher northern and temperate latitudes, from those of the prairie tribes, and southern and intertropical latitudes, and these two species, also, from the mountain tribes. There are thus three styles of pictography.

In the prior volumes, we have submitted several specimens of the pictographs, in their varieties, from the Atlantic coast, forest, and lake tribes. We now, in Plate 31, give one of these pictographic drawings, copied from the dressed skin of a buffalo. It is from the Ogellalah band of the Dacotahs, who dwell on the prairies of the banks of the Missouri, whence it was brought by Lieutenant Gunnison, on his trip with Captain Stansbury, to the Great Salt Lake. It denotes a series of combats, chiefly on horseback, by a tribe possessing guns and lances, fighting with others who are armed with bows and arrows, and shields. (Fig. 1 to 42.) In these drawings, the owner of the robe from which they are copied, clearly records his achievements. There are, in this drawing, nineteen figures of the horse. No. 1 is the war-chief leading the party, in grand costume — a capote. In Fig. 5 he denotes himself, on a mission of peace, bearing an ornamented peace-pipe, and armed with a gun. One of the naked, or extreme barbarous tribes, shoots an arrow into the breast of his horse. He dismounts, strips the savage of his bow and pipe, and seizes him by the hair of his head (2). Meantime a combat with arrows takes place between two footmen (3 and 4). No. 7 wheels in from one side (9), (a series of checks to denote a path,) and armed with a shield, spears his adversary (6) in the neck, although the latter defends himself with a gun. Meantime 8 interposes with a bow and arrow, but is himself speared; 13, a footman, is speared by 12, a horseman. He and 16 are wounded in precisely the same manner by 15, a horseman, who is armed with a gun and lance. These appear to be the leading events of this battle.

In the second conflict, 26, who is recognized by his dress as 5, and also the captor of 2, is followed by 27 and 28, mounted bowmen. He dismounts, with his shield and pennon, decorated with scalps, to hold an interview with 24, an Indian well-clothed. Meantime 30 disarms 29, being both footmen, of his arrows; and 23, a horseman with a bow, riding a dappled horse, pierces 22 with two arrows. The peace-pipe is held up by 17, a man in long clothes, and the gun taken amicably from the naked savage, 20, by 21, an Indian in long robes of the dressed buffalo.

In Scene 3, No. 5, who is the robe-chief, reappears in Fig. 32, having dismounted 35, being wounded by 31, a footman, whom he puts to flight. 34, a horseman, armed with a gun, shoots 33, a horseman, through the body. 27, a horseman, pierces 26 in the breast with a lance. 40 and 42 bear the ornamented peace-pipe. 41 comes

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from a distance, denoted by check 48, and the result, it is inferable, is another reconciliation.

Scene 4 denotes the robe-chief on horseback, and crowned with his head-feathers, driving a lance through the neck of an armed adversary, on foot. In 45 we behold the crowning act of the robe-chief, denoted by his dress, who comes in on foot from the prairie (47 check), to engage in a personal combat between three footmen, two of whom are shot through the breast with arrows, and the third knocked in the head with a club. Such appear to be the leading scenes of this record, and such, indeed, is prairie life.

2. Comanche Inscription. — Plate 32.

This inscription is taken from the shoulder-blade of a buffalo, found on the plains in the Comanche country of Texas. Fig. 5 is a symbol showing the strife for the buffalo existing between the Indian and white races. The Indian (1), presented on horseback, protected by his ornamented shield, and armed with a lance, kills a Spaniard (3), the latter being armed with a gun, after a circuitous chase (6). His companion (4), armed with a lance, shares the same fate,

3. — 8. Pictographic Inscriptions from New Mexico. — Plates 33, 34, and 35.

When the pictography of the northern latitudes of the United States is compared with the inscriptions herewith given, from the elevations and wild gulfs and canons of New Mexico, the attentive observer will notice a striking difference in the two species of ideographic signs. There is no longer seen that free and plain juxtaposition of the symbolic figures of animals and birds, by which the Indian names of the actors are so

254

readily ascertained. The lines have a mathematical stiffness which reminds one of the Tartaric drawings on rocks, of which examples are given in Plates 64, 65, 66, and 67, Vol. I. Among these are figures resembling a trident; and a double, and even a triple trident occur. In compartment E, Plate 35, and C, Plate 34, a figure resembling the arrow-headed character is repeated many times. The human figure is not, as with the United States' tribes, an elongated cross, surmounted with a ball to signify a head, but something very much resembling a man a-straddle. The wild animals introduced are drawn after the clumsy and inartistic style of the Asiatic figures referred to. The parallel zig-zag points, the cougar in single outline, the divining circle, the posture of the running deer, and certain alphabet-like figures, are quite noticeable, and separate these pictographs widely from those of the north.

In the pictograph copied by Mr. Kern from the expanded root of the linodendron in California, we behold a very modern attempt to depict the lassooing of animals. Very different are the impressions created by the figures in compartment G, Plate 35. These characters, done by a Utah of Taos, create, by their compact linear arrangement, the idea of an attempt to commit the sounds of the vowels to pictographic symbols.

B. Oral Traditions, and Fictions from the Wigwam.

1. An Ancient Shawnee Tradition.

THE following tradition is taken from the LETTER-BOOK of the U. S. St. Louis Super-intendency, Missouri, wherein it is indexed, "A Traditional Story concerning the Shawnee and Kickapoo Nations." It is recorded, May 8th, 1812, as being received from the lips of a Shawnee named Louis Rodgers. It is here published as an original and authentic element of Indian opinion, and is, probably, one of their symbolical modes of narrating old events. From the St. Louis record, no practical object appears to have been designed to be effected, or was obtained by the speaker in telling it, unless, perhaps, he attached importance to the tradition. It reminds one of the traditional matter recorded by Mr. Johnston, the Shawnee Indian Agent, of Piqua, Ohio, in 1819, which is referred to particularly, in Vol. I., p. 19.

In a people whose history is wholly verbal, it is only by closely watching and comparing what falls from time to time from the lips of their old speakers, that the arch×ological student is likely to gain a true insight into their beliefs, mythological or historical; and where there is, from the peculiar mental habits of the tribes, so little to be got, the obligation seems the greater to put that little on record.

Further traditions of this nature will be introduced in subsequent parts of this work.

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Shawnee Tradition.

"It is many years ago since the numbers of the Shawnees were very great. They were, on an important occasion, encamped together on a prairie. At night, one-half of them fell asleep; the others remained awake. Those who kept awake abandoned the sleepers before morning, and betook themselves to the course where the sun rises. The others gradually pursued their route in the direction where the sun sets. This was the origin of the two nations, the first of which was called Shawnee, and the other, Kickapoo.

Prior to this separation, these nations were considered one, and were blessed with the bounties of heaven above any blessings which are now enjoyed by any description of mankind. And they ascribe their present depressed condition and the withdrawal of the favors of providence, to the anger of the Great Being at their separation.

Among the many tokens of divine favor which they formerly enjoyed, was the art of walking on the surface of the ocean, by which they crossed from the east to America without vessels. Also the art of restoring life to the dead, by the use of medical arts continued for the space of six hours. Witchcraft and prophecy were with them at their highest state, and were practised without feigning; and, in fine, such were the gifts of heaven to them, that nothing fell short of their inconceivable power to perform. And after the Shawnees have wandered to the remotest west, and returned eastward to the original place of separation, the world will have finished its career. It is believed by the Shawnees, that the consummation of this prophecy is not far distant, because they have, in fulfilment of the prophecy, reached the extreme western point, and are now retrograding on their steps."

The words Shawnee and Kickapoo, introduced in the foregoing tradition, may be examined as arch×ological facts. Shawano, or Oshawano, in one of the oldest mythological traditions of the Algonquins, is the name of one of the brothers of Manabozho, to whom was assigned the government of the southern quarter of the earth. To the English ear, which chooses the least possible quantity of syllables, the word has become fixed and anglicized as Shawnee. It originally required a final ng for plural, and carried to the Indian ear the meaning of Southerners. It, apparently, expresses nothing more in that language. Thus, Oshawanepenasee is the name of the south, or yellow, bird. It is not an uncommon Indian name for a man. In this phrase, the final o is replaced by the connective e, and the word penasee, a bird, simply added. Shawanoong, the term for the south, consists of the same binal root, with one of the inflections for place (ong) which are so common and multifarious in the Algonquin.

They were called Satanas, in 1747, by the Iroquois and English, agreeably to Colden's History of the Five Nations (Preface, xvi.); a term which means Devils. In the comparative tables of 1736, obtained from France, and published in Vol. III., p. 553,

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they are called Chauenons; and are vaguely said "to inhabit the south shore of Lake Erie, towards Carolina." To Carolina and Florida, indeed, their own traditions carry them; and they are never heard of, at early periods, to the west. They came into the Ohio valley, about 1640, from the Apalachian range through the Kentucky river, which Johnson says (Arch. Am.) is a Shawnee word; while others of the tribe, who were defeated by the Catawbas and Cherokees, in Carolina, had settled previously in the hunting-grounds of their kindred, the Delawares, in Pennsylvania.

To the word Kickapoo, named by Louis Rodgers in his tradition, no great antiquity appears to attach. It is mentioned in the Paris tables above referred to, under the orthography of "Kicopoux;" and a position is assigned to the tribe, exactly corresponding to the (now lost) Mascoutins, to whom their history appears closely allied. The word Kickapoo, to the Algonquin ear, appears like a contraction from Neg-ik-abo, as if the tribe had been called, derisively, Otter's Ghost.

2. Speech of Thanayeison, an Iroquois. — 1748. — An Allegorical Account of the First Arrival of the English in America, and an Allusion to a Murder Committed by an Iroquois.

Brothers: When we first saw one another, at your first arrival at Albany, we shook hands together, and we became brethren. We tied your ship to the bushes. After we had more dealings with you, more and more, and finding that the bush would not hold your ship, we tied it to a big tree, and ever since, good friendship has continued between us.

Afterwards you told us, a tree may happen to fall down, and the rope by which it is tied to rot. You then proposed to make a silver chain, and tie your ship to the great mountain in the Five Nations' country; and that chain was called, the chain of friendship.

We were all tied by our arms together with this silver chain, and made one, and ever since a good correspondence has been kept up between us. But we are sorry, that at your coming here, we are obliged to talk of the accident that lately befell you in Carolina, where some of our warriors, by the instigation of the evil spirit, struck a hatchet into our own body — for our brothers the English and we are of one body, and what was done we utterly abhor, as a thing done by the evil spirit himself.

We never expected any of our people would do this to an Englishman. We, therefore, remove the weapon which, by the evil spirit's order, was struck into your body, and we desire that our brothers, the Governor of New York, and Onas, may use their utmost endeavors that the thing may be buried in the bottomless pit — that it may never be seen again — that the silver chain, which is of so long standing, may be preserved bright and unhurt.

257 (C.) Indian Talent in Public Speaking.

DURING the time that a European population has been placed in contact with the aboriginal tribes of America, they have given many evidences of their capacity for public speaking, which have commended themselves to admiration. The specimens of this vigorous off-hand talent of the sons of the forest, which have appeared from the time of Vittachucco to that of the Seneca orator, Red Jacket, while they denote the danger of their being altered, and the tribes themselves infringed on, by direct contact with the antagonistical races of civilization, are by no means deficient in keenness of perception, just sentiment, or power of illustration.

It is no part of the present design to collect the known examples of oral thought for consideration as an element in their intellectual character; but rather to present some new matter, from original and authentic sources, of the oratorical capacity of the Indian mind for transacting their ordinary public business. Eminent positions, whether in civil or forest life, are a stimulus to eminent and pithy thought; but the mind that is called to grapple with the daily emergencies and every-day realities of the narrow range of forest-life, must needs consider well its positions, to give force and appositeness to words; yet it is from this narrowed intercourse that we are most likely to obtain the best evidence of the course and power of thought and reasoning capacity of the Indian mind.

The American Indian is not a man of anticipations. His field of thought lies rather in reminiscence, and his glories are of the past. He is manifestly aware that his prospect is clouded by continual contact with a superior civilization. The arts by which he is surrounded are appalling to him; and while he turns a stoical and disdainful eye on the evidences of a higher invention and industry, he actually despairs of reaching them. He submits to the great mutations and rapid destruction of hunter-prosperity around him, without truly comprehending events; and at last yields with a spirit of submission and philosophy, in which he often recognizes the hand of an over-ruling Power. These ideas are forced on his mind by beholding the great spread of the power of the civilized and industrial race which is sweeping from the Atlantic to the Pacific; and it will be seen that he often alludes to them, and acknowledges their superior power, in the transaction of his tribal and national affairs. Example is more powerful with him, in forming changes, than theory; and its effects on the aboriginal mind, in a few favorable positions, are actually producing the most benign influences.

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1. Wabashaw's Speech to the British Commanding Officier at Drummond Island, at the Close of the War of 1812.

Wabashaw was a Dacotah. To understand the force of this speech, it is necessary to observe, that efforts were made by Tecumseh and his brother, the prophet Elskatowa, as early as 1806, to assemble the Indians on the Wabash, and to draw them into a confederacy to act against the United States. For this purpose, The Prophet was the great agent. He had the reputation of great sanctity and religious power amongst the tribes. It was believed that he could both foretell and produce events. He addressed himself to the credulous Indians by arguments suited to their knowledge and beliefs. To some of the tribes who occupied northern latitudes, he threatened deep snows and starvation, if they did not go; to the southern tribes, he predicted droughts; to all he promised the favor of the Great Spirit, and the rewards due to a brave and united people, who were willing to engage in a great enterprise. Some of his Indian opponents he took up by charges of sorcery and witchcraft. The great Shawnee chief Tarhe, who stood in his way, was condemned to the stake as a wizard. A large number of Indians collecting, in a short period, on the Wabash, General Harrison, the governor of Indiana, marched to disperse them, in 1811. He was treacherously attacked, about three o'clock in the morning, at Tippecanoe, and a sanguinary battle ensued.

Other events were hasting forward. War was openly declared in 1812; and the western Indians, who had assembled in large numbers, were stimulated to the highest acts of cruelty and bloodshed. For two years, the American armies on the frontiers suffered defeat. Before the end of this period, the tide rolled back, and victory ensued along the whole frontiers, from New Orleans to the River Thames, in Canada. Every hope for which the tribes had combined was blasted — their leader fell — the treaty of Ghent made not even a provision for them. It was under this view that Wabashaw, a celebrated Sioux chief, uttered the following speech, at the post of Drummond Island — a new post occupied by the British government on surrendering Michilimackinac, after the treaty of Ghent. Colonel Robert McDuall was the commanding officer.

My father: What is this I see before me? a few knives and blankets? Is this all you promised us at the beginning of the war?

Where is the fulfilment of those high speeches of promise you made us at Michilimackinac, and sent to our villages on the Mississippi?

You told us you would never let fall the hatchet till the Americans were driven beyond the Alleghanies!

You said we should again be put in possession of our ancient hunting-grounds! You

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said that our British fathers would never make peace without consulting his Red Children! Has this come to pass?

We never knew of the peace! We are told it was made by our Great Father beyond the big waters, without the knowledge of his officers and generals here.

We are told it is your duty to obey his orders! What is this to us?

Will these paltry presents pay for the men we have lost in battle, and on the road? Will they soothe the feelings of our friends? Will they make good your promises?

For myself, I am an old man! I have lived long and always found the means of support! And I can do so still!

Perhaps my young men may pick up the presents you have laid before us!

I do not want them!

2. Speech of the Shawnee Prophet Elskatawa.

To comprehend the following speech, it is necessary to state the circumstances under which it was delivered. The renowned speaker, Elskatawa, was the brother of Tecumseh. He had been the great author and agent in scattering those political and religious opinions among the western tribes, which roused them up in that formidable combination which they assumed as allies of the British Government, in 1811. The war-cry was raised at Tippecanoe, and the war of 1812 followed. If this war was waged essentially for maritime rights, it assumed a most terrific and sanguinary character along our interior frontiers, from Michigan to Louisiana. The treaty of Ghent, when its terms were explained by the British interpreters to the Indians, was, in a high degree, distasteful and unsatisfactory to them. Their brave and energetic leader, Tecumseh, had fallen in the unsuccessful struggle to roll back the tide of civilization, and prevent it absorbing the Mississippi valley; and the Prophet, a very shrewd and designing man, (the ecclesiastical agent in this combination, and who evinced many of the traits of a Mahomet,) was left crest-fallen and crushed in Canada after the war, separated from his tribe in the United States. But he was not denied the privilege of rejoining them, when he applied to the American Government for it, and of uniting with his nation at Wapokenotta.

The pass to which matters came in the difficulties between Georgia and the Creeks; the results of the attempts of the tribes and fragments of tribes to live independently as nations, surrounded by the settlements of the States; and the impossibility of averting their destruction if not removed to a territory set apart for their exclusive use, led Mr. Monroe to submit a plan to Congress, in 1825, for such removal beyond the confines of the Mississippi. To that region, without going beyond the western bounds of Missouri and Arkansas, a part of the Cherokees had voluntarily gone as early as

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1817, and portions of the Delawares and some others, still earlier. The plan had wise foresight and true benevolence to recommend it. It was much misapproved by portions of the community, at the time, as a benevolent plan for their refuge and preservation. The Shawnees, who had their political capital at Wapokenotta, in Ohio, were one of the first of the western tribes to embrace the offers of the Government to accept new lands as a permanent home in the West.

The old men shook their heads at such a removal. But the younger part of the Shawnees favored it. They had seen their country denuded of game, and believed such a transference, while it gave them fertile lands, would place them on the confines of the buffalo and game country. Elskatawa yielded to these reasonings of the young men; and, after every preparation, the general exodus of the tribe took place in 1827. On their migration, they went down the Wabash in canoes a distance. They crossed the prairie-lands to the waters of the Kaskaskia, where they were received by the Western Agent, Col. Menard. It is under these circumstances — a war lost; a territory surrendered by treaty; a new home promised in the West; wearied with travel, and under the necessity of new supplies, that the speaker entered the council-chamber, and spoke to this effect.

Johnson told us, some time since, that he had heard from the Secretary of War some news — that he would tell what the President said, not what he said himself. He wanted to know how many wished to move west of the Mississippi. He said that the President and Secretary of War wished to do good for the Indians; that if they went west of the Mississippi, they would have a home where they might live happy and grow to be a great nation again.

He said the Secretary of War wrote to him, that those who wished to go west of the Mississippi, should be furnished with every necessary for their subsistence, because it was the wish of the President that they should not suffer. He said — What I have said to you is from the Secretary of War: it is not what I say myself: it is his wish that you should move west of the Mississippi. Shawnees, you will hear what he says again. He will not let you alone now. He wishes to get all the Indians west of the Mississippi.

When Johnson first talked to us about going over the Mississippi, the chiefs objected to it, because they did not know the country, and were afraid it would not suit them. Johnson spoke to us again, sometime afterwards. He said that he had received a letter from the Secretary of War, that he wished the Indians to move west of the Mississippi, that it would be for their good if they removed, and reminded us, that he had told us the Secretary of War would not let us alone until he had persuaded us all to go. The Secretary said, that we were on a small piece of land, surrounded by the whites —

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that we should be happier if we moved, and that he advised it. He advised the nation to go and look for a piece of land on the west side of the Mississippi, where they might prosper and grow, and be a great people. He said, that when they had selected it, he would recommend to Congress to give it to them.

Johnson said the War Secretary had written to him, that the Indians were poor and miserable, and in want of every thing. And what made them so? It was because they were surrounded by the whites, and they were the cause of it — that he had looked towards the Great Spirit, thinking he would throw some great calamity on the whites for it. That the whites came, with their families, fast upon the Indian lands, and that they grew so rapidly, that they shoved the Indians off their lands. That he pitied them, and was trying to do something for them. That he wished to give them lands that would be always their own, where they would never be molested, and would live on for ever, and grow to be a big and happy nation. He said, this is what the Secretary of War said, since he had taken his place. (Referring to Mr. Barbour.)

A council was called. Some of the old chiefs opposed going, saying they could not live on the new lands. But many of the young chiefs said it was better to take hold of the words sent to them, and agreed to go. They called themselves the young band. I joined them, and you see me here a suppliant before you.

When we left Wapokenotta, Johnson furnished us with, ten barrels of flour, and meat for four days. He gave us twenty horses, forty saddles and bridles, twenty-one rifles, powder, and lead, and clothing for our men, women, and children. He sent two men with us, Roderick and Parks, to take care of us when we were in want, and to assist us in finding our horses, when we should lose any. At Conner's, we were furnished by Roderick with six hogs, and one thousand pounds of flour. At Vincennes, six barrels of flour, and two barrels of salt. These were furnished by the men Johnson sent with us. Roderick came to Embarrass River, and Park as far as Little Wabash. We were delayed by sickness and loss of horses. We have made all good haste. We have got thus far. You see us before you. We hope to get to the land where we will all live happy, and which will never be taken from us. There are now with us two hundred persons, who have taken the road recommended by our Father, and fifty-five who started just before us, and who are now in this country. One of our number, who went back, and has just returned, reports fifty-five more who were to start immediately, and whom we suppose will soon be here. There will be left at Wapakanata one hundred and seventy-eight.

Johnson said, on our quitting Ohio, that he would give us a piece of advice. That there was a large and wide road, and on that road there were painted boards hung up, and a rope to pull us in. That we must not look at these boards, but pass by them, and not do as our grandfathers the Delawares did — they looked at these boards, they were drawn in, and lost their horses, and a great deal of property; but to go straight forward, and we should find friends who would be glad to see us. If you follow my

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advice, he said, they will give you a little treat when you are thirsty. You will find friends where you are going. You will have another father (superintendent) over you, who will treat you well, and not suffer your women and children to want. You shall be paid for your improvements, and what you leave behind. Governor Cass is not now here to refer to; but where you are going Governor Cass has the same authority, and he will see that you get the value of your improvements, and the hogs, corn, kettles, ploughs, axes, &c., you have left behind. Some of us had orchards — most of us had cattle and farming utensils. Molest nobody on the way. Touch nothing that does not belong to you.

This is the reason of our journey. You see us as we move to the land. We have suffered on the way. We are in want. Pity us, and aid us. And let us know if we shall be paid for those things left behind.

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Title VII. — Subjective Division, Topical History. — General Analysis of Title VII.

Title VII., Let. A., Vol. II. [1st Paper.]

1. Mandans.
2. Pontiac Manuscript — a Journal kept by a Civilian within the Fort, during the Siege of Detroit, by the Confederate Indians, in 1763.
3. Traditionary Gleams from the Island of Hayti (the ancient San Domingo) of Anacoana, the unfortunate Queen of the Caribs.

Title VII., Let. B., Vol. III. [2d Paper.]

1. Strength of the upper Posts of 1778, from a Manuscript found in his own Hand-writing, among the Papers of James Madison.
2. Memoranda of a Journey in the Western Parts of the United States of America, in 1785.
By Lewis Brantz — from the Original MSS.
3. Relation of the Voyages and Adventures of a Merchant Voyager, in the Indian Territories of North America, in 1783. By John Baptiste Perrault. From the unpublished MSS.

Title VII., Let. C., Vol. IV. [3d Paper.]

1. Diary of Matthew Clarkson on a Commercial Excursion West of the Alleghanies, in 1766.
From the Original MSS.
2. Passages of the Incidents of a Tour in the Semi-Alpine Region traversed by De Soto, in 1542, West of the Mississippi River, from the Original Journal. By Henry R. Schoolcraft. [Deferred from Vol. III.]
3. Narrative of a Journey, in 1737, from Tolpehocken, in Pennsylvania, through the Forests to Onondaga, the Seat of the Iroquois Power in New York. By Conrad Wiser, Esq., Indian Agent and Provincial Interpreter. From the translated MSS.
4. Remarks concerning the Savages of North America, in the European Magazine, Vol. VI., A. D. 1784. By Dr. B. Franklin.
5. Seneca Traditions of the Era of the Revolutionary War. By Asher Tyler.

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VII. Topical History. C.

[This title embraces brief and personal memoranda of exploratory journeys in the Indian country, and other papers, illustrative of the manners and customs of the Indians, here first published from the original manuscripts.]

Synopsis of Papers.

1. Diary of Matthew Clarkson, West of the Alleghanies, in 1766. Com. by W. Duane, Esq.
2. Passages of a Tour in the Country of the Osages, traversed by De Soto in 1542. By H. R. S.
3. Narrative of a Journey from Pennsylvania to Onondaga, in 1737. By Conrad Wiser, Esq.
4. Remarks concerning the Savages of North America. By Dr. B. Franklin.
5. Traditions of the Senecas respecting the Battle of Oriskany, and the Massacre of Wyoming — Brandt exonerated. By Asher Tyler.

1. Diary of Matthew Clarkson, West of the Alleghanies, in 1766.

THE author of this diary was, at the date of it, connected with one of the most noted commercial houses of the city of Philadelphia; a firm which carried on the fur-trade with the Indian tribes of the Mississippi valley, making its head-quarters at Fort Chartres, in "the Illinois." Seven years only had elapsed at the date of his journal, after the taking of Quebec and the consequent fall of Canada, but not more than four or five since the surrender, by the French, of the western posts. It was not, indeed, till 1764, that Col, Bouquet penetrated with an army, to the banks of the Muskingum, and brought the principal western Indians to terms; rendering it safe for merchants and business men to visit that newly-acquired region. The British flag had been successively hoisted on forts Pitt, Vincennes, Massac, Chartres, and Detroit, and the tribes who had, in 1763, been led by that bold and energetic leader, Pontiac, to combine for resistance against English authority, still looked with distrust and suspicion on the English and Americans, whenever they appeared west of the line of the Alleghanies.

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Mr. Clarkson, who was subsequently Mayor of Philadelphia, was then a young man, and impresses the reader as having been a bold, shrewd, observing, and effective agent in these early operations, which he appears to have carried from Fort Pitt, by the line of the Ohio and Mississippi, to Fort Chartres, the then military and civil capital of Illinois. His notes, though made for no higher purpose than to refresh his own memory on main points, and to give the firm an outline of his transactions, are valuable, as embracing the current impressions of the times on the topics noticed. As such, they become valuable materials for obtaining a correct view of the period, and such as cannot but be sought hereafter with avidity. It is with this impression that the prior papers under this head (Topical History) have been published; and we are inclined to believe that they comprise an important part of these illustrations of the Indian history.

"Wednesday, Aug. 6th, 1766. — Set off from Philadelphia between six and seven o'clock. Mr. Robert Levers accompanied me to the ferry, where I took leave of him, and proceeded with my servant. On the road, about half-past one, before I came to the sign of the —, met a wagon, loaded with skins, belonging to Joseph Simons. At the sign of the Spread Eagle found a wagon, loaded with pork, going for the King's use to Fort Pitt; and a little after, met three wagons loaded with skins from Pittsburg, for Dr. Bond. Overtook Samuel Young about ten o'clock; at twelve, got to George Ashton's, twenty-three miles from Philadelphia, and dined there. Met a wagon loaded with skins from Virginia, for Samuel Purviance. Overtook our four Germantown wagons about twenty-six miles from Philadelphia, and Capt. Moore's people about a mile further. Lodged at the Ship, thirty-five miles from Philadelphia.

Thursday, Aug. 7th. — Mounted at half-past five. Breakfasted at Miller's, forty-seven miles from Philadelphia. Met three wagon-loads of skins from Fort Pitt, for Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan. The wagoners inform me that the nails left by Donolly at Bedford, are forwarded on pack-horses by Mr. Morton. Overtook three wagons loaded with pork for Fort Pitt. Stopped at the Duke of Cumberland's, ten miles from last stay, and dined there. Here I met three wagons with skins, for William West, from Pittsburg. Got to Lancaster in the evening. Lodged at Joseph Bond's.

Friday, Aug. 8th. — Breakfasted at Joseph Bond's; got his bond for £75, the money due from him to me. Wrote to my wife and sent her the bond. Articles of agreement with Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan, and articles with Duffield and Hillegas, inclosed by Mr. Samuel Miles. At eight o'clock left Lancaster, and at half-past eleven crossed the Susquehannah, at Wright's Ferry. Was forty minutes in crossing over. Dined at the Ferry, and at sundown arrived at Yorktown. Put up at Greber's. An extremely hot day.

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Saturday, Aug. 9th. — Mounted at six o'clock. Travelled over a very hilly, mountainous road. Crossed Conewaga Creek, and, at ten o'clock, found myself no further than fifteen miles from York, at Stevenson's tavern, which is half-way between York and Carlisle. Here Mr. Spear overtook me. Rode in company with him to Carlisle, where we arrived about four o'clock. Put up at Pollock's.

Sunday, Aug. 10th. — Went to Mr. Steele's meeting. Heard him preach.

Monday, Aug. llth. — Was at meeting again this morning. In the afternoon went to visit Col. Armstrong. Had a long conversation with him about the Ohio scheme of Mr. Hazard, which he did not seem entirely to approve of.

Tuesday, Aug. 12th. — I swapped my portmanteau-horse with Alexander Blaine for a stronger horse, and drew an order in his favor on Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan, for seven dollars, the boot agreed on. At half-past 11 o'clock, set off in company with Benjamin Kendall and son. Dined at Shippensburg about 4 o'clock. Here I met with Mr. Robert Cummings, going to Philadelphia, by whom I wrote to B., W., and M., and informed them that Mr. Duncan had purchased thirty head of cattle for them, which would set off for Fort Pitt, to-morrow, or next day, at farthest. I wrote them likewise this morning from Carlisle, and to Mrs. Clarkson. Left the letters at Pollock's to be forwarded. I desired Mr. Cummings to take them with him if they were not gone before he got to Carlisle. Went as far as James Finley's, seven miles from Shippensburg, and lodged there.

Wednesday, Aug. 13th. — Set off at 5 o'clock. Breakfasted at Campbell's, ten miles from Finley's. Met eleven horse-loads of skins for the company at Conegojig Creek. At the Burnt Cabins, overtook thirty-two horse-loads of flour, going to Fort Pitt, for the king's use, from Mr. Thompson and Mr. Blane. Three miles further, met five horse-loads of skins, for the company, from Pitt. At 5 o'clock, arrived at Bird's, at Littleton. This day's journey has been extremely tedious and fatiguing. The road from where we set off in the morning, except the first ten miles, was nothing but hills, mountains, and stones, until you pass the Burnt Cabins, where it is tolerable, though hilly. At Littleton, are four soldiers posted, who have been there above nine months. This day, came thirty-four miles.

Thursday, Aug. 14th. — Set off at half-past 5 o'clock, at eight got to the foot of Sideling Hill, and got breakfast. Dined at the crossings of the Juniata. Got to Bedford in the morning and put up at George Woods. Enquired here after the provisions Mr. Wharton had engaged Captain Line to purchase for the company. Found he had bought fifteen barrels of pork here, which was sent off in three wagons, and nine barrels

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of pork he bought at Ligonier, which are to be forwarded when the wagons return from Fort Pitt.

Friday, Aug. 15th. — This day, halted at Bedford to rest myself and horses. Entered into an agreement with George Woods about five tracts of land, three of them in Cumberland valley, about seventeen miles from Bedford on the road to Fort Cumberland — one on the waters of Dunning's Creek, about three miles to the north-east of Bedford, and one other in Woodcock valley, about forty miles north of Bedford, and two miles west of Standing Stone — amounting together to 1800 acres, one half of which I am to have on paying him £90 three months after they are warranted and accepted at the Surveyor's office; provided Edward Duffield, of Philadelphia, agrees thereto in that time. Was obliged to borrow of George Wood, £3 10s., to assist the batteaux-men on to the fort, as they had spent all their money. Drew an order on B., W., and M., in favor of Wood, for it.

Saturday, Aug. 16th. — Set oif at 9 o'clock on my journey. Bated at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains at Higgin's. On the hills, met a party of Indians encamped, gathering and drying huckleberries, under the command of Captain Green, a noted villain. Got to Atkins', at Stony Creek, and lodged there — a most scandalous dirty house, or rather, hog-sty. Was almost devoured with fleas.

Sunday, Aug. 17th. — Mounted by daybreak, and proceeded ten miles to Mr. Mahon's and bated. Dined at Legonier at Bonjour's, and got to William Proctor's at Twelve Mile Run, and lodged there. Proctor gave me a location of some land, as on the other end of this book, (see also a memorandum of some land I rode over, that begins at the Nine Mile Run from Legonier.)

Monday, Aug. 18th. — Proceeded on and halted at Byerly's, at Bushy Run. Stopped again at the crossings of Turtle Creek, at —, and dined there. About a mile after passing the first crossing of this creek, you pass through the finest land I ever saw, being a continuous bottom, prodigiously rich, covered with locust, black walnut, &c., and continues of that quality until after I passed the house where I dined. Got to Fort Pitt just after dark, was stowed away in a small crib, on blankets, in company with fleas and bugs, and, of course, spent a night not the most comfortable. As soon as I arrived, I waited on Capt. William Murray, commander of the garrison, and delivered his letters.

Tuesday, Aug. I9th. — Took a walk to the ship-yards. Found four boats finished and in the water, and three more on the stocks; business going on briskly. Met with Maj. Murray, who had been at the store to wait upon me with an invitation to dine

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with him to-day. Was extremely polite and obliging; took me into the fort. I requested he would give orders to the sutlers not to trust any of our people, which he very readily promised. Dined with him at the mess-room, in company with Capt. Belneavis, Lieuts. M'Coy, M'Intosh, Charles and George Grant, Hall, Dr. Murdock, and Mr. M'Cleggan the chaplain — the officers in garrison at this post. Maj. Murray offered me a room in the barracks, which I accepted of. Lodged this night in Mr. John Reid's room, the Commissary.

Wednesday, Aug. 20th. — This day wrote letters to the Company, (see copy thereof,) and to Mr. Duffield about the lands of G. Wood, and to Mrs. Clarkson. Dined, or, rather, endeavored to eat, at the store — dirty beyond endurance, without the least necessary utensil or convenience. Lodged in my new apartment.

Thursday, Aug. 21st. — Eat a bowl of milk and bread at the store. Sent my letters by Steele and Armstrong, two batteaux-men, who went down with Mr. Jennings. Sent the horses by them to George Wood's, at Bedford, with directions to sell them for account of the company. Mr. M'Intosh sent his compliments to me to dine with him to-day, which I did at the mess; and, as is the custom at Fort Pitt, supped there also.

Friday, Aug. 22d. — Breakfasted with Mr. M'Coy. Dined in my room on victuals from Mr. Piety, conductor of the train, who is to supply me as often as I have occasion. Employed this day principally in protracting a draught of the Ohio from Mr. Ramsay's Journal. Afternoon, rode with Maj. Murray, Mr. M'Coy, Mr. Charles Grant, and Dr. Murdock, to Mr. Croghan's place, about four miles from the fort, up the Alleghany, a most excellent piece of land or rich bottom, extending all along from the fort to this place, and is bounded by a ridge of hills, at the distance of one-quarter to three-quarters of a mile from the river. Above this place of Mr. Croghan's, at — miles distance, is an Indian settlement of the Mingoes. On our return, found Kayashata, a Seneca chief, who had been with Mr. Jennings to the Illinois, returned with a packet from the commander at Fort Chartres, for Maj. Murray, in which was one for Messrs. Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan, which I took care of. Find, by the advices, that provisions are very scarce and dear. Indian flour £5 sterling per hundred, and ordinary buffalo meat three shillings Pennsylvania money per pound. The French on the opposite side of the river in plenty — prospect of fine crops — Indians somewhat unruly. The Ontdwawies had taken a soldier prisoner at the distance of half a mile from the fort. Kayashata and his party had been after them and discovered their tracks, but could not come up with them. The letters 21st of June. Supped with the officers. Gust left this night.

Saturday, Aug. 23d. — Breakfasted at the store on bread and milk. Wrote to the company, informing them of the arrival of the packet from the Illinois. Wrote also

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to Mrs. Clarkson and Mr. Hillegas, apologizing for having opened a letter to him from Mr. Jennings. Enclosed his letter in mine. Dined at my room. Afternoon went down to the ship-yard, and found that S. Young had appropriated one of the boats to his own use, and had given the carpenter directions to finish her with a cabin and other accommodations to his own fancy, without having consulted or given me the least intimation of his design. I told the carpenter (Welsh) that I did not understand that any of the boats were to have cabins, but to be finished agreeably to the directions they had received from Mr. Wharton. Young very pertly told me that I had nothing to say to that boat, and told the carpenter not to mind, &c., but to go on as he had directed him, for that he was in no way under my direction. I thought it necessary, as my authority was thus publicly struck at, before a number of workmen, to order "Welsh to go on as he had with the boats already built, for that I would have no cabins built to any. Young, however, thought proper to continue to contradict those orders, and Welsh went and brought to me his Articles of Agreement with the Company, and desired me to read them, which, after I had done, I desired to know what he would have me particularly remark in them. He said that his contract was expired, and desired a discharge. I enquired how it happened, that at this time he should insist upon a discharge, when he had said nothing of it before; to which he could return no satisfactory answer, and went to his work. I find Young is a relation of his, and seems to have influence over him. I consulted Captain Smith and Mr. Irwin on the occasion, who think that no alteration should be made to the plan on which the other boats are finished, without my consent. Had Young advised with me about making accommodations different from the rest, I should have made no objection to anything reasonable; but as he has publicly called in question the charge with which I am entrusted by the Company, I think it for their interest that it should appear whose directions are to be observed, lest anarchy ensue. Supped at my room on bread and milk. Mr. M'Coy and I went into the Mononghahela to wash. The water rose about a foot by the rains.

Sunday, Aug. 24th. — Breakfasted in my room. Went and heard Mr. M'Cleggan preach to the soldiers in Erse — but little edified. He preaches alternately one Sunday in that language, and the next in English. Dined in my room, and supped with the mess. A little rain at night.

Monday, Aug. 25th. — Delivered the letters from the Illinois with those I wrote to the commanding officer, to forward by the Express, who sets off directly with the monthly returns. They are forwarded by soldiers to Shippensburg, where they are put in the post-office, and forwarded to Philadelphia. The returns are made up the 24th of every month. Kayashata came to see me, with Mitchell the interpreter. I enquired of him whether he would be willing to go down with me to Port Chartres. He said

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he had no objection, but that he must first go and see his family at the White Mingo town, and he would go and warm the hearts of his nation, and know how things stood with them; for this purpose, he wanted a couple of bottles of rum, for which I referred him to the Major. He says that the Indians along the river are friendly, except the Ontdwawies, who endeavor to make uneasiness. He will inform me what passes among his people, as soon as he returns, which will be shortly. Breakfasted with Doctor Murdock in his room. This morning, fifteen horses with flour, from Captain Line, arrived. Weigh 29 cwt. Dined with the mess — employed great part of the day in drawing the Ohio. Afternoon, about six o'clock, a shower from the south-east. The river is about two feet higher, than when I came here. There appears to have fallen some quantity of rain towards the upper parts of the rivers, though little at this place. This day and yesterday very hot; find a considerable disappointment in breaking my thermometer, which happened some how or other on the road coming up, by throwing my portmanteau down with too much violence, as I suppose. Supped with the mess.

Tuesday, Aug. 26th. — Breakfasted in my room. Employed drawing the Ohio. Dined in Mr. Reed's room. In the afternoon received letters from Mrs. Clarkson, and from the Company, by Kennedy, and four other men, who are come up for the batteau service. The river still continued to rise. Desired Captain Smith to have the batteaux that are sunk cleared from the water, that we may begin to load to-morrow morning. A dispute happened this evening between two, Smith and James Tull, the carpenter, at which the latter was so much chagrined, that he seemed bent on quitting the work, and going off for Philadelphia. Supped with the officers. A considerable quantity of rain has fallen.

Wednesday, Aug. 27th. — Rose early this morning. Found it raining, a constant rain. Went after the batteaux — found them bailed out. Got the batteau-men together, to begin to load. Turned out a number of casks of liquor for the purpose — then, and not till then, was I informed that there were no rudder-irons fixed to the boats, nor any made. This obliged me to delay the loading. Went with Vaughan the carpenter to a smith, and bespoke some, which he is to finish immediately. A great neglect this. Am very apprehensive of losing the advantage of this freshet. A great part of the cargo not yet arrived — no ropes for painters here, and no prospect of being able to supply this defect. Set the cooper to trimming the cargo. Dined with the mess — was employed in getting things ready for loading.

Thursday, Aug. 28th. — Began early to load the boats, and completed them this day. Set bakers to work to have some biscuit for the people that are going down. Much troubled with a set of unruly fellows of batteaux-men.

Friday, Aug. 29th. — Wrote to Mr. Morgan, and prepared the bills of lading, &c., for

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the cargoes in the two boats. Appointed John Irwin to have the care of this fleet, and Pat Kennedy to steer the other boat. With great difficulty procured such necessaries as were wanting to send them off. Dined in my room. At half past four o'clock shipped off the boats, with a favorable current, and plenty of water. Supped with the mess.

Saturday, Aug. 30th. — Breakfasted at the store. Attended at the counting-house, where Captain Murray had a conversation with Kayashata, the White Mingo, and sundry other Six Nation chiefs. They showed a couple of strings of wampum, which they said Mr. Croghan had delivered at Scioto, and (which) were sent to the Indians of the Six Nations that are settled about the Ohio, desiring them to be strong, and sit still till he returned. These strings they said they had accepted; and as they had engaged not to stir, desired Captain Murray to furnish them with some powder and lead, &c.

They likewise conversed about the white people who are settled on their lands at Red Stone Creek, of which they had formerly complained, and whom Captain Murray had sent to remove, but was prevented by some of the Indians. He now told them that if they would send some of their people with such a detachment as he would order up to remove the intruders, that he would do it. This they at length agreed to, only four houses excepted, which the Indians desire may remain, to furnish their young men and warriors with corn as they pass and repass. Dined with the mess.

Sunday, Aug. 31st. — Was engaged this morning in writing to the Company and Mrs. Clarkson, by Daniel Kambo, the carpenter, by which I was prevented from attending the sermon. Dined with the mess.

Monday, Sept. 1st. — Rode with Major Murray, Mr. M'Coy, and Mr. Hall, to view Braddock's Field; could discover nothing of the ruins of that campaign, on account of the thickness of the weeds. Met with Mr. McIntosh there, who went up the Monongahela in a boat. Dined in the field — rather in the wood — on provisions sent up by the boat. Major Murray, Mr. McIntosh, and I, came down the river in the boat. I supped with the mess.

Tuesday, Sept. 2d. — Caused the boats to be loaded, ready to receive the goods by the wagons, which are hourly expected. Dined with the mess. Afternoon and evening writing letters to the Company and Mrs. Clarkson, per Mr. Davies. Supped with the mess.

Wednesday, Sept. 3d. — This morning the wagons arrived. Received their loads, finished my letters, and gave directions for completing the loading of the boats. Could

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not prevail on the wagoners to haul any logs; they were out of fodder, and their wagons not fit for the service, as they could not be lengthened. Dined at the store. Afternoon at the yard. Supped with the mess.

Thursday, Sept. 4th. — This morning, agreed with Kayashata to go down with me. He desired to have Chaquitteh with him as a companion, and to allow them forty bucks each for their service. Hired Hugh McSwain as an interpreter, at 12 dollars per month. He is also to act as a batteaux-man. Dined with the mess. This afternoon, launched a small batteau, to serve as a tender.

Friday, Sept. 5th. — Captain Murray and Mr. George Grant went down with me in the small batteau, to the lower end of Chartier's Island, to examine the water, if fit to pass. Found it so shoal that the batteau touched in several places, and that one of the larger ones could not be got over with half a load. On my return found the cooper's shop, in which Duncan was at work, is burnt down, with all the stuff and some barrels. This has reduced us to a dilemma, as we have no other way of procuring casks to pack the flour in. Not a barrel of provisions is there to go down with me; and when those which Captain Line is to send from Legonier will arrive, is uncertain. Dined with the mess. Afternoon, busied in having my boat finished off. This evening, Mr. Beatty and Mr. Duffield arrived, on a message among the Indians to preach the gospel. Supped with them at the mess.

Saturday, Sept. 6th. — Dined with the mess.

Sunday, Sept. 7th. — Mr. Beatty preached this morning in the fort, and Mr. Duffield in the town. Dined with them at the mess. Afternoon, went to hear Mr. Beatty in the town.

Monday, Sept. 8th. — Dined with the mess.

Tuesday, Sept. 9th. — Went with Mr. M'Coy over the river to the Coal Hill, from which there is a most beautiful prospect of the fort, and the land adjacent, with part of the Alleghany river. On the top of the hill is a level spot of excellent land, the ground covered over with pea-vines, and plentifully timbered with abundance of hickory, &c. Dined at Mr. Piety's, with Messrs. Beatty and Duffield. This evening Mr. Duffield preached in the town a very judicious and alarming discourse. Supped at Piety's. Sixteen kegs spirits arrived on pack-horses.

Wednesday, Sept. 10th. — Finished protracting the draught of the Ohio. Dined with the mess. Afternoon, wrote to the company and Mrs. Clarkson, by Mr. Blane, who

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sets off early to-morrow. This afternoon, Messrs. Beatty and Duffield set off on the embassy among the Indians. Supped with the mess.

Thursday, Sept. 11th. — Breakfasted with Dr. Murdock, as usual. Not in good health to-day. Could do nothing but walk about. Dined in my room, and spent the evening and supped there.

Tuesday, Sept. I6th. — Embarked from Fort Pitt.

[Scene Changes to the Mississippi.]

Nov. 26th. — Monsieur Maisonville informed me that one —, from Detroit, was at Jaconte, about thirty leagues from post Vincennes, where he had brought a parcel of goods which he sold at the prices — or told Maisonville he had orders to sell at — a blanket of 2½ points for 8 raccoons, or 2 beavers.

Dec. 11th, 1766. — The boats arrived at Fort Chartres, from the mouth of the Ohio.

Dec. 13th, 1766. — Boats went from Fort Chartres to Kaskaskia.

Dec. 16th, 1766. — I went to Kaskaskia.

Dec. 21st, 1766. — Returned from Kaskaskia.

Dec. 16th. — A number of Osages and Mingo Indians came to the fort. Had some talk with them.

Dec. 23d. — Another party of Osages came to the fort, about fifteen in number. Tawanaheh the chief.

Shakewah, an old man who interpreted into the Illinois language.

Saheshinga, another Indian.

Mons. Jeredot, the elder, who has been a trader for many years among most of the Indian nations about the River Mississippi, informed me, December 22d, 1766, that the Osages live on a river of the same name, which falls into the Missouri from the southward, at the distance of about sixty leagues from its conflux with the Mississippi; that they have about — men capable of bearing arms. He says that they have a feast which they generally celebrate about the month of March, when they bake a large [corn] cake of about three or four feet in diameter, and of two or three inches in thickness. This is cut into pieces from the centre to the circumference, and the principal chief or warrior arises and advances to the cake, where he declares his valor, and recounts his noble actions. If he is not contradicted, or no one has aught to allege against him, he takes a piece of the cake and distributes it among the young boys of the nation, repeating to them his noble exploits and exhorting them to imitate them. Another then

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approaches, and in the same manner recounts his achievements, and proceeds as before. Should any attempt to take of the cake to whose character there is the least exception, he is stigmatized and set aside as a poltroon.

*Words in the Osage Language*.
Nonebaugh —	A pipe.	Shapeh —	A beaver.
Noneheugh —	Tobacco.	Tahtongah —	A buck.
Noneusheugh —	A pouch.	Wasaben —	A bear.
Mohee —	A knife.	Seau-cah —	A turkey.
Haaskah —	A shirt.	Shonng-eh —	A dog.
Weeh —	A skin match coat.	Meh-has-hah —	A swan, or goose.
Mohispeh —	A tomahawk.	Seucdseuche —	A cock.
Kahtoho —	A stroud.	Mange-eshe —	Wine.
Shehagahatcha —	A breech-cloth.	Tanhe-ranganhe —	It is good.
Hendingeh —	Leggings.	Wanaingreche —	Wampum.
Hompech —	Moccasins.	Hah, cou, rah —	How do you do?
Mosescah —	An arm band.	Iwiekeah, ranganhe tan hashon —	I am glad to see you.
Nocurot-eh —	A looking-glass.	Wietah courah —	Friend.
Wasseuge —	Paint.	Ragone shung —	Good.
Wanepehomgreche —	Beads.	Piechers —	Bad.
Ograngesheah —	A hat.	Wabuske —	Bread.
Wahotah —	A gun.	Patcheak —	Yes.
Neebheujeb —	Powder.	Paretatha —	No.
Chaheh —	Powder-horn.	Weightachche —	A string.
Mosemoh —	Ball.	Wauspinasonche —	A belt.
Mobeseuh —	A flint.	Masoche —	A reed.
Ocurachera —	Water.	Meache —	One.
Neeh —	Water.	Noombaugh —	Two.
Pe-ech-he —	Fire.	Eaabonch —	Three.
Pegene —	Rum.	Tobaugh —	Four.
Wanomon —	To eat.	Pahtogh —	Five.
Werechree —	The head.	Shawpegb —	Six.
Poheugh —	The hair.	Perombongh —	Seven.
Mitah —	The eye.	Perawboreh —	Eight.
Pah —	The nose.	Shouchehd —	Nine.
Eh-kah —	The mouth.	Crebonach —	Ten.
Eh-reh-seli —	The tongue.	Shanebebene —	A keg.
Heeb —	The teeth.	Ehebgateho —	A razor.
Nottah —	The ear.	Paheureuseh —	Scissors.
Nompeeb —	The hand.
Seeh —	The feet.

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With the Indians at Fort Chartres,

Four raccoons	are equal to one beaver.
Two foxes or two cats	" "
One dressed buckskin	" "
Two dressed doeskins	" "
One otter	" "
One large bear-skin	" "
Two middle-sized bear-skins	" "
One fisher, very good	" "
Eight minks	" "

Prices of peltry, to deal with the French at peltry prices.

Beaver	at 40 shillings per pound.
Dressed leather	at 20 shillings per pound.
Otter, per skin	at 60 shillings per pound.
Red or short-haired buckskins	at 20 shillings per skin.
Fox or cat	at 15 shillings per pound.
Large bear	at 40 shillings per pound.
Muskrats	at 2 shillings per pound.
Fishers	at 30 shillings per pound.
Minks	at 10 shillings per pound.
Wolves or panthers	at 20 shillings per pound.
Martens	at 20 shillings per pound.
Raccoons	at 15 shillings per pound.

Memoranda of sundry affairs to mention to the Company when I write to them.
The mistake of Long's cargo, it being shrub instead of New England rum.
Send proof of the loss of my boat. The bills of exchange we have drawn.
About negroes. Best Madeira. Notes of hand. Maisonville. Rum.
No traders employed. No assortment; cannot, therefore, deal of cargoes.
Supplying the garrison with grain. Skins. La Grange. Provision receipts.
Power of attorney. Mr. Jennings has credited me 1190 by Mons. Carpentier.
See how much I charged Mons. Charleville for curry-comb and brush.
An arpent of land is 180 French feet square.

Capt. Long has a box of Mr. Morgan's, No. 117, which is marked 150 livres in figures, and in the body of the bill but 100, which Capt. Long took of Placade for 150 livres.

Jan. 15th, 1767. — Bought, at Mons. La Grange's auction, one snuff-box and spying-glasses, forty-four livres; two Indian calumet-staves and an otter-pouch, eighteen livres.

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Jan. 17th. — George Gibson and Kayashata arrived at Kaskaskia with intelligence of Capt. Smith's arrival at Fort Massac on the 5th instant. Smith left Fort Pitt on the 15th of November.

Jan. l6th. — John Irwin set off for Fort Pitt. Returned on the 20th; could not proceed for the snow.

Jan. 21st. — La Grange's horse sold for £132.

Jan. 22d. — Agreed with Mons. Jannies to furnish us with bread for the family use; that is to say, he is to give 120 pounds of bread for 100 pounds of flour, and I am to pay him besides, five livres per hundred.

Jan. 11th.— People passed the Mississippi on the ice.

The boats from New Orleans, of the largest size, carry eighty hogsheads of claret, twenty-two to twenty-four men, who have about 400 livres each, per voyage. Three months are accounted a good passage. A hogshead of claret on freight pays 300 livres.

Feb. 17th. — John Irwin set off for Fort Pitt with Bourson Rickard, a Frenchman, who is to conduct him to the fort for 150 livres.

Feb. 18th. — Mons. Danie went down to the Indians' camp, to trade with them for the Company. A warm thawing day. The snow disappeared entirely. Danie returned on the 19th.

Feb. 18th. — This day began to remove the liquors to Mr. Pitman's house. Mr. Pitman informed me this day at his house, that old Mons. Lasondray told him this morning, that he had heard that the Indians designed to strike the English this spring.

Persons recommended by Mons. Gadbert, as some to employ in the Indian trade.

Richard, the Elder. Antoine la Fromboise au Post. Nichole, at Caho, Cerre's brother-in-law. Clermont, at Caho.

He advises not to trust above 4000 livres value, well assorted.

Account of silver truck Captain Long left with me on the 28th February, 1767, the day he went from the Kaskaskias for the boats under Captain Smith's care.

One hundred and seventy-four small crosses; eighty-four nose crosses; thirty-three long-drop nose and ear-bobs; eighteen short do.; one hundred and twenty-six small brooches; thirty-eight larger brooches; forty rings; two narrow arm-bands; six narrow

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scalloped wristbands; three narrow plain do.; four half-moon gorgets; three large do.; six moon do.; nine hair plates; seventeen hair-bobs.

Mississippi broke up the 20th February.

March 24th. — Mr. Jennings settled with Mons. Charleville for a bond I give him for 200 Indian meal, on which I have received but 160 pounds.

April 11th. — Captain Prater went away.

April 16th. — Kayashata went away."

2. Passages of a Tour in the Semi-Alpine Region Traversed by De Soto, West of the Mississippi River, in 1542: from the Original Journal.

By Henry R. Schoolcraft.

I SET out southwesterly from Potosi, on the sixth of November, with a single companion, accompanied by some friends who went out a few miles to see us fairly started. A pack-horse carried our camp-beds, and a few articles in the culinary way. We were both armed in a manner that was deemed not only prudent, but essential in setting forward into a region, in which it was doubtful whether the Indians, or the wild animals of the forest were to be our worst foes. It was fine autumn weather, and a clear, exhilarating day; the wind being just sufficient, as we crossed the mineral hills surrounding the place, to create a gentle murmur. The object had been, rather to make a start, and get out fairly into the wilderness, and at an early hour we entered a little valley called Bates' Creek, only a few miles west from Potosi. We were evidently following an old Indian trail, and soon came to the frame of an old Osage wigwam, built of poles and covered with bark. A growth of thickly standing short green grass had covered the interior, and, though the hour was early, we determined to pass our first night here. A fire was soon lit; my horse, who bore the unpoetic name of Butcher, unpacked, and my kind friend and quondam host, Mr. Ficklin, who had, in his early years, been one of the spies on the borders of Kentucky, who went thus far, gave me my initial lesson in hobbling and belling a horse. We were on the verge of civilization, and it only required a mental act, in turning round to bid the world adieu. Whether we were destined ever to come back into this circle, or leave our bones for hyenas to drag into their caverns, or to grace the margin of an Osage war-path, was a question in metaphysics which we did not attempt to resolve. Having some hours of daylight to spare, while my companion Levi fixed the Camp, I took my gun and sauntered into the

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forest, whence I returned with some large and fine grey and black, and mottled squirrels. These were prepared to add to our evening's repast, after which, we unrolled our pallets and prepared for rest.

A man's first night in the wilderness is impressive. Our friends had left us, and returned to Potosi. Gradually all sounds of animated nature ceased. When darkness closed around us, the civilized world seemed to have drawn its curtains, and excluded us. We put fresh sticks on the fire, which threw a rich flash of light on the Indian frame-work of our camp, and amidst ruminations on the peculiarities of our position, our hopes, and our dangers, we sank to sleep.

Our trail, in the morning, carried us across the succession of elevated and arid ridges called the Pinery. Not a habitation of any kind, nor the vestiges of one, was passed; neither did we observe any animal, or even bird. The soil was sterile, hard, and flinty, bearing yellow pines with some oaks. Our general course was west-south-west. The day was mild and pleasant for the season. For a computed distance of fourteen miles, we encountered a succession of ascents and descents, which made us rejoice, as evening approached, to see a tilled valley before us. It proved to be the location of a small branch of the Maramek river, called Fourche × Courtois. The sun sank below the hills as we entered this valley. Some woodcock flew up as we reached the low ground; but as we had a log-cabin in view, and the day was far gone, we moved briskly on. Presently the loud barking of dogs announced our approach ; they seemed, by their clamor, as pertinacious as if wolves or panthers were stealing on the tenement. It was a small log-building, of the usual construction on the frontiers, and afforded the usual, hospitality. They gave us warm cakes of corn-bread, and fine rich milk; and spreading our blankets before the fire, we enjoyed sound slumbers.

With the earliest streaks of daylight we again set forward on the trail. In the course of two miles' travel, we forded a stream called Law's Fork, also the branch of the Maramek. We soon after descried a hunter's cabin, occupied by a man named Alexander Roberts. Some trees had been felled and laid around, partially burned; but not a spot of ground was in cultivation. Dogs, lean and hungry, heralded our approach, as in the former instance; and they barked loud and long. On reaching the cabin, we found that the man was not at home, having left it, with his rifle, at an early hour, in search of game. His wife thought he would be back before noon, and would accompany us. We decided to await his return, as we were now near the entrance to the Ozark highlands. In a short time, Roberts returned; he was a chunky, sinister-looking fellow, and reminded me of Ali Baba, in the "Forty Thieves." He had a short, greasy buckskin frock, and a pointed old hat. His wife, who peeped out of the door, looked queer, and had at least one resemblance to Cogia, which seemed to be "starvation." He had killed nothing, and agreed to accompany us, immediately beginning his preparations. He at the same time informed us of the fear entertained of the Osages, and the danger of our journey in the contemplated direction.

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We were now about to enter the Ozark mountains. About ten o'clock he was ready, and, leading a stout little compact horse from a pen, he clapped a saddle on, and, seizing his rifle, announced himself as ready, and led off. The trail led up a long ridge, which appeared to be the dividing ground between the two principal forks of the Maramek. It consisted of a stiff loam, filled with geological drift, which, having been burned over for ages by the Indians, to fit it for hunting in the fall of the year, had little carbonaceous soil left, and exhibited a hard and arid surface. Our general course was still west-south-west. After proceeding about four miles, the path led to the summit of an eminence, from which we descried the valley of the Ozau, or Ozark. This valley consisted entirely of prairie. Scarcely a tree was visible in it. The soil appeared to be fertile. Nearly in the centre of the valley we came to a cluster of Indiam wigwams, inhabited by the Lenno-Lenapees, or Delawares; being descendants of the Indians whom William Penn found, in 1682, in the pleasant forest village of Coacquannok, where Philadelphia now stands. Strange, but not extraordinary history! They have been shoved back by civilization, in the course of a hundred and thirty-six years' mutations, over the Alleghanies — over the Mississippi — into the spurs of these mountains. Where they will be after the lapse of a similar period, no one can say. But this can be said — that the hunting of deer will give out; and if they do not betake themselves to some other means of subsistence, they will be numbered among the nations that were.

Roberts informed me, that four or five miles down the valley was a village of Shawnees, and, higher up, another village of Delawares.

On reaching the uplands on the west side of the valley, we pursued the trail up its banks about four or five miles, and encamped by daylight near a clump of bushes at a spring. Roberts reconnoitred the vicinity, and came in with a report that we had reached a game country.

We were now fairly beyond the line of all settlements, even the most remote, and had entered on that broad highland tract to which the name of Ozark mountains is applied. This tract reaches through Missouri and Arkansas, from the Maramek to the Wachita, and embraces the middle high lands between the plains at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and the rapids of the Maramek, St. Francis, Osage, White, Arkansas, and other principal streams; traversing a belt of about two hundred miles east and west, by seven hundred miles north and south.

Here we encamped. Early the next morning, Roberts brought in the carcase of a fine deer; and we made our first meal on wild venison, cut smoking from the tenderest parts. We now travelled up the Ozark fork about eighteen miles. The weather was exhilarating, and the winds careering with the leaves of the forest, and casting them in profusion in our track. As we came near the sources of the river, we entered a wide prairie, perfectly covered for miles with these leaves, brought from the neighboring forests. At every step the light masses were kicked or brushed away before us.

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This plain, or vale, was crowned in the distance by elevations fringed with tall trees, which still held some of their leafy honours, giving a very picturesque character to the landscape. We held our way over the distant eminences, and at length found a spring, by which we encamped, at a late hour. It had been a hazy and smoky day, like the Indian summer in Atlantic latitudes. We were in a region teeming with the deer and elk, which frequently bounded across our path. The crack of Roberts's rifle, also, added to the animation of the day's travel.

While we laid on our pallets at night, the trampling of hoofs was frequently heard; but, at length, the practised ear of the hunter detected that these were the sounds of wild animals' hoofs, and not of our horses. This man's eye had shown an unwonted degree of restlessness and uneasiness during the afternoon of the preceding day, while witnessing the abundant signs of deer and elk in the country; but this excited no suspicions. He was restless during the night, and was disturbed at a very early hour, long before light, by this trampling of animals. The sounds, he said to me, did not proceed from the horses, which were hobbled. He got up, and found both animals missing. Butcher's memory of corn and corn-fodder, at his old master's at Potosi, had not yet deserted him, and he carried the hunter's horse along with him. I immediately jumped up, and accompanied him in their pursuit. There was moonlight, with clouds rapidly passing. We pursued our back-track, anxiously looking from every eminence, and stopping to listen for the sound of the bells. Roberts occasionally took up a handful of leaves, which were thickly strewn around, and held them up in the moonlight, to see whether the corks of the horses' shoes had not penetrated them. When he finally found this sign, he was sure we were in the right way. At length, when we had gone several miles, and reached an eminence, we plainly descried the fugitives, jumping on as fast as possible on the way back. We soon overhauled them, and brought them to camp by daybreak, before my companion had yet awaked.

Roberts now sallied out, and in a few minutes fired at and killed a fat doe, which he brought in, and we made a breakfast by roasting steaks. He had expressed no dissatisfaction or desire to return, but, sallying out again among the deer, on horseback, said he would rejoin us presently, at a future point. We travelled on, expecting at every turn to see him reappear. But we saw no more of him. The rascal had not only deserted us at a difficult point, but he carried off my best new hunting-knife — a loss not to be repaired in such a place.

We at length came to a point where the trail forked. This put us to a stand. Which to take, we knew not; the result was of immense consequence to our journey, as we afterwards found; for, had we taken the right-hand fork, we should have been conducted in a more direct line to the portions of country we sought to explore. We took the left-hand fork, which we followed diligently, crossing several streams running to the north-west, which were probably tributary to the Missouri through the Gasconade. It was after dark before we came to a spot having the requisites for an encampment,

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particularly water. It was an opening on the margin of a small lake, having an outlet south-east, which we finally determined to be either one of the sources of the Black river, or of the river Currents.

We had now travelled about twenty miles from our last camp, in a southerly direction. We did not entirely relinquish the idea of being rejoined by Roberts, till late in the evening. We had relied on his guidance till we should be able to reach some hunters' camps on the White or Arkansas rivers; but this idea was henceforth abandoned. Left thus, on the commencement of our journey, in the wilderness, without a guide or hunter, we were consigned to a doubtful fate; our extrication from which depended wholly upon a species of decision and self-reliance, which he only knows how to value, who is first called to grapple with the hardships of western life.

It was the edge of a prairie. Wood was rather scarce; but we made shift to build a fire, and went to sleep, with no object near us to excite sympathy, but our horse, who was securely belled and tethered. When we awoke in the morning, the fire was out, and a pack of wolves were howling within a few hundred yards of our camp. Whether the horse feared them, I know not; but he had taken his position near the embers of the fire, where he stood quite still.

We were soon in motion. In passing two miles, we crossed a small stream running south-east, which evidently had its source in the little lake at our night's encampment. The trail beyond this was often faint; in the course of eight or ten miles, we began to ascend elevations covered with pines, but of so sterile and hard a soil, that we lost all trace of it. We wound about among these desolate pine ridges a mile or two, till, from one of the higher points, we descried a river in a deep valley, having a dense forest of hard wood, and every indication of animal life. Overjoyed at this, we mended our pace, and, by dint of caution, led our pack-horse into it. It proved to be the river Currents, a fine stream, with fertile banks, and clear sparkling waters. The grey-squirrel was seen sporting on its shady margin, and, as night approached, the wild turkey came in from the plains to drink, and make its nightly abode. After fording the river, we soon found our lost trail, which we followed a while up the stream, then across a high ridge which constituted its southern banks, and through dense thickets to the summits of a narrow, deep, and dark limestone valley, which appeared to be an abyss. Daylight left us as we wound down a gorge into its dreary precincts; and we no sooner found it traversed by a clear brook, than we determined to encamp. As the fire flashed up, it revealed on either side steep and frowning cliffs, which might gratify the wildest spirit of romance. This stream, with its impending cavernous cliffs, I designated the Wall-cliff or On×£nda valley.

We had advanced about eighteen or twenty miles. An opportunity occurred, while on the skirts of the high prairie lands, to fire at some elk, and to observe their stately motions; but, being still supplied with venison, we were not willing to waste the time in pursuing them. Our course varied from south to south-west.

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Daylight quite fully revealed our position. We were in a valley, often not more than six hundred feet wide, with walls of high precipitous limestone rock. These cliffs were remarkable for nothing so much as their caverns, seated uniformly at a height of forty or fifty feet above the ground, in inaccessible positions. I do not know the number of these caves, as we did not count them; but they existed on either side of the valley as far as we explored it. Most of them were too high to reach. A tree had fallen against the cliff near one of them, by climbing which I reached a small ledge of the rock that afforded a little footing; and, by cautiously groping along, the orifice was finally reached and entered. It proved interesting, although of no great extent; but it contained stalactites depending in clusters from the walls. Of these, I secured a number which were translucent. Slender crystals of nitrate of potash, of perfect whiteness and crystalline beauty, were found in some of the crevices. Having secured specimens of these, I again got out on the ledge of rock, and, reaching the tree, descended in safety.

About half a mile higher up the valley, on its south side, we discovered a cavern of gigantic dimensions. The opening in the face of the rock appeared to be about eighty or ninety feet wide, and about thirty high. A projection of rock on one side enabled us to enter it. A vast and gloomy rotundo opened before us. It very soon increases in height to sixty or seventy feet, and in width to one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet, forming an immense hall. This hall has another opening or corridor, leading, to a precipitous part of the cliff. It extends into the rock, southerly, an unexplored distance, branching off in lateral avenues from the main trunk. We explored the main gallery five or six hundred yards, when we found obstructions. The roof has been blackened by the carbonaceous effect of fires, kindled by Indians or white men, who have visited it, in former years, in search of nitrous earth. In some parts of it, compact bodies of pebbles and reddish clay, very similar to that found on the cliffs, are seen; which creates an idea that the cavern must have been an open orifice at the geological era of the diluvial deposits. This earth yields saltpetre, by lixiviation with house-ashes. Finding it a perfect "rock-house," and being dry, and affording advantages for some necessary repairs to our gear, and arrangements for the further continuation of our explorations, we removed our camp up the valley, and encamped within it. We could shelter ourselves completely in its capacious chambers in case of rain, of which there were indications, and take a calm view of the course it seemed now expedient to pursue. Thus far we had had a trail, however slight, to follow; but from this point there was none — we were to plunge into the pathless woods, and to trust ourselves alone to the compass, and the best judgment we could form of courses, distances, and probabilities. A wilderness lay before us, behind us, and around us. We had "taken our lives in our hands," and we were well satisfied that our success must depend on our vigilance, energy, and determination. In addition to the exertion of providing food, and repairing our clothing, which, as we urged our way, was paying

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tribute to every sharp bush we passed through, we had to exercise a constant vigilance to prevent Indian surprises; for experience had already taught us that, in the wilderness, where there is no law to impose restraint but the moral law of the heart, man is the greatest enemy of man.

The threatening appearance of the atmosphere induced us to remain a few days in our rock-house, which was devoted to devising a more safe and compact mode of carrying specimens, to repairs of our pack-saddle, and a reconstruction of the mode of packing. We made a further reconnoissance of the cavern, and its vicinity and productions. I had paid particular attention to the subject of the occurrence of animal bones in our western caves, as those of England had recently excited attention; but never found any, in a single instance, except the species of existing rats, weasels, and other very small quadrupeds, which are to be traced about these cavernous cliffs.

The rain which had threatened to fall yesterday, poured down this morning (14th), and continued with more or less violence all day. We had still supplies of everything essential. Our bacon had not been seriously trenched on, while the forest had amply supplied us with venison; and our supplies bade fair to last us till we should strike some of the main southern streams, or till our increasing powers of endurance and forest skill should enable us to do without them.

Next morning, the sky being clear and bright, we left our rock abode in the Wall-cliff valley. We ascended this valley a short distance; but, as it led us too far west, and the brush and bramble proved so thick as to retard our progress, we left it. With some ado, the horse was led to the top of the cliff. A number of lateral valleys, covered with thick brush, made this a labor by no means light. The surface of the ground was rough, vegetation sere and dry, and every thicket which spread before us presented an obstacle which was to be overcome. We could have penetrated many of these, which the horse could not be forced through. Such parts of our clothing as did not consist of buckskin, paid frequent tribute to these brambles.

At length, getting clear of these spurs, we entered on a high table-land, where travelling became comparatively easy. The first view of this vista of highland plains was magnificent. It was covered with sere grass and dry seed-pods, which rustled as we passed. There was scarcely an object deserving the name of a tree, except now and then a solitary trunk of a dead pine or oak, which had been scathed by the lightning. The bleached bones of the elk, deer, or bison, were sometimes met. Occasionally we passed a copse of oak, or cluster of saplings. The deer often bounded before us, and we sometimes disturbed the hare from its sheltering bush, or put to flight the quail and the prairie-hen. This was the region, counting it six days west of Kapaha, where De Soto's messengers appear first to have encountered the buffalo. There was no prominent feature in the distance for the eye to rest on. It was a dry and wave-like prairie. From morning till sunset we did not encounter a drop of water. This, at length, became the absorbing object. Hill after hill, and vale after

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vale, were patiently ascended, and diligently footed, without bringing the expected boon. At last we came suddenly and unexpectedly, and were glad to encamp, at a small running stream in the plain.

While we were in the act of encamping, I had placed my powder-flask on the ground, and, on lighting the fire, neglected to remove it. As the plain was covered with dry leaves, they soon took fire, and burned over a considerable space, including the spot occupied by myself and the flask. The latter was a brass-mounted shooting-flask, of translucent horn, having a flaw through which grains of powder sometimes escaped. Yet no explosion took place. I looked and beheld the flask, which the fire had thus run over, very near me, with amazement.

We were now on an elevated summit of table-land or water-shed, which threw its waters off alternately to the Missouri and Mississippi. In depressed places, the green-briar occasionally entangled the horse's feet. We very frequently passed the head and thigh-bones of the buffalo, proving that the animal had been abundant on these plains. In the course of about eight miles' travel, we passed two small streams running to the north-west, which led us to think that we were diverging too far towards the Missouri side of this vast highland plateau. It was still some hours to sunset, and we had gone about four miles farther when we reached a large, broad stream, also flowing towards the north-west. It had a rapid and deep current, with boulders of limestone and sandstone. It required some skill to cross this river, being too deep to ford. The horse was led into the edge of the stream and driven over, coining out with his pack safely on the other side. The shallow parts offered no obstacle; and we bridged the deeper portion of the channel with limbs and trunks of trees, which had been brought down by the stream when in flood, and, being denuded of their bark, were light and dry, and as white as bleached bones.

I had crossed the channel safely, but slipped from the log on stepping from it. Having my gun in my right hand, I naturally extended it, to break my fall. Each end of it, as it reached the stream, rested on a stone, and, my whole weight being in the centre, the barrel was slightly sprung. This bridge, for the purpose of reference, I called Calamarca. After crossing the stream, on consultation, we explored it downward, to determine its general course; but finding it to incline toward the north-west too far, we returned up its southern bank two or three miles above our rustic bridge, and encamped.

In the morning we proceeded in a south-south-west direction, which after keeping up the valley from the camp of Calamarca for a few miles, carried us up an elevated range of hills, covered with large oaks bearing acorns. We had reached the top of this ridge, which commanded a view of a valley beyond it, when we observed, far below us in the valley, four bears on an oak, eating acorns. The descent was steep and rough, with loose stones, which made it impossible to lead the horse down without disturbing them. We therefore tied him to a staddle, and, after looking to our priming, began

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to descend the height. But, as the leaves had all fallen, concealment was impossible; and when the animals became alarmed, and began to come down the tree, we ran at our utmost speed to reach its foot first. In this effort, my companion fell on the loose stones, and sprained his ankle; I kept on, but did not reach the foot of the tree in time to prevent their escape. When my companion's absence led me back to him, I found him badly hurt; he limped along with the utmost difficulty. I soon mounted him on the pack-horse, and led up the little valley; but the pain of his ankle became so intense, that he could not bear even this motion, and, after proceeding a mile or two, it was determined to halt and encamp. We had not travelled from our morning's encampment more than five or six miles. Unpacking the horse, I prepared a pallet for my companion, and built a fire. I then bathed his ankle with salt and warm water. This done, I took my gun, and sauntered along the thickets in the hope of starting some game. Nothing, however, was found. The shrill and unmusical cry of the blue-jay, which was the largest bird I saw, reminded me of other latitudes. Thoughtful, and full of apprehension at this untoward accident, I returned to our little camp, and diligently renewed my antalgic applications.

A night's rest, and the little remedies in my power to employ, had so far abated the pain of my companion's ankle, that he again consented to mount the pack-horse, and we pursued our way up the little valley. We had not, however, travelled far, when we saw two large black bears playing in the grass before us, and so intently engaged in their sport were they, that they did not observe us. My companion, with my aid, quickly dismounted. We examined our arms, tied our horse, and determined to fire together. They at first ran a few yards, then turned and sat up in the high grass, to see what disturbed them. We fired at the same moment. Both animals fled, but on reaching the spot, blood was copiously found on the grass. Pursuit was made over an adjoining ridge, where I lost sight of them; but discovering, on crossing the ridge, a hollow oak, into which I judged they had crept, I went back for the axe to fell it. While engaged at this, my companion hobbled up, and relieved me at the axe. The tree at length came down with a thundering crash, partially splitting in its fall, and we stood ready with our guns to receive the discomfited inmates; but, after gazing intently for a time, none appeared. It was now evident they had eluded us, and that we had lost the track. The excitement had almost cured my companion's lameness; but it returned when the pursuit was over, and, resuming his position on the horse, we proceeded over a succession of high, oak-covered ridges. In crossing one of these, a large and stately elk appeared. He had an enormous pair of horns, which it seemed he must find it difficult to balance in browsing; but the moment he became aware of our propinquity, he lifted his head, and, throwing back the antlers, they seemed to form a shield for his shoulders and sides while plunging forward through the thickets. We stood a moment to admire his splendid leaps.

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Great North Fork of White River.

We were on high broken summits, which resembled, in their surface, what may be conceived of the tossing waves of a sea suddenly congealed. On descending from these towards the south, we came to clumps of bushes, with gravelly areas between, and an occasional standing pool of pure water. It was very evident to our minds, as we advanced, that these pools must communicate with each other through the gravel. On following down this formation about six miles, the connection became more evident, and the sources of a river developed themselves. We were, in fact, on the extreme head-waters of the Great North Fork of White River; the Riviere au Blanc of the French. The manner in which the waters develop themselves on descending the southern slope of these highlands, is remarkable. They proceed in plateaux or steps, on each of which the stream deploys in a kind of lake, or elongated basin, connected with the next succeeding one by a rapid. The rock is a grey sandstone, capped with limestone. In some places the water wholly disappears, and seems to permeate the rock. We came to a place where the river, being some four feet deep, is entirely absorbed by the rock, and does not again appear till a mile below, where it suddenly issues from the rock, in its original volume. Near this point we passed the night.

Daylight put us in motion. It was determined to follow the valley down in its involutions, which led generally south. Some fertile, heavily-timbered bottoms were passed, where I observed the elm, oak, beech, maple, ash, and sycamore. We had not left our camp more than a mile, when we came to the first appearance of the cane or C. arundinacea, and we soon after reached the locality of the greenbriar. Travelling in these forests is attended with great fatigue and exertion, from the underbrush, particularly from the thick growth of cane and greenbriar; the latter of which often binds masses of the fields of cane together, and makes it next to impossible to force a horse through the matted vegetation. Our horse, indeed, while he relieved us from the burden of carrying packs, became the greatest impediment to our getting forward, while in this valley. To find an easier path, we took one of the summit ranges of the valley. But a horse, it seems, must have no climbing to do, when he is under a pack-saddle. We had not gone far on this ridge, when the animal slipped, and stumbled. The impetus of his load was more than he could resist. The declivity was steep, but not precipitous. He rolled over and over for perhaps two hundred feet, until he reached the foot of the ridge. We looked with dismay as he went, and thought that every bone in his body must have been broken. When reached, however, he was not dead, but, with our aid, got up. How he escaped we could not divine, but he looked pleased when he saw us come to his relief, and busy ourselves in extricating him. Loosening his pack, we did all we could to restore him. No outward bruise could be seen; there was no cut, and no blood was started. Even a horse loves sympathy. After a time, we repacked

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him, and slowly continued our route. The delay caused by this accident, made this a short day's journey. The valley is very serpentine, redoubling on itself.

We found the stream made up entirely of pure springs, gushing from the gravel, or rocks. Nothing can exceed the crystal purity of its waters. These springs are often very large. We came to one, in the course of this day, which we judged to be fifty feet wide. It rushes out of an aperture in the rock, and joins the main branch of the river about six hundred yards below, in a volume quite equal to that of the main fork. I found an enormous pair of elk's horns lying on one side of this spring, which I lifted up and hung in the forks of a young oak, and from this incident named it the Elkhorn Spring.

The bottom-lands continued to improve in extent and fertility as we descended. The stream, as it wears its way into deeper levels of the, stratification of the country, presents, on either side, high cliffs of rock. These cliffs, which consist of horizontal limestone, resting on sandstone, frequently present prominent pinnacles, resembling ruinous castellated walls. In some places they rise to an astonishing height, and they are uniformly crowned with yellow pines. A remarkable formation of this description appeared at the entrance of a tributary stream through these walled cliffs, on the left bank, which I called Tower Creek. The purity and transparency of the water are so remarkable, that it is often difficult to estimate its depth in the river. A striking instance of this occurred after passing this point. I was leading the horse. In crossing from the east to the west bank, I had led Butcher to a spot which I thought he could easily ford, without reaching above his knees. He plunged in, however, over his depth, and swimming across with his pack, came to the elevated shores on the other side, which kept him so long in the water, and we were detained so long in searching for a suitable point for him to mount, that almost everything of a soluble character in his pack was either lost or damaged. Our salt and sugar were mostly spoiled; our tea and Indian meal damaged; our skins, blankets, and clothing, saturated. This mishap caused us a world of trouble. We at once encamped. I immediately built a fire, the horse was speedily unpacked, and each particular article was examined, and such as permitted it, carefully dried. This labor occupied us till a late hour in the night.

We had now been sixteen days from Potosi. Up to this point we had seen no Osages, of whose predatory acts we had heard so much; nor any signs of their having been in this section of the country during a twelvemonth, certainly not since spring. All the deserted camps, and the evidences of encampment, were old. The bones of animals eaten, found on the high plains east of Calamarca, and at the Elkhorn spring, were bleached and dry. Not a vestige had appeared, since leaving the Wall-cliffs, of a human being having recently visited the country. The silence and desolateness of the wilderness reigned around. And when we looked for evidences of an ancient permanent occupation of the region by man, there were none — not a hillock raised by human hands, nor the smallest object that could be deemed antiquarian. The only evidences

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of ancient action were those of a geological kind — caverns, valleys of denudation, beds of drift, boulders, water-lines and markings on the faces of cliffs, which betokened oceanic overflow at very antique or primary periods.

The difficulties attending our progress down the valley, induced us to strike out into the open prairie, where travelling was free, and unimpeded by shrubbery or vines. Nothing but illimitable fields of grass, with clumps of trees here and there, met the eye. We travelled steadily, without diverging to the right or left. We sometimes disturbed covies of prairie birds; the rabbit started from his shelter, or the deer enlivened the prospect. We had laid our course south-south-west, and travelled about twenty miles. As evening approached, we searched in vain for water, to encamp. In quest of it, we finally entered a desolate gorge, which seemed, at some seasons, to have been traversed by floods, as it disclosed boulders and piles of rubbish. Daylight departed as we wound our way down this dry gorge, which was found to be flanked, as we descended, with towering cliffs. In the meantime, the heavens became overcast with dense black clouds, and rain soon began to fall. We scanned these lofty cliffs closely, as we were in a cavernous limestone country, for evidences of some practicable opening which might give us shelter for the night. At length, the dark mouth of a large cavern appeared on our left, at some twenty or thirty feet elevation. The horse could not be led up this steep, but, by unpacking him, we carried the baggage up, and then hobbled and belled the poor beast, and left him to pick a meal as best he could in so desolate a valley. It was the best, and indeed the only thing, we could do for him.

It was not long before we had a fire in the cave, which threw its red rays upon the outlines of the cavern, in a manner which would have formed a study for Michel Angelo. It seemed that internal waters had flowed out of this cavern for ages, carrying particle by particle of the yielding rock, by which vast masses had been scooped out, or hung still in threatening pendants. Its width was some forty feet, its height perhaps double that space, and its depth illimitable. A small stream of pure water glided along its bottom, and went trickling down the cliff.

The accident in crossing the stream had saturated, but not ruined our tea; and we soon had an infusion of it, to accompany our evening's frugal repast — for frugal indeed it became, in meats and bread, after our irreparable loss of the day previous. Nothing-is more refreshing than a draught of tea in the wilderness, and one soon experiences that this effect is due neither to milk nor sugar. The next thing to be done after supper, was to light a torch and explore the recesses of the cave, lest it should be occupied by some carnivorous beasts, who might fancy a sleeping traveller for a night's meal. Sallying into its dark recesses, gun and torch in hand, we passed up a steep ascent, which made it difficult to keep our feet. This passage, at first, turned to the right, then narrowed, and finally terminated in a low gallery, growing smaller and smaller towards its apparent close. This passage became too low to admit walking, but by the light of our torch, which threw its rays far into its recesses, there appeared

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no possibility of our proceeding further. We then retraced our steps to our fire in the front of the cave, where there were evidences of Indian camp-fires. We then replenished the fire with fuel, and spread down our pallets for the night. My companion soon adjusted himself in a concave part of the rock, and went to sleep. I looked out from the front of the cave to endeavor to see the horse; but although I caught a sound of his bell, nothing could be seen but intense darkness. The rain had been slight, and had abated; but the cliffs in front, and the clouds above the narrow valley, rendered it impossible to see anything beyond the reach of the flickering rays of our fire. To its precincts I returned, and entered up my journal of the events of the day.

My first care in the morning was to find our pack-horse, who had been left with a sorry prospect. He was not soon to be found. We then travelled to the south-east which brought us again into the valley of the North Fork. We forded it, and found, on its eastern margin, extensive open oak plains. On one of the most conspicuous trees were marks and letters, which proved that it had been visited and singled out for settlement by some enterprising pioneer. From the open character of the country, we could not get near to large game; and we now found that our supply of ball and shot was near its close. Passing down the valley about ten miles, we encamped. Since the loss of our corn-meal, we had had nothing in the shape of bread, and our provisions were now reduced to a very small quantity of dried meat. We had expected, for some days, to have reached either Indian or white hunters' camps. Anxiety on this head now became intense. Prudence required, however, that, small as our stores were, they should be divided with strict reference to the probability of our not meeting with hunters, or getting relief for two or, three days.

Every sign, under such circumstances, is noticed. The stick frames, without bark, of several Indian lodges, were passed, denoting that they had not been recently occupied. Travelling down the vale, I came to a point on the bank of the river, where I discovered two grown beavers sporting in the stream. The tail of this animal, which appears clumsy and unwieldy in the dead specimen, gives the animal a graceful appearance in the water, where it makes him appear to have a very elongated body. After diving about for some time, they came to the shore, and sat in front of their wauzh, as it is termed by the Algonquins, or lodge, which, in this case, was a fissure in the rock. I was perfectly screened by a point of the rock from their view, and sat with my gun cocked, reserving my fire a few moments, the more perfectly to observe them, when both animals, at the same instant, darted into their holes.

Appetite was now keen, and having a tolerably open forest, we pressed on rapidly, the horse being, as usual, our chief hindrance. I took the horse's bridle over my arm this morning, and had proceeded through open woods about ten miles, when there was descried, from a little summit, a hut in the distance, which had some traits of the labor of white men. This gave animation to our steps, in hopes of finding it occupied. But, as we approached, we could discern no smoke rising up as a sign of occupancy,

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and were disappointed to find it an abortive effort of some pioneer. This was called Camp No. We learned that it had been constructed by one Martin, who, as there was not a foot of land in cultivation, had probably aimed to subsist by the chase alone. The location was well chosen. A large canebrake flanked the river, sufficient to give range to horses and cattle. A little tributary stream bounded a fertile piece of upland, east of this. The hut was built of puncheons, supported on one side by a rude ridgepole, leaving the front of it open, forming a shed which had a roof and floor. But the stream had now dried up. We found a plant of cotton, boiled out, among the adjacent weeds, which proved the soil and climate suitable to its culture. We were now well within the limits of Arkansas.

It was determined to encamp at this spot, turn the horse into the adjacent canebrake, where the leaves were green, to deposit our baggage and camp apparatus in one corner of the hut, and, after making light packs, to take our arms, and proceed in search of settlements. This required a little time. To reach a point where civilization had once tried to get a foothold, however, was something; and we consoled ourselves with the reflection that we could not be remote from its skirts.

The next day I made an excursion west of the river, from our position, to determine satisfactorily our situation. I found, on the opposite side of the valley, at the foot of the cliff, another small white-man's hut, which had also been abandoned. In a small patch of ground, which had once been cleared, there grew a purnpkin-vine, which then had three pumpkins. This was a treasure, which I at once secured. I found that one of them had been partially eaten by some wild animal, and determined to give it to my horse, but could not resist the inclination first to cut off a few slices, which I ate raw with the greatest appetite. The taste seemed delicious. I had not before been aware that my appetite had become so keen by fasting. Between the horse and myself, we finished it, and had quite a sociable time of it. With the other two, which were the largest, I rode back to camp, where, having a small camp-kettle, we boiled and despatched them, without meat or bread, for supper. It does not require much to make one happy; for, in this instance, our little luck put us in the best of humor.

Action is the price of safety in the woods. Neither dreams nor poetic visions kept us on our pallets a moment longer than it was light enough to see the grey tints of morning. Each of us prepared a compact knapsack, containing a blanket and a few absolute necessaries, and gave our belts an extra jerk before lifting our guns to our shoulders; then, secretly wishing our friend Butcher a good time in the canebrake, we set out with a light pace towards the south. My companion Levi was much attached to tea; and, as the article of a small tin pot was indispensable to the enjoyment of this beverage, he burthened himself with this appendage by strapping it on his back with a green sash. This was not a very military sort of accoutrement; but as he did not pride himself in that way, and had not, in fact, the least notion of the ridiculous

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figure he cut with it, I was alone in my unexpressed sense of the extreme Fridayish-ness of his looks on the march, day by day, across the prairies and through the woods, with this not very glittering culinary appendage dangling at his back.

Hope gave animation to our steps. We struck out from the valley southerly, which brought us to an elevated open tract, partially wooded, in which the walking was good. After travelling about six miles, we heard the report of a gun on our left. Supposing it to proceed from some white hunter, we tried to get into communication with him, and hallooed stoutly. This was answered. I withdrew the ball from my gun, and fired. We then followed the course of the shot and halloo. But, although a whoop was once heard, which seemed from its intonation to be Indian, we were unsuccessful in gaining an interview; and, after losing a good deal of time in the effort, were obliged to give it up, and proceed.

Much of our way lay through open oak forests, with a thick bed of fallen leaves, and we several times searched under these for sweet acorns; but we uniformly found that the wild turkeys had been too quick for us — every sweet acorn had been scratched up and eaten, and none remained but such as were bitter and distasteful. On descending an eminence, we found the sassafras plentifully, and, breaking off branches of it, chewed them, which took away the astringent and bad taste of the acorns.

As night approached, we searched in vain for water on the elevated grounds, and were compelled to seek the river valley, where we encamped in an old Indian wigwam of bark. The night was chilly and cold. We turned restlessly on our pallets. Daylight was most welcome. A fire was built against the stump of a dead tree, broken off by lightning at a height of some thirty feet from the ground. We here boiled our tea, and accurately divided about half an ounce of dried meat, being the last morsel we had. While thus engaged, a red-headed woodpecker lit on the tree, some fifteen or twenty feet above our heads, and began pecking. The visit was a, most untimely one for the bird. A shot laid him dead at the foot of the tree; and, being plucked, roasted, and divided, he furnished out our repast. We then gave the straps of our accoutrements a tight jerk, by way of preventing a flaccid stomach — an Indian habit — and set forward with renewed strength and hope. We travelled this day over a rolling country of hill and dale, with little to relieve the eye or demand observation, and laid down at night, fatigued, in the edge of a canebrake. A dense fog, which overhung the whole valley, prevented our quitting camp at a very early hour. When it arose, and the atmosphere became sufficiently clear to discern our way, we ascended the hills to our left, and took a west-south-west course. Nothing can exceed the roughness and sterility of the country traversed, and the endless succession of steep declivities, and broken, rocky precipices, surmounted. Our line of march, after leaving the low grounds of the river valley, led over moderately elevated ridges of oak-openings. We came at length to some hickory trees. Beneath them, the nuts laid in quantities on the ground. We sat down, and diligently commenced cracking them; but this was

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soon determined to be too slow a process to satisfy hungry men, and, gathering a quantity for our night's encampment, we pushed forward diligently. Tramp! tramp! tramp! we walked resolutely on, in a straight line, over hill and dale. Trees, rocks, prairie-grass, the jumping squirrel, the whirring quail — we gave them a glance, and passed on. We finally saw the sun set; evening threw its shades around; night presented its sombre hue; and, as it grew dark, it became cloudy and cold. Still, no water to encamp by was found, and it finally became so dark that we were forced to grope our way. By groping in the darkness, we at length stood on the brink of a precipice, and could distinctly hear the gurgling sound of running water in the gulf below. It was a pleasing sound; for we had not tasted a drop since early dawn. Had we still had our horse, we should not have been able to get him down in the darkness; but, by seizing hold of bushes, and feeling our way continually, we reached the bottom, and encamped immediately by the stream. It was a small run of pure mountain water. Soon a fire arose on its banks. We cracked a few of the nuts. We drank our accustomed tin-cup of tea. We wrapped ourselves in our blankets upon its immediate margin, and knew no more till early daylight, when a cold air had quite chilled us.

We were happy to get out of this gulf at the earliest dawn. After travelling a couple of miles, we stepped suddenly into a well-beaten horse-path, running transversely to our course, with fresh horse-tracks leading both ways. We stopped to deliberate which end of the path to take. I thought the right-hand would conduct us to the mouth of the river which we had been pursuing down, where it could hardly fail there should be hunters or pioneer settlers located. My companion thought the left hand should be taken, without offering any satisfactory reason for it. I determined, in an instant, to rise above him mentally, by yielding the point, and set out with a firm and ready pace to the left. We travelled diligently about three miles, without meeting anything to note, but were evidently going back into the wilderness we had just left, by a wider circuit, when my companion relented, and we turned about on our tracks towards the mouth of the river. We had not gone far, and had not yet reached the point of our original issue from the forest, when we descried a man on horseback, coming toward us. Joy flashed in our eyes. When he came up, he told us that there was a hunter located at the mouth of the river, and another, named Wells, nearly equi-distant on the path he was pursuing; and that, if we would follow him, he would guide us to the latter. This we immediately determined to do, and, after travelling about seven miles, came in sight of the cabin.

Our approach was announced by a loud and long-continued barking of dogs, who required frequent bidding from their master, before they could be pacified. The first object worthy of remark, that presented itself on our emerging from the forest, was a number of deer, bear, and other skins, fastened to a kind of rude frame, supported by poles, which occupied the area about the house. These trophies of skill in the chase were regarded with great complacency by our conductor, as he pointed them out, and

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he remarked that Wells was "a great hunter, and a forehanded man." There were a number of acres of ground, from which he had gathered a crop of corn. The house was a substantial, new-built log tenement, of one room. The family consisted of the hunter and his wife, and four or five children, two of whom were men grown, and the youngest a boy of about sixteen. All were dressed in leather prepared from deerskins. The host himself was a middle-sized, light-limbed, sharp-faced man. Around the walls of the room hung horns of the deer and buffalo, with a rifle, shot-pouches, leather coats, dried meats, and other articles, giving unmistakeable signs of the vocation of our host. The furniture was of his own fabrication. On one side hung a deer-skin, sewed up in somewhat the shape of the living animal, containing bears' oil. In another place hung a similar vessel, filled with wild honey.

All the members of the family seemed erudite in the knowledge of woodcraft, the ranges and signs of animals, and their food and habits; and while the wife busied herself in preparing our meal, she occasionally stopped to interrogate us, or take part in the conversation. When she had finished her preparations, she invited us to sit down to a delicious meal of warm corn-bread and butter, honey and milk, to which we did ample justice.

It was late in the afternoon when our supper was prepared, and we spent the evening in giving and receiving information of the highest practical interest to each party. Wells recited a number of anecdotes of hunting, and of his domestic life. We repaid him with full accounts of our adventures. What appeared to interest him most, was the accounts of the bears and other wild animals we had seen. When the hour for rest arrived, we opened our sacks, and, spreading our blankets on a bear-skin which he furnished, laid down before the fire, and enjoyed a sound night's repose.

It was now the 1st of December. We were up with the earliest dawning of light, and determined to regain our position at Camp No, on the Great North Fork, with all possible despatch, and pursue our tour westward. Understanding from the conversation of the hunters among themselves, that they designed forthwith to proceed on a hunting excursion into the region we had passed, on the Great North Fork, we determined to avail ourselves of their guidance to our deposit and horse. We purchased a dressed deer-skin for moccasins, a small quantity of Indian corn, some wild honey, and a little lead. The corn required pounding to convert it into meal. This is accomplished by a pestle, fixed to a loaded swing-pole, playing into a mortar burned into an oak stump. The payment for these articles being made in money, excited the man's cupidity; for, although he had previously determined on going in that direction, he now refused to guide us to Camp No, unless paid for it. This was also assented to, with the agreement to furnish us with the carcase of a deer.

By eleven o'clock, A. M., shouldering our knapsacks and guns, we set forward, accompanied by our host, his three sons, and a neighbor, making our party to consist of seven men, all mounted on horses but ourselves, and followed by a pack of hungry,

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yelping dogs. Our course was due north-west. As we were heavily laden and sore-footed our shoes being literally worn from our feet by the stony tracts we had passed over, the cavalcade was occasionally obliged to halt till we came up. This proved such a cause of delay to them, that they finally agreed to let us ride and walk, alternately, with the young men. In this way we passed over an undulating tract, not heavily timbered, until about ten o'clock at night, when we reached our abandoned camp, where we found our baggage safe. A couple of men had been detached from the party, early in the morning, to hunt the stipulated deer; but they did not succeed in finding any, and came in long before us with a pair of turkeys. One of these was despatched for supper, and then all betook themselves to repose.

One of the first objects that presented itself the next morning was our horse, from the neighboring canebrake, who did not seem to have well relished his fare on cane-leaves, and stood doggedly in front of our cabin, with a pertinacity which seemed to say, "Give me my portion of corn." Poor animal! he had not thriven on the sere grass and scanty water of the Ozarks, where he had once tumbled down the sides of a cliff with a pack on, been once plunged in the river beyond his depth, and often struggled with the tangled greenbriar of the valleys, which held him by the feet. With every attention, he had fallen away; and he seemed to anticipate that he was yet destined to become wolf's-meat on the prairies.

The hunters were up with the earliest dawn, and several of them went out in quest of game, recollecting their promise to us on that head; but they all returned after an absence of a couple of hours, unsuccessful. By this time we had cooked the other turkey for breakfast, which just sufficed for the occasion. The five men passed a few moments about the fire, then suddenly caught and saddled their horses, and, mounting together, bid us good morning, and rode off. We were taken quite aback by this movement, supposing that they would have felt under obligation, as they had been paid for it, to furnish us some provisions. We looked intently after them, as they rode up the long sloping eminence to the north of us. They brought forcibly to my mind the theatrical representation, in the background, of the march of the Forty Thieves, as they wind down the mountain, before they present themselves at the front of the cave, with its charmed gates. But there was no "open sesame!" for us. Cast once more on our own resources in the wilderness, the alternative seemed to be pressed upon our minds very forcibly, "hunt or starve." Serious as the circumstances appeared, yet, when we reflected upon their manners and conversation, their avarice, and their insensibility to our actual wants, we could not help rejoicing that they were gone.

Left alone, we began to reflect closely on our actual situation, and the means of extricating ourselves from this position. If we had called it camp "No," from our disappointment at not finding it inhabited on our first arrival, it was now again appropriately camp "No," from not obtaining adequate relief from the hunters. We had procured a dressed buckskin for making moccasins. We had a little pounded corn, in

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a shape to make hunters' bread. We had not a mouthful of meat. I devoted part of the day to making a pair of Indian shoes. We had not a single charge of shot left. We had procured lead enough to mould just five bullets. This I carefully did. I then sallied out in search of game, scanning cautiously the neighboring canebrake, and fired three balls, unsuccessfully, at turkeys. It was evident, as I had the birds within range, that my gun had been sprung in the heavy fall I had had, as before related, in the crossing Calamarca. My companion then took his gun, and also made an unsuccessful shot. When evening approached, a flock of turkeys came to roost near by. We had now just one ball left; everything depended on that. I took it to the large and firm stump of an oak, and cut it into exactly thirty-two pieces, with geometrical precision. I then beat the angular edges of each, until they assumed a sufficiently globular shape to admit of their being rolled on a hard surface, under a pressure. This completed their globular form. I then cleansed my companion's gun, and carefully loaded it with the thirty-two shot. We then proceeded to the roost, which was on some large oaks in a contiguous valley. I carried a torch, which I had carefully made at the camp. My companion took the loaded gun, and I, holding the torch near the sights at the same time, so that its rays fell directly on the birds, he selected one, and fired. It proved to be one of the largest and heaviest, and fell to the earth with a sound. We now returned to camp, and prepared a part of it for supper, determining to husband the remainder so as to last till we should reach settlements, by holding a due west course.

We had prepared ourselves to start on the 4th of December; but it rained from early dawn to dark, which confined us closely to our cabin. Rain is one of the greatest annoyances to the woodsman. Generally, he has no shelter against it, and must sit in it, ride in it, or walk in it. Where there is no shelter, the two latter are preferable. But, as we had a splitboard roof, we kept close, and busied ourselves with more perfect preparations for our next sally. I had some minerals that admitted of being more closely and securely packed, and gladly availed myself of the opportunity to accomplish it. Our foot and leg-gear, also, required renovating. Experience had been our best teacher from the first; and hunger and danger kept us perpetually on the qui vive, and made us wise in little expedients.

The Knife Hills.

The rain ceased during the night, and left us a clear atmosphere in the morning. At an early hour we completed the package of the horse, and, taking the reins, I led him to the brink of the river, and with difficulty effected a passage. The cliffs, which form the western side of the valley, presented an obstacle not easily surmounted. By leading the animal in a zigzag course, however, this height was finally attained. The prospect, as far as the eye could reach, was discouraging. Hill on hill rose before us,

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with little timber, it is true, to impede us, but implying a continual necessity of crossing steeps and depressions. After encountering this rough surface about two miles, we came into a valley having a stream tributary to the Great North Fork, which we had quitted that morning at a higher point. In this sub-valley we found our way impeded by another difficulty — namely, the brush and small canes that grew near the brook. To avoid this impediment, I took the horse across a low piece of ground, having a thicket, but which appeared to be firm. In this I was mistaken; for the animal's feet began to sink, and ere long he stuck fast. The effort to extricate him but served to sink him deeper, and, by pawing to get out, he continually widened the slough in which he had sunk. We then obtained poles, and endeavored to pry him up; but our own footing was continually giving way, and we at length beheld him in a perfect slough of soft black mud. After getting his pack off, we decided to leave him to his fate. We carried the pack to dry ground, on one side of the valley, and spread the articles out, not without deeply regretting the poor beast's plight. But then it occurred to us that, if the horse were abandoned, we must also abandon our camp-kettle, large axe, beds, and most of our camp apparatus; and another and concentrated effort was finally resolved on. To begin, we cut down two tall saplings, by means of which the horse was pried up from the bottom of the slough. He was then grasped by the legs and turned over, which brought his feet in contact with the more solid part of the ground. A determined effort, both of horse and help, now brought him to his feet. He raised himself up, and, by pulling with all our might, we brought him on dry ground. I then led him gently to our place of deposit, and, by means of bunches of sere grass, we both busied ourselves, first to rub off the, mud and wet, and afterwards to groom him and rub him dry. When he was properly restored, he was led up the valley a short distance, where we encamped. The grass in this little valley was of a nourishing quality, and, by stopping early, we allowed him to recruit himself.

Butcher had so improved his time in the tender grass during the night, as to present a more spirited appearance in the morning. We were now near the head of the brook which we had been following; and as we quitted its sides, long to be remembered for this mishap, we began to ascend the elevated and bleak tract of the Mocama or Knife hills, so called, over which the winds rushed strongly as we urged our way. For a distance of sixteen miles we held on our course, in a west-south-west direction, turning neither to the right nor left. As night approached, we found ourselves descending into a considerable valley, caused by a river. The shrubbery and grass of its banks had been swept by fire in the fall, and a new crop of grass was just rising. We formed our encampment in this fire-swept area. This stream proved to be the Little North Fork of White River.

The ascent of the hills on the south-west was found to be difficult; and when the summit was reached, there spread before us an extensive prairie, of varied surface. When we had gone about six miles, a bold mound-like hill rose on our left, which

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seemed a favorable spot for getting a view of the surrounding country. We had been told by the hunters that in travelling fifteen miles west, we should reach a settlement at Sugar-loaf Prairie, on the main channel of the White river. On reaching the summit of this natural lookout, we could descry nothing that betokened human habitation. As far as the eye could reach, prairies and groves filled the undulating vista. On reaching its foot, we changed our course to south, believing that our directions had been vague. On going about a mile in this direction, we entered a faint and old horsepath. This gave animation to our steps. On pursuing it about three miles, it fell into another and plainer path, having the fresh tracks of horses. We were now on elevated ground, which commanded views of the country all around. Suddenly the opposite side of a wide valley appeared to open far beneath us, and, stepping forward the better to scan it, the river of which we were in search presented its bright, broad, and placid surface to our view, at several hundred feet below. We stood admiringly on the top of a high, rocky, and precipitous cliff. Instinctively to shout, was the first impulse.

Pursuing the brow of the precipice about a mile, a log building and some fields were discovered on the opposite bank. On descending the path whose traces we had followed, it brought us to a ford. We at once prepared to cross the river, which was four or five hundred yards wide. On ascending the opposite bank, we came to the house of a Mr. M'Garey, who received us with an air of hospitality, and made us welcome.

He had a bluff frankness of manner, with an air of independence, and an individuality of character, which impressed us favorably. He told us that we were eight hundred miles west of the Mississippi by the stream, that White river was navigable by keel-boats for this distance, and that there were several settlements on its banks. He had several acres in cultivation in Indian corn, possessed horses, cows, and hogs; we observed, at the door, a hand-mill. At a convenient distance was a smoke-house. I observed a couple of odd volumes of books on a shelf. He was evidently a pioneer on the Indian land. He said that the Cherokees had been improperly located along the western bank of White river, extending to the Arkansas, and that the effect was to retard and prevent the purchase and settlement of the country by the United States. He complained of this, as adverse to hunters, who were anxious to get titles for their lands. He did not represent the Cherokees as being hostile, or as having committed any depredations. But he depicted the Osages as the scourge and terror of the country. They roamed from the Arkansas to the Missouri frontier, and pillaged whoever fell in their way. He detailed the particulars of a robbery committed in the very house we were sitting in, when they took away horses, clothes, and other property. They had visited him in this way twice, and recently stole from him eight beaver-skins; and during their last foray in the valley, they had robbed one of his neighbors, called Teen Friend, of all his arms, traps, and skins, and detained him a prisoner. This tribe felt hostile to all the settlers on the outskirts of Missouri and Arkansas; they were open robbers and plunderers of all the whites who fell defenceless into their hands.

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They were, he thought, particularly to be dreaded in the region which we proposed to explore. He also said that the Osages were hostile to the newly-arrived Cherokees, who had migrated from the east side of the Mississippi, and had settled in the country between the Red River and Arkansas, and that these tribes were daily committing trespasses upon each other. Having myself, but a short time before, noticed the conclusion of a peace between the western Cherokees and Osages at St. Louis, before General Clark, I was surprised to hear this; but he added, as an illustration of this want of faith, that when the Cherokees returned from that treaty, they pursued a party of Osages near the banks of White river, and stole twenty horses from them. Such is Indian faith in treaties.

This presented a gloomy picture. On comparing opinions, for which purpose my companion and myself had an interview outside the premises, it seemed that these statements were to be received with some grains of allowance. They were natural enough for a victim of Indian robberies, and doubtless true; but the events had not been recent, and they were not deemed sufficient to deter us from proceeding in our contemplated tour to the higher Ozarks at the sources of the river. It was evident that we had erred a good deal from our stick-bridge at Calarnarca, from the proper track; but we were nevertheless determined not to relinquish our object.

Having obtained the necessary information, we determined to pursue our way, for which purpose Butcher was turned to graze at M'Garey's, we rid ourselves of all our heavy baggage by depositing it with him, and prepared our knapsacks for this new essay. When, ready, our host refused to take any pay for his hospitalities; but, conducting us to his smoke-house, opened the door, and then, drawing his knife from its sheath, placed it, with an air of pomposity, in my hand, offering the handle-end, and said, "Go in and cut." I did so, taking what appeared to be sufficient to last us to our next expected point of meeting hunters. The place was well filled with buffalo and bear meat, both smoked and fresh, hanging on cross-bars.

White River Valley.

At nine o'clock next morning, we bade our kind entertainer adieu; and, taking directions to reach Sugar-loaf Prairie, crossed over the river by the same ford which we had taken in our outward track from Camp No, in the valley of the Great North Fork. Relieved from the toilsome task of leading the horse, we ascended the opposite cliffs with alacrity, and vigorously pursued our course, over elevated ground, for about sixteen miles. The path then became obscure; the ground was so flinty and hard, that it was in vain we searched for tracks of horses' feet. Some time was lost in this search, and we finally encamped in a cane-bottom in the river valley.

From this point, we ascended the river hills eastwardly, and pursued our journey along an elevated range to the Sugar-loaf Prairie — a name which is derived from the

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striking effects of denudation on the limestone cliffs, which occupy the most elevated positions along this valley. We were received with blunt hospitality by a tall man in leather, called Coker, whose manner appeared to be characteristic of the hunter. Our approach was heralded by the usual loud and long barking of dogs, and we found the premises surrounded by the invariable indications of a successful hunter — skins of the bear and other animals, stretched out on frames to dry.

We were no sooner at home with our entertainer, than he began to corroborate what we had before heard of the hostility of the Osages. He considered the journey at this season hazardous, as he thought they had not yet broke up their fall hunting-camps, and retired to their villages on the Grand Osaw (Osage). He also thought it a poor season for game, and presented a rather discouraging prospect to our view.

He represented the settlers of Sugar-loaf Prairie to consist of four families, situated within the distance of eight miles, including both banks of the river. This was exclusive of two families living at Beaver creek, the highest point yet occupied.

It was noon the following day, before we departed from Coker's. The old man refused to take anything for our meals and lodging; and we bade him adieu, after taking his directions as to the best route to pursue to reach Beaver creek, our next point. We travelled through a lightly-timbered, hilly country, about eight miles, when the skies became overcast, and some rain fell. It was still too early an hour to encamp, but we came, at this time, into a small ravine, with running water, which had on one bank a shelving cave in the limestone rock, forming a protection from the rain. We built a fire from red cedar, which emitted a strong aromatic odor. The weather began to assume a wintry character; this being the first day we have been troubled with cold fingers. In fact, it was too cold to sleep.

We left our camp at the cave on Cedar brook, and resumed our march at an early hour, and found the face of the country still rough and undulating, but covered, to a great extent, with brush. My companion thought we had gone far enough to have struck the waters of the Beaver, and, as he carried the compass this day, he deviated westward from the intended course. This brought us to the banks of a river, which he insisted, contrary to my opinion, must be the Beaver. To me this did not seem probable; but, yielding the point to him, we forded the stream at waist deep. We then ascended a lofty and difficult range of river hills; and, finding ourselves now at the level of the country, we held on in a westerly course, till it became clearly evident, even to my companion, that we were considerably west of the White river. We then retraced our steps, descended the river hills to the bank of the stream, and followed up its immediate margin, in search of a convenient spot for encampment; for, by this time, night approached rapidly. We were soon arrested by a precipitous cliff, against the base of which the river washed. As the sun sank lower, we felt a keen and cold wind, but could not find a stick of wood on the western bank with which to kindle a fire. The alternative presented to us was, either to remain here all night without a

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fire, exposed to the chilling blast, or cross a deep stream to the opposite shore, where there was an extensive alluvial plain, covered with trees, and promising an abundance of fuel.

Night had already closed around us, when we decided to cross the river. We found it to be four feet deep, and some two hundred yards wide. When we got over, it was with great difficulty that we succeeded in collecting a sufficiency of dry materials to kindle a fire; and by the time we had accomplished it, our wet clothes had become stiff and cold, the wind at the same time blowing fiercely. Our utmost efforts were required to dry and warm ourselves, nor did we attain these points in a sufficient degree to secure a comfortable night's rest.

The ground, in the morning, was covered with white hoar-frost, with a keen and cold air, and a wintry sky. Early daylight found us treading our way across the low grounds to the cliffs. We soon ascended an elevated rocky shore, bordering the river, which was completely denuded of trees and shrubbery. It was early, the sun not having yet risen, when we beheld before us, rising out of the ground, a column of air which appeared to be of a warmer temperature. Its appearance was like that of smoke from a chimney on a frosty morning. On reaching it, the phenomenon was found to be caused by an orifice in the earth, from which rarefied air issued. On looking down intently, and excluding the side light, it was seen to be a fissure in the limestone rock, with jagged, narrow sides, leading down into a cavern. I determined to try the descent, and found the opening large enough to admit my body. Feeling for a protuberance on which to rest my feet, and closely pressing the sides of the orifice, I slowly descended. My fear was that the crevice would suddenly enlarge, and let me drop. But I descended in safety. I thus let myself down directly about twenty feet, and came to the level floor of a gallery which led in several directions. The light from above was sufficient to reveal the dark outlines of a ramified cavern, and to guide my footsteps for a distance. I went as far in the largest gallery as the light cast any direct rays, but found nothing at all on the floor or walls to reward my adventure. It was a notable fissure in a carbonate of lime, entirely dry, and without stalactites. What I most feared in these dim recesses, was some carnivorous animal, for whose residence it appeared to be well adapted. Having explored it as far as I could command any light to retrace my steps, I returned to the foot of the original orifice. I found no difficulty, by pressing on each side, in ascending to the surface, bringing along a fragment of the limestone rock. I afterwards observed, while descending the river, that this cavern was in a high, precipitous part of the coast, of calcareous rock, the foot of which was washed by the main channel of White river.

We now resumed our march, and, at the distance of about six miles, reached Beaver creek, near its mouth. It is a beautiful, clear stream of sixty yards wide, with a depth of two feet, and a hard, gravelly bottom. We forded it, and, keeping down the bank, soon fell into a horse-path, which led us, in following it about a mile and a half, to a

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hunter's dwelling, occupied by a man named Fisher. He received us in a friendly manner, and we took up our abode with him. Six or eight hundred yards higher, there was another cabin, occupied by a man named Holt. Both had been but a short time located at this place; they had not cleared any ground, nor even finished the log houses they occupied. Both buildings were on the bank of the river, on the edge of a large and fertile bottom, well wooded, and with a very picturesque coast of limestone opposite, whose denuded pinnacles had received the name of the Little Tower.

Holt and Fisher were the highest occupants of the White river valley. They had reached this spot about four months before, and had brought their effects partly on pack-horses, and partly in canoes. The site was judiciously chosen. A finer tract of rich river bottom could not have been found, while the site commanded an illimitable region, above and around it, for hunting the deer, buffalo, elk, and other species, besides the beaver, otter, and small furred animals, which are taken in traps. We tried, at first vainly, to persuade them to accompany us in our further explorations. To this they replied that it was Osage hunting-ground, and that that tribe never failed to plunder and rob all who fell in their power, particularly hunters and trappers. And besides, they were but recent settlers, and had not yet completed their houses and improvements. As we were neither hunters nor trappers, we had but little fear of Osage hostility; for this was, in a measure, the just retribution of that tribe for an intrusion on their lands, and the destruction of its game, which constituted its chief value to them. Nor did we anticipate encountering them at all, at this season, as they must have withdrawn, long ere this, to their villages on the river Osage.

There appeared no other way to induce the hunters to go with us, but to aid them in completing their cottages and improvements. This we resolved to do. Holt then agreed to accompany us as a guide and huntsman, with the further stipulation, that he was to have the horse which had been left at M'Gary's, and a small sum of money, with liberty, also, to undertake a journey to the settlements below for corn. Hereupon, Fisher also consented to accompany us. This obstacle to our movements being overcome, we busied ourselves in rendering to the hunters all the assistance in our power, and made it an object to show them that we could do this effectively. We began by taking hold of the frow and axe, and aiding Holt to split boards for covering a portion of the roof of his house. I doubt whether my companion had ever done the like work before; I am sure I never had; but having thrown myself on this adventure, I most cheerfully submitted to all its adverse incidents.

Our routine of duty was uniform. At daybreak we built a substantial fire in the cabin; we then pounded the quantity of corn necessary for the family. This process brings the article into the condition of coarse grits, which are boiled soft, and it then bears the name of homony. About five o'clock, we were summoned to our second meal. We then carried up the quantity of firewood necessary for the night.

The river having been closed with ice within the last two days, we crossed it on

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the 19th to visit the two pyramidal monuments of geological denudation which mark the limestone range of the opposite shore. I determined, if possible, to ascend one of them. The ascent lies through a defile of rocks. By means of projections, which could sometimes be reached by cedar roots, and, now and then, a leap or a scramble, I succeeded in ascending one of them to near its apex, which gave me a fine view of the windings of the river. The monuments consist of stratified limestone, which has, all but these existing peaks, crumbled under the effects of disintegration. I observed no traces of organic remains. It appeared to be of the same general character with the metalliferous beds of Missouri, and is, viewed in extenso, like that, based on grey or cream-colored sand-rock.

I was impressed with the extreme purity of the water. The ice near the cliffs having been formed during a calm night, presented the crystalline purity of glass, through which every inequality, pebble, and stone in its bed, could be plainly perceived. The surface on which we stood was about two inches thick, bending as we walked. The depth of water appeared to be five or six feet; but I was told that it was fully twenty. The pebbles at this place are often a small, pear-shaped, opaque, yellow jasper.

After seven days' absence Holt and Fisher returned, laden with corn. They appeared to be pleased with the evidences of our thrift and industry during their absence.

Of these two men, who had pushed themselves to the very verge of western civilization, it will be pertinent to say, that their characters were quite different. Holt was the better hunter, and more social and ready man. He was quick with the rifle, and suffered no animal to escape him. Fisher was of a more deliberative temperament, and more inclined to surround himself with the reliances of agriculture. He was also the better mechanic, and more inclined to labor. Holt hated labor like an Indian, and, like an Indian, relied for subsistence on the chase exclusively. Fisher was very superstitious, and a believer in witchcraft. Holt was scarcely a believer in anything, but was ever ready for action. He could talk a little Chickasaw, and knew several of their chansons, which he sung. Both men had kept for years moving along on the outer frontiers, ever ready for a new remove; and it was plain enough, to the listener to their tales of wild adventure, that they had not been impelled, thus far, on the ever-advancing line of border life, from the observance of any of the sterner virtues of civilized society.

Sources of White River.

Every objection raised had now been surmounted. I had waited their preliminary journey for corn for their families, and my companion and myself had made ourselves useful by helping, in the mean time, to complete their cabins and improvements.

It was the twenty-eighth clay of December, when they mounted their horses in the morning, and announced themselves ready to proceed. Our course lay toward the

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north-west. Ascending through the heavily-timbered bottom-lands of the valley for a mile or two, we then passed by an easy route through the valley cliffs. The way led to a rolling highland prairie, with clumps of small forest trees, covered with coarse wild grass, and the seed-pods of autumnal flowers. It was a waving surface. Sometimes the elevations assumed a high conical shape. Sometimes we crossed a depression with trees. Often the deer bounded before us, and frequently the sharp crack of the rifle was the first intimation to me that game was near. Holt told me that the error of the young or inexperienced hunters was, in looking too far for their game. The plan to hunt successfully was, to raise the eye slowly from the spot just before you, for the game is often close by, and not to set it on distant objects at first.

When night approached, we encamped near the foot of an eminence, called the Bald Hill. The day had been clear, but chilly, with a north-westerly wind, which we had to face.

The next day but little change appeared in the country; we travelled over hill and dale, meeting nothing new. We then descended into the valley of Swan creek — a clear stream of thirty yards wide, a tributary of White River. Its banks present a rich alluvial bottom, well wooded with maple, hickory, ash, hagberry, elm, and sycamore. Following up this valley about five miles, it commenced raining, when we encamped. Protection from the rain, however, was impossible. We gained some little shelter under the broad roots of a clump of fallen trees and limbs, and passed a most comfortless night, being wet, and without a fire.

The next morning, (Dec. 30th,) at the earliest dawn we were in motion. After ascending the Swan creek valley about nine miles, through a most fertile tract, we fell into the Osage trail, a well-beaten horse-path, and passed successively three of their summer-camps. The poles and frames of each lodge were left standing, and made a formidable show. These encampments could, probably, each have accommodated several hundred persons.

The form of the Osage lodge may be compared to a hemisphere, or an inverted bird's-nest, with a small aperture left in the top for the escape of smoke, and an elongated opening at the side, by way of door. It is constructed by cutting a number of flexible green poles, sharpened at one end, and stuck firmly in the ground. The corresponding tops are bent over and tied, and the framework covered with linden bark. These wigwams are arranged in circles, one line of lodges within another. In the centre is a scaffolding for meat. The chief's tent is conspicuously situated at the head of each encampment. It is different from the rest, resembling an inverted half cylinder. The whole is arranged with much order, and evinces that they move in large parties, the chiefs exercising a good deal of authority.

The Osages are a tribe who have from early times been prominent in the southwest, between the Arkansas and Missouri. The term Osage is of French origin; it seems to be a translation of the Algonquin term Assenjigun, or Bone Indians. Why?

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They call themselves Was-ba-shaw, and have a curious allegory of their having originated from a beaver and a snail. They are divided into two bands, the Little and Great Osages, the latter of whom make their permanent encampments on the River Osage of the Missouri. The Ozarks appear from early days to have been their hunting-grounds for the valuable furred animals, and its deep glens and gorges have served as nurseries for the bear. They are one of the great prairie stock of tribes. They are physically a fine tribe of men, of good stature and courage, but have had the reputation, among white and red men, of being thieves and plunderers. Certainly, among the hunter population of this quarter, they are regarded as little short of ogres and giants.

Deeming themselves now high enough up the Swan creek valley, my guides determined to leave it, and turned their horses' heads up a gorge that led to the open plains. We now steered our course south-west, over an elevated plain or prairie, covered, as usual, with ripe grass. We followed across this tract for about twenty miles, with no general deviation of our course, but without finding water. In search of this, we pushed on vigorously till night set in, when it became intensely dark. Darkness, in a prairie, places the traveller somewhat in the position of a ship at sea without a compass. For hours we groped our way in this manner, when one of the guides announced a standing pool. Meantime, it had become excessively dark. On reaching the pool, there was no wood to be found, and we were compelled to encamp without a fire, and laid down supperless, tired, and cold.

My guides were hardy, rough fellows, and did not mind these omissions of meals for a day together, and had often, as now, slept without camp-fires at night. As the object seemed to be a trial of endurance, I resolved not to compromit myself by appearing a whit less hardy than they did, and uttered not a word that might even shadow forth complaint.

The next morning, as soon as it was at all light, we followed down the dry gorge in which we had lain, to Findley's Fork — a rich and well-timbered valley, which we descended about five miles. As we rode along through an open forest, soon after entering this valley, we observed the traces of the work of the beaver, and stopped to view a stately tree, of the walnut species, which had been partially gnawed off by these animals. This tree was probably eighteen or twenty inches in diameter, and fifty feet high. The animals had gnawed a ring around it, but abandoned their work. It had afterwards been undermined by the freshets of the stream, and fallen. Was it too hard a work? If so, it would seem that some instinct akin to reason came to their aid, in leading them to give up their essay.

There was now every appearance of a change of weather. It was cold, and a wintry breeze chilled our limbs. I thought my blood was as warm as that of my guides, however, and rode on cheerfully. At length, of their own motion, the guides stopped to kindle a fire and eat. Thus warmed and refreshed, we continued down the valley,

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evidently in a better philosophical mood; for a man always looks more benificently about him, this side of starvation.

Cave of Winoca.

I observed a small stream of pure water coming in on the north side, which issued through an opening in the hills; and as this ran in the general direction we were pursuing, the guides led up it. We were soon enclosed in a lateral valley, with high corresponding hills, as if, in remote ages, they had been united. Very soon it became evident that this defile was closed across and in front of us. On coming nearer the barrier, it was found that it blocked up the whole valley, with the exception of the mouth of a cave. The great width and height of this cave, and its precipitous face, gave it very much the appearance of some ruinous arch, out of proportion. It stretched from hill to hill. The limpid brook we had been following, ran from its mouth. On entering it, the first feeling was that of being in "a large place." There was no measure for the eye to compute height or width. We seemed suddenly to be beholding some secret of the great works of nature, which had been hid from the foundation of the world. I called it Winoca. On advancing, we beheld an immense natural vase, filled with pure water. This vase was formed from concretions of carbonate of lime, of the nature of stalagmite, or, rather, stalactite. It was greyish-white and translucent, filling the entire breadth of the cave. But, what was still more imposing, another vase, of similar construction, was formed on the next ascending plateau of the floor of the cave. The water flowed over the lips of this vase into the one below. The calcareous deposit seems to have commenced at the surface of the water, which, continually flowing over the rims of each vase, increases the deposit. The height of the lower vase is about five feet, which is inferable by our standing by it, and looking over the rim into the limpid basin. The rim is about two and a half inches thick. Etruscan artists could not have formed a more singular set of capacious vases. The stream of water that supplies these curious tanks, rushes with velocity from the upper part of the cavern. The bottom of the cave is strewed with small and round calcareous concretions, about the size of ounce balls, of the same nature with the vases. They are in the condition of stalagmites. These concretions are opaque, and appear to have been formed from the impregnating waters percolating from the roof of the cavern. There are evidences of nitric salts in small crevices. Geologically, the cavern is in the horizontal limestone, which is evidently metalliferous. It is the same calcareous formation which characterizes the whole Ozark range. Ores of lead (the sulphurets) were found in the stratum in the bed of a stream, at no great distance north of this cave; and its exploration for its mineral wealth is believed to be an object of practical importance.

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I had now followed the geological formation of the country fifty-four days south-westwardly. The relative position of the calcareous, lead-bearing stratum, had everywhere been the same, when not disturbed or displaced. Wide areas on the sources of the Maramek, Gasconade, and other rivers, were found covered by heavy drift, which concealed the rock; but wherever valleys had been cut through the formation by the streams, and the strata laid bare, they disclosed the same horizontality of deposit, and the same relative position of limestone and sandstone rock.

It was the last day of the year 1818, when we reached the cave of Winoca. An inspection of the country had shown the fact, that the mineral developments of its underlying rocks were of a valuable character, while the surface assumed the most pleasing aspect, and the soil, wherever examined, appeared to be of the very richest quality. The bold, rough hunters, who accompanied me, thought of the country only as an attractive game country.

On leaving the cave, and ascending the hills that environed it, we passed over a gently-sloping surface of hill and dale, partly covered with forest trees, and partly in prairies. I have seldom seen a more beautiful prospect. Various species of oaks and hickories had strewed the woods with their fruits, on which the bear and wild turkey revelled, while the red deer was scarcely ever out of sight. A cold wind, sweeping over these plains, chilled us so completely, that we were glad to encamp early. The next morning, being the 1st of January (1819), opened with a degree of cold unusual in these regions. Their elevation is, indeed, considerable; but the wind swept with a cutting force across the open prairies. We were now on the principal northwestern source of White river, the channel of which we forded in the distance of two miles. The western banks presented a naked prairie, covered with dry grass and autumnal weeds, with here and there a tree. We pushed on towards the north-east. On passing about four miles up the western banks of the stream, we observed lead-ore, glittering through the water in the bed of the river, and determined to encamp at this spot, for the purpose of investigating the mineral appearances. The weather was piercingly cold. We found some old Indian camps near at hand, and procured from them pieces of bark to sheath a few poles and stakes, to form a shelter from the wind. A fire was soon kindled, and we cooked and partook of a forest breakfast. When the labor of building the shanty was completed, I hastened to explore the geological indications of the vicinity. The ore which had attracted our notice in the bed of the stream, existed in lumps, which presented bright surfaces where the force of the current had impelled its loose, stony materials over them. It was a pure sulphuret of lead, breaking in cubical lines. I also observed some pieces of hornblende. It was not easy to determine the original width of the bed of ore. Its course is across the stream, into the banks of red marly clay on which we had encamped. Its geological position is, in every respect, similar to the metalliferous deposits at Potosi, except that there were no spars, calcareous or barytic, in sight. I gathered, in a few minutes, a

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sufficient number of specimens of the ore for examination, and employed myself in erecting, on the banks of the river, a small furnace, of the kind called "log-furnace" in Missouri, to test its fusibility. In the mean time, my New England companion took a survey of the surrounding country, which he pronounced one of the most fertile, and admirably adapted to every purpose of agriculture. Much of the land consists of prairie, into which the plough can be immediately put. The forests and groves, which are interspersed with a park-like beauty through these prairies, consist of various species of oaks, maple, white and black walnut, elm, mulberry, hackberry, and sycamore.

The hunters scanned the country for game, and returned to camp with six turkeys and a wolf. Their fear of the Osages had been only apparently subdued. They had been constantly on the look-out for signs of Indian enemies, and had their minds always filled with notions of hovering Osages and Pawnees. The day was wintry, and the weather variable. It commenced snowing at daylight, and continued till about eight o'clock, A.M. It then became clear, and remained so, with occasional flickerings, until two o'clock, when a fixed snow-storm set in, and drove me from my little unfinished furnace, bringing in the hunters, also, from the prairies, and confining us strictly to our camp. This storm continued, without mitigation, nearly all night.

The snow ceased before sunrise (3d), leaving the country wrapped in a white mantle. The morning was cold; the river began to freeze about nine o'clock, and continued till it was closed. Continued the explorations and examinations commenced yesterday. I found that the red clay afforded a good material for laying the stones of my lead-furnace, and continued working at it for a part of the day. The hunters came in with the carcases of two deer, and the skin of a black wolf. Except in its color, I could not distinguish any permanent characteristics in the latter differing from the large grey wolf, or coyote. Its claws, snout, and ears, were the same — its tail, perhaps, a little more bushy. The size of this animal, judging from the skin, must have been double that of the little prairie-wolf, or myeengun of the Indians of the North.

I found the bed of the stream, where it permitted examination, to be non-crystalline limestone, in horizontal beds, corresponding to the formation observed in the cave of Winoca. Its mineral constituents were much the same. The country is one that must be valuable hereafter for its fertility and resources. The prairies which extend west of the river are the most extensive, rich, and beautiful, of any which I have yet seen west of the Mississippi. They are covered with a most vigorous growth of grass. The deer and elk abound in this quarter, and the buffalo is yet occasionally seen. The soil in the river valley is a rich black alluvion. The trees are often of an immense height, denoting strength of soil. It will probably be found adapted to corn, flax, hemp, wheat, oats, and potatoes; while its mining resources must come in as one of the elements of its future prosperity.

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I planted some peach-stones in a fertile spot near our camp, where the growth of the sumach denoted unusual fertility.

The region of the Ozark range of mountain-development is one of singular features, and no small attractions. It exhibits a vast and elevated tract of horizontal and sedimentary strata, extending for hundreds of miles north and south. This range is broken up into high cliffs, often wonderful to behold, which form the enclosing walls of river valleys. The Arkansas itself forces its way through, about the centre of the range. The Washita marks its southern boundary. The St. Francis and the Maramek, at the mouth of the former of which De Soto landed, constitute its northern limits. The junction of the Missouri with the Mississippi may be said to be its extreme northern development. The Missouri, from the influx of the Osage, is pushed northward by the Ozark range. It rests, on the south, upon the primitive granites, slates, and quartz rock, of Washita. The celebrated Hot Springs issue from it. The long-noted mines of Missouri, which once set opinion in France in a blaze, extend from its north-eastern flanks. The primitive sienites and hornblende rock of the sources of the St. Francis and Grand rivers, form part of it. The Unica or White river, the Strawberry, Spring river, Currents and Black rivers, descend from it, and join the Mississippi. The Great and Little Osage, and the Gasconade, flow into the Missouri. The great plains, and sand-desert, which stretches at the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains, lie west of it. It is not less than two hundred miles in breadth. No part of the central regions of the Mississippi valley exhibits such a variety in its geological constituents, or such a striking mineralogical development. Its bodies of the ore of iron called iron-glance, are unparalleled. These are particularly developed in the locality called Iron Mountain, on the sources of the St. Francis. Its ores of lead, zinc, antimony, and manganese, are remarkable. Its limestones abound in caves yielding nitre. Salt and gypsum are found in the plains on its western borders. Its large blocks of quartz rock, which are found north of the Arkansas river, particularly scattered over the formations crossing the Little Red, Buffalo, and White rivers, about the Buffalo shoals, furnish indications of the diluvial gold deposit, which would justify future examination.

Track of De Soto.

Through these alpine ranges De Soto, from the best testimonies, roved with his chivalrous and untiring army, making an outward and inward expedition into regions which must have presented unwonted hardships and discouragements to the march of troops. To add to these natural obstacles, he found himself opposed by fierce savage tribes, who rushed upon him from every glen and defile, and met him in the open grounds with the most savage energy. His own health finally sank under these fatigues; and it is certain that, after his death, his successor in the command, Moscoso, once more marched entirely through the southern Ozarks, and reached the buffalo

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plains beyond them. Such energy and feats of daring had never before been displayed in North America; and the wonder is at its highest, after beholding the wild and rough mountains, cliffs, glens, and torrents, over which the actual marches must have laid.

Some of the names of the Indian tribes encountered by him, furnish conclusive evidence that the principal tribes of the country, although they have changed their particular locations since the year 1542, still occupy the region. Thus, the Kapahas, who then lived on the Mississippi, above the St. Francis, are identical with the Quappas, the Cayas with the Kanzas, and the Quipana with the Pawnees.

The indications of severe weather, noticed during the last day of December, and the beginning of January, were not deceptive; every day served to realize them. We had no thermometer; but our feelings denoted an intense degree of cold. The winds were fierce and sharp, and snow fell during a part of each day and night that we remained on these elevations. We wrapped our garments closely about us at night, in front of large fires, and ran alternately the risks of being frozen and burnt. One night my overcoat was in a blaze from lying too near the fire. This severity served to increase the labor of our examinations.

On the fourth day, a snow-storm began, a little before one o'clock in the morning; it ceased, or, as the local phrase is, "held up," at daybreak. The ground was now covered, to a depth of from two to three inches, with a white mantle. Such severity had never been known by the hunters. The winds whistled over the bleak prairies with a vigor which would have been remarkable in high northern latitudes. The river froze entirely over. The sun, however, shone out clearly as the day advanced, and enabled me to complete my examinations, as fully as it was practicable to do, under the existing state of the weather.

It happened, on this day, that my companion had walked a mile or two west, over the smooth prairie, to get a better view of the conformation of the land, returning to camp before the hunters, who had also gone in the same general direction. On their coming back, one of them, whose head was always full of hostile Osages, fell on Levi's returning track in the snow, and carefully traced it to our camp. He came in breathless, and declared that the Osages were upon us, and that not a moment was to be lost in breaking up our camp, and flying to a place of security. When informed of the origin of the tracks, he still seemed incredulous, and could not be pacified without some difficulty. We then prepared, by collecting fuel, and increasing our bark defences against the wind and snow, to pass another night at the camp.

On the 5th of January, we prepared our last meal at that camp. Some time was spent in looking up the horses, which had been turned into a neighboring canebrake. The interval was employed in cutting our names, with the date of our visit, on a contiguous oak, which had been previously blazed for the purpose. These evidences of our visit were left, with the pit dug in search of ore, and the small smelting-furnace,

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which, it is hoped, no zealous antiquarian will hereafter mistake for monuments of an elder period of civilization in the Mississippi valley. When this was accomplished, and the horses brought up, we set out with alacrity. The snow still formed a thin covering on the ground, and, being a little softened by the sun, the whole surface of the country exhibited a singular map of the tracks of quadrupeds and birds. In these, deer, elk, bears, wolves, and turkeys, were prominent — the first and last species, conspicuously so. In some places, the dry spots on the leaves showed where the deer had lain during the storm. These resting-spots were uniformly on declivities, which sheltered the animal from the force of the wind. Frequently we crossed wolf-trails in the snow, and, in one or two instances, observed places where they had played or fought with each other, like a pack of dogs — the snow being tramped down in a circle of great extent. We also passed tracts of many acres, where the turkeys had scratched up the snow, in search of acorns. We frequently saw the deer fly before us, in droves of twenty or thirty. They will bound twenty feet at a leap, as measured, on a gentle declivity. This animal is impelled by a fatal curiosity to stop and turn round to look at the cause of its disturbance, after running a distance. It is at this moment that the hunter generally fires.

About noon, we reached and crossed Findley's Fork, or the Winoca valley — the locality of the cave. Two miles south of it, in ascending an elevation, our ears were saluted by a murmuring sound in the air, which the hunters declared to be single bees, flying in a line. Observing one of them directing its flight to the top of a large oak, my companion and myself proceeded to chop it down. It was of the white-oak species, and was judged to be two feet across. When it fell, a hollow limb was fractured, disclosing a large deposit of most beautiful white honeycombs. We ate without stint, sometimes dipping cooked pieces of venison (we had no bread) in the fluid part. The remainder was then wrapped up in a freshly flayed deerskin, and firmly tied, to be carried to the hunters' cabins at Beaver creek on one of the horses.

We now resumed our route. As evening approached, we entered the head of a valley known to them as Bull creek. In this we encamped, having travelled about twenty miles.

Morning found us, as we arose from our couches, in a small, brushy, and tangled valley, through which it was not easy to make our way. The weather was cold and lowering, and the hunters did not seem inclined to make an early start. At length they entered one of the lateral valleys of Swan creek, the Mehausca of the Osages. In this we encamped. The atmosphere was clouded up, and betokened falling weather. The next morning, when I awoke, I felt an extra pressure of something on my blanket, which had the effect to keep off the wind, and produce warmth; and on opening its folds, I threw off a stratum of an inch or two of snow.

Some eight miles' travel brought us to the junction with the Mehausca, where our guides, by recognizing known objects, reassured themselves of their true position. It

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was, however, still hazy and obscure, and doubts soon again arose in their minds as to the proper course. I was surprised at this; it denoted a want of precision of observation, which an Indian certainly could not have been charged with. He is able, in the worst weather, to distinguish the north from the south face of a mature and weathered tree — a species of knowledge, of the utmost consequence to him in his forest wanderings.

After spending nearly the whole day in wandering about in a hazy atmosphere, we at length recognized known objects, and shortly after descended into the valley of White river, and reached the mouth of Beaver creek.

Determining to descend the river from Beaver creek, I purchased a large and new canoe, of about twenty feet in length, from the hunters. Putting into this such articles as were deemed necessary, I took the bow, with a long and smooth pole to guide it in rapids and shoals, and gave the stern to my companion, with a steering-paddle. It was now the 9th of January. Bidding adieu to our rough, but kind and friendly guides, we pushed into the stream, and found ourselves floating, with little exertion, at the rate of from three to four miles per hour. The very change from traversing weary plains and prairies, and ascending steep cliffs, was exhilarating and delightful.

White river is one of the most beautiful and enchanting streams, and by far the most transparent, which discharge their waters into the Mississippi. To a width and depth which entitle it to be classed as a river of the third magnitude in Western America, it unites a current which possesses the purity of crystal, with a smooth and gentle flow, and the most imposing, diversified, and delightful scenery. Objects can be clearly seen in it, through the water, at the greatest depths. Every pebble, rock, fish, or shell, even the minutest body which occupies the bottom of the stream, is seen with the most perfect distinctness; and the canoe, when looking under it, seemed, from the remarkable transparency of the water, to be suspended in air. The Indians, observing this peculiarity, called it Unica, which is the transitive form of white. The French of Louisiana merely translated this term to la riviere au Blanc. It is, in fact, composed of tributaries which gush up in large crystal springs out of the Ozark range of mountains, and it does not receive a discoloured tributary in all its upper course. These gigantic springs, which are themselves a curiosity, originate in the calcareous or sandstone strata of that remarkable chain, and are overlaid by a heavy oceanic deposit of limestone, quartz, hornstone, and chert pebbles, which serve as a filtering-bed to the upspringing waters. Sometimes these pebbles are found to be jasper, of a beautiful quality.

The scenery of its shores is also peculiar. Most frequently the limestone, which has been subjected to the destructive power of the elements, is worn into pinnacles of curious spiral shapes. Where the river washes the base of these formations, a high and precipitous wall of rock casts its shadow over the water. On the shores opposite to such precipices, there is invariably a rich diluvial plain, covered by a vigorous forest of trees, clothed in all the graceful luxuriance of a summer foliage.

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If the shores be examined to any distance inland, the calcareous rock is found to exhibit frequent caverns, where the percolation of the waters has produced stalactites of beautiful forms, or the concretions are spread upon the floors of these caves in curious masses.

Often, upon the shores, we observed the graceful doe. At early hours in the morning, the wild turkeys appeared in large flocks, with their plumage glistening in the light. The duck, goose, and brant, often rose up before us, and lighted in the stream again below; and we thus drove them, without intending it, for miles.

A few miles below our point of embarkation, we passed on the left shore, a precipitous wall of calcareous rock, on the summit of which I observed the location of the cavern, into the mouth of which I descended on my outward journey; and it now seemed probable that the ramifications which I saw by the dim light admitted, were of an extensive character. As the shades of night overtook us, a hunter's cabin was descried on the left shore. It proved to be occupied by a person of the name of Yochem; he told us we had descended thirty miles. Resuming the descent at an early hour, we floated on charmingly. At every turn, some novel combination of scenery presented itself. As evening drew near, a hunter's cabin appeared, which proved to be Mr. Coker's. The old man received us with the usual frank and friendly air and manner of a hunter. More than fifty years must have marked his frontier pilgrimage on this boundary. It appeared from his estimates that we had descended the river twenty-five miles.

Rain fell copiously during the night; but it ceased before daylight, by the earliest gleams of which we were again in motion.

At every stage of our progress, the river was increasing its volume; and we observed its velocity accelerated, and almost imperceptibly found ourselves gliding rapidly over the Pot Shoals. This rapid appeared less formidable than had been anticipated. I rose up to observe the draught of the current, and, by a few strokes of the pole, kept the canoe in the force of the stream. About seven miles below these shoals, we reached M'Garey's, at whose domicile we had originally struck in crossing the wilderness from Potosi. He informed us that we had this day descended the river forty miles.

On learning that the Osages had retired west, and that the country abounded in game, one of the sons of our host prepared to push into that region. M'Garey stated that he had delivered "Butcher," agreeably to our order, to Holt; but the latter, on travelling a day's journey toward Beaver creek, had found him too feeble to proceed, and, after taking off his shoes, had abandoned him to the wolves.

Nothing of special interest occurred to mark our progress, till we reached the Bull shoals. At this formidable rapid, the river probably sinks its level fifteen or twenty feet in the space of half a mile. Masses of limestone rock stand up in the bed of the river, and create several channels. Between these the river foams and roars. When

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I arose in the canoe to take a view of the rapid into which we were about to plunge, the bed of the stream appeared to be a perfect sheet of foam, whirling and rushing with great force and tumult. As I knew not the proper channel, and it was too late to withdraw, the only step left was to keep the canoe headed, and down we went most rapidly. Very soon the canoe leaped on a rock, driving on it with great force, and veered about crosswise. In an instant I jumped into the water at the bows, while my companion did the same at the stern, and, by main force, we lifted it over the ledge, got in quickly, and again headed it properly. We were, emphatically, in the midst of roaring rapids; their very noise was deafening. The canoe had probably got down six hundred yards, when a similar difficulty occurred, at the head of a second shute or bench of rocks, reaching across the river. In an instant, it again struck. It was obviated by getting into the water, in the same way as on the first occasion; only, however, to put our strength, and skill to the test a third time, after which we shot down to the foot of the rapids safely. We had managed neither to ship water, nor to lose a piece of baggage. We were, however, thoroughly wetted, but kept our position in the canoe for five miles below the rapid, which brought us to the head of Friend's settlement. We landed, at a rather early hour in the evening, and were hospitably received by Mr. Friend, a man of mature age and stately air, the patriarch of the settlement. It was of him that we had heard stories of Osage captivity and cruelty, having visited one of the very valleys where he was kept in "durance vile."

The antiquities and mineral appearances in that vicinity were represented as worthy of examination; in consequence of which, I devoted a part of the next day to these objects. The neighboring hills consist of stratified limestone. The surface of the soil exhibits some fragments of hornstone and radiated quartz, with indications of beds of iron-ore. At the shoals, traces of galena and calcareous spar occur.

Mr. Friend, being familiar from personal observation with the geography and resources of the country at large, states that rock-salt is found between the south fork of White river and the Arkansas, where the Pawnees and Osages make use of it. This salt consists of crystalline masses from the evaporation of saline water. He represents the lead-ores on its north-western source, which we had partially explored, as very extensive.

If, as is probable, De Soto ranged over these regions in his extensive marches between the St. Francis and Arkansas, his exploratory parties may have reached the locality of crystalline salt referred to, and he would have found the buffalo in several positions east and north of that place.

The antiquarian objects to which my attention was called, afforded the greatest degree of interest. They consisted of pieces of earthenware, some antique fragments of bone, and a metallic alloy, resting on a substance resembling ashes, and also arrowheads. The metallic alloy, of which Mr. Friend gave me a specimen, resembles a combination of lead and tin. But what adds to the interest attending the discovery

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of these articles, is the fact, that they lie, apparently, below the diluvial deposits, bearing a heavy forest, and at the geological line of intersection with the consolidated rocks.

From the apparent vestiges in this quarter, I am of opinion that De Soto's "Tanico" must be located in this vicinity, and that he crossed the White river near this place. A march west of this point, over a hilly country, would bring him into the fertile valley of Little Red river, or Buffalo creek — his probable Tula, where his people first tasted the flesh of this animal, and where he recruited his army for a new effort.

These inquiries occupied the morning. It was late before we embarked, and, at some four miles below, we landed on the right shore, at a Mr. Zadock Lee's. He conducted me to see some antique, white, lime-like masses, in the earth, near the bank of the river, which had the appearance of decayed bones. Rumor speaks of some other antiquities in this quarter of the country, in the shape of bricks, concealed by the undisturbed soil; but I saw nothing of this kind. We descended the river six miles, to a Mr. Jacob Yochem's. It was determined, the next morning, to loan our canoe, which was a capacious, new, and clean vessel, made from white-ash, to our host, to enable him to transport his hunter products to a market at the mouth of the Great North Fork, leaving our baggage to be brought that way. The distance by water is thirty-five miles; by land, probably not more than eighteen or twenty. By this step, we avoided the dangers of navigating two formidable rapids, called the Crooked Creek and Buffalo Shoals.

We left our host's at a seasonable hour in the morning, and walked diligently till near dusk, before reaching our destination. We then had the whole volume of White river, between us and our purposed place of lodgment, to ford.

The canoe had not arrived, nor was there any tidings of it the next morning; so that there was no alternative but to wait patiently. I determined to improve the delay by exploring the neighborhood. It is a geographical point of some importance, being the head of the navigation of White river for all large craft ascending the Mississippi. As yet, nothing but keel-boats have ascended. Between the point of our embarcation at Beaver creek and this spot, the river has a fall of sixty feet, at four rapids, which do not probably extend over a mile or two in the aggregate. The stream, during the rest of the way, has a fine, lively current, seldom of great velocity, and never stagnates. The Great North Fork, the scene of our former ramblings, enters a short distance below the foot of the Buffalo Shoals, rendering the draught of water practicable, it is believed, for steamboats at all seasons.

I found the pebble-stones and boulders on the margin and bed of the river, which I leisurely examined, to afford a true representation of the formations which had been observed in traversing the elevated and broken surface of the Ozarks. They consist of the various limestones and sandstones of the region, with a partial mixture of quartz rock, red sienite, hornstone, argillaceous rock, and the peculiar, egg-shaped, coarse

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yellow jasper, which appears to have been imbedded in some of its strata. On ascending the cliffs west of the valley, they were observed to consist of the characteristic limestone of the region, in horizontal layers, the upper strata containing impressions of shells. Very large angular masses of quartz rock lie near the bases of these cliffs. Some of the angles of these masses would probably measure fourteen feet. Their position here appears to be quite anomalous, as, from the absence of attrition, they are clearly not of the erratic block group. They appear to indicate a primitive formation near.

The half hunter, half farmer, to whom we had loaned our canoe, came with a number of his companions in the evening, and entered on a scene of merriment, to which, as the cabin had but one room, we were compelled to be unwilling spectators during the livelong night, though, from its character, not participating at all therein. As soon as there was light sufficient to discern objects, we embarked, rejoiced to get clear of this extraordinary nocturnal scene.

At the distance of fifteen miles, a sudden turn of the river brought us in full view of the picturesque, elevated, and precipitous shore, called Calico Rock. This presents a most imposing facade, on "which are observable the imitative forms of fantastic architectural devices. The wall is quite precipitous throughout. It is the calcareous rock of the region. Its summit is overlaid with ochreous clays of various colors, which, through the action of the elements, have imparted their fanciful hues to portions of the cliff. This abrupt species of scenery is quite peculiar to the American landscape. A still more imposing section of it is presented in the Pictured Rocks of Lake Superior. Nothing of this kind marks the banks of the Rhine, so much eulogized by travellers; for all its formations partake of the parabolic, or curved lines of the primitive, and the eye is relieved by these gradations; but, in the brusque scenes of the West, the precipices are as marked as if they had been hewn down by some gigantic broad-axe.

From the remarks made at the places where we have been entertained by the hunters and settlers on this river, there is considerable dissatisfaction with a treaty made with the Cherokee Indians, by which a part of that nation are assigned a location between the north bank of the Arkansas and the south bank of White river. Many of them, including our hostess to-night, and the M'Gareys, Lees, and Matneys above, have lands in cultivation, with dwelling-houses, stock, and improvements, of more or less value, on the south banks of the river; which, as they apprehend, under the operation of this treaty, they are to relinquish to the Cherokees.

The truth is, the first white occupants of the frontiers, though generally rough men, and without a title to the lands they settle on, are the pioneers of civilization; and by thus taking their lives in their hands, and encountering the perils of the wilderness and of Indian hostility, they lay the government under a strong obligation to protect them. The natural hatred of races is such, that they are continually on ill terms

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with the Indians, and the Indians with them. It is difficult to say which of the two races, during this period of contact, is most suspicious of the other.

The Indians look up to the government with strong claims for protection. The frontier, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, was on and near the Atlantic borders, and long continued east of the Alleghany mountains. It is already west of the Mississippi river. As the population presses, first on the Indian's hunting-grounds, and next on his cornfields, he flies before the irresistible tide, and takes shelter at some more remote western point. But he is hardly well seated on his new hunting-grounds — he has hardly begun to reap his new cornfields — when the pioneers of the same race that disturbed him before, are upon him; and again and again he must fly before the resistless — the uncontrollable tide of migration. It is a providential flux in the wave of races. It is something to be observed, rather than to be apprehended and understood. It seems to say, that the surface of the habitable earth was not formed for the permanent occupancy of races who rely on the pleasing and exciting uses of the bow and arrow; that labor, which was, at the first, declared to be the proper condition of man, is destined to sweep away, if it cannot merge into its on-rush, these erratic and picturesque tribes. Where their frontiers will be found, a hundred years hence, the voice of history, looking to the past, may only predict; but this appears appreciable and clear — that the perpetuation of the race as one of the elements of mankind, must depend, in the sequel, however long that sequel be postponed, on his adoption of the principles of industry, letters, and Christianity. For the civilization and moral elevation of man is the great object of revelation.

Rumor had pointed out a place as the locality of a tin-mine. The frontiersmen are greatly disposed to excite each other's imagination by reports of mines and discoveries, every one of which is fancied to be some new Potosi or El Dorado. I examined some specimens of the supposed treasure. It consisted of several heavy lumps of the ore called, by mineralogists, iron-glance. It had the usual color, weight, and high metallic lustre. He represented it as occurring, in large bodies, about eight or ten miles north of Jones', on high lands.

We had proceeded some miles on our way, when a large black bear was discovered on the shore. It appeared to be about to plunge in for the purpose of crossing the river, when our presence alarmed it, and the animal, with its usual clumsy gait, betook himself to the woods again.

Fifteen miles below Jones' cabin, we passed Harden's ferry, the house being on the right bank; and, two miles further on, Morrison's ferry. Continuing our descent eight miles lower, we landed at a place called Poke Bayou, (now Batesville,) where we were hospitably received by a Mr. Robert Bean. The river had now become a magnificent body of water, still clear and beautiful. We were here within the boundaries of the Mississippi alluvions. No highlands are visible for some distance before reaching Hardens. The river winds through broad, fertile plains, bearing a most vigorous

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growth of forest trees. The banks are elevated some thirty feet above the water, and, as the stream increases in depth and strength, they become subject to be undermined by the flood. The cane, which is common to the river in its entire length, even to the highest elevations of the Ozarks, is here of a tall and most vigorous growth. It is this plant, I apprehend, more than any other feature, which gives an oriental cast to these alluvial tracts; and I was almost ready, at some points, to see the hippopotamus and elephant display their clumsy forms. For these, however, we had the buffalo, the cougar, and the bear, whose crackling strength, as they passed through these reedy mazes, had, on more than one occasion during our rambles, reminded us of the great muscular power of these boasted objects of hunter skill and enterprise.

Area of De Soto's March North to Coligoa.

I determined to quit the river at this point. There is almost a moral certainty that De Soto must have crossed the river not far above this place. The make of the land, and the custom of the Indians in choosing the best ground for a path to travel from village to village, would determine this. His position, after crossing the Mississippi at the mouth of the St. Francis, and reaching the high grounds of the latter, would lead the natives who were his guides to keep the elevated and dry ranges leading to the buffalo country, west; and he must have crossed the affluents of the Black and Currents rivers at a high point towards the Ozarks. The dry and open woods afforded the best ground for the march of his cavalry; and when he attempted to reach the salt and buffalo country from the region east of White river, the roughness of the country would lead him to the central points of that stream. It would be interesting, as a point of antiquarian interest, to know where the old Indian paths were located. The roads, in all parts of the country, were based on these. They led to the most practicable fords of rivers, they avoided swamps and boggy grounds, and evinced a thorough geographical knowledge of the conformation of the country.

To travel where De Soto had marched, and performed some of his heroic feats, had something pleasing, at least, in the association. Doubtless, had the first occupants of Upper Louisiana been as mindful of historical reminiscences as they were set on repeating his search for gold and silver mines, they might have been rewarded by finding some of the straggling bones of his broken-down Andalusian cavalry. The fragments of broken arms and trappings are yet, perhaps, concealed by the accumulated rank vegetable soil of Arkansas and Southern Missouri, whence the plough may at no distant day reveal them.

It was ten o'clock on the morning of the 19th, when, having made every necessary preparation, we left Batesville. I regretted the necessity of making a selection from my collection of minerals and geological specimens. We set out with great alacrity. For the first five miles, the road lay over a level, fertile tract, with several plantations;

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the remaining thirteen miles were comparatively sterile and uneven, without settlements. We had passed about seventeen miles of the distance, when my right foot and ankle began to flinch. I was not sensible of any slip or sprain in walking, but rather believe it resulted from too much ardor and anxiety to get forward. I had, about four years previously, dislocated and injured the same ankle in leaping down a precipice in the Green Mountains, having mistaken for soft soil, a granitical shelf of rock at its base, which was covered with autumnal leaves. I believe the suddenness and alacrity of this day's travel, after leaving the quietude of the canoe, had awakened a sympathy in the injured nerves. In a short time, the pain was unendurable. With great effort I walked a mile further, and reached a double log-house, the mistress of which bathed the ankle with salt and water, and made other applications. Some alleviation, but no permanent relief, was obtained. I then laid down under the hope of being better, but awoke in the morning with little or no abatement of the pain and inflammation. A traveller on horseback, coming along that morning on a fine animal, agreed, for a small compensation, to let me ride to the south fork of Strawberry river, while he went afoot. This helped me over twelve miles of the road, where his path diverged; and I felt so much relieved by it, on dismounting, that I managed, by easy stages, to walk four miles farther, which brought us to the main river. The afternoon was not yet spent; but the pain of my ankle had returned before reaching the river, and I found it in vain to press forward, without adequate repose.

The next morning my travelling companion, who cared nothing for natural history or antiquities, and was urgent to push on, left me, and returned to St. Louis. I felt, for a few moments, a sense of isolation; but I was now in a region where there was no longer any danger to be apprehended for the want of the first necessaries of life. My lameness required nothing, indeed, but perfect repose. The people were kind, and, when I ascertained that my hostess was a sister of one of the hunters who had guided me in the most remote parts of my wanderings in the Ozarks, there was a manifest point of sympathy.

I found that there were appearances of a mineral deposit in this vicinity, which seemed to connect the hilly grounds of Strawberry river with similar indications which have been noticed near the Bull shoals, on White river. Appearances denote the existence of sulphuret of lead. Sulphate of barytes, calcareous spar, and white crystalline masses of quartz, characterize the uplands. Here I rested from my journey. When my foot and ankle would bear it, I proceeded by easy paces northward, going, the first day after leaving the Strawberry valley, ten miles, which brought me to a place called Dogwood Springs, so named from the cornus florida. The next day I went ten miles further, when I came to the banks of Spring river. Here I first saw cotton in the fields, being the unpulled bolls of the autumn crop, which had not been thought worth gathering.

Feeling no injury to result from these easy marches, which gave me time to examine

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the appearances of the surface, I ventured a little farther on the recovery of my ankle, and, the third day, went nineteen miles. In this distance I crossed the stream called Elevenpoints, a tributary to Spring river, and came, at a rather late hour in the evening, into a small valley called Fourche × Thomas.

With the earliest gleams of light I was up, and walked four miles to breakfast. Twelve more brought me to Hicks's ferry, on a large stream called the Currents. I had camped on the source of this river, in the cliffs of the Ozarks, on my outward trip, and found the region remarkable for its large saltpetre caves. It was here a river of eight feet deep, and three hundred yards wide. At this spot I should have stopped; for, after going beyond it, I found the country was thinly settled, which compelled me to walk some time after nightfall, before I could find a house. I left my pallet at a very early hour. For three miles beyond, it was a rough region, through which it required daylight to pass, and where I must have lost my way in the dark, had I gone on, the night previously. I stopped at a cottage, for breakfast.

Thus refreshed, I went on ten miles, which brought me to the banks of Little Black river. Two miles beyond this stream, I came to the house of a Mr. Reeves, at an early hour in the afternoon, my ankle giving indications of returning lameness. Quiet, and a night's repose, had the effect to relieve these symptoms, and I was enabled cautiously to continue my journey the next day. By easy stages, I made seventeen miles during the day, walking early and late, which brought me to Big Black river — a large stream which is a tributary of White river, maintaining through it a free navigation with the Mississippi. After crossing the ferry, I went about half a mile further, and took up my night's lodgings at a Mr. Bellinger's. I felt no further weakness of my foot and ankle, and was happy in the reflection that my cautious movements had been such as not to over-tax the strength of my nerves.

On the next morning (28th), I walked seven miles to a Mr. Esty's, where I fell in with the old road, which had originally been laid on the ancient Indian path. The elevated lands between Black river and the St. Francis, had evidently been the line of march of De Soto, when (in 1541) he set forward from "Quiguate," on the St. Francis, toward the "north-west," in search of Coligoa. Any other course between west and south-west, would have involved his army in the lagoons, and deep and wide channel of Black river, which forms a barrier for about one hundred and fifty miles toward the south; while this dividing ground, between the Black river and St. Francis, consists chiefly of dry pine lands and open uplands, offering every facility for the movements of his cavalry, which were ever the dread of the Indians.

The first Indian village which De Soto reached, after crossing the Mississippi — probably at the ancient Indian crossing-place at the lower Chickasaw bluffs — and pushing on through the low grounds, was, on reaching the elevations of the St. Francis, immediately west of his point of landing. The place was called Casquin, or Casqui; a name which will be recognized as bearing a resemblance to Kaskaskia, one of the

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Illinois tribes. From this place on the highlands of the St. Francis, he ascended that river, keeping the same side of its current, through a fine country, abounding in the pecan and mulberry, a distance of seven leagues, to the central position of the Casquins. Here it was, and not on the immediate banks of the Mississippi, that he erected a gigantic cross, formed out of a pine-tree, which, after it was hewn, a hundred men could not lift.

From this place, after a rest of several days, he was led, by the wily chief, to march against the village and chief of Capaha, who was his hereditary enemy, and who had, in past encounters, proved himself more than his equal in prowess. De Soto was caught in this trap, which had nearly proved fatal to his gallant army. Descending the high grounds towards the north-east, and crossing alluvial tracts, by a march of about six days he reached the enemy, well posted, strong in numbers, and of great bravery, on the elevations, which we are disposed to look for at the site of the modern town of New Madrid. Capaha took shelter on a thickly wooded island in the Mississippi river, where De Soto, assisted by his allies, attacked him in canoes, and from which his allies, and afterwards himself and army, were glad to retreat. The chief was a brave, energetic young man, and fought against his combined enemies with the spirit inspired by long acknowledged success. This place formed the extreme northern limit of De Soto's expedition on the line of the Mississippi, and must have been north of 35°. After this effort, he retraced his steps slowly back to Casqui.

The Kapahas (Quappas), who are ethnologically Dacotahs, have long occupied the west banks of the Mississippi. They have been inveterate enemies of the whole Algonquin race, to which the Kaskaskias and Illinois belonged; and it is not improbable that they had, at this early day, not only encountered the Spaniards, but that, after the latter withdrew, they fell on the Casquins, and drove them east of the Mississippi, into the country of the Illinois.

While De Soto was in the country of Capaha, he learned that about forty leagues distant, (west, it must needs have been,) there were, in the hill country, quantities of fossil salt, and also a yellowish metal, which he supposed to be gold. He despatched two trusty and intelligent men, with Indian guides and carriers, to procure samples. After an absence of eleven days, they returned, with six of the Indians laden with crystals of salt, and one of them with metallic copper. A hundred and twenty miles west of the supposed point of starting, would carry the messengers across the valley of White river, and far into the Ozark plains and elevations, between the south fork of that stream, and the north banks of the Arkansas — the same region, in fine, mentioned in a prior part of these sketches as yielding those articles. The country through which these messengers passed was sterile, and thinly inhabited; but they reported it to be filled with herds of buffalo. These reports led him to march down the banks of the St. Francis, till he reached the village called Quiguate. From thence, having heard of a locality called Coligoa, where he thought there might be gold, he marched again

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north-west in search of it. This march, in which he followed a single Indian guide, must have led him to the foot of the rough, mountainous, granitic, and mineral region, at the sources of the St. Francis. But this search proved also a disappointment. He was informed that, six leagues north of Coligoa, the region I traversed after leaving the Wall cliff, the buffalo existed in vast herds; but that, if he would reach a rich province, he must march south. Hence he continued his adventurous marches through Southern Missouri and Arkansas.

Having taken the road again, after my halt at Esty's, I travelled diligently ten miles, at which distance I reached the St. Francis. The scene was rural and picturesque, the river winding along in a deep and rapid bed, between elevated and fertile banks. From appearances, this seemed to be the site of the ancient Casqui. The ferry was managed by a black man; and we put an American half-dollar on the top of an oak stump, to adjust the ferriage. On landing on the north bank, I pursued my journey six miles farther, to one Smith's. It was now the 28th of January, and the weather so mild, that I this day found the witch-hazel in bloom.

Return to Potosi.

I left my night's quarters before daylight was fairly developed. The sky was, indeed, heavily overcast, and it soon commenced raining. Expecting to find a house at no great distance, I kept on, the rain at the same time assuming a more settled form, and falling with steadiness. I was thoroughly wetted, and, the storm continuing without abatement, I remained until the next morning. The atmosphere was then clear, and the sun rose pleasantly; but the roads were a perfect quagmire. An immense body of rain had fallen. Every little rivulet roared as if it were a torrent that was out of all patience to deliver its quantum of water to the swollen St. Francis. The ground was perfectly saturated with water; but I picked my way four miles to breakfast. It had been my intention to cross the St. Francis, and take the route through Caledonia to Potosi; but after travelling sixteen miles towards the north-west, and reaching the fords, I found them too much swollen to permit it.

After crossing the St. Francis, towards the north, there are strong indications of a change in the geological structure of the country. The horizontal limestone and sandstone series still continue for a distance; but they are covered with large blocks of sienite and granite. What is remarkable in these blocks, is their angular character, which denotes that they have not been carried far south of their original beds. These blocks increase in frequency and size as we approach the primitive highlands of the St. Francis. And I at length stood, gazing at these rough, red, crystalline peaks, and high, orbicular knobs, which reach up from beneath and through the calcareous and sedimentary series, without having lifted up the latter into inclined positions, or in the least disturbing their horizontality — a proof of their priority of position.

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I passed the night near the fords, at a farmer's; and finding it impossible, the next morning, to pursue this route, or to get a boat or canoe to cross the river, obtained directions for making my way north-eastwardly, towards St. Michael's. I was now in the probable region of De Soto's Coligoa, the utmost north-westwardly point of his explorations. And it ceased to be a matter of surprise that the Indians had given him such wonderful accounts of the mineral wealth of the sources of the St. Francis. The white inhabitants, at this day, have similar notions. They perceive such an unusual geological display before and around them, that they suppose it indicates mineral treasures. There are stories afloat of all kinds of mineral discoveries — not of gold, indeed, which was De Soto's search, but of tin, lead, copper, iron, cobalt, and antimony. The iron mountains of Bellevieu, so called, are part of this development. At a place called the Narrows, the river rushes between alpine peaks of sienite and black hornblende rock, which lies in huge and confused heaps, plainly indicating ancient volcanic action. I had examined this region, with minuteness, the previous summer, in an excursion through the southern limits of the lead-mines, and now revisited some of the points, respecting which my curiosity was unsatisfied. I wandered among these attractive peaks about ten miles, and slept at a house (Burdett's), to the occupant of which, I had carried a letter of introduction the year before.

The next day proved rainy; but I took advantage of intervals in the weather to advance on my general course a few miles. The sky, the next, morning, was still cloudy, dark, and unsettled. When it indicated signs of clearing up, I was advised of another ford of the St. Francis, at a higher point; and proceeded a part of the way to reach it; but accounts discouraged me, and I bent my steps to the village of St. Michael. Two miles north of this, I came to the noted lead-mine of La Motte, the most southerly in position of the Missouri circle of mines. At this place, they raised large tubular masses of lead-ore, from its position in the red, marly clay. The slags drawn from the ash-furnace denoted, by the intensity of their blue color, the presence of oxide of cobalt. Ten miles beyond these mines, after passing an uninhabited tract, I entered Cook's settlement, where I slept.

Next day, I was again in motion at early dawn. The effects of the late copious rains were still an impediment to travelling; but I experienced no further symptoms of lameness, and felt the desire to press on increasing in proportion as I drew near my starting-point in the prior autumn. I felt that I had succeeded in the accomplishment of a trip of some peril, through a noted mountainous range, and I could not help feeling a degree of buoyancy of spirits while returning. Under this impulse, I travelled rapidly. On reaching Wolf creek, it was found to be filled to overflowing. It was already dark; and a ruinous, tenantless house, with the doors and windows standing open, was the only object that presented itself on the opposite bank. Horse or canoe there was none; but there could be no hesitation in attempting to cross it. The waters, in the deepest parts of the channel, reached to my breast. I came out, of course,

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dripping; it was still two miles to a house, and, casting furtive glances at the masses of darkness in the deserted dwelling, I hurried on to the point of my destination.

It was the 4th of February when I crossed Big river, the Grande river of the days of Crozat and the financier Law. I was carried across it in a ferry-boat, and took my way over the sylvan, long, sweeping mineral hills, which stretch towards Potosi, reaching that town in the afternoon. The first acquaintance I encountered, on reaching within a few miles of it, was a Major Hawkins — a surveyor, an old resident, and a good woodsman, who, cordially extending his hand to welcome my return, exclaimed, "I thought the Indians or the wolves had long ago eaten you up." This was the first intimation I received that there had been any temerity in the plan for this expedition.

Potosi was now selected as the place for drawing up an account of the mines, and the mineralogical productions and resources of the country — a memoir on which was published by me at New York, late in the autumn of this year (1819).

3. Narrative of a Journey from Tulpenhocken, Pennsylvania, to Onondaga, in 1737. Translated from the German, by Hiester H. Muhlenberg, M.D. Communicated by F.A. Hiester, ESQ.

By Conrad Wiser, ESQ.

IN the year 1736, Governor Gooch, of Virginia, requested of the government in Philadelphia that it should make known to the so-called Six Nations, by a regular embassy, that he, Gooch, was desirous of establishing a peace between the allied Six Nations living to the north, and the so-called Cherikees and Cataubas, to the south. And that he, Governor Gooch, had already so arranged, that the latter tribes would send deputies by next spring; to which place the chiefs of the allied Six Nations should also be invited; and in the mean time a truce should be proclaimed by them for a year long, to which the others had already agreed.

I was required to perform this duty, and received regular instructions from James Logan, Esq., at that time President.

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1737. On the 27th of February, I left home for Onontago, which is the place where the allied Six Nations hold their council. It is situated in the centre of these nations, on a river which empties into the great Lake Onontario, from which the great St. Lawrence flows. I took with me as travelling companions, Stoffel Stump, a white man, and an Onontager Indian, who had been lying sick here since last summer, but had now recovered. His name was Owis-gera.

The 28th, we remained at Tolheo, on account of the bad weather, and to procure some necessaries for the journey.

The 1st of March we started from Talheo, which is the last place in the inhabited part of Pennsylvania, and the same day we reached the top of the Kiditanny mountain. The snow was about a foot deep.

The 2d and 3d, we found nothing but ice under the new fallen snow on the north side of the mountain, which caused dangerous falls to ourselves and horses.

The 4th we reached Shomoken, but did not find a living soul at home who could assist us in crossing the Susquehannah river.

The 5th we lay still; we had now made about eighty miles.

The 6th we observed smoke on the other side of the river, about a mile above our camp. We went up opposite the place, and saw a small hut. An Indian trader was induced, by the repeated firing of our pieces, to come over, who took us across safely in two trips, but not without great danger, on account of the smallness of the canoe, and the river being full of floating ice. We were here obliged to leave our horses behind, as it was impossible to get them across. We again lay still to-day.

The 7th we started from here along one branch of the river. The main stream comes from the north-east; we went to the north-west. We found that we had commenced our journey at the wrong time; all the streams were filled with water and swollen, particularly those we had to cross. An old Shawano, by name Jenoniswani, took us across the creek at Zilly-Quachne. I presented him with some needles and a pair of shoe-strings; he was very thankful, and behaved as if he thought he had received a great present.

On the 8th we reached the village where Shikelimo lives, who was appointed by the President to be my companion and guide on the journey. He was, however, far from home, on a hunt. The weather became bad, and we laid by; the waters rose still

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higher, and no Indian could be induced to seek Shikelimo until the 12th, when two young Indians agreed to go out in search of him.

On the 16th, they returned with word that Shikelimo would return by the next day, which so happened. The waters had again risen, by reason of the warm wind and rain, which melted the snow in the forests. Several Indians arrived by water from the Six Nations, who reported that the snow was still waist-deep in the forests, and that it was not possible to proceed without snow-shoes.

The Indians at this place were out of provisions; our little stock was soon exhausted, as there was a numerous family in the house where we lodged. We had expected, on leaving home, to supply ourselves with provisions at this place, in which we were entirely disappointed. I saw a new blanket given for about one-third of a bushel of Indian-corn. Here we already began to suffer the pangs of hunger, and other troubles forced themselves on us. It was with great difficulty that I procured a small quantity of corn-meal and a few beans for the journey.

The 21st we ventured to proceed on our journey to Onontago. There were now five of us, as Shikelimo accompanied me, and we were joined by a warrior who had been on a war expedition to Virginia, and was going home in the same direction as we were travelling. In the forenoon we reached the large creek Canusorago. It was very high; and we were taken over in a canoe, not without great danger. The next day two English traders attempted to cross, but their canoe was overturned by the force of the current; one of them was drowned, and the other only escaped by swimming.

To-day we passed a place where the Indians, in former times, had a strong fortification on a height. It was surrounded by a deep ditch; the earth was thrown up in the shape of a wall, about nine or ten feet high, and as many broad. But it is now in decay, as, from appearance, it had been deserted beyond the memory of man.

The 22d we came to a village called Olstuago, from a high rock which lies opposite. However, before we came in sight of the village, we reached a large creek, which looked more dreadful than the one of yesterday. After repeated firing of our guns, two Indians came from the village to see what was to be done. They brought, at our request, a canoe from the village, and took us across. We quartered ourselves with Madame Montour, a French woman by birth, of a good family, but now in mode of life a complete Indian. She treated us very well according to her means, but had very little to spare this time, or, perhaps, dared not let it be seen, on account of so many hungry Indians about. She several times in secret gave me and Stoffel as much as we could eat, which had not happened to us before for ten days; she showed great compassion

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for us, saying that none of the Indians where we were going had anything to eat, except the Onontagers, which my Indian fellow-travellers refused to believe, until we found it true by experience.

The 23d we lay still on account of rainy weather. Two Indians arrived by water, in a canoe made of elk-skins, who said that in the wilderness the snow was still knee-deep. I received from Madame Montour some provisions for the journey. We have now advanced one hundred and thirty miles.

The 24th we proceeded on our journey from here, and in the forenoon found the snow two feet deep; but as it had been very cold daring the night, it was frozen so hard that we could walk over the surface without breaking often through the crust. In the afternoon we came to a thick forest, where the snow was three feet deep, but not frozen so hard, which made our journey fatiguing. We were between two high and steep mountains; a small creek flowing through the valley in an opposite direction to our course. The valley was not broader than the bed of the stream, and on both sides were frightfully high mountains and rocks, overgrown with carell or palm-wood. The passage through here seemed to me altogether impossible, and I at once advised to turn back. The Indians, however, encouraged me to persevere, stating that in a little distance the mountains were further apart, and that we could easily proceed. I agreed at last to go on: the Indians took the lead, and clambered with hands and feet along the side of the mountain; we followed after. I had a small hatchet in my hand, with which I broke the ice to give us a foothold. There was considerable danger of freezing our feet, as we were often obliged to cross the stream, and had no space to keep our feet warm by exercise. After climbing in this way, we reached a point where the valley began to widen and become more spacious. We made a fire, and waited for our Onontager Indian, who was far behind; he being still weak from the illness he had undergone. In these three hours we had not advanced over one mile. The wood was altogether of the kind called by the English, spruce, so thick that we could not, generally, see the sun shine. After we had warmed ourselves and taken some food, wre proceeded onward, and in the evening made our camp under the spruce trees. We broke branches to cover the snow where we lay down, and this constituted our beds. We made a large fire on the top of the snow, which was three feet deep. In the morning the fire had burned down to the ground, and was as if in a deep hole. We slept soundly after our hard day's journey, but were all stiff in the morning from the cold, which, during the night, had been excessive. We prepared breakfast, which consisted of a little Indian-corn and beans, boiled in water.

The 25th, after breakfast, we proceeded on our journey. The snow was no deeper, and before noon we reached a stream which is a branch of the Otzmachson river,

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which we had left yesterday. The stream we are now on the Indians call Dia-dachlu, (the lost or bewildered), which in fact deserves such a name. We proceeded along this stream between two terrible mountains; the valley being, however, now about a half mile in width, and the stream flowed now against this, and then against the other mountain, among the rocks. Here we held a long council as to the best mode of procedure; whether to remain in the valley, and consequently be obliged to cross the stream repeatedly, or to endeavor to proceed along the sides of the mountains, as we had done yesterday. As it was very cold to wade the creek often, we determined to try the mountain's side. As we were clambering along the mountains, before we had proceeded a quarter of a mile, Shikelimo had an unlucky fall which nearly cost him his life. He had caught hold of a flat stone, sticking in the root of a fallen tree, which came loose, and his feet slipping from under him, he fell, at a place which was steeper than the roof of a house. He could not catch hold of anything, but continued slipping on the snow and ice for about three rods, when his pack, which he carried in Indian fashion, with a strap round his breast, passed on one side of a sapling and he on the other, so that he remained hanging by the strap until we could give him assistance. If he had slipped half a rod further, he would have fallen over a precipice about one hundred feet high, upon the other craggy rocks. I was two steps from him when he fell. We were all filled with terror, but were obliged to proceed until we reached a place where we could descend into the valley, which did not take place for a quarter of an hour. When we reached the valley, Shikelimo looked around at the height of the steep precipice on which he had fallen. We looked at him: he stood still in astonishment, and said, "I thank the great Lord and Creator of the world, that he had mercy on me, and wished me to continue to live longer."

We soon came to the before-mentioned water, which had a strong current; we therefore cut a pole twelve or fifteen feet long, of which we all took hold, and so waded together, in case that if any one should lose his footing, he could hold on to the pole. The water reached to the waist, but we crossed safely. We had to suffer from excessive cold, because the hard frozen snow was still eighteen inches deep in the valley, and prevented us from walking rapidly; neither could we warm ourselves by walking, because we had to cross the stream six or seven times. The wood was so thick, that for a mile at a time we could not find a place of the size of a hand, where the sunshine could penetrate, even in the clearest day. This night we prepared a place to sleep in the same manner as last night.

During the night it began to storm, and the wind blew terribly, which seemed to me strange. The Indians say that in this whole valley, which is about sixty miles long, it storms in this manner, or snows, every night. It is such a desolate region that I often thought I must perish in this frightful wilderness.

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The 26th, we passed the whole day in travelling along the stream; the mountains continued high, and we were obliged to wade over the creek many times, but it began to diminish in size, so that we could cross it several times on fallen timber. To-day, Tawagerat fell with such violence from one log on another, that he fainted and lay in that state for a considerable time. We became very much fatigued to-day, from so often wading the creek in such cold weather; we also became very hungry; the provision was poor, and little of that. This night we built a hut of branches, because it again became cloudy; it stormed again terribly, and snowed at times as if it wished to bury us, but it never lasted long, and in the morning there was little snow on the ground.

The Indians believe that an Otkan (an evil spirit) has power in this valley, that some of them could call him by name, and brought him sacrifices by which he could be appeased. I asked if any of our party could do this, or knew his name. They answered no, that but few could do this, and they were magicians.

The 27th we followed up the valley and creek; the hills became lower as we continued to ascend, because we had been following up this water from the time we left Madame Montour's. At noon we reached the summit of the mountain. Before we had quite reached the summit, we saw two skulls fixed on poles, the heads of men who had been killed there a long time before, by their prisoners, who had been taken in South Carolina. The prisoners, who were two resolute men, had found themselves at night untied, which, without doubt, had been done by the Otkan, and having killed their captors and taken possession of their arms, had returned home.

One of the wonders of nature is to be seen here. The creek already mentioned, is flowing as if on a summit or height of land; runs with a rapid current towards or against a linden tree, where it divides into two streams; the one stream becomes the water up which we have been travelling for three days, and flowing to the south, empties not far from the Indian village Olstuaga, into the Quinachson river. The other stream flows to the north, and empties into the Susquehannah river, two hundred miles above Shemoken. Both streams finally again unite their waters at Shemoken, where the Otquinachson river empties into the Susquehannah. The stream flowing to the north is called the Dawantaa. (The fretful or tedious.)

We travelled down this stream, and towards evening reached a place where the snow had entirely disappeared, in a grove of white oak trees. The south wind blew very warm, and the weather was pleasant; it seemed as if we had escaped from hell; we lay on the dry ground. I cooked for supper as much as I thought would give us

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plenty to eat, as we hoped soon to reach the Susquehannah river, where our Onontager had persuaded us that we would find provisions in plenty.

The 28th we eat our last meal for breakfast, as we believed that by evening, at farthest, we would reach the river, and started immediately after. The warm south wind was still blowing, and the sun shining. We left the Dawantaa to the right hand, and about ten o'clock reached a water called Oscohu (the fierce). This is a rapid, impetuous stream, because it flows among the mountains, and because the wind has melted the snow in the high forests. We first cut down a long pine tree, but it did not reach the other shore, and was carried away by the current. The Indians advised that we should wade through, holding to a long pole; but I would not agree to that, because the water was too deep. We knew not what to do — while we were cutting down the tree, the water had risen a foot. As we could not agree upon what was to be done, and were irritable from hunger, the Indians began to abuse Stoffel, who, they said, was to blame, that I had not followed their advice. When I took his part, they treated me the same way — called me a coward who loved his life, but must die of hunger on this spot. I said, it is true we Europeans love our lives, but also those of our fellow-creatures; the Indians, on the contrary, loved their lives also, but often murdered one another, which the Europeans did not do, and therefore the Indians were cruel creatures, whose advice could not be followed in circumstances like the present. They then wished to make a raft, and thus cross to the other side, which it was impossible to do at this place, on the account of the rapidity of the current, and the rocks in the bed of the stream. I said to them, that I had so far followed their advice, but I now required them to follow mine, and to follow the stream downwards until we reached a quiet place, even if we had to go to the Susquehannah river, because on level land the water was not so rapid as among the hills and mountains. Shikelimo answered, that I did not know how far it was to the Susquehannah river; they knew it better than I did; it was an impossibility. This he said to frighten me, but I knew it could not be more than a short day's journey, by following the course we were travelling, because I examined the compass several times every day; I could also tell it by the mountains on the right hand side of the stream, as we descended, which appeared to become lost; whereas, up the stream they appeared much higher, from which a sound judgment would infer, that a man had not far to go to find the current lessen or cease. Shikelimo retorted, that he was the guide, as being a person who had travelled the route often, while I had never done so; he would cross there; if I refused, I must bear the blame if I lost my life by hunger or any other accident. He would also complain to the Governor, Thomas Penn, and James Logan, of my folly, and excuse himself. The others spoke much to the same purpose, particularly Tawagarat,

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who was returning from the wars, who said openly, that he was too proud to obey an European. I answered them all, and in particular Shikelimo — it is true, he was appointed by the Governor to be my guide, but not my commander, and since he would not guide me on the path I wished to go, namely, down the creek, and wished to be my master, I set him free from his duty — he might go where he pleased. I intended to be my own guide, and positively to take my own course, with my fellow-traveller Stoffel but I would still' advise him to obey me this time, which I did as a friendly request at parting. I then took my pack and moved off, the Onontager followed me immediately — Shikelimo did not hesitate long, after he saw that I was in earnest, and soon followed. Tawagarat remained behind, because, as he said, he was too proud and obstinate to follow me. We had gone more than a mile down stream, when I observed that nature had provided everything requisite for a safe crossing; the current had ceased entirely, and there was much dry pine timber, which is the lightest wood that can be found for such purposes. Here I threw down my pack, and ordered my companions to do the same. On their inquiring the reason, I said we would cross here. Shikelimo observed the fine opportunity, he was glad, fired off his gun, and shouted to make our companion who remained behind hear. We went to work, and in an hour and a half we had a raft of the dry pine timber mentioned, ready, and passed over safely. Stoffel and the Onontager crossed again, to fetch two hatchets which we had forgotten, and all was done without any danger. We turned again up stream, until we struck our path. My Indian companions thanked me for my good counsel, and for resisting their wishes so boldly. We travelled rapidly, for the purpose of reaching the Susquehannah river this evening, where some Indians resided, and when we came in sight of it, we sat down to rest; yet we were in trouble for our obstinate Tawagarat, who had remained behind. After we had been sitting there for half an hour, we heard a shout, and soon appeared Tawagarat at full speed, but very wet. On his questioning us as to how we had crossed, the Onontager related the mode, at which he was surprised, and stated that he had tied several pieces of wood together, and pushed off into the water, but was so hurried away by the current (in spite of his efforts with a pole), that he reached a small island which was just above the place we crossed at, where the raft separated, and he was obliged to wade the remaining distance, with the water up to his arm-pits. I reproved him for his pride and obstinacy; he acknowledged that he had acted foolishly, that he had heard our firing, but was already engaged in making his raft. We proceeded on our journey, well pleased that we were all together again, and the same evening reached some Indians living on the Susquehannah river, where we, however, found nothing but hungry people, who sustained life with the juice of the sugar-trees. We, however, procured a little weak soup, made of corn meal. I had a quantity of Indian trinkets with me, but could procure no meal. My only comfort this evening was, that whoever labors or is tired will find sleep sweet.

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The 29th we proceeded on our journey at an early hour, but without breakfast; reached a dangerous place where the path on the bottom-land was overflowed by the river, which was very high, and we had to cross a very high mountain, which was not much better than the one where Shikelimo had met with his fall. We passed safely, and toward evening we were also safely ferried, in a canoe, over the great branch of the Susquehannah river. All the streams are very high, for the streams had been uncommonly deep this winter. This water is called Dia-agon, and comes from the region of the Sinicker and Gaiuckers. There are many Indians living here, partly Gaiuckers, partly Mahikanders. We went into several huts to get meat, but they had nothing, they said, for themselves. The men were mostly absent, hunting; some of the old mothers asked us for bread. We returned to our quarters with a Mahikander, who directed his old grey-headed mother to cook a soup of Indian-corn. She hung a large kettle of it over the fire, and also a smaller one with potash, and made them both boil briskly. What she was to do with the potash was a mystery to me, for I soon saw that it was not for the purpose of washing, as some of the Indians are in the practice of doing, by making a lye, and washing their foul and dirty clothes. For the skin of her body was not unlike the bark of a tree, from the dirt, which had not been washed off for a long time, and was quite dried in and cracked; and her finger-nails were like eagles' claws. She finally took the ash kettle off the fire, and put it aside until it had settled, and left a clear liquor on top, which she carefully poured into the kettle of corn. I inquired of my companions why this was done; and they told me, it was the practice of these and the Shawanos, when they had neither meat nor grease, to mix their food with lye prepared in this manner, which made it slippery, and pleasant to eat. When the soup was thus prepared, the larger portion was given to us, and out of hunger I quietly eat a portion, which was not of a bad taste. The dirty cook, and the unclean vessel, were more repulsive. After I had eaten a little, and quieted the worst cravings of hunger, I took some of my goods, and quietly left the hut, without being noticed by my companions, and went into another hut, gave the old grey-headed mother twenty-four needles and six shoe-strings, and begged her to give me some bread made of Indian-corn, if it were only as much as I could eat at one meal. She immediately gave me five small loaves of about a pound weight, of which I and Stoffel eat two the same evening. The Indians eat so much of the soup that they became sick. We had intended to take a day of rest here, if we could have procured meat, but had to be content to proceed on our journey.

The 30th we proceeded on our journey without anything to eat except the remaining loaves, which were divided among us five. We passed a dangerous creek by wading in the shallow water, and passing the stream on a half-fallen tree, which hung across the water. The current was frightful. An Indian from the last village, who was to help

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us over the water, and show us the path, fell into the water so that we saw neither hide nor hair; but soon rose, and saved himself by swimming to the opposite shore to the one we were trying to reach. Towards evening we arrived at the branch Owego; the Indian village was on the other side of the river, about a mile off. All the bottom land between us and the village was under water, and the current was rapid. We fired our guns three times, but no one would hear or show himself. If we had not seen the smoke of the huts, we would have thought the village was deserted. We began to prepare a fire and wood for a camp; and having made a long day's journey with hungry stomachs, were about to retire to sleep in that condition, and had already lain down, when a great storm came up from the west, with thunder and lightning, and such a violent rain, that it was almost incredible. We could not find a place to lie down, but stood the whole night around the fire. Towards morning it became very cold, and ice formed in every direction; the day before having been very warm, and succeeded by the thunder-storm, of which it was the cause. At dawn we again commenced firing our pieces, on which a canoe with some women at last came from the village, to take us across the river, as we supposed. But they only came over the bottom land to the edge of the river, where they called to us that there were no men in the village, and the women could not venture to cross the raging flood; which was of so unusual a height that the bottom land was flooded, which had not been the case for many years, and in particular as their canoe was so small. Tawagarat, whose home was there, called to them to venture. When they heard that it was Tawagarat, they came across in safety, and stepped on shore; one of them spoke not a word, but wrapped her face in her blanket. The others gave the canoe to the Indians to ferry us across, and afterwards to bring the women. All which was done in three times crossing backwards and forwards, but not without great and imminent danger. One party was landed here, the other there, in dry places; but still had to pass sundry hollows and ditches, in water up to the breast, for the land is very uneven. I went first in the canoe; four of us, of whom two were Indians, went back with the canoe. I had new reasons to praise the protection of God, who had rescued us from such imminent peril; the water flew between the trees like arrows from a bow, where if we had struck one, of which there were so many, we must have perished. The Indians gladly received us into their huts, and showed us their compassion. Some of them were old acquaintances of mine from Schohary; they gave us food repeatedly, but each time only a little, so as not to injure our health. They were Gaiuckers. All the men were absent hunting, except a couple of old grey-headed men, who had lodged at my house in Schohary some fifteen or sixteen years ago, and had shown me many favors according to their ability. Tawagarat remained here, and lodged in the hut of his mother-in-law; the woman who had hidden her face was his wife, and did so from modesty. Such is the custom among the virtuous women of the Indian tribes. We

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remained here to-day to recruit ourselves a little, and also to procure provisions for the further progress of our journey.

April the 1st, we still remained here; by my reckoning we are now two hundred and eighty miles from home.

April the 2d, we started about noon on our journey and reached the water called Onoto, and were immediately taken across in a canoe. Several families of Onontagers live here, with one of whom, an old acquaintance, we took up our lodgings, and were well treated.

The 3d, we reached the village Osteninky, inhabited by Onontagers and Shawanos. I was at this place in 1726, but find my old acquaintances of that period partly absent, partly dead. We had still five days journey, according to the report of these Indians, from here to Onontago, the object of our tiresome journey, as we could not take the nearest route by reason of the numerous creeks, and must keep upon the hills. The family with whom we lodged had not a mouthful to eat. The larger part of this village had been living for more than a month on the juice of the sugar-tree, which is as common here as hickory in Pennsylvania. We shared our small stock of provisions with sundry sick and children, who stood before us in tears while we were eating. From the time we left Madame Montour's, I generally gave to each one of us his daily portion; if I gave of my own portion a part to these poor creatures, I met with no sour looks, but if I took from the capital stock to give to them, my companions showed great dissatisfaction. But this did not hinder a thief from stealing, while we were asleep, the remainder of our stock of bread, which was but small. This was the first misfortune that happened to us; the second was, that we heard the snow was still knee deep in the direction we were to travel, and that it was impossible to proceed; the third was, that the rainy weather in which we had arrived was turned to snow, of which eighteen inches fell in one night; the worst was, that we had nothing to eat, and our bodily strength began to fail from many trials both of hunger and cold. Here we were obliged to remain and to pass the time in distress. I could, to be sure, purchase with needles and shoe-strings, sugar made from the juice of the tree already mentioned, on which we sustained life, but it did not agree with us; we became quite ill with much drinking to quench the thirst caused by the sweetness of the sugar. My companion Stoffel became impatient and out of spirits, and wished himself dead. He desired me to procure a canoe in which to float down the streams until we reached Pennsylvania, which might have been done in six or eight days, but not without provisions, and not without considerable danger, as the Susquehannah was very high and rapid, and we did not know the channel in such a swollen state of water.

But I was now determined on no account to return home without accomplishing the object of my mission, in particular as I knew the danger of the river. Two weeks before, I would gladly have turned back, as I foresaw all the difficulties we must undergo and conquer, but no one would then turn back or see the difficulties I feared.

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Stoffel wished he had followed my advice at that time. I was now, however, so resigned to misery, that I could have submitted to the greatest bodily hardships without resistance, since I had been relieved from the tortures of the mind by the wonderful hand of God. I had, at a previous period of my life, wished that I had never heard of a God, either from my parents or other people, for the idea I had of him had led me away from him. I thought the Atheists more happy than those who cared much about God. Oh, how far man is removed from God, yes, inexpressibly far, although God is near, and cannot impart the least thing to corrupt man until he has given himself up without conditions, and in such a manner as cannot be explained or described, but may be experienced in great anguish of body and mind. How great is the mercy of the Lord and how frequent; his power, his goodness, and his truth are everywhere evident. In short, our God created the heavens; the gods of the heathen are idols.

But to return to our affairs. I called the Indians together, represented to them the importance of my errand, stated what I was commanded to do by both the governments of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and required of them, as faithful allies of the English, and particular friends of the government of Pennsylvania, to furnish me with provisions for my party so that I could reach Onontago, the end of my journey. Because the business related especially to the allied Six Nations, for whose sake, their brother, Thomas Penn, had taken such an interest in the affair, and had sent me such a journey at an inclement time of year, for the purpose of preventing further bloodshed unnecessarily and out of mere revenge, and that they might possess their lands and raise their provisions in peace. In the nest place I required them to send out two messengers on snow-shoes as soon as possible, in advance, who should make known my approach, so that the councilmen of all the Six Nations could be called together, which would require three weeks. There was an old war-chief from Onontago present, by whose interference both points were agreed to, only no one knew where to procure provisions for us, or for the two Indian messengers. By general consent, a hut was broken into, whose occupants were far absent on a hunt, and so much corn was taken as was judged sufficient to enable us to reach Onontago. The two runners received a share, and the balance about one-third of a bushel, was given to us, which we thankfully received. I had it pounded at the house we occupied, which was done without loss. Hunger is a great tyrant, he does not spare the best of friends, much less strangers. Kaloping, a Frenchman, who had been taken captive when a boy, but now an Indian in appearance, if not worse, together with another young Indian, were sent off to notify my arrival to the council at Onontago. The last fall of snow was rapidly disappearing, as the weather had again become warm.

The 6th April the runners started. In the meanwhile, an Indian had the kindness to invite me privately to supper. I took Stoffel with me; he gave us to eat by night on two occasions. A third time, another old acquaintance presented me with four

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small loaves one evening, which I immediately divided among my companions, and the surrounding hungry children.

These Indians often came to my lodgings, or invited me to their huts, for the purpose of talking (they are very inquisitive), and thus we passed the hungry hours away, in relating old or new events or traditions, and smoking tobacco, which they have in plenty. Among other things, I asked them how it happened that they were so short of provisions now, while twelve years ago they had a greater supply than all the other Indians; and now their children looked like dead persons, and suffered much from hunger. They answered, that now game was scarce, and that hunting had strangely failed since last winter; some of them had procured nothing at all; — that the Lord and Creator of the world was resolved to destroy the Indians. One of their seers, whom they named, had seen a vision of God, who had said to him the following words: — You inquire after the cause why game has become scarce. I will tell you. You kill it for the sake of the skins, which you give for strong liquors, and drown your senses, and kill one another, and carry on a dreadful debauchery. Therefore have I driven the wild animals out of the country, for they are mine. If you will do good, and cease from your sins, I will bring them back; if not, I will destroy you from off the earth

I inquired if they believed what the seer had seen and heard? They answered, yes, some believed it would happen so; others also believed it, but gave themselves no concern about it. Time will show, said they, what is to happen to us; rum will kill us, and leave the land clear for the Europeans, without strife or purchase.

The Indians living here are on an arm of the Susquehannah, which comes out of high mountains, and is a rapid stream. I saw the children here walking up and down the banks of the stream, along the low land, where the high water had washed the wild potatoes, or ground acorns, out of the ground. These grow here on a long stem or root, about the size of a thick straw, and there are frequently from five to ten hanging to such a root, which is often more than six feet long. The richer the soil, the longer they grow, and the greater the quantity in the ground. The largest are of the size of a pigeon's egg, or larger, and look much in size and shape like black acorns. I thought of the words of Job, chapter 31, 3-8, while these barbarians were satisfying their hunger with these roots, and rejoicing greatly when they found them in large numbers, and dug them up.

On the 7th we agreed to leave this place at once, and again to pass through a great wilderness, to reach the end of our journey. We started at eight o'clock in the morning from this miserable place, where more murders occur than in any other nation. It is called by the Indians, in particular, a den of murderers, where every year so

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many are swallowed up. About noon we met our messengers returning, who said it was impossible to proceed, on account of the deep snow in the mountains, which was more than knee-deep. We debated long, and it was decided, by a majority of voices, to postpone the journey until better weather and roads. The before-mentioned old war-chief had accompanied us, because he was a leading man in the war-council at Onontago, and wished to accompany me, for the purpose of advancing my business to a favorable termination. He was a grey-headed man of seventy years, as he showed by circumstantial proofs. He advised me, confidently, to proceed on the journey, and promised to guide us by such a route, that if we used our best efforts, we would, by to-morrow evening, reach a country where the snow had disappeared, by reason of the open forests. After two days of fatigue and trouble, said he, you will be better off than by turning back, with your business undone, after having already undergone so many hardships from cold, snow, high water, and hunger. I was pleased with his well-meant advice (for he often called me his son and child), and bade him lead on; for he was much interested in the object of my mission. We proceeded on our journey; rainy weather set in, and before night we were in snow up to the knees. We made a hut this evening, of the bark of the linden-trees, which we peeled off. It rained the whole night, with a warm south wind, which converted the snow into slush.

The 8th we travelled from early in the morning until evening, with great rapidity, in constant rain, through a dreadful thick wilderness, such as I had never before seen. We frequently fell into holes and ditches, where we, required the assistance of the others to extricate ourselves. We all lost courage. This was the hardest and most fatiguing day's journey I had ever made; my bodily strength was so exhausted that I trembled and shook so much all over, I thought I must fall from weariness, and perish. I stepped aside, and sat down under a tree to die, which I hoped would be hastened by the cold approaching night. When my companions remarked my absence, they waited for me some time, then returned to seek me, and found me sitting under a tree. But I would not be persuaded to proceed, for I thought it beyond my power. The entreaties of the old chief, and the sensible reasoning of Shikelimo (who said that evil days were better for us than good, for the first often warned us against sins, and washed them out, while the latter often enticed us to sin), caused me to alter my resolution, and I arose. But I could not keep up with the old man, who was the leader, and a good walker. He often waited for the whole party. We slept on the snow again that night; it rained the whole night, but not violently.

The 9th we prepared breakfast before day, and set out early in cloudy weather. Before noon we got out of the thick forests into scattered groves, where the snow had disappeared, as the old man had assured us. We seemed to have escaped out of all our troubles in this delightful region, especially as the sun broke through the clouds, and cheered us with his warm rays. If the snow and the forests had remained the same as yesterday, we must all have perished before reaching Onontaga. But hunger

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was still pinching us; to eat a little corn-meal soup was of no benefit, for it was only meal and water; the wheat bread and good meal had not only left the stomach, but the limbs also. We were now on high mountains, and to-day we passed the first waters flowing into the great Lake Onontario, or the St. Lawrence, out of which the famous river St. Lawrence flows, which passes through New France, or Canada. From all appearances, this is the most elevated region in North America; we passed several small runs on the left hand, which join the lake just mentioned. To the right were others, which joined the Susquehannah; a day's journey from here, there are waters emptying into the Hudson to the east, and to the west, at some distance, are the waters joining the Meshasippia. We reached several small lakes and ponds, at one of which the Indians said an evil spirit, in the shape of a great snake, resided, who was frequently visible. The Indians refused to drink here.

The 10th we left our camp quite early, as we hoped to reach the end of our journey this day. About noon we passed the hill on which, by Indian tradition, corn, pumpkins, and tobacco first grew, and were discovered through an extraordinary vision. As we felt sure of reaching Onontago, we cooked the balance of our meal in a great hurry, and hastened onward. It began to rain hard. To-day we made forty miles, the timber was principally sugar-trees. This evening, we reached the first village of Onontago, to our great delight. Not a soul remained in the houses, all came running out to see us; they had been made acquainted with our coming by the old chief, a quarter of an hour previously, who had preceded us for that purpose. They came in crowds to the house we occupied. I found here several acquaintances, but they were surprised at my miserable aspect; one said it is he; another said no, it is another person altogether. It is not the custom among these people, for a stranger who has come from a distance to speak until he is questioned, which is never done until he has had food set before him, and his clothes dried, in which things they did not allow us to want.

Honor and praise, glory and power, be given to the Almighty God who rescued us from so many and various evils and dangers, and saved us from death and destruction, from doubt and despair, and other hazards.

When, on inquiry by the assembled males, I answered that I was sent to them by their brethren, Onas (Thomas Penn) and James Logan, with an extraordinary commission; a messenger was immediately sent to the chief village, about four miles off, to make known my approach, and to ascertain the wishes of the council, whether I should remain here, or was to go forward. At midnight the messenger returned, with advice that a house was prepared for me at the main village, where my arrival was anxiously awaited.

The 11th of April we were accompanied at an early hour to the village, and to the house which had been prepared for us; it was that of a man named Anuwar-ogon, a relative of one of the chiefs, who received us kindly. After we had been left to ourselves,

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and had eaten something, the head man or chief came in, gave me a string of wampum according to the law and custom of their country, said I was very welcome on account of the message I was commissioned by brethren Onas and James Logan, to deliver to their council; — that I could deliver it as soon as I wished. I thanked them for their good will, and delivered a string of wampum in token of the greeting from their brethren Onas and James Logan, with a request that the whole council of the Six Nations might be called together as soon as possible, for the objects of the embassy I was sent on related to the whole of them, and were of great importance. They answered that of each nation there were some chiefs present, except of the Caujuckos, which need be no obstacle. Those present were fully empowered to transact affairs of importance. The following day was therefore appointed to give me an audience.

The 12th of April they assembled at my lodgings to the number of about forty men, who all entered with great gravity and pride. When they were all collected to hear me, their President said to me that they were ready to hear me. I arose and delivered my message in the Maqua language, which I spoke with the most facility, and which they all understood. After each principal subject, of which there were two, I delivered to them a belt of wampum, and a string of eight klafter long, in the name of the Governor of Virginia, and Thomas Penn, proprietor of Pennsylvania. They resolved to give me an answer in two days to the part relating to the truce, and to the congress at Williamsburg.

After all was over, a feast was prepared. The food was brought in by other chiefs, and set down in the middle of the house in a variety of vessels. Each one brought his own dish and spoon, and helped himself to as much as he chose. After the feast was over, the discourse turned on the events of our journey. At a signal from the Speaker they all went away, to allow us to retire to rest. I received in the evening already an intimation of the answer, which was full and satisfactory.

The 13th, Shikelimo was very sick, and also Stoffel, which was probably caused by imprudence in eating; but in two days they were again well.

The 14th, the council again assembled, together with all the males who were at home, and the whole of my message was repeated by the Speaker, and I was asked if it was correctly stated in all points. On my answering yes, the Speaker proceeded, and their answer was given at large, with the remark that I should comprehend it fully, so as to be enabled to report it correctly to the Governor of Virginia and Onas. They agreed to the truce, but decided against Williamsburg, and chose Albany as the place of the congress, all which can be seen in my English Journal more at large, with all the speeches and incidents.

These Indians wished me to remain with them a month, until my strength should be restored; they showed every possible kindness to me, and we had no scarcity of food.

I became very sick, so that I expected to die; for half an hour I could neither hear

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nor see. My host gave me medicine after I had recovered my senses, and could tell him to what cause I attributed this sudden attack; the medicine made a strong impression on my stomach and bowels, succeeded by a violent vomiting. After taking the medicine, I was ordered to walk briskly until it operated, which took place in about half a mile from the village, where I lay until I became insensible. Towards evening I was found by several Indians, who led me home, where a bed had been provided. At midnight I was well; other medicine was then given to me, and in the morning I arose perfectly restored, except that I felt weak.

I went with my host and another old friend to see a salt spring, of which there are great numbers, so that a person cannot drink of every stream, on account of the salt water. The Indians boil handsome salt for use. These Indians, who are otherwise called Onon-tagers (people of the hills), are the handsomest, wisest, and the bravest of the Six Nations. They live in huts made of bark, which are very convenient; some of them are 50, 60, to a 100 feet long, generally about 12 or 13 feet wide. In this length there are generally four to five fires, and as many families, who are looked upon as one. The country is hilly, but there is a small valley which is very fertile, and yields almost incredible crops of corn, which is plentiful about here. The Europeans from Oswego, as well as Niagara, often come here for corn.

These Indians did all in their power to detain me longer, but I could not be content. I was tired of the Indian country and affairs. At my request, they procured provisions for my return journey, and also a man to carry them and my pack.

On the 18th we took leave (together with Stoffel and Shikelimo), for the purpose of returning home, if it should please the Supreme Being. The gods of the heathen are idols; the God of Israel created the heavens: he has a strong arm, but is patient, merciful, of great kindness, and is found by those who seek him. He is God.

This evening we reached the place where the Indians make bark canoes, on a creek passing by the village of Otsen-inky, of which we have already spoken. We peeled a chestnut tree, and made a canoe. Caxhayen, who accompanied us, understood this work completely. The weather set in bad, so that we had to lie by under a bark shelter. Snow fell a foot deep.

On the 22d we embarked in our newly-made bark canoe, and pushed off. Caxhayen returned home. The first day we met many obstacles from fallen timber. This creek is about the size of the Tulpenhacken. "We had to unload the canoe several times to mend it. We crossed several lakes, and before night we reached a more rapid stream which flowed among the hills with such rapidity as can hardly be described. We shot several ducks, which are very plenty, and missed a deer and a bear.

On the 28d we reached deeper water, a river which comes from Oneido, joining it at this point. The water was very high and rapid. Saristaqua of Osten-inky, who was

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hunting, fired his gun on seeing us, and called to us. We turned to shore, which we reached in a few minutes, but had been carried down a mile since he had fired. He joined us, and I related what had taken place in Onontago, at which he was pleased. We left him, entered our canoe again, and at night reached Otsen-inky. Fired at a bear and missed.

The 24th we pushed off early, and in half an hour reached the Susquehannah river. Passed, to-day, Onoto and Owego, down to the Dia-ogon. We found that at the last village we had forgotten our Onontago salt.

The 25th we embarked early. Got a companion, a relative of Shikelimo, but who was of little use, except to help us eat. We passed the spot which we first reached after leaving the desolate wilderness, the mouth of Oshcalui and Dawantaa. Shot several ducks and a turkey. Passed several fine bodies of land, partly levelled, partly timbered.

The 26th we reached Scahanto-wano, where a number of Indians live, Shawanos and Mahickanders. Found there two traders from New York, and three men from the Maqui country, who were hunting land; their names were Ludwig Rasselman, Martin Dillenbach, and Pit de Niger. Here there is a large body of land, the like of which is not to be found on the river.

On the 27th we embarked. About noon we met some Pennsylvania traders, who gave us some rum.

On the 28th we reached Shomoken: here Shikelimo took leave of us and went home. Stoffel accompanied him, to bring the things we had left in his care, as saddles and bridles, and returned this evening on horseback. In the meanwhile, I had paddled down the river, on this side, to inquire after my horse of the Indians, who were now encamped here. When I went on shore and looked into the forest, the first object I saw was my horse, about twenty rods off, and, in fact, not far from the spot where I had left him when going up. Stoffel's horse could not be found at this time.

The 29th we set off over the country, on the 30th we reached Talheo, and, on the 1st day of May reached home in safety. Honor and praise, power and glory, be given to Almighty God for ever and ever.

[Here follows a German hymn. — H.H.M.]

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4. Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America.

By Dr. B. Franklin. (A.D. 1784.)

The Indian men, when young, are hunters and warriors; when old, counsellors; for all their government is by the counsel or advice of the sages. There is no force; there are no prisoners; no officers to compel obedience or inflict punishment. Hence they generally study oratory; the best speaker having the most influence. The Indian women till the ground, dress the food, nurse and bring up the children, and preserve and hand down to posterity the memory of public transactions. These employments of men and women are accounted natural and honorable. Having few artificial wants, they have abundance of leisure for improvement by conversation. Our laborious manner of life, compared with theirs, they justly esteem slavish and base; and the learning on which we value ourselves, they regard as frivolous and useless.

Having frequent occasions to hold public councils, they have acquired great order and decency in conducting them. The old men sit in the foremost ranks, the warriors in the next, and the women and children in the hindmost. The business of the women is to take exact notice of what passes, imprint it in their memories, for they have no writing, and communicate it to their children. They are the records of the council, and they preserve tradition of the stipulations in treaties a hundred years back; which, when we compare with our writings, we always find exact. He that would speak, rises. The rest observe a profound silence. When he has finished and sits down, they leave him five or six minutes to recollect, that, if he has omitted anything he intended to say, or has anything to add, he may rise again and deliver it. To interrupt another, even in common conversation, is reckoned highly indecent.

The politeness of these savages in conversation is, indeed, carried to excess; since it does not permit them to contradict or deny the truth of what is asserted in their presence. By this means they indeed avoid disputes; but then it becomes difficult to know their minds, or what impression you make upon them. The missionaries who have attempted to convert them to Christianity, all complain of this as one of the great difficulties of their mission. The Indians hear with patience the truths of the gospel explained to them, and give their usual tokens of assent and approbation; you would think they were convinced. No such matter. It is mere civility.

A Swedish minister having assembled the chiefs of the Susquehannah Indians, made a sermon to them, acquainting them with the principal historical facts on which our religion is founded — such as the fall of our first parents by eating an apple; the coming of Christ to repair the mischief; his miracles and suffering, &c. When he had finished, an Indian orator stood up to thank him. "What you have told us," says he, "is all

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very good. It is indeed bad to eat apples. It is better to make them all into cider. We are much obliged by your kindness in coming so far to tell us those things which you have heard from your mothers. In return, I will tell you some of those we have heard from ours.

"In the beginning, our fathers had only the flesh of animals to subsist on; and if their hunting was unsuccessful, they were starving. Two of our young hunters having killed a deer, made a fire in the woods to broil some parts of it. When they were about to satisfy their hunger, they beheld a beautiful young woman descend from the clouds, and seat herself on that hill which you see yonder among the Blue Mountains. They said to each other, ‘It is a spirit that, perhaps, has smelt our broiling venison, and wishes to eat of it; let us offer some to her.’ They presented her with the tongue; she was pleased with the taste of it, and said, ‘Your kindness shall be rewarded. Come to this place after thirteen moons, and you shall find something that will be of great benefit in nourishing you and your children to the latest generations.’ They did so, and to their surprise, found plants they had never seen before; but which, from that ancient time, have been constantly cultivated among us to our great advantage. Where her right hand had touched the ground they found maize; where her left hand had touched it, they found kidney-beans; and where her backside had sat on it, they found tobacco." The good missionary, disgusted with this idle tale, said, "What I delivered to you were sacred truths; but what you tell me is mere fable, fiction, and falsehood." The Indian, offended, replied, "My brother, it seems your friends have not done you justice in your education; they have not well-instructed you in the rules of common civility. You saw that we, who understand and practise those rules, believed all your stories — why do you refuse to believe ours?"

When any of them come into our towns, our people are apt to crowd round them, gaze upon them, and incommode them where they desire to be private; this they esteem great rudeness, and the effect of the want of instruction in the rules of civility and good manners. "We have," say they, "as much curiosity as you, and when you come into our towns, we wish for opportunities of looking at you; but for this purpose we hide ourselves behind bushes where you are to pass, and never intrude ourselves into your company."

Their manner of entering one another's villages has likewise its rules. It is reckoned uncivil in travelling-strangers to enter a village abruptly, without giving notice of their approach. Therefore, as soon as they arrive within hearing, they stop and holla, remaining there until invited to enter. Two old men usually come out to them and lead them in. There is in every village a vacant dwelling, called "The Strangers' House." Here they are placed, while the old men go round from hut to hut, acquainting the inhabitants that strangers are arrived, who are probably hungry and weary; and every one sends them what he can spare of victuals, and skins to repose on. When the strangers are refreshed, pipes and tobacco are brought; and then, but not before,

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conversation begins, with inquiries who they are, whither bound, what news, &c, and it usually ends with offers of service, if the strangers have occasion for guides, or any necessaries for continuing their journey; and nothing is expected for the entertainment.

The same hospitality, esteemed among them as a principal virtue, is practised by private persons; of which Conrad Weiser, our interpreter, gave me the following instance. He had been naturalized among the Six Nations, and spoke well the Mohock language. In going through the Indian country to carry a message from our Governor to the council at Onondaga, he called at the habitation of Canassetego, an old acquaintance, who embraced him, spread furs for him to sit on, placed before him some boiled beans and venison, and mixed some rum and water for his drink. When he was well refreshed and had lit his pipe, Canassetego began to converse with him; asked how he had fared the many years since they had seen each other, whence he then came, what had occasioned the journey, &c. Conrad answered all his questions; and when the discourse began to flag, the Indian, to continue it, said, "Conrad, you have lived long among the white people, and know something of their customs. I have been sometimes at Albany, and have observed that once in seven days they shut up their shops and assemble all in the great house: tell me, what is it for? — what do they do there?" "They meet there," said Conrad, "to hear and learn good things." "I do not doubt," replied the Indian, "that they tell you so; they have told me the same; but I doubt the truth of what they say, and I will tell you my reasons. I went lately to Albany to sell my skins, and buy blankets, knives, powder, rum, &c. You know Hans Hanson; but I was a little inclined this time to try some other merchants. However, I called first upon Hans, and asked him what he would give for beaver. He said he could not give more than four shillings a pound; ‘but,’ said he, ‘I cannot talk on business now; this is the day when we meet together to learn good things, and I am going to the meeting.’ So I thought to myself, since I cannot do any business today, I may as well go to the meeting too, and I went with him. There stood up a man in black, and began to talk to the people very angrily. I did not understand what he said; but perceiving that he looked much at me and at Hanson, I imagined he was angry at seeing me there; so I went out, sat down near the house, struck fire, and lit my pipe, waiting till the meeting should break up. I thought, too, that the man had mentioned something of beaver, and I suspected it might be the subject of their meeting. So when they came out, I accosted my merchant. ‘Well, Hans,’ said I, ‘I hope you have agreed to give more than four shillings a pound!’ ‘No,’ says he, ‘I cannot give so much; I cannot give more than three shillings and sixpence.’ I then spoke to several other dealers, but they all sung the same song — three and sixpence! This made it clear to me that my suspicion was right; and that whatever they pretended of meeting to learn good things, the real purpose was to consult how to cheat Indians in the price of beaver. Consider but a little, Conrad, and you must be of my opinion. If they meet so often to learn good things, they certainly would have learned some before this time. But they are still ignorant. You know our practice. If a

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white man, in travelling through our country, enters one of our cabins, we all treat him as I treat you: we dry him if he is wet, we warm him if he is cold, and give him meat and drink, that he may allay his hunger and thirst; and we spread soft furs for him to rest and sleep on. We demand nothing in return. Bnt if I go into a white man's house at Albany, and ask for victuals and drink, they say, ‘Where is your money?’ And if I have none, they say, ‘Get out, you Indian dog!’ You see they have not yet learned those little good things that we need no meeting to be instructed in, because our mothers taught them to us when we were children; and therefore it is impossible their meetings should be, as they say, for any such purpose, or have any such effect. They are only to contrive the cheating of Indians in the price of beaver."

5. Traditions of the Senecas Respecting the Battle of Oriskany and the Massacre of Wyoming — Brant Exonerated.

By Asher Tyler

In pursuance of your request, I now avail myself of the first leisure moment to give you an account of my interview with the Indian chief Governor Blacksnake, in relation to the question whether Joseph Brant was present at the massacre of Wyoming.

As you probably are aware, I resided at Ellicottville, in the county of Cattaraugus, eight years. Having some fondness for Indian history, I had conversed several times with the late Colonel W. L. Stone on this subject.

In March, 1843, I went from Ellicottville to Cold Spring, on the Alleghany river; and with the aid of an educated Indian by the name of Ben Williams, as interpreter, spent several hours with Blacksnake. I had with me the two volumes of Stone's Life of Brant. I opened the book at a portrait of Brant, and the moment his eye rested on the picture, he called out the Indian name of Brant — "Thayendenegea!" He then asked, with some eagerness, if I had pictures of Red Jacket, and Farmer's Brother; which I was sorry to say I had not. He claimed at this time to be ninety-six years of age. I questioned him as to his participation in certain events of the Revolution,

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and his age at the time of their occurrence, and am satisfied that he was nearly as old as he claimed. He was at this time quite vigorous, as is shown by the fact that he had that morning walked three miles from his residence down the valley to visit some friends. With a view to test the accuracy of his recollection, I asked him to give an account of the battle of Oriskany, the account of which, as given by Colonel Stone, I had then in my hand. He gave a minute and detailed account of the battle, and of the events both succeeding and preceding it.

The only point upon which he essentially differed, was this. He said that after the sortie was made by Colonel Willet, to relieve the command under Herkimer, the Americans greatly outnumbered the British and Indians. I told him that the printed account in the book in my hand did not so state the fact. He replied that his authority was the British officers, and he well remembered that they said so at the time, and that the superiority in numbers by the Americans was assigned as a reason for the retreat. This seems to me natural and probable, as the British officers would be desirous of covering the disgrace of the repulse, and at the same time retain the confidence of their savage allies. I then interrogated him in relation to the expedition to Wyoming.

At this time, Blacksnake resided at Connecuagus, on the Genesee river, which was also the place of his birth. He gave an account of the whole expedition, from the time they left home. They stopped on the head-waters of the Canisteo, where the little village of Arkport now stands, and built several canoes from pine-trees standing near the river. His account of the expedition agreed in all essential particulars with the published accounts. I then asked him if Joseph Brant, or Thayendenegea, was in the expedition? to which he replied, readily and emphatically, "No." I asked where he was at that time? he said he did not know, but believed he was at or near Niagara.

I told him that an impression prevailed that Brant accompanied the expedition. To which he replied that it could not be so, as he did not see him, and a contrary impression prevailed among the Indians; that he was intimate with Brant to the time of his death, and was sure he was right. I asked who was the leader of the Indians in that expedition? and he gave me the name of an Indian warrior of the Seneca tribe, which has escaped my memory.

I consider Blacksnake as reliable a witness as lives; and, in my judgment, his testimony completely settles the question. The Rev. Thomas Morris, of Ellicottville, was present at the interview, and will probably remember the interview as I have stated it. Blacksnake is, I am informed, yet living; and if his faculties are not entirely impaired, will undoubtedly at this day confirm my account of the matter. I gave to Colonel Stone a verbal account of my interview, and promised to send him a written one; but in consequence of his death, I have omitted until this time to put it in writing. History is valuable only as it perpetuates truth; and on subjects of this sort, it is to me annoying to see how many absurd stories are promulgated, and how little of judgment or discrimination is exercised in arriving at just or reliable conclusions.

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Title VIII. — Subjective Division, Physical Type of the Indian Race. — General Analysis of Title VIII.

Title VIII, Let. A., Vol. II. [1st Paper.]

A. An Essay on the Physical Characteristics of the Indian, with 10 Plates of Crania. By Dr. Samuel George Morton, M. D., LL. D., President of the Phila. Acad. Nat. Science.

1. Osteological Character.
2. Facial Angle.
3. Stature.
4. Fossil Remains of the American Race.
5. Complexion.
6. Hair.
7. Eyes.
8. Artificial Modifications of the Skull.
9. Volume of the Brain.

B. 10. Admeasurements of Crania of the various Groups of Tribes. By J. S. Phillips.

Title VIII, Let. B., Vol. III. [2d Paper.]

1. Prefatory Note on the Unity of the Human Race.

2. Examination and Description of the Hair of the Head of the North American Indian. By Peter A. Browne, LL. D. of Amer. Acad. Nat. Science, Philadelphia. Collection of Indian Pile. Deficiency of Lustre, &c.
Particular Description of the Hair of different Families. Elementary Parts of the Pile.
Button, Follicle, Shaft, Color, Fibre, Ductility, Tenacity. Ancient Specimens of Indian Hair.

Title VIII, Let. C, Vol. IV. [3d Paper.]

1. Remarks on the Means of obtaining Information to advance the Inquiry into the physical Type of the Indian.
2. Considerations on the Distinctive Characteristics of the American Aboriginal Tribes. By Dr. Samuel Forrey.

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VIII. Physical Type of the Indian Race. C.

1. Remarks on the Means of Obtaining Information to Advance the Inquiry into the Physical Type of the Indian.

It is manifest to observers of the different tribes of Indians of the United States, that they are not capable of enduring as severe, or long-continued labors, as the European races. They cannot endure as excessive fatigues in rowing a boat. It has been observed, on the portages of the north-west, that they cannot carry as heavy loads as the Canadian voyageurs. I am not aware that any direct comparisons have been made of their power in lifting. In feats of agility and activity, in hunting and running, they have evinced great prominence. Walking on snow-shoes is a severe labor, if long continued, and the walker be, at the same time, burdened with a back-load; and in this, as in other kinds of forest exercise or labor, he has been noticed to make great occasional exertions; but in all labors which demand compactness of muscle and continued exertion, the practised European has been pronounced the victor.

No admeasurements have been made to determine the average stature and weight of the individuals of the several tribes, from which accurate comparisons might be instituted with the races of Europe and Asia. North of latitude 42° fullness in the development of muscle is not usual. In the valley of the St. Mary's, in Michigan, in 1822, and the contiguous shores of Lake Superior, I found about one-half of the men of the Chippewa tribe, six feet high. The four leading chiefs of the band averaged six feet two inches. Muscular development was not large, except in the persons that lived at, or contiguous to the settlements, where the means of subsistence were more constantly and fully supplied. This prominence of stature is also a characteristic of other tribes of the Algonquins, of the Iroquois, and of the Creeks, Choctaws, and other Apalachians. Logan is said to have been six feet — Shenandoah, six feet three inches. The ancient Lenno Lenapees and Shawnees contained a large proportion of tall men. The Fox chief, Keokuk, was six feet two inches. The Ottawas, as a tribe, are commonly shorter and stouter than the other lake tribes. The Dacotahs may be judged to average

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five feet nine, and are rather stout and muscular. Red Jacket, an Iroquois, was but five feet eight, stoutly formed.

It is noticed that the lank muscular development of the forest tribes, undergoes perceptible changes, and acquires more fulness, in the cases of individuals who are placed in circumstances where food, and shelter from the elements are steadily supplied. This becomes more prominent in the females, who are provided with domicils, and means of domestic comfort, of a character superior to the wigwam. Instances of fulness, inclining to obesity, in some cases, are not uncommon. There is another very striking trait connected with Indian females, thus withdrawn, in a measure, from the vicissitudes and hardships of the forest. It is the increased measure of fecundity. I observed an example of this kind, in a member of the Chippewa tribe, where a hunter named Iaba Waddik, had fourteen children by a single wife, all of whom grew up to be adults. This appears to indicate what political economists have contended for, that abundance of food is a recognizable principle in population. And this fact, of which other less prominent examples are known, goes far to teach us that the exposures and sufferings of the forest constitute so many elementary causes to repress productiveness. These exposures denote the true cause of the recuperative power of the Indian females in parturition.

The fineness and softness of the Indian skin has been often noticed. Mr. Van Amringe has directed attention to a microscopical examination of the human skin, to determine its physiological organization; "but until something of this kind shall be done, it will be difficult to speak with accuracy on the subject. There is a softness in the texture of the skin of an Indian's hand which appears peculiar. The pores appear to be smaller than in European races. They do not exude a gross or abundant matter from the skin, but one of a peculiar pungency. The pores of the face freely contribute to a beard, while the hair of the head is coarse, straight, black, and quite profuse.

Little is known on these subjects, which bears the stamp of science — attention has been chiefly bestowed on the Indian crania. Dr. Samuel George Morton collected and examined over four hundred skulls of various Indian tribes, which he has described in his elaborate work on this subject. The details of this examination evince a degree of research that has not been equalled. One of the generic conclusions drawn is, that, with the exception of the Esquimaux, the Indians of America constitute a peculiar cranial type. The elongated crania of the ancient Peruvians, from the sepulchres of Atacama, and, indeed, the entire flat-head tribes of the continent, have been subjected to admeasurement, by which the depressed facial angle is shown not to affect the intellectual capacity of the individual at all.

A distinction is introduced between the cranial indicia of the semi-civilized and barbarous tribes. The theory of this classification is, on the whole, less satisfactory to our apprehension than the other deductions. It is shown, for instance, that the

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facial angle and internal capacity of some of the barbarous tribes of North America, in the Ohio valley, are superior, in a marked degree, to those of the Aztecs and Toltecs, and Peruvians, who were the authors of the most celebrated monuments of art in America. That the effect of arts and letters will be impressed, on the outward forms of the crania, cannot, it would seem, be denied, if we had no other example before us than the god-like Greek skull to refer to.

But there is danger, in considering the crania of rude tribes, like those under discussion, who never, in fact, had any painting, poetry, or statuary (worth the name of it), from applying × priori conclusions, which are rather, after all, phrenological than philosophical. The whole effect, physiological and mental, of semi-civilization on the Toltec and Aztec mind, was not of long duration; while the influences of a horrid and cruel system of sanguinary and inexorable sacrifice, must be allowed to have operated as a perpetual counterpoise to cranial ameliorations.

In 1850, I requested Dr. Morton to re-examine his collection of crania in the Academy of Natural Science, at Philadelphia, and obtained the permission of Captain Charles Wilkes, U. S. N., to forward to him, for the like purpose, the skulls deposited in the National Institute at Washington, which had been obtained on the Exploring Expedition in the South and Pacific Oceans — and particularly on the coasts of Oregon. Dr. Morton did not live to complete, entirely, this paper; but he gave a r×sume of the physiological facts, resulting from his inquiry into the physical traits of the Indians of America, which is at once elaborate and satisfactory.

The stature, the complexion, the hair, eyes, and other traits, that go to make up physical character, lead him to consider them as sui generis; and he quotes the popular adage, that "whoever has seen one of the tribes, has seen all." He fixes the average facial angle of the Indians at 75°, which is five degrees below that of the European race.

The cranial deductions, from both the old and new skulls, were alone incomplete. I requested Mr. John Phillips, who had been his aid in all the mechanical examinations, to re-examine the whole collection, on the exact principles adopted by Dr. Morton, with a view to arrange them, agreeably to my classification, into enlarged family circles, or groups, being the same I had adopted in the examination of the languages. The results of this admeasurement are given in the second volume, p. 331.

The character and email amount of perspirable matter exuded from the pores of the Indian skin, have been adverted to, while the hair of the head, being the product of different functions, is observed to be ample.

In 1852, at my suggestion, Peter A. Browne, Esq., of Philadelphia, instituted a series of microscopical examinations on this particular subject, in connection with the pile of other races of men. He found, in the examination of various specimens of Indian hair, from tribes situated in all the latitudes from the Gulf of Mexico to St. Anthony's Tails, that there was a singular agreement in all the full-blooded specimens, in the

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fibre or shaft of the Indian hair, which was found to be cylindrical; while in the Anglo-Saxon it is oval, and in the African race eccentrically elliptical. This result, producing, in their order, straight, curled, and felted or woolly hair, admitted of modifications, from the intermixture of the three races. Mr. Browne believes that this modification is so completely capable, of appreciation, under the influence of the magnifier, as to denote with certainty, the per centage of blood of the individual under examination, and he has proposed a classification, and invented a system of terms, to denote this per centage, ranging from one-fourth to one-sixteenth. Without a careful examination of the experiments, which I could not, at the moment, undertake, this schedule appeared to me to partake of the nature of a refinement on the actual phenomena. The other microscropical observations, with the diagrams, are given in the thi