THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 A 
 
 PILGRIMAGE 
 
 IN 
 
 EUROPE AND AMERICA, 
 
 LEADING TO 
 
 THE DISCOVERY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI 
 AND BLOODY RIVER; 
 
 WITH A DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 THE WHOLE COURSE OF THE FORMER, 
 
 AND OF 
 
 THE OHIO. 
 
 By J. C. BELTRAMI, Esq. 
 
 FORMERLY JUDOE OF A ROYAL COURT IN THE EX-KINGDOM OF ITALY. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR HUNT AND CLARKE, 
 
 YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 1828.
 
 f6H\ . 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Philadelphia, February 28th, 1823. 
 
 Where shall I begin, my dear Madam ? Where 
 I ought to end, — with myself ; for you are im- 
 patient to hear what is become of me. I know 
 your friendship, and anticipate its wishes. 
 
 I am now in America. My hand-writing 
 ought to convince you that I am alive ; but, 
 since a very reverend father has made the dead 
 write letters, it is become necessary to explain 
 whether one is still in the land of the living, and 
 particularly when one writes from another world, 
 and has been many times near the gates of eter- 
 nity. 
 
 For a description of our terrible passage, I 
 must trust entirely to my memory ; for, during 
 the whole voyage, I was so ill, that neither my 
 
 vol. ii. 6:1(1^? B
 
 2 VOYAGE TO AMERICA. 
 
 stomach nor my head allowed me to write a 
 single line. Besides, being as ignorant of naval 
 affairs as a Tartar, any attempt to describe the 
 nautical occurrences of the voyage would only 
 tire out your patience, and expose my awkward- 
 ness and presumption, by a vain parade of hard 
 technical words; it would be only a useless 
 addition to that deluge of notes, narratives, voy- 
 ages, adventures, observations, discoveries, and so 
 forth, with which so many intrepid navigators 
 from Calais to Dover, from Reggio to Messina, 
 from Gibraltar to Ceuta, from one side of the 
 Sound, or of the Dardanelles, to the other, have 
 enriched and inundated the world. I will give 
 you only a slight sketch of what was most re- 
 markable during this passage, although it was 
 protracted to a period of more than three months 
 and a half of suffering ; and I shall be the more 
 laconic, because my hand is weak and unfit for 
 writing. Let us return, therefore, to where we 
 should have begun. 
 
 At Liverpool, my intention, at first, was to 
 embark for New York, the packets of which are 
 very comfortable ; but, being informed that the 
 yellow fever had committed considerable ra- 
 vages there during the summer, and that it still 
 prevailed, I determined to sail for Philadelphia. 
 The persons to whom I was recommended, 
 exerted themselves to secure a comfortable pas-
 
 EMBARKATION. 3 
 
 sage for me ; but, having been deceived respect- 
 ing the accommodations of the ship and the 
 character of her captain, they thought no other 
 provisions necessary than wine and liquors. I 
 therefore embarked with confidence; — and mi- 
 serably was I disappointed. 
 
 We left Prince's dock on the 3rd of Novem- 
 ber, at about five o'clock in the morning. The 
 weather was beautiful, and, as I was told, fa- 
 vourable. 
 
 The names of the crew having been called 
 over, it was discovered that the cook had de- 
 serted. This beginning was not propitious. A 
 cook is an important personage everywhere ; 
 but the resources of his art are particularly de- 
 sirable, when the contingencies of scarcity of 
 provisions, and other viatic incidents, demand an 
 extra portion of skill and industry. 
 
 The steward or servant of the cabin was ap- 
 pointed to fulfil these important functions, and 
 his portfeuille was handed over to James, a 
 young American sailor, about twenty years of age, 
 equally insolent and careless ; and thus we had 
 two novices, in situations of great difficulty on 
 board ship. The hour of dinner discovered to us 
 that we had neither steward nor cook, and 
 enabled us to form some idea of what we might 
 expect in future. ■ Among other things that 
 threatened us, was uncleanliness, the greatest
 
 KILLALA BAY. 
 
 torment that can be inflicted upon my stomach 
 and senses. The larder and the wardrobe were 
 equally ill-supplied, and dirty ; and I was 
 laughed at for asking for implements to wash 
 myself with. 
 
 The first day the wind was neither fair nor 
 foul. The second, our passage between the 
 island of Anglesea and the corst of Ireland, was 
 a little opposed by contrary winds ; and a storm, 
 which the captain told us was very dangerous 
 on this coast, assailed us on the third, near 
 Cape Clear ; from which period I date the be- 
 ginning of my dreadful sea-sickness. On the 
 seventh the wind subsided; but we made no 
 progress. On the tenth it blew with greater 
 fury than ever, and drove us on the western 
 coast of Ireland. The captain seemed not much 
 delighted, and I was still less so, for the sea tore 
 me to pieces. Fortunately, Killala bay afforded 
 us shelter; but in our endeavours to avoid Scylla, 
 we ran into Charybdis. All this coast is inha- 
 bited by a semi-barbarous people, who had risen 
 against the government, because they were 
 starving; and this was precisely the focus of the 
 insurrection of the island. My companions had, 
 however, only the fear of an attack. For my own 
 part, I had not even that ; on the contrary, consi- 
 dering the dreadful state of my health and the ap- 
 palling aspect of everything on board the vessel.
 
 CREW OF THE VESSEL. 5 
 
 and of this sea, (which is always stormy at this 
 season,) I ought to have landed at any risk. I 
 could lose nothing by passing from one set of bar- 
 barians to another; I must gain by a change of 
 element, and in every other respect ; but my re- 
 solution is naturally as inflexible as my destiny. 
 On the thirteenth we continued our voyage. 
 
 The sea was still very rough, but the wind 
 was fair for America, and we made some way ; 
 this was my only consolation in a state that 
 became daily more terrible. Stretched upon a 
 wretched flock-bed, which the bcnes of my atte- 
 nuated body penetrated even to the floor, my 
 only relief was derived from resignation to my 
 fate, and from that courage which, thanks to 
 heaven, does not easily forsake me. My fellow- 
 passengers were Spanish Americans. They 
 were dressed as gentlemen, for which they were 
 indebted to their former profession of piracy. 
 Their manners were in perfect unison with the 
 atrocious character of their countenances, and 
 gave no hope that they possessed a spark of hu- 
 manity. The appearance of the captain was 
 calculated to alarm a man who was going to 
 visit his country, with a view to admire and to 
 learn free and generous sentiments. The newly 
 appointed cook, a hideous negro, covered with 
 filth from head to foot, had only to show himself 
 to disgust the most intrepid and chivalrous sto-
 
 6 PROVISIONS. 
 
 mach, and to render his absence much more de- 
 sirable than his presence. Little James was 
 a most extraordinary fellow; a non-descript. 
 At first I called out to him, "Steward!" — "I 
 am not a steward," replied he, "my name is 
 James."— " Well then, James !"— " What do 
 you mean by James? My name is Mr James." 
 
 " Very well, Mr James, will you 
 
 — will you — will you " "I am not a 
 
 servant to any body." I then asked the cap- 
 tain who, and where, was the servant. To this 
 question he replied with one of his usual civil 
 looks, and, laughing in my face, turned his back 
 upon me. 
 
 By the short sketch I have given you of this 
 delightful company, you may judge of the situa- 
 tion of an unfortunate being, who from complete 
 exhaustion could not even stand. If I left my 
 den T was obliged to drag myself along on my 
 hands and knees ; but this excited no pity in 
 these selfish and unfeeling wretches. Nor was 
 my state of animal existence less deplorable 
 than that of my social feelings. 
 
 The little fresh meat that remained was be- 
 come completely putrid, and spoiled the onions, 
 leeks, &c. with which it was cooked. I could 
 not obtain a chicken, because it was first neces- 
 sary that the whole of this delicious meat should 
 be consumed. 1 offered, and made presents for
 
 CREW. 
 
 good broth, but received only some made from 
 salt meat. I was reduced to the miserable 
 pittance of a few boiled potatoes, with which I 
 had no other sauce than vinegar, for there was 
 no oil. 
 
 I had very good wine, both French and Ma- 
 deira; but these gentlemen did not confine 
 themselves to accepting the offer I voluntarily 
 made of sharing every bottle with them ; they 
 had opened, and already emptied a considerable 
 number. Mr James and the cook, thinking 
 probably that I had nothing more to do either 
 with this world or with wine, joined most effec- 
 tively in the shameful rapacity of the honourable 
 captain and my amiable fellow passengers. I 
 saw this ; I might have stopped it ; for my mind 
 was not then enfeebled, although my physical 
 strength was utterly exhausted; but I con- 
 tented myself with heartily despising them 
 all, and suffered them to act as they pleased. 
 Their conduct supplied me with abundant 
 matter for meditation on human life and human 
 nature. 
 
 I saw in these wretches a perfect picture of 
 heirs, nephews, friends and servants, who sur- 
 round the death-bed of their fathers, uncles, 
 friends, and masters, like birds of prey, plunder 
 them both before and after their death, and 
 exhaust every expedient for the gratification of
 
 8 STORM. 
 
 their avarice and rapacity. And yet we accu- 
 mulate, all our lives, at the expense even of 
 justice and humanity — deaf to the groans of the 
 widow, the orphan, and the wretched — and for 
 no other purpose than to feed the profligacy, 
 vices, and voracity of these vultures. 
 
 We were now, my dear Madam, ploughing 
 the ocean to the right and left, but without 
 making any progress; the contrary winds had 
 re-assumed the command of our vessel and 
 drove us from our destination. . The storms 
 which succeeded left us only just such inter- 
 vals of calm as allowed us to estimate the dif- 
 ferent degrees of their violence. The storm 
 which came on during the night of the twenty- 
 sixth was truly terrible. 
 
 The waves beat with such force against the 
 ship, that they produced an effect similar to 
 that of the most dreadful earthquakes upon our 
 houses. The shocks were so repeated and vio- 
 lent that they loosened several casks of fresh 
 water which dashed against each other, broke, 
 and inundated the space between the deck and 
 the cabin, occasioned the greatest disorder, 
 drowned almost all the poultry, and spoiled a 
 great part of what still remained of our wretched 
 provisions. I patiently resigned myself to Pro- 
 vidence, and repeated — Fiat voluntas tua. But 
 my situation brought to my remembrance the
 
 AMERICAN CAPTAIN. 9 
 
 saying of a good king, whose name I cannot 
 recollect : 
 
 " Purch& il reo non si salvi, il giusto pera." 
 
 This king must either have lived before the 
 time of Justinian, or he was unacquainted with 
 his maxim — Melius est, centum reos absolvere, 
 qutun unum innocentem condemnare; — but let us 
 return to our delightful voyage. 
 
 We proceeded sometimes to the south, some- 
 times to the north, sometimes to the east, but 
 never to the west, which was our Colchis. 
 Meantime, my sufferings increased. There was 
 nothing but salt meat, and the water, which by 
 the bye was very bad, was measured out to us 
 in a bird-glass. I know not what would have 
 become of me — for my stomach rejected all their 
 dishes, rendered more disgusting by filth — had 
 not a sailor sold me some rice. 
 
 Observe, my dear Madam, that American 
 ships are always well provided with rice, which 
 is so abundant with them ; but our captain, who 
 had consumed his whole stock during his long 
 stay at Liverpool, where it is much dearer, 
 judged it expedient to defer purchasing any 
 more till his arrival in America. You see there- 
 fore that I had embarked with a man who per- 
 fectly understood his interest, if not his duty. The 
 difficulty however was to find some charitable 
 person who would undertake to dress it, though
 
 10 author's illness. 
 
 I only wanted to have it boiled in water with a 
 little salt. I could expect no kindness or hu- 
 manity from my own unfeeling sex ; I therefore 
 applied to that which we are not ashamed to 
 oppress and to calumniate in every possible 
 way. There was an Englishwoman on board, 
 who was going to join her husband in America. 
 She offered me her assistance ; the more wil- 
 lingly as she had, during her sea-sickness, 
 received relief from my wine, which, as well as 
 my medicine-chest, had been at the service of 
 the whole community. I had now therefore 
 some chance of humane treatment, when I was 
 suddenly seized with a putrid fever. 
 
 It is really astonishing that I could resist all 
 these attacks, or support the effects of violent 
 emetics, debilitated as I was by sea-sickness, 
 destitute of every kind of restorative, of all phy- 
 sical or moral aid, and abandoned by all my 
 powers except the energy of my mind. 
 
 I know not what that is which is called soul ; 
 for as I have already said, I am neither a meta- 
 physician, nor a theologian ; but it is unques- 
 tionably some divine faculty acting within us, 
 without which it would be impossible for man, 
 by his own unaided strength, to support some 
 of the vicissitudes of life. I was more power- 
 fully than ever impressed with this truth, in the 
 terrible situation in which I found myself in this 
 vessel; and it is principally for the benefit of
 
 author's illness. 11 
 
 this moral inference, that I have occupied your 
 attention so long with this recital of grievances. 
 Yes, my dear Countess, man is a mere puppet, 
 acted upon by Providence, against which all 
 human systems and all human powers are vain. 
 How could the extraordinary, the incompre- 
 hensible genius of Archimedes, of Galileo, of 
 Descartes, of Newton, operate by the unassisted 
 energy sod free will of man ? They were only ma- 
 chines moved by superior springs ; and Provi- 
 dence puts them in motion, more or less, in pro- 
 portion as it judges them more or less necessary. 
 
 At the moment I am writing to you, dear 
 Madam, with a body almost completely restored 
 to its former strength, I feel that my mind is 
 weak, and that T could not now support what I 
 then sustained with so much heroism. I believe 
 that Providence will not again grant me the 
 same firmness, unless it should see fit to place 
 me again in the same dreadful situation. But 
 I forget myself; for although I am writing from 
 Philadelphia, we are still at a great distance 
 from it. The idea of reverting to my subject 
 frightens me, and leads me to indulge in these 
 long digressions : this also will prove to you 
 how much more feeble my mind is now than it 
 was then. 
 
 I am sorry to return to my wretched bed. 
 This is perhaps not less painful to you than dis- 
 gusting to me; but it is the only stage upon
 
 12 author's illness. 
 
 which I acted during the whole of my voyage; 
 and the Epopea requires unity of place as well 
 as of action. I hung between life and death 
 till the 11th of December, when I began to 
 revive a little. During the whole of this time, 
 I had eaten nothing but rice, which however 
 my good English nurse had not economized ; 
 she and the rest of the passengers had probably 
 little scruple on this head, for she afterwards 
 repeatedly told me that every one on board had 
 completely given me over. I one day saw the 
 captain carefully remove all my effects into his 
 closet, under pretence of protecting them, as he 
 said, "from the wolves." I could not help 
 laughing ; and thanking him for this first mark 
 of care so voluntarily bestowed. I just told him 
 that his expectations would be disappointed, 
 and that I should not die yet, in spite of all 
 the sufferings and hardships I had experienced. 
 Indeed I never for a moment thought I should 
 die, so convinced was I that some superior power 
 watched over my existence, as a proof of which, 
 I tell you the following incident. 
 
 I was reduced to my last pittance of rice, and 
 no more was to be had. I caused myself to 
 be dragged upon the deck to breathe a little 
 fresh air. I observed a pig with an ear of 
 maize in his mouth. I asked the captain if 
 he would have the goodness to allow me a 
 little of this maize. "What shall I give my
 
 author's illness. 13 
 
 pig then?" was his philanthropic reply. The 
 same evening a storm arose. During the 
 night it raged with great fury; the waves 
 washed over the deck ; one broke into the sty, 
 which it carried away together with my rival, 
 as an offering to the offended deities of ocean. 
 By priority of demand, I became the rightful heir 
 to his pittance, and this pittance kept me alive 
 till we entered the Delaware. But, to make 
 the hand of Providence more clear in the matter, 
 while a sailor was endeavouring to save the 
 captain's pet from the first wave, a second 
 rolled over him, as if to punish him for his pre- 
 sumption ; and, had it not been for the cordage 
 of the mast, he would have shared the fate of 
 the pig. The poor captain was inconsolable; he 
 was very fond of it, and scratched it every day 
 with great tenderness ; he declared it was very 
 intelligent. I had some thoughts of recom- 
 mending myself to his favor, by imitating the 
 courtiers of Madame de Pampadour, who asked 
 her every morning if she and her Moufiet had 
 slept well. 
 
 The captain himself and all on board now 
 seemed convinced that some superintending deity 
 interposed its protection in my favour ; and if 1 
 had before obliged them to treat me with some 
 degree of respect, I was from that time regarded 
 with a species of veneration.
 
 14 WHALES. 
 
 It is useless to repeat how often contrary 
 winds drove us, sometimes towards Greenland, 
 and sometimes towards the Azores. One day 
 we were only sixty miles from the latter. I re- 
 quested the captain to put into one of them 
 that he might give us the opportunity of re- 
 cruiting our strength, and provide a supply of 
 provisions and fresh water ; for that which was 
 in the casks had been so agitated by the storms 
 that it was scarcely drinkable. He gave us a 
 good reason for his refusal, viz. that he was 
 forbidden to deviate from his course, unless on 
 account of injury sustained by the ship, or loss 
 of masts, or from being driven upon a dangerous 
 coast ; so that my first lesson in navigation was, 
 that we were not permitted to save ourselves 
 till we were first at the bottom of the seas, or 
 swallowed up by a whale. Apropos of whales ; 
 I have been often very near realizing the pro- 
 mise I made you, in my last, from Liverpool, for 
 we saw a great number of them towards the 
 coast of Greenland. Here however the great 
 question arises .... Can one be swallowed by 
 a whale ? I think the Inquisition ought to settle 
 this as it did the question of the motion of 
 the earth, which, Galileo would have it, moved 
 round the sun, though Joshua makes the sun 
 turn round the earth. 
 
 Naturalists assert that the whale feeds upon
 
 A STORM. l^ 
 
 a small marine insect, that its throat is so 
 narrow that it could not swallow a fish so big 
 as a herring, and that it can only swallow its 
 food, having no power of mastication. How then 
 did Jonah find his way down ? To accommodate 
 matters with the holy office, the naturalists 
 must adopt some other hypothesis. But let us 
 leave them to settle the question, and continue 
 
 our voyage. 
 
 We had not gone far before we were assailed 
 by another terrible storm : the night of the 26th 
 of December— it was terrific. A chain belong- 
 ing to the rudder broke. The waves broke into 
 the body of the vessel, swept over it, and so 
 completely drenched it every instant, that every- 
 thing in our cabin was afloat. One of our pi- 
 rates was thrown out of bed, and received so 
 severe a bruise in the leg, that he did not reco- 
 ver from it during the whole voyage. All was 
 confusion and tumult. Several resigned them- 
 selves to despair; and even the captain con- 
 fessed, that this was a case which would justify 
 his putting into port : but the Azores were not 
 now within reach. The two pirates wept with 
 all the cowardice of the base and sordid. I told 
 them that, as they had boasted so much of hav- 
 ing been sailors, they had better assist the crew ; 
 but they were too busy with St Jago de Com- 
 postella, and our Lady of Cuba, to attend to 
 worldly affairs. My poor Englishwoman was
 
 16 APPEARANCE OF THE SEA. 
 
 almost dead with fear ; I felt nothing like dying, 
 for having been preserved so long, I had a per- 
 suasion that I should not die during this voyage. 
 Everything was in disorder : in short, the cap- 
 tain determined to resign the ship to the winds 
 and waves and let her drift ; for, in the latitude 
 and longitude in which we then were, he had 
 nothing to apprehend, either from the rocks or 
 the coast. 
 
 We were between the Old and the New 
 World ; each seemed to drive us from its shores 
 towards the abyss. 
 
 There were but a few inches of timber be- 
 tween me and eternity ; — but when our hour is 
 not come, eternity itself must recede ; — and thus 
 it did recede from before my eyes. 
 
 The following day, although the storm had 
 not subsided, there was the serenest sky I ever 
 beheld. I dragged myself on deck, to enjoy 
 the scene which the sea and the ship, still the 
 sport of the waves, presented. It was indeed 
 truly grand. We were sometimes upon a moun- 
 tain, then in a plain, and then in an abyss. 
 It was a perfect representation of our country, 
 diversified by the most varied features of na- 
 ture. Sometimes I saw the beautiful plateau of 
 your Cimerella, and the illusion which painted 
 you to my imagination was a delightful relief 
 from this terrific picture. But a most extra- 
 ordinary phenomenon presented itself, both to
 
 REMARKABLE SHOWER. 17 
 
 my eyes and to my mouth. I will make a pre- 
 sent of it to the naturalists, to atone for having 
 set them by the ears with the inquisition. 
 
 A north-west wind passed with such force 
 over the surface of the waves, that it blew up 
 the water in a kind of fine dust into the air, 
 where it was penetrated by the rays of a most 
 refulgent sun, and fell again in a shower of 
 brilliants, far more beautiful than the golden one 
 which fell on Danae. So much for the eyes ; 
 now for the mouth. 
 
 This shower in its descent was changed into 
 fresh water, though there could be no doubt that 
 it was the very identical sea-water which the 
 winds had dispersed in the air, for not the 
 smallest cloud was perceptible in the whole 
 firmament ; the weather was perfectly clear, 
 and nothing was seen in the air but the tourbil- 
 lons occasioned by this great conflict between 
 the two elements. This is a fact, my dear 
 Countess, and was recorded by the captain in 
 his log-book. Au reste, — as people have believed 
 in showers of blood, stones, &c. I think they may 
 very fairly believe in this ; such a transforma- 
 tion is not difficult to account for, if it be true 
 that the saline particles are lost at a certain ele- 
 vation from the earth, as some naturalists pre- 
 tend. Icarus, or Simon the magician, or some 
 aeronaut, may perhaps have made some experi- 
 
 vol. ir. c
 
 18 BANK OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 ments on this subject. Learned men and na- 
 turalists, who are very happy at conjectures, 
 may extricate this difficulty from the obscurity 
 in which I leave it. I am not versed in natural 
 philosophy ; I am a naturalist only in the sense 
 of wishing to leave nature to herself, or at most 
 only to aid her operations. I am but the herald 
 at arms, who opens the lists for them, and 
 retires. 
 
 January 6th 1823, we passed the southern 
 point of the bank of Newfoundland ; we had, 
 therefore, performed two-thirds of our voyage. 
 This, Madam, is the famous bank which has so 
 often been the apple of discord. The Ameri- 
 cans, the French, and the English, contended for 
 the exclusive privilege of the fishery, which is 
 very valuable. The riches of this bank are one 
 of the causes of our poverty : its cod, stock-fish, 
 &c. which come and infect our country, lower 
 the price of our produce and cattle, our princi- 
 pal commercial resources : our money thus goes 
 into the pockets of foreigners, and our produce 
 sells for nothing. This also is one of the bles- 
 sings we owe our governments. But what is 
 most singular is, that orthodox Catholics impo- 
 verish true believers to enrich orthodox heretics ; 
 for this trade is now monopolized by the English 
 and Americans. Well, my dear Countess, 
 would you believe it? This bank, which has
 
 CONDUCT OF THE CREW. 19 
 
 so often poisoned my meals during Lent, refused 
 to give me one of its myriads of fishes when it 
 would have contributed to restore my health. 
 All our efforts to catch any were vain. I must, 
 however, acknowledge that our ship was not 
 better supplied with the necessary implements 
 for fishing than with other articles. 
 
 I passed the bank without giving it one salve, 
 although it told me that my trials were near 
 their close. These trials were rendered more 
 endurable by my improved fare : the maize held 
 out, and the bouillie was my ambrosia. As to 
 nectar, I cannot say much ; the water was be- 
 come more bitter than gall ; and unfortunately, 
 the pirates, the captain, Mr James, the cook, 
 with the assistance of the lady and her mate, had 
 drained all my bottles of Cognac brandy. The 
 captain one day drank so liberally of it in pri- 
 vate, that he was ill for a week of an inflam- 
 mation in the throat, which nearly killed him : 
 they had fallen foul even of the whole stock of 
 spirituous liquors, elixirs, &c. in my medicine 
 chest. I was sometimes tempted to be angry, 
 but having from the beginning discovered what 
 sort of company I was in, I had always had 
 sufficient self-command to look upon them with 
 an eye of pity and contempt, and sometimes 
 even to laugh at them. I mention these trifling 
 incidents for the pleasure of indulging that 
 unreserved communication which your friend-
 
 20 CONDUCT OF, THE CREW. 
 
 ship allows, and to give such hints to our 
 common friends as may induce them, in si- 
 milar circumstances, to be more cautious than 
 I was in ascertaining the accommodations of the 
 ship, the character of the captain, the company, 
 &c. ; that they may avoid the situation in which 
 I was placed. I have described it en badinant 
 that I might not wound your sensibility : but it 
 was really dreadful. The stench alone, which, 
 from the dirt and the destitution to which we 
 were compelled to submit, infected everything, 
 even our own persons, was sufficient to kill a 
 man, however enured to all the vicissitudes of 
 life. It is said that we may accustom ourselves to 
 anything, and this I can now attest from expe- 
 rience ; but I assure you I often wished myself 
 an oyster, which, according to naturalists, is 
 destitute of the sense of smell. 
 
 But we will turn from this disgusting picture, 
 and, whilst advancing with a tolerably favour- 
 able wind, direct our attention to our pirates, 
 who were arrayed in battle against Mr James 
 and the captain. 
 
 It would be difficult in any monastery to find 
 a greater glutton than this Mr James. Our 
 pirates carefully concealed their dry provisions ; 
 and to escape the danger of either having to offer, 
 or being asked for, any, they ate them in secret 
 during the night, or clandestinely in their berths 
 during the day. Mr James, however, found an
 
 BATTLE ON BOARD. 21 
 
 opportunity of making a skilful and successful 
 attack upon these eatables, in which he was 
 greatly favoured by the dampness and the stench 
 of the room, which obliged them to expose their 
 stores to view. James, moreover, was like the rat 
 in the fable : " I do not want eyes to know where 
 there is anything good, — my nose is sufficient." 
 These gentlemen had perceived his exploits. 
 One day they caught him in the act, and a 
 severe kicking was the consequence. The cap- 
 tain ran to ascertain the cause of the disturbance, 
 and took the part of his servant, or rather that of 
 the offended sovereignty of the American people. 
 The Spanish Americans would have been in a dis- 
 agreeable situation if the mate had come to the 
 assistance of his Anglo-Americans, for he would 
 have brought the whole crew with him ; but, 
 fortunately for them, he was jealous of the cap- 
 tain's attentions to my good Englishwoman, and 
 left him and Mr James to sustain the brunt of the 
 battle. So long as the only weapons employed 
 were fists, I forbore to interfere ; but when the 
 Spaniards threatened to terminate the quarrel 
 after their fashion, with knives, I used every 
 means of conciliation. I must observe, that a 
 considerable degree of irritation had for some time 
 prevailed between the belligerent parties : the 
 captain was not pleased to see his adversaries 
 eat their provisions without inviting him to par-
 
 22 STORM. 
 
 take of them ; and they were equally dissatisfied 
 with his solitary visits to his beer. These ridi- 
 culous scenes, together with the undisturbed 
 enjoyment of my bouillie, had contributed a little 
 to the recovery of my spirits and strength. 
 
 One more storm, my dear Countess ; it was 
 the last, and it procured us a supply of food. 
 It came on in the night of the 13th January, 
 1823, and continued almost the whole of the fol- 
 lowing day. As our vessel was much damaged, 
 the waves washed over the deck at their plea- 
 sure, and sometimes brought with them the in- 
 habitants of ocean ; but as they met with no 
 obstruction, they generally returned the way 
 they came. That night however we succeeded 
 in capturing three that were entangled in the 
 cordage, &c. I can give no description of them, 
 for I did not see them till the following day, 
 when they were cut into pieces and salted ; but 
 they were of the cetaceous genus, which is very 
 extensive. Their oily flesh, under any other 
 circumstances, would have been insupportable; 
 but I thought it pretty good in such a famine ; 
 the very idea of anything fresh was sufficient 
 to stimulate the appetite, and give a relish to 
 the food. 
 
 The captain was more alarmed by this, than 
 by any former storms, though comparatively 
 slight, for the vessel was in a most shattered
 
 BIRDS. 23 
 
 condition, and he was apprehensive of being 
 thrown against St George's bank, which was 
 not very distant, and the shoals of which are 
 numerous and dangerous. 
 
 The 28th was a beautiful day and brought 
 with it a ray of hope which revived our drooping 
 spirits. Heaven sent us two beneficent 
 messengers, to announce to us that the land, 
 which had so long seemed to recede before -us, 
 was at length at hand. But alas! my -clear 
 Madam, like the unfortunate son of Idomeneus, 
 they received death from the hands of those 
 whom they came to console, and to congratulate 
 on their arrival at the desired port, and at the 
 termination of their sufferings. They were two 
 of those lovely beings which embellish our forests 
 and enliven our rural walks ; which cheer and 
 amuse us in the gloom of solitude and in the 
 splendour of a palace, and divert the mind from 
 its oppressive load of thought and care ; which 
 speak the language of harmony and innocent 
 love ; which never inspire fear, and whose plea- 
 sures, desires, and even little animosities add 
 new attractions to the magnificent picture of 
 nature, and impart unspeakable delight by the 
 sweet emotions they excite. They were two little 
 birds of the continent of North America : — they 
 were devoured. By the bills and feet I found 
 that they were of the passerine tribe, and of the
 
 24 SIGHT OF LAND. 
 
 species of greenfinches ; which in America are 
 redbreasts. 
 
 From the arrival of these unfortunate guests, 
 our course was, for a considerable time, tole- 
 rably good and undisturbed by storms. Had 
 the sea again visited our cabins, I know not 
 how we should have resisted the cold, which 
 was already most piercing, destitute as we were 
 of fire, or any means of warming ourselves. 
 
 At length on the 6th of February, feeble as 
 I was, I climbed up the main-mast and called 
 out " Mountains ! " The captain, with a sarcastic 
 smile and his usual civility, replied that the 
 mountains I saw were clouds. I confess I de- 
 served to be laughed at, for the mountains in 
 that part of America are at more than 200 miles 
 from the coast, which was not very near us ; but 
 a mountaineer dreams only of mountains, as a 
 fisherman does of nets and hooks. 
 
 On the 8th we saw, not mountains but forests, 
 which, from the flatness of the ground, seemed 
 to rise out of the ocean. We also discovered the 
 mouth of the Delaware, between Cape May on 
 the north, and Cape Henlopen on the south; but 
 from contrary winds we were not able to double 
 the latter before the 11th. We had a pilot 
 who steered the vessel from thence, between the 
 dangerous banks of the bay and river, as far as 
 Philadelphia. Thus we arrived at the last act of
 
 SECOND BATTLE. 25 
 
 this tragi-comedy, and the denouement was assez 
 plaisant. It was a true Epopea; and, what is bet- 
 ter, a Helen was the causa mali tanti. You must 
 have understood before now, my dear Countess, 
 that my good Englishwoman had not discouraged 
 the attentions of the mate. To do her justice, 
 however, I must confess that he was an attrac-S 
 tive young fellow, and the opportunity was ex- 
 tremely proximate. Besides, confined as she 
 had so long been in this terrible prison, subject 
 to every species of privation, and to every 
 temptation that could beset her, it was to be 
 expected that a little gallantry would be the 
 effect of so many powerful causes. I had fore- 
 seen that this was to be an episode in the 
 drama : but, as she had not purchased a right 
 to occupy a place in the cabin, and as the cap- 
 tain had, in a few days, generously offered it to 
 her, she had not been able to resist the tender 
 declarations with which he also every now and 
 then entertained her. The accursed and almost 
 inseparable companion of love, who spares 
 neither the cottage nor the palace, neither the 
 crew of a ship nor the inmates of a family, 
 took posession of the heart of the mate ; and, 
 as she was extremely free in the use of her 
 tongue, and not very delicate as to the senti- 
 ments she inspired, she provoked him to strike 
 her. Not being disposed patiently to bear this
 
 26 SECOND BATTLE. 
 
 outrage, she courageously returned his blows, 
 and hence ensued a noisy scuffle, which at- 
 tracted the attention of the persons in the ship. 
 The captain undertook, as it might be expected, 
 the defence of his Dulcinea more warmly than 
 he had before undertaken that of his Sancho 
 Panza. Thus our champions valiantly entered 
 the field of battle, and as, to the honour of the 
 English, there is no danger of their having re- 
 course to the stiletto, I let them take their fill 
 of fighting. As to our pirates, no suffering 
 inflicted on the whole species would have in- 
 duced them to raise a finger : at last, however, 
 Mr James interfered, and effected a separation 
 in a manner which added much to the interest 
 of the scene. He happened to have his plates 
 in his hand, preparing to lay the cloth. The 
 two gladiators came in contact with him, — the 
 shock, together with the rolling of the ship, 
 caused him to lose the centre of gravity, and 
 laid him prostrate : the awful sound of broken 
 plates was the signal of retreat, and put an end 
 to the battle. Providence, by this last incident, 
 harmonized all around us ; for what is the use 
 of plates, without something to eat ? They were 
 an insult to our misery. For my own part, I 
 rejoiced at it, and the cause made me laugh. 
 
 It is a pity that Calliope turned her back upon 
 me ; otherwise I might, en badinant, have had a
 
 DELAWARE BAY. 27 
 
 fine opportunity of introducing myself to the 
 notice of the world, by a grand poem, adorned 
 with every diversity of colour ; an cpobaterion- 
 propemptico - elegiaco - epicedion - threno - soterico - 
 epithalamico - genethliaco - exegetico - nautico - epic 
 poem. After this long word, my dear Countess, 
 you must take breath. 
 
 Some ill-natured critics might perhaps find 
 fault with my poem for deficiency in great cha- 
 racters and a moral. To a philosopher, how- 
 ever, the heroes of Homer, and most other poets, 
 are little better than my pirates, my captain, 
 mate, Mr James, and my Helen : and, as for a 
 moral, it is probably to be found only in Tele- 
 machus. 
 
 We are now in the bay of the Delaware ; 
 a large basin about twenty-four miles in width 
 and length, which is considered the mouth of 
 this river. At length then we are upon the 
 shores of this great continent, the honour of 
 naming which was snatched from its Genoese 
 discoverer by a Florentine, and which awa- 
 kens in the heart of an Italian that national 
 pride, which the stranger, not content with op- 
 pressing our unhappy land, has always striven 
 to degrade and to stifle. This continent, as 
 well as Europe, Asia, and Africa, will ever 
 recall to the memory the bold enterprizes, the
 
 28 THE DELAWARE. 
 
 important discoveries, the courage, and the glory 
 of our ancestors. 
 
 Cape May, and the countries to the right, as 
 far as the river Hudson, in ascending the bay 
 and the river, belong to New Jersey : Cape 
 Henlopen (formerly Cape St James's) and all 
 the country to the left, as far as the bay of 
 Chesapeake, once belonged to Pennsylvania, 
 but now form the state of Delaware, created 
 since the formation of these colonies, into a con- 
 federate and independent republic. 
 
 At the bottom of the bay the bed of the river 
 contracts, though still in some places three or 
 four miles in breadth. But the view of the 
 country speaks to the mind only by the ideas 
 and reflections it suggests. The eye sees nothing 
 but a flat country and vast forests, intersected 
 at considerable intervals, by a few scattered 
 farms or hamlets, almost as far as Newcastle, 
 where the country begins to be more populous, 
 more flourishing, and more diversified by plain, 
 hill, and valley. 
 
 From Newcastle, a delightful little commercial 
 town belonging also to the state of Delaware, 
 you ascend the river forty-five miles ; and there, 
 amid the windings of the Delaware, and, as 
 it were, from the bosom of a majestic forest, 
 emerges that stately city which is considered
 
 CHARACTER OF THE CAPTAIN. 29 
 
 the largest and most important in all America ; 
 and on whose site, before the time of Penn, the 
 savage chased the bear and the panther. Two 
 miles farther, it rises before you in all its majesty 
 and extent, from north to south, commanding 
 this superb river, which is still above a mile in 
 breadth, although more than one hundred and 
 fifty miles from its mouth ; and which, with the 
 tide, conveys large three-mast vessels to the 
 very doors of the opulent inhabitants. There we 
 received the visit of the proprietors of the vessel, 
 of the arrival of which they had been informed 
 by signal from Cape Henlopen. They believed 
 she had experienced the fate of many others, 
 which had been lost during the last two months ; 
 and although they knew that she was in the - 
 river, the floating masses of ice which covered its 
 surface made them very uneasy; so that, in spite 
 of her shattered condition, they thought them- 
 selves happy at seeing her at all. And here I 
 must stop one moment to pronounce the parting 
 eulogium on my friend the captain. 
 
 I cannot advise the Americans to send him 
 forth as a specimen of the nation, or of the gene- 
 rous sentiments which they so proudly arrogate ; 
 if they do, they will stand a chance of being 
 considered as Turks, or perhaps worse. But 
 as a sailor, prepared to battle with every storm, 
 he may justify their boast of the probability that
 
 30 MATE. 
 
 America will become one of the most formidable 
 maritime powers in the world. I spoke to him 
 very plainly about his barbarian manners ; but 
 I willingly forgave him, in consideration of his 
 address and courage in those dreadful storms, 
 when the elements seemed every instant to 
 threaten our destruction ; I therefore forgot my 
 indignation, and converted a notice of his private 
 behaviour, which in my wrath I had intended to 
 insert in the newspapers, into an honourable cer- 
 tificate to his public conduct. The only revenge 
 in which I indulged was, to pay him my passage 
 without any discussion or allusion to the shame- 
 ful violation of his engagements, which he obvi- 
 ously expected ; in short, without saying a 
 single word, good or bad ; and when he saw 
 this accompanied by his certificate, which cer- 
 tainly he did not expect, he looked extremely 
 mortified. As for the mate, my dear Countess, 
 it is impossible to describe to you his indefatiga- 
 ble activity, his courage, intelligence, and expe- 
 rience, at the early age of twenty-one. He quite 
 captivated me. Is it, therefore, surprising that 
 he should have captivated one of that sex whose 
 hearts are so much more tender and impressible ? 
 For this unhappy woman I feel real and deep 
 compassion : she is in despair at the prospect 
 of meeting her husband in a situation which 
 reveals her fault. Let us drop the curtain on
 
 CONCLUSION. 31 
 
 our drama, before we reach the catastrophe of 
 the heroine, which will, I fear, be truly tragical, 
 or behold the miseries which the pirates, who 
 have already sailed for Cuba, are preparing to 
 inflict. 
 
 Thus then, my dear Madam, the 21st instant, 
 after three months and a half of suffering and 
 vicissitudes, ordinary and extraordinary, brings 
 us to the end of this voyage ; which, although 
 three thousand five hundred miles, is generally 
 performed in thirty or forty days. Happy shall 
 I be if I am permitted to tell you the end of my 
 future wanderings. I wish this letter may find 
 the elements more propitious than I did, and 
 that it may convey to you, without delay, the 
 expression of my Transatlantic friendship.
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 Pittsburg, March 3\st 1823. 
 
 I write to you from a place, my dear Madam, 
 which only fifty years ago even the colonists 
 of America regarded as the end of the civilized 
 world; in which white men and red men 
 hunted each other by turns like wild beasts; 
 a place where I am opposite to you on the other 
 side of a branch of the Apalachian mountains, 
 the highest in North America, as you are op- 
 posite to me on the other side of a branch of the 
 Apennines, some of the highest in Europe. In 
 short, Madam, we are pretty nearly foot to foot, 
 if the world be really a ball. I do not like this. 
 I had much rather be face to face ; and am 
 tempted to go over to the party of the reverend 
 father inquisitor, who, in his zeal for burning, 
 wanted to burn the antipodes ; — perhaps for the 
 same reason. 
 
 Formerly a man who had wandered hither
 
 UNITED STATES. 33 
 
 would have been given up for lost; now that 
 there is no such thing as travelling, now that 
 what used to be a journey is a promenade, I seem 
 only to have come a few steps since my last 
 letter, and here I am in one of the most flou- 
 rishing countries in the world: it is so, because 
 the earth is still under the dominion of nature, 
 and but little reclaimed by art; and it is one of 
 the most civilized, precisely because not over- 
 civilized. After all, since the happy invention of 
 letter-writing, distance, my dear Countess, is 
 rather imaginary than real. But we must go 
 back to show you Philadelphia, and to teach 
 you the road hither. 
 
 I hope you are not going to question me as 
 yet about people, manners, sects, &c. &c. for 
 you must be sensible that, in forty days, I can- 
 not be prepared with very satisfactory answers. 
 If ever I return to these parts I will endeavour 
 to satisfy your curiosity ; but, for the present, we 
 must content ourselves with rambling about a 
 little, and must only pause long enough to look 
 back upon a few historical facts, that we may 
 know where we are ; and to observe en passant the 
 most striking and interesting objects of nature 
 and art, so that we may just be able to say, " I 
 have been there !" until the time shall come 
 when I can tell you at length the result of all 
 
 VOL. II. D
 
 34 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 my researches and reflexions into the character 
 and institutions of the people. 
 
 Let us begin with Pennsylvania, — if it be 
 but to know the derivation of its name. 
 
 This state forms a part of those immense re- 
 gions, the coasts of which were discovered in the 
 reign of Elizabeth, by the celebrated Italian na- 
 vigator, Sebastian Cabotto, who was also the first 
 to set on foot a commercial intercourse between 
 Russia and England. These regions now com- 
 prise South Labrador, Lower Canada, Nova 
 Scotia, and all the eastern states of the Union. 
 
 He planted a colony, first in the island which 
 he called Terra Nuova, a name which it still re- 
 tains ; afterwards in that part of the continent 
 called the Carolinas ; and lastly, in that which 
 he himself christened Virginia, in honour of the 
 Virgin Queen, in whose behalf all these disco- 
 veries were made. 
 
 This latter colony was the only one which 
 prospered at the time, and all these countries 
 were then dependencies of Virginia ; so that a 
 little colony possessed an extent of territory 
 greater than the whole of Europe. What was 
 afterwards called Pennsylvania belonged there- 
 fore originally to Virginia. 
 
 Hudson afterwards ascended the river which 
 bears his name, and discovered the country
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 35 
 
 through which it flows, afterwards called New 
 York. He thought himself proprietor of it — 
 perhaps under the auspices and sanction of Alex- 
 ander Vis bull, — and ceded it all to the Dutch, 
 together with much unexplored country, part 
 of which was the district now forming the states 
 of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware ; 
 which the Dutch called New Belgium. 
 
 James I, and Virginia on his behalf, protested 
 against this sale : the peace of Breda revoked 
 it, and it reverted to the English. A great part 
 of the land was afterwards granted to the heir of 
 Penn, an English admiral, in payment of sums 
 due to him from the government, and from him 
 it was called Pennsylvania, or Penn's forests ; for 
 at that time it was all forest, inhabited only by 
 savages and wild beasts. 
 
 The history of Penn and of Pennsylvania, is in- 
 timately connected with that of the Quakers. 
 It is the history of a true patriarch, and a good 
 legislator ; of the gentle and humane manners of 
 the best ages of the world ; of the true morality 
 of the Gospel. I think therefore you will not be 
 displeased if I give you a slight sketch of it. 
 You might otherwise think I passed with insen- 
 sibility and indifference over a country which is 
 perhaps the only true theatre of that golden age, 
 which everybody talks of, though nobody knows 
 when or where to place its existence. 
 
 Quakerism, if we are to believe its votaries, is
 
 36 QUAKERS. 
 
 as old as Christianity. They go so far as to say 
 that Jesus Christ was the first Quaker, and that 
 they do but tread in his footsteps. Thence they 
 trace their austere morals, their simple and 
 patriarchal manners, their hospitality, their hu- 
 mility, their truly Christian charity, their aversion 
 to all the pleasures of worldly vanity, to pomp, 
 luxury, and intemperance ; their horror for war ; 
 (and not from fear of death, which they, living in 
 justitia et eqidtate, have perhaps less reason to 
 dread than any other persons, but from genuine 
 humanity and philanthropy ;) thence that har- 
 mony, that true brotherhood, which reigns among 
 them, and which ought to serve as an example 
 and model to those who pretend to excel in 
 the Christian virtues, and who demand that 
 all the rest of the world should take them as 
 models only because they demand it. 
 
 The Quakers say that they do not baptize, 
 because Jesus Christ never baptized as we do ; 
 that they should be disciples of John and not 
 of Christ if they did : — that John himself said 
 that another would come who would baptize by 
 fire ; and that Christ did baptize his apostles in 
 the tabernacle by the fire of the Holy Spirit ; — ■ 
 that they believe themselves baptized by this same 
 spirit, and inspired with what they ought to say 
 and to do, rectum et divinum, on earth ; that Jesus 
 Christ never made obeisances with his hat, nor 
 required others to make them to him ; — that he
 
 PENN. 37 
 
 never used any other appellative than the second 
 person singular ; — and that they do not find in the 
 Bible, or in any other sacred book, the titles of 
 our terrestrial divinities, — majesty, highness, emi- 
 nence, excellence, grace, reverence, &c. &c. They 
 assert that after the death of our divine master, 
 his principles became corrupted, but that there 
 were always some few good Quakers dispersed 
 about the world who kept alive the sacred fire ; 
 until Fox arose in 1G42, and kindled it into fresh 
 brightness and vigour in England. It was pre- 
 cisely the period at which three or four hostile 
 sects tore Great Britain with civil wars, as cruel 
 as they were fanatical, which gave birth to the 
 most tolerant, the most humane of all which 
 have sprung from Christianity — the sect of the 
 Quakers. 
 
 The young and ardent Penn, though educated 
 in the orthodox principles of the University of 
 Oxford, was warmed by this sacred flame, and 
 became one of the most zealous proselytes of the 
 new apostle of England. His eloquence made 
 many converts among the men, and his beauty and 
 sweet expression still more among the women. 
 His father's interest and money were often em- 
 ployed to rescue him from prison and from per- 
 secution. He even quarrelled with his father, 
 who was of the orthodox faith, but their mutual 
 affection re-united them ; at length, being left
 
 38 PENN. 
 
 sole heir of his father's property, which was 
 considerable, and absolute proprietor of an im- 
 mense territory in America, he turned his back 
 on persecutions and persecutors, and came hither 
 with Fox and a great number of his followers 
 to plant the standard of his faith, and of the 
 generous and humane principles which charac- 
 terized it. 
 
 Here then, my dear Madam, you have a 
 Quaker turned sovereign ; — invested with the 
 right of making laws, of establishing a govern- 
 ment, of granting lands, of levying taxes, &c. 
 The use which Penn made of this right, places 
 him in the rank of the greatest benefactors of 
 his race. He converted the whole of the vast 
 province which had been granted to his father, 
 and which, as I have already told you, he called 
 Pennsylvania, into one great theatre of benefi- 
 cence, industry, and of the purest morality. 
 
 After he had rendered this country a secure 
 asylum for himself and his brethren, he turned 
 his attention to the means of providing for their 
 future wants, without molestation to the Swedish 
 and Dutch settlers, who already cultivated a 
 part of it, and who readily submitted to a ruler 
 as just as he was benevolent. 
 
 He granted a thousand acres of land to any 
 man who applied for it (for twenty pounds, and 
 a small yearly rent) ; he gave fifty acres to every
 
 PENN. 39 
 
 young man and young woman, who had been 
 engaged for some time, and had completed their 
 term of service ; and the same quantity to every 
 married couple, who had no means of paying for 
 it. An equitable treaty protected the colonists 
 against the incursions of the Indians, and wise 
 laws secured them in the enjoyment of their 
 liberty and property. He decreed that every man 
 who acknowledged the existence of a God, might 
 be admitted a citizen, and that every Christian 
 was eligible to every office of state ; that every 
 one was at liberty to invoke the Great Being in 
 the manner most satisfactory to his own con- 
 science ; that no one was compelled to furnish 
 contributions or tithes for the building of temples. 
 In order to deserve the most perfect protection 
 the colony could afford, it was only necessary to 
 take an oath of obedience to the crown, and 
 fidelity to the lord proprietor. The Quakers, 
 who never mingle the Deity in human affairs, 
 and consequently do not take oaths, merely pro- 
 mise by a yes or a no, and their simple affirma- 
 tion is more sacred and inviolable than the 
 pretended religious formula of many other 
 Christians, who perjure themselves upon the 
 Gospels. 
 
 Lastly, Penn resolved that no tax should be 
 imposed, or law enacted, without the consent of 
 all the inhabitants of the colony, whose age and
 
 40 PENN. 
 
 sex rendered them fit to vote, and reserved no 
 other power to himself than that of watching 
 over the security and happiness of his province. 
 
 He divided it into counties, in each of which 
 he established a court, where justice was to be 
 administered gratis ; justices of the peace, arbi- 
 trators, &c. ; in order, as far as possible, to banish 
 or to prevent chicanery and litigation. Such, in 
 a word, were his justice and generosity, that, 
 not thinking his right to the possession of these 
 lands established by the cession of England 
 alone, he treated with the Indians for theirs, and 
 purchased it on equitable terms, and by the 
 common consent of all the contracting parties. 
 So just was his conduct in this treaty, that the 
 name of Penn is still held in the greatest reve- 
 rence among the Indians ; and, when they have 
 any treaty to conclude with the present Ameri- 
 can nation, they always invoke the same spirit 
 of loyalty and sanctity which dictated that of 
 Penn with their ancestors. 
 
 You may readily imagine, my dear Madam, 
 that everybody would be eager to live under the 
 protection of such a government and such a 
 legislator ; equal, perhaps superior, to any whom 
 antiquity can boast : — a legislator, who founded 
 all his institutions on the solemn guarantees of 
 property and liberty, and of the most extensive 
 toleration. Pennsylvania accordingly was soon
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 41 
 
 the resort of numerous European and American 
 families, who brought with them industry, arts, 
 manufactures, and commerce ; and rendered it 
 the most flourishing colony in the world. It is 
 now one of the most important states of the 
 Union. 
 
 The diversity of nations, religions, and lan- 
 guages, might have given cause to apprehend 
 that jealousy, and those hostile feelings which 
 are frequently the ruin of ancient establish- 
 ments and the great obstacle to the formation 
 of new ones ; but, such was the wisdom of the 
 legislator, that the utmost concord and harmony 
 prevailed. Every individual readily contributed 
 his own labours in the Lord's vineyard, to ensure 
 the well-being, physical and moral, of the great 
 family. 
 
 As all enjoyed an unrestrained and equal 
 freedom, no man envied the liberty of another. 
 Though the Quakers were the most numerous of 
 the various sects assembled round the banner 
 of toleration, though the legislator was himself 
 a Quaker, they enjoyed no other precedency or 
 supremacy over others than what they obtained 
 by the excellence of their example and the prac- 
 tice of all the Christian virtues. If there was 
 not unity of opinion, there was perfect co-opera- 
 tion in beneficence ; and even where there was 
 not the common bond of Christianity, that of
 
 42 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 humanity was sufficient to check the spirit of 
 fanaticism, persecution, and intolerance. Such, 
 in short, were their union, their mutual senti- 
 ments of philanthropy, that they took or re- 
 ceived the name of the Philadelphi. 
 
 It was necessary to build some great and per- 
 manent monument, as a lasting record of the 
 foundation of this holy colony, and accordingly, 
 Penn planned and built its capital, Philadelphia. 
 During the war of independence, it was the ca- 
 pital of the whole Union, and is now that of the 
 state of Pennsylvania ; that is to say, it is the 
 centre of the most important business and com- 
 merce and institutions of the state ; but Harris- 
 burg is the true capital. Harrisburg is more 
 centra], and American wisdom supplies the de- 
 ficiency of commerce by the resources necessa- 
 rily arising from the seat of the magistracy and 
 the bustle of a metropolitan city. 
 
 I shall not detain you long at Philadelphia or 
 anywhere else, for, to reach this place (Pittsburg) 
 in the short time that has elapsed, it is clear that 
 we must not stay long, nor observe minutely. 
 For the present, then, we will content ourselves 
 with a superficial glance at what falls in our 
 way in the country through which we pass, 
 and with noting its origin and progress. 
 
 Philadelphia is built in the form of a paral- 
 lelogram, lying north and south, in a peninsula
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 43 
 
 formed by the Delaware and the Schulkyll, 
 which meet five miles lower down, where a fort, 
 built by the Union, commands both these rivers. 
 Having told you how recently it has emerged from 
 its surrounding forests, you will learn with sur- 
 prise that it already contains 1 15,000 inhabitants. 
 Ask the countries under the sway of intolerance, 
 whether population encreases thus with them ? 
 
 It contains large squares, which are laid out 
 like those of England with grass-plats and trees ; 
 almost everything about them is English. If 
 one could sleep through the whole passage, 
 and wake in the United States, one might be- 
 lieve oneself still in England, at least so far as 
 externals go. The houses are English. The 
 Americans have constructed some large build- 
 ings, to be more a VAnglaise, and have com- 
 pleted the resemblance by similar architectural 
 extravagances. Like the English, they will 
 insist on knowing everything of themselves, 
 without being in the slightest degree indebted 
 to foreigners. This sort of conceit is not very 
 favourable to their architecture, though exceed- 
 ingly so to their patriotism : they would how- 
 ever do wisely to keep to the simple. If they 
 will ascend to the heights of Pantheons, Par- 
 thenons, Capitols, &c. they must learn, and 
 they must go and study in those countries where
 
 44 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 the art is understood, or get foreigners to come 
 and teach them what they do not know. 
 
 There is a university which enjoys some re- 
 putation ; there is a philosophical society for 
 the encouragement of science and letters; a 
 museum of natural history; a public library 
 bequeathed to the town by the celebrated 
 Franklin; hospitals, which are not, at present, 
 very well managed, except that of Pennsyl- 
 vania, in which the patients pay for attendance. 
 In this hospital, West has left his country a 
 splendid memorial of his talents; his picture of 
 Christ Healing the Sick is certainly one of the 
 chef ' cV&uvres of modern art. 
 
 There are many handsome churches for va- 
 rious modes of worship. The Catholic church 
 of St Mary has lately been the scene of great 
 scandal. The congregation actually came to 
 open blows about a priest who was the choice 
 of the people, but rejected by the bishop and 
 his partisans ; this is the way in which our holy 
 religion is everywhere honoured and recom- 
 mended by the conduct of its professors. 
 
 The institutions for public education are very 
 numerous. They build as many schools as 
 churches, and manufactures and arts have 
 already made astonishing progress. 
 
 I have reserved the markets as a bonne bouche,
 
 SUSQUEHANA. 45 
 
 for they are really beautiful, and the quantity 
 and excellence of the provisions, and game of 
 every description, is a novel and striking sight to 
 a stranger. The great building on the Schulkyll, 
 containing the engines for raising all the water for 
 the use of the town, is a grand work and deserves 
 a volume to itself : it is therefore out of the reach 
 of a man who flies along like the stage coaches 
 of England, or of the steam boats of America. 
 The season was moreover very unfavourable to 
 any examination of a work of this kind, for all 
 the water was frozen, and one walked upon the 
 Schulkyll and Delaware just as securely as in 
 the Tuilleries. If we had arrived a week later, 
 I should have ascended the Delaware in a car- 
 riage or on horseback. Your curiosity about 
 Philadelphia is not satisfied, I know; — so much 
 the better. You will be the more glad to return. 
 
 Let us set out for Washington, and travel 
 with all expedition, that we may reach it before 
 the dissolution of Congress. 
 
 At the distance of a mile from Philadelphia 
 we cross the Schulkyll by a magnificent wooden 
 bridge of bold and wonderful construction. 
 
 At Chester, fifteen miles from Philadelphia, is 
 a fine manufactory of cloth, established by a 
 Frenchman, and worked by the Chester river. 
 But of these you have seen enough in France. 
 
 We crossed the Susquehana on the ice. It 
 is a great river, sixty-six miles from Philadel-
 
 46 BALTIMORE. 
 
 phia. Its western sources are in the Appalachian, 
 and its northern in the Chenectady mountains. 
 It flows into the Chesapeake. 
 
 You want to stop a moment at Baltimore. 
 Well, one moment; — but take care we do not 
 forget ourselves, for it is a delightful town ; — 
 I prefer it, on every account, greatly to Philadel- 
 phia. It might easily seduce us into a long 
 stay. 
 
 This province was also part of Virginia. 
 Charles I. gave lord Baltimore all the land lying 
 between the Potowmac, which was its boundary 
 on the side of Virginia, and the Susquehana, which 
 divided, and still divides it from Pennsylvania, on 
 the other. Lord Baltimore called it Maryland, in 
 honour of Queen Mary, and built a town, which 
 he also called Mary, or St Mary. He was a Ca- 
 tholic, and converted this territory into a refuge 
 for Catholics ; but by a fatality, which seems to 
 attend Catholicism, that colonies founded under 
 its auspices never prosper in this world, (perhaps 
 because the prosperity of the faithful is reserved 
 until their final migration to another), division and 
 discord found their way among the inhabitants ; 
 the town, instead of encreasing, shrunk to a mise- 
 rable village ; the colonists were poor and lazy; 
 busied in nothing but attempts to convert the 
 savages to a religion which they prophaned and 
 dishonoured, instead of recommending it by 
 evangelical morality, union, and courage. Such,
 
 BALTIMORE. 47 
 
 in short, was the state of the colony, that the 
 lord found himself compelled to get an act ap- 
 proved by the general assembly, by which every 
 man who was a Christian was admitted to an 
 enjoyment of all the advantages common to the 
 ancient colonists, and of perfect indulgence and 
 toleration for his political and religious opinions. 
 This act attracted a great number of families of 
 different creeds. The colony prospered, the city 
 encreased, and the Indians retired at the sight 
 of these new auxiliaries, whose orderly habits, 
 good morals, and firm measures of defence, awed 
 them into respect and submission. 
 
 But, my dear Countess, you must not fall into 
 the mistake of thinking that the city of Balti- 
 more, though thriving, was really a city. Any 
 place was then called a city which was the seat 
 of a colonial establishment. Fifty years ago it 
 did not perhaps contain a hundred houses ; it 
 now contains one hundred thousand inhabitants, 
 and is one of the most flourishing towns in the 
 union. It commands the northern side of the 
 great bay of Chesapeake, more than two hun- 
 dred miles from the sea, and is surrounded by 
 beautiful hills and magnificent country-houses. 
 It is the most important town of Maryland, 
 though Anapolis is the capital ; and is the entre- 
 pdt and the seat of a considerable commerce with 
 all parts of the world.
 
 48 BALTIMORE. 
 
 It has been called Baltimore ever since it be- 
 came part of the union. The Catholic church 
 alone, which has a bishop, has retained the name 
 of St Mary's. 
 
 The town is pretty and cheerful in all parts. 
 The streets and houses are perfectly brilliant 
 with neatness ; the churches are handsome, and 
 some magnificent; the exchange, surmounted 
 by a large tent- shaped cupola, is a large and 
 rich building. The column erected to the me- 
 mory of Washington is perhaps the most gigantic 
 existing, but it is very ill placed ; and the ascent 
 to the gallery round the capital is by an internal 
 staircase, without the least air-hole ; so that you 
 are almost dead before you reach the top, from 
 the foulness of the air. A colossal statue of 
 Washington is to be placed, I know not when, 
 on a plinth upon the capital. 
 
 In a pretty little square, surrounded by the 
 handsomest houses in the town, public and pri- 
 vate, is another monument, in commemoration 
 of the battle of North Point, fought five miles to 
 the south-east of Baltimore in the last war be- 
 tween the English and Americans. It cannot be 
 to commemorate the victory, for certainly this was 
 not the best scene of their valour or their glory. 
 With fifteen or sixteen thousand men, who had 
 the choice of their ground, and time for prepara- 
 tion, it surely could not be very difficult to take
 
 WASHINGTON. 49 
 
 five or six thousand English, whom general 
 Ross's imprudence had delivered into their hands. 
 This imprudence, however, cost only his life ; for 
 the Americans suffered nearly the whole of his 
 little army to escape, and to re-embark nearly 
 as easily as they landed. When I was shew- 
 ing you the monument at the Seven Mountains 
 on the Rhine, I remarked that nothing blinds 
 princes so effectually as flattery ; here we find 
 it has the same effect on republics. 
 
 Baltimore has a great number of philanthro- 
 pical institutions, and of places of public instruc- 
 tion: it is a very interesting town in every 
 respect ; and, if I were to live in the United 
 States, I had rather live at Baltimore than at 
 Philadelphia. The latter has many noble recol- 
 lections and associations, but apparently the 
 inhabitants are contented with this stock, for 
 it does not seem to me that they are in the way 
 to add to it. Philadelphia is not the place to go 
 to for amiable or courteous manners ; and in the 
 higher classes I thought I perceived symptoms 
 of an illiberal and spiteful ambition. Let us 
 go on to Washington. 
 
 The road from Baltimore to Washington has 
 nothing interesting. Washington has not long- 
 been to be found in the map of America. It 
 stands on the northern shore of the Potowmac. 
 It arose, together with the prosperity of the 
 
 VOL. II. e
 
 50 CAPITOL. 
 
 United States, after the termination of the war 
 of independence, under the auspices of the great 
 citizen whose name it bears. The ground on 
 which it stands belonged to Maryland. This 
 state consented to give it for the site of the 
 capital of the whole union. Virginia also granted 
 a portion on the southern bank, and thus was 
 formed the district of Columbia, that is to say, 
 a certain circumference round the city, which 
 serves as a sort of appanage or anti-chamber to 
 the queen-city of America. Perhaps I am using 
 this epithet rather rashly ; but the influence she 
 exercises on this new world, already so asto- 
 nishingly mature, seems to justify me even at 
 this moment, and time will justify me yet more 
 fully. There are some things in which rash- 
 ness is more shewn in rejecting too much than 
 in believing too much. 
 
 The Capitol is a large building, in a situation 
 worthy of a name of such awful grandeur. It 
 commands the whole city, which, like all infant 
 cities whose origin is to be found in political 
 causes alone, and whose growth is not hastened 
 and directed by commerce, still consists of 
 scattered sections. From its western balcony 
 you look down the whole of the High street, 
 which begins at the foot of this building, and, 
 crossing the city for nearly two miles, terminates 
 at another elevation, upon which, directly front-
 
 CAPITOL. 51 
 
 ing the Capitol, stands the president's house. 
 This edifice (the Capitol) is vast, and might have 
 been rendered grand, if the Bostonian architect 
 had not preferred the new to the regular ; — -if he 
 had not thought extravagancies more striking than 
 the rules of art, harmony too monotonous, and 
 fantastic embellishments grand and magnificent. 
 Such probably were the tastes that induced him 
 to place on the outside the grand staircase lead- 
 ing to the dome which rises majestically in 
 the centre of the eastern facade. So grand an 
 edifice, and one bearing so stately a name, ought 
 to have had a majestic entrance, where carriages 
 might have set down the members of congress at 
 the foot of a grand interior staircase, then crossed 
 a court and passed out on the other side. The 
 architect probably thought this too aristocratical 
 an indulgence, and accordingly he makes them 
 alight democratically in the rain. 
 
 The great dome is handsome, but would be 
 more so if it were not so dark in the inside. 
 On either side of it is a large hall, one for the 
 lower chamber, or representatives, the other for 
 the upper, or senators. The first is a magnifi- 
 cent room, in the form of a crescent, and a fora- 
 men, after the manner of the ancients, lights it 
 from the top of the ceiling ; but thick columns, 
 perfectly idle and useless, and galleries of too 
 great depth, round the whole concave part, im- 
 pede and absorb the voice, so that it is ex-
 
 52 CAPITOL. 
 
 tremely difficult to hear in it. The statue of 
 Liberty, which presides in this truly august 
 congress, is placed in a most singular situation. 
 She is reposing on the cornice which runs quite 
 round the hall above the great pillars. You see 
 her, but you cannot distinguish her. The sta- 
 tue itself was only a model which the Italian 
 artist, whom they sent for on purpose, pre- 
 sented for approbation ; but the honourable gen- 
 tlemen apparently thought it so beautiful, that 
 they contented themselves with the plaster, 
 so that the poor artist is still waiting, and pro- 
 bably will long remain so, for the order to 
 execute it in marble. And indeed a statue of 
 marble on a cornice would have a most threaten- 
 ing appearance, and might endanger the head 
 of the speaker who sits directly under it. 
 
 The hall of the senate is much smaller and 
 more modest, but it is also handsome. The su- 
 preme court, which has cognizance of all the law 
 affairs of the union, holds its sittings there, in a 
 room which is well-contrived, if not magnificent. 
 There is even a little closet in which the attorney- 
 general keeps his breakfast, which I saw him eat 
 in very good earnest and without the slightest 
 constraint, in full court and in the midst of the 
 audience. The library, which is still without 
 books, is a fine room : all the rest has rather the 
 air of a monastery than a palace. 
 
 The English, as you know, made a descent
 
 CONGRESS. 53 
 
 upon Washington in the last war, and burnt this 
 national monument of a rebellious people; a 
 Vandalism which certainly is not one of the 
 brightest pages of the history of England. It 
 has arisen, therefore, under a new form from 
 its ruins. It might have been rebuilt better ; 
 but it must always be regarded as a grand 
 structure, — the earnest of a transatlantic Rome. 
 To aid this allusion, the Americans have given 
 the name of Tiber to a little muddy stream which 
 creeps humbly at its foot, and soon hides its ob- 
 scurity and its shame in the Potowmac. 
 
 I guess your thoughts, dear lady ; you want 
 to know what these representatives and senators 
 are about. But this is not an affair for a passing- 
 spectator to meddle with. All I can tell you is, 
 that they assemble there to defend and maintain, 
 valorously and powerfully, the rights and liber- 
 ties of their constituents ; the independence, 
 honour, and glory of their country, against all 
 assailants. You think I may at least tell you 
 with what sort of air these gentlemen sit in their 
 arm chairs. To form any idea of the moral 
 habits which influence their manners is very 
 difficult for a rambler ; mere external appearance 
 will hardly perhaps satisfy your question. But 
 I can tell you just what I saw, and how it struck 
 me. They do not sit with such perfect noncha- 
 lance as the gentlemen of St Stephen's Chapel :
 
 54 PRESIDENT MONROE. 
 
 they have to do with a people more jealous, more 
 suspicious, more vigilant, and this keeps them a 
 little in order ; nor are elections bought so easily 
 as in England : nevertheless one sees that they 
 have an extreme mind to ape them if they dared. 
 Perhaps they will succeed when they are richer, 
 and the people more docile and more habituated 
 to regard them as demi-sovereigns. 
 
 This is no place, too, to enter into a disquisi- 
 tion on the details of the government, much as 
 I know you desire to hear all you can on that 
 interesting subject. Its fundamental basis you 
 doubtless know ; I will give you such a slight 
 idea of its composition as I have been able to 
 form for myself. 
 
 The twenty-four states which compose the 
 union have, by a perfectly new political system, 
 the sovereignty of this vast empire divided among 
 themselves ; at the same time concentrating the 
 general government in the neutral city of Wash- 
 ington, which belongs to all and to none ; and in 
 which the Americans meet yearly, as the Am- 
 phictyonic council met at Delphi ; whilst, like 
 the members of the Achaean league, each state 
 has its particular government. You must under- 
 stand me as well as you can ; for the present I 
 cannot explain myself better. 
 
 I must say a word about the President, were 
 it only to have the pleasure of telling you the
 
 PRESIDENT MONROE. 55 
 
 strange way in which I entered his apartment. 
 I went to the door of the President's house, — I 
 found it open, and walked in ; I turned in vain 
 on every side to find some one of whom to en- 
 quire for him ; there was nobody. Nearly 
 opposite the entrance of the vestibule I saw a 
 door open ; — I advanced, crossed a room, asked 
 at another door whether I might go in ; — nobody 
 answered. I asked again and again, like a Swiss ; 
 — at last an old man, in leather-breeches, top- 
 boots, and spurs, with a riding-whip in his hand, 
 came up to me : "Is the president at home?" 
 said I; " can I have the honour of seeing him?" 
 " You do see him," replied he, *' I am the pre- 
 sident, at your service." I found that I was still 
 the mountaineer who comes gaping down to 
 the low-lands full of admiration and awe for 
 everything superior and venerable ; I could not 
 utter a word. But his kind courtesy soon re- 
 lieved me from the embarrassment into which 
 I was thrown by his unexpected presence : I 
 gave him my letter of recommendation. He re- 
 ceived and talked to me with the greatest kind- 
 ness, and our conversation would perhaps have 
 been a long one, had not a senator, wrapped in a 
 great boat cloak, and very muddy, come in loaded 
 with papers, and interrupted it. His manners 
 were as coarse as those of the president were po- 
 lite. I went out by the same way as I had gone
 
 5G ROAD TO PITTSBURG. 
 
 in, and quitted this illustrious chief magistrate 
 with an impression of the deepest respect and 
 veneration. 
 
 What a difference, my dear Madam, between 
 his noble manners and the disgusting morgue of 
 a*miserable French diplomatist, to whom I was 
 afterwards ashamed to have presented a letter 
 of introduction ! What a difference between the 
 frank and liberal tone of conversation of the one, 
 and the pitiful inquisitiveness of the other ! You 
 know, doubtless, that the present president is 
 James Monroe. We must quit Washington ; but 
 it is impossible to do so without being struck 
 with a sort of amazement and admiration, and 
 filled with a crowd of secret and busy thoughts 
 which it is difficult to define. 
 
 The principal interest of the road from Wash- 
 ington to Pittsburg arises from the reflection, 
 that all these fields, these villages and towns, 
 have just arisen, as it were, out of nothing, and 
 that they are all the seat of the greatest pros- 
 perity and the most perfect and solid liberty. 
 The sight of poverty would here be considered a 
 phenomenon ; competence and comfort are uni- 
 versal. 
 
 The country is diversified by forests, prairies, 
 tilled fields, plains, hills, vallies, mountains, 
 rivers, and torrents, so that there is no room for 
 monotony, and the eye is continually solicited
 
 AMERICAN ROADS. 57 
 
 by boundless variety. It passes rapidly from 
 the gloomy to the gay, from the lovely to 
 the terrific, and vice versa. It is one continuous 
 gallery of the finest pictures from the hand of 
 Nature. 
 
 The most considerable town on the road is 
 Frederick's-town in Maryland, forty-five miles 
 from Washington. It already contains four 
 thousand inhabitants, and is a delightful little 
 town. Here I was compelled to halt. We were 
 packed like red herrings, in a bad stage-coach, 
 full of Kentuckians, whom it is really impossi- 
 ble to endure. It is a pity that a people so 
 brave, industrious, and active, should be so 
 coarse and insolent : one can and must esteem 
 them, but it is a difficult matter to like them. 
 As this is the season of their annual migration 
 from east to west, and consequently all the 
 stages swarm with them, I hired a kind of wag- 
 gon and went to Chambersburg in Pennsylva- 
 nia, on the road from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. 
 It is a much larger town than Frederick's-town. 
 Here begins the eastern ascent of the Apalachian 
 mountains, which are neither so high nor so hor- 
 rible as some geographers represent them. On 
 this road they divide into three distinct ridges, 
 from north to south. 
 
 The line of the great road, which crosses them 
 up to this point, is well chosen, but the road
 
 58 AMERICAN WOMEN. 
 
 itself is detestable, as are almost all American 
 roads ; indeed any reasonable man must see that 
 some time must elapse before an easy circulation 
 can be opened through this mighty body. The 
 descent of the western side of the mountains is 
 worse than that on the east, which also was to be 
 expected ; it is farther from the centre of civili- 
 zation, and nearer to the region where things are 
 yet in statu quo. However, one finds good inns 
 everywhere ; and with their fine horses, which 
 for strength and fire perhaps surpass the Eng- 
 lish, the stages do get along. 
 
 I was surprised to find so little snow at this 
 season on mountains which make so much noise 
 in the world, and in a country where the cold is 
 more intense at a latitude of 40° than it is at 50° 
 in Europe. This cold is the very thing which 
 brings my ramble to a close ; — and closed it is. 
 
 What, — without a word of the American wo- 
 men ? Indeed, my dear Countess, they deserve 
 that I should bespeak your esteem for them, 
 though in so short a time I do not pretend to 
 appreciate all their merits. 
 
 They are generally pretty — at least their coun- 
 tenances are extremely interesting to me ; they 
 are agreeable without forwardness, modest with- 
 out affectation, well-informed without pedantry ; 
 and are excellent housewives. In all respects, 
 they are very superior to the men.
 
 JOSEPH BUONAPARTE. 59 
 
 You are astonished, are you not, dear Madam, 
 that an European should come to America, pass 
 very often by Joseph Buonaparte's door, and 
 not say a word about him. 
 
 It is my system never to mention individuals 
 if I can say no good ; you know, besides, that 
 the name of Buonaparte died — as it was born — 
 with Napoleon ; unless indeed it should revive 
 in his son. 
 
 Au revoir, my dear Countess — a little farther 
 — but where I know not. 
 
 P. S. Continue, if you please, to send your 
 letters through Baring, Brothers, and Co. Lon- 
 don.
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Cojrftuence of the 01 no and Mississippi, 
 April 20th, 1823. 
 
 I have made another very long and beautiful 
 excursion, my dear Countess, since I wrote to 
 you from Pittsburg. How much do I wish that 
 I possessed the pencil of Claude or the pen of 
 Delille, to place so enchanting a picture before 
 your eyes ; or that I were gifted with the saga- 
 city of Anacharsis and the wisdom of Mentor ; I 
 could then select and appreciate whatever is cal- 
 culated to arrest the attention of the present, or 
 excite the hopes of future generations, in the 
 country through which I have passed. 
 
 I must entreat you to receive with indulgence 
 the communications of a man, whose mind so
 
 PITTSBURG. 
 
 61 
 
 often wanders back to those scenes whither the 
 love of country and of home are continually re- 
 calling him ; where the admiration of the most 
 extraordinary virtue, the consolations of the 
 noblest friendship, so long and so delightfully 
 occupied him ; and whose eyes would fain rest 
 only upon what are most difficult to describe, — 
 objects which interest his heart. But let us 
 return to Pittsburg. 
 
 Pittsburg, before the war of independence, 
 was only a small port, called by the name of 
 da Quesne, when these wilds belonged to the 
 French ; and by that of Pitt, when the English 
 took possession of it under the ministry of that 
 man whom Mr Nicoll, one of his coadjutors in 
 parliament, has described better than fame did. 
 This fort was at that time one of the bulwarks 
 which defended the western frontier of the Eu- 
 ropean colonies. At that time, the savages or 
 aborigines inhabited all the vast regions which 
 now constitute the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illi- 
 nois, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala- 
 bama, and a great part of those of Louisiana, 
 Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virgi- 
 nia. Pittsburg is now a city, containing about 
 twelve thousand inhabitants. 
 
 The rapidity with which the human species 
 has multiplied in these countries is astonishing ; 
 it seems as if death had lost his empire in this
 
 62 PITTSBURG. 
 
 country ; but now it is rich and flourishing, and 
 physicians are flocking hither in abundance. 
 
 It would be difficult to find a situation so far 
 inland, and at the same time so favourable to 
 internal and external commerce. 
 
 Pittsburg belongs to the state of Pennsylva- 
 nia, and is situated at the foot of the western 
 slope of the Apalachian or Alleghany mountains, 
 which, from Canada to the gulph of Mexico, 
 from N.N.E. to S.S.W., divide the United 
 States into Eastern and Western. Here, the 
 Alleghany and Monongahela rivers unite, and, 
 losing their respective names, take that of Ohio, 
 which, in the Algonquine or aboriginal language, 
 signifies " beautiful river." The former, which 
 flows from the north, affords a safe navigation 
 as far as Presqu'isle, where, by means of a very 
 short land carriage, there is a communication 
 with lake Erie. The latter also conveys large 
 boats along a course of about two hundred 
 miles, to within a short distance from its sources 
 towards the S. E. in the Apalachian moun- 
 tains. 
 
 Pittsburg is already in a flourishing state ; it 
 has a number of manufactories all in great acti- 
 vity, and moved by steam. So powerful is the 
 mechanism employed in the manufacture of 
 nails, that, with my watch in my hand, I have 
 seen more than three hundred made in a minute
 
 STEAM-BOATS. 63 
 
 with the aid of one man ; and in the iron-foun- 
 dry, the metal is reduced perhaps in still less 
 time, from its primitive state to that of a polished 
 bar of any dimensions or size. In countries 
 where it will soon be attempted, as in former 
 times, to make the sun move and the earth stand 
 still, the inventors of these machines would be 
 considered as sorcerers, and exposed to the cruel 
 punishment inflicted upon our celebrated Ga- 
 lileo. Pittsburg is the little Birmingham of the 
 United States. 
 
 This city receives goods from the Atlantic by 
 way of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, 
 and sends them to the western states by the 
 Ohio, the Muskingum, the Kentucky, the Ten- 
 nessee, the Cumberland, the Mississippi, the 
 Missouri, the Illinois, &c. ; and to the countries 
 situated upon the gulf of Mexico, by the canal 
 of New Orleans, lying upon the Mississippi, at 
 a short distance from its mouths ; and receives 
 the produce of all the countries washed by 
 these great rivers, as well as that of the West 
 Indies. 
 
 The steam-boats and other vessels by which 
 they are conveyed, cross these vast countries of 
 the new world in every direction. The former 
 are fitted up with every possible accommoda- 
 tion, and a tolerable degree of neatness. The 
 passengers are provided with plain but plentiful
 
 64 BRIDGES. 
 
 breakfasts and dinners ; with suppers, which 
 are rendered less heavy by tea ; with beds, to 
 which the noise of the water and the machinery 
 imparts a soporific virtue not to be found else- 
 where ; and there is a numerous company, 
 which is almost always enlivened by some ori- 
 ginal character. 
 
 I embarked in one of these steam-boats on 
 the morning of the 1st of April ; and I had ar- 
 rived at some distance from Pittsburg, before I 
 perceived that the weather was serene, and the 
 sky brilliantly illuminated with the rays of the 
 ancient God of the land ; for the coal-smoke, 
 the only incense which the manufacturing and 
 heretical inhabitants offer to their two divi- 
 nities, Avarice and Industry, enshrouds the 
 sun by day and the stars by night. But for 
 this thick cloud, the prospect, at the point 
 where these two great rivers meet, surrounded 
 by hills, intersected by vallies, and losing itself 
 in the romantic distance, would have been much 
 more picturesque and surprising. 
 
 The appearance of the two bridges by which 
 the city communicates with the opposite banks 
 of the two rivers, was quite enchanting, aided as 
 it was by the effect of the mist. The bridges are 
 built entirely of wood, resting upon stone pillars, 
 and are chefs-d'oeuvre of their kind. The tim- 
 ber-work is admirably united, and supports, as
 
 BRIDGES. 65 
 
 by magic, the flat arches, which, although held 
 together by the sole effect of pressure, are of a 
 considerable span. They are beautiful proofs 
 of the progress of mechanism among the Ameri- 
 cans. It appears, that they build much better 
 bridges than Parthenons and Capitols. 
 
 Each of these bridges has a trottoir on both 
 sides, where foot-passengers cannot be incom- 
 moded by the horses or carriages, for which 
 there are separate entrances ; they are like spa- 
 cious galleries which afford a shelter from the 
 wind and rain. That over the Monongahela is 
 about half a mile long ; that over the Alleghany 
 somewhat less. They are both lighted by 
 glazed windows at equal distances ; the lat- 
 tices with which they are adorned add to their 
 beauty, and when the sun raises the vapour 
 from the water to the top of the pillars, it 
 gives them the appearance of floating palaces. 
 
 The bridges belong to a company of specula- 
 tors, whom the toll, though high, will probably 
 never repay for the sums they have expended 
 upon them ; for the numerous facilities which so 
 many navigable rivers afford to commerce and 
 to travellers, and the bad state of the roads, are 
 great obstacles to the interests and profits of the 
 constructors of bridges. 
 
 You would be astonished, my dear Countess, 
 in a country where everything seems rapidly 
 
 VOL. II. 1'
 
 66 RIVALRY OF THE STATES. 
 
 advancing towards civilization, to find roads 
 which seem to belong to a state of savage wild- 
 ness. Nor do I believe they will be improved 
 whilst the influence of the several states in the 
 general government continues to be so unwisely 
 distributed ; that is to say, whilst the number of 
 the representatives in congress is in proportion 
 to the population of each state, by which means 
 the four or five most populous have a preponde- 
 rance over all the others. This great Union is 
 consequently always disunited when legislating 
 on a matter which, like high-ways, is more be- 
 neficial to one state than to another. This must 
 indeed be the case, unless the measure happen 
 to interest the three states of Virginia, Pennsyl- 
 vania and New York, which can always com- 
 mand a majority over the twenty-one others. 
 Generally speaking, they are unanimous only in 
 one point, that is, the jealousy with which they 
 watch each other. 
 
 If this jealousy never transgressed the bounds 
 of moderation, it might perhaps contribute to the 
 safety of the republic : but, as the western 
 states manifest on all occasions a violent oppo- 
 sition to those of the east, and as the federa- 
 lists or aristocrats are often at open variance 
 with the popular or democratical party, rivalry 
 may be strengthened into hatred, and may be- 
 come fatal to the Union and advantageous to
 
 L0XG ISLAND. 67 
 
 their common enemy, who has his eye upon 
 them, and, I believe, leaves no means untried 
 to foment divisions among the leaders of the 
 different parties. All parties are alike to the 
 cabinet of St James's, provided they promote 
 discord and anarchy, which its machiavelism 
 has made the strong-hold of the political ex- 
 istence of England, and to which it is, in a man- 
 ner, obliged to condemn every nation that gives 
 it cause for jealousy or alarm. 
 
 Almost immediately after we had passed this 
 great confluence, we saw a delightful little 
 island, in which a clump of lofty tufted trees 
 seems to offer its leafy homage to the majesty of 
 the newly-formed river. 
 
 Eight miles farther, another island, named 
 from its extent Long Island, divides it in the 
 middle. The pretty little houses and cottages 
 scattered over it form a delightful landscape, 
 which was softened into tender tints by the 
 smoke curling amid the trees. 
 
 Neither time nor my pen would suffice to de- 
 scribe to you all the impressions which the dif- 
 ferent aspects of this magnificent river produce 
 upon the mind ; and a detailed description of the 
 immense tract of country through which it flows 
 would fatigue your magination, which I wish to 
 keep unsated I shall therefore only give you a 
 sketch of the principal places it washes, and of
 
 68 WEELING. 
 
 the most considerable rivers that flow into it; 
 after which, I will take a rapid survey of the 
 whole valley it embellishes in its course. 
 
 As the direction of the Ohio, from Pittsburg to 
 its mouth, is nearly from E.N.E. to W.S.W., 
 to avoid confusion and ambiguity, (notwith- 
 standing its frequent deviations from this line,) 
 we will call the right bank the northern, and the 
 left the southern, whenever we have occasion 
 to distinguish them. 
 
 The vast state of Pennsylvania extends upon 
 these two banks forty-one miles southward to 
 Grape Island, and continues forty-four north- 
 ward to Little Beaver Creek, which separates it 
 on one side from the state of Virginia, on the 
 other from that of Ohio. 
 
 We arrived in the evening at Weeling, on the 
 southern bank, as by enchantment. Although 
 ninety-one miles from Pittsburg, I was uncon- 
 scious of the distance, so much were my eyes 
 and my imagination occupied and delighted by 
 the charms of this river. 
 
 Weeling is the great rival of Pittsburg, as Vir- 
 ginia, to which it belongs, is of Pennsylvania. 
 Its situation is very favourable. Almost all the 
 inhabitants of the west, going eastward, come to 
 this place to take the stage-coach, which arrives 
 three times a week, and sets out again regularly 
 for Washington, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsyl-
 
 MARIETTA. 69 
 
 vania, &c. But it has by no means all the ad- 
 vantages of Pittsburg, whence the trade of the 
 Delta, of the Monangahela and of the Alleghany, 
 extends to all points, and where the abundance 
 and cheapness of coals greatly facilitate manu- 
 factures. 
 
 Marietta, eighty-four miles lower than Weeling, 
 on the northern bank, has not been long built ; 
 nevertheless it is the chief town of the county of 
 Washington, in the state of the Ohio. In 1800 
 this place contained only a few families ; it is 
 now adorned with beautiful public and private 
 buildings. General Putnam, the father of the 
 colony, is still living. Education is promoted 
 by an academy erected for that purpose, and a 
 pretty good library is open to the citizens. It 
 has a printing press which is never idle; for in 
 the United States, the public papers are as 
 much read in small villages as in great towns, — 
 in the cottage as in the palace. A Presbyterian 
 church, although large, is scarcely sufficient to 
 contain the population, which now amounts to 
 2,000 persons, and increases prodigiously every 
 year with the growth of the city. Its situation 
 is most delightful, and the Muskingum, which 
 falls into the Ohio, gives it the advantage of an 
 extensive inland navigation. By a very short 
 land journey from near the source of the Musk- 
 ingum, you reach the river Cuyahoga, which 
 runs into lake Eric.
 
 70 GENERAL PUTNAM. 
 
 The current of the Muskingum is so gentle 
 that, when the Ohio is swollen, its waters are 
 driven back to a considerable distance. This oc- 
 casioned a curious incident. A flat boat, laden 
 with provisions for New Orleans, had arrived 
 near the confluence of the Muskingum and the 
 Ohio. The latter having swelled prodigiously 
 during the night, turned the current of the Mus- 
 kingum back towards its source. From the 
 darkness of the night, the boat followed the 
 same direction. The day after, a thick fog, 
 which concealed the banks of the river, con- 
 curred with the carelessness of the boatman to 
 favour the mistake which continued the whole 
 of the second night; but the following day, the 
 fog having dispersed sufficiently to render the 
 boat visible from shore, they were hailed with the 
 usual questions, — whence they came, — where 
 they were going, — and what their boat was laden 
 with? They then made the discovery that, in- 
 stead of going to New Orleans, they had been 
 carried up the Muskingum. 
 
 General Putnam is the patriarch, of the colony 
 of Marietta. He is a venerable old man, and 
 has a claim to honourable mention in the inter- 
 esting, and hitherto entirely neglected history 
 of these western parts of the United States. An 
 humble individual like myself can only pay 
 him the tribute of a few words expressive of the 
 respect with which he filled me. He has
 
 GENERAL PUTNAM. 71 
 
 watched the growth of this country from the 
 time when no sounds were heard but the roaring 
 of wild beasts, the croaking of the raven, or the 
 death-song of the savages against whom he 
 fought. He has seen the trees of these forests 
 fall under the axe of the cultivator, and their 
 places supplied by the alternate succession of log- 
 houses, then of cottages, and lastly of the beau- 
 tiful houses which now adorn the surrounding 
 scenery. He has beheld the whole country in- 
 undated by an extraordinary rise of the Ohio and 
 the Muskingum ; all the cattle, and many men, 
 drowned ; and watched the desolation, disease, 
 and death, consequent upon such an event. He 
 has witnessed all the horrors of the vindictive 
 incursions of the savages, and seen the exhaust- 
 less fertility and natural advantages of the soil 
 triumph over the ravages of fire and sword. In 
 this place he witnessed the construction of the 
 first steam-boat that traversed these vast regions, 
 and from this spot he himself has sent vessels 
 to the gulf of Mexico, a distance of more than 
 2,000 miles. He has survived all the vicissi- 
 tudes of an infant colony; and in this peaceful 
 seclusion he awaits the termination of that mor- 
 tal career, in which he has distinguished himself 
 as one of the great men of the revolution, and as 
 the most skilful and enterprising of settlers. He 
 is simple and unostentatious in his manners; he
 
 72 BLENNERIIASSET. 
 
 has acted upon Cato's precept — Melius est esse 
 quam videri. 
 
 The situation of Belpre upon the north bank, 
 and in the same country, is very agreeably in 
 unison with its name. It was given to it by 
 some Frenchmen, who, after fighting for Ame- 
 rican independence, settled in this place to 
 enjoy the fruits of their valour in peace. When 
 one considers how much the French have 
 achieved for the liberty of others, — that they 
 sacrificed their good king to the vain phantom of 
 their own, — and that they are now forging chains 
 for Spain and Portugal, and perhaps for them- 
 selves, with the same alacrity with which they 
 offered hecatombs to the terrorism of the sans- 
 culottes, — one is filled with a thousand mingled 
 and contending feelings. 
 
 The island of Blennerhasset claims the atten- 
 tion of the traveller from its length, which is 
 three miles, from its enchanting beauty, and 
 from the recollection of the unhappy catastrophe 
 to which it owes its name. 
 
 An Irish gentleman, flying from the horrors 
 with which the rebellion of 1801 filled his country, 
 took refuge in America, and settled in this island 
 with all his family. Rich, and an admirer of the 
 beautiful, he converted it into a perfect Tivoli. 
 In December 1810, a terrible fire buried his 
 only daughter under the ruins of the beautiful
 
 GALLIPOLIS. 73 
 
 house which he had built. He immediately 
 quitted this abode of sorrow, and the island 
 now retains no other memorial of his splendid 
 residence than the name of the unfortunate 
 girl who perished in it : with her, perished every- 
 thing. What a wound must this cruel loss have 
 inflicted upon the feelings of the wretched 
 parent ! Having afterwards engaged in a conspi- 
 racy, the object of which was to break up the 
 Great Union, he was obliged to quit America. 
 
 The Great Kenhawa is the first great river 
 that flows into the Ohio from the south. It 
 descends from the western Apalachians of north 
 Carolina, and is navigable to a considerable dis- 
 tance from its mouth. 
 
 Gallipolis, also founded by Frenchmen, who 
 fled at the approach of the first terrors of the 
 revolution to the state of Ohio, is now the chief 
 town of a county, although it was not in exist- 
 ence before 1790: but the most astonishing 
 place is Burlington, which, though built only 
 five years ago, is the metropolis of the county 
 of Lawrence and the seat of a court of justice. 
 
 The only remarkable circumstance in the little 
 river Sandy is, that it fixes the boundaries of 
 the state of Virginia and that of Kentucky upon 
 the southern bank, at about 300 miles from 
 Pittsburg. 
 
 Portsmouth, upon the northern bank in the
 
 74 CINCINNATI. 
 
 state of Ohio, is situated at the confluence of 
 Scioto, a considerable river, and navigable to 
 the interior of the state. 
 
 Maysville, or Limestone, upon the southern 
 bank, is one of the most flourishing towns in the 
 state of Kentucky. I walked about its envi- 
 rons, and the varied prospects and enchanting- 
 scenes which every instant presented them- 
 selves so occupied my mind and invited my 
 steps, that the steam-boat, after having waited 
 for me a long time, sailed without me. Fortu- 
 nately a raft passed, by means of which I over- 
 took it at Cincinnati, where it stopped to un- 
 load goods and take in others. I passed the 
 whole night in rowing, to protect myself from 
 the frost. 
 
 The infancy of Cincinnati promises much. Al- 
 though Columbia is the capital of the state of 
 Ohio, Cincinnati is its largest and most com- 
 mercial town ; it is inferior only to Pittsburg in 
 riches and manufactures, but is much prettier 
 and more agreeable. It is conspicuous from its 
 situation on three plateaux, which rise gradually 
 from the bank of the Ohio ; it is enclosed by 
 hills on the north, and the Ohio washes it in a 
 semicircle on the south. It is our own Genoa 
 in miniature, and its environs are equally embel- 
 lished with beautiful villas. Its steam-boats 
 navigate the Ohio and the Mississippi. Activity
 
 THE RIVER MIAMI. 75 
 
 and industry are everywhere obvious. An aca- 
 demy and museum shew the love of the inhabi- 
 tants for science and literature; and five hun- 
 dred scholars whom 1 saw at the school, con- 
 ducted upon the system of mutual instruction, 
 proved the wide diffusion of education. I was 
 surprised to see the girls mixed pble mble with 
 boys. Notwithstanding the respect due to the 
 morals of the Americans, one cannot help fearing 
 that opportunity will prevail over the most 
 austere principles. There may be the most 
 primitive simplicity and purity, but nature 
 speaks a still more seducing language than the 
 corruptions of society. I have been told that it 
 owes its illustrious name to Mr Wergenton, who 
 first settled there towards the end of the last 
 century, and whose virtue gave him a just claim 
 to the surname of Cincinnatus. I am inclined to 
 believe the name of so illustrious and so repub- 
 lican a Roman may have contributed, among a 
 people just emerging into republicanism, to at- 
 tract a number of persons and thus to render it 
 so soon flourishing. It has a population of about 
 14,000, the greater part emigrants from New 
 England. It is about 450 miles from Pittsburg. 
 The river Miami, which descends from the 
 north, separates the state of Ohio from that of 
 Indiana. It is navigable far up the country, and 
 communicates with other rivers which consider-
 
 76 VEVAY. 
 
 ably extend the navigation into the interior of 
 the two states. It is four hundred and seventy 
 miles from Pittsburg, and nearly midway of the 
 course of the Ohio. 
 
 I cannot help detaining you an instant, my 
 dear Countess, at the small village of Rising 
 Sun, situated upon a little eminence. Its bril- 
 liant beauty and picturesque situation perfectly 
 justify its name. It is in the state of Indiana, 
 upon the northern shore of the Ohio. 
 
 It is impossible to pass Vevay without travel- 
 ling back in thought to Europe, and to that 
 wondrous work in which the great citizen of 
 Geneva, whilst he unfolds the weaknesses of the 
 human heart, shews how completely virtue tri- 
 umphs over them ; in which he proves that love 
 may be as pure and irreproachable as it is ardent 
 and elevated ; in which human nature is painted 
 under an aspect at once extraordinary and na- 
 tural, and the heroine is the model of the wife, 
 the mother, and the friend. This little town, 
 although in the bosom of America, is, like the 
 Pays de Vaad, inhabited by Swiss who are very 
 successful agriculturists. It is situated upon 
 the northern bank, and in the state of Indiana, 
 five hundred and fourteen miles from Pittsburg. 
 These Swiss cultivate the vine : they are the 
 only settlers who have hitherto had any success 
 in this branch of agriculture.
 
 THE FALLS. / / 
 
 We are now arrived at one of the greatest tri- 
 butaries of the Ohio — the river Kentucky. It 
 descends to the south from a branch of the Apa- 
 lachian mountains, which forms a kind of cher- 
 sonese towards the west, and separates the 
 state of Kentucky on the north from that of 
 Alabama on the south. This branch is called 
 the Cumberland Mountains. The river Ken- 
 tucky crosses the state to which it has given its 
 name, and falls into the Ohio, at about five 
 hundred and twenty-five miles from Pittsburg ; 
 between Port Williams on the right, and Pres- 
 tonville on the left. It is daily productive 
 of new advantages to these two infant towns, 
 as well as to the country in the interior, by 
 the facility with which it enables them to ex- 
 change their surplus produce for foreign com- 
 modities. 
 
 At five hundred and eighty miles from Pitts- 
 burg, you arrive at what are called the Falls, i. e. 
 the cascades of the Ohio. 
 
 I make it a rule never to ask questions before- 
 hand about any great exhibitions either of art or 
 nature, that I may secure to my curiosity the 
 gratification of a surprise either more agreeable 
 or more intense ; and that my eyes and my judg- 
 ment may be under the influence of no other im- 
 pressions than their own. But here my expecta- 
 tions, raised by the idea of the fall of so large 
 a volume of water, were grievously disappointed ;
 
 78 THE FALLS. 
 
 and my only astonishment was, that there was 
 nothing to be astonished at. 
 
 These falls are nothing more than an inclined 
 plane of only twenty-two feet in the space of 
 two miles ; which in fact produces no other 
 effect than that of rendering the current more 
 rapid. I observed, however, a phenomenon 
 which appears extraordinary. 
 
 I thought that the velocity impressed upon 
 such a volume of water by this descent, must 
 have given it an irresistible force, and have ac- 
 celerated the current to a considerable distance ; 
 but this was not the fact ; the river, at the 
 bottom of this inclined plane, immediately re- 
 sumes, as if by magic, its level and its ordinary 
 rapidity, without the least reflux. We, my dear 
 Countess, who are only inquisitive observers, 
 must leave the solution of this problem to the 
 learned. 
 
 These rapids, besides the check which they 
 might oppose to the progress of an invading 
 army, have been extremely beneficial in giving 
 birth to two commercial entrepots for goods : one 
 where they begin, the other where they termi- 
 nate. They are the two nourishing towns, 
 Louisville, where all vessels coming down, and 
 Shipping-port, where those going up the Ohio, 
 stop. They are both on the southern bank. 
 When, however, the waters are high, the rapids 
 may be ascended without danger.
 
 LOUISVILLE. 79 
 
 Other small towns and villages have sprung 
 up on the opposite bank, and form similar entre- 
 pots for the state of Indiana. In my opinion, a 
 canal, which has been projected, between Ship- 
 ping-port and Louisville, would be in many- 
 respects very disadvantageous. 
 
 Louisville is the principal key to the com- 
 merce of the state of Kentucky. If Pittsburg 
 be the Tyre, and Cincinnati the Carthage of the 
 Ohio, Louisville is its Syracuse. 
 
 A short time before the beginning of this cen- 
 tury, it was only a small fort of observation, 
 built by general Clark, who was the terror of the 
 Indians. He was one of the first who drove 
 back these savage tribes to the north and west; 
 or rather, one of the first who invaded and 
 usurped their lands. This town contains already 
 more than 8000 inhabitants. What renders the 
 population more astonishing is, that a great 
 number of the inhabitants yearly fall a sacrifice 
 to the pestilential exhalations of the surrounding 
 marshes, as well as to the contradictory systems 
 of the swarm of medical men by whom it is in- 
 fested. On first entering the city, I inferred, 
 from the bills which these gentlemen post up in 
 every corner of the streets, that the country 
 must be a dangerous one; just as the traveller 
 who had long wandered in deserts and among 
 barbarous nations, perceived that he was got
 
 80 THE WABASH. 
 
 back to civilized lands by the appearance of a 
 man hanging on a gibbet in the square of the 
 first city he came to. Such however is the 
 thirst for gold, that it daily attracts new victims, 
 who die off in regular succession. 
 
 Shipping-port is not more healthy than Louis- 
 ville and is much smaller ; for the speculators 
 of this place prefer living upon the right bank 
 of the river in the pretty little towns of Clarks- 
 burg, Albany, and Jefferson, the elevation of 
 which above the river affords them delightful 
 views and salubrious air ; to which may be 
 added, that there are only two gentlemen of the 
 faculty, — that their theories are in complete uni- 
 son, — and consequently do not compel them to 
 try experiments upon their patients. 
 
 If I were to advert to every object that struck 
 my eye or touched my heart, language would not 
 furnish me with a sufficient variety of expres- 
 sions, and you would be doomed to tedious repe- 
 titions. I shall, therefore, pass by those scenes 
 which offer nothing more interesting than what 
 we have already seen ; and after having pointed 
 out to you the Wabash, which descends from the 
 north and separates the state of Indiana from 
 that of Illinois, eight hundred and twenty-five 
 miles from Pittsburg; and on the south, the 
 Green river, theTennessee, and the Cumberland, 
 four large rivers, important for their navigation ;
 
 WILKINSONVILLE. 81 
 
 we will stop at the little place called Wilkinson- 
 ville, to talk a few minutes on a matter which 
 its name suggests, and which deserves a place 
 in the history — whenever there is one — of the 
 United States. 
 
 This town had its origin in a little fort built 
 against the Red men by general Wilkinson, who, 
 after having been the Marcellus, wished to become 
 theCsesar of his country. He distinguished him- 
 self by his courage in all the wars, both against 
 the English and the Indians ; but, like the 
 conqueror of the Gauls, has been accused of 
 conspiring against the liberty of his country. 
 
 He was commander in chief of all these western 
 regions, at the time colonel Burr, under pretence 
 of commercial speculations, was lurking about 
 the country, and holding secret meetings, which, 
 as I have been informed, had very little to 
 do with commerce. Colonel Burr, you must 
 observe, had been vice-president, and, being 
 extremely ambitious, could ill brook the neces- 
 sity of yielding his pretensions to the presidency, 
 to his illustrious competitor Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 A correspondence long kept up between Wil- 
 kinson and Burr excited suspicion ; I know not 
 how well founded. They were accused of a con- 
 spiracy against the government, for the purpose 
 of separating the eastern from the western states ; 
 
 VOL. II. g
 
 82 AN ADVENTURE. 
 
 and were even suspected of some secret intelli- 
 gence with the cabinet of St James's. But, 
 after a long trial and interminable debates, they 
 were both acquitted ; Wilkinson by a court- 
 martial, Burr by a court of justice ; but neither by 
 public opinion. It is lamentable that two men of 
 distinguished talents, who had done good service 
 to their country and the cause of liberty, should 
 have incurred the stigma of such an accusation. 
 
 We have not made much progress, my dear 
 Madam, and we are still stopping at a place 
 which, although it contains only two cats and a 
 chimney, is called America. It is an embryo 
 entrepot of Lower Illinois : the steam-boat touched 
 there to take in flour, of which this state already 
 grows a quantity much beyond its consumption. 
 I availed myself of this opportunity to ramble a 
 little in the woods, the attractions of which I 
 can never resist. These primeval forests are 
 extremely inviting to a man born in the midst 
 of the gardens of the beautiful but over-culti- 
 vated Hesperia. One of the passengers of the 
 steam-boat accompanied me ; and we returned 
 with a stock of laughter which lasted us and the 
 company for a long time. I send you your por- 
 tion of it. 
 
 I was behind a large oak watching a squir- 
 rel, when suddenly my companion called out,
 
 AN ADVENTURE. 83 
 
 "A deer!" I asked where ? He replied/' Upon a 
 tree." Wishing to return the jest, I desired him to 
 get some bird-lime and catch it, like a beccango ; 
 but seeing that he actually believed what he 
 wished me to believe, I suspected there was some 
 strange blunder ; I therefore approached it : — it 
 was a panther ! I cannot tell which became the 
 paler of the two, but certainly the face of my Ame- 
 rican friend was not blooming. Our guns were 
 loaded with small-shot, so that to fire would only 
 have been to irritate her. We were perfectly 
 agreed as to the propriety of not disturbing her, 
 since she was so oblioin^ as not to stir. We retired, 
 and, borne upon the wings of fear, with the sun 
 for our compass, we soon reached our steam- 
 boat, though we had plunged into a very thick, 
 pathless forest. 
 
 We immediately returned to the spot, accom- 
 panied by some huntsmen of the village, and 
 better armed ; but the animal was gone. 
 
 When we first saw her she was carelessly 
 lying upon the junction of two large arms of one 
 of those venerable maples which still abound in 
 these regions. There are a great many panthers 
 in these immense forests : they remain thus 
 motionless upon the trees that they may more 
 easily fall upon the squirrels which abound 
 there, and which are their favourite food. 
 
 They are very different from those of Africa
 
 84 THE OHIO. 
 
 and Asia ; at a distance their skin resembles 
 that of a deer : — but a deer grazing upon a tree! 
 I leave you to judge, my dear Countess, whether 
 this, with the bird-lime, and our surprise, were 
 not sufficient to make us laugh. I cannot help 
 laughing still, when I think of the whole scene. 
 
 A vast wooden house, which performs the 
 functions of an inn, built upon stakes driven 
 into the water, marks the place called the Mouth ; 
 that is to say, the mouth of the Ohio, where it 
 joins the Mississippi. The current of these two 
 rivers is, as it were, paralyzed for about twenty 
 miles above their confluence, which seems to 
 shew that the volume of the Ohio is as powerful 
 at this place as that of the Mississippi. 
 
 This junction is one of the grandest spectacles 
 of nature; and the theories of gravitation and 
 pressure, of attraction and repulsion, of inclina- 
 tion and equilibrium, — in short, all that concerns 
 the general laws of the motion of fluids, — here 
 offer a vast field of battle to the learned in hy- 
 draulics, hydrometrics, hydrostatics, hydrody- 
 namics, and a whole dictionary of such hard 
 words. I give place to them ; for all this is worse 
 than Greek to me ; and whilst the savans are 
 fighting, I will return to Pittsburg to give you a 
 slight sketch of the Tenipe of this great Peneus of 
 the United States. 
 
 The valley of the Ohio appears to be only the
 
 THE OHIO. 
 
 85 
 
 bed which it has formed for itself by the gradual 
 wearing away of the land by its waters. From 
 Pittsburg to its mouth, it winds between small 
 hills, which are almost always of equal height? 
 and the tops of which are generally on a level 
 with the immense plain which it penetrates and 
 divides ; for all that vast tract inclosed by the 
 Apalachian and Rocky Mountains, from east 
 to west, is nearly a flat, intersected with small 
 hills, which seem to have the same character 
 and the same origin as those which inclose the 
 valley of the Ohio ; and it is the general level 
 of this region, joined to their small degree of 
 elevation, which facilitates the navigation of the 
 many considerable rivers intersecting it in every 
 direction. Another circumstance concurs to 
 support the opinion which I have before ad- 
 vanced ; I mean the great number of islands 
 in this river. I think I counted about sixty. 
 
 The banks have the varied aspect of a country 
 which has been but a few years opened to the 
 eye of man ; where art and civilization have pro- 
 duced but slight changes in the picture, which it 
 still exhibits of its primitive state ; and the re- 
 flections and feelings arising from it heighten 
 the charms with which it delights the eye and 
 the imagination. The places which bear traces 
 of the hand of man form the most striking con-
 
 86 THE OHIO. 
 
 trast with those in which nature is still uncul- 
 tivated. The most smiling towns and villages are 
 often separated by an interval of gloomy solitude. 
 Fields and meadows of extraordinary luxuriance 
 and beauty are intersected by gloomy woods 
 and impenetrable forests ; the log-houses and 
 cottages, the farms and hamlets, scattered here 
 and there, diffuse over the scene a variety so in- 
 teresting, that it is impossible for the coldest 
 heart to be insensible to it. 
 
 Few rivers, I think, afford such diversity of 
 pleasing objects as the Ohio. The most lively 
 fancy and the most profound meditation find per- 
 petual food and exercise, and one may be in turn 
 a poet, a political economist, and a philosopher, 
 and always a wondering admirer. Thirty years 
 ago all this extent of country washed by the 
 Ohio, which has been only recently formed into 
 states and incorporated with the union, was in- 
 habited only by ferocious beasts, or by people 
 still more ferocious ; especially the part compre- 
 hended in the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. 
 
 It was the property and the abode of the 
 Sawanoes, Miamis, Piankiciawoes, Wayaoes> 
 Kaskasias, Delawares, and Illinois ; nations 
 which have been partly annihilated and partly 
 incorporated with the Owatawas, the Sawkis, 
 the Foxes, &c. The river Alleghany was inha-
 
 LEXINGTON. 87 
 
 bited by the Senekis, a part of whom have 
 merged in the Six Nations ; and Kentucky itself, 
 when Boon first penetrated thither with a com- 
 pany of Virginia huntsmen, in 1770, was marked 
 by no track, no path, except those which had 
 been made by the savages, the buffaloes, wolves, 
 bears, and panthers. It was in Kentucky, after 
 the forests were felled and the bosom of the 
 earth laid open, that were found those gigantic 
 monsters which excite the wonder of an observer 
 in the museums of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and 
 Cincinnati. They extremely resemble the ele- 
 phant, and modern naturalists have given them 
 the name of Mammoth. 
 
 Lexington, one of the principal towns of the 
 state, and the one which those who believe in the 
 possibility of a political separation already desig- 
 nate as the capital of all the western states, was 
 then the centre of those savage nations, a part of 
 whom have been driven back, and now inhabit 
 the river Osage which flows into the Missouri 
 three hundred miles above its mouth. The first 
 civilized men who descended the Ohio from Fort 
 Pitt, so late as 1773, were doctor Wood and 
 Simon Kenton, according to a manuscript which 
 I saw at Pittsburg. 
 
 These countries afterwards became the scene 
 of those atrocious wars which the Americans had 
 to sustain against these savage nations ; and not-
 
 88 TREATIES WITH THE INDIANS. 
 
 withstanding the peace concluded with them 
 in 1806, they were not able entirely to expel 
 them till after that of 1814 with England ; and 
 even then it was by purchasing their claim or 
 right of property on these lands ; but principally 
 by establishing military posts and forts upon 
 lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario ; 
 upon the rivers Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, 
 Wabash, Miami, Arkansas, &c. A lady at 
 Louisville herself told me, that in 1809 her three 
 sons were butchered before her eyes by these 
 barbarians, and the fourth, whom she held in 
 her arms, threatened with the same fate. 
 
 You will no doubt conjecture, my dear 
 Madam, that these reiterated incursions on the 
 part of the Indians, were not quite unconnected 
 with the influence of the cabinet of St James's ; 
 but you will find it difficult to conceive the 
 truly machiavelian devices by which this cabinet 
 endeavoured to keep up the hatred and cruel 
 hostilities of the savages against the Americans, 
 whom it cannot yet accustom itself to consider 
 in any other light than that of colonists and 
 rebellious subjects. 
 
 All the treaties which the Americans con- 
 cluded with the savages, eitherfor restoring peace 
 or for fixing the boundaries of the respective terri- 
 tories, were commented upon by the English; 
 they, of course always found something which
 
 INDIAN PROPHET. 89 
 
 they could turn against the Americans, upon 
 which the savages immediately violated their 
 treaties, and renewed their devastations. 
 
 It is one of the fundamental principles of all 
 cabinets, — and a fortiori of that. of St James's, — 
 that every nation must have a religion ; not that 
 ministers and kings wish their people to go to 
 heaven, which, I believe, they consider as exclu- 
 sively their property as the earth ; but because a 
 people without religion cannot be worked upon 
 by fanaticism or superstition ; two ingredients 
 necessary in their political recipes, and without 
 which they could not bend them to their wishes. 
 The cabinet of St James's therefore sought 
 and found means to give a religion, no matter 
 how transitory, to these savages. But it was 
 indispensable that the mobile — like that of 
 the heaven of ancient astronomers, which en- 
 circled and put in motion the other heavens — ■ 
 should be sufficiently powerful to give impulse 
 to this new Congrevian machine. The cabinet 
 of St James's is never at a loss ; it therefore 
 immediately created, ipso facto, a prophet, with 
 the same facility as it restored the Jesuits ; and 
 naturally found him in the man of the greatest 
 ability, and the most powerful connections of 
 his tribe ; — in the brother of the famous The- 
 cumsen, the most valiant and formidable of all 
 the Indian chiefs. By the pretended credulity of
 
 90 BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS. 
 
 some hired believers, he was first represented as 
 inspired. He was then made to preach that the 
 Great Manitou, or spirit, had commanded him 
 to collect all the tribes into one single family 
 of concord and fraternity, and to march against 
 the Americans who were plotting their total 
 destruction, as well as that of their Manitous. 
 He was afterwards made to raise a standard, in 
 which all their superstitious emblems were 
 blended ; for in such a case, every nation, every 
 sect, has its cross. More than 3000 savages, 
 with all the ardour of fanatics, flocked to this 
 new " oriflamme," and fire and sword soon 
 laid waste the American territory. General 
 Harrison inarched with superior forces against 
 these crusaders, and, like another Saladin, de- 
 feated them; but never was a battle between 
 savage and civilized people more obstinately or 
 more bravely contested than that of the 6th 
 Nov. 1811, at the confluence of the Tippacanoe 
 and the Wabash. The prophet encouraged his 
 warriors to battle by displaying his standard 
 and his Manitous ; but as, in his character of high 
 priest, it became him to act with discretion, he 
 carefully kept himself at a great distance from 
 danger, upon a little eminence, whilst his brother 
 fought like a lion at the head of his savages. At 
 last he prudently fled with those who were able 
 to make their escape, and left the field of battle
 
 BRITISH INTRIGUES. 91 
 
 covered with his faithful believers and with their 
 arms and baggage, which were of English manu- 
 factory. 
 
 Before the attack, he assured his heroes, — by 
 the inspiration, I suppose, of the Manitou of 
 Westminster, — that those who might happen to 
 perish in the battle, were expected at dinner 
 with the great spirit; for there are paradises of 
 every kind, and for every people. 
 
 The savage of New Mexico, from ignorance, 
 promises one to his horse, when he aids him in 
 the commission of his crimes, and extricates him 
 from danger; but it is to serve the ends of a 
 crooked and selfish policy, that we prostitute 
 this sacred name by promising the rewards of 
 virtue to every villain. 
 
 But to come to the denouement. The Ame- 
 ricans, although almost always conquerors, have 
 suffered much from these cruel wars, during 
 which their English half-brothers compelled them 
 by tyrannical maritime prohibitions, to sustain 
 another struggle, which terminated only in 1814, 
 at the treaty of Ghent. It was also at that time, 
 that, taking advantage of the situation to which 
 the Indians were reduced, they threatened to 
 abandon them to the vengeance of the Ame- 
 ricans, which they represented as terrible ; and 
 by this stratagem easily drew them over to 
 their side. They were thus all enlisted under
 
 92 KENTUCKY. 
 
 the British standard, with the pompous title of 
 the allies of his Britannic Majesty George III. 
 Tecum seh received a brevet of general in the 
 service, and was decorated, together with other 
 chiefs, with a medal in which the king was re- 
 presented on one side as a hero, and on the other 
 as extending the hand of friendship and frater- 
 nity. 
 
 These details, my dear Madam, though per- 
 haps too long for a letter on the Ohio, are neces- 
 sary preliminaries to heighten the surprise with 
 which you will learn the actual prosperity of 
 these countries, notwithstanding the recent date 
 of their civilization and the evils which desolated 
 their infancy. 
 
 Kentucky, which is the Eden of the United 
 States, possesses the necessaries of life in abun- 
 dance, exports largely its surplus produce, and 
 contains about 600,000 inhabitants. They are 
 industrious, enterprising, and brave; but, as I 
 have before observed, they are insupportable 
 from their insolence and coarseness. They are 
 sometimes amusing, but always exceed all bounds 
 of decent manners. 
 
 The inhabitants of the state of Ohio are more 
 numerous, although they were not incorporated 
 with the Union before 1803. The rapidity with 
 which the population has increased is a suffi- 
 cient proof of the abundant means of subsistence;
 
 ILLINOIS. 93 
 
 for in 1700 it had only 3000 inhabitants, and 
 in 1800 the number did not exceed 43,000; 
 while they are now calculated at 700,000. This 
 is perfectly unparalleled in the history of coloni- 
 zation, or of the most flourishing nations. Never 
 did any country, at its first rise into political 
 existence, advance with such gigantic strides. 
 Its progress will be more and more astonishing ; 
 for it is inhabited by a people more addicted 
 than any other to the pursuits of agriculture. 
 You recollect the opinions I have already ex- 
 pressed in one of my letters on England, on the 
 superiority of agriculture to manufactures as a per- 
 manent source of national wealth and happiness. 
 
 The state of Indiana, whose very name sug- 
 gests the idea of a new creation, was not admitted 
 to the federation before 1810, and now contains 
 a population of more than 150,000 souls. You 
 have seen at Shippingport that its cities and 
 villages are worthy of a civilized country. You 
 must observe that a colony or province cannot 
 be admitted as a member of the great union, 
 as a state, until it has 30,000 inhabitants. 
 
 The state of Illinois did not form part of the 
 Union till 1818 : it has more than 60,000 inha- 
 bitants. It is distinguished for its industry and 
 its agriculture. Its capital, called Vandalia, is a 
 memorial of the state of barbarism from which it 
 has so lately emerged. In short, my dearCoun-
 
 94 FERTILITY OF THE SOIL. 
 
 tess, in your course along this river, you see 
 pretty houses and smiling towns springing in all 
 directions from the depth of primeval woods and 
 the gloom of solitude, just as the superb Venice 
 and the formidable Holland sprung from the 
 bosom of the deep. 
 
 It appears incredible, that a country possessing 
 a soil enriched with vegetable juices which have 
 been accumulating ever since the creation of the 
 world, and a climate whose just proportion of heat 
 and cold promises to render it an exhaustless 
 source of the riches of Ceres, Flora, Pomona, 
 and even of Bacchus, (for the vine, which grows 
 here as in its native soil, seems to invite the 
 hand of man to cultivate it) ; — a country, where 
 the prodigious number of navigable rivers raises 
 the value of labour, and facilitates exportation 
 and importation over such an immense extent ; — 
 a country which, in spite of its vast quantity of 
 water, enjoys, by a singular exception, a salu- 
 brious climate (of which its population is an 
 incontestable proof) ; — could remain concealed 
 from mankind during a period of more than 
 fifty centuries. But Providence had, perhaps, 
 reserved it for times of public calamity, that 
 it might afford an asylum and a consolation 
 to the victims of despotism and tyranny. It is 
 in fact inhabited by a great number of European 
 emigrants. This is one of the cases which
 
 YANKEES. 95 
 
 would tempt one to believe that everything is 
 foreseen and predisposed by fate, if there were 
 not dogmas which we are bound to respect, and 
 which teach that everything depends upon the 
 will of man, and that this will is free even when 
 he is fettered by the chains of slavery. 
 
 But permit me, my dear Countess, to say one 
 word concerning the other emigrants, who con- 
 tribute in so extraordinary a manner to the 
 prosperity of this New World. 
 
 These are the Yankees : a few words will 
 make you acquainted with their origin and cha- 
 racter. 
 
 The north-eastern states, — 'New York, Con- 
 necticut, Rhode Island, Massachussets, Vermont, 
 &c. are very populous, and consist entirely of 
 free people. Their inhabitants already think 
 they have not room enough, though in Europe 
 each state would form a kingdom ; or they per- 
 haps think it not sufficiently fertile ; so that 
 when a young* man arrives at a certain age and 
 is able by his own strength and intelligence, 
 which are early matured, to provide for himself, 
 his father says to him, " Go, my son, and make 
 money " If the son ask, " How ? " he only re- 
 peats, " Go, and make money." The only patri- 
 mony he gives him is an axe, a pick, a cord, 
 and a bridle. You will understand by these 
 symbolical implements, that he must fell forests
 
 96 YANKEES. 
 
 with his axe, and open the ground necessary to 
 his subsistence with his pickaxe ; that the cord 
 and bridle signify that he must provide himself 
 with a cow and a horse ; and that he must seek 
 all these requisites wherever fortune may direct 
 his steps. Every year, accordingly, multitudes 
 of Yankees survey, from the tops of the Alle- 
 ghanies, these immense regions of the west, 
 which they consider as a common patrimony ; 
 and each descends into the plain to provide 
 himself with the necessaries suggested by his 
 father's advice and gifts. The first thing he 
 does, after building a house of trunks of trees, 
 is to marry ; for a wife is not less indispensa- 
 ble to him than a horse and a cow. The human 
 animal, unfettered by the fear of wanting bread, 
 is as prolific as the soil. In a few years, 
 the spot which only swarmed with insects, 
 swarms with children ; the log-house becomes 
 a hamlet, a village, a town, the capital of a 
 province ; and states are formed, as by enchant- 
 ment, from an axe, a pickaxe, a cord, a bridle, 
 a man, and a woman. The creation of a new 
 world, and the history of Adam and Eve, are 
 continually renewed here ; here, more than in 
 any other country, the prodigies of nature are 
 manifest ; here, the created comes forth visibly 
 from the hand of the Creator. But it appears 
 that man can never escape the scourges which
 
 THE OHIO. 97 
 
 afflict humanity! Herds of doctors and lawyers 
 follow these industrious people, and chicanery 
 and death have already established their empire 
 there. Unfortunately there is no Chinese wall to 
 prevent the incursions of these terrible Tartars. 
 
 The Yankees were so called, I believe, from 
 the name of the savages who inhabited the east 
 at the time of the conquest. They are a people 
 as laborious as the Swiss ; as frugal and econo- 
 mical as the Tyrolese and the inhabitants of 
 the Lucchese mountains ; as cunning and in- 
 dustrious as the Genoese ; as droll as the Gas- 
 cons ; as cold and proud as* the English ; and 
 as selfish and avaricious as those men of all 
 nations who banish themselves from their 
 country to make money. 
 
 The same phenomenon, which I remarked to 
 you in my letter on the Rhine, has attracted 
 my observations during the whole course of the 
 Ohio. Here, as in the former river, the water 
 loses itself. The Alleghany and the Monon- 
 gahela are, I believe, about as large as the Tiber. 
 The Kentucky, the Cumberland, and the Ten- 
 nessee, are much larger. The Kenhawa, the 
 Muskingum, the Scioto, the Miamy, the Green 
 River, and the Wabash, are but little smaller ; 
 it receives the waters of more than sixty other 
 tributary rivers, and yet it nowhere presents 
 that enormous volume of water, which it would 
 
 VOL. II. ii
 
 98 THE OHIO. 
 
 be reasonable to expect from the influx of so 
 many streams. I am of opinion that subterra- 
 nean falls and swallows carry off a great part 
 of it. May not the extraordinary paralysation 
 of its current at the rapids of Shippingport be 
 an indication that this is the fact ? 
 
 There are other characteristic features which, 
 in my opinion, are striking proofs that its bed 
 was much more extensive. 
 
 In those places where rocks overhang the 
 banks of the river, there are horizontal abra- 
 sions which run in a parallel direction, and at 
 the same elevation, on both sides. They are 
 caused by the violence of the current, or more 
 probably by the breaking up of the ice. The 
 soil of the valley is alluvial, whilst that of the 
 heights which border it is diluvial. Lastly, 
 the sands at the back and on both sides of 
 Louisville bear obvious traces that they once 
 formed a branch of the river, and that conse- 
 quently the elevated ground upon which the 
 city is built, was an island. I firmly believe 
 that the greater part of the waters which fill 
 the great basins called oceans, flow invisibly 
 to the eye of man, and penetrate through the 
 bosom of the earth ; which is, perhaps, the still 
 unknown cause of their saltness. 
 
 Kant, in his sublime Physical Geography, 
 declares that he found this saltness greater in
 
 THE OHIO. 99 
 
 some seas than in others. This circumstance 
 seems to indicate that the waters pass through 
 strata more or less salt, and confirms my opinion. 
 We are now got back to the log-house, 
 where I am expecting a steam-boat for New 
 Orleans. I am informed that there is one in 
 sight. I must be at my post when it arrives : 
 farewell, therefore, dear Madam.
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 St Louis, May 1st, 1823. 
 
 In my last, I left you at the confluence of the 
 Ohio and the Mississippi, where I was waiting 
 for a steam-boat. It arrived, and gave my excur- 
 sion a direction quite contrary to that which 
 seemed determined. At last, my dear Countess, 
 you will assent to the justice of my profession 
 of ignorance of the future ; a profession, 
 however, which has no influence either on my 
 conduct or my principles, unless to render me 
 more cautious in declaring my plans ; though 
 some persons have very unjustly represented 
 it as fatalism. 
 
 All my letters of recommendation and of 
 credit, — the company with whom I had asso- 
 ciated, — the United States steam-boat, which was
 
 INDIANS. 
 
 101 
 
 soon to return, — in short everything seemed to 
 concur to lead me to New Orleans, to the 
 mouths of the Mississippi, where I was ex- 
 pected on my way to Mexico. Well, my dear 
 Countess, I am now on my way towards its 
 sources. 
 
 The steam-boat which arrived, was the Cal- 
 houn; it was bound for this place. General 
 Clark, the worthy brother of him I mentioned in 
 my last, and major Tagliaware, were among the 
 passengers. I learned that they had often been 
 among the Indians, having been sent by govern- 
 ment on some mission into their territory. This 
 was sufficient to induce me to besiege them with 
 questions respecting that people. The descrip- 
 tions I had read of their extraordinary character 
 had, from infancy, excited both my astonish- 
 ment and my incredulity; what these gentle- 
 men had the goodness to communicate justified 
 both, and re-awakened a curiosity which I had 
 always intended to gratify before my departure 
 from America: never could a better opportu- 
 nity arise, nor could anything, I thought, be 
 more interesting to a foreigner ; I therefore de- 
 termined to accompany them. 
 
 But before I take you up this river, — the Queen 
 of North America, — we must ascertain clearly 
 where we are ; for things, you know, like men, 
 sometimes change their names, when they
 
 102 LOUISIANA. 
 
 change their masters. You have not forgotten 
 what became of Napoleonville, swallowed up by 
 the Restoration ; — Last year at Paris I inquired 
 for several days for a gentleman with whom I 
 was formerly intimately acquainted, under the 
 name of Mr L . . . . but in vain ; the Restora- 
 tion had changed him into the Comte de la 
 G . . ; and the same Restoration has given our 
 poor departed kingdom of Italy as many names 
 as masters. 
 
 We have now, my dear Madam, entered the 
 country which was discovered under the reign 
 of the Mazarins and Louvois, — the Montespans 
 and the Maintenons, — and to which flattery gave 
 the name of Louisiana, in honour of a king who 
 was great only in the panegyrics of his cour- 
 tiers, and the verses of his pensioners ; and whose 
 bon-mots, which have been so puffed, and which 
 were so often made for him, afford but poor 
 atonement for the evils he inflicted. A part of 
 this country, to the east of the Mississippi, was 
 ceded with Canada to the English by the treaty 
 of Fontainbleau, in 1762, after that unhappy 
 war in which Louis XV lost New France in 
 America, and ruined Old France in Europe. It 
 was one of the hot-beds of that revolution from 
 which the mother country has so long suffered 
 and has yet to suffer. 
 
 The western part, with New Orleans, was
 
 LOUISIANA. 103 
 
 ceded to Spain by a secret treaty, in 1763; as 
 an indemnification for the great sacrifices she 
 had made to France by her co-operation, agree- 
 ably to the family compact of 1761. 
 
 The war of independence, in which the United 
 States triumphed over the English, and which 
 ended with the peace of 1783, transferred that 
 part of Louisiana which had been yielded to 
 the latter by the French, into the hands of the 
 Americans. 
 
 In 1801, Napoleon acquired all the territory 
 belonging to Spain; that is, Lower Louisiana 
 and New Orleans. 
 
 As the great preparations he had made to carry 
 these important projects into execution were 
 stopped, in the ports of Holland, by the war 
 which immediately succeeded the peace of 
 Amiens, — a peace, which the English con- 
 cluded for no other purpose than to gain time, 
 — he sold all the rights he had obtained there to 
 the United States, in 1803, by a treaty of cession. 
 The latter are thus become the exclusive masters 
 of the whole course of this river, and conse- 
 quently of all Louisiana. 
 
 This was the most important of all acquisi- 
 tions to the United States; for a foreign nation, 
 possessing the mouths of the Mississippi, might 
 ruin all these western and northern countries by 
 a blockade. The name of Louisiana is now con-
 
 104 LOUISIANA. 
 
 fined to the small state of which New Orleans 
 is the capital ; the rest of this immense province 
 has been divided into states and territories. 
 
 The French gave the name of Louisiana to the 
 whole tract of country extending from the 
 sources to the mouths of the Mississippi, from 
 north to south ; and from the Alleghanys to the 
 mountains of New Mexico, from east to west. 
 Profiting by the bull, so celebrated for its jus- 
 tice, which Alexander VI had granted to the 
 Spaniards, they appropriated, by right of dis- 
 covery, all the countries which were then, or 
 might subsequently be discovered, and even 
 re-baptised the Mississippi under the name of 
 the river St Louis. The ancients would have 
 placed this mighty river among their gods, and 
 its aboriginal name would have been inscribed 
 in the celestial hierarchy. 
 
 The Americans, heretics as they are, and 
 rebels to the authority of the popes, have re- 
 cently done nearly the same thing with respect 
 to the countries which extend from the sources 
 of the Colombia to its mouths in the Pacific 
 Ocean ; for what is expedient seems easily re- 
 conciled to every system of religion, or of 
 policy. 
 
 By this great accession, much superior in ex- 
 tent to that which the English colonies possessed 
 before the war of independence, you may form an
 
 bird's island. 105 
 
 idea of the vast territory over which the United 
 States possess dominion in the manner I men- 
 tioned to you when at Washington. You may 
 also judge of the immense losses France has sus- 
 tained since 1763. Now, my dear Countess, 
 we may pursue our journey with more certainty. 
 We set out, on the 21st of April, from the 
 mouth of the Ohio ; — from that fairy land which, 
 like the island of Calypso, enchants by the 
 beauty of its inhabitants ; happily, however, 
 there is no need of the wisdom of Mentor, to 
 induce one to leave it : their bills are quite 
 sufficient. On quitting it, the grand and terrific 
 scenery which surrounded us was truly magical, 
 imposing, and novel. The waters, extremely in- 
 creased by a flood, covered the piles of this 
 singular building, and formed an ocean around 
 it ; the rain fell in torrents, so that, in the midst 
 of the deepest silence and solitude, it was easy 
 to fancy a new deluge and a new ark. Seated, 
 as if entranced, on the deck of the steam-boat, 
 you may more easily conceive than I can de- 
 scribe, the thoughts awakened within me by this 
 extraordinary scene. 
 
 Bird's Island leads the way, and prepares 
 the eyes and the mind for the impressive views, 
 delightful emotions, and heart-stirring wonder 
 with which the majesty of this river affects
 
 106 CAPE GIRARDEAU. 
 
 them, at varied intervals throughout the whole 
 space I have hitherto traversed. 
 
 The Two Sisters and Dog-tooth Islands, dif- 
 fering in form, come next in succession, and 
 insensibly lead you to English Island, remark- 
 able as the first place where the English formed 
 a small settlement on this river, in 1765, to es- 
 tablish a claim to it by right of possession. This 
 settlement was almost entirely destroyed by the 
 savages, who liked and still like the French for 
 their manners, and detest every conqueror that 
 has succeeded them. 
 
 Cape La Croix, a picturesque promontory at 
 about forty miles from the confluence, rises 
 upon the western bank ; and, at a short dis- 
 tance on the same side, Cape Girardeau is not 
 less interesting. These two places were named 
 by the first Frenchmen who saw them in 1674. 
 They had been sent by M. de Frontenac, gover- 
 nor of Canada, who had learnt from the savages, 
 that a great river flowed from the north, and went 
 neither towards the place where the Great Spirit 
 rises, nor towards that where he disappears. The 
 little town just formed at Cape Girardeau, is 
 entirely the offspring of the United States. It 
 is a thriving place, and has more than doubled its 
 population in the course of a few years. This 
 is one of the salutary effects of religious and
 
 REPUBLICS. 107 
 
 political toleration. It contains many foreigners, 
 and the despotism of Europe will supply it with 
 a still greater number. 
 
 You know, Madam, that I am no friend to 
 republics, which often end in smis-culottism and 
 factions, — the greatest scourges of society and of 
 the prosperity of nations. Of the two kinds of 
 despotism, the republican and monarchical, the 
 latter is the less dangerous ; it is more easy 
 to subdue the passions of one, than of many. 
 The violent acts of republican despotism are 
 generally more atrocious and cruel, because 
 they are the effects and the causes of a greater 
 aggregate of private passions and private inte- 
 rests. In republics, the tyranny scarcely ever 
 perishes with the tyrants, and their demagogues 
 are generally worse than the most profligate of 
 kings. Of this truth, history furnishes con- 
 vincing proof; and the thirty tyrants of Greece, 
 the triumvirs of Rome, the Cordeliers, Jaco- 
 bins, Girondins, and Marseillois of France, sanc- 
 tion the belief that their succession is more 
 uninterrupted. Besides, the people of Turkey 
 and Morocco, who know under what despotism 
 they are doomed to live, sometimes succeed in 
 protecting themselves, if not entirely, at least 
 partially, against its cruelty and oppression ; 
 whilst the Greeks, the Romans, and the French, 
 who fancied themselves free, were blinded to
 
 ]08 REPUBLICS. 
 
 their danger, and neglected the means of de- 
 fending themselves against the Lysanders and 
 Callibiuses, the Syllas and Mariuses, the Marc 
 Antonys and Octaviuses, the Petions, the Bris- 
 sots, the Dantons, and the Robespierres. 
 
 Some men seem to think they can plant re- 
 publics in all directions as easily as carrots. I 
 like republics when there are no obstacles to 
 their establishment; but in Europe, I think, 
 they are not likely to be productive of any good. 
 It is indisputable that when men become kings 
 they generally become wicked ; and it is equally 
 so that it would be difficult now-a-days to find 
 a Leonidas, an Agesilaus, a Marcus Aurelius, a 
 Trajan, an Alfred, or a Henry IV. It must, 
 however, be admitted that the government best 
 adapted to the actual state of Europe is a con- 
 stitutional monarchy, in which the liberty of 
 the press, the balance of the three powers, and 
 consequently an opposition, which is to empires 
 what light is to darkness, form one combined, 
 harmonious system. 
 
 As to republics, we are too old and decrepid. 
 Bis pacri, in infantid et in senectute. In the 
 first case, though we do not walk firmly, our 
 physical and moral faculties are free to unfold 
 themselves, unfettered by long-established pre- 
 judices ; in the second, we walk with crutches, 
 which, like the vices of inveterate habit, shew
 
 REPUBLICS. 109 
 
 at once feebleness and decline. Republics 
 are, therefore, adapted only to a new people, 
 who still retain some traces of patriarchal and 
 domestic government ; who are strangers to - the 
 tumultuous conflicts of passion, to luxury, and to 
 the prestige of titles, dignities and privileges ; 
 whose necks have never bent under the yoke of 
 theocracy and superstition ; 
 
 Et oil l'air de la cour, et son souffle infecte 
 N'altera de leur coeur l'austere purete. 
 
 The history both of ancient and modern times 
 confirms my opinion : a republic would be fatal 
 even to England ; it would alarm the prejudices, 
 the habits, the privileges, and the aristocratical 
 spirit, which are so firmly rooted in the country ; 
 it would convert the whole kingdom into one 
 scene of anarchy, and would eventually substi- 
 tute slavery for that rational liberty which alone 
 is durable, and in which she now so justly glories. 
 It appears to me, therefore, that the inhabitants 
 of the United States are at present the only 
 people who can live under the order of things 
 which they so happily enjoy, the duration of 
 which must depend upon their own conduct and 
 wisdom. 
 
 But if I detest the anarchy of republics, I 
 must yet wish that monarchs were more virtu- 
 ous, just, and consistent ; more disposed to
 
 110 LIMITED MONARCHY. 
 
 recollect that their subjects are men like them- 
 selves, and to admit that plus indent oculi quum 
 oculus. I was at Rome, when our celebrated 
 abbe Mai discovered upon some ancient palimp- 
 sesta, the fragments De Republicd of Cicero. 
 The words which attracted my attention, in this 
 sublime work, were " Optimam puto esse rem- 
 publicam, quce ex tribus ordinibus constituta est; 
 regali, equestri, et populari." What I value in 
 this form of government is, that, while it provides 
 for the happiness of the people, it secures that 
 of the sovereign, accurately defines his duties, 
 and thus tends to keep his mind in that tranquil 
 state which has the most beneficial influence on 
 his subjects. A king under the guidance of these 
 three oracles, which are rendered almost in- 
 fallible by the check they exercise on each 
 other, is invested, as Fenelon says, with abso- 
 lute power to do good, but is powerless to do 
 evil. The laws confide a nation to him, — the 
 most precious of all deposits, — on condition that 
 he become the father of his subjects. An in- 
 spired voice seems to address him in these 
 words : " Favourite of heaven, to whom the sons 
 of men, thy equals, have entrusted sovereign 
 power, — to whom they have assigned the office 
 of their leader, — consider less the splendour of 
 the rank, than the importance of the deposit. 
 The purple is thy garment, and the throne thy
 
 ST GENEVIEVE. Ill 
 
 seat ; the crown of majesty decks thy brow ; 
 the sceptre of power adorns thy hand ; but from 
 these thou derivest no other lustre than in as far 
 as they are emblems of thy high services to the 
 state." 
 
 A prince (said some one whose name I cannot 
 recollect) who aspires to despotic power, aspires 
 to die of ennui. If you wish, in any kingdom 
 whatever, to find the most miserable man in it, 
 go straight to the sovereign, — above all if he be 
 absolute. It is an admirable piece of calculation, 
 to be sure, to render so many persons discon- 
 tented and unhappy, only to live surrounded 
 by suspicion, fear, and hatred ; feelings not 
 less dangerous to the happiness of the state, 
 than to the security of the throne. 
 
 Still preaching, my dear Countess, and what 
 is worse, preaching like St John in the wilder- 
 ness ; but a desire for the public good, and for 
 some degree of individual tranquillity, speaks as 
 eloquently in forests and steam-boats, as in great 
 cities and parliaments. 
 
 The town of St Genevieve, at about sixty 
 miles from the east, and also upon the western 
 bank, bears the same appearance of aisance and 
 population we have already remarked, and 
 suggests the same reflections and the same con- 
 jectures. 
 
 The policy of Castlereagh in giving a trium-
 
 112 THE KASKASKIA. 
 
 virate to Europe, has, I think, sealed one of the 
 greatest faults of the cabinet of St James's ; for 
 while he inflicted this cruel wound on the rights 
 and liberties of the people of the several Euro- 
 pean powers, he not only put formidable wea- 
 pons into the hands of their despots, but, by 
 encouraging, or rather forcing emigration, opened 
 to the United States, the great rivals of England, 
 an exhaustless source of population, industry, 
 talents, opulence, and physical and moral 
 strength. 
 
 Between Cape Girardeau and St Genevieve 
 is the afflux of the river Kaskaskia, which des- 
 cends from the east and gives its name to a 
 village five miles from its mouth. This was 
 one of the first establishments formed by the 
 French in the valley of the Mississippi. Almost 
 immediately after the English made themselves 
 masters of it in 1763, it began to decline from its 
 prosperity. The settlers, who hated their new 
 masters, abandoned it, and joined the Spanish 
 settlements on the opposite bank. 
 
 Fort Chartres, which the French built at a 
 great expense, on the eastern bank, and which 
 the Americans abandoned as useless, is now of 
 no value but as a subject for a picture of roman- 
 tic ruins. 
 
 Groups of islands scattered here and there, 
 frequently formed most delightful views ; they
 
 HERCULANEUM. 113 
 
 seemed embedded in liquid fire, as the golden 
 rays of the sun were reflected in the water. 
 
 At one hundred and forty-five miles from 
 Ohio, a lovely distance — rendered still more 
 lovely by the softening shades of aerial per- 
 spective — opens upon you, as by enchantment, 
 for five miles, to the village of Herculaneum, 
 which, in its turn, delights you with the most 
 beautifully varied landscape. If it were crowned 
 too by a Vesuvius, it would be as interesting, and 
 more picturesque than that Herculaneum whose 
 venerable ruins lie hidden under Portici and 
 Resina. Towers built upon the rock, by which 
 it is irregularly encircled, while they enhance 
 its natural beauties, excite an interest and sur- 
 prise by the use to which they are applied. 
 
 From the tops of these towers, which project 
 from the perpendicular rock, is thrown melted 
 lead, that cools in its descent through the air, 
 becomes round, and falls in a shower of pearls, 
 or, in other words, of shot. The large or small 
 holes of the iron sieve through which the boiling- 
 metal is poured, regulate the sizes required. 
 A lead mine gave birth to this village, which 
 daily increases in extent and prosperity. 
 
 At a short distance from Herculaneum the 
 steam-boat stopped at a little cottage, built with 
 trunks of trees, placed horizontally one upon 
 another, the interstices being filled with a ce- 
 
 VOL. II. i
 
 114 LUXURY IN A LOG-HOUSE. 
 
 ment of earth, intermixed with straw. It con- 
 sisted of a ground floor only, and its roof was 
 formed of pieces of wood cleft with a wedge. 
 
 I saw a lady come out, very well dressed, and 
 followed by a negress carrying a child wrapped 
 up in very fine linen ; she was going by the 
 steam-boat. I thought I was dreaming one of 
 the tales of the Noyer de Benevento, when in- 
 formed that this hut was her habitation. 
 
 I immediately jumped on shore, and asked 
 for a glass of spring water ; this gave me an op- 
 portunity of entering the only door it had, and 
 which made me bow very low. The interior 
 and exterior presented as striking a contrast as 
 that of a lady and a cottage. Her husband, 
 to whom the house belonged, had a small farm, 
 out of which he had to provide for the main- 
 tenance of a mother, a sister, and two children 
 of his own. 
 
 The luxury in this log-house astonished me ; 
 and reminded me of what I had observed in the 
 eastern states : it also led me to reflect, that 
 the decline of this nation might be as sudden 
 as its rise, were not the natural resources of the 
 country so unbounded that its improvement 
 keeps pace with the encreasing wants of the 
 people. 
 
 At one hundred and fifty miles from the Ohio 
 is the river Marimak, which descends from the
 
 ST LOUIS. 115 
 
 west, and leads to some lead-mines, enriching 
 the banks to a considerable extent in the in- 
 terior. 
 
 On the morning of the 24th, pretty country- 
 houses, on the tops of smiling hills, command- 
 ing the river — lands cleared for cultivation, 
 interspersed with woods and forests, and the 
 distant view of a number of houses, shewed that 
 we were approaching the principal town of 
 Upper Louisiana, which we reached at eight 
 o'clock in the morning. It is about one hundred 
 and seventy miles from the mouth of the Ohio. 
 
 Houses with Chinese projecting roofs, that 
 cover the galleries round each story, and which 
 are rather pretty, though in a whimsical style of 
 architecture, prove that St Louis was a town of 
 some importance even under the Spaniards ; but 
 new streets, a new market-place, large stores, 
 busy manufactures, gay gardens, all of recent 
 date, shew that it is greatly encreased since it 
 belonged to a government under whose aus- 
 pices, merit is the sole distinction ; which asks 
 no more than is necessary for the supply of the 
 real and known exigencies of the state, and 
 whose executive is vigilantly watched by a 
 senate, a congress, and by the jealousy of a sus- 
 picious and distrustful people. 
 
 It is true that there are many abuses in the 
 United States, particularly in the provinces re-
 
 116 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF AMERICA. 
 
 mote from the capital. This is more especially 
 true with relation to the administration of j us- 
 tice, to the appalling number and chicanery of 
 the lawyers, and to the laws which afford secu- 
 rity and encouragement to the frequently im- 
 pudent frauds of merchants. It is true that in- 
 dividuals are not always the representatives of 
 those liberal principles that form the basis of 
 the government; but it is indisputable that their 
 constitution bears the stamp of wisdom and of 
 magnanimity, that it affords the people ample 
 security for person and property, and for their 
 privileges as citizens ; and even to foreigners, not 
 only a safe asylum, but a new country, with the 
 free exercise of their religion, talents, and in- 
 dustry, and a perfect independence. 
 
 A slight historical sketch will show that it 
 was the restless desire for change, and thirst for 
 gold, which first prostrated these regions, and 
 that perseverance and enlightened principles 
 have now rendered them flourishing settle- 
 ments. 
 
 Father Marguette was the first person sent by 
 the governor of Canada, in 1673, to explore the 
 Mississippi. From lake Michigan, he entered 
 Green Bay on the west, ascended Fox's river, 
 that communicates by a short land passage 
 with the Owisconsin, which he coasted until its 
 confluence with the Mississippi, and descended
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 117 
 
 the latter river as far as the mouth of the Mis- 
 souri. But as he did not find what he sought, — 
 that is to say, gold and silver mines, — and as he 
 had then neither time nor means for attempting 
 the conversion of the savages, he abandoned his 
 mission, and returned to Quebec without having 
 accomplished any of the projects of the specu- 
 lators of that place. 
 
 Some time after, De la Salle, who was 
 more greedy perhaps of glory than of money, 
 voluntarily undertook to examine this coun- 
 try more accurately. He crossed lakes On- 
 tario and Erie, traversed a desart, and came 
 out at the southern extremity of lake Michigan ; 
 he descended the Illinois, but finding nothing 
 answerable to his hopes, he stopped midway in 
 his course, at the point where that river swells 
 into a lake ; built a little fort, the name of which 
 ( Crtve-Cceur ) was probably but too expressive 
 of the result of his expedition, and soon returned 
 to Canada. 
 
 The chevalier Tonti, to whom De la Salle had 
 left the command of this little settlement, was 
 soon weary of enduring all that its name im- 
 ported, and followed him; while father Hanne- 
 pin, whom he had sent up the Mississippi, was 
 not long absent from his neophytes at Quebec, 
 whither he brought home no better treasures to 
 the expecting and disappointed governor, than
 
 118 FREE GOVERNMENTS 
 
 the hope of winning Indian souls to the Ca- 
 tholic religion and to Paradise. 
 
 In a subsequent expedition, the French gave 
 the name of Pain-court to the spot where St 
 Louis now stands, and that of Vides-Poches to a 
 little village five miles from hence, which still 
 bears that name. These names, like that of 
 Creve-Cceur, were not very encouraging; and 
 accordingly their settlements had fallen almost 
 to nothing, towards the middle of the last cen- 
 tury. 
 
 The taking of them by the Spaniards — resisted 
 by the settlers, who did not choose to have any 
 masters but the French — was so marked by 
 perfidy and cruelty, that the name of O'Reilly 
 is never uttered by the people without the epi- 
 thet, the cruel; and they were henceforth subject 
 to the most unbridled licentiousness and the most 
 arbitrary despotism. It is therefore only since 
 they possess a constitution founded on respect 
 for popular rights, and for the general welfare 
 of society, that they have begun to prosper; 
 appearances now promise them ample indemni- 
 fication for their past calamities. 
 
 When we see so many benefits flow from a 
 free government, our surprise is equal to our 
 disgust at the efforts made by sovereigns to 
 strengthen their power by arbitrary principles. 
 A free government invites, encourages, ani-
 
 AND DESPOTISM. 119 
 
 mates ; a despotic one enfeebles, degrades, pa- 
 ralyzes. The former attaches people to their 
 country, where they can live tranquilly, sur- 
 rounded by the objects of their dearest affec- 
 tions ; the latter forces them into exile, or em- 
 bitters their lives by fear, or compels them to 
 live in dreary celibacy rather than furnish new 
 subjects for slavery. The former affords security 
 and content to all ; the latter renders even kings 
 insecure, and makes them and the flatterers, the 
 courtiers and the ministers who delude them, a 
 prey to continual alarm ; their lives are beset 
 by agitations and dangers ; their minds are tor- 
 mented by remorse, — that terrific chastisement 
 of heaven, which no human power can avert ; — 
 the public wait eagerly for their death, to load 
 their memory with louder execration and deeper 
 infamy : while the monarch who spontaneously 
 and sincerely grants a constitution to his sub- 
 jects, consonant with the claims of reason and of 
 justice, reaps the first and best fruits of the 
 happiness it bestows, both in the benedictions 
 of his people, in the delightful sight of the bene- 
 fits he has conferred, in the tranquillity which 
 attends every hour of his life, and in the hope 
 that history will immortalize his name ; a hope 
 so animating and so ennobling, that Plato took 
 it as the foundation of his system of future 
 rewards.
 
 120 ST LOUIS. 
 
 Thus, as I have told you, the king of Bavaria 
 and the grand duke of Baden can walk through 
 the streets, market places, and public walks 
 of their dominions, without any guard but the 
 testimony of their own consciences, and the love 
 of their subjects. In such a manner, with such 
 principles, under the guardianship of public 
 veneration, and at peace with heaven and earth, 
 it is indeed worth while to bear the burthen of 
 royalty. 
 
 All these vast western regions have been much 
 neglected in the history of America : indeed a 
 new one is greatly wanted ; for the most recent 
 is obsolete : the country is continually changing 
 its aspect, and furnishing new materials. Few 
 Europeans take such a ramble twice in their 
 lives, and the last comer always knows more of 
 the country than any of his predecessors ; who 
 could not see what did not yet exist. This 
 induces me to depart a little from my plan of 
 describing only what I see, and to detain your at- 
 tention and my pen a little more on these regions. 
 St Louis, after Napoleon ceded it to the United 
 States, became the residence of the governor, and 
 the metropolis of those vast regions constituting 
 the territory of the Missouri. 
 
 Since a part of this territory has been erected 
 into a state, St Louis is only the seat of a district 
 court of justice. St Charles's, on the Missouri,
 
 TRADE OF ST LOUIS. 121 
 
 is the capita], and is already a small town, though 
 it was but a little village two years ago (1821) the 
 time at which the state was received as a member 
 of the federate body under the name of the State 
 of Missouri. The territory, which still exists, 
 is governed by a separate administration, ap- 
 pointed by the executive of the general govern- 
 ment of the union. 
 
 The trade of St Louis is prodigiously en- 
 creased. The merchandize which it furnishes 
 to the traders with the Indians of the north and 
 west, in exchange for their furs, which are 
 almost all sent hither, — the provisions with 
 which it supplies all the garrisons and new 
 settlements over the whole extent of this vast 
 country, — are sources of great profit, as well as 
 of constant employment for all classes. The 
 beneficial effects of its prosperity are widely felt. 
 From New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, 
 it receives all the products of Europe or Asia, 
 while New Orleans furnishes it with all that it re- 
 quires from the West Indies and South America. 
 
 The savages, instigated by the great enemies of 
 America, have committed extensive ravages here 
 at various times ; but now, with a population of 
 more than seven thousand souls, and defended 
 by several distant forts, built on the principal 
 rivers which flow through their tribes, it has 
 little to fear from their tomahawks.
 
 122 ANTIQUITIES OF ST LOUIS. 
 
 St Louis has likewise its antiquities. There 
 is no proof that the ancients had any knowledge 
 of the existence of America. Plato's Atlantis 
 appears to me only a dream or allegorical fable ; 
 and those who have imagined allusions to Ame- 
 rica in Aristotle, Diodorus, Theopompus, Seneca, 
 &c, did not perhaps consider that with vessels 
 like those of the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Ro- 
 mans, it was impossible to perform so long and 
 difficult a voyage; particularly without the guid- 
 ance of the mariner's compass, which was not 
 known till the beginning of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury. We are likewise completely at a loss as 
 to whence and how this continent (or island) was 
 peopled ; and all the contradictory conjectures 
 of different writers have but shed additional 
 darkness on the subject. It is however certain, 
 that Columbus, Cortez, Pizarro, Verazani, (a 
 Florentine, who first led the French into Ame- 
 rica,) and Cabot, or Gaboto, all found traces of 
 ancient civilization. To the times when this 
 civilization existed, I think myself warranted in 
 referring the elevations or mounds, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of St Louis and elsewhere, evidently 
 the work of art, and which attracted my atten- 
 tion, and excited my surprise. 
 
 The ancients paid greater honours to their 
 gods than we do ; and also to the manes of their 
 heroes or their kindred. Persepolis and Palmira
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF ST LOUIS. 
 
 123 
 
 in Asia, Memphis and Thebes in Africa, Rome 
 and Athens in Europe, still bear witness to this 
 by their magnificent ruins, while history gives 
 concurrent testimony to the same fact. The 
 mounds of St Louis appear to me to prove the 
 same in favour of the aborigines of America. 
 Some of them are parallelograms, like the Par- 
 thenon and the Basilica at Psestum ; others 
 circular, like the ancient temples of the sun; 
 others are pyramidal, or in the form of the sarco- 
 phagi of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. 
 One of them is particularly worthy of mention : 
 it is of an oblong form ; its circumference at its 
 base is about three hundred feet, it is sixty feet 
 high, and its summit is a plateau, also oblong, 
 five feet wide and forty-five feet long. A stage of 
 triangular form, which rises to the height of 
 seven or eight feet, embraces the whole eastern 
 side of its base. This is exactly like the altar 
 which the Persians consecrated to their god 
 Mithra; and the great altar of the Olympic 
 Games, and others in Elis were simply mounds 
 of earth. 
 
 The gods of ancient idolaters were probably 
 only beneficent heroes, who were first the objects 
 of their gratitude, and gradually of their adora- 
 tion. The simple heap of earth which covered 
 their remains would thus become an altar ; and
 
 124 RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. 
 
 such perhaps was the origin of these Indian 
 monuments. 
 
 From the top of this great sanctuary, the eye 
 commands a delightful and extensive prospect 
 over land and water. 
 
 As the population of St Louis is an assemblage 
 of various nations, society is less cold and formal 
 than in purely American towns. The evening 
 before last I was at a very brilliant ball, where 
 the ladies were so pretty, and so well dressed, 
 that they made me forget I was on the threshold 
 of savage life. 
 
 I saw some of the Indians land yesterday from 
 their canoes ; I was surprised at their grotesque 
 appearance ; for being a little given to pyrrho- 
 nism, I had always doubted the accounts I had 
 read of them. However, my dear Madam, I 
 hope soon to see them more closely, and to 
 observe the workings of their minds and the 
 habits of their lives, and I shall then be able to 
 judge better of them than by books ; for writers 
 often follow the fashion of an artist I once saw at 
 Rome : he was painting a valley of St Bernard, 
 which he had never seen, and without a sketch. 
 
 Here, as in the cities of the east, all sorts of 
 religions are permitted. America is a perfect 
 Babel in this respect; it exceeds even England ; 
 and the emulation among all these different sects
 
 RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. 125 
 
 will be still more advantageous to industry and 
 to morals than in that country, from their perfect 
 equality in the eye of the law. The government 
 affords equal protection to all, and recognizes 
 no dominant faith. It has reserved to itself only 
 the right of punishing any who might dare to 
 raise the standard of intolerance. 
 
 The Catholics are the most numerous at St 
 Louis ; but their priests here, as everywhere else, 
 bring shame and contempt on Catholicism. They 
 arrogate a spiritual jurisdiction over balls, polite 
 amusements, &c, and pry into family secrets ; 
 then they sow discord among some, disgust others 
 with their interference, and thus scatter schism 
 and scandal in all directions: instead of gaining 
 proselytes, they make apostates. It appears 
 that even here they are resolved to justify the 
 often-repeated accusation, that bishops and Je- 
 suits are the fittest instruments for the oppres- 
 sion and degradation of mankind. It is to be 
 hoped, however, that more enlightened clergy 
 will arise, and will see the danger of defiling 
 religion, and irritating the people; and, like 
 St Chrysostom, Massillon, and other fathers of 
 the church, will denounce the vices of Tartuffcs 
 and the ambition and tyranny of princes. 
 
 Adieu, my dear Countess.
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Fort St Anthony, at the confluence of rivers 
 St Peter and Mississippi, 
 
 May 24th, 1823. 
 
 One comes to America, my dear Countess, to 
 see a new world ; but it is only here, in these 
 desarts, that it is to be found in all the extension 
 of the term. 
 
 A river of vast extent, of a majesty which it 
 is difficult to conceive ; a country presenting 
 extraordinary features at every step ; a race of 
 men entirely different from those of Europe ; 
 afford abundance of new and important subjects 
 for philosophical meditation, gratify the curiosity 
 with the most agreeable surprise, and divert the 
 afflicted mind from the subject of its regrets. 
 I have felt every impression which so novel a
 
 THE MISSISSIPPI. 127 
 
 scene is capable of producing ; but it opens a 
 field of reflection and conjecture beyond the 
 extent of my limited understanding, and acces- 
 sible only to minds of the highest attainments in 
 knowledge. 
 
 I will, however, tell you, my dear Madam, 
 what I have seen and felt : you will sympathise 
 in it all. 
 
 On the 2nd inst. I set out with major Tagli- 
 awar from St Louis, where general Clark, who 
 resides there, remained. Our antiquaries will, 
 I think, this time be satisfied with me. I re- 
 commended to his special protection the savage 
 antiquities by which he is surrounded ; one of 
 which, a presumptuous hand has already pro- 
 faned. As an additional gratification, I will tell 
 them that these are by some persons believed to 
 be the military posts of the Indians ; but erro- 
 neously, for elevations completely exposed, like 
 these, are in direct opposition to their whole 
 system of warfare. 
 
 Our passage to this place forms, I think, an 
 epoch in the history of navigation. It was an 
 enterprise of the boldest, of the most extraordi- 
 nary nature ; and probably unparalleled. Never 
 before did a steam-boat ascend a river twenty-two 
 thousand miles above its mouth. The vessel 
 which conveyed us was the Virginia, one hundred 
 and eighteen feet long, and twenty-two wide,
 
 128 THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 drawing six feet water, and of two thousand tons 
 burthen. 
 
 The name of captain Perston deserves to be 
 proclaimed by one of the hundred mouths of 
 Fame. He is justly entitled to the admiration 
 of mankind, to the gratitude of his fellow- 
 citizens, and of his government. 
 
 To add to the novelty, the Great Eagle, a 
 chief of a tribe of the Saukis, was of our party. 
 General Clark, with whom he had come to hold 
 a conference, persuaded him, with much diffi- 
 culty, to consign his canoe to some other savages, 
 and join our company. The first thing he did, 
 when we were some distance from shore, was to 
 take off the uniform which had been given him 
 by the general, as a present from the Great 
 Father, (the name used by the savages to desig- 
 nate the president of the United States.) He 
 shewed great satisfaction at finding himself once 
 more in statu quo of our first parents. The 
 youngest of his two children had not even a fig- 
 leaf, or bit of cloth round the loins, whilst we 
 were shivering with cold, though wrapped in our 
 winter flannel and great coats. 
 
 At six miles from St Louis, the current of the 
 Mississippi becomes very rapid. We were ap- 
 proaching the mouth of the Missouri, which is 
 only eighteen miles from that town ; and, not- 
 withstanding the power of our steam-boat, we
 
 THE MISSOURI. 129 
 
 did not come in sight of this river before eight 
 o'clock the following morning. 
 
 An island, which obstructs the flow of this 
 mass of water at the very point where it falls 
 into the Mississippi, protects the boats which 
 pass behind it, and breaks the pressure of its 
 enormous volume : but for this precaution pro- 
 vided by nature, it would perhaps be dangerous 
 to pass when the river is full. 
 
 Notwithstanding the travels of Messrs Lewis 
 and Clark, (the general Clark just mentioned) 
 and the subsequent accounts of Messrs Braken- 
 ridge and Bradbury, the sources of the Missouri 
 are still unknown : it appears certain, however, 
 that its course, from its confluence up to the 
 highest known point, is almost as long as that 
 of the Mississippi, and perhaps the liquid vo- 
 lume of each is equally powerful at their junc- 
 tion. The Missouri should therefore, I think, 
 have retained its name as far as that part where 
 the Mississippi loses its own in the Gulf of 
 Mexico ; its course would then have been about 
 four thousand five hundred miles. But a great 
 part of the Mississippi was known when the 
 Missouri was undiscovered ; and all the rivers of 
 Louisiana flowing into it, as into a central basin, 
 had already been declared its tributaries. His- 
 tory and geography had already settled its 
 name, so that there was no appeal. But per- 
 
 VOL. II. k
 
 130 THE ILLINOIS. 
 
 haps it has j uster claims to its sovereignty. If 
 I can survey the whole of its course, I will en- 
 deavour, as far as my attention and knowledge 
 permit, to fill up this chasm in history and geo- 
 graphy. 
 
 If, however, the Missouri must resign its pre- 
 eminence to the Mississippi, no one will dispute 
 its supremacy over all the tributary rivers in the 
 world. 
 
 The afflux of the Illinois, which is also a very 
 considerable river, is twenty-one miles higher, 
 towards the east. At about two hundred miles 
 above its mouth, Mr La Salle built the fort 
 Creve-Cceur. This name appears not to have 
 been more propitious in the estimation of the 
 Americans than in that of the French, for they 
 soon abandoned and demolished the fort. The 
 Illinois took its name from the savage nation 
 that dwelt upon its banks ; a nation which, like 
 that of the Missouris, has ceased to exist, or 
 has merged in others. The eastern bank of the 
 Mississippi, opposite the village called the Por- 
 tage des Sioux, leading from the Illinois to the 
 Missouri, rises in abrupt rocks, hewn by nature 
 into perpendicular pillars. They are so like the 
 substructures of the palaces of Pompey and 
 Domitian in the Villa Barberini upon Lake Al- 
 bano, as to be a perfect illusion. I almost ima- 
 gined I was there.
 
 PRAIRIE AUX LIARDS. 131 
 
 This excursion, my dear Madam, is nearly as 
 long as that on the Ohio. It is much more fertile 
 in incidents, and in scenes but slightly known 
 even in America. This may sometimes retard 
 our progress, but I will confine myself to what 
 is most essential or most singular ; to the most 
 interesting points, and to the distances most 
 necessary to be known ; lest my letter should be 
 converted into a volume, and your patience into 
 martyrdom. 
 
 Clarksville and Louisiana are two pretty rising 
 villages ; the latter is a hundred and twelve miles 
 from St Louis. 
 
 From the top of a pretty hill which overlooks 
 it, the eye rests on nothing but immense and 
 impenetrable woods, the only asylum we have 
 henceforth to expect ; for, with the exception of 
 the forts established upon the Mississippi, and a 
 small village called the Prairie du Chien, this is 
 the last vestige of civilization towards the north. 
 
 The morning of the 6th presented to our view 
 one of those great natural features which mark 
 many districts on the north-west of North Ame- 
 rica, and especially in Upper Mississippi ; — the 
 Prairie aux Liards, — one hundred and eighty 
 miles from St Louis. 
 
 The United States and Canada, with all their 
 immense dependencies, exhibit one continued 
 forest, the largest perhaps in the world ; inter-
 
 132 PRAIRIES. 
 
 rupted only by vast glades inlaid with villages, 
 market-towns, cities, fields, ponds, and inter- 
 sected in every direction by rivers. Eighteen 
 parts out of twenty, perhaps, still remain in a 
 wild, uncultivated state ; of these the forests of 
 the Mississippi are a continuation. 
 
 In the midst of these impenetrable masses of 
 trees which cover the face of the earth, and 
 whose birth, life and death are exclusively in 
 the hand- of nature, one meets with extensive 
 and beautiful tracts of meadow land, destitute 
 not only of trees, but even of shrubs or bushes ; 
 or they sometimes exhibit the still more re- 
 markable appearance of groves and clumps of 
 trees, disposed with so much art and symmetry, 
 that, but for the death-like silence which per- 
 vades this vast solitude, it would be impossible 
 not to think that they had been placed there by 
 the hand of man. It is evident too that the grass 
 in these places has never fallen under any scythe 
 but that of Time. This, my dear Countess, is a 
 phenomenon which bewildered my eyes and my 
 imagination. 
 
 On the 9th, whilst the steam-boat was taking 
 in wood, I wandered into a forest which bounded 
 one of these beautiful caprices of nature. The 
 varied forms and tints which this contrast im- 
 parted to the landscape, whilst they continually 
 arrested my steps, insensibly led me on ; and a
 
 AN ADVENTURE. 133 
 
 flock of wild turkeys, which elude'd my pursuit, 
 induced me to go so far that I was unable to re- 
 gain the place where the steam-boat had stopped. 
 In this dilemma my compass was my guide ; but 
 what was my suprise at finding the vessel 
 gone! A bend of the Mississippi concealed 
 every signal I could make ; and the discharges 
 of my gun resounded vainly in the forest, and 
 under the canopy of heaven. At last I betook 
 myself to my last resource — my legs j but the 
 speed of Atalanta would have been useless 
 among the brushwood and the ruins of pre- 
 adamite trees, scattered around like the ancient 
 monuments of Egypt, Greece, and Rome : all 
 my efforts would have been vain, but fortu- 
 nately, the steam-boat ran a-ground on a sand- 
 bank. At this moment my companions made 
 the discovery that I was missing. The canoe 
 which was dispatched to meet me arrived just 
 in time, for I was so completely out of breath 
 that I must have given up the pursuit. It 
 seemed as if the moment of my appearance had 
 been appointed as that of her extrication ; for I 
 had scarcely arrived when she was a- float. If 
 I had been as ready to believe in divine interpo- 
 sitions as some good people, I should certainly 
 not have let slip this opportunity of proclaiming 
 a miracle in favour of a Catholic over a number of 
 heretics, who seemed plotting his destruction.
 
 134 THE GREAT EAGLE. 
 
 You are a little angry, dear Lady, with the 
 captain of the steam-boat ; but I must, in some 
 measure, take his part. The Americans have 
 a sort of evasive " Yes," very convenient for 
 settling doubts or shuffling off troublesome en- 
 quiries; and with a yes of this kind he had 
 been made to believe that I was on board. 
 But be this as it may, it is a good lesson for 
 those who, like me, are not punctual when 
 they travel by a public conveyance. For- 
 tune, too, seemed willing to compensate me for 
 any little ill-humour I might have felt at a mark 
 of indifference which certainly seemed un pea 
 sauvage. A scene was preparing which afforded 
 me abundant cause for laughter. The Great 
 Eagle, vexed and angry that the pilot had not 
 taken his advice respecting the choice of the 
 channel, jumped into the river and swam to the 
 western bank, whence he spoke to his children ; 
 and disdaining to remain any longer in the 
 steam-boat, returned home, that is to say, into 
 the forest. This was the first incident that gave 
 me an insight into the character of these people. 
 The following day we found him surrounded by 
 his tribe at Fort Edward, where he had arrived 
 before us. They had formed a temporary en- 
 campment and were exchanging furs with the 
 traders of the South-west Company. 
 
 Scarcely were we within sight of the encamp-
 
 FORT EDWARD. 135 
 
 ment, when the children of the Great Eagle 
 plunged into the river and swam to their den 
 with all the eagerness of wild beasts escaping 
 from a menagerie into their native forests. The 
 Great Eagle came on board to take his bow, 
 quiver, and gun; and although he was exas- 
 perated against the people of the boat, he put 
 out his hand to me as a mark of friendship, and 
 as a proof that I had no share in the resentment 
 which he felt for the others. I availed myself 
 of this favourable moment to ask him for a 
 scalp suspended by the hair to the handle of 
 his tomahawk. It was the pericranium of a 
 chief of the Sioux, whom he had killed with his 
 own hand the preceding year. Savages have no 
 control over the impulse of the moment ; and as 
 the Great Eagle was now as much softened 
 as he had been the day before irritated, he 
 could not refuse my request. This scalp is as 
 honourable a trophy to an Indian, as a horse's 
 tail is to a Turk, a Tartar, or a Chinese. 
 
 Fort Edward is built upon a promontory on 
 the eastern bank of the Mississippi ; its situation, 
 which is very pleasant, commands a great ex- 
 tent of the river and the surrounding country 
 as well as the mouth of the river Le Moine 
 which descends from the west and is navigable 
 for three hundred miles into the interior. The 
 banks of this river are inhabited by the Yawohas,
 
 136 SAVAGE LANDS. 
 
 a savage people, who have been almost entirely 
 destroyed by the Sioux. 
 
 Fort Edward is two hundred and twelve miles 
 from St Louis ; it is on the boundary of the two 
 states of Illinois and Missouri. 
 
 It will be necessary, before we proceed, to 
 endeavour to form some notion of the geogra- 
 phical and statistical divisions of the countries 
 we are preparing to visit. Without this preli- 
 minary information we should often be quite at 
 sea. 
 
 The American government, after having in- 
 corporated the whole of Louisiana with the 
 Union, divided into Territories all those coun- 
 tries not sufficiently populous to be formed into 
 States. The whole extent of country beyond 
 Fort Edward, on the east of the Mississippi as 
 far as its sources, belongs to the territory of Mi- 
 chigan, which also comprises all the regions along 
 the western banks of lakes Erie, St Clair, Huron 
 and Superior. All the country beyond the fort 
 just mentioned, on the west of the Mississippi 
 as far as its sources, and even still farther, which 
 belonged to the territory of the Missouri be- 
 fore it was formed into a state, is now distin- 
 guished only under the name of Savage Lands; 
 for throughout their whole extent there are no 
 other traces of civilization than a few scattered 
 huts belonging to traders, who are themselves
 
 1NTENDANCIES. 137 
 
 the descendants of savages. Arkansau and 
 Florida form two other territories. Each terri- 
 tory is entirely subject to the general govern- 
 ment of the United States, at Washington ; that 
 is to say, it is under its immediate jurisdiction, 
 and receives from it a governor, judges, and 
 receivers of taxes, as a country still in the in- 
 fancy of civilization. A territory has the right 
 of sending only one representative to the national 
 congress, who has no vote but in discussions 
 concerning his own territory. 
 
 As all these territories are chiefly inhabited 
 by savage tribes, the government has had the 
 wisdom to organize in each of them an inten- 
 dancy and subintendancies, whose business it is 
 to watch over and protect these people ; to pre- 
 vent abuses on the part of those who are autho- 
 rized to trade with them, and to oppose the 
 usurpation of that right by foreigners. 
 
 This measure was particularly necessary, 
 because the English North-west company had 
 already extended its establishments very far into 
 the territory of the United States, which enabled 
 the cabinet of St James's to excite and direct, 
 as opportunity offered, the passions of the sa- 
 vages against the United States. 
 
 The governors of the different territories are, 
 tx officio, the intendants of the Indians within their 
 jurisdiction, and general Clark is the intendant
 
 138 PONTIAC, THE SAUK1S CHIEF. 
 
 of all the Indian tribes lying upon the Missouri 
 and Mississippi above St Louis. 
 
 After this brief sketch of what is most essen- 
 tial we might more advantageously pursue our 
 excursion ; but it will not be amiss to stop an 
 instant longer for the purpose of taking a tran- 
 sient view of these Indians, — the first we meet 
 with towards the north. 
 
 The Saukis, half a century ago, were one of 
 the most numerous and powerful Indian nations. 
 The famous Pontiac, the bravest and most formi- 
 dable savage ever known, was their principal 
 chief. Next to the Montezumas, and the Incas, 
 no one among the aborigines of America has an 
 equal claim to historical celebrity, yet his 
 name is nowhere recorded. He was the im- 
 placable enemy of the English, who in vain 
 exerted every effort to bring him over to their 
 interests. He continually harassed them in 
 their conquests of those countries from the 
 French, to whom he showed the most devoted 
 and unshaken attachment. 
 
 With a cunning, courage, and ferocity more 
 than savage, he repeatedly massacred their gar- 
 risons in several forts, and particularly in those 
 of Detroit on Lake St Clair, and Michilima- 
 kinak on lake Huron. At the moment when 
 with unconquerable hatred he was meditating 
 other acts of hostility, he was assassinated by
 
 HABITATIONS. 139 
 
 an Ottawais, an emissary in the pay of the 
 English. 
 
 His tragical end was the signal for an atro- 
 cious war between his nation, who determined 
 to avenge him, and the Ottawais, the Wine- 
 begos, and the Potomawais, — savage nations 
 which still exist in small numbers upon lakes 
 Michigan, Erie, Huron, and in the countries 
 east of the Mississippi, — who formed a coalition 
 against them in favour of the English. The 
 greater part of the Saukis were destroyed : their 
 number now scarcely amounts to 4,800. 
 
 I visited their camp : their flying tents or 
 huts, which are their only houses, are covered 
 with mats or skins. The Canadians, who may 
 be considered as the classical nomenclators of 
 these countries, call them lodges. They are 
 elliptical. Each of them generally contains a 
 family, sometimes two, with or without their 
 relations; they sleep in a circle upon skins, 
 mats, or dried grass. The fire is made in the 
 centre, as among the ancients, who gave the 
 name of imagines fumosce to the pictures and 
 statues placed in the room containing the fire, 
 from their being blackened by the smoke. In 
 the Indian huts the smoke passes through the 
 round opening in the centre of the roof, the 
 foramina vel oculi, by which the light was ad-
 
 140 FURNITURE. 
 
 mitted into the temples and houses of the 
 Romans. 
 
 A copper or tin boiler which they get in ex- 
 change from the traders, often supported only 
 by a wooden fork stuck in the ground, pieces of 
 wood hollowed into spoons, bits of the bark 
 of trees formed into plates and dishes, the horns 
 of buffalos or other animals cut into cups, con- 
 stitute the whole of their batter ie de cuisine, their 
 plate, and their table service. A stake supplies 
 the place of a spit, their fingers serve for forks, 
 the earth for a table, and a skin or the beau- 
 tiful carpet of nature for their table-cloth. 
 
 They all sit indiscriminately around the food 
 with which Providence and their guns supply 
 them. Neither kings, ministers, nor courtiers 
 are treated with any distinction. 
 
 In this perfect republic, equality is not less 
 the privilege of animals than men. The dogs, 
 although illegitimate and descended from wolves, 
 are seated at the same table with the savages, 
 and at the same divan; they partake of the same 
 dishes and sleep on the same beds. I have 
 seen young bears and otters treated as a part of 
 the community. 
 
 The faces of the Saukis, although exhibiting 
 features characteristic of their savage state, 
 are not disagreeable ; and they are rather well
 
 PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 141 
 
 made than otherwise. Their size and structure, 
 which are of the middle kind, indicate neither 
 peculiar strength nor weakness. Their heads 
 are rather small; that part called by French 
 anatomists voute orbitaire, has in general no hair 
 except a small tuft upon the pineal gland, like 
 that of the Turks ; this gives the forehead an 
 appearance of great elevation. Their eyes are 
 small, and their eye-brows thin ; the cornea ap- 
 proaches rather to yellow, the pupil to red ; they 
 are the link between those of the Orang-outang 
 and ours. Their ears are sufficiently large to 
 bear all the jewels, &c. with which they are 
 adorned : two foxes' tails dangled from those of 
 the Great Eagle. I have seen others to which 
 were hung bells, heads of birds and dozens of 
 buckles, which penetrated the whole cartilagi- 
 nous part from top to bottom. Their noses are 
 large and flat, like those of the nations of eastern 
 Asia ; their nostrils are pierced and ornamented 
 like their ears. The maxillary bones, or pom- 
 mettes, are very prominent. The under jaw 
 extends outwards on both sides. Their mouths 
 are rather large, their teeth close set, and of 
 the finest enamel; their lips a little inverted. 
 Their necks are regularly formed : they have 
 large bellies and narrow chests, so that their 
 bodies are generally larger below than above. 
 Their feet and hands are well proportioned;
 
 142 SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 their arms are slender : this may be attributed to 
 want of exercise, which checks the development 
 of the muscles; the only part of the body which 
 savages inure to fatigue is the legs, which are 
 therefore more robust than the rest of their 
 frame. Their complexion is copper-coloured, 
 whence they call themselves the red people, as a 
 distinction both from whites and blacks. Ex- 
 cept the tuft in the head, which we have already 
 remarked, they have no hair on any part of the 
 body. Books, which deal greatly in the mar- 
 vellous, convert this into an extraordinary phe- 
 nomenon ; but the fact is that, from a supersti- 
 tion common to all savages, they pluck it out, 
 and as they begin at an early age and use the 
 most persevering means for its extirpation, 
 nothing is left but a soft down. 
 
 You know that many of our drivers and 
 coachmen believe that the manes of their 
 horses are haunted by devils who make their 
 nests in them, and that they employ conjura- 
 tions to drive them away : the Indians, who 
 have the same creed on this point and have 
 neither saints nor holy water wherewith to exor- 
 cise them, prevent the effect by tearing up the 
 cause by the roots. The Greeks and Romans had 
 similar superstitions, and the Egyptian kings, 
 like others, carefully infused them into the minds 
 of the people the better to enslave them.
 
 CLOTHING AND WEAPONS. 143 
 
 You would be astonished, my dear Madam, 
 at the striking coincidences between the cha- 
 racter and habits of the Indians and those of 
 the ancient and modern people of the old world, 
 though their country was entirely unknown to 
 the former, and very imperfectly to the latter. 
 
 Notwithstanding the continuance of the cold 
 weather, the men had nothing but a single co- 
 vering of wool or skin, which serves them by 
 day and by night. They throw it about them 
 with extraordinary grace and dexterity, as the 
 Romans did their pallium. Their coverings for 
 the feet and legs, which they call mokasins, are 
 made of the skin of the roe-buck, buffalo, or 
 elk, and are precisely like the peroiies, cothurni, 
 mulei and calcei of the Greeks and Romans ; 
 but in summer they generally go barefoot. In 
 winter they wear a kind of skin or cloth gaiters, 
 like those of the Cimbri in the time of Marius, 
 which they call mytas. They wear a covering- 
 round the loins; all the rest of the body, 
 even the head, is naked, whether it rains, hails, 
 or freezes, or the earth is parched with the 
 burning heat of the dog-days. 
 
 Their offensive weapons are the bow, the 
 arrow, the pike, the lance, as among the an- 
 cients ; the axe, the club, the dagger, as among 
 the combatants of the middle ages ; the casse-tete,
 
 144 CLOTHING AND WEAPONS. 
 
 the tomahawk, as used by the Tartars of Tamer- 
 lane; and the gun used by modern nations. 
 
 The shield is their only defensive weapon. It 
 is precisely like that of the early Romans, of 
 leather, round like the clypeus, or oval like the 
 scutum ; but the most singular instance of resem- 
 blance is that they paint it as the Romans did, 
 and, like them, trace the origin of their armo- 
 rial bearings from it; they have already begun 
 to paint upon their tents and elsewhere, — as 
 we do upon the doors or walls of our mansions, 
 — those glorious hieroglyphics formerly painted 
 only upon shields. I have one in my possession 
 which is ornamented with plumes, and bears 
 the head of the Manitou or peculiar god of the 
 hero from whom I received it. It is the head of 
 a wild duck, by means of which he expected 
 perhaps to petrify his enemies, as Perseus did 
 with the head of Medusa. 
 
 The ephod, from the Hebrew word aphael, 
 which signifies to dress, was a kind of short 
 tunic with large sleeves. It was first confined to 
 the Jewish high priest, who could not perform 
 his sacerdotal functions without it ; and was 
 afterwards in a manner profaned by David, who 
 had the presumption to wear it; after him it 
 was irreverently worn by the whole family of 
 Gideon ; and when this nation addicted itself to
 
 DRESS OF THE INDIAN WOMEN. 145 
 
 idolatry, it became a part of the fashionable 
 dress of every woman of rank. It passed from 
 Asia to Greece, thence to Rome, and lastly to 
 these savage countries ; for the species of short 
 tunic with large sleeves which comes down to 
 the girdle of the female Saukis, is precisely like 
 the ephod : plates of white metal, fixed upon 
 the part which covers the breast, seem an imita- 
 tion of the Jibidce of the ancients. By their round- 
 ness they appear to be an emblem of the sun, 
 which the Peruvians also wore upon their breasts. 
 A petticoat, fitting close to the body, descends 
 to the bottom of the knees, and their legs are 
 covered with a kind of gaiters, resembling those 
 of the ancient Scythian women. The covering 
 for the feet and legs is distinguished from that 
 of the men only by its elegance : in summer, 
 however, their feet and legs are always unco- 
 vered. During the period of youth their forms 
 are attractive, but these flowers soon fade : the 
 evening succeeds to the morning without the 
 interval of noon ; for these poor women are the 
 porters, the beasts of burden of the men, who, 
 they say, would lose all dignity and become as 
 vile, abject, and despicable, as the whites, if they 
 condescended to submit to any other occupa- 
 tions than those of hunting and war. There is no 
 slavery more abject than that of the Indian wo- 
 men. They are looked upon with such contempt, 
 
 VOL. II. L
 
 146 INDIAN WOMEN. 
 
 that the greatest insult to an Indian is to say 
 to him " Go, you are a squaw (a woman.)" It 
 frequently happens that these victims of the 
 instinctive tyranny of man have such a horror 
 of the fate of their sex, that they destroy their 
 daughters at their birth, to save them from the 
 wretched, miserable life which awaits them. 
 
 They have very luxuriant hair which they tie 
 into what some people call catogans, like the 
 carters and poissards of the south of France. Their 
 heads, like those of the men, are uncovered, and, 
 like them, they wear a covering for the body, 
 consisting of a piece of coarse blue or red cloth. 
 This is a recent fashion. 
 
 The men and women daub their faces with 
 red, yellow, white, or blue. When they are in 
 mourning they paint the whole face, and even 
 the body, black, during a year ; the second year 
 they paint only half; and, at last, merely streak 
 themselves with it in various patterns. Both 
 men and women wear ornaments on the neck 
 and arms : some wear what we call marga- 
 ritines, that is to say, small glass beads, or 
 composition trinkets, which the traders sell 
 them in exchange ; others, the teeth or claws of 
 wild beasts : — here, you will admit, is some- 
 thing of every age — the most antique, the an- 
 cient, the middle ages, the modern, and the 
 very modern.
 
 INDIAN WOMEN. 147 
 
 Enoch tells us that, before the deluge, the 
 angel Azaliel taught young women the art of 
 painting their persons. Isaiah alludes to the 
 same fact in respect to those of Sion ; the Greek 
 and Roman women borrowed it from the A siatics, 
 and Juvenal represents the effeminate priests of 
 Athens as painted with white and red. Ambrose 
 exclaims loudly against the vanity of this custom ; 
 the famous monk Hildebrand, (Gregory VII,) 
 imputes this vice with many others to the women 
 of his time, the more highly to exalt the virtues 
 of Matilda, who gave him pretty substantial 
 proofs of her gratitude. Before the time of Peter 
 the Great, the Muscovites striped their faces 
 with all sorts of colours : even in our time, this is 
 practised by many of the nations of Asia ; and 
 our ladies, and even our dandies, seldom blow 
 their noses without leaving some of their com- 
 plexion upon their handkerchiefs. It is not a 
 little singular that antimony is an ingredient in 
 the most ancient rouge, as well as of that which 
 the Indians regard as the paint de grand parade. 
 
 That the female savages should wear neck- 
 laces, like the Greeks and Romans, is not extra- 
 ordinary, for they are worn everywhere ; but 
 what does surprise one is, that like the women 
 of antiquity they offer them to the departed 
 spirits of their relations, of which I have been 
 an eye-witness.
 
 148 INDIAN CANOES. 
 
 The custom of wearing necklaces, prevalent 
 among the men, reminds us of that of the 
 Egyptians ; it is still more singular, that their 
 bracelets are precisely like the arrriilla of the 
 Romans, and that they wear them on the upper 
 part of the arm, as they did. 
 
 I saw one of these tribes break up their tents 
 to go in quest of a new domicile, or forest. In 
 half an hour everything was ready for their 
 departure. 
 
 The lustres, wardrobe, sideboard, equipage, 
 plate, kitchen utensils, &c. occupied the centre 
 of the canoe; the house, that is to say, the mats 
 and skins for the tent, served to cover them ; 
 the children, the dogs, the bears, &c. were 
 placed opposite ; the men on either side ; and 
 the women, at the two extremities, exercised 
 the functions of pilots and sailors : sometimes, 
 however, the men row too. 
 
 Their vessel is the hollowed trunk of a tree, 
 and the oars resemble those of our ancestors, — 
 such as artists put into the hands of painted or 
 sculptured deities of rivers. The ease with 
 which they manage these liburnicce is astonish- 
 ing ; and considering how narrow they are, how 
 unsteady on the water, and how heavily they 
 are laden, it is surprising that they so seldom 
 upset. 
 
 On the evening of the 6th we set out from
 
 RAPIDS OF THE MOINE. 149 
 
 Fort Edward, where we were treated by the 
 officers with much politeness ; we soon returned, 
 however, for the steam-boat, being too heavily 
 laden, was unable to make a very difficult and 
 dangerous passage at a place called the Middle 
 of the Rapids of the Moine, nine miles above the 
 Fort. By great good luck we escaped from a 
 rock which might have dashed our steam-boat 
 to pieces ; it was only slightly damaged. 
 
 On the 7th, while the steam-boat was getting 
 ready, I made a little shooting excursion. I 
 killed a monstrous serpent, almost entirely 
 black, spotted with yellow ; it is called by the 
 Indians piacoiba (i. e. terrible animal.) They 
 dread it more than the rattle-snake, though 
 its bite is not so dangerous, because it glides 
 silently and insidiously among the briars and 
 grass, and its attacks are unexpected ; whereas, 
 the other gives notice of its approach by the sound 
 of that substance with which nature has provi- 
 dentially furnished its tail, that man may have 
 time to escape its pursuit. I have preserved its 
 skin, because I do not recollect to have seen one 
 like it in the museums I have visited, either in 
 this world or our own. 
 
 The Indians, at the sight of my prize, wel- 
 comed me as if I had been a beneficent Manitou. 
 Their nakedness and their wandering life ren- 
 der wamenduska (reptiles) objects of great terror
 
 150 FORT MADISON. 
 
 to them, and yet no one dares kill them, for 
 they believe that they are malevolent spirits, 
 who would visit their families and camps with 
 every kind of misfortune if they attempted to 
 destroy them. 
 
 The next day we ascended, though not with- 
 out difficulty, these rapids, which continue for 
 the space of twenty-one miles, when we saw 
 another encampment of Saukis upon the eastern 
 bank. 
 
 Nine miles higher, on the western bank, are 
 the ruins of the old Fort Madison. 
 
 The president of that name had established an 
 entrepdt of the most necessary articles for the 
 Indians, to be exchanged for their peltry. The 
 object of the government was not speculation, 
 but, by its example, to fix reasonable prices 
 among the traders; for, in the United States, 
 everybody traffics except the government. Fear- 
 ing, however, the effect of any restraint on 
 the trade of private individuals, it has with- 
 drawn its factories and agents, and left the 
 field open to the South West Company, which 
 has been joined by a rival company, and 
 now monopolizes the commerce of almost the 
 whole savage region of the valleys of the Mis- 
 sissippi and the Missouri. Its two principal 
 centres of operations are St Louis and Michili- 
 makinac, on lake Huron.
 
 YAHOWA RIVER. 151 
 
 At a short distance from this fort, on the same 
 side, is the river of the Bete Puante, and farther 
 on, that of the Yahowas, so called from the name 
 of the savage tribes which inhabited its banks. 
 It is ninety-seven miles from Fort Edward, and 
 three hundred from St Louis. 
 
 The fields were beginning to resume their 
 verdure ; the meadows, groves, and forests were 
 reviving at the return of spring. Never had I 
 seen nature more beautiful, more majestic, than 
 in this vast domain of silence and solitude. 
 Never did the warbling of the birds so expres- 
 sively declare the renewal of their innocent 
 loves. Every object was as new to my imagi- 
 nation as to my eye. 
 
 All around me breathed that melancholy, 
 which, by turns sweet and bitter, exercises so 
 powerful an influence over minds endowed with 
 sensibility. How ardently, how often, did I long- 
 to be alone ! 
 
 Wooded . islands, disposed in beautiful order 
 by the hand of nature, continually varied the 
 picture : the course of the river, which had 
 become calm and smooth, reflected the daz- 
 zling rays of the sun like glass ; smiling hills 
 formed a delightful contrast with the immense 
 prairies, which are like oceans, and the mo- 
 notony of which is relieved by isolated clusters 
 of thick and massy trees. These enchanting 
 scenes lasted from the river Yahowa till we
 
 152 FORT ARMSTRONG. 
 
 reached a place which presents a distant and 
 exquisitely blended view of what is called 
 Rocky Island, three hundred and seventy-two 
 miles from St Louis, and one hundred and sixty 
 from Fort Edward. Fort Armstrong, at this spot, 
 is constructed upon a plateau, at an elevation of 
 about fifty feet above the level of the river, and re- 
 wards the spectator who ascends it with the most 
 magical variety of scenery. It takes its name 
 from Mr Armstrong, who was secretary at war 
 at the time of its construction. 
 
 The eastern bank at the mouth of Rocky River 
 was lined with an encampment of Indians, called 
 Foxes. Their features, dress, weapons, customs, 
 and language, are similar to those of the Saukis, 
 whose allies they are, in peace and war. On the 
 western shore of the Mississippi, a semicircular 
 hill, clothed with trees and underwood, encloses 
 a fertile spot carefully cultivated by the gar- 
 rison, and formed into fields and kitchen gardens. 
 The fort saluted us on our arrival with four 
 discharges of cannon, and the Indians paid us 
 the same compliment with their muskets. The 
 echo, which repeated them a thousand times, 
 was most striking from its contrast with the 
 deep repose of these deserts. 
 
 We arrived on the 10th, about noon. After 
 dinner I visited the Saukis, three miles to the 
 east, on the north bank of the Rocky River. Here 
 they had formed their most extensive encamp-
 
 MEDICINE DANCE. 153 
 
 ment, the only one they constantly inhabit 
 during the summer months. 
 
 In this village, if I may call it so, I witnessed, 
 for the first time, the dexterity with which the 
 Indians handle their bows. Children, nine or ten 
 years of age, hit a small piece of money of six 
 sous, which I had fixed up for them to aim at, 
 at a distance of twenty-five paces, — often at the 
 second trial. At last I was obliged to remove 
 it to thirty-five, or they would soon have ex- 
 hausted the little purse I had filled for this visit. 
 The chiefs offered us a slight refreshment ; it 
 consisted of bear's flesh dried in the smoke, 
 which I thought more delicious than our hams, 
 and of roots, resembling chicory, but less bitter 
 and very highly flavoured : they call them po- 
 kinota. 
 
 They had completed their toilet, so that their 
 faces exhibited every variety of colour. Some, 
 by the hieroglyphics painted on their bodies, 
 reminded me of the mysteries of the ancient 
 Egyptian priests. Those who favoured us with 
 the dance called the Medicine Dance, or Wakaw 
 Wata, had their bodies covered with them. 
 
 As the only people the Indians ever heard of 
 are the French, English, Spaniards, and Ame- 
 ricans, and as their conception of the world is 
 confined to those nations, the Saukis were much 
 astonished when T told them that I did not
 
 154 MEDICINE DANCE. 
 
 belong to any one of them. I made them 
 believe that I came from the moon : their as- 
 tonishment was then converted into veneration ; 
 for they adore this planet as a beneficent deity, 
 whose rays enable them to hunt, fish, and 
 travel, during the night. Whatever is useful 
 seems to be an object of worship in every part 
 of the world. 
 
 This medicine dance is the offspring of political 
 knavery and superstitious folly and credulity. 
 It has some analogy with the mysteries of 
 Eleusis, and with others which turn the brains 
 of some of the moderns. The initiated are en- 
 closed within a parallelogram, formed by a small 
 barricade covered with skins : the profane may 
 witness the ceremony, but at a distance. 
 
 As I wished to know the whole secret, I deter- 
 mined to try the result of a clandestine en- 
 trance ; accordingly, I glided into the enclosure, 
 but was turned out, although a son or inhabitant 
 of the moon. A sort of president, whose head 
 is adorned with plumes and with the horns of 
 a buffalo, the points of which are turned inwards 
 like those on the mitre of Aaron and Melchise- 
 deck, takes his station, surrounded by a band 
 of musicians, east of the enclosure. At the west, 
 two warriors, armed with bows and arrows, 
 guard the entrance. A master of the ceremonies, 
 with a club in his hand, stands in the centre, and
 
 MEDICINE DANCE. 155 
 
 receives the orders of the president. The elect, 
 male and female, (for some were of the latter 
 sex,) are seated on the north and south, accord- 
 ing to his or her seniority or respective rank. 
 
 An orator, (for there must be one everywhere,) 
 placed at some distance on the left of the presi- 
 dent, every now and then raised his eyebrows, 
 as if under the influence of celestial inspiration, 
 and shewed by every movement of his agitated 
 body his impatience to speak, — perhaps to hear 
 the delightful sound of bravo or encore. As 
 they have no written language, there is no 
 secretary ; this is a great defect : in any other 
 country, a session without a proces verbal would 
 be absolutely null and void. 
 
 I cannot tell what the president said in his 
 opening speech, for nobody could understand 
 him, not even, I think, his neophytes ; but the 
 orator, who almost immediately addressed the 
 assembly, must unquestionably have spoken 
 well, for he equalled in eloquent emphasis 
 the greatest orators of Greece or Rome. The 
 vehemence and animation of the oratory of 
 savages excite astonishment, when contrasted 
 with their taciturnity and apathy in the common 
 transactions of life. Sometimes the inspiration 
 is so powerful, that they tremble in every limb, 
 like the Shakers, t could neither understand
 
 156 MEDICINE DANCE. 
 
 nor guess the meaning of his speech ; but I 
 conclude that with these superstitious people, as 
 with many others, fanaticism holds the place of 
 reason, and blindness, of belief. 
 
 On a signal given by the president, the musi- 
 cians then played upon their horns and drums ; 
 the latter, beaten with a stick covered with 
 leather, produce a very touching sound ; but the 
 nenice and idulatus to which they beat time, were 
 torturing to the ears, and truly terrific. 
 
 At this beautiful music, the president, the 
 door-keepers, the orator, the male and female 
 elect, form a circle ; and the master of the cere- 
 monies, from the centre, directs the necessary 
 formalities, Each carries in his right hand the 
 skin of an otter, beaver, or some other favourite 
 animal, made in the form of a bag, open at the 
 two ends ; and at the moment the president 
 raises his in the air, the great ceremony begins. 
 
 The president, making frightful contortions, 
 and fervently stammering out a few ejaculatory 
 prayers, first blows into one end of his bag, the 
 other end of which is turned towards his right- 
 hand neighbour. At this instant, the latter 
 suddenly falls to the ground ; no matter in what 
 direction, or whether he break his neck or not, 
 for he is considered dead. 
 
 He is only restored to life by degrees, and in
 
 MEDICINE DANCE. 157 
 
 proportion as his exorcist — the same person by 
 whose influence he fell — pronounces some expi- 
 atory formulas, which operate upon him like 
 galvanism : the resuscitated person is then com- 
 pletely purified ab omni macula. Although he 
 retains the same body, the bag and the ceremony 
 have given him a new soul : a doctrine quite 
 contrary to that of the metempsichosis, which 
 transfuses an old soul into a new body ; it is 
 also opposed to the creed of the savages of 
 several nations, who seem to hold the Pythago- 
 rean hypothesis about death. 
 
 If I may presume to give my opinion on this 
 farce, I think the medicine dance is only a spiritual 
 medicine, given in this transitory life to prepare 
 the soul for a more successful aspiration to a 
 celestial and eternal one. 
 
 The president and his neighbours, and the 
 other persons of the mystic chain, become 
 successively active and passive, until the presi- 
 dent himself falls, dies, and is restored to life in 
 his turn ; he then closes the dance by declaring 
 that la seance est levee. 
 
 I expected that my philharmonical friends 
 and the master of the ceremonies would have 
 acted the same part ; but either they have 
 some other mode of purification, or they purify 
 themselves by sympathy, like bodies attracted 
 by the force of electricity.
 
 158 MEDICINE DANCE. 
 
 Would that I were a painter ! But then per- 
 haps my observations would have been superfi- 
 cial. Let people say what they please, Pangloss 
 is a great man ; everything is certainly for the 
 best. There is only one exception .... with 
 that you are acquainted, my dear Countess. 
 
 In the midst of this laughable scene, I suffered 
 much from not being allowed to laugh. My in- 
 terpreter, who saw what I endured from the 
 violence I did to my inclination, intimated to me 
 that its indulgence might condemn me to an auto 
 dafe. One of the actors threw himself into such 
 violent contortions, that he tore his face ; perhaps 
 to serve as a proces verbal (in default of secretary) 
 of the session, till a renewal of the ceremonies. 
 
 I have been told that no one can obtain admis- 
 sion into this fraternity without the requisite 
 qualities, of which that of a fortunate dreamer is 
 the most meritorious. Our lottery gamblers, 
 and dealers in political systems, might become 
 successful candidates. 
 
 I have also been told that those who propose 
 themselves for admission make large offerings, 
 and that they are sometimes obliged to give all 
 they possess to the order. Religious systems 
 are to be found at all times, and in all places ; 
 but it appears that the salvation of the soul must 
 be paid for under all ; — in modern as well as in 
 ancient times, in the new world and in the old,
 
 ROCKY ISLAND. 159 
 
 among savage and among civilized nations. I 
 was told, and I believe it, that in this camp, and 
 in others where they are stationary during part 
 of the year, there are houses in which young girls 
 are appointed to watch over a fire which burns 
 in the centre ; like the Roman and Peruvian ves- 
 tals, the guardians of the Prytaneum at Athens, 
 and the Guebres. It appears that they conse- 
 crate it to the sun, or consider it as the emblem 
 of that life-giving luminary. 
 
 A bag of such miraculous properties as the 
 medicine bag, deserved all my attention ; I there- 
 fore exerted every effort to obtain one. Vain, 
 however, would have been the veneration I ex- 
 pressed for the prodigies it performed, had I not 
 made a present of good whiskey both to the 
 person who gave it me, and to the high-priest, 
 as a bribe for his sanction. This was the first 
 convincing proof I saw of the resistless, and, 
 as you will soon perceive, fatal allurement of 
 spirituous liquors to the savages. 
 
 The next day we quitted Rocky Island, where 
 the gentlemen of the garrison were as polite to 
 us as those of Fort Edward. 
 
 The rapids above this island, which is three 
 miles in length from north to south, are stronger 
 •and extend farther than those of the Moine ; 
 and had not Providence come to our aid and
 
 160 RATTLE-SNAKE. 
 
 swelled the waters of the river for two days, the 
 steam-boat would perhaps have remained nailed 
 to the rock upon which it had already struck. 
 
 Whilst the captain allowed some repose to the 
 crew, who were exhausted with fatigue, I paid 
 a visit to the forests as usual. It was generally 
 thought that 1 should turn savage, and the cap- 
 tain, as you have seen, had done his best to convert 
 it into a reality : but this time I acted with more 
 precaution. 
 
 Chance almost immediately threw a rattle- 
 snake in my way. At first it fled from me ; it then 
 stopped, and was in the act of looking at me, 
 when I shot it through the head. I have pre- 
 served its skin. It is almost five feet in length, 
 and has six rows of rattles, which indicate its age 
 by the same number of years. Although the head 
 is crushed, the organization of the mouth is still 
 visible : it inflicts the mortal wound with a 
 tooth, which it uses as a cat does its claws. It 
 dips it in the poison by passing it, at the moment 
 it bites, across the vesicle which contains the 
 liquid. 
 
 At the distance of six miles from the rapids, 
 ,we met with another tribe of Foxes encamped 
 on the western bank. Higher up, after passing 
 the rivers la Pomme and la Garde, which run 
 westward, we saw a place called the Death's-
 
 LEAD MINES. 161 
 
 heads; a field of battle where the Foxes de- 
 feated the Kikassias, whose heads they fixed 
 upon poles as trophies of their victory. We 
 stopped at the entrance of the river la Fievre, 
 a name in perfect conformity with the effect of 
 the bad air which prevails there. It flows from 
 the east, and is navigable for about one hundred 
 miles. 
 
 At seven miles from its mouth the Indians 
 formerly collected lead, which they found in 
 abundance scattered over the surface of the earth. 
 They converted it to no other use than that of 
 making bullets, as they wanted them. The 
 government, which never loses sight of its inte- 
 rests when opportunity offers, purchased, or 
 rather obliged the Foxes to sell, these lands, 
 consisting of fifteen square miles ; it has thus 
 secured to itself the rich mines, which it has 
 granted out to adventurers, who pay the tenth 
 of the net produce of the lead. It has established 
 an agent there to watch over its rights. 
 
 A whole family from the interior of Kentucky 
 have come to establish themselves at a distance 
 of thirteen or fourteen hundred miles from their 
 home. They were in the steam-boat, with their 
 arms and baggage, cats and dogs, hens and tur- 
 keys ; the children too had their own stock. The 
 facility, the indifference with which the Ameri- 
 cans undertake distant and difficult emigrations, 
 
 VOL. II. M
 
 162 ANOTHER RATTLE-SNAKE. 
 
 are perfectly amazing. Their spirit of specula- 
 tion would carry them to the infernal regions, 
 if another Sybil led the way with a golden 
 bough. 
 
 A cross-road soon brought me to the mines. 
 The rocks are almost one mass of lead, and the 
 ore produces from seventy-five to eighty per 
 cent. The site is a perfect Thebais. I congra- 
 tulated this good family upon the prosperity 
 they seemed to anticipate ; and I wished Mrs 
 R . . . . much more success in her intended 
 biblical missions among the savages than she had 
 met with in the steam-boat. A young man had 
 turned into utter ridicule both her and her 
 attempt to convert him. She was one of those 
 good women who devote themselves to God 
 when they have lost all hope of pleasing men, 
 and whose fervour, like that of almost all bigots, 
 is mysticism. I must detain you one instant 
 longer at these mines, to describe to you, as I 
 heard it, one of the most remarkable phenomena 
 of nature. 
 
 A rattle- snake was killed there with a hun- 
 dred and forty young ones in its belly, several of 
 which contained other young ones. Major An- 
 derson, agent of the mines and a man of unim- 
 peachable veracity, told me this as a positive 
 fact, of which he had been an eye-witness. I 
 was also informed by some of the traders that 
 this was not the first instance of the kind.
 
 MINES OF DUBUQUES. ] 63 
 
 Twelve miles higher, upon the western bank 
 of the Mississippi, are other lead mines, called 
 the mines of Dubuques. 
 
 A Canadian of that name was the friend of a 
 tribe of the Foxes, who have a kind of village 
 here. In 1788, these Indians granted him per- 
 mission to work the mines. His establishment 
 flourished ; but the fatal sisters cut the thread 
 of his days and of his fortune. 
 
 He had no children. The attachment of the 
 Indians was confined to him; and, to get rid as 
 soon as possible of the importunities of those who 
 wanted to succeed him, they burnt his furnaces, 
 warehouses, and dwelling-house; and by this 
 energetic measure, expressed the determination 
 of the red people to have no other whites among 
 them than such as they liked. 
 
 The relations and creditors of Dubuques ap- 
 pealed to the congress of the United States to 
 secure to themselves the adjudication of the 
 property of these mines. It is said, that their 
 claim was founded upon a treaty of cession or 
 acquisition between Dubuques and the Indians; 
 that this treaty had been sanctioned by an act of 
 the baron de Carondelet, the Spanish governor 
 of Louisiana, west of the Mississippi,— and that 
 general Harrison had confirmed it when he took 
 possession of it for the United States, in 1804 : 
 but the congress decided in favour of the Indians.
 
 164 MINES OF DUBUQUES. 
 
 What belongs to the Indians does, in fact, belong 
 to the United States ; and it is not usual to give 
 judgment against our own interests. Augustus 
 refused to decide in a case in which he would 
 have been both party and judge, and lost his 
 cause. So liberal a government as the United 
 States should have imitated his example. 
 
 The Indians still keep exclusive possession of 
 these mines, and with such jealousy, that I 
 was obliged to have recourse to the all-powerful 
 whiskey to obtain permission to see them. 
 
 They melt the lead into holes which they dig 
 in the rock, to reduce it into pigs. They ex- 
 change it with the traders for articles of the 
 greatest necessity ; but they carry it themselves 
 to the other side of the river, which they will not 
 suffer them to pass. Notwithstanding these pre- 
 cautions, the mines are so valuable, and the 
 Americans so enterprising, that I much question 
 whether the Indians will long retain possession 
 of them. 
 
 Dubuques reposes, with royal state, in a 
 leaden chest contained in a mausoleum of wood, 
 which the Indians erected to him upon the sum- 
 mit of a small hill that overlooks their camps 
 and commands the river. 
 
 This man was become their idol, because he 
 possessed, or pretended to possess, an antidote to 
 the bite of the rattle-snake. Nothing but artifice
 
 INDIAN SUPERSTITION. 165 
 
 and delusion can render the red people friendly 
 to the whites ; for, both from instinct, and 
 from feelings transmitted from father to son, they 
 cordially despise and hate them. 
 
 A very respectable gentleman, a friend of 
 Dubuques, attempted to persuade me that this 
 juggler was in the habit of taking rattle-snakes 
 into his hands, and that by speaking to them 
 authoritatively, in a language which they under- 
 stood, he could tame them and render them as 
 gentle as doves. I merely observed that I be- 
 lieved what he asserted, because he said he had 
 seen it ; but that if I saw it with my own eyes 
 I should not believe it. 
 
 These people, proud as they are of their inde- 
 pendence, are so inclined to superstition (the 
 inseparable companion of implicit subjection) 
 that they would become the most abject slaves, 
 if they were civilized after the fashion of the 
 Jesuits. In fact, these reverend fathers had 
 rendered the Indians of la Plata so subservient 
 to their will, that they induced them to revolt 
 against legitimacy. Whenever this mystical body 
 of men present themselves to my thoughts, even 
 in these wild regions, I cannot help lamenting 
 the blindness and false policy which are endea- 
 vouring to re-establish their domination over the 
 world. 
 
 To form a correct opinion of what has been,
 
 166 THE JESUITS. 
 
 it would be sufficient to recollect what all the 
 potentates of Christendom, and an enlightened 
 pope, unanimously declared against them ; and 
 what had been said at an earlier period by Urban 
 VIII, when, in 1630, he suppressed the scan- 
 dalous order of the Jesuitesses : but the know- 
 ledge that the Loyolists were the mortal ene- 
 mies of all other religious bodies, only because 
 they were more religious than themselves, and 
 opposed the universal despotism which it was 
 their policy to organize over consciences and 
 over empires ; — this knowledge might surely 
 convince the most obstinate and fanatical per- 
 sons of the nature and purpose of the zeal which 
 influences these gentlemen. 
 
 I neither am, nor can be, the personal enemy 
 of the Jesuits ; for I was not in being when they 
 were expelled from the whole Catholic world ; 
 but as I am the friend of public tranquillity and of 
 religion, I cannot be theirs. While they professed 
 poverty and humility and called themselves the 
 company of Jesus, they insinuated themselves 
 into courts, and encouraged every vice that pre- 
 vailed in them ; perhaps for the very purpose of 
 bringing them into contempt, and thus promoting 
 the accomplishment of their ambitious views ; 
 they have been one of the grand causes of every 
 revolution which has convulsed society, and have 
 vitally wounded religion by the scandal they
 
 THE JESUITS. 167 
 
 have occasioned, and by their efforts to secure 
 to themselves the monopoly both of commerce 
 and of faith. 
 
 " The morality of Jesus Christ," says a holy 
 father of the church, " is pure and severe, but 
 simple and popular ; it is not propounded as 
 a deep and exclusive science : he reduces it to 
 maxims, adapts it to the comprehension of the 
 most ignorant, and confirms it by his example. 
 Mild and condescending, indulgent, merciful, cha- 
 ritable, the friend of the poor and the oppressed ; 
 he affects neither the pomp of eloquence, nor 
 the rigour of asceticism ; neither austere manners, 
 nor a reserved, mysterious deportment. He 
 promises peace and happiness to those who will 
 practise his precepts, but he does not pretend to 
 compel them. The faith he requires is rational 
 and free ; he has no object but the glory of God, 
 his father, the sanctification of man, the salvation 
 and the final happiness of the world. He is poor 
 and humble, and his kingdom is not of this 
 world." Let any one decide how far the morality 
 of the Jesuits accords with this. 
 
 It is urged that they are necessary to the 
 world, in its present state of corruption. It was 
 not, however, by the ministry of obstinate, in- 
 tolerant, ambitious men, that Jesus Christ un- 
 dertook to reform mankind : the choice of his 
 apostles shews the contrary. Such men, where-
 
 168 LONGUE VUE. 
 
 ever they have any influence over kings or na- 
 tions, are calculated only to plunge the world 
 still more deeply into disorder and misery ; and 
 which accounts for the English re-establishing 
 the Jesuits on the continent. 
 
 My pen was struck motionless during about 
 forty miles ; nor amidst the variety of objects 
 that every moment solicited my attention and 
 excited my astonishment, could I determine 
 where to fix my choice : at length a place which 
 might very appropriately be called Longue Vice, 
 decided me at once. Twelve small isolated 
 mountains present themselves in defile, and 
 project one behind another, like side- scenes. 
 They are intersected by small valleys ; each has 
 its rivulet, which divides it, and reflects from its 
 limpid streams the beauty of the trees by which 
 its banks are adorned. These hills exhibit a 
 mixture of the gloomy and the gay, while those 
 which appear at the back of the scene are 
 veiled with magical effect in the transparent 
 mist of the horizon. On the eastern bank a 
 verdant meadow rises with gentle slope to a 
 distant prospect, formed and bounded by a small 
 chain of abrupt mountains. Little islands, studded 
 with clumps of trees, among which the steam- 
 boat was winding its course, appeared like the 
 most enchanting gardens. It would be difficult 
 anywhere to find a picture in which the pleasing
 
 THE OWISCONSIN. 169 
 
 and the romantic predominate with such delight- 
 ful alternation, and such perfect harmony. One 
 would think that it had been designed by art 
 aided by the resources of nature, or by nature 
 aided by the devices of art. 
 
 A little above the river Turkey, which flows 
 from the west, and is navigable to a considerable 
 distance inland, is an old village which the 
 Foxes have deserted. Here terminates the pre- 
 tended territorial jurisdiction of these savages ; 
 I say pretended, for savages hunt wherever they 
 find no obstacle ; which is sometimes the cause 
 of, or at least the pretext for, the bloody wars 
 by which they are continually destroying each 
 other. 
 
 The true name of these savages is Outhagamis. 
 That of Foxes (Renards) is a nick-name, given 
 them by the first Frenchmen who discovered 
 these countries : it was probably significant of 
 their resemblance to these animals ; and indeed 
 they are no blockheads. Their number is much 
 diminished. It scarcely amounts to more than 
 sixteen hundred, who, like the Saukis, are dis- 
 tributed into four tribes. 
 
 The O Wisconsin is a large river, which flows 
 from the east. At three hundred miles from 
 its mouth it communicates, by means of a 
 portage, with the Foxes' river, which falls into 
 Green bay, in lake Michigan. This river is
 
 170 PRAIRIE DU CHIEN. 
 
 therefore the principal channel of the fur trade 
 carried on by all these savage countries, by way 
 of Michilimakinak and the lakes, with Canada 
 and New York ; of which the village of the 
 Prairie du Chien, at the distance of six miles 
 higher on the same eastern bank, is a consider- 
 able entrepot. 
 
 After passing through a space of about six 
 hundred and seventy miles of desert, this village 
 comes upon one as by enchantment, and the 
 contrast is the more striking as it bespeaks a 
 certain degree of civilization ; French is the 
 prevailing language, and strangers are well 
 received. It takes its name from an Indian 
 family whom the first Frenchmen met there, 
 called Kigigad, or dog, for almost all the savages 
 are distinguished by the name of some animal, 
 which is often their peculiar Manitou. 
 
 The Americans ought to regard this village as 
 one of the most interesting scenes of the last war 
 against the English. This is the only place 
 where the Anglo-savage army observed the 
 terms of a capitulation during that war. 
 
 The American garrison, which general Clark 
 had placed there in a wretched wooden fort, 
 named fort Crawford, in order to neutralize as 
 much as possible the influence and intrigues by 
 which the English emissaries in these forests en- 
 deavoured to encrease the number of the allies of
 
 INDIAN ATROCITIES. 171 
 
 Great Britain, after having opposed an heroic 
 resistance, was forced to surrender, but on ho- 
 nourable conditions. Of these, the principal was 
 intended to prevent the massacres so often per- 
 petrated by the savages, their commilitones, upon 
 defenceless prisoners who confided in the faith 
 and sanctity of treaties. 
 
 The English colonel who commanded the 
 expedition kept his promise, although acting 
 under the famous general ******* w ho saw 
 with the utmost indifference the tomahawk and 
 knife of these barbarians daily reeking with 
 American blood. I wish I knew the name of 
 this respectable officer, that I might hold it up 
 to public admiration. 
 
 Cikago, Pigeon-roost, French town, forts 
 Milden and Meigs, were the scenes of cruelty 
 which would make you shudder. The heart of 
 captain Wells was roasted and eaten ; the whole 
 body of a surgeon was served up as a banquet 
 to a numerous party of guests ; nor could even 
 the innocent children whom nature held con- 
 cealed in the bosoms of their mothers, escape 
 the relentless fury of these cannibals. Such was 
 the horrible scene of massacre and slaughter, 
 that Thecumseh, the general of king George, 
 and the brother of the great prophet whom I 
 mentioned to you upon the Ohio, felt himself 
 more than once compelled to exclaim, " Stop!
 
 172 W1NEBEGOS. 
 
 in the name of the Great Spirit, our brothers 
 are sufficiently avenged." 
 
 Not only did this barbarian savage show him- 
 self less cruel than *******, but at the battle of 
 the Thames, where general Harrison triumphed 
 over this sanguinary army, he died the death of 
 a hero, while ******* fled like a coward, aban- 
 doning both the Indians and his own soldiers to 
 the fury of that vengeance, the whole weight of 
 which ought to have fallen upon himself. His 
 horse, the interpreter of his conscience, saved 
 him from that ignominious end, which ought to 
 have served as a warning to all monsters who 
 trample under foot the laws of nations and the 
 claims of humanity. 
 
 I am convinced that the people of England 
 have never known these horrors, or they would 
 have held them up to public execration. They 
 will perhaps thank me for the information. 
 
 The Prairie clu Chien is the rendezvous of a 
 number of Indians who come there in autumn to 
 lay in winter provisions, and in spring to settle 
 with their creditors, who receive skins in pay- 
 ment. They are much more punctual than the 
 whites would be if they had no other guide than 
 the law of nature, nor any other argument than 
 their bow and arrow, their knife and gun. 
 
 I also saw there some of the Winebegos, who 
 are distinguished from all the other Indians by
 
 MENOMENIS. 
 
 173 
 
 their gloomy and ferocious countenances. They 
 are regarded as the most malignant, and in 
 fact they were most intimately connected with 
 ******* Their chief, Mai-Pock, paid his court 
 to him by always appearing before him with a 
 necklace composed of the ears, noses, and scalps 
 of Americans. I saw him, but refused to shake 
 hands with him ; an expression of contempt the 
 most severe and humiliating an Indian can re- 
 ceive. He it was who regaled his friends with 
 human flesh. 
 
 It is supposed that this nation came from the 
 northern parts of Mexico ; and, indeed, they 
 speak a language peculiar to themselves, and 
 are the only friends of the Sioux, who seem also 
 to have emigrated from Mexico. They roam 
 and hunt towards the sources of Rocky River, 
 upon the Owisconsin, Fox River, Green Bay, 
 and upon lake Michigan. They are divided into 
 seven tribes, who disperse their small summer 
 encampments upon these rivers. Their number 
 is about sixteen hundred. The first Frenchmen 
 that arrived among them called them Puans, 
 from the disagreeable odour that exhales from 
 their bodies. 
 
 I met there some of the Menomenis, whom 
 the French distinguish by the name of Folk 
 Avoine ; because, with more prudence than most 
 other savages, they collect in summer a quantity 
 
 **
 
 174 CANADIANS. 
 
 of wild oats, which grow in great abundance 
 upon lake Hinlin, the Kakalin, and the river 
 La Cross, where they hunt and often pitch their 
 tents, which much resemble those of the Saukis, 
 Foxes, and Winebegos. They have nearly the 
 same habits and customs, but are considered 
 more industrious and less barbarous. In the 
 last war, they repeatedly refused to join the 
 standards of the English. They replied to the 
 emissaries who endeavoured to persuade them 
 to enlist, "What have the Americans done to us, 
 that we should go and plunge our tomahawks 
 into their bosoms ?" This is a savage lesson to 
 civilized people. Their number does not exceed 
 twelve hundred. 
 
 I cannot take leave of the Prairie du Chien 
 without mentioning the many civilities I re- 
 ceived from Mr Roulet, an agent, and one of the 
 principals of the South West Company. 
 
 The Americans generally consider the Cana- 
 dians as ignorant. Whether this be true, I 
 know not ; but I do know that I invariably found 
 them very polite and obliging, even among the 
 lower classes. 
 
 Heretics always think they know more than 
 Catholics. I am not skilled in controversy : as 
 to religious tenets, therefore, I shall merely ob- 
 serve that, as the sects which have abjured Ca- 
 tholicism are still without a common centre of
 
 SACRED ROCK. 175 
 
 union, and are continually wandering from error 
 to error, in pursuit of that true credo which they 
 never find, the inference seems to be that they 
 know much less than we. But, in point of 
 learning, it would be easy to prove, from the 
 history of science arid literature, that the Catho- 
 lics were as well informed before the existence 
 of an heretical church, as they are now, and that 
 even since that period they have continued to 
 furnish a large contingent to the literary world. 
 
 When ministers, faithless to the laws of the 
 divine legislator, and princes, rebellious to God 
 and the people who confide the sceptre to them, 
 that they may govern in justitid et equitate, 
 conceal, or disfigure the heavenly ^maxims of 
 the Gospel, in order to render ignorance sub- 
 servient to their political views, they are the 
 only persons against whom the voice of censure 
 should be raised : but respect is due to the 
 professor of the most august of all religions. 
 
 Nine miles above the Prairie, at a spot where 
 the savages pay their adorations to a rock which 
 they annually paint with red and yellow, the 
 Mississippi presents scenes of peculiar novelty. 
 The hills disappear, the number of islands in- 
 creases, the waters divide into various branches, 
 and the bed of the river in some. places extends 
 to a breadth of nearly three miles, which is 
 greater by one half than at St Louis ; and, what 
 is very remarkable, its depth is not diminished ;
 
 17G CONFLAGRATION. 
 
 for from the Prairie to Fort St Peter we ran 
 a-ground only once, whereas, from St Louis to 
 the Prairie, it occurred four times. This is an 
 additional proof of the correctness of my obser- 
 vations, in our first excursion, respecting the 
 waters of the Ohio. Of three parts of the fluid 
 which compose the ocean, two certainly filter 
 through subterranean passages. 
 
 We arrived very late on the 16th, but though 
 it was night — vi si vedea. I am going to intro- 
 duce you to a spectacle, my dear Madam, which, 
 I assure you, I had not dreamt of in my wan- 
 dering anticipations. 
 
 The vigorous fertility of these countries im- 
 parts such strength to the vegetation of the grass 
 and brushwood with which they are overspread, 
 that they obstruct the march of the Indians, and 
 in spite of every precaution produce a rustling 
 which awakens the wild beasts in their co- 
 verts. 
 
 The Indians, who are not easily stopped by 
 difficulties, set fire once a year to the brush- 
 wood, so that the surface of all the vast regions 
 they traverse is successively consumed by the 
 flames. 
 
 It was perfectly dark, and we were at the 
 mouth of the river Yahowa, — the second of that 
 name, which, like the first, descends from the 
 west, — when we saw at a great distance all the 
 combined images of the infernal regions in full
 
 CONFLAGRATION. 177 
 
 perfection. I was on the point of exclaiming, 
 with Michael Angelo, " How terrible! but yet hoiv 
 beautifuir 
 
 The venerable trees of these eternal forests 
 were on fire, which had communicated to the 
 grass and brushwood, and these had been borne 
 by a violent north-west wind to the adjacent plains 
 and valleys. The flames towering above the tops 
 of the hills and mountains, where the wind raged 
 with most violence, gave them the appearance of 
 volcanoes, at the moment of their most terrific 
 eruptions; and the fire winding in its descent 
 through places covered with grass, exhibited an 
 exact resemblance of the undulating lava of Vesu- 
 vius or JEtna. Ceres was perhaps seeking a new 
 Proserpina: — we had one in the steam-boat, but 
 certainly no one had the least intention of car- 
 rying her off. This fire accompanied us with 
 some variations for fifteen miles. The great 
 conflagration which was one of the causes that 
 accelerated the fall of V Homme des siecles might 
 be more terrific, but it would convey only a very 
 faint conception of the sublime and awful ap- 
 pearance of this. I have no doubt the devil 
 himself was jealous of it; and the moon blushed 
 at her powerless attempts to shine. 
 
 A good old woman in our Bucentaur, who 
 appeared to me the image of our poor Venice, 
 really believed that the day of judgment was 
 
 vol. ir. N
 
 178 CASSE-FUSILS. 
 
 come. Showers of large sparks, which fell upon 
 us, excited terror in some, and laughter in 
 others. I do not believe that I shall ever again 
 witness such astonishing contrasts of light and 
 darkness, of the pathetic and the comic, the for- 
 midable and the amusing, the wonderful and the 
 grotesque. 
 
 But to repeat the burden of Pangloss — "tout 
 est pour le mieux:" — these conflagrations de- 
 stroy a number of serpents and other reptiles, 
 which would otherwise infest the whole earth ; 
 for I have been told that they, like fishes, cross 
 the sea without compass or pilot : and you may 
 judge of their fecundity by the serpent of major 
 Anderson. 
 
 As we had travelled almost all night by the 
 light of this superb torch, the steam-boat was 
 tired, and ran a-ground in the morning upon a 
 sand bank by way of resting itself. Xhe place 
 is called VEmbarras, from a river of that name 
 which runs towards the west. Here we may 
 apply, conveniunt rebus nom'ina scepe suis. 
 
 During the night we passed before the mouths 
 of the rivers la JMauvaise Hache, la Treille, et de 
 Racoon, which descend from the east. 
 
 Six miles above the river tmx Racines, at the 
 west, on the same side, is a place called by the 
 Indians Casse-Fusils. It alludes to a very re- 
 markable event in the history of these people.
 
 PRAIRIE AUX AILES. 179 
 
 The first time that guns were given to the sa- 
 vages by the English, much jealousy was excited 
 among those who did not receive them. It hap- 
 pened that a small party provided with those 
 weapons, was attacked by another more nu- 
 merous who had none, and had all their muskets 
 broken. It is one hundred and eighteen miles 
 from the Prairie. 
 
 From this spot a chain of mountains, whose 
 romantic character reminds one of the valley of 
 the Rhine, between Bingen and Coblentz, leads 
 to the Mountain which dips into the water. This 
 place would exhaust all my powers of expres- 
 sion if I had not seen Longue Vue. Amid a 
 number of delightful little islands, encircled 
 by the river, rises a mountain of a conical form 
 equally isolated. You climb amid cedars and 
 cypresses, strikingly contrasted with the rocks 
 which intersect them, and from the summit you 
 command a view of valleys, prairies, and dis- 
 tances in which the eye loses itself. From this 
 point I saw both the last and the first rays of a 
 splendid sun gild the lovely picture. The wes- 
 tern bank presents another illusion to the eye. 
 Mountains, ruggedly broken into abrupt rocks, 
 which appear cut perpendicularly into towers, 
 steeples, cottages, &c, appear precisely like 
 towns and villages. 
 A little higher on the same side, is a large prairie,
 
 180 SIOUX INDIANS. 
 
 called la Prairie aux Ailes, at which begins the 
 tract inhabited by the Sioux. The Great Wabis- 
 cihouwa, who is regarded as the Ulysses of the 
 whole nation, has pitched his summer camp there. 
 It is also the commencement of major Tagliawar's 
 jurisdiction. The Indian tribes whom we have 
 already seen are under the inspection of two 
 other agents of the government, established at 
 Rocky Island, and at the Prairie du Chien. 
 
 The Sioux are the most numerous and power- 
 ful of all the savage nations of North America. 
 It appears, indeed, from their language, that 
 they are not natives of the country, but have 
 established themselves in it by conquest : and, 
 indeed, they are to the Aborigines what the 
 Greeks were in Asia, the Romans in Greece, the 
 Goths in Italy, and the English in the East Indies. 
 
 To obtain any accurate knowledge of these 
 regions, or of their inhabitants, one must see and 
 examine them oneself; for though a great deal 
 has been written about the new world, — often 
 either from mere distant guesses, or for the 
 sake of making a book, — it seems that we are 
 still in uncertainty or in ignorance as to the 
 most important facts concerning it. But as 
 my researches have hitherto been impeded 
 by jealousy, I have not yet been able to 
 prosecute them far. I shall therefore defer 
 telling you about the Sioux till a future letter,
 
 WABISCIHOUWA CHIEF. 181 
 
 when I may perhaps have succeeded by time 
 and perseverance in taming or lulling to sleep my 
 Arguses. Meanwhile let us continue our ramble. 
 The Great Wabiscihouwa came on board the 
 steam-boat with his suite of patres conscripti, 
 and the customary high ceremonies were gone 
 through between him and his father, — the name 
 which the Indians are taught to apply to the 
 agent of government. Major Tagliawar accord- 
 ingly gave them plenty of shakes by the hand, 
 and smoked the calumet of peace and amity, 
 and I was the ape to this troop of comedians. 
 
 Wabiscihouwa, though wrapped in a wretched 
 buffalo's skin, had perfectly the air and aspect of 
 a man of quality. His countenance, his arched 
 eyebrows, his large nose, which he blew with 
 great noise though without a handkerchief, — the 
 motion of his right hand, with which he frequently 
 stroked his forehead and chin, — his thoughtful 
 air, — his eyes fixed as if entranced, — and his 
 imposing manner of sitting, although on the 
 ground, all marked him for a great states- 
 man ; he wanted nothing to complete the resem- 
 blance but an embroidered coat, a large portfolio 
 under his arm, and spectacles. 
 
 The tents of the Sioux are quite different from 
 any we have seen. They are in the form of a 
 cone, covered with skins of buffalos, or elks; 
 the smoke goes out at the top, and almost all
 
 182 SIOUX DRESSES. 
 
 are painted in hieroglyphics. For some cha- 
 racteristic features which mark their untutored 
 state, the painter and sculptor might recognise 
 in the countenances of these savages a model of 
 the Roman face ; the noses, of the men espe- 
 cially, are quite Roman, while those of the 
 women are perfectly Grecian. The Sioux of 
 both sexes have fine heads of hair, generally 
 black, like their eyes, but almost as coarse and 
 rough as horse-hair. The women, in imitation 
 of those of the Saukis, wear the catogan. The 
 men, on occasions of ceremony, or when they 
 are in full dress, generally wear it parted, or in 
 small tresses. These tresses fall upon the 
 shoulders, the breast, the two sides, and the 
 back, and are interlaced with small paste buckles, 
 which the traders give them in exchange for 
 skins. I counted twenty in a single lock of 
 hair. 
 
 Their wardrobe and furniture, as well as their 
 canoes and their arms, are very like those of 
 the Saukis. The women would be more attrac- 
 tive than those of the Saukis, if they were not 
 much more dirty in their persons. 
 
 This encampment is about one hundred and 
 fifty-four miles from the Prairie du Chien. From 
 this encampment as far as lake Pepin, a distance 
 of about fifty miles, the country is pleasant, and 
 diversified by hills, plains, meadows, and forests.
 
 oholoaitha's history. 183 
 
 The only two considerable rivers which flow 
 into the Mississippi, within this space, are those 
 of the Buffaloes and the Cypewais : they descend 
 from the east, and are navigable to a considera- 
 ble distance up the country. 
 
 Near the mouth of the latter begins lake 
 Pepin, which is only a deep valley filled by the 
 Mississippi. But before we enter it, my dear 
 Countess, let us give our attention and sympa- 
 thy a moment to a subject which is interesting, 
 from the proof it affords of noble qualities in the 
 savages. 
 
 A rock, which projects over the eastern side 
 of the lake, precisely where it begins, is remark- 
 able for the same physical and historical fea- 
 tures as that of Leucadia. There, the Muse of 
 Mitylene, who was more distinguished for her 
 learning than her beauty, precipitated herself 
 as the only means of curing a passion, which 
 Phaon requited with contempt ; here, Oholoa'itha, 
 who was beautiful but not less unhappy, resigned 
 a life which was become insupportable to her, 
 separated from her loved and loving A?rikigi. 
 
 If I did not write letters on my rambles, I 
 would write her history, out of which I might 
 make a novel ; but a few facts are sometimes 
 much more valuable than whole volumes decked 
 out with fiction.
 
 184 oiioloaitha's death. 
 
 The tribe of Oholoaitha was surprised by a 
 hostile band, of which the father of Anikigi is 
 the chief. She escaped the massacre, but was 
 made prisoner. Brought up in the house of 
 the victorious chief, from the age often to that of 
 eighteen, the most impressible period of existence, 
 her heart was touched with sentiments of grati- 
 tude and love for his son, who had saved her life, 
 and who returned her affection with equal ardour. 
 On the conclusion of a peace, of that kind which 
 both savages and non- savages so often confirm 
 with their lips and belie in their hearts, she was 
 restored to her tribe, and at the same time de- 
 manded in marriage for Anikigi. Her father, a 
 barbarous Sioux, and an irreconcileable enemy, 
 obstinately refused to comply with the request of 
 the good Cypewais, who wished at once to gratify 
 his paternal tenderness and the passion of his 
 son, and to consolidate the peace of the two 
 families and of the two nations. Poor Oholoaitha, 
 seeing the obstinacy of her father, gave herself up 
 to despair, and took the fatal leap : she precipi- 
 tated herself from this rock, the very day her 
 father intended to sacrifice her to a union which she 
 detested. Heaven knows how many noble minds 
 are concealed under this rude exterior, notwith- 
 standing the vices which their contact with civi- 
 lized nations has already planted in their hearts.
 
 LAKE PEPIN. 185 
 
 The Indians devoted her memory to infamy : 
 with them, murder is a meritorious act, but self- 
 murder the greatest of crimes. 
 
 Lake Pepin, as you enter it, presents the ap- 
 pearance of an elliptical amphitheatre. It is 
 encircled by little hills of equal height, which, 
 gradually lessening as they ascend, are the Cunei; 
 an elevated bank extending completely round 
 it, is the exact representation of the Podium. 
 The passages through which the river enters 
 and flows out, are the two porta triumphales — 
 exactly at the north and south, like those 
 of the amphitheatres of antiquity. The waters 
 of the lake formed the Euripus, and we were 
 the combatants in the naval games, or naumachia \; 
 for we found to our cost that the common notion 
 of the savage is not, as is generally thought, 
 a mere prejudice. It is a fact that vessels on 
 this lake are exposed in the daytime to a dan- 
 gerous sort of whirlwind ; we were obliged to 
 resort to some dexterous manoeuvres to avoid 
 its consequences. The Indians, who looked at 
 us with astonishment from the banks, were the 
 spectators. 
 
 Nature gave the first lessons in architecture ; 
 and it is very probable that one of the basins, 
 called lakes, supplied the first model of an am- 
 phitheatre. Rome had two of great beauty in
 
 186 POISON OF THE RATTLE-SNAKE. 
 
 the lakes of Albano and Nemi: in the Coli- 
 seum, the great amphitheatre of Vespasian, I 
 think I can trace a perfect resemblance to the 
 latter. 
 
 Lake Pepin is the head quarters of rattle- 
 snakes. I must detain you an instant to give 
 you some new information, which I have just 
 received, respecting the phenomena of their 
 poison. 
 
 The poison of the rattle- snake produces no 
 effect upon pigs ; they eat it, thrive and fatten : 
 yet it is fatal to itself; when it is held down 
 with a forked stick, if it can turn its head, it 
 bites itself, swells, and dies. It is an excellent 
 tonic to any one who has courage to swallow 
 it; but it is proved that a wound from its tooth 
 is fatal years after the death of the serpent ; 
 nor can chemical agents rob it of its poisonous 
 qualities, although long exposed to the action 
 of the sun, wind, rain or snow. 
 
 Four or five miles above the termination of 
 the lake towards the west, we met with another 
 tribe of the Sioux, whose chief is named Tantan- 
 gamani, celebrated as one of the bravest war- 
 riors of his nation. He was one of the most 
 ferocious agents of Proctor, and the unnatural 
 father of the unhappy Oholoaitha. 
 
 He came on board the steam-boat to shake
 
 TANTANGAMANI CHIEF. 187 
 
 hands with major Tagliawar. He is an old man 
 of hideous aspect, bent under the weight of 
 years and atrocities; but still, the scars with 
 which his naked body was covered, — the dignity 
 with which he wore his buffalo-skin, hung on 
 his shoulders like the clamls of the Romans, — 
 his bow and quiver slung across his back, — a 
 club, which added to the imposing gesticulations 
 of his right hand; — and his Indian followers, 
 who, with an air of pride and independance, 
 formed a circle around him, gave him more eclat 
 and maj esty than are possessed by sceptered kings 
 amidst the splendour of heartless pomp, decked 
 with the spoils of their subjects, surrounded by 
 base slaves who natter to deceive them, and by 
 mercenary Praetorians, who, like the Romans of 
 Jugurtha and Vitellius, sell themselves to the 
 highest bidder. 
 
 He spoke with frankness, though dissimula- 
 tion is by no means uncommon even among the 
 Indians. 
 
 " My father," said he to the agent, " I thank 
 the Great Spirit, that he has granted me another 
 year to behold you once more ; for you see that 
 I am very old, and expecting every instant to go 
 to inhabit another earth. I again repeat, that 
 I have been the fierce enemy to your nation, 
 because I had bad advisers, who made me be- 
 lieve that you were coming to deprive us of the
 
 188 TANTANGAMANI. 
 
 liberty of hunting, and to kill our wives and 
 children. But from the time we promised you 
 our friendship, our hearts have been as white as 
 this — (pointing to the agent's shirt.) Give us some 
 assistance ; (this is the amen of all their speeches) 
 for in this season we can obtain nothing by 
 hunting, and you know that we have no other 
 dependence ; be our friends, smoke with us, 
 and in a few days I will pay you a visit at the 
 Fort." 
 
 This chief, although seventy, and almost worn 
 out, is still much respected by his tribe, and al- 
 most feared. This is the sole effect of the power 
 which true merit exercises over the minds 
 of barbarians, of which this chief is a me- 
 morable example ; for savages generally neglect 
 their old men, and abandon them to perish with 
 hunger. The Winebegos carry their barbarity 
 so far as to kill them. Probably, however, they 
 consider it a meritorious act to terminate a life, 
 which others spare, only to expose the object 
 of their compassion to the most cruel sufferings, 
 and to a dreadful and lingering death. 
 
 I tried to obtain his bow and quiver, by flatter- 
 ing him with the notion that I would immortalize 
 his name by shewing them to everybody in my 
 own country (the moon), and whatever others I 
 should pass through ; but finding that this sort 
 of Paradise had but little attraction for him, I
 
 WONDERFUL SCENERY. 189 
 
 offered him in exchange some tobacco and 
 gunpowder. Upon this he immediately grew 
 generous, and gave them to me. Red people give 
 nothing for nothing, any more than white ones. 
 
 The place where this tribe was encamped, is 
 called the Mountain of the Gange. Its summit, 
 which is of a flat form, commands a view equal 
 in beauty to those with which I have almost ex- 
 hausted your admiration. Below me, lay lake 
 Pepin, — the river, — undulating hills and valleys, 
 — forests, — meadows, intermixed with small 
 lakes scattered here and there reflecting every 
 object from their crystal surface, — and lastly, 
 the Gange, which, winding its course along 
 the foot of this lovely mountain, brings the 
 tribute of its waters to the Great River : it was 
 perfect enchantment. I could not satisfy the 
 ardour and impatience of my eyes, and was at 
 length glad to seek repose in the steam-boat, 
 where an atmosphere of Asiatic apathy operated 
 upon me like an opiate. In the midst of these 
 impressive scenes, I heard no other expressions 
 of admiration than — "Very fine weather /" "A 
 very 'pleasant day!" 
 
 The river Canon, which flows from the west, 
 has its sources in the extensive prairies which 
 separate it from the Missouri. The Indians na- 
 vigate it in their canoes nearly throughout its 
 whole course.
 
 190 THE ST CROIX. 
 
 Between the mouth of this river and that of the 
 St Croix, the Mississippi becomes narrower, and 
 less studded with islands. It is frequently con- 
 fined between steep rocks, which give an awfully 
 romantic character to its banks. Abrasions, 
 which run horizontally along them, indicate that 
 the waters of this river were formerly more 
 copious ; and the traditions of some of the abori- 
 ginal savages support this conjecture. Some 
 think that the Otter s Tail river, which now flows 
 from the south-east to the north into Hudson's 
 Bay, formerly discharged itself, from the north- 
 west to the south, into the Mississippi, by com- 
 municating with the Crows' river, which arises 
 a little to the east of it. These horizontal abra- 
 sions frequently assume the striking appearance 
 of friezes, cornices, &c. They were, I have no 
 doubt, the first models of these architectural 
 decorations. Nature is the mistress in every- 
 thing: art only polishes and perfects. 
 
 The river St Croix flows from the eastward. 
 It is a large river, and affords an easy and exten- 
 sive navigation. The country in which it rises is 
 inhabited by the Cypewais ; but the Sioux claim 
 sovereignty over it, which is the cause or pre- 
 text for perpetual wars with that nation. This 
 river, I think, received its name from father Hane- 
 pin, who probably discovered it on the festival 
 of the cross. It is fifty miles from lake Pepin.
 
 A CAVERN. 191 
 
 Twenty-two miles higher, at a place called 
 the Marsh, on the same shore, is another tribe 
 of Sioux, governed by Chatewaconamani, or the 
 Little Raven. He was gone on a hunting excur- 
 sion with the principal part of his warriors ; — or 
 on the track of the enemy ; for when they have 
 no beasts to kill, they kill each other. Perhaps 
 they would prefer to amuse themselves in this 
 way with the whites ; but the Americans are be- 
 come too powerful, and have stationed military 
 posts between their tribes. There is no union 
 among these Indians ; and, if I mistake not, the 
 United States think it would be dangerous to 
 them if there were. 
 
 War with the savages will ever be defensive. 
 Victories obtained over them would have no 
 other effect than to drive them into their forests, 
 where they are impregnable ; whilst the Ame- 
 ricans would see their cities and their villages, 
 their fields and cattle, laid waste by fire and 
 sword. 
 
 On the 19th we stopped to take in wood. I 
 was told of a cavern, which was only at a short 
 distance from there, and about twelve miles 
 above the encampment of the Marsh. 
 
 A small valley on the east leads to it. 
 Cedars, firs, and cypresses, seem to have been 
 purposely placed there by nature, that the ap- 
 proach might bespeak the venerable majesty of
 
 192 INDIAN LUSTRATIONS. 
 
 this sacred retreat. The entrance is spacious, 
 and formed in lime- stone rock, as white as 
 snow. A rivulet, as transparent as air, flows 
 through the middle. One may walk on with 
 perfect ease for five or six fathoms, after which 
 a narrow passage, which however is no obstacle, 
 except to those apathetic beings whom nothing can 
 excite, conducts to a vast elliptical cavern, where 
 the waters of the rivulet, precipitating them- 
 selves from a cascade, and reflecting the gleam 
 of our torches, produced an indescribable effect. 
 You climb to the top of a small rock to reach 
 the level of the bed of this Castalian spring, 
 whose captivating murmur allures you onwards, 
 in spite of the difficulties which impede your pro- 
 gress, and you arrive at its source, which is at 
 the very end of the cavern. It is calculated that 
 it is about a mile in length. 
 
 The ancients had yearly lustrationes, to purify 
 themselves, their cities, fields, flocks, houses, 
 and armies. The Peruvians used them nearly 
 for the same purpose. The Catholic church has 
 its rogationes, by means of which it implores the 
 same mercies of the true god ; and in like manner 
 the savages assemble yearly in this cavern, to 
 perform their lustrationes ; and, what is more re- 
 markable, at the same season, that is to say, in 
 the spring; and in the same manner, by water 
 and fire, as the Catholics, the Peruvians, and
 
 TROPHONIAN CAVE. 193 
 
 the ancients. They plunge their clothes, arms, 
 medicine bags, and persons, in the water of this 
 rivulet; they afterwards pass their arms and 
 clothes, together with their medicine bags, through 
 a large fire, which was not extinguished at the 
 time of my visit. This ceremony is always ac- 
 companied with a dance round the sacred fire, 
 in a mystic circle, like the medicine dance. It 
 appears that this lustratio is their corporeal 
 purification. 
 
 The cave is appropriated to other ceremonies 
 in the course of the year. 
 
 The Indians assemble there to consult either 
 the Great Manitou or their particular Manitous ; 
 and their chiefs, like Numa Pompilius, can 
 make their nymph Egeria speak whenever they 
 want to prevail on a reluctant people to obey 
 them. They perform all their lustrationes before 
 they consult the oracle, as the Greeks did before 
 they entered the cave of Trophonius. The 
 Sioux call this cave Whakoon-Thiiby , or the abode 
 of the Manitous. Its walls are covered with 
 hieroglyphics : these are perhaps -their ex-voto 
 inscriptions. 
 
 This cavern has one great advantage over 
 those of antiquity ; credulity is not here an 
 object of traffic. Some religion there must be 
 everywhere, and the one freest from this vice is 
 perhaps the best. 
 
 vol. it. o
 
 194 AMERICAN CURIOSITY. 
 
 On the 20th we arrived here, where I could 
 not excuse myself from lodging at the colonel's, 
 the commandant of the fort. The extreme 
 politeness with which he opposed my wish to 
 shut myself up, in some independant little 
 room, at first excited my suspicion that his 
 object was to keep a stricter watch upon me ; 
 and I confess that I was so malicious as to laugh 
 at this idea, and to make it a subject of laughter 
 to others ; but I have since had reason to believe 
 that his intention was to pay me respect, for 
 which I am truly grateful. If any restraint is 
 occasionally imposed upon my curiosity or my 
 enquiries, it is only the effect of that petty 
 jealousy which is to be found everywhere, and 
 particularly in republics ; unless they are afraid 
 that I am come to make myself master of these 
 savage regions. 
 
 In America you meet with nothing of that 
 hideous police which impedes and molests every 
 movement all over the continent of Europe; and 
 if every individual American choose to exercise 
 the functions of a police officer in his own per- 
 son, his only object is to know if you are rich, 
 (primo) ; what rank you hold in society, — for it 
 is utterly false that they are indifferent to that 
 consideration ; — what your political opinions are; 
 what business brings you to America; and a 
 number of other trifles, which are rather gossip-
 
 RUSE CONTRE RUSE. 195 
 
 ping than inquisitorial. In America, people are 
 as free and independent as the air they breathe. 
 
 However, we may perform the comedy of 
 Ruse contre Ruse ; and, if the author of the Ca- 
 racteres Nationaux is right in the type he gives 
 the Italians, I shall beat the Americans. 
 
 Let us rest a little, my dear Countess, for 
 this ramble has been a very long one ; nearly 
 nine hundred and twenty-five miles. I hope at 
 least it may have been an agreeable one to you . 
 As for myself, it ought to have given me pleasure 
 and relief; but, though the mind may be diverted 
 from its pains for a moment, it soon relapses. 
 
 P. S. To give you a proof of my patience, in 
 which you have not much faith, I send you a 
 table of the distances we have just traversed; a 
 task which would exhaust the patience of a 
 hermit. It may be of some use to any of our 
 friends who are inclined to undertake a similar 
 ramble.
 
 196 
 
 TABLE OF DISTANCES. 
 
 TABLE 
 
 OF SHORT DISTANCES FROM ST LOUIS TO 
 FORT ST ANTHONY. 
 
 NAMES OF PLACES. 
 
 From St Louis to the mouths of the 
 
 Missouri, 
 To the Portage of the Sioux, 
 To the River Illinois, 
 To the Great Cape Gray, 
 To Clarksville, 
 To Louisianaville, 
 To the Salt River, 
 To the Establishment of Mr Gilbert, 
 To another small Establishment, 
 To the Two Rivers, 
 To the Prairie des Liards, 
 To the Channel of the Foxes, 
 To Fort Edward, 
 To the top of the Rapids, 
 To Old Fort Madison, 
 To the River B6te Puante, 
 To the Yellow Hills, 
 To the River Yawoha, 
 To the Grande Prairie Mascotin, 
 To the end of the same, 
 To the River la Roche, or Rocky, 
 To Fort Armstrong, 
 To the top of the Rapids, 
 To the Village of the Foxe"s, 
 To the Marais d'Oge, 
 To the old Village Sauvage, 
 To the Potatoe Prairie, 
 To the Prairie du Frappeur, 
 To the River la Pomme, 
 To the Cheniere, 
 To the River la Garde, 
 To the Tetes des Morts, 
 To the River aux Fievres, 
 To the Dubuques Mines, 
 To the Prairie Macotche, 
 
 To the old Village du B&tard, 
 
 To the Turkies 1 River, 
 
 To the old Village de la Port, 
 
 To the River Owisconsin, 
 
 To the Prairie du Chien, 
 
 To the Pointed Rock, 
 
 To Cape Winebegos, 
 
 Bear- 
 
 
 ings 
 
 
 of th e 
 bank 
 
 Miles. 
 
 of the 
 
 
 river. 
 
 
 w. 
 
 21 
 
 w. 
 
 12 
 
 E. 
 
 9 
 
 E. 
 
 13 
 
 W. 
 
 46 
 
 W. 
 
 18 
 
 W. 
 
 4 
 
 W. 
 
 13 
 
 E. 
 
 8 
 
 W. 
 
 28 
 
 W. 
 
 22 
 
 E. 
 
 16 
 
 E. 
 
 12 
 
 
 22 
 
 W. 
 
 10 
 
 W. 
 
 10 
 
 E. 
 
 22 
 
 W. 
 
 28 
 
 W. 
 
 16 
 
 W. 
 
 17 
 
 E. 
 
 31 
 
 Isle 
 
 4 
 
 
 16 
 
 W. 
 
 9 
 
 E. 
 
 16 
 
 W. 
 
 10 
 
 W. 
 
 9 
 
 W. 
 
 10 
 
 E. 
 
 18 
 
 W. 
 
 10 
 
 W. 
 
 10 
 
 W. 
 
 16 
 
 E. 
 
 4 
 
 W. 
 
 13 
 
 w. 
 
 16 
 
 w. 
 
 10 
 
 w. 
 
 16 
 
 w. 
 
 10 
 
 E. 
 
 10 
 
 E. 
 
 6 
 
 W. 
 
 9 
 
 W. 
 
 18 
 
 OliSERVATIONS. 
 
 Formerly inhabited by a 
 savage of the same 
 name. 
 
 Formerly inhabited by a 
 savage of that name. 
 
 From the name of a sa- 
 vage who inhabited it. 
 
 A place formerly inhabit- 
 ed by savages, whose 
 chief was called the 
 Bastard. 
 
 618
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE TABLE. 
 
 197 
 
 Brought forward 
 To Cape h l'Ail Sauvage, 
 To the Upper River Yawoha, 
 To the River de la Mauvaise Hache, 
 To the Treille, 
 To the River Racoon, 
 To the River aux Racines, 
 To the Prairie la Crosse, 
 To the Casse Fusils, 
 To the Black River, 
 To the Mountain qui trempe d I'Eau 
 To the Prairie aux Ailes, 
 To the River aux Embarras, 
 To the Prairie of Cypresses, 
 To the Buffalos River, 
 To the Great Encampment, 
 To the River Cypawais, 
 Lake Pepin to the end, 
 To the River Gauge, 
 To the River Canon, 
 To the River St Croix, 
 To the Medicine Wood, 
 To the Detour des Pins, 
 To the Great March, 
 To the Cave de Carver, 
 To the Cave of the Manitous, 
 To the River St Peter, 
 To the River of the Little Falls, 
 To the Falls of St Anthony, 
 
 W. 
 W. 
 E. 
 E. 
 E. 
 W. 
 E. 
 W. 
 E. 
 Isle 
 W. 
 W. 
 
 w. 
 
 E. 
 W. 
 
 E. 
 
 W. 
 W. 
 E. 
 Isle 
 W. 
 E. 
 E. 
 E. 
 W. 
 W. 
 
 618 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 14 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 22 
 
 7 
 
 11 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 25 
 
 19 
 
 10 
 
 13 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 This is a'beech, a tree un- 
 known in these coun- 
 tries, and which the 
 savages venerate as a 
 God. 
 
 Where is situated Fort 
 St Anthony. 
 
 925
 
 LETTER XV, 
 
 Fort St Peter, Mississippi, 
 June 10th, 1823. 
 
 How delightful it is to find that the sentiments 
 of friendship can meet us even across the wide 
 extent of sea and land which divides us from our 
 household gods, and can cheer us amid the pains 
 and privations of absence ! I have just received 
 your dear letter of the 12th November 1822. 
 The tidings you give me of yourself, — of those 
 belonging to you or to me, and of our common 
 friends, are so interesting to me, that I read it 
 over and over, and know not how to lay it down. 
 How little did we think, even when we parted, 
 that your letters would follow me into the cen- 
 tral wilds of North America, among savages, of 
 whom we had not even an idea. But such is 
 the wayward lot of man.
 
 STEAM-BOATS. 199 
 
 You enquire kindly about the state of my 
 spirits. The novelty of the objects which sur- 
 round me, the silence, the immensity of the 
 regions through which I pass, occasionally stop 
 the usual current of my thoughts, or charm them 
 into momentary slumber ; but the instant they 
 awake, they fly back to their mournful centre, 
 and leave me once more a prey to melancholy 
 recollections. 
 
 You ask me if I have forgotten the use of my 
 pen? My Arguses would tell you that it is 
 always in my hand. When you have read all I 
 have written to you in the short time I have 
 spent in America, you will perhaps beg me to 
 desist. As, however, I have led you into savage 
 lands, I must not let you quit them without 
 making you in some degree acquainted with 
 them. 
 
 Let us return to our steam-boat, which has 
 marked a memorable epoch in this Indian terri- 
 tory, as well as in the history of navigation 
 generally. 
 
 I know not what impression the first sight of 
 the Phoenician vessels might make on the inha- 
 bitants of the coasts of Greece ; or the Triremi 
 of the Romans on the wild natives of Iberia, 
 Gaul, or Britain ; but I am sure it could not be 
 stronger than that which I saw on the counte- 
 nances of these savages at the arrival of our 
 steam-boat.
 
 200 FORT ST PETER. 
 
 When they saw it cut its way without oars or 
 sails against the current of the great river, some 
 thought it a monster vomiting fire, others the 
 dwelling of the Manitous, but all approached 
 it with reverence or fear. 
 
 All the persons on board were in their eyes 
 something more than human. Major Taglia- 
 war, the agent, was astonished at the extraor- 
 dinary marks of respect with which he was 
 received. The Indians thought he was in the 
 company of spirits ; — it matters little whether 
 they took us for gods or devils, for savages pay 
 equal reverence to both ; nay, they pray more 
 to the evil spirits than to the good ; for, say they, 
 the latter, who are perfectly good, can do only 
 good, but we must take great care not to offend 
 the wicked, that they may do us no harm. If 
 this is not orthodox, it shews at least that the 
 savages are not bad logicians. 
 
 Our present ramble, my dear Madam, will 
 begin and end around this fort. I have not been 
 able as yet to go far. But I have no reason to 
 regret either loss of time or absence of interest- 
 ing incidents. 
 
 This fort is in latitude 45°. The river St Peter 
 falls into the Mississippi near the promontory 
 upon which it is built ; the two streams make it 
 a peninsula, the former washing it on the S. S.W. 
 side, the latter on the N. E. The fort commands 
 them both admirably, and is delightfully situ-
 
 FORT ST PETER. 201 
 
 ated. On the south and east it has beautiful and 
 diversified country, and on the north and west 
 immense prairies, whose monotony is relieved 
 by little lakes and groves. This is the last 
 military station of the United States on the 
 north-west of their territory. 
 
 Although these frontiers cannot be invaded 
 by a foreign power, unless its armies fall from 
 the skies, yet, being a central point to a great 
 number of Indian tribes, it is a very important 
 post; chiefly as a means of preventing the En- 
 glish from gaining any fresh influence over their 
 commerce or their minds. This is probably the 
 reason that the garrison consists of six compa- 
 nies, and is commanded by a colonel, who is 
 also the military chief of forts Edward, Arm- 
 strong, and Arthur, which, on emergency, could 
 send succours to, or receive them from this. 
 
 The building of these forts, at such a distance 
 from all possibility of surveillance by the govern- 
 ment, in any other country would make the for- 
 tunes of contractors, and contribute to the ruin 
 of the public finances. Here it does no more than 
 furnish the soldiers' knapsacks a little better : 
 by entrusting the construction of them to their 
 respective commanders, government dispenses 
 with the services of that crowd of engineers who 
 often build and rebuild on an understanding 
 with the contractors. Colonel Snelling's activity
 
 202 . FORT ST PETER. 
 
 and vigilance hardly repose even by night, and 
 one sees walls spring up as if Amphion's lyre 
 had called them into existence. 
 
 There are no buildings round the fort, ex- 
 cept three or four log-houses on the banks of 
 the river, in which some subaltern agents of the 
 South-west Company live among the frogs. 
 There is no other lodging to be had than in the 
 fort ; so here I am following the rule of these 
 Cenobites, to the sound of the drum. I would 
 rather it were the bell of the Paraclete, or of 
 Ranc£, or Cominge. 
 
 The land around the fort is cultivated by the 
 soldiers, whom the colonel thus keeps out of 
 idleness, which is dangerous to all classes of 
 men, but particularly to this. It yields as much 
 as sixty to one of wheat, and God knows what 
 proportion of maize. Each officer, each com- 
 pany, each employe", has a garden, and might 
 have a farm if there were hands to cultivate it. 
 
 Every fort built on the Indian territory has an 
 extent of nine square miles. These lots have 
 been sold or ceded by the Indians to the United 
 States. Though these contracts are perhaps 
 defective in the two imperative conditions re- 
 quired by the law de emendo of the Justinian code, 
 that is to say, pretium (pquum et consensus (sine 
 quibus non,) yet it ought to be said, to the honour 
 of the American government, that by this act of
 
 FORT ST PETER. 203 
 
 acquisition it has shewn that it recognizes the 
 respect due to the property even of savages, 
 who utterly disregard it themselves. Moreover, 
 the chief sovereignty of all this territory belongs 
 to the United States directly, in virtue of the 
 treaty of 1783 with England, and that of 1803 
 with France. 
 
 The first conquerors are the only people who 
 can be accused of usurpation, and as they 
 were justified by bulls, it follows of course that 
 nobody is to blame; or, if anybody, it can only 
 be the Indians, as being the weakest. 
 
 The colonel has rendered the view of the 
 prairies and forests around the fort much more 
 agreeable, by the introduction of cattle. The 
 country becomes insipid and heartless in time 
 without these animated objects. He has brought 
 oxen, cows, and horses. There are no sheep, 
 owing probably to the too great severity of the 
 winters. 
 
 In all the immense tracts we have traversed, 
 from the environs of St Louis to this spot, we 
 have not seen one of those creatures which give 
 animation and interest to the great picture of 
 nature. There is not a single Indian who has 
 a cow, an ox, or a sheep, and very few have 
 horses: this renders it a matter of indifference 
 to them to burn their grass every year, nor do 
 they care if everything else is burnt too ; they 
 have nothing to lose, and if the fire approach
 
 204 CASCATELLE OF TIVOLI. 
 
 their camp, their houses are soon transported, 
 either on their heads, like snails, or in their 
 canoes, as the aquatic birds transport their 
 nests when they are threatened by an inun- 
 dation. 
 
 The fort is surrounded by fifteen lakes, all 
 abounding in delicious fish. The one named 
 after Mr Calhoun, the present secretary at war, 
 is the pleasantest, and its conical depth, the 
 character of its banks, and of its neighbourhood, 
 seem to prove that it was the crater of a volcano. 
 It is to the east of the fort. There are two 
 others near it, which communicate ; their com- 
 bined waters are brought through a canal, four 
 miles long, to the edge of a precipice, down 
 which they fall in a most picturesque cascade, 
 which strongly reminded me of one of the 
 Cascatelle of Tivoli. One can meet with nothing 
 grand or beautiful which does not recall some 
 spot of that heavenly country where I first saw 
 the light — that Helen, who is desired and des- 
 poiled by everybody — whose charms are con- 
 tinually renewed, and with them her miseries. 
 
 " O fosti tu men bclla, o almen piu forte !'' 
 
 These two lakes, as well as the others to the 
 east and south, are named after ladies who in- 
 habit, or who have inhabited, the fort. 
 
 What a new scene presents itself to my eyes,
 
 GREAT FALLS OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 205 
 
 my dear Madam ! How shall I bring it before 
 you without the aid of either painting or poetry? 
 I will give you the best outline I can, and your 
 imagination must fill it up. Seated on the top 
 of an elevated promontory, I see, at half a mile 
 distance, two great masses of water unite at the 
 foot of an island which they encircle, and whose 
 majestic trees deck them with the loveliest hues, 
 in which all the magic play of light and shade are 
 reflected on their brilliant surface. From this 
 point they rush down a rapid descent about two 
 hundred feet long, and, breaking against the scat- 
 tered rocks which obstruct their passage, they 
 spray up and dash together in a thousand varied 
 forms. They then fall into a transverse basin, in 
 the form of a cradle, and are urged upwards by 
 the force of gravitation against the side of a pre- 
 cipice, which seems to stop them a moment only 
 to encrease the violence with which they fling 
 themselves down a depth of twenty feet. The 
 rocks against which these great volumes of 
 water dash, throw them back in white foam 
 and glittering spray ; then, plunging into the 
 cavities which this mighty fall has hollowed, 
 they rush forth again in tumultuous waves, and 
 once more break against a great mass of sand- 
 stone forming a little island in the midst of 
 their bed, on which two thick maples spread 
 their shady branches. 
 This is the spot called the Falls of St Anthony,
 
 206 INDIAN TRIBES. 
 
 eight miles above the fort ; a name which, I be- 
 lieve, was given to it by father Hanepin to com- 
 memorate the day of the discovery of the great 
 falls of the Mississippi. 
 
 A mill and a few little cottages, built by the 
 colonel for the use of the garrison, and the sur- 
 rounding country adorned with romantic scenes, 
 complete the magnificent picture. 
 
 Let us return to the savages, my dear Madam ; 
 we will first try to ascertain the number of their 
 bands, the distribution of their tribes, their ordi- 
 nary haunts, their population and warlike force. 
 
 The Sioux are subdivided into six bands, the 
 Madewakan Tuam, or people of the Spirit's 
 lake. The Wakapetohan, or people of the Leaf. 
 The Wapecothee, or people of the Plucked Leaf. 
 The SissisthoanaorSussistons. TheYancthoana, 
 or Yanktons. The Pitowana, or the Titons. 
 The former is divided into seven tribes. 
 
 ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 The tribe of the Prairie aux Ailes, or Memy- 
 noe, governed by the chief Wabiscihouwa, or 
 the Leaf, of whom we have already spoken, is 
 about 400 strong- 
 Tribe of the Gange, or Gremignieyas, — 
 chief, Tatangamani, or the Red Wing . 200 
 
 Tribe of the Marsh, or Ciakantanga,- 
 chief, Cetauwacoamani, or the Little 
 Raven 500
 
 INDIAN TRIBES. 207 
 
 ON THE ST PETER. 
 
 Tribe of the Great Avenull, or Wakas- 
 ka-atha, — chief, Wamenitanka, or the 
 Black Dog 400 
 
 Tribe of the old Village, or Othoetouni, 
 — chief, Tocokoquipesceni, orPanisciowa 400 
 
 Tribe of the Prairie des Francais, or 
 Theawatpa, — chief, Sciakape, or the Six 500 
 
 Tribe of the Battue aux Fievres, or 
 Wuiakaothi, — chief, Ki-han, or Red 
 Quilliou 150 
 
 The second band forms one single tribe, 
 it is always wandering, but generally 
 makes a halt near the Rapids of the St 
 Peter ; its chief is the Wopokian, or the 
 Little Stag. Number 1000 
 
 The third band also consists of a single 
 tribe likewise always wandering, it is 
 often seen on the Canon river ; its chief 
 is the Kariwassician, or French Raven. 
 Its number is 150 
 
 The fourth is divided into two tribes, 
 under two chiefs, Akant-hoo, or the Blue 
 Spirit, and Tatankanathi, or the Standing 
 Ox. They wander about the river of the 
 Blue Earth, or Makatohose. Their num- 
 ber is 3000 
 
 The fifth is composed of eight tribes, 
 all wandering about the sources of the St 
 Peter towards the Red river, about the
 
 208 INDIAN TRIBES. 
 
 country which lies between these two 
 rivers and the Missouri, &c. The Wa- 
 natha, or the Plunger, is chief of the first, 
 the number of which is 1800 
 
 He is however a sort of chief sovereign 
 of the Yanctons, and has as great an in- 
 fluence over the whole Sioux i ition, 
 from his valour and his exploits, as 
 Wabiscihuowa, from his cunning and 
 policy. 
 
 The chief of the second is the Tuimo- 
 haconte, or the Little Beaver-Killer. 
 Number 1800 
 
 The third, the Ciaka-hapi, or the Lancer 1 500 
 
 The fourth, the Thaona-hape, or the 
 Running Original 800 
 
 The seventh, the Wawaka-hana, or 
 the Broken Leg 1000 
 
 The eighth, the Waha-koon, or the 
 Medicine Man 1000 
 
 The sixth, or the band of Ty tons, con- 
 sists of two tribes, which wander over the 
 country about the Missouri. They are 
 very powerful. The chief of the one is 
 the Cianothepeta, or Heart of Fire ; and 
 of the other Ciakahapapi, or the Drum- 
 mer. Their numbers are calculated at 
 about 28,000 
 
 44,950
 
 INDIAN HELEN. 209 
 
 All these details have been derived from 
 sources to which even my Arguses never had 
 access. They are the purest — indeed, I will ven- 
 ture to say — the only, authentic. 
 
 The Assiniboins, a savage people, who wan- 
 der over those vast prairies which extend from 
 the northern sources of the Missouri to near 
 Hudson's Bay, and who are known under the 
 general appellation of the people of the plains, 
 might likewise be considered as Sioux ; for, from 
 the information I procured through the same chan- 
 nel, — information which throws great light on 
 the origin of their names, — it appears certain that 
 the Sioux and they were formerly one nation. 
 
 A great nation, which came from Mexico, 
 established itself on this side the Cypowais 
 mountains, which separate the sources of the 
 Missouri from the sources of the Colombia, and 
 New Mexico from the western frontier of the 
 United States. These Indians were called 
 Dacotas. 
 
 One finds Helens everywhere. The Dacotas 
 had theirs, and she was the cause of as great 
 evils as the beautiful Greek. 
 
 Ozolapaida, wife of Winahoa-appa, was car- 
 ried off by Ohatam-pa, who killed her husband 
 and her two brothers, who came to reclaim 
 her. Discord and vengeance arose between these 
 two tribes, the most powerful of the nation. 
 
 VOL. II. p
 
 210 ASSINIBOINS. 
 
 The relations, friends, and partisans of each, 
 took up the quarrel; one act of revenge begat 
 another, until the whole nation was drawn 
 into a bloody civil war, which eventually divided 
 it into two factions, under the names of Assini- 
 boina, the partisans of the offender's family, and 
 Siowae, those of the offended ; — like the Bianchi 
 and the Neri, the Uberti and the Buondel- 
 monti, &c. &c. 
 
 When they wanted greater extent of country 
 they split into two nations, the Sioux and the 
 Assiniboins : but separation and distance did 
 not put an end to their wars, which continued 
 for a long period of time ; it is but lately that 
 they have made peace. The event which gave 
 birth to their divisions happened, according to 
 their calculations, about two hundred years ago ; 
 and the identity of their language, manners, and 
 habits, adds weight to their respective traditions. 
 I can vouch for the authenticity of these details, 
 though they are perfectly new and totally un- 
 known even to the garrison of the fort. 
 
 The Assiniboins always keep together in large 
 bands. When they hunt the buffalo, which is 
 almost their only means of subsistence, they as- 
 semble in great numbers, and sometimes form an 
 encampment of a thousand tents. They are sup- 
 posed to be about twenty-five thousand strong. 
 
 The military force of the red men is gene-
 
 INDIAN LANGUAGES. 211 
 
 rally in the ratio of a fifth of their population. 
 This is the body which they call the men of 
 war; but on emergency they all fight, — men, 
 women, and children. 
 
 The Sioux are all united by a confederation, 
 but their tribes are independent of each other. 
 Each tribe makes war at its own discretion, and 
 deliberates about its own affairs. They all 
 assemble in a general council on those occasions 
 solely which interest the whole nation. In this 
 case each tribe sends a deputy by whom it is 
 represented in the wood or forest where they 
 hold their meeting. If the resolution of the 
 council is of any importance, and deserves to be 
 registered and transmitted to posterity, a tree 
 serves them as both register and archive ; they 
 engrave hieroglyphics, relative to the subject of 
 their deliberations, with a knife or hatchet on its 
 trunk, and each deputy adds the armorial bear- 
 ings of his tribe. 
 
 It appears that four principal or parent lan- 
 guages may still be distinguished in North 
 America ; the Algonquine on the North, the 
 Cherokee on the South, the Iroquois on the 
 East, and the Nordowekies, or Nackotahn, on 
 the West. The Sioux speak the latter, which 
 is an additional proof of their Mexican origin ; 
 especially as that language is quite different 
 from the others.
 
 212 CROSSES. 
 
 It is also said that their religion differs 
 from that of the Saukis, Cypowais, &c. Before 
 we affect to distinguish the differences, we 
 ought to know what each consists in. This, I 
 think, is truly problematical, nor do I see how it 
 can be cleared up, unless religions are all 
 dreams. Without drawing you into disserta- 
 tions which would only weary you, you will 
 see from what will fall naturally under our ob- 
 servation, what sort of judgment can be formed 
 of their faith. I confess that, from the little I 
 have already seen, I should be tempted to 
 think they have traditions without divinities, 
 ceremonies without worship, and superstitions 
 without religion: the homage they pay to the 
 sun and moon, if it deserve the name of reli- 
 gious worship, is certainly the only one which 
 exists among them. 
 
 If we were to judge of religions by external 
 signs, we might come to the conclusion that 
 these savages are Catholics, or at least Chris- 
 tians; for almost all of them, particularly the 
 women, wear crosses. I have counted not fewer 
 than thirty-seven on one woman; she had even 
 one hanging from her nose ! This may appear 
 extraordinary, but is, I think, easily explained. 
 The first missionaries sent by the French into 
 Canada, to convert and civilize these people, in 
 all probability sought to win their good-will by
 
 IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 213 
 
 presents, of which crosses would of course be 
 the first. The Indians, though abandoned anew 
 to their ignorance and their instincts, were per- 
 haps attached to a sign which reminded them 
 of former hopes, or of the piety of the Black 
 Robes, (for so they called the first Catholic 
 missionaries) and made them their favourite 
 ornaments. The traders, who only try to allure 
 them by the things which please them most, in 
 order to get their furs cheaper, have continued 
 to bring them crosses ; and vanity has succeeded 
 to religion, here as in many other countries. 
 
 Some travellers have affirmed that the Indians 
 believe in the immortality of the soul. Of this 
 also you shall judge for yourself hereafter; I 
 will only repeat to you here what I myself heard 
 at that awful moment when man, for once in his 
 life, speaks the language of his conscience. 
 
 A dying father said to the children and rela- 
 tives who surrounded him, " I have been brave — 
 be so likewise: I have killed many enemies — 
 kill as many as you can : I have always avenged 
 myself — never forgive the murderers of your 
 kindred." He then recounted to them all his 
 exploits, his battles, his wounds, &c. with as 
 much detail as his situation permitted, and to 
 his last moment talked to them of nothing but 
 his past life, without an allusion to the future; 
 nor did anybody present allude to it.
 
 214 COUNCILS OF THE SAVAGES. 
 
 Another Indian ordered that his clog should be 
 buried with him. As this animal had been faith- 
 ful to him through life, he wished that it should 
 bear him company even in death. This testa- 
 mentary disposition seemed indeed to show that 
 he believed in the immortality not only of his own 
 soul, but of his dog's; but system-makers would 
 find themselves surrounded by incongruities 
 they would vainly attempt to reconcile, and by 
 darkness they could never penetrate. I was 
 greatly amused on this latter occasion at the 
 conduct of his wife, who, while she made the 
 customary and proper grimaces and howlings, 
 shewed great satisfaction at the preference he 
 had given to his clog's company over hers. It 
 sometimes happens that these women are com- 
 pelled either by complaisance, or in deference to 
 public opinion, to follow their husbands to the 
 grave, like the women of Malabar. 
 
 I attended some of the meetings of the In- 
 dians held in the presence of the agent of go- 
 vernment, who is also called the savage agent. 
 
 These meetings are called councils, and all 
 the tribes or deputations, headed by their 
 respective chiefs, come annually, — generally at 
 this season, — to offer, or to renew, their assu- 
 rances of peace and amity with the United 
 States. They likewise come to treat of affairs 
 peculiar to each band, or to each tribe respect-
 
 COUNCILS OF THE SAVAGES. 215 
 
 ively, and to make their complaints (if they 
 have any to make) of the traders : they receive 
 any annuities yet due to them from the ceded 
 lands ; but their great motive for coming is, to 
 lay their necessities and their miseries before 
 the government, and to receive the presents 
 which it has annually made them for some years 
 past of gunpowder, lead, tobacco, and other 
 articles of necessity or ornament. The object 
 of these presents is, probably, to counterba- 
 lance the effect of the captious bounties of the 
 English. Perhaps these measures, which appear 
 liberal and philanthropical, are merely politic ; 
 but whatever be the causes, we must admire the 
 effects when they are beneficial to mankind. If 
 the first conquerors of America had employed 
 similar means, their conquests would perhaps 
 have been more secure, and they would have 
 spared the Indians the sufferings, and them- 
 selves the infamy, of their bloody victories. It 
 will perhaps be objected that it was the policy 
 of the time to slaughter the savages in a mass, 
 whereas it is now sufficient to look on and let 
 them destroy one another : but it may be per- 
 mitted to question whether nature or religion 
 sanction conquests which can be obtained at no 
 other price than human butcheries. 
 
 When any question is agitated which interests 
 all the tribes who are under the superinten-
 
 216 JEALOUSIES AND DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 dance of one agent, the chiefs and orators of 
 each tribe assemble in the usual council-cham- 
 ber to debate in his presence and with his 
 assistance. But if the affair regard tribes in 
 the jurisdiction of different agencies, the discus- 
 sion is carried in the same representative man- 
 ner before the superintendant-general of the 
 territory. The respective agents then generally 
 form part of the assembly, as being the persons 
 best qualified to give information to the super- 
 intendant and the parties respectively. 
 
 This is all I have been able to discover as to 
 these different jurisdictions, in the cautious 
 silence which reigns around me. 
 
 It certainly is not agreeable to have takers of 
 notes about one, so that I am not in the least 
 surprised at the reserve of these gentlemen, nor 
 at the impediments they throw in the way; but 
 they labour under a strange mistake if they fancy 
 that people Will come such a distance, and into 
 such a country, only to shake hands with them 
 and say " How do you do?" They ought to 
 have too good an opinion of themselves to think 
 I can enter into any rivalry with them ; it would 
 be madness in a poor and solitary rambler to 
 pretend to compete with national expeditions, 
 provided with sextants, graphometers, sava?is, 
 money, men, horses, flotillas, &c. And, if they 
 are as clear-sighted as they appear jealous and
 
 COUNCIL-HALL. 2 J 7 
 
 distrustful, they might discover that my cha- 
 racter and principles would not allow me to 
 commit them by any indiscretions. 
 
 The council-hall is, as it ought to be, a great 
 room built of trunks of trees. The flag of the 
 United States waves in the centre, surrounded 
 by English colours, and medals hung to the 
 walls. They are presented by the Indians to 
 their Father, the agent, as a proof that they 
 abjure all cabal or alliance with the English. 
 Pipes, or calumets, and other little Indian pre- 
 sents, offered by the various tribes as pledges of 
 their friendship, decorate the walls and give a 
 remarkable and characteristic air to the room. 
 A table without an inkstand, — for it would be a 
 breach of politeness to write in the presence of 
 those who are ignorant of the art, — three or four 
 seats for the agents, the interpreter and any spec- 
 tator who may not like to sit, like the savages, 
 on the ground, compose the whole furniture. 
 
 The chiefs, the venerable old men whom the 
 renown of their past exploits still renders re- 
 spectable in the eyes of the young, the prophets, 
 the orators, and the principal warriors, generally 
 attend these meetings. 
 
 No formalities are observed, for the Indians 
 use not even a salutation ; they touch your 
 hand perhaps if they know you, arid consider
 
 218 FORMALITIES OF THE COUNCIL. 
 
 you as a friend, but always without speaking, 
 and often without looking at you. 
 
 There is no demand for masters of the cere- 
 monies, chamberlains, gentlemen-ushers, and 
 the like useful and important functionaries ; they 
 come in and go out as they please; they sit or 
 recline as they find it most commodious ; neither 
 do they want an ambassador or minister to pre- 
 sent them as gentlemen savages, or distinguished, 
 or illustrious savages. 
 
 The seance opens with a speech of the chief, 
 who rises and addresses the agent. He gene- 
 rally begins with the Great Spirit, or the sun, 
 or the moon '*• whose purity is equalled by that 
 of his own heart," &c. &c. always finishing with 
 a petition for presents; — luhiskey is sure to find 
 honourable mention : these are what English law- 
 yers call the common counts. The agent replies 
 by the mouth of the interpreter. He begins by 
 a favourable acknowledgment of their friendly 
 sentiments, after which he expounds to them 
 their true interests and the policy it behoves 
 them to follow ; he gives them paternal advice, 
 and ends with a flourish about the power, the 
 valour, and the strength of his great nation. 
 Here the scene closes. 
 
 The second act begins with the ceremony of 
 the sky blue pipe, or calumet, which the In-
 
 SACRED CALUMET. 219 
 
 dians venerate as a Manitou, or Good Spirit of 
 peace; they, however, pay it much less respect 
 than they do to the evil spirit of war, repre- 
 sented by a red pipe. 
 
 This calumet is presented by one of the 
 bravest warriors, and by a war chief, who, on 
 this occasion, performs the functions of aide-de- 
 camp of the chief on his right. The agent 
 smokes first, the colonel or commandant of the 
 place (if present) second; the interpreter and 
 other whites follow in succession. The pipe is 
 then passed on to all the red men, beginning 
 by the chief, till it has gone through every 
 mouth. 
 
 There is then another pause between the acts, 
 during which the agent and the interpreter are 
 busied in the store-house, preparing for the third 
 and last act. This opens with the ceremony of 
 bringing the presents which the father gives 
 them in the name of the great father. 
 
 The chief receives them without speaking a 
 word or making a sign in evidence of gratitude, 
 or even of the slightest satisfaction. He delivers 
 them to his savages, who depart still more si- 
 lently than they came, without doing either the 
 father, or the strangers who surround him, the 
 honour to cast a look at them. Those who re- 
 main in the hall maintain the same air of indif- 
 ference. The chief afterwards shakes hands with
 
 220 GENEROSITY OF THEIR KINGS. 
 
 the agent as if to do him a favour, and every one 
 goes his own way. The abbe Casti would not 
 find here either the Lecca Zampa, or any other 
 court ceremonies, to represent. 
 
 As soon as the tribe returns to its home in 
 the woods, the chief distributes the presents ; 
 and those who have killed the greatest number 
 of enemies in the year, — those who have given 
 other proofs of valour, — those who have proved 
 themselves most unwearied and skilful in the 
 chace, are proportionately rewarded. The chief 
 himself is always the last, whatever be his merits, 
 and if nothing remain for him he utters no 
 complaint. The kings among these people 
 think only of their subjects, and they and their 
 families are the poorest among them. If you 
 see a savage, simple in his deportment, sober in 
 his habits, and distinguished by a certain Spar- 
 tan plainness in his attire, you may conclude 
 that he is a king or a king's son. 
 
 Wabiscihuowa, who, though he has not the 
 vices of Agamemnon, has his rank and title; 
 the King of kings of the Sioux was perfectly 
 astonished, and would not believe his ears when 
 I told him that it was not quite usual among our 
 chiefs to give all to their subjects, and leave 
 nothing for themselves ; that, indeed, the very 
 reverse sometimes happened. "How," said he 
 to me one day, " you are then more barbarous
 
 ATTITUDES AND COUNTENANCES. 221 
 
 than those you call barbarians, if your civiliza- 
 tion teaches you only to be either stupid slaves 
 or unjust chiefs! we are right then in thinking 
 you inferior to ourselves." I had the mortifica- 
 tion to be obliged to hold my tongue before un- 
 tutored Truth. 
 
 Though every meeting is attended with pretty 
 nearly the same forms, though the Indians al- 
 ways preserve the same taciturnity, the same 
 melancholy and sombre countenance, yet very 
 interesting varieties and incidents sometimes 
 occur. Their faces and attitudes are far beyond 
 the reach of the most picturesque or poetical 
 imagination. 
 
 I have seen many Hells and Purgatories, 
 Limbos and Paradises, Deluges and Last Judg- 
 ments. I have seen the camere, the logge, the 
 sale of Raphael and his scholars at the Vatican, 
 and his cartoons in England. I have seen the 
 frescos of Dominichino, Guido Reni, Guercino, 
 Giotto, Cimabue, &c. I have seen Salvator 
 Rosa's Conspiracy of Catiline, and all the most 
 beautiful or most extravagant productions of the 
 Flemish school ; but all that is most sublime, 
 horrible, original, and grotesque in them united, 
 cannot equal the strange and extraordinary mix- 
 ture which is found in the faces, gestures and 
 attitudes of these savages. They would alone 
 suffice to characterize a new world.
 
 222 PORTRAITS. 
 
 Some wrapped in skins with their faces resting 
 on their hands, remind one of the gravity of the 
 senators and magistrates of Greece and Rome: 
 others, when addressing their father or their 
 children, unfold their pallium with such dig- 
 nity, their attitudes are so imposing, and their 
 gesticulations so energetic and expressive, that 
 they would be really awfully grand, if one 
 could forget that they are savages. 
 
 I was forcibly struck with the resemblance 
 of the chief Wamenitouka to that famous statue 
 of Aristides in the museum at Naples, which has 
 so often held me captive for hours to see, — 
 almost to hear, — him harangue the corrupt 
 Athenians. In the chief Cetamwacomani I be- 
 held that of Cato predicting to the Romans that 
 their vices, their luxury, and their avarice would 
 soon reduce them to slavery. Among those who 
 surround the orator, some listen with signs of 
 approbation, some maintain a haughty and elo- 
 quent silence, others appear to attend very little 
 to what he says, and to ridicule both the listening 
 father and the haranguing son. Some, resting 
 their right elbow on the ground and smoking their 
 pipe with an affected nonchalance, seem as if they 
 despised the whole ceremony ; others remaining 
 neutral, like the deputies of the centre, sleep 
 quietly through the business of the nation, and 
 leave care for the future to those who like it. The
 
 SPEECHES. 223 
 
 faces of some are like pallettes filled with every 
 variety of colour, while others, besmeared wholly 
 either with white or black, look like coalheavers 
 or millers ; some paint their bodies with winged 
 angels, others with horned devils : every man 
 according to his taste or his devotion. Some 
 decorate themselves with the bones, teeth and 
 claws of wild beasts, the tufts of the buffalo's 
 head, or the feathers of birds ; others, with 
 necklaces of glass beads, with ribbons, brace- 
 lets, rings and crosses. Some mingle the 
 exotic with the indigenous; others preserve the 
 naked simplicity of nature ; and these, though 
 not the most grotesque, are the most interesting. 
 
 As they are forbidden to enter the fort with 
 fire-arms, they have only their bows, clubs and 
 tomahawks, which render the whole scene more 
 completely strange and savage. 
 
 When the chiefs pronounce a speech, they 
 make frequently very marked pauses, at which all 
 who wish to signify their approbation, call out 
 uhoa ; i. e. bravo. They do the same when the 
 interpreter recites to them, sentence by sentence, 
 the speech of the agent ; if indeed they do him 
 the honour to listen and approve it. 
 
 Every Indian is at liberty to speak to the 
 agent, as to the common father ; but as presump- 
 tion and gossipping are vices unknown among 
 the Red people, it rarely happens that the agent
 
 224 INTERCOURSE WITH THE WHITES. 
 
 has to reply to any but the chiefs, civil and 
 military, the orators, or the prophets. Every 
 individual may also lay complaints before him, 
 either in public or private, against the traders ; 
 but this is a privilege rarely used, for the In- 
 dians will revenge themselves, but will not 
 descend to the office of accuser. There is great 
 dignity and magnanimity in the silence they 
 observe with regard to the traders, who are 
 not ashamed to cheat them in every possible 
 way. This is one powerful cause of their con- 
 stant and encreasing hostility to civilized people. 
 The Red men, who are most in contact with the 
 whites, are uniformly the worst. The Red 
 women are completely corrupted by their inter- 
 course with the white men. They have all the 
 vices of both races ; nor can they find a single 
 virtue to imitate in men who come among them 
 only to sate their sensuality and their avarice. 
 
 The North West Company, that is, the En- 
 glish, did worse. In the infancy of the United 
 States, when they had succeeded in getting 
 possession of all the trade with the Indians, they 
 constantly tried to sow discord between the 
 different nations, in order that the rumours of 
 their ferocious wars, and the dread of the tre- 
 mendous dangers, might deter all competitors 
 from the fur trade ; and by this means they 
 obtained the absolute . monopoly of it. They
 
 ARRIVAL OF THE CYPOWAIS. 225 
 
 were certainly excellent disciples of the British 
 cabinet. 
 
 Chance, my dear Madam, is more generous 
 to me than men. It throws facts and informa- 
 tion in my way as assiduously as they try to 
 conceal them from me. Never since this fort 
 was begun, three years ago, have so many Indians 
 resorted to it as this year. Within these few 
 days I have likewise had the good luck to witness 
 a presentation, in form, of a great band of Cypo- 
 wais, composed of a number of tribes, many of 
 whom had not yet done homage to the United 
 States. 
 
 Their whole camp was with them, for they 
 always march with arms and baggage, women, 
 children, and dogs. Their houses are wherever 
 they happen to be. 
 
 The arrival of their extraordinary flotilla was 
 the most novel spectacle that could be conceived. 
 Never did I see the Mississippi present so busy 
 a scene. Their canoes are of a very elegant 
 form ; they are so light and slender, that one 
 wonders how they can carry five or six people, 
 their dogs, their tents, and all their moveables. 
 I have seen them lifted on shore with one hand 
 as easily as a basket. Rods of light wood, not 
 above half as thick as my finger, form all the 
 timbering of them, and the outside is covered with 
 the very thin bark of a tree. It is exactly the 
 
 VOL. II. Q
 
 226 CANOES. 
 
 papyrus of the ancients ; it splits into leaves as 
 thin as paper, and I can write upon it perfectly 
 well. It is the bark of the birch. No nails, nor 
 any metallic fastenings are used. The bark is 
 sewed with threads of other bark, and the joints 
 are then smeared with a kind of tar, which is 
 very tenacious, and resists the strongest heat of 
 the sun. They make it themselves of a resin 
 which they extract from trees, and of some other 
 ingredients : the secret of this composition is 
 kept with great jealousy. 
 
 This bark reminds one of the extremely thin 
 planks with which the early Greeks faced their 
 vessels, which were also very light ; and the 
 descriptions we find in their poets of the fleets 
 of the Xanthus and the Simdi's, would apply per- 
 fectly to the form of the Cypowais canoes. I 
 have got them to make me a model, and to give 
 me a specimen of their tar, which forms part of 
 my little collection of Indian curiosities. It 
 would seem that a breath would upset so frail a 
 bark, and the slightest shock break it ; yet in 
 such as these the savages traverse thousands of 
 miles. Their tents are, I might almost say, 
 portraits of their canoes turned bottom upwards. 
 They stick poles in the earth arched towards 
 the top, and cover them with the same bark, 
 which they carry in rolls, like those of papyrus 
 at Herculaneum. Their camps are accordingly 
 as interesting as their fleets.
 
 CYPOWAIS TERRITORY. 227 
 
 The Cypowais is one of the most powerful 
 Indian nations, though very inferior to the 
 Sioux. It must indeed necessarily be weaker, 
 from its being more dispersed, and the confede- 
 ration among its parts less perfect. These are 
 the true aborigines of the country, and their lan- 
 guage is pure Algonquine. 
 
 They are scattered over those immense regions 
 from lake Ontario to the lake Winepeg, near 
 Hudson's Bay, a tract of about two thousand 
 miles from east south-east, to north-west. It is 
 difficult to calculate the circumference of the 
 country over which they roam. A great part of 
 the Cypowais inhabit the English possessions. 
 Those who came hither live in the American 
 territory, on the high lands of the Mississippi. 
 
 Though their noses are rather too flat and too 
 wide, their cheek-bones prominent, and lips 
 thick (like the other Indian tribes,) and their eyes 
 smaller than those of the Sioux, their faces are 
 by no means disagreeable. Their chests and 
 shoulders are better proportioned and stronger, 
 and their whole body better made. Their more 
 rigorous climate and hardier life must greatly 
 contribute to this difference. 
 
 All their heads were crowned with garlands of 
 flowers, leaves, grass, or the hair of different 
 animals. These were the favourite Manitous, 
 for their superstitions are the same as those of 
 the other Red people.
 
 228 MANITOUS. 
 
 The Saukis, the Foxes, the Winebigos, the 
 Menomenis, the Sioux, and the Cypowais, all 
 perhaps believe in a Great Spirit ; but there is 
 not an individual among them who has not his 
 peculiar Manitou, of his own choice ; either an 
 animal, a tree, a plant, or a root ; and it rarely 
 happens that two in a tribe have the same. 
 Whether this arise from difference of taste, or 
 whether they think it discreet for every man to 
 have his own god, that he may not be distracted 
 and bored with the prayers of others, I cannot 
 take upon me to decide. 
 
 One day when I was fishing, a Sioux was 
 greatly offended at my asking him to get me 
 some frogs for bait ; the frog, it appeared, was 
 his Manitou — as among the ancient Egyptians ; 
 while others of his nation roasted and ate them 
 like all modern nations. An Indian never fires 
 at the animal which has the honour of being his 
 Manitou, even if it is a wild beast coming to de- 
 vour him. I have in my possession a magnificent 
 skin of a yellow bear, who was on the point of 
 making a dinner of his faithful worshipper, when 
 happily a Dissenter, or Nonconformist, came up 
 and shot him. If ever an Indian does kill his 
 Manitou by accident, he begs for pardon, and 
 says, " It is better that you should have been 
 killed by me than by another man, for he would 
 sell your skin, whereas I shall keep it with the
 
 DETHRONEMENT OF A CYPOWA1S KING. 229 
 
 greatest devotion :" and accordingly it takes its 
 station among the divinities in the medicine bag. 
 The buffalo is the only animal that is spared by 
 nobody ; they all argue that he is the Great 
 Spirit, who presents himself under this shape to 
 provide for all their wants ; and indeed every 
 part of the buffalo is useful to them, from the 
 horns, which serve them for a thousand purposes, 
 to the fibres which they use as thread. This 
 doctrine is very fruitful in reflections ; I leave it 
 to you to make them. Let us return to the 
 Cypowais. 
 
 The assemblies of this nation in the council 
 hall, were more noisy than those of the Sioux, 
 because they were divided into two parties, one 
 of which wished to retain the chiefs now in 
 power, and the other to elect new ones. I 
 should be most happy to give you some account 
 of this comical and truly interesting drama, 
 but I should very likely have allusions fathered 
 upon me which never entered my head. I shall, 
 therefore, only tell you that in the course of 
 their debates I heard bits of eloquence worthy 
 of Athens or of Rome; — that M. B. Constant 
 never employed more resistless arguments 
 against M. de Villele ; — that Peskawe descended 
 from the throne with Spartan dignity, and that 
 Kendouswa extended his hand to him, as he 
 mounted it, with the noble air of a truly generous
 
 230 TREATY OF PEACE. 
 
 spirit. I am sometimes astonished at finding 
 the grand incidents of ancient and modern his- 
 tory in these wilds. 
 
 General Cass, governor of Michigan territory, 
 undertook, I think three years ago, an expedition 
 across the lakes and country of the savages, in 
 search of the sources of the Mississippi, which 
 Mr Pike had left in great uncertainty ; and after 
 fixing them at Upper Red Cedar lake, passed 
 by this fort on his return. He was accompanied 
 by some Cypowais chiefs ; and to enhance the 
 glory and utility of his expedition, he used 
 every effort to make peace between them and 
 the Sioux. He succeeded ; but the peace was, 
 as usual, as transient as the smoke of the calu- 
 met which celebrated it. 
 
 Major Tagliawar, animated by a philanthropy 
 which does him honour, and by a truly paternal 
 love for his untutored children, took advantage 
 of the great number of Cypowais now congre- 
 gated here, solemnly to renew it. 
 
 The great hall of the council was full. The 
 Sioux, headed by their chiefs Catewacomani, 
 Wamenitonka, and Penisehiouwa, were seated 
 on the right. The Cypowais, with their chiefs 
 Kendouswa, Moshomene and Pasheskonoepe, 
 on the left. 
 
 After mutual accusations and excuses con- 
 cerning the infraction of the treaties ; after some
 
 FORMALITIES OF THE TREATY. 231 
 
 fatherly reproofs and counsels from the Father, 
 Wamenitonka, assisted by a war-chief, lighted 
 the great calumet of eternal peace and amity. 
 It devolved upon the Sioux to present it first, 
 since it appeared they had been the first to 
 profane it by their perfidy. 
 
 The grave and dignified figure of Wamenitonka 
 greatly contributed to the majesty of the cere- 
 mony ; on this occasion he assumed a sacerdotal 
 kind of air. He consecrated the calumet, turn- 
 ing the tube first horizontally to the east and 
 west, then perpendicularly to heaven and earth, 
 thus invoking the Great Spirit, or the sun, and 
 the good and evil spirits. He then sent it by 
 the chief of his warriors, to the chief delegated 
 by the Cypowais ; he gave it to Pasheskonoepe, 
 the oldest chief, who, after handing it to the 
 agent of government, smoked it himself, and all 
 did the same in rotation, according to their 
 respective ranks. I performed the part of wit- 
 ness; and certainly I witnessed a monstrous 
 act of perjury. The Cypowais repeated the 
 same formalities towards the Sioux, after which 
 all shook hands, as a pledge of their reciprocal 
 good faith. The ceremony closed with whiskey, 
 which the good Father distributed to them. 
 The calumets remained as pledges of the sanctity 
 of the treaty, in the hands of the two representa- 
 tive chieftains, who act, I fancy, on that occasion,
 
 232 INFRACTION OF THE TREATY. 
 
 as keepers of the seals of their respective na- 
 tions. 
 
 When the savages make peace without any 
 foreign mediation, the conference is usually held 
 in the forest. The plenipotentiaries of the high 
 contracting parties assemble there, and the treaty 
 being concluded, it is registered in hieroglyphics 
 in their customary archive, i. e. on the trunk of 
 a tree ; which comes to the same thing as our 
 pace celebratd, die, &c, loco, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 The peace was concluded on the 4th inst. ; — 
 on the 6th, war was on the point of breaking out 
 again with the greatest fury. 
 
 Eskibugekoge, or Flat Mouth, the chief who 
 holds the same rank among the Cypowais as 
 Wabiscihuowa among the Sioux, did not arrive 
 till the morning of the 5th. Ignorant of the in- 
 tentions of the agent, he took leave of his family 
 and tribe with a promise that he would never 
 touch the hand of one of those dogs of Sioux; 
 which meant that he would never make peace 
 with them. The first person he met on approach- 
 ing the fort, before he could be informed of what 
 had passed, was Panisciliowa, who held out his 
 hand, warmed with the scene of the preceding 
 evening, and was met by a disdainful repulse. 
 
 The Sioux, as ill-disposed as he was cowardly, 
 immediately gave the alarm. All the Sioux 
 who were still in the vicinity of the fort flocked
 
 IMMINENT WAR. 233 
 
 together, they sent heralds at arms to the neigh- 
 bouring encampments, and the next day they 
 surrounded the camp of the Cypowais in great 
 force. The latter had already concealed their 
 women and children behind the ruins of the old 
 fort, which had served as an asylum to the 
 garrison while the new one was building : and 
 sent a message to the Sioux that, though very 
 inferior in numbers, they did not fear them, and 
 steadily awaited their attack. 
 
 At first the agent and the colonel appeared 
 not to choose to take any part in their quarrel. 
 They have perhaps the power of making up a 
 peace among them, but not of preventing a war. 
 They reflected, however, that to suffer them to 
 come to open hostilities, would be to permit an 
 insult to the American flag, and a violation of 
 their territory, declared neutral, sacred and in- 
 violable to all Indians ; more especially when 
 they came to treat with their Father. They 
 were therefore warned to disperse, which they 
 accordingly did. 
 
 Everything conspired against my poor notes ; 
 I had already perched myself on an eminence 
 for the purpose of enriching them with an Indian 
 battle, and behold I have nothing to write but this 
 miserable article! In the afternoon, Eskibuge- 
 koge shook hands in all the requisite forms, both 
 with the Sioux chiefs and with all who had a mind.
 
 234 PEACE RESTORED. 
 
 They smoked again perfectly en regie, — re- 
 peated with great good-will and alacrity the 
 libations of whiskey, and all walked away the 
 best friends in the world. 
 
 The next day it was reported that the Sioux 
 had attacked the Cypowais at the falls of St An- 
 thony. I instantly set out on horseback, but it 
 was decreed that I was not to witness that 
 extraordinary spectacle. While the serjeant 
 who commanded the posts was exhorting them 
 to peace, (for fear they should lay waste the 
 settlement,) the express he had sent to the 
 fort returned with troops, and so the affair 
 ended. I had half a mind to ask them to be so 
 obliging as to fight in jest, as they would not 
 fight in earnest. I almost suspected that the 
 savages were in a league with the gentlemen of 
 the fort to disappoint me. But here one may 
 sincerely say, " All is for the best." What 
 frightful carnage should I have witnessed ! 
 
 This tragi-comedy, however, procured me 
 what I stand so much in need of, — a hearty 
 laugh ; and it was at the expense of the traders. 
 * These worthy men trembled for at least four 
 days afterwards, at the recollection of the danger 
 they had run, — of losing the advances they had 
 made to the Indians. They thought it scandal- 
 ously dishonest in them to kill one another before 
 they had killed the beasts whose skins were to
 
 CAUSES OF HOSTILITY. 235 
 
 constitute the payment. And I do really believe 
 that, on the day of the alarm, they sincerely 
 wished they had been brave enough to go among 
 the Indians and try to pacify them. 
 
 One would say, that the pest of usurers and 
 brokers, who are the curse of Europe and the 
 ruin of so many young men of family, has spread 
 to the forests and deserts of America. 
 
 You will doubtless be astonished, my dear 
 Madam, at the irreconcileable hatred which ' 
 exists between these two savage nations. 1 will 
 tell you all I know about it. 
 
 Territorial claims are mere pretexts; their 
 countries, or rather their worlds, are so vast, 
 that there is room for all ; and they hardly ever 
 meet, unless they lay in wait for each other for 
 the express purpose of fighting. These wars 
 are only an inheritance they have received from 
 their fathers. The first thing a dying Cypowais 
 recommends to his children, relatives, friends, 
 and all his tribe, is to preserve perpetual enmity 
 to the Sioux; who, on their side, preach the 
 same sort of crusade against the Cypowais. In 
 my endeavours to trace this inveterate hostility 
 to its sources, I succeeded also in throwing some 
 light on the emigration of the Sioux into these 
 countries. 
 
 Eskibugekoge assured me that they (the Cy- 
 powais) had been at war with the Sioux for
 
 236 CAUSES OF HOSTILITY. 
 
 more than three thousand moons ; with which 
 the great Sioux, Wabiscihouwa's, statement con- 
 curred. 
 
 Reckoning twelve moons to a year, as they 
 do, more than three thousand moons, adding the 
 complementary days, bring us pretty nearly to 
 the time of the conquest of Mexico by the 
 Spaniards. It was therefore, in all probability, 
 at that period that the Sioux, or Dacotas, flying 
 from the cruelties of the conquerors, invaded the 
 country of the Cypowais, of which they have 
 retained possession ; and the Cypowais, mass- 
 acred or driven from their accustomed haunts, 
 would naturally enough swear eternal vengeance 
 on their aggressors. This sentiment, carefully 
 transmitted from father to son, became a nati- 
 onal one, perpetuated through all generations, 
 and now blindly followed as an inspiration or a 
 duty. And as revenge is the predominant 
 passion of all savages, the Sioux are equally 
 inveterate against the Cypowais, and carry on a 
 war of instinct, equally indifferent about the 
 cause or the effects. 
 
 Another convincing proof, that the countries 
 now inhabited by the Sioux, the Assiniboins, 
 and other savage nations, who, like them, emi- 
 grated from Mexico, formerly belonged to the 
 Cypowais, is, that the mountains which separate 
 these countries from New Mexico, were called the
 
 CYPOWAIS WOMEN. 237 
 
 Cypowaises Mountains ; and would be called so 
 to this day, if those most illustrious expeditions, 
 which would turn the world topsy-turvy for the 
 sake of being talked of, had not re-baptized them 
 under the name of the Rocky Mountains. Before 
 we take leave of the Cypowais, I must tell you 
 a little about their women. 
 
 They are much better looking than the Sioux 
 women, and some of them might almost be 
 called pretty. Their persons are fine ; their 
 flesh is firmer and in better preservation, and 
 their complexions less red. The cold climate 
 they inhabit has nearly the same effect upon 
 the men. Their mouths and teeth are almost 
 beautiful. Their character appears more simple 
 and less savage ; their dress is quite different, 
 and very singular. 
 
 When the Egyptians had made sufficient pro- 
 gress in the art of sculpture, to detach the arms 
 and legs of the statues from the block of which 
 their first efforts, the Theuts or Hermes, were 
 composed, they ornamented them with two bands 
 hanging from the shoulders over the bosom ; 
 they afterwards added a third, joining horizon- 
 tally to the ends of the two former. This is 
 precisely the sort of thing which supports a kind 
 of cuirass, of leather or cloth, which covers the 
 bosom and the back of the Cypowais women. 
 Their round and well-turned arms are perfectly
 
 238 CYPOWAIS WOMEN. 
 
 naked, and are painted with hieroglyphics to 
 match their faces. Their shoes are of a more 
 antique form than those we have seen ; their 
 coverings for the legs, and their petticoats are 
 not much unlike those of the Sioux but are 
 more simple. They wear a great many crosses, 
 all hanging from their nostrils. 
 
 Their hatred to the Sioux is still more furious 
 and inveterate than that of the men. This 
 is easily explained. Their camps being nearly 
 always taken by surprise, the poor women 
 are much more exposed to cruelty and carnage 
 than the men ; this has also the effect of making 
 them all heroines. During the alarm of the 
 6th, they all swore, with knives in their hands, 
 to sell dearly their own lives and those of their 
 children, whom they hung over and shielded 
 with their own bodies. I was deeply affected 
 at seeing, even among savages, the force of the 
 tenderest and strongest of all human affections — 
 maternal love. 
 
 Au revoir, dear Madam, — I wish it may be 
 farther on ; — but I doubt it.
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Fort St Peter, on the Upper Mississippi, 
 June 28th, 1823. 
 
 This is my third letter to you dated from this 
 place; a sufficient indication, my dear Countess, 
 of the difficulties and impediments which I still 
 experience in my progress. 
 
 Major Tagliawar had led me to entertain the 
 hope that we should have proceeded together 
 up the river St Peter, which has never yet been 
 explored, the sources of which are occupied by 
 the most wild and powerful tribes of the Sioux, 
 and as yet only vaguely defined ; while the 
 surrounding territory abounds in buffalos, the 
 hunting of which furnishes the genuine sports- 
 man with the most interesting as well as curious 
 diversion. It was my intention to proceed
 
 240 ENCREASING DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 thence towards the sources of the Mississippi, 
 which are still absolutely unknown ; but Mr 
 Tagliawar now feels his health weak, and can 
 proceed no farther. I cannot help fancying that 
 it is intended to lull my projects into lethargy. 
 I am not, however, so easily hushed into inac- 
 tion and forge tfulness. My constancy against 
 difficulties perpetually increases. The lists are 
 always open ; I feel as yet firm in the saddle, 
 and shall sustain, be assured, many a shock and 
 conflict before I surrender. In the meantime, 
 my dear Countess, let us take a social excur- 
 sion among the neighbouring tribes, to learn 
 something of the manners and customs of these 
 Indians. Let nothing stop or discourage our 
 efforts. 
 
 Let us recur to dancing, which among the 
 Indians is a formality of indispensable import- 
 ance, as with it they open and conclude every 
 description of business, public and private, civil 
 and sacred. It has part in every transaction, 
 like the priest in our own country, like gas in 
 chemistry, like bleeding among the disciples of 
 our celebrated Thomasini. 
 
 In order to avoid useless repetition as much as 
 possible, it may be advisable to mention, once 
 for all, that their instrumental music is always 
 the same, and that its tone is seldom changed. 
 With respect to what is properly called vocal
 
 INDIAN WAR-DANCE. 241 
 
 music, they have nothing that can be called 
 such ; for, when they pretend to sing, they 
 either bawl or scream. 
 
 Their instruments consist of tabors, a species 
 of castanets, and small leather or parchment 
 globes, containing within them a few grains of 
 hard seeds. Each dancer holds one of these 
 globes in his right hand, agitating it as he 
 dances, in order to mark the cadence. From 
 the sound produced by them they are called 
 cicikoics. 
 
 The war-dance can be performed only by 
 warriors. It is this which they exhibit before 
 the agent, when they come in a body to make 
 him a formal visit. 
 
 Women and old men station themselves be- 
 hind the performers, and join chorus in the 
 canticle which each person present utters in ac- 
 companiment to the instruments. To give you 
 any idea, however, of the clatter and hubbub of 
 music thus produced, it would be necessary to 
 be either an Indian or a Jew. 
 
 They open the dance by advancing in a spa- 
 cious area, in two files if the party be large, but 
 in one if it happen to be small. A child 
 advances before them with its castanets, or 
 cicikoics, in its hand. This is the dreaming or 
 vision-visited child, in whom good and evil spi- 
 rits sometimes pass the night, making him the 
 
 VOL. II. It
 
 242 INDIAN ORACLES. 
 
 depositary of their good or evil presages. The 
 prophet or augur of the tribe collects these pre- 
 sages every morning, and, like the rest of his pro- 
 fession, whether in ancient or in modern times, 
 converts them dextrously to his own purposes ; 
 — and while moving in the dance behind the 
 files of the performers, this important personage 
 explains to the brave exhibitants that the Mani- 
 tous, the good or evil spirits, are well acquainted 
 with their valour, and engage to crown it with 
 everlasting glory, if they remain constant in the 
 sentiments of hatred and vengeance against their 
 enemies. After this, my dear Countess, you 
 will see how difficult it is to pronounce on the 
 nature and character of their religion ! 
 
 Animated by this consoling and heart-invi- 
 gorating promise, the dancers form in close 
 circle, and set up a sort of hoarse bellowing, 
 while the inspired child, the young demi-deity, 
 with eyes bent down to the earth, utters some- 
 thing which none of those to whom it is ad- 
 dressed comprehend, and which indeed is not 
 understood either by himself or the prophet: 
 for the child is merely the organ through which 
 the Manitous speak ; and oracles, you are well 
 aware, are never meant to be clear and intel- 
 ligible to all the world. The moment the child's 
 eyes are raised from the ground, the whole com- 
 pany of these fanatics set up a series of clumsy
 
 INDIAN MUSIC. 243 
 
 and antic leapings, marking the cadence with 
 renewed and still more vigorous bellowings. 
 So violent are their movements and contortions 
 that, in a short time, they absolutely reek with 
 perspiration, and the force with which their feet 
 strike the ground is such, as to leave marks 
 similar to those made by the evolutions of a re- 
 giment of cavalry. 
 
 Under the influence of this mystic and gloomy 
 paroxysm, they devote themselves to hate and 
 vengeance, invoking the Manitous in whose pre- 
 sence, in the person of the child, they then 
 consider themselves, to witness their sincerity. 
 
 Their music appears to be somewhat mono- 
 tonous, but still, notwithstanding its uniformity, 
 is not destitute of the power to rouse or to melt 
 the soul ; and, from its very extravagance, it 
 derives a capability of exciting in a high degree 
 different passions. Indeed, both their music and 
 their dance strongly recall those of antiquity. 
 
 Like them, the primitive Greeks had their 
 parchment globes and their castanets ; the lat- 
 ter, made precisely in the same manner as those 
 of the Indians, of shells or the bones of animals. 
 The most popular music of the Greeks was 
 formed, like that of the Indian tribes, by the 
 union of the voice and instruments ; and it was 
 expressly this description of music which con-
 
 244 INDIAN WAR-DANCE. 
 
 stituted an indispensable part of the worship 
 they paid to their divinities. 
 
 Like the Romans, they mark the cadence 
 by a kind of little bells fixed to their feet, — 
 podarii, pcdicularii ; and, like the same people, 
 they have also their Corypheus, in the Indian 
 who strikes the tabor or tamborine ; and also 
 their manuductor in the person who regulates the 
 dance. One circumstance to be observed, mo- 
 dern and peculiar, is, that the Indian manuductor 
 carries in his hand a large whip, like a wag- 
 goner, or like a negro-driver in the southern 
 States of the Union. 
 
 These devotees of Terpsichore distinguish 
 themselves also by the emblems of Mars. They 
 all carry their bow, quiver, and arrows ; as well 
 as a plume of feathers on their head, the exclu- 
 sive distinction of warriors of renown. The 
 feathers are from a bird which the Canadians 
 call killiou, and the Indians wamend-hi. 
 
 These birds are so rare and so highly valued 
 by the Indians in general, that whoever has the 
 good fortune to kill one of them, receives the 
 formal compliments of the whole camp on his 
 success, and is entitled to the privilege of wear- 
 ing one of its plumes. 
 
 Every warrior is authorised to wear as many 
 of them as he has killed of his enemies ; and
 
 INDIAN CONTEMPT FOR WOMEN. 245 
 
 every time he destroys one of these birds, he 
 adds a plume to his previous honours. These 
 feathers have certainly nothing very beautiful 
 about them; but I have attached a value to 
 them on the principle of the Peruvians, who felt 
 no regard or anxiety for gold till they perceived 
 the Europeans so eager to acquire it; and I 
 have directed my efforts with the desired suc- 
 cess to obtain some of them. 
 
 The Indians dance at marriages, on which 
 occasions the women dance also, and with a 
 grace and agility which you would not expect 
 from their appearance. 
 
 But males and females never dance together 
 excepting in their religious solemnities. Indian v 
 hauteur condemns the fair sex to contempt and 
 humiliation as decidedly as we regard it with 
 the most ardent esteem and devotion. 
 
 It is unquestionably this contempt for wo- 
 men which retards the civilization and increases 
 the ferocity of these unfortunate tribes. The 
 man who feels no moral sensibility, no moral 
 attachment, towards that being whom heaven 
 has destined to participate in our consolations 
 and our difficulties, in our smiles and our best 
 affections ; towards the being by whom we are 
 born in pain and reared with extreme tenderness 
 and self-denial, — who enables a man to live again 
 in his posterity, and whose graces, and love, 

 
 246 DANCE OF PEACE. 
 
 and genuine friendship, constitute the very ex- 
 tract and essence of human happiness — such a 
 man must inevitably be a barbarian or a brute, 
 and his soul dead to every sentiment of virtue. 
 
 When they smoke the calumet of friendship 
 with a stranger on a visit to them, with an am- 
 bassador from another tribe or from a civilized 
 state, whose object is to negociate a peace or 
 any description of treaty, they introduce it by a 
 dance and a ceremony, which must be consi- 
 dered as the supposed means of consecrating the 
 calumet before it is presented to the honoured 
 guest. They dance round a sacred fire, and 
 purify it by the rapid motion given it by each 
 person in succession over the flames or in the 
 air, after which it is delivered into the hands of 
 the chief, who then presents it to the stranger 
 with all due formality. This is the dance which 
 appears to me to display most dignity and ex- 
 pression. The war- dance is terrible. 
 
 Before marching to meet the enemy, the 
 whole number of warriors form in a circle, fully 
 armed. The chief addresses them by recalling 
 to their recollections the exploits of their ances- 
 tors, those performed by themselves, and even, 
 without overstepping the bounds of a modest 
 pride, his own. He excites them by a rude but 
 powerful eloquence to intrepidity, indignation, 
 and carnage. To increase the impression upon
 
 WAR-DANCE. 247 
 
 their minds, he advances into the midst of the 
 circle, brandishes his club or tomahawk with an 
 air of menace and fury, and strikes with the 
 utmost violence at a human figure sketched in 
 their rough manner on the ground, or at the 
 head of some animal, whichever it may be, re- 
 presenting the figure or the head of the enemy. 
 The whole body of warriors, performing around 
 him the dance of cannibals, imitate his example ; 
 and the figure or the head soon disappears under 
 the ponderous and fatal blows successively le- 
 velled at .it. They then assume all the fero- 
 cious and cruel attitudes with which they are 
 habituated to rush upon the enemy. They wield 
 their firelocks, if they happen to have any, their 
 bows, their cutlasses, with the same rapidity 
 and ardour as if the enemy were actually before 
 them. It often happens, however, that under 
 this convulsive excitement the blows meant for 
 the enemy are actually directed against a friend, 
 and that the first blood drawn is not from the 
 enemy, but from their own party. 
 
 A bow, which they denominate the bow of 
 medicine, or the bow of the Manitous, and which 
 is kept hung up in the Great Medicine-hut, 
 closes the ceremony, by being successively 
 passed through the hands of all the actors in the 
 scene. I have a very beautiful one in my pos- 
 session.
 
 248 DREADFUL DANCE. 
 
 On returning from war, dancing again takes 
 place; and if the spectator be not himself an 
 Indian, the exhibition on this occasion is abso- 
 lutely appalling. 
 
 They dance round pikes and poles, at the ends 
 of which are hung heads, ears, tongues, hearts, 
 and scalps, with the still pendent hair of men, 
 women, and children ; and the wretched captives, 
 whom they have spared either for the purpose 
 of slavery or sacrifice, as was the practice with 
 nations of the most remote antiquity, are con- 
 demned to witness this scene of horror, recalling 
 to their minds massacre and carnage — present- 
 ing before their eyes the bleeding remains of 
 their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, 
 and husbands ! 
 
 Lastly, they dance also on occasion of sacri- 
 fices, both public and private ; when they give 
 entertainments ; and when they administer me- 
 dicine to the sick. 
 
 Public sacrifices are considered indispensable 
 by the Indians when they hold their grand 
 assemblies for deliberating on the question of 
 peace or war. Here also we trace the resem- 
 blance to antiquity. 
 
 The ceremony uniformly commences with smok- 
 ing the sacred pipe ; and, previously to forming 
 their determination, they invoke their Mcaiitous, 
 offering them in sacrifice some defective skin or
 
 SACRIFICES. 249 
 
 ragged rug. It seems as if the Indians had 
 adopted the maxim of Lycurgus, who always 
 offered to the gods victims of little value, that 
 the Spartans might ever retain the means of 
 honouring their deities. It is certain that the 
 Indians neither enrich the altar nor its ministers. 
 Their divinities appear to prefer purity of heart 
 to the number and cost of sacrifices. 
 
 The gods of antiquity, with their various 
 claims and pretensions, would fare but ill in the 
 worship of the Indians ; for they have no bulls, 
 whether black or white, for Jupiter ; nor cows 
 or heifers for his stately consort ; nor sows, bar- 
 ren or prolific, for his venerable mother ; nor 
 lambs, stags, pigeons, rams, pigs, or bucks, nor 
 gilded horns, &c, for the worthless mob of his 
 illegitimate or legitimate offspring; neither 
 calves of gold nor calves of lead. 
 
 These sacrifices are offered by every Indian 
 according to his own particular temper or ca- 
 price : some offer them to the good Manitous, 
 others to the evil ; some to one particular divi- 
 nity, and others to another ; and some probably 
 without having a very clear idea to which or to 
 whom : and here again we might trace ancient 
 and modern resemblances. 
 
 They perform sacrifices also in spring and in 
 autumn, but most certainly not, as some have 
 pretended, to Ceres or to Bacchus, for the
 
 250 PUBLIC SACRIFICES. 
 
 Indians never rear the vine or cultivate the land, 
 and the names just mentioned are Greek to 
 them ; but their objects are self-purification, as 
 has been already noticed, in spring ; and, in au- 
 tumn, obtaining from their respective Manitous 
 success in the chase during winter. 
 
 The scene of public sacrifices is always on 
 the bank of a river. This is not done for the 
 purpose of furnishing a spectacle to the Naiads, 
 but from an apprehension of surprise by the 
 enemy. This also I consider as the true reason 
 for their encamping either on the banks of 
 rivers or in the open country ; as thus they 
 have time for flight or for embarkation when they 
 perceive their enemy at a distance, and feel 
 themselves not strong enough to resist him. 
 What has tended to confirm me in this opinion, 
 although disclaimed by the Indians, (who, like 
 all other men, are desirous to conceal their weak- 
 nesses) is, that wherever they can discover a 
 tongue of land between a river and a marsh, there 
 they invariably encamp. 
 
 The stage of a private sacrifice is the tent of 
 the individual who performs it. I was a spectator 
 of one of these sacrifices, and enquired what was 
 the motive of it. I was answered that it was an 
 inspiration, but that it was impossible to reveal 
 it. You must, therefore, my dear Countess, try 
 to content yourself with the same answer.
 
 PRIVATE SACRIFICES. 251 
 
 The tent is cleared of all the rags and tatters, 
 the fetid state of which might present an ill-smel- 
 ling odour to the divinity. Even the profane cin- 
 ders are removed, and a new and hallowed fire 
 purines it by the burning of a few herbs or roots, 
 or a little tobacco, consecrated to him by a vow. 
 The peristyle, atrium, and the floor or ground of 
 the hut, are strewed with foliage and flowers, 
 like the temple of Vesta, or our modern churches. 
 The ceremony concludes with dancing. 
 
 None of the sacred festivals of the Indians are 
 celebrated in the winter months ; during which 
 they are wholly occupied in hunting, in feasting 
 on the animals they have killed, and in paying, 
 with their furs, the various traders who follow 
 them like so many harpies through woods and 
 forests, and endure a life which only the love of 
 money can render supportable. 
 
 I have been present at one of their dinners. 
 As there was a mystic solemnity connected with 
 it, every individual was obliged to eat, or make 
 some other eat, the allowance set before him ; 
 to leave a single morsel on the bark trencher on 
 which the repast was served, would have been 
 an insufferable insult to the divinity to which it 
 was consecrated. One of the guests, after de- 
 vouring in a twinkling all that was upon his own 
 plate, swallowed nearly the whole of what was 
 placed for me, the greatest part of the allowances
 
 252 INDIAN BANQUETINGS. 
 
 of two officers of the fort, and if the interpreter 
 had not possessed the appetite he did, and would 
 have given him (as we did) a little tobacco or 
 powder, he could have induced the cormorant 
 to swallow his also. 
 
 It is difficult to imagine, my dear Countess, 
 what these Indian bodies are capable of devour- 
 ing and digesting in a day : sometimes they will 
 not lie down to sleep till they have swallowed 
 everything eatable that they possess. The In- 
 dian, in order to render himself as free and 
 independant as possible, seems desirous to throw 
 off all anxiety and care even for the ensuing day. 
 They are capable of devouring like wolves, and 
 of fasting like camels ; perhaps, like the last- 
 mentioned animals, they have also the faculty of 
 rumination. 
 
 The entertainment concluded with a dance ; 
 and the women likewise performed theirs ; but 
 the sister and daughter of the chief, who are far 
 from being the plainest of the tribe, were not 
 present, and did not make their appearance any 
 part of the day. They were said to be unclean, 
 which was explained by a reference to periodical 
 affections, supposed to correspond with lunar 
 renovations. During the influence of these affec- 
 tions, both wives and daughters strictly withdraw 
 from society, abstaining from the slightest con- 
 tact with the huts or utensils ; exhibiting in this
 
 MYSTERIOUS DANCE. 253 
 
 respect a correspondence with the practice not 
 only of profane antiquity, but of the Old Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 A sick female expressed a desire to have the 
 medicine administered to her, and the doctor 
 assented to her request. This is a dance different 
 from what you saw at the Rocky River. 
 
 A number of those who had been previously 
 initiated in this mystery were speedily brought 
 together, and formed a circle about the patient. 
 Herbs, bark of trees, and roots, were thrown 
 upon her by them as they danced around, and 
 every dancer blew on those parts of the body 
 supposed to be affected with the tube of a pipe, 
 which in all circumstances and ceremonies is an 
 object of veneration, and indeed a Manitou. They 
 then shook her, and the doctor blew into her 
 mouth to drive out the evil spirit by which she 
 was possessed ; the latter, however, proved 
 stronger than his own, and in the midst of all 
 this infernal bustle and racket the poor woman 
 died. This was, with implicit faith, ascribed to 
 her evil spirit. When the patient recovers it is 
 ascribed to miraculous power. 
 
 Although the Indians allege that the sole 
 object of this dance is to remove the disease of 
 the patient, yet I thought I could trace in the 
 ceremony the projiciscere of our ritual, and the 
 txtremum spiritum ore e.vcipere of the Romans.
 
 254 INDIAN PHYSICIANS. 
 
 Thus far, my dear Countess, you have seen 
 not a little of the charlatanism among these In- 
 dian physicians ; they are by no means, however, 
 destitute of the knowledge of medicines, or of 
 successful remedies; and certainly they kill 
 fewer of their patients than ours, at least when 
 superstition and jugglery do not form part of 
 their operations. 
 
 Their medicaments consist entirely of what 
 the great physicians of antiquity, Chiron and 
 Esculapius, exclusively employed — in short, of 
 simples. Experience was, with these great lights 
 and ornaments of the profession, the sole guide ; 
 and so it is with the Indians. When Hippocrates 
 began to mix theories with the practice of me-, 
 dicine, its healing power began to wane ; im- 
 posture usurped the place of simplicity and 
 wisdom ; and contradictory reasonings and doc- 
 trines involved the clear evidence of facts in the 
 darkness of sectarian and homicidal systems, 
 which ravage the world to the present day. 
 
 There are certain herbs and roots made use of 
 by the Indian physicians which are ascertained 
 to be highly salutary and of astonishing efficacy. 
 Every head of a family, moreover, every bid 
 woman, indeed almost every individual Indian, 
 possesses a collection of medicinal roots and 
 herbs, which they denominate the medicine bag, 
 and which they regard as the sanctuary of a
 
 INDIAN MEDICINES. 255 
 
 number of divinities. The Jews, the Greeks, 
 and the Romans, possessed their amulets ; the 
 Arabs and Turks have them still ; and the 
 Negroes possess something of the same kind 
 in their gris-gris. We have our bags of relics, 
 the contents of which are more numerous than 
 the roots of the Indians. At Cologne, as I for- 
 merly mentioned to you, I saw in a single bag, 
 St Ursula with her eleven thousand virgins, the 
 three royal Magi, and a considerable number of 
 other matters equally holy and efficacious. 
 
 The Indians carefully preserve this bag in 
 their huts ; and when on a march, or engaged in 
 war, they are never without it. They consider 
 it indeed as a sort of Palladium. 
 
 They possess remedies for every species of 
 
 disease, including even siphilitic ones. For 
 
 even the Indians are not without their Laises 
 
 and Phrynes; nor indeed, however deplorable 
 
 it may be, without their Antinouses and Adrians. 
 
 They are acquainted both with the high and 
 
 low systems of surgery ; the last of which is 
 
 exercised even by women. They bleed their 
 
 patient, or, to give a better idea of the process, 
 
 they lacerate his skin with a knife, or a 
 
 sharpened bone, and sometimes even with a 
 
 gun-flint ; then, applying the large end of a 
 
 horn to the incision, they suck the blood through 
 
 the other end, discharging it from their mouths
 
 256 FOREIGN PHYSICTANS. 
 
 as successive repletions require it, till they 
 have drawn the quantity prescribed. Wounds, 
 sprains, &c. are all healed by the application 
 of natural simples, applied internally, or by 
 cataplasm or lotion. 
 
 They despise our physicians generally, yet 
 regard with great deference the one residing at 
 the fort, who has cured a considerable num- 
 ber of them after they had exhausted their own 
 medicine-bags. Indeed, it is scarcely possible 
 that he should be without merit, as he is to- 
 tally without presumption. I have been in- 
 formed that, in the course of the last year, after 
 having effected a cure of some difficulty, the 
 chief of the tribe among whom he resided en- 
 treated him with great earnestness to leave 
 something of his race among them, and that the 
 means offered for the accomplishment of this 
 end were worthy of his acceptance. I should 
 have considered this statement as fabulous, if I 
 had not heard from unquestionable authority 
 that the first negro seen in these territories re- 
 ceived a similar invitation from the Indians. 
 They regarded him as an evil spirit or devil; 
 and conceived that if they could but succeed in 
 having a family of the breed in their society, 
 the other demons would fraternise with them, 
 or at least would never venture to molest them. 
 You recollect, my dear Countess, my former
 
 INDIAN RELIGION. 257 
 
 remark, that the Indians have more respect for 
 devils than for angels. 
 
 After exhibiting such a mass of superstition 
 and extravagance ; after displaying such a 
 jumble of credulity and of divinities, what can 
 be said of their religion ? How is it possible 
 to form it into a system? Amidst all their 
 ridiculous ceremonies, and absurd and often 
 contradictory doctrines, amidst all the multi- 
 plicity and respective peculiarities of their spirits, 
 we are not without difficulty led to conjecture 
 that the Indians acknowledge one supreme being. 
 The Kitechi-Manitou of the Cypoivais, and the 
 Tango- Wakoon of the Nardowkies, or the Sioux ; — 
 the Great Spirit seems to be the sun ; but it is 
 not known whether they adore it only as the 
 emblem of a God, or as that God himself. 
 
 I am at length then, my dear Countess, arrived 
 at the point where your curiosity has been long 
 expecting me, and which I have not reached 
 without hesitation and apprehension ; for we 
 have before us a question of somewhat difficult 
 solution, whatever facility a number of writers 
 may have attached to it. Book-makers have the 
 art of turning everything to account, while a 
 plain observer, like myself, possesses no such 
 advantage. Professed travellers often obtain by 
 their investigations a mighty name, which confers 
 on them the reputation of little less than infalli- 
 
 VOL. II. s
 
 258 ORIGIN OF INDIANS. 
 
 bility, while such a superficial sketcher as myself 
 can scarcely screen himself from the charge of 
 incompetence. However sorry I should be to 
 bewilder you in the mazes of speculation, 
 the worst that I can accuse myself of on the 
 subject on which I am entering will be, that I 
 have added to the number of conjectures. I 
 will therefore proceed to give you my thoughts 
 on the origin of the first possessors of this vast 
 continent. 
 
 Different authors have brought them hither 
 from all the different parts of the world. There 
 is no virgin land now in existence to which their 
 origin can be ascribed, unless it be Botany Bay; 
 under the banners, therefore, of one or other of 
 these learned guessers, I have long foreseen the 
 necessity of enlisting. 
 
 I was at first induced to join with those who 
 derived them from the Jews ; for it must be 
 admitted that that nation, ill-used and perse- 
 cuted as it has been by the whole world, has 
 some reason for boasting, as it does, of giving 
 birth to all the nations, as well as to nearly 
 all the religions, of mankind. It seemed im- 
 possible for me to doubt that by so doing I 
 should be building on an impregnable founda- 
 tion. But this hypothesis is too general, and 
 perhaps evasive. It is necessary to specify and 
 detail ; I adopted, therefore, the idea of those
 
 CONJECTURES OF SA.VANS. 259 
 
 who deduce the origin of these Indians from 
 Asia. And indeed a variety of circumstances 
 concur to authorise it. 
 
 Their resemblance in numerous respects to 
 the Asiatic tribes ; their principal divinity, the 
 sun, worshipped alike by the Guebres, Tibetians, 
 Indians, Japanese, Chinese, and various others ; 
 the facility of passing to this country from the 
 Asiatic territories by the narrow streights of 
 Behring, while immense oceans roll between it 
 and the two other quarters of the globe ; all 
 these circumstances, it must be allowed, speak 
 strongly in favour of the Asiatic origin ; and a 
 new discovery of the highest interest must be 
 considered as affording evidence nearly amount- 
 ing to conviction. 
 
 The skeletons of mammoths which have been 
 found in the states of Kentucky, and Missouri, 
 and other parts of America, have been ascer- 
 tained to resemble precisely those which have 
 been found in Siberia and the eastern parts of 
 Asia. 
 
 The pens and brains of many men of science 
 were put in exercise upon the subject before the 
 museum of St Petersburg had informed the 
 south of Europe that similar remains had been 
 found in Asia. They imagined at first that the 
 mammoths discovered in America were ele- 
 phants which had migrated from Africa; but it
 
 260 INDIAN TRADITION. 
 
 is now universally admitted that those mam- 
 moths are elephants of Asiatic origin. 
 
 You perceive therefore, that this very in- 
 teresting discovery in the animal kingdom has 
 been also eminently valuable, by throwing light 
 on the origin of the nations of America. I 
 availed myself of it with no little eagerness in 
 order to corroborate my conjecture of their 
 being derived from Asia. I had indeed con- 
 sulted the genealogists, and nearly fixed on the 
 individual son of Noah, whom the American 
 tribes might look up to as their ancestor. I had 
 almost obtained, as I thought, decisive and satis- 
 factory evidence on the subject, when a new 
 incident threw me into new uncertainty. 
 
 Some chiefs, from whom I endeavoured to 
 learn from what egg their ancestors sprung, 
 allege that, if not pre-Adamites, as some civi- 
 lized nations have actually professed to be, they 
 are at least Antediluvians. They stated to me, 
 with an air of confidence that, " when worlds 
 were overwhelmed by a tremendous deluge, 
 "their own was spared ; and that while a wicked 
 race was totally cut off, they beheld the sun 
 rise every day from the bosom of those waters 
 in which it had perished." The presumption 
 seems not a little in their favour, when we 
 consider that, as God bestowed on Noah only 
 three sons, for the re-peopling of Asia, Africa,
 
 GOVERNMENT OF THE INDIANS. 261 
 
 and Europe, it seems to be a fair inference that 
 America was not included in the plans of his 
 vengeance ; as in that case he would have given 
 the patriarch four. 
 
 You must extricate yourself, my dear friend, 
 from this difficulty as well as you can. For my 
 own part, I could merely communicate to you 
 all I know and all I think upon the subject; and 
 in good truth, after all that has been said, it is 
 a little mortifying to find that one knows no- 
 thing. — We will now return to the camps and 
 huts which we had left. 
 
 The government of the Indians is regulated 
 merely by usages, which are, however, very 
 frequently disregarded. 
 
 Each body of Indians constitutes a tribe. 
 Each tribe, as you have already perceived, has 
 its civil chief, who is hereditary as long as the 
 tribe considers the honour to be merited ; it has 
 also a military chief, whose elevation is solely 
 the consequences of his services! 
 
 Every father of a family is chief of his own 
 hut: if that habitation contain two or three 
 families, the presidency attaches to seniority; 
 but the chiefs of huts are frequently wholly dis- 
 regarded, and every individual does just as he 
 pleases. Sons have, generally speaking, no 
 respect for their fathers, and fathers no affec- 
 tion for their sons. The apparent agitation and
 
 262 GENERAL COUNCILS. 
 
 contortions of grief which are frequently dis- 
 played by Indians in cases of death, are rather 
 conventional than sincere. There is frequently 
 found among them some particular chief whose 
 talents or reputation give him considerable in- 
 fluence over other tribes, and even over the 
 whole nation. 
 
 As each nation, band, or tribe, has a distinct 
 and peculiar name, so has it likewise a parti- 
 cular mark or emblem to distinguish it — as an 
 eagle, a panther, a bear, or a buffalo ; and 
 they exhibit them in their hieroglyphics at 
 general or particular councils. 
 
 General councils consist of all the chiefs, both 
 civil and military, of the orators, prophets, doc- 
 tors, diviners, &c. of all the tribes of the nation: 
 particular councils, or those of the tribe, are 
 formed also out of all the above-named descrip- 
 tions in the tribe ; and, in addition, of one mem- 
 ber of every family. 
 
 But we always come round again to the same 
 point; for the whole of this hierarchy and all 
 these councils are frequently found to terminate 
 in nothing. The Indian knows nothing of sub- 
 ordination, whether civil or military: every 
 man lives in the manner and the place he likes 
 best; goes to war or stays behind according 
 to his own fancy, continues on the scene of war- 
 fare, or returns from it at his own good plea-
 
 LAWS. 
 
 2G3 
 
 sure. He is so jealous of his liberty, that the 
 slightest appearance of command or dependance 
 excites offence and irritation. 
 
 As they possess no other property than the 
 four rags which constitute their hut, and the 
 snares and weapons with which they carry on 
 war against beasts and men ; and as they never 
 dispute about the possession of a territory for 
 which they have no use, they feel no occasion 
 for distributive laws ; and, in fact, have none. 
 And, as vengeance is at once their code and their 
 judge, they dispense also with all laws repres- 
 sive of malignity and violence. 
 
 Every Indian is the executioner of the man 
 who has committed an offence against himself 
 or against his family. No such public officer of 
 justice therefore is required. The offender 
 who dies under the arm of vengeance is never 
 avenged ; as were this not the case, vengeance 
 would follow vengeance, and discord succeed to 
 discord, till in a short time the whole nation 
 would be extirpated by its own members. 
 
 The homicidal offender is sometimes seized in 
 the very act of guilt, and delivered up to the 
 family of the slaughtered victim ; sometimes he 
 delivers himself up voluntarily, and receives the 
 mortal stroke of the avenger with the same 
 coolness and indifference with which it is in- 
 flicted.
 
 264 INDIAN REVENGE. 
 
 Sometimes he flies from the rage of his pur- 
 suers to distant regions ; but it is seldom that he 
 escapes falling by their hands sooner or later. 
 They have an energy and perseverance which 
 impel them onward in the pursuit through the 
 whole of the Indian world : they rush in search of 
 him even into the midst of their enemies ; and, 
 in many cases, these enemies will grant a truce 
 on an occasion that calls up the universal sym- 
 pathy. In some instances the avengers have 
 been treated by these enemies with liberal hospi- 
 tality, and permitted to sacrifice their victim in 
 the sight and in the tent of these previously 
 confirmed and inveterate foes. 
 
 It seldom happens that the offender defends 
 himself against the attack of him whom he has 
 wronged ; even in cases in which he has fled to 
 avoid his vengeance, or in which he would be 
 capable of effectually resisting it. The manner 
 of accomplishing their vengeance is regulated 
 entirely by the grief felt for the loss sustained, 
 and by the degree of the avenger's ferocity. 
 
 In the exercise of their vengeance they fre- 
 quently surpass the cruelty of a Nero, a Cali- 
 gula, or a Maximin. Sometimes even children 
 themselves take part in it. They pierce the 
 victim with pointed and lacerating pieces of 
 wood, tear off pieces of his skin, and bite oft' 
 parts of his flesh. Even women (and I state the
 
 CRUELTY OF THEIR EXECUTIONS. 265 
 
 fact with deep regret) sometimes engage in this 
 inhuman work, and shew themselves the most 
 relentless of the tormentors. No one, however, 
 considers the work inhuman, but, on the con- 
 trary, it is deemed a most incumbent and sacred 
 duty. 
 
 The martyr not unfrequently expires without 
 having uttered a single sigh : sometimes he even 
 stimulates and exasperates the rage of his exe- 
 cutioners. What a contrast is thus exhibited in 
 the character of the Indian, who at times dis- 
 plays no equivocal symptoms of cowardice ! 
 And, even in the scene we are contemplating, 
 cowardice in the executioners is contrasted with 
 the firmest constancy in their victim. 
 
 If the homicide has taken the life of another 
 solely in order to preserve his own, it sometimes 
 happens that the affair is arranged by a family 
 treaty, which is always sealed with presents on 
 the part of the homicide : his life however is in 
 perpetual danger. 
 
 What has been stated in the few last pages, 
 contains nearly everything that constitutes what 
 is called government among the Indians, and is 
 common to all the different nations of them. 
 
 After having viewed the dying Indian, let us 
 now consider him in the state of actual death, 
 and proceed to follow him to the grave. 
 
 The deceased, dressed, or, to speak more cor-
 
 26G INDIAN FUNERALS. 
 
 rectly, covered, as he generally was during life, 
 placed in a sitting attitude upon a mat or skin 
 in the middle of his hut, with all his weapons at 
 his side; his face is turned towards the east, and 
 decked and ornamented most elaborately. 
 
 All his relations are seated around him, and 
 for a certain time observe a profound silence, 
 exhibiting countenances indicative at once of 
 seriousness and grief. Each person then ad- 
 dresses him, some in pathetic tones but with- 
 out tears, others more emphatically but still 
 calmly, and all uttering some eulogium on his 
 virtues, or some expression of regret for his loss. 
 
 I will just give you a sketch of what appeared 
 most interesting in the account given by the 
 interpreter of these addresses. 
 
 "Where are you, my beloved husband ? You 
 are present, indeed, but you speak not to me. 
 You are now entirely in the society of the 
 spirits, and can no longer interest yourself about 
 your wife, but your wife will never cease to in- 
 terest herself about you ; — look on me once more, 
 if only for a moment; but your eyes are em- 
 ployed in looking upon something much more 
 handsome and pleasing than your wife. Perhaps 
 you will not even have it in your power to re- 
 member me. Your wife however will remember 
 you. The sun and moon and stars will ever see 
 me deploring your loss, and I will make no delay
 
 FUNERAL ADDRESSES. 267 
 
 in joining you." Catalani could not sing Ombra 
 adorata aspettami with more expression, than 
 the Indian widow delivered the above address. 
 
 The interpreter told me that she uttered her 
 genuine feelings ; of this however I cannot but 
 entertain some doubt, because the poetic style 
 is always more flattering than sincere ; and I 
 happen to know that she was very ill-treated by 
 her husband. 
 
 Another speaker said, " You are still among 
 us, my brother ; your person still has its usual 
 appearance, like our own; not the slightest 
 alteration; nothing wanting but action. But 
 where is that heaving breast, which only a few 
 hours since inhaled the 'smoke, and then wafted 
 it to the Great Spirit? Why is there silence now 
 on those lips which so lately spoke a language 
 so energetic and expressive? Why are now mo- 
 tionless those valiant arms which discharged the 
 farthest-flying arrows ; arms which were the terror 
 of our enemies? You are gone to the place 
 where you were before you came into these 
 countries, but your glory will remain with us for 
 
 ever." 
 
 A third speaker added, "Alas! alas! alas! 
 that form which was viewed with such high 
 admiration is now become as inanimate as it 
 was three hundred winters ago. But you will 
 not be for ever lost to us, we will go and rejoin
 
 268 THREE HUNDRED WINTERS. 
 
 you in the grand region of spirits— again we 
 will unite in the chase — again we will march 
 together against the enemy. In the mean time, 
 full of respect for your virtues and your valour, 
 we come to offer you a tribute of kindness; 
 your body shall not be exposed in the fields as 
 the prey of beasts, but we will take care that 
 it, like yourself, shall be united to your prede- 
 cessors." By his commencement I imagined 
 this orator to be a Frenchman, but he concluded 
 like a Greek or a Roman. The most singular 
 circumstance relating to these three discourses 
 is, that they contain three different professions 
 of faith. 
 
 I asked the interpreter the meaning of the 
 three hundred winters. He said that it was not 
 in his power to explain it, and that probably the 
 Indian himself knew less about it, if possible, 
 than ourselves — who certainly knew nothing at 
 all. 
 
 All the friends of the deceased, as they arrive, 
 move on by his side, each expressing his regret 
 and the praises of the departed. 
 
 When these funeral addresses are concluded, 
 the body of the deceased is wrapped in his rug 
 or skin, and enclosed in the bark of trees, which 
 serves for a coffin ; and as, in cases of public or 
 family ceremonies, the Indians always do what 
 is done by others, whatever be their own indivi-
 
 FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 269 
 
 dual faith, it is customary with all the tribes to 
 place in the coffin all the arms of the deceased, 
 whether they believe that he will follow war 
 and the chase in another world or not ; and in 
 that they are very ancient and very modern. 
 
 On the following morning at sun-rise, the body 
 is placed outside the tent and raised upon two 
 supporters, and then the scene changes. 
 
 All the relations begin to cry and yell as if 
 they were frantic, till they lose their voices, 
 when they set up a sort of low bellowing. 
 
 They throw away whatever they are in pos- 
 session of, without exception, from their orna- 
 ments, with which they begin, to their very 
 cooking vessels. One would imagine that they 
 wished to survive the deceased, merely to la- 
 ment him; and his friends, exhibiting at the 
 same time every appearance of grief, collect 
 together the various articles, and take posses- 
 sion of them in order to do honour to his memory. 
 
 They prepare a repast of all their provisions. 
 If they have none, which is frequently the case 
 when they are not engaged in hunting, the feast 
 consists of a dog ; they sacrifice it to the manes 
 of their kinsman, and the friends eat ; all the 
 liquors also which they possess are placed out- 
 side the tent, and the friends drink. Here we 
 may observe something of Roman customs, 
 and something perfectly modern.
 
 270 BURIAL. 
 
 Sun-set now arrives, and constitutes another 
 epoch in the etiquette of lamentation, when the 
 screams and bellowings of the morning must be 
 renewed ; the friends then leave the relatives to 
 cry and bellow by themselves, and retire to sleep. 
 
 The corpse remains in this situation, com- 
 monly for three or four days, till it has received 
 the customary attentions, and the adieus of all 
 who pass it. Here we trace the practice of the 
 Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Chris- 
 tians in the age of Tertullian, of several kings, 
 of the popes and cardinals in modern times, and 
 of the Arabs and Chinese. Sometimes, however, 
 it becomes necessary to keep at a considera- 
 ble distance in paying these attentions ; for, in 
 summer, the putrefaction becomes frightfully 
 noisome ; and this circumstance attending the ce- 
 remony must be considered peculiarly modern. 
 
 The due period being completed, the good 
 friends again make their appearance, and con- 
 duct the coffin to the Champs- Ely sees. In this 
 procession again, we are reminded of the Roman 
 Nenice, &c. ; all present feel, or affect to feel, 
 the desolation of grief; for I am perfectly con- 
 vinced that affectation is not a little concerned in 
 the matter here, as in other countries, where, as 
 I have already told you, all the contortions of 
 tragic grimace are speedily succeeded by the 
 lively waggery of some broad farce.
 
 INDIAN COFFINS AND CIPPUS. 271 
 
 The Sioux generally raise the coffins upon four 
 stakes, about ten feet high, fixed in the earth ; 
 the other Indians inter their dead, and form over 
 them hillocks similar to those we have noticed 
 at St Louis, but not so large. The face of the 
 corpse is always turned towards the east, a 
 custom which has existed and still prevails 
 among many nations, and which was observed 
 by the Christians of the primitive church. 
 
 If the deceased be a person of distinguished 
 renown, a large piece of wood, painted or rather 
 daubed with red, (resembling the cippus of the 
 Romans,) is fixed at the side of the coffin, and 
 hieroglyphics are attached to it, transmitting to 
 posterity his achievements and glory; a practice 
 conformable to every age, and to every nation. 
 
 The relations, on returning to the camp, re- 
 commence their lamentations at the appointed 
 hour. They pierce their legs and arms, some with 
 thorns and pointed pieces of wood, others with 
 knives and arrows. I am convinced that many 
 among them would willingly dispense with this 
 unpleasant formality ; but it is the usage, and 
 must of course be complied with. Some there 
 are who wound themselves with no little pre- 
 caution and skill ; and who, in fact, seem to 
 have studied anatomy a little, in order to learn 
 where the flesh is best guarded by the thick-
 
 272 DURATION OF MOURNING. 
 
 ness of the integuments ; but others, destitute 
 of this convenient knowledge, or eager to display 
 their grief more vehemently than the rest, in- 
 flict serious, and sometimes even fatal injuries 
 on themselves. 
 
 The lamentations for the deceased continue 
 for more than a month, and periodically, at the 
 rising and setting of the sun. They celebrate 
 the mournful anniversary for some years, re- 
 minding us of the inferice and parentalia of the 
 Romans. Only a few days since, I was out 
 with a hunting party, when our ears were as- 
 sailed by dreadful howlings from a neighbouring 
 forest. I imagined that they were made by 
 wolves ; they proceeded, however, in reality 
 from Indians, who were thus lamenting a rela- 
 tion who had been dead more than three years. 
 
 I believe I have already mentioned to you 
 that during full mourning they black their faces 
 completely over, and in second mourning black 
 only half of them. 
 
 When an Indian dies in the winter hunting- 
 season, his body is carefully preserved : for this 
 purpose it is dried and covered with leaves and 
 herbs, which are their medical balsams, and 
 after being enclosed in the bark of trees (thus 
 resembling the mummies of Egypt) it is elevated 
 to a considerable height for more complete ex-
 
 MODE OF CALCULATING TIME. 273 
 
 posure to the air. When in the season of spring 
 they proceed to establish themselves in their 
 summer encampment, they go through all the 
 ceremonies which we have detailed, and on these 
 occasions the friends generally come off better 
 in their entertainments. They find both provi- 
 sions and skins, and consequently have much 
 more to collect and much more to eat. The 
 cries and lamentations take place just as if the 
 deceased had expired only a few days or hours 
 before ; for, during the hunt, nothing but that is 
 at all attended to. From all circumstances, I 
 cannot help being convinced that, in their vari- 
 ous and continued lamentations, there is more of 
 grimace, custom, and formality, than of affection 
 and religion, and that hypocrisy finds its way 
 into every part of the earth. 
 
 You have already seen that the Indians divide 
 the year into twelve moons, like the early 
 Greeks; but they give themselves very little 
 anxiety about intercalating, as the Greeks did ; 
 so that, properly speaking, they have no year, 
 but merely months or moons. 
 
 The year of the Sioux commences at the vernal 
 equinox, like that of Romulus; that of the 
 Cypowais at the summer solstice, as among 
 the Greeks when they instituted the Olympic 
 Games, which were celebrated every four years 
 at the same epoch. 
 
 VOL. II. T
 
 274 NAMES OF MONTHS. 
 
 The months or moons of the Sioux have different 
 names from those of the Cypowais : it is proper 
 therefore to take distinct notice of both. We 
 will first mention those of the Sioux, beginning 
 with the first moon. 
 
 March 
 April . 
 May . 
 June . 
 July . 
 
 the moon of bad eyes . . . Wisthaocia-oui 
 
 the moon of game Mograhoandi-oui 
 
 the moon of nests Mograhocanda-oui 
 
 the moon of strawberries Wojusticiascia-oui 
 
 the moon of cherries . . . Champaseia-oui 
 
 August . . the moon of buffaloes . . . Yanlankakiocu-oui 
 
 September, the moon of oats Wasipi-oui 
 
 October . . the second moon of oats . Sciwostapi-oul 
 
 November, the moon of the roebuck . Takiouka-oui 
 
 December, the moon of the budding ) . , . , . , , 
 . . , , , I Abesciatakiouska-oui 
 
 of the roebuck's horns ) 
 
 January . . the moon of valour .... Onwikari-oui 
 
 February . the moon of wild-cats . . Owiciata-oui 
 
 The Cypowais months are as follow : 
 
 June .... the moon of strawberries Hodhei'min-quisls 
 
 July .... the moon of blue fruits . . Mikin-quisis 
 
 August . . the moon of yellow leaves Wathebaqui-quisis 
 
 September, the moon of falling leaves Inaqui-quisis 
 
 October. . the moon of migratory) - 
 
 > Bima-hamo-quisis 
 game ) 
 
 November, the moon of snow Kaskadin6-quisis 
 
 December . the moon of the Little ) _ _ . 
 
 > Manito-quisis 
 Spirit 5 M 
 
 January. . the moon of the Great >-,..„. . v 
 
 . S Kitci-Manito-quisis 
 
 Spirit )
 
 MODE OF STEERING. 275 
 
 February . the moon of the coming ) ... , . . 
 
 „ , > Wameoinni-quisis 
 
 of eagles ) ' 
 
 March .. the moon of hardened snow Onabanni-quisis 
 
 April . . . the moon of snow-shoes . Pokaodaquimi-quisis 
 
 May .... the moon of flowers .... Wabigon-quisis 
 
 The Indians have no division of the week. 
 They reckon the days only by sleepings. They 
 divide the day into halves and quarters, mea- 
 suring the time by the course of the sun from 
 its rising to its setting. 
 
 Though the Indians are completely ignorant 
 of geography, as well as of every other science, 
 they have a method of denoting by hieroglyphics 
 on the bark of certain papyriferous trees, all 
 the countries with which they are acquainted. 
 These maps want only the degrees of latitude 
 and longitude to be more correct than those of 
 some of our own visionary geographers. 
 
 The polar- star is their only astronomical guide, 
 or at least their most certain guide, when they 
 travel by night. The course of the sun directs 
 them by day. But even though the sun or the 
 polar-star should be eclipsed, they are equally 
 able to distinguish, both by day and night, 
 the four cardinal points ; and consequently the 
 direction which they want to follow, whether in 
 the thickest forests or the widest prairies. Their 
 secret is this : — the tips of the blades of grass 
 always incline towards the south, and it is
 
 276 MODE OF RECKONING. 
 
 less green on the side towards the north : this 
 is their guide in prairies. The tops of trees 
 also incline towards the south, and the moss 
 which frequently covers their trunks is always 
 found on the north side; the bark is more 
 smooth and supple on the east side than on the 
 west : this is their compass in the forests. 
 
 They measure distances only by the number 
 of days required to travel over them ; and as 
 they are very well acquainted with the territories 
 they inhabit, immense as they are, they can fix 
 on their maps the precise time requisite for 
 going to attack an enemy's post, or for a new 
 and more excursive chase. 
 
 They have also hieroglyphics to express all 
 the numbers for which their language has words. 
 
 They know nothing of milliards or of millions, 
 because they have neither our desires nor wants ; 
 even a thousand is beyond the requirement of 
 any of their transactions. I conceive, however, 
 that, as they can reckon up to a thousand, they 
 would be able to reckon ten thousand, a hundred 
 thousand, &c. 
 
 The marriages of the Indians have been very 
 variously described. I will communicate to 
 you, on this subject, simply what I have myself 
 seen and been informed of on the spot. 
 
 When an Indian feels any attachment or inclina- 
 tion for any individual female, he endeavours to
 
 INDIAN MARRIAGES. 277 
 
 obtain her consent to their union. As to sound- 
 ing the state of her heart, that he considers of 
 little or no consequence. He then asks the 
 consent of her father, which is the more neces- 
 sary, as the bridegroom goes to reside with the 
 bride : the mother, as among the Greeks, is 
 never consulted on the subject. These prelimi- 
 naries being completed, the friends of both par- 
 ties, women on the bride's part, and men on 
 that of her suitor, meet together in the hut of 
 one of his old relations, where a feast is provided 
 for the occasion. They dance, and sing, and 
 eat and drink, if they have the means ; and the 
 friends of the parties are sure to be present. 
 The company at length retire, leaving behind 
 only three or four of those most intimate with 
 he bride and bridegroom. The bride soon after 
 knocks at the door, and announcing her name, 
 enquires if her betrothed husband is within : the 
 door is opened, and her female friends, like the 
 pronuba of the Romans, present her in form to 
 him, while he stands in the middle of them to 
 pay her the compliments usual on such occa- 
 sions, and then sits down with her upon a skin. 
 The Romans seated their betrothed females upon 
 the fleece of a sacrificed sheep, to intimate the 
 obligation they were about to enter into to pre- 
 pare clothing for their husbands and children. 
 The Indians, perhaps, by means of the skin just
 
 278 INDIAN MAllRIAOES. 
 
 mentioned, equally indicate the duties about to 
 be entered upon. 
 
 The aged relative makes a suitable address 
 on the occasion ; after which the husband pre- 
 sents his wife with a small truss of herbage, 
 possibly to hint to her that her sole business will 
 consist in bearing, like a beast of burden, the 
 baggage of the whole family. Thus the Romans 
 presented to their brides the colum comptum et 
 fusum cum stamine, to remind them that Caia the 
 wife of the elder Tarquin was constantly em- 
 ployed in spinning. The truss or bundle just 
 mentioned is made up of herbs of such delicate 
 fragrance, and arranged in so ingenious a man- 
 ner, as in my opinion quite to eclipse the florists 
 and perfumers of Paris itself : I have kept one 
 of them as a very valuable curiosity. The 
 dancing, and eating and drinking are now re- 
 peated, after which the wife, attended by her 
 pronubce, returns to the hut of her father. 
 
 As Indian girls are not in possession of the 
 
 Jlammeum, a covering for the head which the 
 
 Roman brides wore on the marriage-day, they 
 
 throw over theirs the coverlet which is their 
 
 usual garment. 
 
 The bridegroom follows her the day after, 
 and, instead of asking her father for a dower, 
 which among civilized nations frequently in- 
 volves families in ruin, and seems to turn the
 
 INDIAN MARRIAGES. 279 
 
 fair sex into a subject of bargain and sale, makes 
 him a number of presents, and again requests 
 the bestowment of his daughter on him. The 
 father grants his request on condition of his 
 remaining with him, and hunting for him for 
 a year or longer. Such are the usages of the 
 Sioux. Among the Cypowais, he is not at 
 liberty to remove till he has obtained offspring 
 by his marriage. Here we see the case of 
 Jacob and Laban. 
 
 It might be imagined, that this species of pro- 
 bation was intended to prove the character of 
 the husband, and the sentiments he entertained 
 towards his wife ; but I cannot help thinking 
 that it is in reality a speculation of the father- 
 in-law to benefit by the exertions and fatigues 
 of his new relative. And, in fact, a good hunter 
 is in great request with all families. 
 
 On the day after their union has been sanc- 
 tioned by this paternal consent, they offer some 
 sacrifice to their respective Manitous ; as the Ro- 
 mans, on like occasions, consecrated gifts and 
 offerings to Jupiter, Juno, Venus, Diana, and 
 the goddess of persuasion, denominated Suada, 
 whose propitious influence on married life would, 
 in my humble opinion, be of more value than 
 that of all the rest, even among civilized people. 
 
 Such are the ceremonies generally observed 
 by the Indians, when they are inclined to trans-
 
 280 INDIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 act the matter according to rule and order. But 
 they more frequently marry without any other 
 formality than that practised by the Greeks and 
 Romans in their marriages per usum ; that is, 
 they take a wife for the satisfaction and services 
 she can bestow on them, and to obtain from her 
 children, who are considered as legitimate, pre- 
 cisely like those of the marriages of antiquity 
 just mentioned. The patria potestas is not even 
 consulted on the occasion, or, at the utmost, 
 means are found, by presents, of rendering it a 
 dead letter. And, in fact, as polygamy is very 
 prevalent among the Indians, who sometimes 
 have five or six wives, they would nearly ex- 
 haust the whole year in going through their va- 
 rious ceremonies, were they, on occasion of every 
 marriage, scrupulously to perform those which I 
 have just detailed. 
 
 The act of divorce is attended with no more 
 difficulty than that of marriage. When both 
 parties have come to an agreement, every thing- 
 is completed, without recurring to lawyers, who 
 would devour the patrimony of both, or to judges 
 who, after consulting a million of contradictory 
 commentaries, would encumber the text by still 
 adding a new one, and conclude by deciding- 
 according to the fluctuation of their own preju- 
 dices. The children, if very young, generally 
 continue with the mother, because, without
 
 INDIAN JEALOUSY. 281 
 
 having studied the Justinian code profoundly, 
 or entering deeply into scandalous researches 
 on paternity, the Indians consider the relation- 
 ship of maternity as more traceable and clear : 
 if the children are grown up, they either remain, 
 or go wherever they please. The only paternal 
 abode they have is the forest, and that has 
 room enough for all. 
 
 There are among them some husbands who, 
 without having read St Augustin, Diderot, or 
 Helvetius, and following merely the suggestions 
 of their own minds, mutually accommodate each 
 other by the loan of their wives, and it rarely 
 happens that their wives give occasion for quar- 
 rels or revenge. There are, moreover, some 
 tribes or huts in which, as among the Arabs, a 
 single wife is considered sufficient for the whole 
 family, and in which she is treated as a mere 
 article of household furniture, as was the case 
 with the ancient Britons. 
 
 A husband who has many wives seldom keeps 
 more than two of them in his hut ; the remainder 
 continue with their relations, or sometimes even 
 in the hut of another man. They very rarely 
 quarrel: devoid of affection, they are fortu- 
 nately also devoid of jealousy; and the eldest 
 of the number becomes the mother-abbess. 
 
 It has been repeatedly stated by writers, that
 
 282 MODE OF WARFARE. 
 
 the Sioux are jealous of their wives. This may 
 possibly be the case ; but perhaps it is only — 
 on the principle of monsieur de Montespan — that 
 they may be better paid for their wives, their 
 silence, and their virtue. 
 
 Others have made statements directly con- 
 trary, and asserted that the Indians volunteer 
 the favours of their wives and daughters. I 
 admit that there is no great difficulty in obtain- 
 ing them ; but I am not aware that the Indians 
 whom we have hitherto seen, practice this species 
 of prostitution, except when they desire to ob- 
 tain, as in a case I mentioned, a race of good 
 or evil spirits. I am informed that the Indians, 
 who are stated to be so far advanced in polite 
 civilization and liberal hospitality, are the Man- 
 danes who inhabit the Missouri, and the Snegs, 
 a wandering tribe near the sources of the Co- 
 lumbia. 
 
 I have mentioned to you, my dear Countess, 
 their manner of making peace : I must now give 
 you some information on their mode of making 
 war, although, as you recollect, they have not 
 been inclined to engage in it in my presence. 
 
 The motives from which their wars originate 
 we have already seen ; and we have noticed 
 also their councils to deliberate on it, the smok- 
 ing of their red pipe, the preliminary war-dance,
 
 MODE OF WARFARE. 283 
 
 and the weapons they make use of. We will 
 proceed to view them now on their march against 
 the enemy. 
 
 Indians generally commence their career of 
 warfare at the age of fifteen. Under the firm 
 conviction that war is the grand duty of their 
 lives, that they are born for no other purpose, 
 little is requisite to kindle in them a suffi- 
 cient degree of ardour. Their chiefs, however, 
 often represent to them that the bones of their 
 relations, their brothers, remain unburied and 
 bleaching on the hostile territory ; that they 
 call aloud for vengeance, which they are bound 
 to inflict; that the Spirit may be heard in the 
 breezes and the winds reproaching them for 
 their cowardice, and that they should hasten to 
 appease their wrath ; that the genii, the guardian 
 angels of their honour, urge and stimulate them 
 to the mortal conflict. M Come on, then, my 
 children," adds the warrior-chief, " let us tear 
 asunder with our teeth those who have pierced 
 the hearts of our brethren. Let your youth no 
 longer waste away in inaction. Give free vent 
 to the impulses of your noble valour. Anoint 
 your hair, paint your faces, charge your quivers. 
 Call on Echo to repeat the terror of your shout. 
 Console the spirits of the dead, and stay not 
 your hand till you have avenged them." 
 
 Roused by this energetic language (for the
 
 284 MODE OF WARFARE. 
 
 Indians are much more eloquent on the subject 
 of war than on that of peace) the young Indians 
 feel themselves as it were warriors before they 
 have had experience to become such ; every 
 delay appears intolerable ; and they burn with 
 impatience to imbrue their weapons and their 
 hands in the blood of their enemies. The war- 
 dance increases the exasperation .of their rage, 
 and also instructs them how to encounter the foe 
 with most dexterity and success. 
 
 The bravest and most experienced warrior of 
 the nation is chosen for their commander, (and 
 in the same manner respectively in bands and 
 tribes,) after which the whole nation marches off 
 in a mass. 
 
 It sometimes occurs that a troop of warriors, or 
 young men, excited by some brave leader or some 
 supposed inspired individual, march off against 
 the enemy, without the authority of their tribe, 
 or the consent of their chiefs. Only a few days 
 since, one of these prophets, after having stated 
 that the Great Spirit had commanded him in a 
 dream to march against a party of Cypowais, 
 who were then scouring the neighbouring terri- 
 tory, threw on the ground his belt, (which the In- 
 dians consider as a Manitou,) exclaiming, " The 
 first that takes up that belt shall be next in 
 command to myself, and those who follow us 
 will be ranked among the chosen." He marched
 
 MODE OF WARFARE. 285 
 
 away with about thirty of his tribe, and as yet 
 no intelligence has been received of him. 
 
 Their declaration of war is by attack. The 
 custom formerly was to send a tomahawk, or an 
 arrow dipped in the blood of a prisoner whom 
 they sacrificed on the occasion to the Manitou of 
 War ; as the Fecialis of the Romans in similar 
 cases threw a javelin into the territory of the 
 enemy : but as the herald-at-arms thus em- 
 ployed never returned with an answer, the 
 ceremony is now dispensed with, and thereby 
 one victim saved. 
 
 As they are free from • any incumbrance of 
 plunder or military stores, their surprises are 
 effected with great facility ; and the precaution, 
 skill, and stratagem with which they are con- 
 certed and executed, are of a truly extraordinary 
 character. 
 
 When the Indians are advancing to the ene- 
 my's territories, they are able to proceed for 
 whole days together dragging themselves for- 
 ward on their bellies, and in such profound 
 silence that, at the distance of ten paces, not 
 the slightest sound would strike the ear from a 
 hundred men thus toiling out their progress. 
 They kindle no fires, or pipes, and sustain them- 
 selves on what they may happen to have about 
 them, or on roots which they find in their way.
 
 286 MODE OF WARFARE. 
 
 Even frogs occasionally cease to be Manitous, 
 and are converted from divinities into provisions. 
 
 When they discover their enemy they wind 
 their way like reptiles through brambles, grass, 
 and ditches, and pounce upon their prey when 
 least of all expected. If they perceive that they 
 are discovered, and that they are unequal to 
 making resistance, they disperse in an instant; 
 they conceal themselves in their flight, and re- 
 unite at a spot fixed on as a place of rendezvous 
 previously to their advance. This is a fresh 
 reason for the assertion often made, that civilized 
 nations can obtain nothing but loss by going to 
 war with Indians. 
 
 The scenes of horror presented by a hostile en- 
 campment completely taken by surprise, baffle 
 all description. 
 
 The hatred and rage of the assailants, urged 
 on, as they conceive, by the manes of their 
 slaughtered kinsman demanding vengeance; the 
 fury and desperation of their adversaries, aware 
 as they are of the dreadful fate awaiting them ; 
 all these murderous passions let loose a ferocity 
 and occasion a carnage, which I should hesitate 
 to believe possible, if I had not in a certain de- 
 gree been a witness of the scene myself. 
 
 Massacres extend even far beyond the scene 
 of battle with the rapidity of the electric shock.
 
 CONDUCT AFTER VICTORY. 287 
 
 On the 7th of June, a day of which I gave 
 you some account in my preceding letter, a 
 false report was circulated that Panischiowa (the 
 chief) had been killed by the Cypowais at the 
 falls of St Anthony. His mother, on hear- 
 ing it, instantly seized a little girl of that na- 
 tion who had been preserved from the period 
 when she had been made a captive in her cra- 
 dle, and who was the delight both of the family 
 and the camp, and with a single stroke of a 
 hatchet cleft her in two. Panischiowa, however, 
 returned and thanked his mother for this testi- 
 mony of her maternal love and of her hatred of 
 the Cypowais. 
 
 Though the Indians are not cannibals, it is 
 nevertheless true that they sometimes devour 
 their enemies, and they almost always drink of 
 their blood, smearing their bodies with it in evi- 
 dence and triumph of their massacre. 
 
 When they have been successful in an expe- 
 dition they immediately return to their camp, 
 carrying as trophies the spoils of their foes ; as 
 the Romans exhibited their spolia opima. 
 
 In order to avoid pursuits by any enemy who 
 might possibly succeed to the one they have 
 overthrown, they employ every species of finesse 
 and stratagem, displaying singular sagacity and 
 ingenuity; and, if apprehensive of being fol-
 
 288 TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 
 
 lowed into their camp, and of being considerably 
 inferior in numbers, they embark with incon- 
 ceivable rapidity, their town, houses, families, 
 dogs and the whole of their property, and move 
 away to remoter regions, where they may expe- 
 rience greater security. 
 
 When they think they are not pursued, they 
 always preserve some of their prisoners that 
 their death may furnish a spectacle to the en- 
 campment on their return. The prisoners, who 
 well know the fate that awaits them, are con- 
 stantly singing on their march the death song : 
 " We are going to die, &c. but you shall see us 
 die without trembling, &c." 
 
 On the route, they are so ill-treated that it 
 might be supposed a frame of iron would be ne- 
 cessary to endure it. They are bound with 
 cords made of the bark of trees, which some- 
 times cut their flesh through to the bone. At 
 night they are extended in a trough made in the 
 earth, and by means of forked branches of trees 
 fixed deeply in the ground, their persecutors 
 nail down, as it were, their bodies, arms, legs 
 and even their necks. This must indeed be 
 torture. 
 
 When the victorious band approaches the camp, 
 it announces in loud shouts, and in the custo- 
 mary forms, the success of the expedition, the
 
 DREADFUL CRUELTY TO PRISONERS. 289 
 
 number of men whom they have lost, and the 
 number of prisoners they are bringing with 
 them. 
 
 All who are present in the camp begin then 
 to pour forth the most frightful lamentations 
 and yells ; and, ranging themselves in two files, 
 with their knotted staves or sticks in their hands, 
 strike the prisoners, as they pass along between 
 them, with great violence and cruelty; but as 
 they are obliged to husband their ferocity, in 
 order to extend the duration of this delightful 
 spectacle, as to them it is, of human suffering, 
 they apply their blows with critical judgment, 
 and take care not to make them mortal. They 
 paint their bodies with the blood of the sufferers, 
 and the camp presents the image of a great 
 butchery. 
 
 A kind of council is now formed at which the 
 prisoners may be said to be tried ; sometimes a 
 few of them are spared, and especially women 
 and children. Those who are condemned, are 
 delivered over to their executioners, that is, to 
 the whole camp. The decree of the council is 
 expressed in the following terms: " Let those 
 who are devoted to vengeance be led to the 
 house of death; let the others be conveyed to 
 the house of mercy." 
 
 The victims are scorched at a slow fire, their 
 limbs are lacerated and pierced by pieces of 
 
 VOL. II. u
 
 290 HUMAN SACRIFICES. 
 
 pointed wood, and all sorts of cutting instru- 
 ments. Under the infliction of these frightful 
 tortures, the bare idea of which produces shud- 
 dering, some close their eyes, preserving an 
 heroic courage and calmness to the last ; others 
 insult their executioners, and lavish upon them 
 expressions of contempt and defiance even to 
 their expiring sigh. 
 
 Some of the prisoners are sacrificed to the 
 honour of their Manitous of War, or their infernal 
 gods. Thus Achilles sacrificed them to Pa- 
 troclus, and the Mexicans to their idol deities. 
 The place of punishment or torture is the centre 
 of the camp. 
 
 The herald at arms then proclaims that the 
 prisoners who have been spared are about to 
 be distributed to those who have just claims to 
 them as slaves. The council bestows these on 
 such as have lost some relation in the contest, 
 and the grant is in proportion to the loss. 
 
 The children are very well treated, at least 
 when it does not happen that they are made 
 sacrifices to vengeance, like the unfortunate 
 little Cypowais girl given in revenge for the 
 supposed death of Panisciowa. The women pri- 
 soners are well off in proportion as they succeed 
 in exciting interest. If any man is spared, it is 
 in order to bestow him on some woman whom 
 the expedition has made a widow. If he be
 
 MILITARY HONOURS. 291 
 
 fortunate enough to please her, she becomes 
 his mate; if not, she sacrifices him with her 
 own hands to the manes of her husband. 
 
 The dead bodies of the victims are left ex- 
 posed to birds of prey and wild beasts, and 
 frequently to the dogs of their executioners. 
 Their bones are deprived of the honours of sepul- 
 ture. Such also was the practice of antiquity. 
 Priam could scarcely obtain from Achilles the 
 body of Hector. 
 
 The same council which superintends these 
 honours, decrees also the military honours, and 
 the Corona Castrensis, the Vexillum, the Phalerce, 
 the Armillod, the Exuv'kb of the Romans, are the 
 distinctions which the Indians grant to military 
 merit. 
 
 The amount of enemies killed forms the test 
 by which this merit is decided ; and the manner 
 in which each claimant proves his pretensions is 
 not a little extraordinary. 
 
 Every individual marks his own arrows, and 
 the owner of the fatal arrow is consequently 
 with ease ascertained. The end of it beino- 
 fixed to the shaft only by a species of mastic] 
 which is melted by the animal heat of the body 
 into which it passes, and being barbed, it al- 
 ways remains in the wound, though the shaft be 
 withdrawn ; it can be found only by cutting open
 
 292 OPERATION OF SCALPING. 
 
 the body pierced by it : sometimes they lace- 
 rate and cut open the living subject. 
 
 If the enemy has been killed by discharges of 
 fire-arms, or by cutting weapons, the glory is 
 adjudged to him who presents the scalp. This 
 is the hair and skin which cover that part of the 
 skull called the occiput, or vertex a vertendo ; 
 as the hair in that part of the head forms in a 
 circle. 
 
 Even though the enemy may have been 
 knocked down by any other person than the 
 man who exhibits his scalp, the honour always 
 belongs to the latter, and for the following rea- 
 son. The enemy who falls might, as the Indians 
 say, merely pretend to be dead in order to 
 destroy with more ease and security his pur- 
 suer; and upon this principle they decide that 
 the person who scalped the fallen foe, by being 
 first to come in close contact with him, incurred 
 the greatest danger, and consequently has a fair 
 title to the honour of the triumph. 
 
 There is no enemy, whether killed or only 
 wounded, who, on falling into the hands of In- 
 dians, escapes this terrible operation of scalping; 
 and all Indians are so firmly convinced of the 
 fate awaiting this part of the head, that they con- 
 stantly keep on it a lock of hair which they pre- 
 serve, as it were, ever ready for presentation to the
 
 INDIAN WARFARE. 
 
 293 
 
 scalping-knife of the foe. This assertion I make 
 only after very particular attention, and I have 
 found it confirmed in every part of the Indian 
 territories in which I have travelled. 
 
 I cannot help thinking, my dear Countess, 
 that you are curious to learn, as I was myself, 
 what extravagant caprice determined the ferocity 
 of these people to this region of the brain ; but I 
 am unable to give you any satisfaction, for my 
 enquiries have terminated merely in confirming 
 what I have already stated, that they consider 
 the scalp as the most glorious trophy of their 
 victories and achievements. I can only farther 
 suggest one conjecture, that perhaps they en- 
 tertain the same opinion as the great philoso- 
 phers who fix upon this spot as the seat of the 
 soul, — the sensorium ; and that, consequently, by 
 opening the door for it by the shortest way, 
 they think their enemy must be really and irre- 
 coverably dead, no particle of hope being thus 
 left him from miracles themselves, — not even 
 from those of galvanism. 
 
 You have now seen the Indians make war 
 by ambuscades and surprises. The most inte- 
 resting spectacle, however, is the sight of them 
 when encountering their foe in the open plain, 
 in those immense prairies where, if it were not 
 for their verdure, one would imagine himself in 
 the deserts of Arabia. It is in this situation
 
 294 INDIAN WARFARE. 
 
 that intrepidity, subtlety, and address, are more 
 than ever required and displayed by them. 
 
 If the two parties be equal in point of 
 numbers, they fight openly ; if one be much 
 weaker than the other, and possess no means 
 of flight, they with wonderful speed dig holes in 
 the ground with their nails, and fight within 
 them. While some are intensely working at 
 this operation, the rest surround and protect 
 them 
 
 When the assailants have no more ammunition, 
 they make use of their bows ; and their manner 
 of fighting under such circumstances is truly 
 astonishing. 
 
 As their arrows, if discharged horizontally, 
 can scarcely strike their enemy, whose head 
 even is not perceivable without some difficulty, 
 they discharge them in the same manner as shells 
 are discharged from bombs ; and the parabola 
 which they describe is often so accurate that they 
 enter the body of the foe in their fall. I have 
 myself seen these holes, and Indians obtaining 
 the most brilliant and wonderful success against 
 those entrenched in them. The angel of death 
 is active everywhere ; but I was not aware that 
 he could exhibit in his work of destruction such 
 dexterity and address. 
 
 Lastly, to conclude what relates to the wars 
 of these extraordinary people, the prisoners who
 
 INDIAN HUNTING. 295 
 
 by any means get back to their tribe are no 
 longer considered as members of it ; for the In- 
 dians consider those who have been taken by 
 the enemy, as dead, and will recollect only those 
 who are determined to conquer or die. 
 
 Thus far you have seen the Indians uncivilized, 
 indolent and cruel. I will now afford you a 
 little relief, by exhibiting them in the fairer as- 
 pect of their nature or character, as active, sober, 
 and industrious. I will now conduct you to the 
 chase. 
 
 This is their principal occupation, I may in- 
 deed say their only one ; for I know not what 
 characteristic designation to apply to war. It 
 is the chase which supplies exercise for their 
 childhood, their youth, their manhood, and 
 their declining life. It is as conducive to their 
 renown as it is necessary to their existence. A 
 good hunter is among the Indians as much dis- 
 tinguished as a valiant warrior, and is always 
 more wise and less depraved. 
 
 When hunting, every Indian is attentive to his 
 duty, and nothing but his duty. He forgets quar- 
 relling, gaming, (which also is one of his vices,) 
 and even his ferocity. Some of the traders, who 
 follow every year in their train, have assured me 
 that the winter Indian and the summer Indian 
 are totally different beings. During summer, 
 he is always in a state of indolence, which
 
 296 SUFFERINGS OF INDTAN WOMEN. 
 
 degrades and brutifies man in his most civilized 
 and best educated state : the winter he passes 
 in labour, which tames and softens characters 
 the most reckless and ferocious. In hunting, the 
 Indians are indefatigable, though engaged in 
 exercise incessant and most laborious ; and the 
 success with which they pursue their various 
 game through both prairies and forests, in lakes 
 and rivers, displays strongly the acuteness of 
 their understandings. 
 
 The fatigue endured by the women in the 
 chase exceeds all imagination. They carry the 
 tents ; they go in search of the animals the men 
 have killed ; they prepare the skins of them, and 
 dry and smoke the flesh : every household duty 
 is included in their department, and frequently 
 an infant at the breast, or in the womb, adds 
 to the burthen of their laborious life. These 
 poor women, even when in the state of preg- 
 nancy, are not on that account the more spared. 
 Sometimes, in order to avoid the tediousness and 
 difficulties of parturition, they press their sto- 
 machs against an horizontal bar, their head 
 and legs hanging downwards to the ground, and 
 almost immediately after their delivery return 
 to their toilsome and painful occupations. 
 
 The animals which the Indians hunt are the cas- 
 tor, the musk-rat, the otter, the marten, the wild- 
 cat, the beaver, the stag-wolf, the badger, the ra-
 
 INDIAN GAME. 297 
 
 coon, the grey, yellow, and red fox, the pecan, the 
 grey and white hare, a few ermines, the gopher, 
 many descriptions of the squirrel, the prairie dog, 
 the black, yellow, and white bear, and the wolf of 
 various species ; the skins of all which are con- 
 sidered as coming under the denomination of pel- 
 try. Those which supply skins for the tanner are 
 buffaloes, roebucks, deer, antelopes, elks, orig- 
 nals, (exceedingly rare) mountain-sheep, rein- 
 deer, &c. Their flesh serves the Indians for food, 
 and a portion of it is smoked and preserved for 
 the summer, if the chase prove a favourable one ; 
 the skins are stored in packages, to dispose of 
 them in payment for articles of indispensable 
 necessity and of luxury, with which the traders 
 supply, or have already supplied them. Indians 
 never dispose of anything for real money, of the 
 value of which they know nothing. 
 
 Before departing from the chase they again 
 dance, and purify themselves in the presence of 
 their Manitous, like the ancients before their 
 idols, on occasions of great importance and 
 enterprise; and, like the moderns before the 
 priests and, the altar, previously to their under- 
 taking a voyage or their exposure to great 
 danger. The pigment used by them on these 
 occasions is black. 
 
 I should have rejoiced to have had it in my 
 power, and it was my intention, to detail to you
 
 298 CONTRADICTORY QUALITIES. 
 
 regularly some of their most interesting hunts. 
 My constancy is still unshaken, but the symp- 
 toms of my being able to extend my active 
 researches much farther are still far from flat- 
 tering. 
 
 I have exhibited the Indians to you exactly as 
 they appeared to myself. On viewing their 
 various qualities, physical and moral in combi- 
 nation, they present a mass of contradictions 
 sufficient, I conceive, to embarrass the judgment 
 of the profoundest observer. 
 
 They are very warm in their affections to the 
 dead, and very indifferent towards the living ; a 
 father of a family, a son, or a husband, returns 
 home after a very long absence and enters his 
 hut without even raising his eyes towards his 
 relations, and his relations exhibit precisely the 
 same conduct towards him. On the one hand 
 they are extremely avaricious, and always grasp- 
 ing; while on the other they are excessively 
 prodigal, lavishing everything in presents to their 
 friends. They appear to reverence a million 
 of Manitous ; and they die without invoking, or 
 apparently even calling to their recollection, a 
 single individual of them. Some offer sacrifices 
 to gods, and others to devils. They complain of 
 never having anything to eat, and devour in a 
 single day what would supply them abundantly 
 for a whole week. They are sometimes indolent
 
 INDIAN CHARACTER. 299 
 
 and sluggish, sometimes active and indefatigable, 
 vicious and virtuous, sober and intemperate. They 
 never say what they feel, and they never feel 
 what they say; in this respect resembling many 
 other people of all countries and times. Revenge 
 appears to be with them a passion absolutely 
 irresistible, yet presents sometimes moderate 
 and qualify it. They salute you to-day as 
 friends, to-morrow they will lie in wait for you 
 and murder you as enemies. They always ex- 
 pect gratitude from others, but never exhibit any 
 themselves. They promise you favours, but you 
 never obtain them. In their manners, their cus- 
 toms, and their ceremonies, we see traces of the 
 ancients, the moderns, all times, and all nations; 
 but they resemble no other nation in the world. 
 After such a contrast of sentiments and actions, 
 of propensities and devotions, I leave it to those 
 who can compress everything into a system, 
 to decide on the character and the religion of 
 the Indians. I hope they will be more fortunate 
 than he who while attempting to catch the moon 
 in a fountain was drowned in it himself. 
 
 With regard to myself I can only repeat what 
 I have already shewn, both respecting the reli- 
 gion and character of these singular people. I 
 will merely add, that the Indian, as long as he 
 remains such, will ever be his own master and 
 sovereign, and bear his independence proudly
 
 300 INDIAN CHARACTER. 
 
 about him ; but that as soon as he becomes 
 civilized, he will be capable of being converted 
 even into the vilest of slaves ; that his heart is 
 by its nature the seat of dissimulation and 
 mischief, of inhumanity and cruelty, and that 
 civilization will meet with" powerful obstacles in 
 the state or structure of his mind, and only with 
 great difficulty be enabled to make him truly 
 good. 
 
 Before I quit the Indian territory, my dear 
 Countess, I will endeavour to learn, and to the 
 best of my power to communicate to you what- 
 ever may be most likely to attract your attention 
 and aid your decision respecting these people. 
 My attempts are incessant to grapple with the 
 difficulties which constantly arise to thwart my 
 designs. If heaven should favour my intentions, 
 I should still have to combat a crowd of melan- 
 choly recollections. My heart is ever reverting 
 to my beloved and, alas, my deplored Italy ! 
 What a conflict is there in a mind ill at ease! It 
 can find rest only in that which agitates it.
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Lake La Crosse, or Lake Travers, near the 
 Sources of the river St Peter, 
 
 July 26, 1823. 
 
 I address you now, my dear Countess, from a 
 place which has not yet found its way into the 
 maps. By constantly moving on we get farther 
 than we should have imagined, as by perseve- 
 rance water hollows out the rock. 
 
 Incessantly thwarted in my project of going 
 farther to the north, I was upon the point of 
 changing my direction for the south, intending 
 to traverse by land, with a Canadian interpreter 
 and an Indian guide, the desert tracts which 
 separate Fort St Peter from Fort Council 
 Bluff, on the Missouri ; to descend that great 
 river as far as St Charles ; to return thence to 
 St Louis, and then follow the Mississippi to its
 
 302 RESOLUTION OF DEPARTING. 
 
 mouths. It is not likely that I should have met 
 with any obstacle to this design ; for my Argus 
 observers, considering me by this plan as appa- 
 rently on my return, and through countries indif- 
 ferent to them, would have lost all their anxiety 
 and apprehension. But at this period major 
 Long arrived at Fort St Peter, charged with an 
 expedition to the northern boundary territories 
 of the vast empire of the United States. 
 
 In this event I thought I perceived an end 
 to all the difficulties which had till then impeded 
 my curiosity. I participated, however, in the 
 very great surprise manifested by the officers of 
 the fort at the arrival of an expedition so com- 
 pletely unknown to the garrison. 
 
 The ardent desire which I had shewn of 
 pushing my rambles farther, was naturally men- 
 tioned, and I seized the opportunity of asking 
 permission to follow the major, simply in the 
 character of a wanderer who had come thus far 
 to see Indian lands and Indian people. They 
 first set before me the sufferings, the dangers, 
 &c. which I must encounter ; but as I laughed at 
 these childish terrors, they saw that they had no 
 power over my mind, and that the attempts 
 were wholly vain. 
 
 They next attacked me on what they thought 
 my weak side, — my purse. After so long a 
 digression from the route which was to lead me
 
 major long's expedition. 303 
 
 direct from Philadelphia to New Orleans, — a 
 digression which has filled the whole time from 
 the month of March, — it might reasonably be 
 supposed to be rather in a declining state ; the 
 more so, as the curiosities I had bought of the 
 savages had greatly contributed to diminish its 
 contents. But a little fund which I kept in reserve 
 disconcerted this attack also : I even sacrificed 
 my beautiful repeater that I might have this still 
 untouched ; and bought a horse, and all provisions 
 that were said to be necessary, with the proceeds. 
 I contrived, by means of a few little trinkets 
 and articles of luxury I had with me, to give 
 myself the pleasure of offering some slight tokens 
 of my gratitude to the amiable Snelling family, 
 and to major Tagliawar, for the civilities they 
 had lavished upon me during the two months I 
 spent amongst them. When they saw I was 
 determined to go, they even carried their polite- 
 ness so far as to offer me pecuniary assistance 
 with the most honourable and disinterested con- 
 fidence ; a thing by no means common among 
 an extremely commercial people, especially 
 towards a person of whom they knew nothing 
 but what they had seen. 
 
 So many imaginary difficulties were not au- 
 spicious. Major Long did not cut a very noble 
 figure in the affair ; I foresaw all the disgusts and 
 vexations I should have to experience, and under
 
 304 DEPARTURE OF THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 other circumstances I should have known what 
 to do. But there I was, — and the point was how 
 to carry into effect a plan which had been con- 
 tinually thwarted by others, and which I could 
 not execute in any other way. My first inten- 
 tion, that of going in search of the real sources 
 of the Mississippi, was always before my eyes. 
 I was therefore obliged to sacrifice my pride 
 and my feeling of what was due to me, to the 
 desire of seeing places which one can hardly 
 expect to visit twice in one's life, and of gaining 
 information one can gain nowhere else ; and I 
 gave myself up to all I foresaw I should have to 
 endure from littleness and jealousy. 
 
 We set out from Fort St Peter on the evening 
 of the 7th instant. The expedition consisted of 
 major Long, as chief, an astronomer, a minera- 
 logist, a physician, a zoologist, an artist, Mr 
 Renville, interpreter for the Sioux, a young 
 Canadian, interpreter for the Algonquine lan- 
 guage, twenty-eight men, one officer, and Mr 
 Snelling, son of the colonel. 
 
 It was divided into two bodies, one of which 
 went by land with twenty-two horses and 
 mules ; the other embarked on the river St 
 Peter in five Indian canoes. The major accom- 
 panied the latter detachment, and I followed 
 him with the intention of going sometimes by 
 land and sometimes by water, according to the
 
 WAMENITONKA CAMPS. 305 
 
 curious or interesting objects, either route might 
 offer. It was determined that the two parties 
 should meet every evening. 
 
 The river St Peter, called by the Sioux 
 Watpa-jneiusothe, tracing it from its mouth, has 
 at first a S. S. W. direction; it then bends 
 to the south, and its constant windings turn to 
 every point of the compass; but as its course, 
 from its sources to the place where it falls into 
 the Mississippi, is almost directly from N.N.W. 
 to E. S. E., I shall distinguish the two banks as 
 northern and southern every time I have occasion 
 to designate them. 
 
 After all I have said in my preceding rambles 
 about savages, it might appear that the subject 
 is pretty well exhausted ; but besides that the 
 new country which opens before us has fresh 
 sources of interest, it seems that the things we 
 meet with here are admirably calculated to serve 
 as appendices to what we have seen before. If 
 any repetition occur, it will only serve to con- 
 firm us in the belief of what had perhaps at first 
 appeared too marvellous. 
 
 The first evening we encamped on the south- 
 ern bank, above the tribe of the chieftain Wame- 
 nitonka, or the Black Dog. I had seen this camp 
 extremely populous a few days before, and now 
 we found it a desert; hunger had roused these 
 savages from their habitual indolence, and had 
 
 vol. 11. x
 
 306 paniscihowa's camps. 
 
 driven them to hunt deer and buffalos in more 
 distant forests and prairies. A hut which was 
 shut, and which we opened, afforded us some 
 shelter from the musquitos which attacked us 
 on every side, and against the rain which has 
 attended us ever since our departure. Behind 
 the oak-bark which slightly fastened the door, 
 we found, hung like a curtain, a deer-skin which 
 the savages looked upon as the guardian Ma- 
 nitou of their house. When they return they 
 will probably choose some more trusty Swiss, 
 and the deer will lose their confidence and his 
 own divinity at the same time. 
 
 The encampment of Paniscihowa on the east- 
 ern bank, where we stopped to breakfast on the 
 morning of the eighth, was equally deserted, and 
 for the same reason ; but the chief, who is as 
 lazy as he is gluttonous, had retired to the 
 neighbourhood of the fort, to revel in Capuan 
 luxury, and to shelter himself in that sacred and 
 inviolable land from the incursions which the 
 Cypowais, justly indignant at his conduct on the 
 seventh of June, might make upon his castle. 
 
 We dined at the Prairie des Francois, so called 
 from the first Frenchmen who pushed their dis- 
 coveries from Canada to this spot, where they 
 were killed by the Indians. It is thirty miles 
 above the fort. 
 
 The chief Siacape has his summer encamp-
 
 siacape's camp. 307 
 
 ment on the east bank. The huts of this tribe 
 are of a singular construction. The walls and 
 roof are of oak bark, interwoven with split rods 
 in so solid a manner, that the most violent hur- 
 ricane could scarcely penetrate them. Every- 
 thing here was also deserted. We found only a 
 dog hanged, and thus consecrated to their petiates 
 or tutelary deities. To render the offering more 
 acceptable, they had decorated his head with a 
 plume of killow of which I stripped him to en- 
 rich my savage collection. 
 
 Next to the women, the dogs are the most 
 unhappy animals in these regions. After being 
 half starved and well worked at the chase, the 
 truck, and the sledge, they end their days as a 
 dinner or as a sacrifice. 
 
 On the opposite shore of the river, a meadow 
 studded with little thickets and scattered with 
 bones and tumuli, like those I remarked at St 
 Louis and elsewhere, is an image of the Elysian 
 Fields of antiquity; and though one tread on a 
 wild soil, and bones of savages, the pathetic cha- 
 racter of the spot strikes one with involuntary 
 veneration, and the mind is agitated by varied 
 feelings which carry it far into other worlds. 
 Here I saw a most singular union : one of these 
 graves was surmounted by a cross, whilst upon 
 another close to it a trunk of a tree was raised,
 
 308 FALLS OF ST PETER. 
 
 covered with hieroglyphics, recording the number 
 of enemies slain by the tenant of the tomb, and 
 several of his tutelary Manitous. Here present- 
 ing a fresh hint to those who are fond of system- 
 making on the subject of the religion of these 
 people, to be cautious in their inductions. 
 
 Sixty miles from the fort is a fall, or to speak 
 more accurately, a violent rapid. We pulled 
 up our canoes, dragging them ourselves through 
 the water. This is the first interesting point 
 we met with on this river. Rocks pictu- 
 resquely grouped, between which the winding 
 stream rushes and breaks with violence ; a little 
 woody island in the middle ; banks clothed with 
 shady trees on the one side, and broken into 
 steep and rugged rocks on the other, composed 
 a varied and romantic picture, to which I con- 
 trived to add a touch of the grotesque. Being 
 obliged to get on board the canoe to cross a 
 deep gulf, my sailors were so deficient either in 
 strength or in skill, that they suffered it to be 
 carried away by the current and clashed in 
 pieces against a rock, upon which I remained 
 perched. 
 
 In the evening we halted at the Indian camp 
 of the Battue au fief, where I witnessed a most 
 curious contrast. A woman in the deepest 
 affliction was tearing off her hair, which she
 
 HIEROGLYPHICS OF THE INDIANS. 309 
 
 offered as a sacrifice to the manes of some re- 
 lative, whose lifeless remains were stretched 
 upon a scaffold; while a group of savages were 
 eating, drinking, singing and dancing around 
 another body, exposed in the same manner to 
 the view of passengers, like those of the heroes 
 of antiquity. Here again I must beg you to 
 observe the extreme difficulty of forming any ac- 
 curate opinion as to their usages or ceremonies. 
 
 The next day I quitted the canoe, and got on 
 horseback; the passage of Bois-Franc, in the 
 Indian tongue Cianthote, excited my curiosity, 
 and amply repaid it. For thirty miles there is 
 a continual series of trees of every kind, and 
 of delicious fruit-bearing shrubs; little smiling 
 meadows ; lakes covered with swans and other 
 aquatic birds ; delightful plains, and picturesque 
 hills. It seems a fit haunt for nymphs and 
 dryads ; unfortunately, however, we found it 
 inhabited by nothing more agreeable than mus- 
 quitos and gadflies, which excoriated man and 
 beast. I cannot describe the impression which 
 such a solitude, without a human creature to 
 enjoy its beauty or its riches, makes upon the 
 mind. 
 
 We saw hieroglyphics engraven on a tree; 
 they signified that the tribe of the Red Hawk — 
 (the Sussitons) had passed that way with their 
 chief. Everything was recorded; the number
 
 310 INDIAN SANCTUARY. 
 
 of men and of women, — whence they came, — 
 whither they were going, — where they had been 
 hunting, &c. By this means the Indians reci- 
 procally convey much useful information; in 
 the present instance, here was an avviso to 
 others not to throw away their trouble on ground 
 which had just been beaten. This passage is a 
 labyrinth ; and had we not been accompanied by 
 Mr Renville, who had quitted the canoe party to 
 act as guide, we should not easily have found our 
 way out. The forest extends over the country 
 towards the Missouri to an immense distance. 
 We emerged from it on the west, where we 
 found a vast and magnificent prairie, called by 
 the Indians Wayo-Thee, or the Arrow. A great 
 block of granite, which is visible from a consi- 
 derable distance on the left, serves the wan- 
 dering savages at once as a temple and a tute- 
 lary deity in their hunting parties. It was 
 painted with a nose, eyes and mouth, as the sun 
 and moon frequently were among civilized na- 
 tions, until Maria, the preceptor of Copernicus 
 at Bologna, and Bianchini, robbed them of these 
 features. All the tribes which pass that way 
 go to pay it homage and offerings. 
 
 At the spot where we encamped, Mr Ren- 
 ville, who has the most perfect acquaintance 
 with the Sioux, being born and having lived 
 among them, pointed out to me a very singular
 
 INDIAN HYPOCAUSTON. 311 
 
 thing, an Indian Hypocauston, or Sudatoria. 
 When their physicians wish to throw a patient 
 into a perspiration, they shut him up in a little 
 hut between four massy stones of different 
 colours, heated by fire, which they regard as so 
 many divinities. The red is the god of war, 
 the black of death, the green of health, the 
 white of fine weather. The patient remains 
 there until he gives notice, by fainting, that he 
 can stay no longer ; it would be a sacrilege to 
 utter a single syllable in order to be let out. It 
 often happens that he is stifled in this manner, 
 particularly if the priests of the Grande Medicine 
 have any reason for wishing to get rid of him. 
 An Indian Esculapius is like those of anti- 
 quity, both high-priest and physician, so that he 
 is armed with double shears to cut short the 
 life of his superstitious patients. There were also 
 other traces of offerings, which equally indicated 
 the multiplicity of their Manitous. 
 
 On the 11th, I returned to the canoes, where 
 we met with nothing very extraordinary ex- 
 cept a terrible storm, which upset one, and 
 made us lose a part of our powder and to- 
 bacco : it followed us to our camp, where we 
 were deluged by it all night, our tent being 
 open on both sides. I was more thoroughly 
 drenched than any of the others, because the 
 major, faithful to the rules of bienseance and 
 politeness, which allot the place of honour to
 
 312 MAJOR LONG'S POLITENESS. 
 
 the stranger, had had the attention to place me 
 on one of the two sides of the tent ; in order, no 
 doubt, that I might observe the weather at my 
 ease, and reap the glory of struggling valiantly 
 against the fury of the wind, rain, hail, thunder 
 and lightning. 
 
 We travelled very slowly by water up the river, 
 which gradually became narrower and more 
 rapid. The major at length saw the necessity 
 of sending back the canoes with a number of the 
 men, who only encreased the dearth of provi- 
 sions we already began to experience. Though 
 I had laid in an abundant store, which I had 
 thrown into the common stock, yet, at no more 
 than a hundred miles from Fort St Peter, hunger 
 made me envy the hermit of the Thebais the 
 daily morsel of bread brought him by the raven. 
 These soldiers were moreover of no use what- 
 ever. The major feared the Sussitons, who are 
 not very friendly to the Americans, but we were 
 too few to make any effectual resistance against 
 a horde of Indians of the most warlike and for- 
 midable tribe, and too many for an expedition 
 which had no hostile intentions, and which was 
 already reduced to have its daily portion of food 
 doled out. 
 
 I have told you, that they were afraid of the 
 Sussitons. Not to let your curiosity languish, I 
 must tell you the reasons, were it only to throw 
 additional light on the Indian character, and on
 
 SUSSITONS. 313 
 
 the resistless power the passion of revenge 
 exercises over them. 
 
 One of these Sussitons lost two relations who 
 served in the last war under the English banners 
 against the United States. He resolved to revenge 
 himself upon the two first Americans who fell 
 into his hands. But as some time elapsed 
 without any such opportunity for vengeance 
 occurring, he set out with his cousin; they 
 made a landing by night at Rocky Island, 
 near Fort Armstrong, seven hundred miles from 
 their own haunts ; there they lay in wait, and 
 seized the moment when two soldiers of the gar- 
 rison were walking at some distance from the 
 fort, and killed them both with two well-aimed 
 muskets. 
 
 The government, under pretence of holding a 
 council and giving presents, allured a band of 
 the Sussitons to Council Bluff, and seized two 
 of them, who were never seen again. A govern- 
 ment founded upon wise and liberal laws ought 
 to be more generous than savages; but either it 
 had no other means of reprisal and of punish- 
 ment, without engaging in a murderous war 
 with the whole Sioux nation, or its agents acted 
 in an arbitrary and unauthorized manner. 
 
 On the 13th we all proceeded by land. A 
 prairie studded with thickets and clumps of 
 trees, which broke the distance in the most en-
 
 314 BLUE-EARTH RIVER. 
 
 chanting manner, was the first prospect that lay- 
 before our eyes. The artificial parks of St 
 Cloud, Versailles, Richmond, or Windsor, are not 
 comparable to this superb work of nature. 
 
 In the middle of this terrestrial paradise we 
 found an Indian sarcophagus, about fifteen feet 
 in height. Here Mr Renville shewed us the 
 direction, towards the south west, in which the 
 river of the Blue Earth, Muskatohose- Wat-pa, falls 
 into the St Peter. This is the highest point of 
 the river reached by Father Hannepin and other 
 travellers after him. 
 
 The river of the Blue Earth is very celebrated 
 among the Indians. They perform an annual 
 pilgrimage to it, to collect the blue earth of its 
 banks, of which they make dye and paint. At 
 some distance from its sources, in the direction 
 of the Missouri, they dig up a kind of red stone, 
 which hardens on exposure to the air ; of this 
 they make their sacred calumets. It is said 
 that these two spots are inviolable, and that the 
 most implacable enemies meet there in peace ; 
 but this is a mere fable. The Indian never lays 
 aside the pursuit of vengeance : if ever he re- 
 frains from the open expression of it, it is only 
 when he is withheld by superior force. 
 
 In the evening we halted near a little wood 
 which lies along the banks of the Lake of Swans. 
 It was the season at which these beautiful
 
 LAKE OF SWANS. 315 
 
 birds cannot fly, — the old ones, because they are 
 changing their feathers ; the young, because they 
 have as yet only a soft down. We might have 
 had some good shooting, and the savans among 
 us might have gained new and valuable Ornitho- 
 logical information, but the major was intent on 
 making an expedition, and consulted nothing but 
 his compass : it was sufficient for him to say, 
 " I have been there." On the morning of the 
 14th we traversed another prairie of a perfectly 
 different character. Little hillocks of the green- 
 est turf formed the undulations of a sea which 
 Vernet or Verdstapen would have vainly tried 
 to imitate. Isolated hills rose in the distance, 
 like the pyramids of Egypt. 
 
 At noon we passed the river St Peter at the 
 spot where the river des Liards, Wagahosa 
 Wat-pa, joins it from the south. It is navigable 
 for canoes a considerable way inland. 
 
 In the evening, after crossing a region of equal 
 beauty, consisting of alternate prairies and little 
 woods, and wearing the appearance of a culti- 
 vated country, we halted near a marsh which 
 was covered with the dwellings of the musk rats. 
 They are formed of rushes and the bark of trees ; 
 they rise three or four feet out of the water, and 
 these upper stories are their bedchambers. The 
 part under the water serves them as a winter 
 storehouse, which they fill during summer with
 
 31G ANOTHER SANCTUARY. 
 
 the bark of fruit trees. They dig a subterranean 
 passage, the mouth of which is at a distance from 
 the dwelling and in the centre of the marsh ; by 
 this means they escape the vigilance of the 
 hunter ; but they fall into the snares which he 
 spreads around them, and into which he entices 
 them by a bait of some favourite food . 
 
 The Red Wood was our inn on the 15th. It 
 is so called from a tree which the savages paint 
 red every year, and for which they have a pecu- 
 liar veneration. It has nothing remarkable to 
 distinguish it from other trees, but every tribe 
 has its favourite images, though they all repre- 
 sent the same divinity, the same object of wor- 
 ship. Whilst one shrine overflows with offerings, 
 another has not so much as a candle burning 
 before it. The fortune of the god, among the 
 antients, often depended on the address of his 
 minister ; perhaps it is the same among the 
 Indians. 
 
 In this tree they adore the thunder which, as 
 they think, comes from the Rocky Mountains, 
 separating, as we have already seen, Louisiana 
 from New Mexico. This wood is situated on 
 the south bank of the St Peter, and another 
 river which flows into it through the centre of 
 the wood descends from the same point. The 
 natives call it Ciangagappy Watpci, i. e. the river 
 of the Red Wood. I was told that the English
 
 INDIAN LATIUM. 317 
 
 emissaries came here to offer prayers and in- 
 cense, and to invoke the protection of this 
 savage divinity, when, during the last war, they 
 stirred up the Sioux against the United States. 
 It is worth while to observe, that the pious 
 British cabinet was accusing Bonaparte of apos- 
 tacy to Islamism at the very time it was playing 
 the part of the knavish teacher of idolatry in 
 America. Opposite to this spot the Ciatambe 
 Watpa, or Brandy river, which flows from the 
 north, falls into the St Peter. 
 
 We now reached a valley of the most lovely 
 and interesting character. Never did a more 
 striking illusion transport my imagination back to 
 the classic lands of Latium and Magna Grecia. 
 Rocks scattered, as if by art, over the plain, on 
 plateaux, and on hills, were at a little distance 
 perfect representations of every varied form of 
 the ruins of antiquity. In one place you might 
 think you saw thermal substructures, or those 
 of an amphitheatre, a circus, or a forum ; in 
 another, the remains of a temple, a cenotaph, a 
 basilicon, or a triumphal arch. I took advan- 
 tage of the time which chance procured me, to 
 survey this enchanted ground ; but I went alone, 
 that the delicious reverie it threw me into might 
 not be broken by cold-heartedness or pre- 
 sumption. My eyes continually met new images : 
 at length they rested on a sort of tomb, which for
 
 318 WONDERFUL VALLEY. 
 
 some time held me motionless. A thousand afflict- 
 ing recollections rushed to my heart : I thought 1 
 beheld the tomb of Virtue and of Friendship; I 
 rested my head upon it, and tears filled my eyes. 
 The spot was of a kind to soften and embellish 
 grief, and I should have long given myself up to 
 its sweet influence had I not been with people 
 who had no idea of stopping for anything but 
 a broken saddle or some such important in- 
 cident. 
 
 These rocks are granitic, and of so beautiful and 
 varied a quality, that the tricking dealers of the 
 Piazza Navona, at Rome, would sell them to the 
 most enthusiastic, and, — in their own opinion, — 
 the most learned antiquarians, as oriental and 
 Egyptian porphyry or basalt, which are now gene- 
 rally admitted to be merely granite more elabo- 
 rated by time and by water. Nature seems to 
 have lavished all her treasures on this beautiful 
 valley: watered by the river St Peter, it pos- 
 sesses a fertile soil, a salubrious climate, hills 
 and plains adapted to every sort of cultivation, 
 rivers and lakes abounding in fish, shell-fish, and 
 game ; delicious groves and forests swarming 
 with deer and with animals of the richest fur, 
 and furnishing every variety of timber for build- 
 ing and cabinet work ; and, added to all these 
 riches, magnificent stone, which might be worked 
 with the greatest facility, and fitted for building
 
 RIVER OF THE YELLOW MEDICINE. 319 
 
 barns, houses, temples, or palaces. Here might 
 arise the UrbsMarmorea of Augustus, astheEuro- 
 peans found the Domus Aurea of Nero at Peru ; 
 and the immense blocks of granite scattered here 
 and there with such picturesque negligence, 
 might with small aid from the chisel be raised to 
 rival the pyramids of Memphis or Palmyra. When 
 I awoke from the dream of all that this favoured 
 valley might become, I was struck by feelings I 
 cannot describe at its awful and desert stillness 
 ■ — feelings which perhaps no other scene could 
 awaken. Here Zimmerman or la Fontaine might 
 indeed have painted solitude, with less meta- 
 physical refinement and more truth. Perhaps 
 however they would be less read ; for in all that 
 concerns human affections and emotions, fashion- 
 able caricature and affectation will always be 
 more popular than nature and simplicity. 
 
 On the 10th, we came to a prairie, which on 
 the south had no boundary but the horizon, on 
 the north the valley of the St Peter, on the 
 west the winding valley of the river of the Yel- 
 low Medicine, Pepeothaziziapi- Watpci, which de- 
 scends from the south-west and falls into the St 
 Peter on its southern shore. On the opposite 
 side is the river of the Jumpers, Maiioakan- 
 Watpa, which flows from the north. In this 
 prairie we met two Indians : they told us some
 
 320 beavers' river. 
 
 buffalos had been killed the day before, but we 
 saw only scattered bones, while our miserable 
 diet was a little biscuit and a semi-diaphonous 
 slice of bad salt meat. The river of the Yellow 
 Medicine is so called from a root of that colour, 
 which imposture and credulity have invested 
 with mystical properties for curing both soul 
 and body. This place is calculated to be about 
 one hundred and eighty miles from Fort St 
 Peter. 
 
 Twenty miles from thence, we passed the 
 Watpa-Danitpcl or Beavers' river, which for- 
 merly abounded in those animals, and which 
 descends from the west. At a short distance from 
 its mouth is the Medegethacm, or the Speaking 
 Lake, which is only a narrow basin about six- 
 teen miles in length, filled by the St Peter, 
 which enters it in the north-west and flows out 
 on the south-east. Between this lake and the 
 mouth of the Yellow Medicine, are rapids which 
 interrupt the navigation, and compel those who 
 are ascending to quit the river and travel by 
 land for about a mile. 
 
 After passing the river of Precipices, Skewa- 
 kan-Watpa, the river aux Grais, Issonya-hose- 
 Watpa, on the southern bank, and the Potatoes 
 river, Stoobodathl- Watpa, on the opposite side, we 
 came to the lake of the Big Rock, Hiakiakia-ya-
 
 major long's speech. 321 
 
 Mede, also formed by the St Peter, which runs 
 in on the north, and out on the E. S. E. It is 
 larger and wider than the preceding one. 
 
 A numerous party of that tribe of the Sioux 
 called the Wakapetohan, or People of the Leaf, 
 who were encamped there, came to meet us and 
 invite us to a feast. I was very sorry that the 
 haste in which it was prepared had unfortu- 
 nately deprived us of the dish of etiquette — a 
 dog — which they had not had time to flay and 
 season. The hunger by which we were tor- 
 tured made us feel this as a most cruel priva- 
 tion. We devoured whatever they gave us, and 
 everything appeared to me delicious, even some 
 roots which they call prairie-potatoes, and which 
 I had before thought detestable. 
 
 The major pronounced a speech, which ap- 
 peared probably very good to his government, 
 whose power, greatness, and generosity, he 
 greatly extolled ; but very bad to the Indians, 
 since it concluded with the information that he 
 had nothing to give them ; and accordingly 
 neither the chiefs nor anybody else made the 
 slightest answer. When the interpreter ex- 
 plained to them that " the United States were 
 composed of twenty-four fires, (meaning thereby 
 twenty-four states,) without reckoning the dis- 
 trict of Colombia, in which is the seat of the 
 grand congress and of the grand general admi- 
 
 VOL. II. Y
 
 322 white herons' river. 
 
 nistration, and the residence of the great father , 
 the president; — that they were peopled with so 
 many millions of men, who were thriving by 
 means of commerce and agriculture, and lived 
 in wealth and plenty," &c. &c. — some yawned, 
 others looked contemptuous ; and when he added 
 that " the expedition was going to trace the 
 remote boundaries of the American territory," 
 all looked greatly annoyed. Even savages, it 
 seems, are not very fond of seeing other people 
 play the master in their country. 
 
 These Indians have a very ferocious and war- 
 like aspect. A great proportion of them are 
 mounted, but, like the nations of the remotest 
 antiquity, have neither saddle nor stirrups ; they 
 have only a skin girt over the horse's back, like 
 the vestis stragula, or the strata of the Romans. 
 
 On the evening of the 17th, we stopped at the 
 middle of the lake, just where it takes a northern 
 direction, where a magnificent wood and a mi- 
 serable little trader's settlement are crossed by the 
 river of the White Herons, or Hokazambe- Walpd, 
 which falls into the lake on the southern side. 
 The soft murmur of these limpid waters, the 
 sight of Indian tents and huts scattered here 
 and there, and shaded by majestic trees, added 
 to the charms of this truly picturesque spot. 
 
 Three miles above the end of the lake, still 
 keeping on to the northward, we crossed the
 
 FUR COLOMBIAN AMERICAN COMPANY. 323 
 
 St Peter, now a mere ditch. At this point 
 all the canoes stop and unload their merchan- 
 dize ; it is transported hither across a prairie of 
 six miles to the N. N. W., where we arrived on 
 the 18th. 
 
 We landed at the only hut ; it is an establish- 
 ment formed by some Scotchmen, who have 
 deserted the English North- West and Hudson's 
 Bay Companies. Mr Renville is one of the 
 partners. 
 
 As these gentlemen naturally come in compe- 
 tition with the South-West American Company, 
 they must have sunk at the very outset under 
 the weight of its powerful jealousy ; but with 
 the address and cunning for which their nation 
 is so pre-eminent, wherever money is to be 
 made, they have got some Americans to join 
 them and to lend their names, and have chris- 
 tened this the Fur Colombian American Com- 
 pany : they have consequently obtained a licence 
 to trade from the superintendant of the savages. 
 In spite of all their dexterity, however, I think 
 they will be obliged in the end to capitulate with 
 the South-West Company, and to put them- 
 selves under its protection. 
 
 This situation is extremely advantageous for 
 the fur trade ; the traders are quite in the midst 
 of the Sioux, and can push their speculations up 
 to the Missouri and the Colombia, provided that
 
 324 SOURCES OF THE ST PETER. 
 
 the Russians, who have taken possession of the 
 mouth of the latter river, will let them. 
 
 The sources of the St Peter are situated at 
 about twenty miles from this lake, towards the 
 north-west. It would have been interesting to 
 reconnoitre them, were it merely to fix the lati- 
 tude and longitude, and for the glory of being 
 the first to behold them, — but they were not on 
 the route of the expedition, and were therefore 
 neglected. 
 
 They spring from the foot of a chain of hills, 
 which the Indians call the Hills of the Prairies, 
 because they run due north and south across 
 those vast prairies lying between the Missouri 
 and the St Peter, from the mountains of the 
 Great Eagle to the sources of Blue Earth river. 
 
 I am likewise deprived of the satisfaction of 
 informing you of the exact geographical posi- 
 tion of this place (Lake Travers,) for the major 
 carefully concealed it from me : he no doubt had 
 his reasons for this, which I shall not enquire 
 into. 
 
 The distance from Fort St Peter is nearly two 
 hundred and eighty miles by land N. N. W. 
 and four hundred by the river, which is very 
 winding. 
 
 This lake and the sources of the St Peter are 
 upon the high lands which separate the waters 
 flowing southward from those which take a
 
 LAKE TRAVERS. 325 
 
 northward course ; and, in fact, the waters of 
 the lake and those of the St Peter cross in op- 
 posite directions — the former flows into the Red 
 river, and consequently into Hudson's Bay, the 
 latter by the Mississippi into the Gulph of Mexico. 
 
 Lake Travers is on one of the highest points 
 of North America, and is not formed by any af- 
 fluence or confluence of tributary streams. All 
 around it are prairies and eternal plains ; nor can 
 one guess whence it can derive its waters. This 
 surprise is augmented by the total absence of all 
 traces of an extinct volcano, and indeed the 
 shallowness of its bed excludes all conjecture of 
 the kind. Its length from south to north is 
 about fifteen miles ; its greatest width two miles. 
 Two islands, frequently inhabited by Indians, 
 form a beautiful ornament to it, and its banks, 
 diversified by wood and meadow, are extremely 
 pleasant. 
 
 The great Wanatha, whom I introduced to 
 your acquaintance when I gave you the numbers 
 of the Sioux, came to receive us on our arrival, 
 and invited us to a feast. He had been informed 
 of our coming before-hand, so that a dog had 
 been immolated, and already smoked on the altar 
 of the god of hospitality. Famished as we were, 
 we should have thought it delicious, and should 
 probably not have left even that portion which 
 the Indians distribute after the banquet among
 
 326 BANQUET OF THE GREAT WANATHA. 
 
 the physically and morally diseased, as a re- 
 medy for all evils, had not the flesh of the 
 buffalo carried off all our votes. I ought here 
 to remark to you, that the dog, on whatever 
 occasion they sacrifice it, is always an offer- 
 ing to the Manitous, and the eating of it is no 
 less an act of devotion, just as the priests of 
 antiquity lived jollily on the victims offered by 
 true believers on the altars of their divinities. 
 We should therefore have given great scandal 
 by the preference we showed for buffalo flesh, 
 had we not fortunately been at the table of a 
 king, who, like most kings, was not over scru- 
 pulous in religious matters, except where his 
 interests required that he should be so. 
 
 The major preached him a sermon, as acade- 
 mical as the former, touching the sublime quali- 
 ties, physical and moral, of his government — for 
 I must do the Americans the justice to say that, 
 as to modesty, they have not in the least dege- 
 nerated from that which distinguishes the mother 
 country. But as the conclusion of this harangue 
 was not more satisfactory than that of the other* 
 his majesty did not even deign to look at him ; 
 and while the interpreter was explaining the 
 doctrines of political economy, he amused him- 
 self by laughing, with an air of right royal non- 
 chalance, with his highness the hereditary prince, 
 who was lying on the ground by his side.
 
 INDIAN WIVES. 327 
 
 The gentlemen of the Colombian Company re- 
 ceived us with great politeness, and during the 
 three days we spent there hunger was softened 
 into appetite; but new as they are in these places, 
 and cramped for room in their huts, they are 
 worse lodged than the Indians, who, at any rate, 
 can change their dwelling every day. Beset 
 moreover by the Indian women, who are their 
 wives, a la mode du pays, it is impossible for them 
 to avoid the filth these fair ones import. I had 
 such a horror of their dirt, that I entreated to be 
 allowed to lodge in one of our tents ; but the 
 major, who wishes to train me to the virtue of 
 patience, refused to have it pitched ; and fleas 
 and other vermin concurred with him in pushing 
 the trial to the verge of martyrdom. He thinks 
 this perhaps a good way of carrying off any bad 
 blood his conduct might occasion. 
 
 I leave you, my dear Countess, to give you 
 time to recruit yourself after a ramble through 
 which I have hurried you as rapidly as I was 
 compelled to perform it myself, and the descrip- 
 tion of which must shew the haste with which I 
 am obliged to put my thoughts on paper. But 
 you, dear Madam, seek the friend, and not the 
 author, in 
 
 Yours, &c.
 
 LETTER XVIII 
 
 Selkirk Colony, Bloody River, 
 August 10th, 1823. 
 
 Though you must be prepared to follow me a 
 little farther, my dear Countess, and into regions 
 where nature exhibits features less interesting 
 than those we have recently beheld, yet as I lead 
 you towards the cool breezes of the Pole, and 
 as our adventures will be more varied, I hope 
 you will find this ramble less wearisome than the 
 last. 
 
 The country we are about to traverse is one 
 eternal prairie, intersected only by rivers and 
 belts of wood, which edge their banks. The 
 horizon is the only boundary of these immense 
 plains, and the direction which every individual 
 may choose towards, or between, the four cardi-
 
 BUFFALO HUNT. 329 
 
 nal points, the only road he can follow. We 
 turned our faces towards the north, and have 
 steadily pursued it up to this place. 
 
 We set out on the 24th July from Lake Tra- 
 vers, of which we took leave with a salute of 
 musketry ; this same day the bufFalos made 
 their appearance. My horse gave notice of their 
 approach by the ardour with which he was ani- 
 mated. He was the finest horse of the party, 
 and as I had often dismounted and walked a 
 little to rest him, he was in the best condition, 
 and the most spirited in this extraordinary 
 chace. 
 
 Following the traces of Mr Renville, who is 
 renowned as a hunter, even among the Indians, 
 I gave my horse the reins and let him go in pur_ 
 suit of the first buffalo we saw. I soon came up 
 with and passed him, though he was two miles 
 off, and having turned him, we drove him to- 
 wards our people to give them the pleasure of so 
 new a scene, and I shot him before their eyes. 
 At the same time Mr YefTray, one of the gen- 
 tlemen of Lake Travers, who was our guide, 
 killed another at a little distance ; and in the 
 evening the driver, who carried my baggage in 
 his waggon, brought us a third. For the first 
 time, plenty reigned in our camp ; — there was 
 no wood, but the buffalo's dung, which lay scat- 
 tered about in abundance, formed an admirable
 
 330 INDIAN BUFFALO HUNT. 
 
 substitute. It makes an astonishingly strong 
 fire. 
 
 The surprise I felt on a near view of this ani- 
 mal was equal to my pleasure in hunting it ; its 
 appearance is truly formidable. In size it ap- 
 proaches the elephant. Its flowing mane, and 
 the long hair which covers its neck and head and 
 falls over its eyes, are like those of the lion. It 
 has a hump like a camel, its hind quarters and 
 tail are like those of the hippopotamus, its horns 
 like those of the large goat of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, and its legs like those of an ox. 
 
 The following day we found the great chief 
 encamped in this prairie, near the Sioux river, 
 Cidntapa-Watpd, which serves as an outlet to 
 the waters of Lake Travers. He was in a new 
 and very clean tent ; he offered us the tongues 
 and humps of buffalos, which are great delica- 
 cies, very nicely cured ; but he preserved a most 
 invincible gravity and taciturnity. Whenever 
 we turned our eyes, we saw innumerable herds 
 of buffalos. I begged the major to endeavour 
 to induce the chief to give us the sight of a buf- 
 falo hunt with bows and arrows, but he replied, 
 with his usual complaisance, that he could not 
 stop. 
 
 I let him go on : and Mr Renville prevailed 
 on the chief to satisfy my curiosity. We gal- 
 loped towards a meadow which was perfectly
 
 GRACE OF THE CHIEF. 331 
 
 black with them. My horse, who now regarded 
 neither rein nor voice, plunged into the centre of 
 the herd, dividing it into halves, and turned 
 several of them. The chief, who followed me 
 with Mr Renville, let fly his arrow and shot a 
 female buffalo ; she still endeavoured to escape, 
 but the motion of her body in running caused the 
 arrow to sink deeper into the wound, and when 
 she fell the whole barb had entered. 
 
 Never did I see attitudes so graceful as those of 
 the chief. They alternately reminded me of the 
 equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Ca- 
 pitol, and that of the great Numidian king. Al- 
 together it was the most astonishing spectacle I 
 ever saw. I thought I beheld the games and com- 
 bats of the ancients. I played nearly the same 
 part as the Indians of former ages, who thought 
 the first European they saw on horseback was a 
 being of a superior order ; while the chief with his 
 quiver, his horse, and his victim, formed a group 
 worthy the pencil of Raphael or the chisel of 
 Canova. I was so enchanted by this living model 
 of classical beauty, that I forgot my part in the 
 chace, and was only aroused to a recollection of it 
 by the voice of the chief, who pointed to a young 
 buffalo, which I fired at and killed. His majesty 
 did me the honour to say I was an excellent 
 shot. Any one of our grands veneurs who should 
 receive such a compliment from one of our kings,
 
 332 STRATAGEMS OF THE WOLVES. 
 
 would be immortalized, and the court poets 
 would dispute the honour of celebrating his glo- 
 ries. Mr Renville killed a buffalo. 
 
 Wolves also appeared on the scene, and formed 
 very curious episodes intimately connected with 
 the principal action, according to all the rules of 
 the Epopea. 
 
 These animals are as fond of the delicious flesh 
 of the buffalo as man ; but as they are too weak 
 to attack, they employ cunning to entrap him. 
 Wherever they see hunters, they immediately 
 follow in their track and take whatever advantage 
 circumstances may chance to afford. Sometimes 
 they regale themselves upon the offal which is 
 left on the field ; sometimes they follow those 
 which they see have been wounded, and which 
 the hunters do not go in pursuit of; on this occa- 
 sion they showed quite a new contrivance. Three 
 of them joined our charge upon the great herd, 
 and at the moment the females were so occupied 
 in making their own escape that they could not 
 defend their young ones, each wolf seized upon 
 a calf, strangled it, and dragged it off the field : 
 when we had got to a little distance they re- 
 turned and regaled themselves with their prey. 
 When they are pressed by hunger, and no hun- 
 ters come to their aid, they have recourse to 
 another stratagem v still more surprising. They 
 approach five or six of a herd without appearing
 
 SIOUX RIVER. 333 
 
 to have any design of attacking them. The 
 buffalos, who do not condescend to be afraid, 
 pay no attention to them whatever — they 
 neither avoid nor attack them. The wolves 
 then single out their victim, which is always 
 a female, as the most delicious food, and 
 invariably the fattest of the herd. Whilst two 
 or three keep her attention engaged in front 
 by pretending to play with her, one of the 
 strongest and most active seizes her behind 
 by the teats, and when she turns round to drive 
 him off, those in front fly at her throat and 
 strangle her. Sometimes, however, all their 
 wiles are abortive. But we must rejoin our party ; 
 they are getting on, while we loiter wondering 
 at the ceaseless varieties of nature. Mr Ren- 
 ville put me upon their track and returned to 
 rejoin the chief, who meanwhile was procuring 
 a larger supply of victims for his family to flay 
 and cure. 
 
 At this place Mr Renville took his leave of 
 the expedition ; business prevented his accom- 
 panying us farther. I found them encamped 
 near a little wood, which occurred most provi- 
 dentially to furnish us with the means of drying 
 ourselves after a terrible storm which had 
 drenched us to the skin. 
 
 On the 27th at noon, we reached the conflu- 
 ence of the Sioux river, and what is called the
 
 334 GEOGRAPHICAL FRAUD. 
 
 Red river; and here I must detain you a mo- 
 ment to point out a geographical error, or rather 
 fraud. 
 
 Charles II, king of England, by a charter of 
 the year 1670, granted what did not belong to 
 him ; and as men willingly profit by abuses 
 which favour their views, he sheltered himself 
 under the authority of Borgia, that is to say, 
 under the right of discovery , which that infamous 
 pontiff had proclaimed. Sanctioned by such a 
 principle and such a charter, prince Robert and 
 his associates, under the name of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, appropriated not only the exclu- 
 sive fur trade of these countries, but also all the 
 lands lying near or beyond Hudson's Bay ; 
 though that bay had been discovered by the 
 Danish navigator Auschild, before Hudson visited 
 it, and though parliament refused to confirm the 
 charter. 
 
 They afterwards affected to consider this pro- 
 perty as extending to the sources of the Red 
 river, and over all the lands washed by the 
 various rivers which fall into it ; and as the 
 course of the Red river was not long enough and 
 did not receive a sufficient number of tributary 
 streams for the wishes of these gentlemen, they 
 baptized the river we are now considering under 
 the same name ; and geographers, who often lay 
 down maps without having been out of their
 
 REIN DEER CHACE. 335 
 
 own parish, or with venal instruments, have 
 sanctioned the cheat. According to them there 
 are consequently two Red rivers, at no great 
 distance, the one of which flows into the other. 
 This then into which the Sioux river falls, is 
 not the Red river, but the river Neguiquanosibi, 
 as the Cypowais call it, or the river of the 
 Otter's-tail, from its having its source in the 
 lake of that name. The Sioux know it under 
 the name Kakaweuapi-Watpd, or the river of 
 the Falls, from the number of them which occur 
 on its issuing from the lake. 
 
 In the afternoon we descried a herd of deer 
 grazing at a distance. Mr Yeffray followed me, 
 and as my horse with all his speed could not 
 have overtaken them, we had recourse, like the 
 wolves, to stratagem. We crept towards them on 
 our hands and knees, and hanging our bridles on 
 our right arms, our horses followed us, and so 
 effectually engaged their attention, that we were 
 enabled to approach them near enough, though 
 on the middle of the meadow, to fire upon them. 
 We killed one. It was a magnificent animal of 
 the most exquisitely beautiful and graceful form. 
 It is one of the same family as the rein-deer, 
 and like them may be tamed and trained for the 
 cart or the sledge. It was a female, and being 
 consequently without horns, was precisely like 
 a fine English horse. Mr Yeffray skinned it, and
 
 336 major long's alarm. 
 
 we carried off as much of the flesh as we could ; 
 it is delicious food. You ask which of us had 
 the honours of the chace. We fired at the same 
 instant, on my giving the word ; so that the size 
 of the ball alone could decide : and on this 
 evidence the glory was adjudged to me. 
 
 Night overtook us, and the distant fires of the 
 camp were our only guide to the expedition. 
 On our arrival we found it in great consterna- 
 tion. Our companions had met a band of Sioux. 
 The major thought he read hostile intentions in 
 their faces ; he even thought they had threatened 
 him; — of course everybody else thought so too 
 — -like Casti's courtiers, who perfectly agreed 
 with his majesty that it rained torrents, though 
 the sun was then shining in all its brilliancy. It 
 was incumbent on me, therefore, to be very 
 much alarmed too ; and, for the first time since I 
 had been in America, I girded on my sword in a 
 warlike manner. But as in spite of the major's 
 indiscretion in telling these Indians that we 
 were behind with our horses, (the greatest 
 temptation to their cupidity) they had not at- 
 tacked us, which they might have done with 
 the greatest ease ; and as he had stationed four 
 or five sentinels round the camp, who made 
 noise enough for three times their number, I 
 thought the danger could not be very great, and 
 lay down quietly to sleep under a cart. At
 
 FLIGHT OF THE CAMP. 337 
 
 midnight, however, I was awakened. The camp 
 had begun its march, or rather flight. The 
 major's agitation was not yet calmed, nor did 
 we halt until the 28th at noon, when we stopped 
 on the banks of the Otter's-tail river, at the 
 point where the Wild Oats river, or Sau- Watpd, 
 falls into it from the west. During the night we 
 had crossed two other small rivers, which 
 descend from the east, the Perelle, or Wayecei- 
 aoshu- Watpd, and the Strong Wood river, or 
 Ciontanka -Watpd. The heat was terrible, and 
 we felt it the more from the extreme coldness of 
 the nights. Fahrenheit's thermometer some- 
 times reached 94, 96, and 98, in the day, and 
 fell to 58 in the same night. 
 
 I reposed again under the shelter of a cart, 
 for in the woods the musquitos are perfectly de- 
 vouring. To crown all, I could not bathe; the 
 river is so muddy that one sinks up to the neck 
 in the bottom. 
 
 The Indians, who gave us such a breathing, 
 were the very same who had feasted us at the 
 lake of the Big Rock. I rather think the 
 fright they threw the major into was in revenge 
 for his giving them nothing but boring speeches. 
 If they meant it so, they had every reason to be 
 satisfied; for from that time forward he would 
 not suffer us to hunt buffalos, for fear of irritating 
 the Indians ; and in order to station advanced 
 
 vol. n. z
 
 338 RIVER OF PLUMS. 
 
 posts and vedettes round the camp, he had 
 levied a general conscription on the whole party, 
 which lasted till within a day's march of 
 Pembenar. 
 
 You would have laughed heartily, my dear 
 Countess, to hear me call " Who goes there?" 
 and " All's well" when I was sentinel. The 
 geese who saved the Capitol did not give the 
 word better. I never thought it would be my 
 lot to mount guard in English — but it is the 
 fate of us poor Italians, when under arms, to use 
 all watch- words but our own. 
 
 Regions which have never been traversed by 
 any other wanderer, nor by any former expedi- 
 tions, demand greater geographical detail than 
 is consistent with the limits of a letter, or with 
 my ordinary indolence. I therefore tell you of 
 all the rivers in our route, and I have even the 
 patience and the courage to make you read all 
 their savage names. I am anxious to give the 
 savans, the Hellenists, the Orientalists, &c. 
 who swarm in your circles, an opportunity of 
 guessing or inventing an origin for these tribes 
 from some analogy of language. 
 
 The rivers we crossed on the 29th and the 
 30th, days very barren in incidents, are the 
 Kanta-Watpa, or river of Plums — where not 
 only there were no plums but no water, and we 
 were dying of thirst ; and the Katapa- Watpa, or
 
 THE TRUE RED RIVER. 339 
 
 river of Buffalos. This, unlike the former, was 
 appropriately named, so that my horse would 
 have several times disregarded the Major's pro- 
 hibition, if I had not called him strictly to order. 
 We also crossed a third, the river of Wild Oats ; 
 these all fall into the Otter's-tail river on the 
 eastern side. The Cayenne river, or Kayoes- 
 Watpd, so called from the name of the people who 
 formerly inhabited its shores, and whom the Sioux 
 have driven in the direction of Columbia ; — the 
 river of Elms, or Kousion- Watpd, from the num- 
 ber of trees of that species, of extraordinary 
 height, which shade its banks ; — and the Bus- 
 tard's river, or Magassan- Watpd, from the birds 
 which frequent it, all flow from the west : the 
 Kayocs river is of considerable size. 
 
 On the 31st of July we reached the real Red 
 river, which descends from the east from the 
 lake of the same name, and receives, fifteen 
 miles below the spot where we crossed it, the 
 Otter's-tail river, miscalled the Red river by the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, the sources of which 
 are to the S.S.E. of its confluence. 
 
 Geographers tell us that it takes its name 
 from the red sand or gravel which covers its 
 bed; but there is nothing red about it. The 
 origin of its name is widely different : red, to be 
 sure, had something to do with it, but a red 
 arising from very different causes.
 
 340 BLOODY RIVER. 
 
 This river, and the lake from which it springs, 
 form the frontier line which separates the terri- 
 tory, or pretended territory, of the Sioux from that 
 of the Cypowais, or at least the line upon which 
 they have always met and still most frequently 
 meet. It may easily be imagined then that the 
 waters of a stream so situated, must have often 
 been " red with the blood of the slain," and 
 that it has thus received from both the contend- 
 ing parties the name of the Bloody river, — in 
 the Sioux language Maniscia-Watpd ; in the 
 Cypowais, Sahaguiaigney-Sibi. The lake is in 
 like manner called the Bloody lake. 
 
 Beyond this river we saw no more buffalos. 
 The country becomes less open ; the underwood 
 and scattered thickets make them fear the am- 
 bushed hunter ; but in winter, when they find 
 no food in the vast prairies, — bare of all trees and 
 shrubs, and the grass of which is yearly burnt 
 down by the Indians, — they frequently repair 
 thither to browse on the buds and sprouts, which 
 form their principal food, as well that of the 
 horses, when the terrible frosts destroy all other 
 vegetation. 
 
 Hitherto, my dear Madam, you have only 
 seen the manner in which buffalos are hunted 
 on horseback ; but, as the Indians are not all 
 mounted, there are other very curious modes. 
 Before we leave these regions, therefore, which
 
 EXTRAORDINARY BUFFALO HUNTING. 341 
 
 I shall in all probability never see again, let us 
 sit down on the banks of this delightful river, 
 under the shade of these beautiful trees, and 
 study the singular characteristics of this animal ; 
 let us also observe its haunts, since fate has led 
 us to them, and we shall have more correct and 
 vivid conceptions of both than we could form 
 from the books of the most learned naturalists. 
 
 You have seen that bufTalos feed in the midst 
 of wolves without fear, either because they dis- 
 dain them, or because beasts, like men, must 
 fulfil their destiny. The Indians take advantage 
 of this fact to disguise themselves like wolves, 
 creep near them on hands and knees, and pierce 
 them with their arrows. They choose these 
 weapons for the ease with which they can hide 
 their quivers under their bodies, while, on the 
 contrary, their gun is in the way. Besides, the 
 noiseless stroke of the arrow does not alarm, 
 and enables them to multiply their victims; 
 they spare powder and shot, and always recover 
 their arrows when they flay their prey. When 
 the savages hunt in this manner in a party, each 
 has his arrows marked as in battle, and by 
 this means it is afterwards ascertained who have 
 been the most valiant and successful marksmen ; 
 and, if any individual hunts apart, he takes pos- 
 session of the animal which has been killed by 
 the arrow bearing his mark.
 
 342 HEROIC LOVE OF THE BUFFALO. 
 
 In the season when nature renews their loves, 
 the Indians wrap themselves in buffalo's skins, 
 and imitating their lowing, entice the females, 
 who approach without fear, but meet with 
 wounds and death. Sometimes, under the 
 same disguise, they decoy them into an enclo- 
 sure, where they slaughter them. 
 
 When the ice on a river is not very thick, 
 they go behind a herd and terrify them by 
 firing guns, while one of them, disguised like 
 a buffalo, gets in front and runs across the 
 river to the opposite bank. The whole herd 
 follows ; for they are like the sheep of Panurge, 
 where one goes, all go ; the ice, which is not 
 strong enough to bear such a multitude, breaks, 
 and the confusion which ensues affords abundant 
 opportunity to the Indians to rush out of their 
 hiding places and seize their prey. The Indians 
 also creep on all-fours through the grass, as we 
 did, and shoot them with muskets or bows. 
 
 In whichever way the buffalo is hunted, it is 
 necessary to come upon him against the wind, 
 otherwise he scents his human pursuer from afar, 
 and avoids, even without seeing him. 
 
 It is very dangerous to fire at him when 
 asleep, for if he is only wounded, he rises with 
 a bound and rushes on the hunter with resistless 
 force. When he sees one of his favourites 
 wounded, he sometimes combats as if to protect
 
 BUFFALO DANCE. 343 
 
 her flight, covers her with his body if she cannot 
 escape, and dies at her side, the victim of heroic 
 love. 
 
 The female is faithful to her chosen companion 
 until the birth of the fruit of their union ; while 
 he, on the contrary, divides his affections among 
 a seraglio of mistresses. This is a distribution 
 of nature to secure the perpetuity of the species ; 
 for, by one of her incomprehensible laws, the 
 number of males in proportion to the females is 
 prodigiously small, although the latter, both by 
 the delicacy of the flesh and the superior quality 
 of the skins, are the only marks for both wolves 
 and hunters ; out of a hundred killed, there are 
 not perhaps three males. This month is the 
 season of their courtship. It is very curious to 
 see the buffalo pay his court to the sultana of 
 the moment. He dances round her in a circle 
 like a horse in the manege, while she stands still 
 in the centre and expresses her approbation of 
 his suit in gentle lowings. 
 
 The Indians, especially those who are called 
 the People of the Wide Country, those, namely, 
 who roam to the remotest parts of these im- 
 mense prairies, and who, as I have already told 
 you, find almost all their wants supplied by the 
 buffalo, venerate this dance as the harbinger of 
 plenty and the palladium of their independence. 
 Indeed, in the absence of all other animals, and
 
 344 MIGRATION OF THE BUFFALO. 
 
 in so open a country, they would often be re- 
 duced to the extremity of famine were it not for 
 the resources furnished them by this invaluable 
 creature. By a very natural association, it be- 
 comes an object of religious observance and 
 celebration, and the dance which they call the 
 buffalo dance, in which they imitate its gestures 
 and lowing, can be performed by none but those 
 who have been initiated into the mysteries of 
 the Grand Medicine. 
 
 There are seasons in which the buffalos dis- 
 appear. They migrate like birds of passage, 
 but less regularly, and sometimes the time of 
 their return is looked for in vain. Then follows 
 a year of scarcity. 
 
 The Indians have not yet discovered to what 
 cause to attribute these absences. Sometimes 
 also it happens that they suddenly vanish in a 
 most incomprehensible manner. These peculi- 
 arities in the buffalo's movements rouse the In- 
 dians from their usual habits of inertness, and 
 of living from day to day, into some exertions 
 to guard against the consequences, — which are 
 not only famine, but total want of tent, bed and 
 clothing,— by preserving the flesh and the hides. 
 They prepare the latter better than our tanners, 
 with no other implements than the bones of the 
 animal. The flesh they cut into very long and 
 slender strips, which they dry in the sun or
 
 RIVER OF THE MARSH. 345 
 
 smoke, and roll them up into balls so closely 
 that they keep perfectly well for years. 
 
 We must proceed on our way, dear Madam. 
 It is hard to leave these beautiful limpid wa- 
 ters, falsely said to be red; but perhaps we 
 shall find them again higher up, for the project 
 of wandering on in quest of the sources of the 
 Mississippi has always been the principal whet- 
 stone to my ardour and perseverance. 
 
 You must have been puzzled to guess how I 
 have found time for this long chat with you . Every- 
 body, you know, has his good genius. Mine 
 upset two waggons belonging to the expedition 
 in very troublesome places, so that I gained all 
 the time the Major lost. 
 
 The 1st of August was tremendously hot, 
 though the night had been very cold. This was 
 the more unwelcome, as we were without water 
 all day. The river Ciokan-Watpd, i. e. the 
 river of the Marsh, at which we hoped to slake 
 our thirst at noon, was partly dry ; even mud 
 would have been very acceptable, but there was 
 none. In the evening, when we reached a stink- 
 in «■ ditch, we acted the pendant of Domenichino's 
 wonderful picture of the Hebrews thirsting in 
 the desert. We fell upon this ditch pele-mele, — 
 men, dogs, and horses. One threw himself flat 
 on his belly and dipped his mouth into it, ano- 
 ther his cap, another his hands or his hat. We
 
 346 PEMBENAR. 
 
 quarrelled for precedence, but the horses had 
 decidedly the most powerful means of enforcing 
 their pretensions, of which I retained convincing 
 proofs in my right foot for at least ten days 
 afterwards. The mud decorated our faces most 
 beautifully, and the filthy water left us a pair of 
 mustaches ; to complete our graceful air, we 
 were almost all lamed by the kicks we got from 
 our horses. What an accommodation it would 
 be to expeditions of this kind, if the Jews of 
 Amsterdam would lend them the tip of Moses' 
 rod, which they keep in their sanctum sancto- 
 rum. Perhaps, on moderate terms, they would. 
 
 On the 2nd, we crossed the river called the 
 Two Rivers, Nipa- Watpd; and on the 3rd arrived 
 at the celebrated colony, called Pembenar, from 
 the name of a river which descends from the 
 west and falls into the Red river at this spot. 
 The Indians call it Wettacia- Watpd. 
 
 Reckoning from the confluence of the Otter's- 
 tail, the Red river also receives on the same 
 side (the west) the Tortoise river, Atkasia- 
 Watpd, — the river of Salt, Meniscouya-Watpd, 
 and the Menissiceya-Watpd, or river of the 
 Park, so called from one of the Indian enclo- 
 sures I described to you above. 
 
 This colony, or its skeleton, has been the 
 scene of every species of fraud, crime, and atro- 
 city. It is one of those hideous monsters which
 
 Hudson's bay company. 347 
 
 avarice and selfishness give birth to wherever 
 they direct their steps. 
 
 It is a pity, my dear Madam, that I am 
 not a traveller dans les regies ; I should have a 
 fine field for eternal narrations in these remote 
 settlements, which are as little exposed to the 
 view of morality or authority as of the world at 
 large ; but as it is, I can give you nothing but a 
 slight sketch. You will be the better able to 
 judge of the incidents I am going to relate to 
 you, if I first trace out the scene of action. 
 
 The Red river divides the colony, which 
 extended to this spot, but which began sixty 
 miles lower down, directly on the north, near 
 the place where the river of the Assiniboins falls 
 into the Red river from the west. From this 
 confluence the Red river flows on thirty miles 
 farther, still in a northerly direction, and falls 
 into lake Winipeg. This lake at its farther 
 extremity in length, (which is three hundred 
 miles from the south to the N.N. W.) discharges 
 itself into Hudson's Bay by a great outlet or 
 natural canal, which flows to the N. N. E. for 
 about two hundred miles, and which the Ensf- 
 lish called Nelson river, from the captain who 
 first built a fort at its mouth. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company, in spite of the 
 great concessions it had claimed and obtained in 
 virtue of the charter I have mentioned, had not
 
 348 Selkirk's company. 
 
 extended its commerce much above lake Wini- 
 peg before the year 1806: but its members, 
 jealous of the thriving state of the North- 
 West Company, which, as you have seen in my 
 third and fourth rambles, was daily gaining 
 ground, at length devised means to check its 
 progress and to push their own speculations. 
 The project of a colony was found to offer the 
 most certain means of accomplishing both these 
 ends. The times were propitious ; for a great 
 number of people were quitting England, Scot- 
 land, and Ireland. It was the policy of the 
 English government to favour the scheme, in 
 order that this torrent of emigrants might not 
 encrease the population of the United States,, 
 already a source of alarm to England. 
 
 But to impose on the credulity of adventurers 
 and speculators, something brilliant must be got 
 up to dazzle and excite the imagination. Accord- 
 ingly, lord Selkirk, a Scotch earl, of high birth 
 and great fortune, was made choice of, and pre- 
 tended to be associated in the enterprise. He was 
 publicly given out to be possessed of greater 
 wealth and higher qualities than he actually pos- 
 sessed ; he was proclaimed a tender father of other 
 colonies formed by him in Canada; colonies 
 which (par parenthese) had all failed. In 1811, 
 the company pretended to sell him a vast tract 
 of land on the Red river. To this land their title
 
 NORTH WEST COMPANY. 349 
 
 was still worse than that of Charles II, inasmuch 
 as the charter granted only ** the lands within 
 the entrance of the streights commonly called 
 Hudson's Streight;" nor had the aboriginal in- 
 habitants ever given their consent to the occu- 
 pation of them. 
 
 This farce was very well calculated to impose 
 on the blind ; but the North- West Company, who 
 were very clear-sighted, and had their agents in 
 the very centre of government, were not so easily 
 gulled. They quickly perceived that the great 
 lord was only a puppet moved at the will of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company. They beheld this 
 scheme in the light of a premeditated attack 
 upon their interests, and an attempt at esta- 
 blishing an exclusive and arbitrary monopoly. 
 
 They could not however prevent the founda- 
 tions of a settlement being laid by Mr Miles 
 Macdonnell, and a few Highlanders from lord Sel- 
 kirk's Scotch estates. This took place in 1812, 
 near the confluence of the Assiniboin, where 
 the North-West Company had for many years 
 had a fort; but they immediately set to work to 
 undermine the new settlement in every possible 
 way, and, in the first instance, by exciting the 
 animosity and jealousy of the savages against the 
 settlers. But as the savages now received a 
 double share of bounties, and as the company 
 discovered that half measures are good for no-
 
 350 DREADFUL WAR. 
 
 thing, a large meeting of the partners assembled 
 in 1814 at Fort William on lake Superior, one 
 of their large establishments, where they con- 
 certed a plan for the destruction of the rival 
 settlement. 
 
 From its very origin the North-West Com- 
 pany had obliged every Canadian in its service 
 to marry (a la mode du pays) one of the Indian 
 women, hoping by this means to attach them 
 for ever to these deserts and forests, and to raise 
 up a breed of obsequious emissaries and slaves. 
 They succeeded; and it was to this execrable 
 race, called the Bois-Brules, from their com- 
 plexions, — of a darker brown than that of the 
 savages; — and to leaders, the most honest of 
 whom had been two or three times under 
 sentence of the laws, that the execution of 
 this plan was entrusted. From that time the 
 mask was thrown off, and war declared on both 
 sides. 
 
 I will spare your benevolent heart the recital 
 of horrors committed by both parties, from which 
 humanity recoils. It is sufficient to know that 
 the colony was beaten and dispersed in the June 
 of 1815; and that, having rallied, it was finally 
 destroyed in the same month of the following 
 year. Governor Semple, the successor of Mr 
 Macdonnell, who had been made prisoner the 
 preceding year, was massacred, together with
 
 UNION OF THE TWO COMPANIES. 351 
 
 twenty of his men, and the fort taken and 
 pillaged. 
 
 Meanwhile his lordship had arrived in Canada 
 from England. He asked for troops to go to 
 the succour of his colony, which he declared to 
 be under the protection of government, and to 
 arrest the offenders who had polluted the Eng- 
 lish territory by such horrible crimes. But the 
 governor-general, who lent a more favourable 
 ear to the golden arguments of the North- West 
 Company than to the feeble voice of his lord- 
 ship, would grant him no assistance. Lord Sel- 
 kirk then instituted legal proceedings, but means 
 were taken to place men upon the judgment- 
 seat who were parties interested in the cause. 
 
 Two powerful enemies may mutually injure 
 each other, at the same time that they labour, 
 without suspecting it, in favour of a third party, 
 who perhaps is the friend of neither, and who 
 keeps vigilant watch on all their errors. In this 
 case, Machiavel, I think, advises them to unite ; 
 so thought the two emperors Alexander and Na- 
 poleon, at Erfurth, and the Hudson's Bay and 
 North- West Companies prudently followed their 
 example. They saw that the Americans re- 
 joiced at their dissensions, and were ready to 
 take advantage of them ; and by an act of obli- 
 vion, concord, and alliance, they have concealed 
 from the public and the government their crimes
 
 352 CLIMATE OF CANADA. 
 
 and the falsehood of their pretended rights. But 
 who committed the massacres? The Indians. 
 And the brutal violations ? The Indians. And 
 the pillagings, &c. &c. It was all the Indians, 
 who had never appeared on the scene. To keep 
 up appearances, two or three of the unfortunate 
 Bois-Brules were given up to the authorities, 
 who wished to make a parade of justice ; for, as 
 La Fontaine says, " according as you are pow- 
 erful or wretched, the judgments of courts of 
 justice will make you black or white." And so 
 the affair ended. 
 
 The United Companies, however, found that 
 this colony was very convenient and useful. It 
 was a nursery for men, of whom they stood in 
 great need for the numerous stations of their im- 
 mense trade, which extends its ramifications as 
 far as the Colombia ; as well as for their trans- 
 ports, their internal navigation, &c. &c. These 
 men too, they would pay as slaves, whereas 
 Canadian labour was very costly. 
 
 But the English, Scotch, and Irish, had al- 
 ready discovered that the only fortune to be 
 made in this colony was a bare maintenance, 
 and that of the poorest kind; that sometimes 
 food was not to be got ; that if the soil was good, 
 the locusts, or the storms, or the frosts, destroyed 
 all the produce in the bud; that though only 
 in the fiftieth degree, the cold was as intense as
 
 FATE OF THE SELKIRK COLONISTS. 353 
 
 in Siberia ; that men were frozen to death, and 
 that trees and rocks were split by the frost. It 
 was necessary therefore to look about among 
 other nations, and they accordingly caught some 
 good and credulous Germans and greedy Swiss, 
 by means of the grand Prospectus, which you 
 will find annexed. 
 
 A part of these poor people died of cold or of 
 distress ; others escaped, as they could, through 
 fatigue, hunger and danger, and took refuge in 
 the United States. I met some myself at the 
 lake of the Big Rock, who were in a deplorable 
 condition, as also at Fort St Peter, where the 
 colonel and his officers assisted them in a truly 
 philanthropic manner, and had the goodness to 
 allow me a share in the heart-cheering satisfac- 
 tion — (the only substantial one on earth, and 
 the best offering to the divinity) — of alleviating 
 the sufferings of fellow-creatures. The few 
 who remain watch, eagerly for any opportunity 
 of escaping. But this is a step which cunning 
 and avarice have rendered very difficult, by 
 means which I will endeavour to explain. 
 
 Whenever any money makes its appearance 
 the Company carefully get it into its possession. 
 It has adopted a curious " circulating medium." 
 They pay and are paid in handkerchiefs, stock- 
 ings, breeches, petticoats, shirts, shifts, &c. 
 
 VOL. II. A A
 
 354 ANOTHER RED RIVER. 
 
 and if they make a fortune it must be all in 
 clothes. 
 
 These trumpery things are fixed at an exorbi- 
 tant price, so that if they could succeed (which 
 would be very difficult) in turning them into 
 money, they would get not more than a fifth 
 or sixth of what they cost. It is thus rendered 
 impossible for them to get away. These poor 
 people have thus been reduced to a level with 
 the savages, without sharing their advantages 
 or enjoying their independence. This is a 
 stretch of cunning which avarice alone could 
 enable men to reach. 
 
 The colony was at first, as you have seen, 
 established near the confluence of the Assiniboin, 
 also called by the Hudson's Bay Company the 
 Red river; but during the great troubles, de- 
 tachments of it had been transplanted hither on 
 account of the greater fertility of the soil, and 
 the greater vicinity to the burTalos. The only 
 people, however, now remaining are the Bois- 
 brules, who have taken possession of the huts 
 which the settlers abandoned. 
 
 Two Catholic priests had also established 
 themselves here, but as neither the government 
 nor the Company gave them any means of sub- 
 sistence, they went away ; and the church, con- 
 structed, like all the other buildings, of trunks 
 of trees, is already falling into ruins.
 
 SPANISH AND FRENCH MISSIONARIES. 355 
 
 Their departure is the more to be regretted as 
 not only does it deprive these regions of every 
 source of instruction, which could be derived 
 from these ecclesiastics alone, but the Bois- 
 brulfo will relapse into their former state of bar- 
 barism, by losing whatever good they had gained 
 from their evangelical precepts. To be just, 
 we must admit that the French missionaries, 
 when not Jesuits, have always and in all coun- 
 tries, distinguished themselves by their exem- 
 plary lives, truly conformable to their vocation. 
 Their religious sincerity, their apostolic charity, 
 their persuasive mildness, their heroic patience, 
 and their freedom from all fanaticism and asceti- 
 cism, in every country they have visited, deserve 
 to be recorded in the annals of the Christian 
 church. So long as the memory of Del Verde, 
 Vodilla, &c. shall be held in execration by all 
 true Christians, so long will those of Daniel, 
 Breboeuf, &c. be regarded with that veneration 
 with which they are so justly recorded in the 
 history of discoveries and missions. Hence 
 the predilection of the Indians for the French; 
 a predilection which they find almost instinc- 
 tive at the bottom of their hearts, nourished 
 by the traditions their fathers have bequeathed 
 to them in favour of the first Apostles of Ca- 
 nada, then New France, and which have tra- 
 velled by way of lake Superior to this point.
 
 356 BISHOP PltOVENCAIS. 
 
 Lower down, at Fort Douglas, there is still a 
 bishop, Monsieur Provencais. His merit and 
 virtues are the theme of general praise. I was 
 told that he does not mingle politics with reli- 
 gion, that his zeal is not the offspring of ambi- 
 tion, that his piety is pure, his heart simple 
 and generous. He does not give ostentatious 
 bounties at the expense of his creditors ; he is 
 hospitable to strangers ; and dissimulation never 
 sullies his mind or his holy and paternal mi- 
 nistry. But as he cannot, of course, preach to 
 Catholics in a manner to please the Company, it 
 is much to be feared that the unfortunate inha- 
 bitants will soon be deprived of their excellent 
 pastor. 
 
 Yesterday Charles II's charter was mutilated 
 nearly by one half. The Major took possession 
 of this place. The boundary which separates 
 the territories of the two nations was formally 
 laid down, in the name of the Government and 
 President of the United States. A number of 
 Bois-bi'ides were present, and seemed to ridi- 
 cule the ceremony. 
 
 There is a great division of opinions and incli- 
 nations among them. An address which they 
 have been recommended to present to their new 
 masters, for a judge, a priest, &c. is still with- 
 out signatures. They will be the partisans of 
 whoever will pay them best ; I think, therefore,
 
 LATITUDE OF PEMBENAR. 357 
 
 they will most probably desert to Fort Douglas; 
 some indeed are already gone thither. The 
 English, individually, are avaricious, but their 
 government and public bodies, when they have 
 an end to accomplish, know how to unite the 
 resistless power of gold to the magic influence 
 of their intrigues ; whilst the Americans are yet 
 very backward in this art. 
 
 It would be very interesting to know where- 
 about we are with relation to the North Pole, 
 but the Major conceals this from me with more 
 care than the priests of Thibet conceal their 
 Grand Lama. I know, however, that by an 
 agreement between England and the United 
 States, the boundary of the two territories on 
 this side is fixed at the fiftieth degree. We are 
 about two hundred and sixty miles from lake 
 Traverse. 
 
 I shall conclude this letter by a scene which is 
 interesting and perfectly new. The Bois-brules, 
 who call themselves the free people when they 
 are not in the service of the Company, are 
 compelled to live the same sort of life as the 
 savages, in order to obtain the means of subsis- 
 tence ; and when urged by hunger, they unite 
 in numerous bands to hunt the buffalo, in which 
 they are sometimes joined by the hunters in the 
 regular pay of the Company. Sometimes their 
 toils are fruitless, but the day before yesterday
 
 358 
 
 EXTRAORDINARY SPECTACLE. 
 
 they returned very rich, after two months ab- 
 sence. 
 
 A hundred men on horseback opened the 
 march, a hundred and fourteen carts, heavily 
 laden with dried meat, formed the centre ; wo- 
 men and children, carried or dragged by large 
 dogs, brought up the rear ; for the whole family 
 accompanies them, and during their hunting sea- 
 son they all grow fat and strong; but they return 
 to the village, and soon lose their good plight. 
 It was a curious sight, the details of which 
 I leave to your imagination. They ranged 
 themselves in order of battle at the place 
 where we were encamped, and the fair com- 
 menced. 
 
 Several of these poor devils soon saw their 
 carts emptied : either the Company which had 
 advanced him some money, or one man who had 
 let him have powder and shot, or another who 
 offered him the clothes he wanted in exchange ; 
 or the tinker, the carpenter, the barber, the apo- 
 thecary, the tax-gatherer, all fall upon him at 
 once. The meat disappears, his numerous 
 family remains around him, and the usual state 
 of misery and famine returns. 
 
 The dogs deserve a few minutes of your at- 
 tention. They are a great resource in this coun- 
 try. In winter they perform those labours on 
 the ice and frozen snow, which the horses, who
 
 dogs' boarding-school. 359 
 
 perish of cold and hunger, cannot endure. 
 During the summer, when they are not hunting 
 and their owners have no food for them, they put 
 them out to board with jobbers, who feed them 
 on bad fish, with which the river abounds, and 
 thus swell the number of creditors who await 
 the return of the owners from the chase. 
 
 I have seen some very numerous boarding- 
 schools of this sort : the order and discipline 
 which prevail there are curious and surprising ; 
 they might serve as models for some of our 
 establishments of education. But a still more 
 curious thing is, to see these poor animals go 
 a-fishing themselves when they find that the 
 dinner-bell is inconveniently delayed. They 
 onclude that they have nothing to hope for from 
 the head of the establishment ; they therefore 
 betake themselves to the banks of the river, and 
 dart with the rapidity of lightning on the fish 
 which swim near the shore, or on any which 
 by chance may have carried off the fisherman's 
 hook and line, and float dead upon the water. 
 
 And now my dear Countess, rest awhile; for 
 if I succeed in bending my steps towards the 
 point which has been the object of my constant 
 wishes ever since I entered these wild regions, 
 we shall have long walks and much fatigue to 
 encounter.
 
 PROSPECTUS 
 
 PLAN FOR SENDING 
 
 SETTLERS TO THE COLONY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 RED RIVER 
 
 IN 
 
 NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 Earl Selkirk, a Scottish nobleman, of high rank and large 
 fortune, has purchased a great extent of very fertile lands, 
 situated upon the banks of the Red River, which falls into 
 the great Lake Winipeg, in North America, These he pos- 
 sesses with all the seignorial rights attached to them, jn full 
 and absolute sovereignty. Lord Selkirk is desirous of peo- 
 pling these beautiful and fertile countries with honest and 
 industrious inhabitants, and particularly with Swiss and Ger- 
 mans. To effect this object, his lordship has commissioned, 
 and invested with full power, Captain R. May, of Uzistorf, a 
 citizen of Berne, in the British service, to engage persons in 
 Switzerland to repair to his colony. Captain May fulfils a 
 pleasing duty in communicating this information to his coun- 
 trymen, persuaded that such of them as may avail themselves 
 of the present opportunity, will find, in the country to which 
 they are invited, whatever can contribute to their comfort,
 
 lord Selkirk's prospectus. 361 
 
 success, or happiness, provided they are industrious and 
 economical. 
 
 This colony is situated between the 49th and 50th degrees 
 of north latitude, about two hundred and thirty leagues south 
 of Hudson's Bay, not far from the sources of the Mississippi. 
 The climate is mild and very healthy; the winter is not 
 colder nor longer than in our mountainous countries, but the 
 summer is much hotter. The country consists of extensive 
 plains, interspersed with mountains, not high, by no means 
 rugged, and generally covered with beautiful forests. 
 
 These immense plains are clothed with the most luxuriant 
 herbage, thus forming fine natural meadows, easy of cultiva- 
 tion, the settler having nothing to do but to throw up the turf 
 with the plough or spade, after which he may immediately 
 sow or plant ; the soil is remarkably fertile, the first crop 
 producing from thirty-five to forty-five times the quantity of 
 seed. Every species of corn, potatoes, pulse, vegetable, hemp, 
 flax, tobacco, and all kinds of fruit-trees, even the most deli- 
 cate, grow and thrive there in perfection. Wood, either for 
 fuel or building, in short for all the purposes of life, is in the 
 greatest plenty. These immense meadows maintain a pro- 
 digious quantity of game of every description, and particu- 
 larly innumerable herds of wild oxen, which any person is 
 at liberty to kill, or to take alive and tame, thus providing 
 himself with as much meat and leather as he may want. 
 The country abounds in lakes and rivers filled with excellent 
 fish, at the disposal of every one, both for food and traffic. 
 Numerous salt pits afford to the settler an easy and abun- 
 dant supply of this essential article of life and rural economy. 
 The country also produces the sugar-maple, from which is 
 prepared a sugar equal to the cane. In short, whatever is 
 necessary to life may be attained in great plenty, with much 
 facility and little labour: so that few counties offer so
 
 362 lord Selkirk's prospectus. 
 
 many natural sources of comfort, wealth and happiness to 
 new settlers. 
 
 The number of families is, at present, about three hundred. 
 A fortress, more than two hundred houses, saw and flour- 
 mills, are already built; and, as there is no deficiency of 
 artisans of every description, any one, on his arrival, may 
 procure whatever is necessary to his establishment. European 
 cattle, pigs, sheep, even those of the Merino breed, have 
 been conveyed thither, and thrive remarkably well : the Me- 
 rinos, in particular, encrease with great rapidity ; and as in 
 these immense meadows every planter is at liberty to graze 
 his flocks or mow the grass, he may multiply this breed of 
 sheep to any extent he pleases. It is easy to form an idea 
 of the sources of riches which this single article offers to the 
 planter. Excellent native horses may be purchased of the 
 Indians, in any number, at eight or ten crowns each. In 
 short, the country supplies in profusion whatever can be re- 
 quired for the convenience, pleasure, or comfort of life. It 
 is also provided with great facilities for the sale of its pro- 
 duce. The first market open to the settlers, is that of the 
 new comers, who annually and constantly flock thither from 
 all parts, and who, for many years to come, will consume 
 nearly all that the settlers can produce. Besides this, the 
 English Hudson's Bay Company has entered into an engage- 
 ment with Earl Selkirk, to purchase from the settlers of this 
 colony all the provisions or commodities it may want for its 
 immense fur trade, and to pay for them the same prices as in 
 England ; and, as in that country provisions are very dear, 
 it is easy to conceive the profit and advantage which this ar- 
 rangement offers to the planters. The same Company has 
 engaged to become the agents of the colony, to export and 
 convey, on the most moderate terms, all the productions of 
 the colony, such as hemp, flax, wool, tobacco, &c. in its ships
 
 lord Selkirk's prospectus. 363 
 
 to England, to sell them there for the settlers, and to remit 
 the amount, either in money or goods, at their option. 
 
 The conditions on which the planters are received and en- 
 gaged are moderate, and not burdensome. 
 
 As to the conveyance of the Swiss to the colony, each 
 individual of either sex, above fifteen years of age, is to pay 
 twenty-one louis, at fifteen livres, of which, however, only ten 
 louis ready money are to be paid at the time of sailing ; the 
 remaining eleven louis may be paid by instalments, and at the 
 convenience of the person after his arrival at the colony, 
 during a term of four or five years, at an interest of five per 
 cent. 
 
 Each child between ten and sixteen, is to pay seven louis 
 ready money, and afterwards eight, as above. 
 
 Each child between two and ten to pay five louis, and 
 afterwards six, as above. 
 
 For this sum, Earl Selkirk engages and promises— 
 1st. To convey the planters from Switzerland to Rotter- 
 dam at his own expense; to provide and have ready for 
 them, a good ship, supplied with good provision and in suf- 
 ficient quantity ; the embarkation to take place on their arri- 
 val at Rotterdam and the vessel to sail immediately. Captain 
 May engages to accompany the planters to Rotterdam ; to 
 take care of them during the voyage ; to conduct them on 
 board the ship, distributing and arranging them in such a 
 manner as to secure them sufficient room ; to inspect the pro- 
 visions, taking care that they are in sufficient quantity and of 
 good quality ; in short, to adopt every measure and precau- 
 tion essential to their comfort during the voyage, which, he 
 assures his countrymen, he will exert every effort to render 
 as agreeable as possible. 
 
 2nd. On their arrival at Hudson's Bay, where they will 
 disembark, they will find a sufficient number of boats and
 
 364 lord Selkirk's prospectus. 
 
 boatmen, supplied with necessary provisions, ready to receive 
 them and convey them up Nelson River and Lake Winipeg 
 to the colony there, as they will be distributed in the houses 
 of the settlers already established, till they have built their 
 own, for which they will receive every instruction, and the 
 requisite supply of wood. 
 
 3rd. .Such persons as are too poor to purchase food, will 
 be supplied with provisions during the first year, or till the 
 first crop. These, with their industry, will enable them to 
 live, provided, however, that they contribute as much as pos- 
 sible to the support of their families, by hunting and fishing, 
 for which they will receive instruction and whatever else is 
 necessary; otherwise they will have no claim on this assis- 
 tance. 
 
 4th. They shall be supplied with grain, potatoes, and other 
 seed necessary for the first sowing and planting of their 
 lands; for these they shall pay in kind, at the first crop. 
 
 5th. They shall be supplied on credit, and at the most 
 reasonable prices, with whatever they may want for their 
 first establishment, whether furniture, kitchen-utensils, or 
 implements of husbandry, &c. They shall be allowed suffi- 
 cient time to repay the amount of these advances, and the 
 interest at five per cent. 
 
 6thly. To every father of a family, to every young married 
 couple, and to every adult, desirous of having an establish- 
 ment of his own, shall be assigned a hundred acres of land, 
 to become for ever his property, and that of his descendants 
 without any purchase-money or charge whatever; for which 
 an annual and regular rent, equally moderate, reasonable, 
 and easy to the settler, is to be paid in kind, according to 
 tho following proportions : — 
 
 For the first year, nothing. 
 
 For the second year, twenty English bushels of wheat.
 
 lord Selkirk's prospectus. 365 
 
 For the third year, thirty English bushels of wheat. 
 For the fourth year, forty ditto. 
 For the fifth and following years, fifty ditto ; — 
 making half a bushel per acre ; which, considering the 
 great fertility of the soil, is certainly very moderate, and by 
 no means burdensome to the settler, particularly as this is 
 the only ground-rent or charge which he will have to pay to 
 the proprietor of the land : besides, he may release himself 
 from this charge whenever he pleases, by a single payment 
 of five hundred bushels of wheat, in consequence of which 
 he will be for ever freed from this rent, and possess his land 
 exempt from all claims whatever. 
 
 Should a settler bring property with him, and wish to 
 purchase land instead of renting it, Earl Selkirk will sell 
 him a lot, which cannot be less than one hundred, nor more 
 than five hundred acres, at seventy-two baches per acre, 
 which he will assign to him as his property and that of his 
 heirs for ever, free from all rent charge ; and he may choose 
 his lot wherever he may think proper. 
 
 If the whole purchase-money is paid before departure, 
 twenty per cent shall be deducted for prompt payment; 
 otherwise a third of the sum shall be paid before departure, 
 the other two thirds to be paid in three instalments, with an 
 interest of five per cent upon the sum remaining unpaid; one 
 every year for three years. 
 
 The number of settlers for the ensuing year may amount to 
 five hundred persons, including fifty young unmarried women, 
 healthy, strong, and robust, to be married to an equal num- 
 ber of Swiss young men, who are already settlers at the 
 colony. 
 
 A contract shall be regularly drawn up between Captain 
 May, in the name of Earl Selkirk, and each settler. This 
 contract shall contain whatever each party engages to per- 
 form, that every one may know what he has to do, and what
 
 366 lord Selkirk's prospectus. 
 
 to expect. Each party shall have a duplicate, signed by the 
 said Captain May and the respective settler, in presence of 
 two legal witnessess ; and this contract shall be written or 
 printed on stamped paper. 
 
 The departure shall take place at the end of April, next 
 year. Whoever intends to engage is requested to apply by 
 letter, post-paid, or personally, as soon as possible, to 
 Captain May d'Uzistorf, at Berne. 
 
 Berne, May 20th, 1820. 
 
 (Signed) R. MAY D'UZISTORF, 
 
 Captain in his Britannic Majesty's service, and 
 Agent Plenipotentiary to Lord Selkirk.
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Julian Sources of the Mississippi 
 and the Bloody Rive?*, 
 
 August 31st, 1823. 
 
 I write to you from the midst of deserts, under 
 the vault of heaven ; a large maple is the only- 
 roof which shelters, the only closet which se- 
 cludes me : the solitude — the deep silence 
 around me, is interrupted only by unknown 
 birds or strange and savage beasts. In this re- 
 mote and central wilderness, my heart and mind 
 are filled with the most delightful emotions. 
 Like another Colossus of Rhodes, I can almost 
 touch with either foot two of the most interest- 
 ing spots on the surface of the globe : I find 
 myself in a place which has been the object of 
 so many researches, but which has till now
 
 368 BOLD RESOLUTION. 
 
 never been pressed by the foot of civilized man. 
 This moment, next to that which taught me to 
 appreciate the treasure of friendship that I have 
 lost, is the finest of my life. 
 
 The situation of Pembenar clearly pointed out 
 to me that towards the south-east I should per- 
 haps find what had been the object of my 
 wanderings in these wild and remote regions ; 
 and I immediately resolved to follow that direc- 
 tion. But I had great difficulties to conquer. 
 Not an individual in that place knew either the 
 way, or even the Red river above the point 
 at which the Robber's river falls into it. Every- 
 body represented to me the dangers which I was 
 going to brave among the Indians, who are 
 generally described as being very ferocious, and 
 who are still very unfriendly to the Americans. 
 I however found two Cypowais, who, having 
 lost one of their companions at the Cayenne 
 river, were going precisely to Red lake, to sti- 
 mulate and rouse his relatives and their nation 
 to avenge him on the Sioux, (the Yanctons,) 
 who had killed and quartered him. One of the 
 Bois-brules, or Fire-brands, offered to accom- 
 pany me as far as the Robber's river with his 
 train of dogs, to carry a small quantity of dry 
 provisions which I had purchased, and my small 
 luggage, and to act likewise as my interpreter. 
 I instantly engaged the whole. I smothered
 
 MR SNELLING. 369 
 
 the rising apprehensions which some were eager 
 to excite in my mind in order to intimidate me 
 from my design, and on the 9th ult. left behind 
 me Pembenar, the Major, and my horse. I sold 
 the last, as useless and burthensome in an ex- 
 cursion through unknown regions, thick forests, 
 lakes, and deep livers. With no slight regret 
 I quitted this faithful friend Buffalo, the fearless 
 companion of so many chaces and dangers : I 
 should have been not a little glad to have kept 
 him and taken him back with me to Italy. He 
 would have been a living memorial to me of in- 
 teresting events, and would have excited the 
 jealousy of my Bucharest, whom, if he be still in 
 existence, I should thus have punished for having 
 broken my thigh : could I have enclosed him in 
 my portfolio, he would unquestionably have re- 
 turned with me. I can safely assert, that this 
 beautiful animal would appear a second Buce- 
 phalus were he mounted by another Alexander, 
 and would be thought by no means the most 
 contemptible of senators if he belonged to ano- 
 ther Caligula. I substituted for him a small 
 mule, used to the country, which I hired of 
 another Bois-brulL 
 
 I cannot but gratefully acknowledge the kind- 
 ness felt for me in this situation by colonel 
 Snelling's son, who shewed the most friendly 
 concern and apprehensions for me. He also left 
 
 VOL. ir. BB
 
 370 Dll SAY AND THE MAJOR. 
 
 the Major at the same time, not without violent 
 altercation, and went back to Fort St Peter, 
 by way of lake Traverse. He quitted me in 
 tears, exclaiming, " What will my father say ?" 
 With considerable regret I parted from Dr Say, 
 one of the naturalists attached to the expedition, 
 the only one who deserved the designation. He 
 is Professor of Zoology at Philadelphia, and dis- 
 tinguished at once by modesty and merit. 
 
 The expedition was intended to descend as 
 far as lake Winipeg; pass up the river Wini- 
 peg, and that of the woods ; ascend Rain river, 
 and from Rain lake descend to lake Superior; 
 then to cross lakes Huron, St Clair, and Erie, to 
 Buffalo canal, and return by that and the New 
 York road to Philadelphia. I now leave these 
 gentlemen to the care of a good providence, and 
 return to the subject of my own concerns and 
 progress. 
 
 The two first days after our separation I ex- 
 perienced only a few difficulties in passing along 
 places infested by wolves, in which my Indian 
 guides had to strike out for themselves the 
 quickest road to accelerate the completion of their 
 vengeance. Their natural compass was as exact 
 as the most finished production of art and science : 
 I have already mentioned with what facility they 
 discover their proper route both by day and by 
 night, even when the stars are concealed.
 
 DELIGHTFUL SPORTING. 371 
 
 On the third day my poor dogs, which were by 
 that time exhausted by fatigue, found insur- 
 mountable obstacles in the marshes and woods. 
 We were compelled, therefore, to load my mule 
 with nearly the whole of my baggage; and 
 I consequently proceeded in the style of St 
 Francis. 
 
 The interpreter informed me that it was ne- 
 cessary to follow blindly and implicitly the 
 savages whom we had connected ourselves with; 
 for on the least contradiction they would have left 
 us on the spot. I therefore in every possible way 
 consulted their humours : we halted when they 
 pleased; we smoked when they desired it, 
 although I never smoke myself but for form and 
 ceremony ; they partook whenever they liked of 
 everything eatable that I had with me ; and, 
 even more than that, I frequently regaled them 
 with heath-cocks, which I killed in considerable 
 numbers on our way. The Indian, having 
 neither powder nor ball to throw away, and 
 rarely aiming at game when on the wing, is but 
 little expert at this description of sport. My 
 companions were, therefore, extremely aston- 
 ished at the dexterity with which I brought 
 down my game at almost every fire ; and I of 
 course exerted my best efforts to justify the 
 name which they had bestowed upon me, and 
 inspire them with an imposing opinion of my
 
 372 KITCY OKIMAN. 
 
 powers. I was desirous, like the first Spaniards 
 in America, to appear as a superhuman being in 
 their eyes, in order to excite their respect and 
 submission : but the most subtle and refined 
 malice has now succeeded to that species of 
 simplicity which formerly distinguished them ; 
 and they have become more cruel and ferocious 
 in proportion as they have discovered that white 
 men regard them as an inferior caste to themselves, 
 appropriate their lands under pretence of de- 
 fending them, and, while affecting to confer 
 favours by engaging in commerce with them, 
 degrade them into mere slaves of their own 
 avarice. They denominated me the Great 
 Warrior* ; and when an explanation was asked 
 of them, at my request, they answered that they 
 had dreamed I was such ; and their dreams are 
 ever considered by them as infallible. You 
 must now, therefore, regard me as Kitcy Oki- 
 man. 
 
 On the fourth day I killed a young white bear, 
 and one of the Indians killed another : the dam 
 had apparently incurred the same fate, for we 
 sought for her in vain. With a little bread I 
 should have had a feast for an epicure, for heath- 
 cocks and the cubs of bears are high dainties : but 
 all Pembenar was unable to furnish me with a 
 grain of wheat or an ounce of flour meal. 
 
 The white bear is the only wild beast of these
 
 WHITE AND BLACK BEARS. 373 
 
 regions that is dangerous. He almost always 
 attacks the traveller, and when hungry never 
 fails to do so. One of these animals, last year, 
 rushed into the canoe of two Bois-brules while 
 they were resting near the bank, and seizing 
 one of them, dragged him into the forest, 
 while the other, whose musket had become wet, 
 was totally disabled from assisting him. For- 
 tunately, however, a party of Indians were 
 hunting near the spot, who ran to his assistance 
 and killed the bear while still grasping his prey. 
 The unfortunate man was merely wounded, and 
 gave me the recital of the circumstance himself, 
 and likewise sold me the animal's skin. The 
 black bear, on the contrary, is extremely timid, 
 and always on the approach of man betakes 
 itself to flight. Next to the buffalo it is the most 
 valuable of all animals to the Indians. Its skin, 
 its flesh, its fat, its tendons, even its nails and 
 teeth, are all convertible to purposes of utility. 
 
 Nature has distinguished this animal by pe- 
 culiar characters. He feeds entirely on fruits 
 during summer and autumn, and it is at those 
 seasons that the Indians go in search of him in 
 places where fruits are abundant, and destroy 
 him. When the cold weather commences he 
 proceeds to hide himself in the hollow of some 
 tree, or in a hole which he digs for himself in the 
 earth. Here he remains completely motionless,
 
 374 PECULIAR CHARACTER OF BEARS. 
 
 apparently under the influence of the soundest 
 sleep, for the whole of the winter. He sustains 
 himself by sucking his paws, from which the fat 
 with which his body is covered seems to pass 
 for his nourishment. The Indians discover his 
 abode sometimes by means of dogs which scent 
 him, sometimes by the place which his breathing 
 marks in the snow, and they destroy him with- 
 out his making the least resistance or even mo- 
 tion, so that a single pike or lance is sufficient 
 for the purpose. In the spring, the season when 
 he quits his den, he in the first place exerts 
 himself to regain possession as it were of those 
 natural powers which have remained suspended 
 or paralysed during the whole winter. He 
 cleanses himself by purgative and diuretic sim- 
 ples, which nature points out to him with more 
 clearness than they are indicated by our physi- 
 cians and botanists. As, however, so long an 
 abstinence, and this succeeding purgation, must 
 necessarily have weakened his stomach, and it 
 is consequently necessary for him to follow a 
 light regimen, he commences with fish. 
 
 The manner of his conducting his fishing is 
 truly extraordinary. Sitting on his hind paws 
 on the bank of a river or a lake, he continues so 
 perfectly motionless that he might be mistaken 
 for a burnt trunk of some tree, which frequently 
 deceives even the keen and practised eye of an
 
 robber's river. 375 
 
 Indian himself. With his right paw he seizes 
 with incredible celerity and skill the fish which 
 unsuspectingly pass under his eyes, and throws 
 them on the bank. When he has obtained a 
 plentiful supply for his table, he regales himself 
 on a portion of it, and conceals the rest, that he 
 may have sure recourse to it, as appetite serves, 
 during the day : he appears perfectly to know 
 that morning and evening are the only times for 
 fishing. He afterwards proceeds to a more 
 substantial fare, to the flesh of beasts which he 
 hunts, or finds dead, and at length he returns 
 to his diet of fruits. Thus, at successive pe- 
 riods of the year, he is a piscivorous, carnivorous, 
 and frugivorous animal. 
 
 On the fifth day we arrived at Robber's river 
 (called Wamans-Watpd by the Sioux and Po- 
 ivisci-sibi, by the Cypowais), so denominated 
 because one of the Sioux, in his flight from the 
 vengeance which had been denounced against 
 him for murder, kept himself concealed, and 
 robbed on this spot for many years, escaping 
 the observation of his persecutors and enemies, 
 by whom he was completely surrounded. We 
 passed along its bank for two or three miles, 
 to the place where it falls into the Red river, 
 and there my Indian attendants discovered 
 their canoe, which was concealed among the 
 brambles. 
 
 t
 
 37G SACRIFICE TO MICILIKI. 
 
 I had been informed at Pembenar, that a 
 number of Bois-bruiles had proceeded to this 
 confluence in order to erect huts for their winter- 
 hunting establishment, and that some one of 
 them would certainly be able to accompany me, 
 and act as my interpreter, as far as Red lake, 
 and, if I desired it, still farther; but we 
 found none there. The Cypowais had driven 
 them away, as we were informed by one of the 
 latter, and they were gone to establish them- 
 selves about a hundred miles lower down. On 
 the other hand, my interpreter from Pembenar 
 could not possibly continue with me : besides 
 his having to conduct back the mule, other pow- 
 erful reasons operated to prevent him. I was 
 therefore compelled to decide; and I delivered 
 myself over to the care of my two Indians. 
 
 We had not again proceeded up the river more 
 than two miles before they stopped, and pre- 
 sented an offering of dry provisions and tobacco 
 to Mic'iliki, the Manitou of Waters. This was a 
 stake painted red, and fixed under a kind of 
 sacellum, like those of antiquity, and the cere- 
 mony is by no means modern. They were, for 
 this once, more generous towards their deities 
 than Indians in such circumstances generally 
 are : the reason is, that their offering was at 
 my expense. 
 
 The frequent rapids which we had met with 

 
 DANGEROUS ADVENTURE. 377 
 
 in the course of five or six miles, and which had 
 compelled us to walk continually in the water, 
 and over pointed and cutting rocks, in order to 
 preserve our canoe from injury, had very much 
 fatigued us, and our appetite also induced us to 
 make a halt : we accordingly did so, and after 
 eating my repast, I went to sleep beneath a tree, 
 recommending myself to the care of providence. 
 I was awakened by discharges of fire-arms, 
 and on starting up perceived five or six Indians 
 on the opposite bank of the river, apparently 
 desirous to cross it. On seeing me they seemed 
 struck with astonishment and terror, and fled 
 with precipitation : one of our Indians was 
 wounded. Those who had fired at them were 
 Sioux. I was already known among the In- 
 dians of that nation, as the Tonka- Wasci-cio- 
 honsca, or the Great Chief from afar country; and 
 my tall stature and noble horse had rendered 
 me the more remarked by them, as these are 
 two things of which they are extreme admirers. 
 When they again saw me on this spot, they 
 concluded that the whole expedition was there, 
 and fled with all haste for fear of being recog- 
 nized. This was the idea that first presented 
 itself to my mind, and I instantly acted upon it. 
 We jumped immediately into our canoe; I per- 
 formed to the best of my power the labours of 
 the wounded Indian, who had his left arm shot
 
 378 CONSPIRACY OF MY SAVAGES. 
 
 completely through, and his right shoulder 
 grazed. The ball, however, had not touched 
 the bone of the arm, and the wound in the 
 shoulder had injured only the integuments. The 
 juice of some boiled roots was applied as the 
 healing balsam ; the down of a swan-skin, which 
 I had purchased at Pembenar, was substituted 
 for lint, my handkerchief served for a bandage, 
 and the bark of a tree called owigobmigy, or 
 white wood, answered the purpose of securing 
 the arm in a sling. We kept on our course till 
 evening, and saw nothing more of them. 
 
 My intrepid champions saw nothing but Sioux. 
 The slightest sound from wind or water, the 
 shadow of a tree or of a rock, everything was 
 the Sioux. I discovered that they were plotting 
 against me, for they carefully avoided my looks. 
 I had not the slightest doubt that they meant to 
 leave me on the spot, and determined therefore 
 to make them re-embark, it being more easy to 
 guard them in the canoe. About midnight we 
 stopped. I had but little to fear, being left with- 
 out my canoe, for I was already well aware that 
 their intention must be to continue their course 
 by land, by a route which would conduct them 
 in two or three days to Red lake; whereas, 
 were they to proceed by the river they would 
 require more than six. However, I considered 
 that no precaution ought to be neglected by me ; 

 
 PERPLEXING DESERTION. 379 
 
 I therefore drew the canoe to land, and fast- 
 ened it to a tree by a cord, one end of which I 
 tied to my leg, and then laid myself down by 
 the side of them in such a manner that they 
 could not rise, even if I should be able to sleep, 
 without waking me. These precautions, and 
 my musket and my sword between my legs, 
 ready for immediate use, kept them quiet the 
 whole night. 
 
 On the following morning they embarked 
 without difficulty. But this was only with a 
 view of reaching a certain point, whence the 
 route by land was shorter. I might have used 
 violence against them if I had chosen, for cer- 
 tainly I had no fear of them ; I had even taken 
 the precaution of putting water into their musket 
 barrels : but I should only have exasperated their 
 nation, in a territory where it was now absolute 
 and despotic, and where I could expect no as- 
 sistance but from my own energies and the care 
 of providence ; I therefore suffered them quietly 
 to go off. They intimated to me, what I was 
 before well aware of, that they were going to 
 leave me. They invited me to follow them, and 
 to leave the canoe, provisions, and baggage, con- 
 cealed in the brushwood. I deliberated with 
 myself on the subject for a moment: I consi- 
 dered that the river was my best and surest
 
 380 DREADFUL SITUATION. 
 
 way, that I was in possession of a canoe, pro- 
 visions, a musket, a sword, and ammunition; 
 whereas, by accepting their invitation, I should 
 be following barbarians who had the cowardice 
 to abandon a stranger confided to their guar- 
 dianship at Pembenar by their most intimate 
 friends, one who had treated them as brothers, 
 saved them from the hands of the enemy, healed 
 their wounds, and assisted them kindly with all 
 his means. I should, with wretches of this 
 description, be exposing myself in inextricable 
 forests, in the midst of swamps and lakes, and 
 abandoning to the mercy of a thousand acci- 
 dents, my baggage, my provisions, and mate- 
 rials for the presents, which are indispensable 
 passports through a savage country. My deter- 
 mination, therefore, was soon fixed : after having 
 vainly endeavoured to make them comprehend 
 that both Manitous and men would punish such 
 atrocity, I commanded them by words and signs 
 peremptorily to be gone. 
 
 I imagine, my dear Countess, that you will 
 feel the frightfulness of my situation at this cri- 
 tical moment more strongly than I can express 
 it. I really can scarcely help shuddering, as 
 well as yourself, whenever 1 think of it. For- 
 tunately, I was not at the time overpowered 
 and confounded. Woe be to us, if in exigen-
 
 NEW KIND OF PILGRIMAGE. 381 
 
 cies like this, despair takes possession of our 
 minds. In that case all is completely over 
 with us ! 
 
 To the indignation which I could not help 
 feeling at the conduct of these wretches, the 
 most perfect calm succeeded ; and I soon even 
 changed tragedy for comedy. I began by smil- 
 ing at my singular adventures ; and was soon 
 inclined to think that I had been wrong in 
 refusing credit to those of Robinson Crusoe. A 
 good breakfast, which strengthened both my 
 stomach and my mind, was the first step in my 
 new career as a hero of romance. I then care- 
 fully put my gun in order, to be able to defend 
 myself against the attack of white bears, which 
 abound near the Red river. With respect to 
 the Indians, I was already so accustomed to see 
 them, and often even to despise them, that they 
 gave me not the slightest apprehension of danger ; 
 and this circumstance did away with one impor- 
 tant obstacle (as I should formerly have felt it) 
 to the resolute continuance of the course I had 
 adopted. 
 
 The solitude I now experienced, which ro- 
 mance-writers would not have found so pleasant 
 and delightful as that which they have been 
 pleased to exhibit in their fictions, impressed 
 me at first with ideas the most dreadful. But
 
 382 CURIOUS NAVIGATION. 
 
 this, perhaps, was merely designed to try the 
 strength of my mind, and elevate it above the 
 standard of the vulgar. 
 
 Never was I offered by providence a more 
 favourable opportunity for entertaining self- 
 esteem without vanity ; and my modesty was 
 indulgent enough to permit me freely to enjoy 
 it, with a view to my rendering myself still more 
 worthy of it. But your mind is too much agi- 
 tated about my fate to enter into these reflec- 
 tions — you are too eager to know what befell 
 me — I proceed therefore to lift the curtain. 
 
 I must, said I to myself, leave this place some 
 way or other ; and I jumped into my canoe and 
 began rowing. But I was totally unacquainted 
 with the almost magical art by which a single 
 person guides a canoe, and particularly a ca- 
 noe formed of bark, the lightness of which is 
 overpowered by the current, and the conduct 
 of which requires extreme dexterity. Fre- 
 quently, instead of proceeding up the river, I 
 descended ; a circumstance which by no means 
 shortened my voyage. Renewed efforts made 
 me lose my equilibrium, the canoe upset, and 
 admitted a considerable quantity of water. My 
 whole cargo was wetted. I leaped into the 
 water, drew the canoe on land, and laid it to 
 drain with the keel upwards. I then loaded it
 
 UNUSUAL PROMENADE. 383 
 
 again, taking care to place the wetted part of 
 my effects uppermost, to be dried by the sun. 
 I then resumed my route. 
 
 You sympathize with the embarrassment in 
 which you conceive I must have been involved, 
 with all my difficulties and want of means for 
 continuing my course. I bore all however with 
 great philosophy, and with a resignation which 
 I believe you will readily admit is not very na- 
 tural to me. I could scarcely help incessantly 
 smiling. I threw myself into the water up to 
 my waist, and commenced a promenade of a 
 rather unusual kind, drawing the canoe after 
 me with a thong from a buffalo's hide, which I 
 had fastened to the prow. 
 
 The first day of my expedition, the 15th 
 of the month, was employed in this manner, and 
 I did not stop till the evening. It was natural 
 to expect that I should be fatigued ; but I was 
 not in the least so. While thus dragging after 
 me my canoe, with a cord over my shoulder, 
 an oar in my hand for my support, my back 
 stooping, my head looking down, holding con- 
 versation with the fishes beneath, and making 
 incessant windings in the river, in order to 
 sound its depths, that I might most safely pass ; 
 I must leave it to your imagination to conceive 
 the variety and interest of the ideas which ra- 
 pidly passed in review before my mind !
 
 384 MORE THAN PROMENADING. 
 
 I quitted my cenoa and hid it. I was com- 
 pletely wet, as was inevitable. I would have 
 kindled a fire, but the Indians had carried off 
 my steel ; and I could not succeed in doing 
 it with my gun. I was unable therefore to 
 dry myself for the whole night ; and when, 
 on the morrow, I resumed my progress, my 
 clothes, as you may suppose, seemed to have 
 no dread of getting into contact with the 
 water, for they were as completely soaked as 
 they had been when taken out of it the evening 
 before. 
 
 The weather on the second day of my pro- 
 gress was very disagreeable. A storm which 
 commenced before mid-day continued till night. 
 Notwithstanding this, however, I did not relax 
 an instant but to take my food. I saw the hand 
 of providence in the physical and moral vigour 
 which supported me during this dreadful con- 
 flict. In the evening I had no access to a more 
 comfortable hearth than on the preceding one. 
 My bear skin and my coverlid, which consti- 
 tuted the whole of my bed, were completely 
 soaked ; and, what was worse, the mould be- 
 gan to affect my provisions. I was almost 
 tempted to think that it was all over with my 
 promenades, and that I began to travel, and that 
 not very comfortably. 
 
 On the morning of the 17th, the sun's beams
 
 NECESSITY AND INDUSTRY. 385 
 
 gilded the awful solitude by which I was sur- 
 rounded, and I eagerly availed myself of their in- 
 fluence. I laid out my provisions, baggage, gun, 
 and sword, and stretched myself also at full 
 length under his rays. The powder, which had 
 fortunately been closely confined in tin canisters, 
 was the only thing that escaped the water. 
 
 Necessity makes man industrious, and the 
 necessity I was now under to become so was 
 great indeed, as otherwise it was impossible for 
 me to continue my progress. The river became 
 narrower and deeper the farther I ascended it, 
 as is the case with all rivers originating in lakes. 
 It was thus absolutely indispensable for me to 
 learn how to guide the canoe with the oar. I 
 set myself, therefore, to study this art in good 
 earnest; and in the afternoon, when I struck 
 my tent, I exerted myself first to pass several 
 deep gulfs, and afterwards to traverse short 
 stages or distances of the river : but the fatigue 
 I endured was extreme ; and I preferred return- 
 ing to my drag-rope whenever the river per- 
 mitted my walking in it. As appearances 
 seemed to threaten rain, I covered my effects 
 with my umbrella, stuck into the bottom of my 
 canoe. It was singular enough to see them 
 conveyed thus in the stately style and manner 
 of China, while I was myself condemned to 
 travel in that of a galley slave : nor could I 
 
 VOL. II. C C
 
 386 PICTURE OF A NOCTURNAL SOLITUDE. 
 
 help reflecting on those unfortunate victims 
 of despotism which the Restoration has con- 
 demned to drag the vessels on the Danube. As 
 it was of consequence for me to avail myself 
 of everything that could promote cheerful- 
 ness and keep up my spirits, I could not help 
 smiling, which I am sure, my dear Countess, 
 you would yourself have done, at the sight of 
 my grotesque convoy. This night was less 
 painful ; my bed was dry ; and, but for the mil- 
 lions of gnats, which incessantly attacked me, 
 and almost flayed me alive, I am convinced that 
 I should have enjoyed sound and uninterrupted 
 sleep. 
 
 Whenever I awoke, the view presented to my 
 imagination by my actual circumstances was 
 truly frightful ; but my mind, instead of yield- 
 ing to despair, rose in firmness with the exigence 
 of the occasion ; and the death-like silence, inter- 
 rupted only by the depressing notes of night 
 birds and the bowlings of bears and wolves ; the 
 darkness, through which the moon pierced in 
 these vast and gloomy forests, only to exhibit 
 doubtful and startling images ; instead of appal- 
 ling or alarming me, only inspired me with a 
 pensive feeling equally new and pleasing : a 
 state of mind strongly felt, but perhaps almost 
 impossible to be communicated. 
 
 The morning of the 18th awakened me to my
 
 RENCONTRE WITH SAVAGES. 387 
 
 active duties, and I proceeded in my course ; 
 and before mid-day fell in with two canoes of 
 Indians. 
 
 Being alone in a canoe of their nation, with 
 three muskets, (for those of my two Indians were 
 in my possession,) I might naturally have been 
 apprehensive of exciting their most dangerous 
 suspicions. But, heaven be praised, I enter- 
 tained no apprehension whatever. I called to 
 them with confidence, while they, struck with 
 wonder at so extraordinary an object, halted on 
 the opposite bank of the river. What astonished 
 them most was my superbly conveyed baggage. 
 They could form no idea of what that great red 
 skhi (my umbrella) could possibly be, nor of 
 what was placed beneath it ; and, observing me 
 walking in the water, they perhaps imagined 
 me to be their Miciliki. Some Catholics, from 
 the tallness of my stature, would have thought 
 they saw our Saint Christopher : if the latter 
 carried the infant Jesus, I might be well said to 
 carry the cross. At length, however, they po- 
 litely replied to my Aniscicin nigy, (Good day, 
 my friends) ; but they could not recover from 
 their surprise, and approached me with great 
 hesitation. 
 
 I made them comprehend what had occurred 
 to me, and that I wanted one of them to accom- 
 pany me as far as Red lake. At first they
 
 388 SOLITUDE AND INDEPENDANCE. 
 
 started immense difficulties ; but a woman was 
 captivated by the beauty of my handkerchief, 
 which was hanging from my pocket; a lad was 
 fascinated with the one I had about my neck, 
 and an old man muffled up in a miserable ragged 
 rug, which through its innumerable holes dis- 
 played nearly one half of his person, had already 
 cast his rapacious glance on mine ; pretending to 
 search for something in my portmanteau, a bit 
 of calico which casually came to hand excited 
 the full gaze of one of the young girls; and my 
 provisions, which they had already tasted, 
 strongly stimulated their gormandizing appetite : 
 I satisfied the whole of them, and the old man 
 decided to accept my proposal. He took the 
 helm of my vessel, and we set off. 
 
 This assistance extricated me from a situa- 
 tion which certainly was by no means pleasant, 
 and it was so much the more valuable as it 
 would have been impossible for me to proceed 
 alone, because the river was constantly en- 
 creasing in depth. Notwithstanding this, how- 
 ever, my mind was in a state of incessant 
 agitation as I proceeded, and I perceived its 
 attention completely occupied about some- 
 thing which it left behind it with regret. It 
 was no difficult matter for me to detect this 
 secret. My mind was, in fact, adverting to the 
 four days of its solitude and independance, and
 
 CURIOUS INCIDENT. 389 
 
 had addressed to itself some such language as 
 
 the following, " You have experienced complete 
 
 solitude, you have tasted genuine independance, 
 
 you will from this time never enjoy them more. 
 
 The independance and solitude represented in 
 
 books, or to be found among civilized nations 
 
 are vain and chimerical." I, at that moment 
 
 fully comprehended why the Indians consider 
 
 themselves happier than cultivated nations, and 
 
 far superior to them. 
 
 It is difficult to meet with a rower as strong 
 as my patriarchal companion, and we advanced 
 at a rapid rate, without stopping, till the evening. 
 Our table was furnished with a couple of ducks: 
 I had fire to make a roast, and I shot them 
 accordingly. Though my bed was without a 
 coverlid, (the cunning old fellow having left in 
 his own canoe the one which I had given him,) 
 yet wrapping myself, like the Indians, in the 
 skin I wore about me, I lay down to rest very 
 comfortably. In the course of the night I was 
 waked by my cautionary cord; and, at first, I 
 imagined that my pilot was also going to desert 
 me, but it turned out to be occasioned by some 
 large animal who had taken a fancy to my pro- 
 visions. I gently seized my gun which I always 
 keep at my side, and in an instant brought him 
 down.
 
 390 NEW MANITOU. 
 
 My Indian, confounded by the report of fire- 
 arms, thought he had been attacked by the 
 Sioux, about whom, not improbably, he had been 
 dreaming, and immediately betook himself to 
 flight. I called out to him, I ran towards him 
 to convince him of his error and restore his con- 
 fidence, but the forest and darkness concealed 
 him from my view, and thus in a moment my 
 solitude and independance were renewed. How- 
 ever, I could still have smiled at the adventure, 
 if such an expression of feeling had been at all 
 seasonable. 
 
 I waited for him in vain for the remainder of 
 the night. Two discharges of the gun however, 
 which I fired off immediately one after the other, 
 (considered by them as a signal of friendship,) 
 brought him back to his quarters with the dawn 
 of day. 
 
 We searched for the animal I had fired at, 
 which it seems retained strength sufficient to 
 drag itself to a few paces distance among the 
 brushwood, to which traces of blood guided us; 
 it proved to be a wolf. My companion refused 
 to strip the animal of its skin, a superb one, 
 viewing it at the same time with an air of 
 respect, and murmuring within himself some 
 words, the meaning of which will probably sur- 
 prise you. In fact, the wolf was his Manitou.
 
 FAIRIES AND NYMPHS. 391 
 
 He expressed to it the sincerity of his regret for 
 what had happened, and informed it that he was 
 not the person who had destroyed it. 
 
 On the 19th, my Mentor wanted to play me 
 the trick of handing me over to the charge of 
 another Indian whom we fell in with ; but T gave 
 him a frown, and he went on with me. We 
 again made a good day's progress, to which I 
 contributed by rowing to the best of my ability. 
 
 Night arrived without his pausing in his ex- 
 ertions. He gave me to understand that it was 
 indispensable for him to reach the destined 
 place without delay, and appeared excessively 
 eager to rejoin his canoes. 
 
 Much fatigued, and shivering under a cold 
 moist air, with which the night-dews in this 
 country pierce to the very bones, I lay down 
 under my bear-skin to sleep. A distant sound 
 awoke me, and I found myself alone in my 
 canoe, in the midst of rushes. On turning my 
 head I observed three or four torches approaching 
 me. My imagination had at first transported 
 me to the enchanted land of fairies, and I was 
 in motionless expectation of receiving a visit 
 from their ladyships, or of being addressed like 
 Telemachus, by the nymphs. They proved 
 however to be female Indians, who came to 
 convey my effects, and to guide me to their hut. 
 My Charon, who from purgatory had conducted
 
 302 ARRIVAL AT RED LAKE. 
 
 me to Hell, had applied to them for this pur- 
 pose, and then hastened his return to his family 
 who were waiting for him where he first met 
 with me. I was now at Red lake, at the marshy 
 spot whence the river springs, and about a mile 
 from an Indian encampment. 
 
 I was conducted to a hut covered with the 
 bark of trees, like those which I have already 
 described to you as belonging to the Cypowais, 
 but on a larger scale. I there found fourteen 
 Indians, male and female, nineteen dogs, and a 
 wolf. The latter was the first to do the honours 
 of the house ; however, as he was fastened, he 
 could not attack me so effectively as he was evi- 
 dently desirous of doing, and merely tore my 
 pantaloons, which were, indeed, the only pair I 
 had still serviceable. This wolf was one of 
 their household gods. 
 
 The first two of the Indians that my eyes 
 glanced on were my former treacherous com- 
 panions : I appeared not to observe them. I 
 desired the women to hang up my provisions 
 to the posts which supported the roof, to pre- 
 serve them from the voracity of the dogs ; and, 
 not having any power to help myself, I lay 
 down in the corner assigned to me in this into- 
 lerably filthy stable. When I got up again, 
 you will easily believe that I did not rise 
 alone : thus I incurred an addition of wounds
 
 PICTURE OF MY FIGURE. 393 
 
 and inflictions on a body which the pointed flints 
 and cutting shells of the river, and the boughs 
 of trees, thorns, brambles and musquitos, had 
 previously converted into a Job. 
 
 On the morning of the 20th, I desired to 
 be conducted to a Bois-brule for whom I had 
 brought a letter from Pembenar. I was told 
 that he resided at a distance, and that the waters 
 of the lake were in a state of great agitation. I 
 could not even obtain the favour of having him 
 sent for, for this happened to be the day when 
 it was the bounden duty of all the members of 
 the hut to devote themselves to yelling, eating, 
 drinking, and dancing, in commemoration of the 
 Indian killed at the river Cayenne. I quitted the 
 place, and offered the only handkerchief that I 
 had remaining to the first Indian whom I met, 
 and he immediately went off with my letter. 
 
 The funeral ceremony presented nothing more 
 extraordinary than what we have already seen, 
 excepting the pillaging of my provisions in ho- 
 nour of the hero of the fete ; and the convulsions 
 of the father and mother composed to quietude 
 by the blowings and exorcisms of the priests, 
 and the wounds inflicted on the arms and legs, 
 the contortions, veilings, and howlings of his 
 relatives. 
 
 The Indians of this tribe, amounting in num- 
 ber to about five hundred, and presided over by 
 a chief denominated the Great Hare (Kitci-
 
 394 EXTRAORDINARY DOCTRINE. 
 
 Wabouse,) do not inter their dead ; they burn 
 them, and scatter their ashes to the winds, in 
 order to enable them to reach heaven with 
 greater facility ; and even though only a thigh, a 
 leg, or a foot, should be burnt, they believe the 
 whole body goes with just the same certainty 
 to paradise : they conceive that this single 
 member cannot continue separated from the 
 rest of the body, and that by means of its celes- 
 tial power it attracts to itself all the others 
 which are possessed of a merely human nature 
 as long as they remain on earth. This explains 
 why the ceremony in question was so noisy and 
 violent : they manifested by the vehemence of 
 their yells the grief they felt from having in 
 their possession no member of the deceased to 
 burn. 
 
 A party of the relatives and friends was gone 
 on an expedition for discovering whether the 
 Sioux had left no remains whatever on the spot 
 where the tragedy had been acted, while my 
 old friend the pilot, as herald-at-arms, had pro- 
 ceeded to rouse the vengeance and implore the 
 succour of some Cypowais Jumpers, who were 
 scattered in various spots about the forests. The 
 doctrine of these Indians is strikingly singular, 
 it is perhaps held by them only, of all mankind. 
 For they seem to recognize rather the immorta- 
 lity of the body than that of the soul. 
 
 My Bois-brule had now arrived. He was one
 
 SPEECH OF KITCI WABOUSE. 395 
 
 of the numerous progeny scattered over the 
 country by the vice and immorality of the fur 
 traders. He is the son of a Canadian, and a 
 female Indian of the tribe of the Cypowais. 
 
 The chief then addressed himself to me 
 through this interpreter: — "Great Warrior, my 
 people have deserted thee, and thereby excited 
 thine anger. But they entertained no evil de- 
 sign ; they consider thee to be brave, and cannot 
 possibly intend thee ill. Thou hast thyself been 
 witness of the infraction of treaties committed by 
 that nation of assassins, (the Sioux) ; my people 
 therefore had a double motive for quitting thee ; 
 it was incumbent upon them to come as soon 
 as possible, and rouse our vengeance, and he 
 who was wounded suffered very great pain. 
 They took the shortest way in their power. We 
 have offered nothing to thee because thou hadst 
 more provisions than we had, and better than 
 ours ; and then thou wast angry. We have this 
 day eaten a little of them because we were in 
 want, and thou art generous. If thou hast need 
 of us, tell me so. Smoke with us the calumet of 
 peace, and grant me a small portion of tobacco." 
 I accordingly gave him a little, smoked, and 
 then left him without making any answer. Had 
 I prolonged my stay, for ever so little time, In- 
 dian hospitality would have ended in consuming 
 the whole of my provisions.
 
 396 MY INTERPRETER. 
 
 My Bois-brule resides about twelve miles dis- 
 tant from this encampment to the south of the 
 lake. The wind was too high for a canoe made 
 of bark, and the lake too violently agitated; we 
 were compelled, therefore, to disembark, and 
 passed the night under an immense plane tree. 
 This plane is, perhaps, the Colossus of the 
 whole vegetable kingdom. The Indians adore 
 it as a Manitou ; the ancients would have done 
 the same, and though I am myself a modern, I 
 admire it as one of the most prodigious and 
 most beautiful productions of nature. 
 
 We arrived at his hut on the morning of 
 the 21st. Misery might be said to be personi- 
 fied in his family, and in all by which he was 
 surrounded; a wife (the daughter of a father 
 whom she has never seen,) nourishing an infant 
 at her breast, but nearly destitute of nourish- 
 ment herself, and five naked and famine-struck 
 children, constituted the whole of his property. 
 The uncertain fishery of the lake, and a small 
 quantity of maize, in its green and immature 
 state, furnish the whole means of their subsis- 
 tence. They are neither civilized nor savage, 
 possessing the resources of neither state, but 
 every inconvenience and defect of both. The 
 worst part of the case is, that this Bois-brule has 
 a great deal of natural talent, which serves only 
 to render him more dangerous. He has been
 
 NEW DANGERS. 397 
 
 taught both to read and write, and has obtained 
 that species of education which just serves to 
 strengthen the innate evil propensities of the 
 man, when unaccompanied by that moral training 
 which is their proper curb and correction : in 
 fact, the obliquity of his character has quite 
 ruined him in the opinion of the traders who have 
 successively employed him; and his crimes 
 obliged him to abscond from Pembenar, where 
 I was informed that I ought to be more on my 
 guard against him than against the Indians them- 
 selves. I mention all these circumstances to 
 you, my dear Countess, because, with the truest 
 and noblest friendship, you are desirous of par- 
 ticipating, as it were, in every description of 
 danger incurred by me, and in order that those 
 of our mutual friends who may be inclined to 
 engage in the field of adventure like myself, may 
 learn how to meet and overcome the various 
 enemies they may have to encounter. 
 
 I immediately saw that from Scylla I had 
 fallen into Charybdis. I had recourse therefore 
 to two expedients, which I conceived to be best 
 adapted in similar circumstances to baffle the 
 mischievous machinations of grasping and greedy 
 minds, — I mean generosity and menace. I began 
 by sharing with him the small stock of provi- 
 sions and linen that I had remaining, to assuage 
 his indigence, the wants of himself and his
 
 398 A GOOD LESSON. 
 
 family ; and then told him, in a firm and elevated 
 tone, that, when occasion required, 1 should not 
 hesitate to shew my teeth and exert my power ; 
 that moreover every person at Pembenar well 
 knew that I had confided myself to his guidance, 
 and that the commandant of Fort St Peter, and 
 the government of the United States, would con- 
 sider him responsible for whatever might befall 
 me in passing through the Indian territories. 
 He then changed the manner and character of 
 his discourse. All the immense difficulties and 
 invincible objections which he had at first men- 
 tioned, and which I had pretended to hear with 
 the greatest indifference, almost immediately 
 vanished. He offered his services with alacrity 
 to assist me in surmounting the obstacles which 
 really existed, and sealed his promises by doing 
 me the honour to say, " You are a man of ten 
 thousand." But we will now return to the Red 
 river, from which we have somewhat, though 
 not unnaturally, digressed, and which we have 
 surveyed hitherto rather through the imagination 
 than the senses. 
 
 It presents no other extraordinary feature 
 than the very frequent winding of its course, in 
 which perhaps it is scarcely exceeded by the 
 Meander itself. It waters a country uniformly 
 level, and the rapids which we have seen do not 
 lower its level but by the height of its banks.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF RED LAKE. 399 
 
 After Robber's river, as you ascend, no other 
 river flows into it. This is more particularly 
 to be noticed, because the English Hudson's 
 Bay Company, according to their theories, 
 have created on their map other Red rivers, with 
 many more tributary streams flowing into it 
 than this has. 
 
 At the distance of about forty miles from the 
 lake, its banks are lined with impenetrable forests; 
 above, the view is agreeably varied by smiling 
 meadows and handsome shrubbery. On flowing 
 from the lake it passes among rushes and wild 
 rice. It is an error of geographers, founded on 
 the vague information of Indians, that it derives 
 its source from this lake; indeed, a lake which 
 is formed by five or six rivers which flow into it 
 can never be considered as itself the source of 
 any single river. We shall soon have occasion 
 to look farther for this source. 
 
 The lake, by means of a streight, is divided into 
 two ports, one to the north-east and the other to 
 the south-west. Let us proceed to make the 
 circuit of the last, which is certainly the most 
 interesting. 
 
 It receives on the western side the river 
 Broachers, (Kinougeo-sibijzmd that of the Great 
 Rock, (Kisciacinabed-sibi;) to the south, the river 
 Kahasinilague-sibi, or Gravel river, near which the 
 hut of my Bois-brulk guide is situated ; that of
 
 400 THE SOURCES OF ST LAWRENCE. 
 
 Kiogokague-sibi, or Gold-fish river ; and that of 
 Madaoanakan-sibi, or Great Portage river; on the 
 south-east, Cormorant river, (Cacakisciou-sibi.) 
 A large tongue of land on the E.N.E. forms a 
 peninsula about four miles in length, and of 
 varying breadth, ending in a point towards the 
 west. At a little distance, towards the north, 
 there is another encampment of Indians, con- 
 sisting of about three hundred persons, the chief 
 of whom is the Grand Carabou, (Kisci-Adike). 
 The straight is situated to the N. N. E., and there 
 is a small island in the midst of its waters divi- 
 ding them into two. To the north we find ano- 
 ther tongue of land, which serves also to separate 
 the two lakes, and reaches as far as the straight, 
 commencing at the spot whence, as we have 
 seen, Red river, or (more properly speaking,) 
 Bloody river, proceeds. The other lake receives, 
 on the east, Sturgeon river, (Amenikanins-sibi). 
 By the channel of this river, and by means of two 
 portages there is a communication with Rain 
 river, from whence one can easily communicate 
 with lake Superior, to the south ; and with the 
 waters of Hudson's Bay, by the lake of Woods, 
 to the north. The waters which flow into lake 
 Superior on this side, may be considered as the 
 sources of the river St Lawrence. 
 
 These two lakes are about one hundred and 
 thirty miles in circumference ; and Red river
 
 DISCOVERY OF EIGHT LAKES. 401 
 
 traverses about three hundred from the lake to 
 Pembenar ; but in a straight line the whole dis- 
 tance scarcely amounts to one hundred and sixty. 
 
 How much has it cost me, my dear Countess, 
 to write you these details ! Perhaps as much as 
 it will you to peruse them ; for, like all women 
 of spirit, you are fond of the brilliant and ro- 
 mantic. But our geographical friends would 
 accuse me of negligence if I forgot them in a 
 country completely unknown to them, and where 
 no white man had previously travelled. Our 
 political friends also would equally complain, 
 particularly our two F . . . , our B . . . , and 
 our S . . . ; for they also require similar details, 
 in order to avoid error in their frequent divisions 
 and distributions of the world. 
 
 In the course of an excursion which I made 
 to the south-west, I discovered eight small lakes, 
 undistinguished by names, which all communi- 
 cate with each other, and of which Gravel river 
 is the outlet. These lakes seem to have been 
 negligently scattered by nature through a terri- 
 tory sometimes gloomy and sometimes gay, 
 varied with hills and dales, and presenting to 
 the eye landscapes the most delightful and en- 
 chanting. I resolved to pass a night amidst 
 scenes so uncommonly charming, that I might 
 enjoy as long as possible the exquisite impres- 
 
 vol. jr. d D
 
 402 SWEET SOUVENIRS. 
 
 sions they made upon my mind and senses. I 
 dedicated these lakes to the family to which 
 I am united by the most cordial friendship ; and 
 accordingly gave them the names of Alexander, 
 Lavinius, Everard, Frederica, Adela, Magdalena, 
 Virginia, and Eleonora. The purity of the waters 
 of these lakes I considered a correct image of that 
 of their minds ; and their union reminded me of 
 the affection by which the members of this 
 happy family are so tenderly connected. 
 
 The whole of this territory abounds with in- 
 numerable maple, or sugar trees, which the 
 Indians divide into various sugaries. The sap 
 of the trees flows through incisions made in 
 them by the Indians in spring at the foot of the 
 trunk. It is received in buckets of birch bark, 
 and conveyed to the laboratory of each respec- 
 tive sugary, where it is boiled in large cauldrons 
 till the watery parts are evaporated. The dregs 
 descend, and the saccharine matter remains ad- 
 hering to the sides of the vessel. When this 
 process is completed the sugar is made. 
 
 This commodity is, to the Indians, a most 
 valuable resource : they barter it for articles of 
 indispensable necessity ; it supplies them with 
 a salutary and excellent nourishment ; and when 
 taken in ptisan, or pure water, proves an effica- 
 cious remedy for complaints of the stomach and
 
 INDIAN SUGAR. 403 
 
 bowels. It is the favourite application of their 
 quack doctors and clerical impostors, who 
 attribute the virtue of this wholesome product 
 and its balsamic effect to their own miserable jug- 
 glings. I find myself occasionally indisposed by 
 eating too copiously of the wild fruits of the coun- 
 try, forgetting under the sensation of hunger the 
 wise precept of the Salernian school respecting 
 both " quantity and quality." In these cases I 
 take a thin decoction of sugar, a few simples 
 which have been recommended to me, and 
 especially wild cherry wood, and my cure is 
 completed. 
 
 I returned to the encampment of Great Hare, 
 to engage an Indian to attend me, together with 
 my Bois-brule guide, during the continuance of 
 my excursion, and to purchase the canoe which 
 was the scene of my tragi-comedy on Red river : 
 for I was desirous of having it conveyed, if 
 possible, to my rural cottage, and preserve it 
 with my other Indian curiosities as a memorial 
 and trophy of my labours in these my trans- 
 atlantic promenades. 
 
 All the principal men of the tribe were assem- 
 bled, constituting the grand conclave or council 
 of Medicine. As I belonged to neither of the 
 five distinct societies or worlds known by savages, 
 being neither French, English, Spaniard, Ame- 
 rican, nor Indian, and consequently ought to be
 
 404 DREADFUL MYSTERIES. 
 
 regarded as the member of an unknown world, 
 and could not be considered as profane, I was 
 permitted to enter. 
 
 They were engaged in blessing their favourite 
 and magic roots. The Great Man of Medicine, 
 Piscientha Onicy Asciatophy, gave out the tune of 
 their psalms, and each individual among the 
 initiated chanted his verse in turn. The roots 
 passed through the hands of every person, being 
 in the last instance returned to those of the 
 Great Man, who completed their consecration. 
 This was followed by eating ; for this process 
 accompanies every form and ceremony ; and in 
 this I also participated. I was still in the camp 
 when one of these devotees, if I may call them 
 so, died of poison. At the above repast each 
 person had his separate allowance placed on a 
 bark trencher ; the portion of the deceased had 
 been seasoned with one of those medicines which 
 he had himself joined with the rest in blessing. 
 He was a person held in suspicion by the Great 
 Man of Medicine. 
 
 In cases of this description vengeance is per- 
 fectly silent and inactive. No one speaks of 
 the matter ; not even relatives. The deceased 
 victim is lamented only in secret. His heart is 
 burnt privately, and the ashes are preserved by 
 their medical or priestly juggler, and distributed 
 to the true believers, as occasion requires, as
 
 GREAT PORTAGE. 405 
 
 amulets of sovereign virtue. I saw the unfortu- 
 nate victim myself; he died calmly ; and the 
 other inhabitants of the hut, men, women, and 
 children, were at the time proceeding on their 
 own respective occupations with a coldness and 
 indifference absolutely appalling, not even turn- 
 ing on the dying man a single look. This event, 
 my dear Countess, recalled to my recollection a 
 number of others which made me sigh and 
 shudder at the baleful effects of imposture and 
 superstition. I then quitted the scene in a 
 state of great dejection and humiliation, with 
 a thousand painful reflections rushing on my 
 mind. 
 
 The river of Great Portage is so called by the 
 Indians because a dreadful storm that occurred 
 on it blew down a vast number of forest trees 
 on its banks, which encumber its channel, and 
 so impede its navigation as to make an extensive 
 or great portage in order to reach it. The river 
 thus denominated, however, is the true Red, 
 or rather Bloody river. It enters the lake on 
 the south, and goes out, as we have seen, on 
 the north-west. This is the opinion of the In- 
 dians themselves, and it is not difficult to find 
 arguments in support of it. 
 
 According to the theory of ancient geogra- 
 phers, the sources of a river which are most in 
 a right line with its mouth should be considered
 
 406 TRANSATLANTIC LAKE AVERNUS. 
 
 as its principal sources, and particularly when 
 they issue from a cardinal point and flow to the one 
 directly opposite. This theory appears conform- 
 able to nature and reason ; and upon this prin- 
 ciple we should proceed in forming the sources 
 of the river of Great Portage. By the name 
 Portage, is meant a passage which the Indians 
 make over a tongue of land, from one river or 
 lake to another, carrying with them on their 
 backs their light canoes, their baggage, and 
 cargoes. 
 
 I left Red lake on the morning of the 26th. 
 The commencement of Portage is between the 
 river so called and Gold-fish river. It is about 
 twelve miles long ; and I therefore engaged ano- 
 ther Indian, with his horse, to effect it more 
 conveniently. The country is delightful, but at 
 times almost impenetrable. 
 
 Half-way in my course I was stopped by a 
 fine little lake, surrounded with cypress-trees. 
 It has neither entrance nor exit. Its waters are 
 gloomy, like the objects reflected by them ; and 
 a cavern, where the water is motionless, as it is 
 indeed in every other part, recalled to my mind 
 the Sybil's Grotto at Cumae : as, however, I am 
 no Eneas, I did not consider it prudent to enter. 
 This lake had no name, and I gave it the 
 appellation of the Lake Avernus of the new 
 world.
 
 LABORIOUS PROCESSION. 407 
 
 In the evening, after extreme fatigue and ex- 
 periencing a dreadful storm, we arrived at the 
 end of the portage, near a small lake, to which 
 we gave the name of the Lake of Pines, from the 
 immense number of those trees by which it is 
 surrounded. Its waters, which by their con- 
 tinual foam and bubbling, appear to gush up- 
 wards out of the earth, after a course of four or 
 five miles, go to form the eight lakes which, as 
 has been observed, discharge themselves into 
 Bloody lake by Gravel river. 
 
 On the ensuing day, the 27th, I discharged 
 the supernumerary Indian, with his horse ; for, 
 having no provisions but what we could pro- 
 cure by means of our guns, we were already 
 three too many. We crossed the small lake 
 strictly in the direction from north to south ; 
 and here we commenced another portage of four 
 miles. 
 
 The Indian carried the canoe, the Bois-brule, 
 as much of the effects as he was able, and the 
 rest I undertook myself. You smile, my dear 
 Countess, at our laborious and humble proces- 
 sion, and indeed I cannot help joining you. 
 As, however, I have condescended to be consi- 
 dered an animal of burden, I shall not expect to 
 be ever again accused of impatience. We pro- 
 ceeded at a brisk pace, and my air and carriage 
 were not contemptible for a man who was
 
 408 THE SHAKING LANDS. - 
 
 hitched and hooked on every side in thorns and 
 briars. Even Delille, who converts everything 
 into rose and jessamine, would have changed 
 his tone in my situation. Not a word of com- 
 plaint, however, did I utter ! 
 
 At the end of this corvee we found the 
 Great Portage river. We embarked and pro- 
 ceeded up its current, crossing two lakes which 
 it forms in its course, each about five or six 
 miles in circumference, and containing patches 
 of wild rice — unfortunately for us not yet ripe. 
 A family of Indians, whom we found there, 
 collected from several spots a few ears for 
 us, but these only served to make us still more 
 acutely feel the sense of privation, and stimulate 
 our appetite more strongly. We gave these 
 lakes the name of Manometry -Kany-aguen, or the 
 lakes of Wild Rice. 
 
 After proceeding upwards of five or six miles, 
 always in a southerly direction, we entered a 
 noble lake, formed like the others by the waters 
 of the river, and which has no other issue than 
 the river's entrance and discharge. 
 
 Its form is that of a half-moon, and it has a 
 beautiful island in the centre of it. Its circum- 
 ference is about twenty miles. The Indians call 
 it Puposky- Wiza-Kany-aguen, or the End of the 
 shaking Lands ; an etymology very correct, as 
 nearly all the region we have traversed from the
 
 EXCELLENT SPORT. 409 
 
 lake of Pines may be almost considered to float 
 upon the waters. The foot sinks in with the 
 turf it treads on, and the latter resumes its level 
 when the foot removes. This lake is situated 
 at a very small distance from high lands, which 
 divide the waters flowing northward from those 
 which take a southerly direction. 
 
 I passed on this spot a part of the day of my 
 arrival and the whole of the succeeding night. 
 We had excellent sport among the wild ducks, 
 which abound and build their nests there. We 
 also dried and smoked some of them, in order to 
 preserve some stock of provisions, of which we 
 were frequently in want. On the morning of 
 the 28th we resumed our navigation of the river, 
 which enters on the south side of the lake. 
 
 About six miles higher up we discovered its 
 sources, which spring out of the ground in the 
 middle of a small prairie, and the little basin 
 into which they bubble up is surrounded by 
 rushes. We approached the spot within fifty 
 paces in our canoe. 
 
 But now, my dear Countess, let me request 
 you to step on quickly for a moment, pass the 
 short portage which conducts to the top of the 
 small hill, which overhangs these sources on 
 the south, (the only hill I have met with since 
 those I pointed out to your notice on the 
 river St Peter,) and transport yourself to the
 
 410 THE AUTHOR OF ALL WONDERS. 
 
 place where I am now writing. Here, reposing 
 under the tree, beneath whose shade I am rest- 
 ing at the present moment, you will survey with 
 an eager eye, and with feelings of intense . and 
 new delight, the sublime traits of nature ; phe- 
 nomena which fill the soul with astonishment, 
 and inspire it at the same time with almost hea- 
 venly ecstasy ! This is a work which belongs 
 to the Creator of it alone to explain. We can 
 only adore in silence his omnipotent hand. 
 
 In this situation the mind of man rises in rap- 
 ture towards the Author of all the winders which 
 surround him. Here the most determined in- 
 fidel would be compelled to admit the existence 
 of a Supreme Being. That sublime temple, be- 
 fore which all the monuments of antiquity sink 
 into insignificance, and which ages to come will 
 never be able to equal, the august temple of the 
 Vatican, where the deity and religion display 
 themselves in all their majesty, would not ex- 
 cite in your mind sentiments of faith and piety 
 so perfect and profound as those inspired by the 
 present enchanting, transcendant, and prodigi- 
 ous creations of divine omnipotence ! 
 
 We are now on the highest land of North 
 America, if we except the icy and unknown 
 mountains which are lost in the problematical 
 regions of the Pole of that part of the world, and 
 in the vague conjectures of visionary map-
 
 PHENOMENA AND CONJECTURES. 411 
 
 makers. Yet all is here plain and level, and 
 the hill is merely an eminence formed, as it 
 were, for an observatory. 
 
 Casting our eye around us, we perceive the 
 flow of waters — to the south towards the gulf of 
 Mexico, to the north towards the Frozen Sea, on 
 the east to the Atlantic, and on the west towards 
 the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 A vast platform crowns this distinguished su- 
 preme elevation, and, what is still more asto- 
 nishing, in the midst of it rises a lake. 
 
 How is this lake formed ! Whence do its 
 waters proceed ? These questions can be- solved 
 by the grand Architect alone ; man can merely 
 suggest conjectures ; and those of the savans 
 are sometimes the weakest and most errone- 
 ous, because the most presumptuous, and, from 
 their extreme subtlety, unsubstantial ; and 
 even when they understand nothing of the dif- 
 ferent phenomena before them, they always 
 consider themselves obliged to talk and theorize 
 as if they had comprehended all. I will, myself, 
 inform you in the first place of what I have ma- 
 terially and actually seen on the subject, and 
 then offer the inferences naturally flowing from 
 the facts. 
 
 This lake has no issue : and my eyes, which 
 are not deficient in sharpness, cannot discover, 
 in the whole extent of the clearest and widest
 
 412 ASTONISHING LAKE. 
 
 horizon, any land which rises above the level of 
 it. All places around it are, on the contrary, 
 considerably lower. I have made long excur- 
 sions in all its environs, and have been unable to 
 perceive any volcanic traces, of which its banks 
 are equally destitute. Yet its waters boil up in 
 the middle ; and all my sounding lines have 
 been insufficient to ascertain their depth ; which 
 may be considered as indicating that they spring 
 from the bottom of some gulf, the cavities of 
 which extend far into the bowels of the earth ; 
 and their limpid character is almost a proof that 
 they become purified by filtrating through long 
 subterraneous sinuosities : so that time may per- 
 haps have effaced the exterior and superficial 
 traces of a volcano, and the basin of the lake 
 have been nevertheless its effect and its crater. 
 Whither do these waters go ? This, I conceive, 
 may be more easily answered, although there is 
 no apparent issue for them. 
 
 You have seen the sources of the river which 
 I have ascended to this spot. They are pre- 
 cisely at the foot of the hill, and filtrate in a 
 direct line from the north bank of the lake, on 
 the right of the centre, in descending towards 
 the north. They are the sources of Bloody 
 river. On the other side, towards the south, 
 and equally at the foot of the hill, other sources 
 form a beautiful little basin of about eighty feet
 
 SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 413 
 
 in circumference. These waters likewise nitrate 
 from the lake, towards its south-western extre- 
 mity : and these sources are the actual 
 sources of the Mississippi ! This lake, there- 
 fore, supplies the most southern sources of Red, 
 or, as I shall in future call it (by its truer name) 
 Bloody river; and the most northern sources of 
 the Mississippi — sources till now unknown of 
 both. 
 
 This lake is about three miles round. It is 
 formed in the shape of a heart ; and it may be 
 truly said to speak to the very soul. Mine was 
 not slightly moved by it. It was but justice to 
 draw it from the silence in which geography, 
 after so many expeditions, still suffered it to 
 remain, and to point it out to the world in all its 
 honourable distinction. I have given it the 
 name of the respectable lady whose life (to use 
 the language of her illustrious friend the Coun- 
 tess of Albany) was one undeviating course of mo- 
 ral rectitude, and whose death ivas a calamity to all 
 who had the happiness of knowing her ; and the 
 recollection of whom is incessantly connected 
 with veneration and grief by all who can pro- 
 perly appreciate beneficence and virtue. I have 
 called the lake, accordingly, Lake Julia; and 
 the sources of the two rivers, the Julian sources 
 of Bloody river, and the Julian sources of the Mis- 
 sissippi, which, in the Algonquin language, means
 
 414 MARCO POLO, ETC. 
 
 the Father of Rivers. Oh ! what were the thoughts 
 which passed through my mind at this most 
 happy and brilliant moment of my life ! The 
 shades of Marco Polo, of Columbus, of Ameri- 
 cus Vespucius, of the Cabots, of Verazani, of 
 the Zenos, and various others, appeared present, 
 and joyfully assisting at this high and solemn 
 ceremony, and congratulating themselves on one 
 of their countrymen having, by new and suc- 
 cessful researches, brought back to the recollec- 
 tion of the world the inestimable services which 
 they had themselves conferred on it by their 
 own peculiar discoveries, by their talents, 
 achievements, and virtues. 
 
 I cannot inform you of the precise latitude or 
 longitude of this interesting spot ; for I have no 
 instruments with me by which I could ascertain 
 them ; and to speak candidly, even if I had, I 
 could not perhaps satisfactorily avail myself of 
 them. Astronomy was but slightly touched on 
 in my education, which was merely general, but 
 had not an appointed object. This is one of the 
 faults of our country, for the education of every 
 individual should have some principal and de- 
 terminate object in view; and, as you well 
 know, my dear Countess, my occupation related 
 rather to what men ought to do and to avoid on 
 earth, than to what may be explored or guessed 
 in the heavens. Moreover, perhaps the case
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL ANOMALIES. 415 
 
 case is best as it is : for, since Mr Melish is far 
 from agreeing with Mr Schoolcraft, and Major 
 Lang with Mr Tardieu, even respecting the de- 
 grees of countries well known, there is reason 
 to believe that a correct sextant is not easily to 
 be met with : I have at least, therefore, not led 
 the world into error on the subject. However, 
 as I calculate that from Pembenar, which is in 
 the fiftieth degree, I have proceeded almost 
 always longitudinally as far as Bloody lake, I 
 presume these sources are not far distant from 
 the forty-ninth. 
 
 My Indian and Bois-brule are now announcing 
 to me, for the third time, that my table is ready. 
 Occupied by the most grand and interesting 
 objects in nature, with a mind absorbed by the 
 sentiments which these solitary and venerable 
 regions inspire, and those also arising from my 
 associations with the name by which I have 
 just designated them, I had nearly forgotten the 
 very means of my existence — I now go to my 
 Indian repast.
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 At Sandy Lake, 
 
 Sept. 20, 1823. 
 
 In my last letter, my dear Countess, I left you 
 at the Julian sources of Bloody river and the 
 Mississippi. We have seen the greatest part of 
 the first, let us now follow the second. I hope, 
 if heaven prove propitious to my wishes, to con- 
 duct you to the mouths of it. We shall, in that 
 case, be the only individuals who ever traversed 
 the whole of its course, as we were the first to 
 discover its sources. 
 
 The Julian sources of the Mississippi run di- 
 rectly to the south of the small basin which has 
 been noticed, by a narrow strait of three miles 
 length, into Turtle lake. If I had not been 
 afraid of adventuring my canoe amidst the 
 almost impassable brambles and brushwood
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL LESSON. 417 
 
 which impede its portage, I should have com- 
 menced the navigation from the very spot on 
 which they spring. 
 
 I find it impossible to become weary of ex- 
 amining and admiring the least objects of atten- 
 tion furnished by this scene. The majestic river, 
 which embraces a world in its immense course, 
 and speaks in thunder in its cataracts, is at 
 these its sources nothing but a timid Naiad, 
 stealing cautiously through the rushes and briars 
 which obstruct its progress. The famous Mis- 
 sissippi, whose course is said to be twelve hun- 
 dred leagues, and which bears navies on its 
 bosom, and steam-boats superior in size to fri- 
 gates, is at its source merely a petty stream of 
 crystalline water, concealing itself among reeds 
 and wild rice, which seem to insult over its 
 humble birth. I could not but be struck with 
 the valuable lesson here furnished to haughty 
 upstarts, or help recurring in imagination to the 
 slave in antiquity, who, placed behind the car 
 of triumph, repeated in the conqueror's ear, 
 " Respice post te et hominem esse memento." In 
 short, my imagination, which had figured to it- 
 self precipitous mountains, down which the 
 waters of this monarch of rivers rushed in 
 mighty waves, was struck with astonishment at 
 finding one eternal flat of swampy ground. 
 The Tortoise lake, called by the Indians 
 vol. ir. E E
 
 418 TORTOISE LAKE. 
 
 Miki?iakosa-guay-guen, took its name not, as 
 geographers tell us, from its form, but from 
 a tortoise of extraordinary size, which the In- 
 dians found there about a century ago : they 
 fed it with everything they could offer it most 
 delicious, and long worshipped it as a great 
 Manitou. 
 
 Neither traveller, nor missionary, nor geo- 
 grapher, nor expedition-maker, ever visited this 
 lake. A great many of the stories which find 
 their way into books are invented by the Red 
 men, either to deceive the whites, or to conceal 
 their own belief or their own weaknesses. You 
 never hear an Indian talk about his gods, or 
 about the worship he pays them. Theological 
 disputations, claims to religious ascendancy, 
 despotic intolerance, do not disturb their com- 
 munities or their families, every man goes to the 
 heaven of his own creation by the way his con- 
 science or his instinct points out. The Indians 
 themselves have confessed to me that, when they 
 go down to the traders' settlements, they amuse 
 themselves with gulling their credulity by a 
 number of fables, which afterwards become the 
 oracles of geographers and book-makers. 
 
 This lake is like a labyrinth. The quantity 
 of streights and little bays formed by the nu- 
 merous islands and peninsulas, renders it almost 
 inextricable. Setting out from the most northerly
 
 WONDERFUL PHENOMENON. 419 
 
 point, where the Julian sources of the Mississippi 
 enter the lake, you steer direct to the south for 
 two miles, then turn to the east through a 
 streight formed by an island and a tongue of 
 land; then turn to the south again, then to the 
 west, constantly doubling capes and promonto- 
 ries, and at length you reach the point, towards 
 the S. S. E. where the Mississippi resumes its 
 course. The lake, including all its numerous 
 bays, is perhaps more than a hundred miles in 
 circumference. It has no other outlets than the 
 entrance and issue of the Mississippi. The vo- 
 lume of water of the river is so considerable even 
 at its first issuing from the lake, that it already 
 affords a safe navigation for large boats ; which 
 leads me to think that the lake is fed by subter- 
 ranean springs ; indeed the whole surrounding 
 country is, to use the Indians' expressive word, 
 completely "shaking." The whole substratum 
 here is water, just as in the kingdom of Naples 
 it is fire. But the former of these phenomena is 
 much more surprising than the latter, for it is 
 the property of fire to ascend, but it is impos- 
 sible to understand how so vast an extent of 
 elevated country, which has no higher land 
 around it, can remain thus saturated with water. 
 The Mississippi turns almost immediately to the 
 east, then to the north east, in which direction it 
 flows into a pretty little lake, which I have taken
 
 420 heron's river. 
 
 the liberty to consecrate to you, by christening- 
 it Jeromine. The river flows out of it again on 
 the E.S.E., and, after a course of seven or eight 
 miles, passes through another, which I called 
 Monteleone, in memory of that illustrious man, 
 and as a mark of my grateful remembrance of 
 the friendship with which he honoured me, and 
 of which death alone could rob me. It keeps the 
 same direction for about fifteen miles, describes 
 a point towards the east, and then takes its 
 course towards the south-west for fifteen miles 
 more, to the confluence of the river which the 
 Indians call Scisa'iagiiay-sibi, or the Heron's 
 river, from the number of these birds which inha- 
 bit it : it flows from the north-west. I stopped 
 there the night of the 2nd instant. 
 
 My Indian guide, who had hunted in all these 
 desert tracts, informed me that this river was a 
 truly delightful and charming one, and that by 
 availing ourselves of its course and of one por- 
 tage, we might return to Turtle lake by a short 
 cut, saving not fewer than twenty miles. He 
 moreover led me to hope that, by silently as- 
 cending it, we might meet with some bears, (as 
 they abound on its banks, which furnish great 
 quantities of wild fruits,) and kill them from our 
 canoe. I determined therefore to make known 
 to the world this short passage; and we set out 
 on the morning of the 3rd accordingly.
 
 LAKES TORRIGIANI AND ANTONELLI. 421 
 
 This river is indeed a touchstone of sensibi- 
 lity. It traverses a number of small basins of 
 the most luxuriant and variegated description. 
 But the beauty of the lake whence it issues is 
 what principally strikes and fascinates the atten- 
 tion. It is certainly one of the most exquisite 
 spots in nature. It consists of two basins; the 
 first, which we enter on the south, is triangular ; 
 we then clear a small streight on the north, and 
 see before us the other basin, in the form of an 
 ellipsis or a circle. Its banks are of a majestic 
 character, from the stately and spreading trees 
 which overhang them. I have given it the name 
 of Torrigiani. 
 
 We disembarked on the north side and made 
 a portage of four miles ; we however left behind 
 our little baggage, which we hung up in the 
 trees, and carried with us only our arms and our 
 canoe. We passed through a gloomy forest, 
 which abounded in martens, and at the end of 
 the portage we came to another lake of an oval 
 form, which I called Antonelli. We traversed 
 its breadth from south to north, a space of about 
 four or five miles ; and then, after clearing a 
 narrow pass, dreadfully encumbered with trunks 
 of trees and wild rice, we found ourselves again 
 in the Mississippi, precisely at the point where 
 it issues from Turtle lake. Here we passed 
 the night; and it very nearly proved the last
 
 422 AWFUL STORM. 
 
 night of our lives. A dreadful storm had almost 
 crushed us under the trees, which it mowed 
 down like so many tulips in a garden, or up- 
 rooted with the same ease as if they had been 
 carrots. We scarcely had time to save our- 
 selves with our canoe in the midst of a spot of 
 prairie, to which, by a sort of miracle in these 
 forests, we very fortunately had access. Had we 
 lost our canoe, we should have been completely 
 ruined ; for even Indians would have been 
 unable to extricate themselves safely from such 
 a watery labyrinth without a canoe. 
 
 The place from which we had fled for security 
 in the night, we found in the morning strewed 
 with immense trees. The forest of the portage, 
 which we again traversed, was equally encum- 
 bered by fallen trees, and the clear and tranquil 
 water of the lakes had become foul and agi- 
 tated. This terrible convulsion was not impro- 
 bably the effect of an earthquake. But on a 
 tract of territory so boggy and shaking, it was 
 scarcely possible to distinguish such an event 
 with accuracy. My Indian, for the convenience 
 of drying ourselves, kindled a flame under the 
 trees which had crossed one another in falling, 
 and we soon had a noble bonfire, which com- 
 prehended in its blaze some portion of the forest; 
 and which not improbably is burning yet. 
 
 Near the lake Torrigiani, on the right, as we
 
 THE BEAVER. 423 
 
 were returning, my Indian attendant satisfied 
 my curiosity upon a point by which it had a long 
 while been excited. 
 
 It seems difficult for a traveller to publish his 
 adventures without mentioning the castor or 
 beaver, even though his travels may have been 
 limited to Africa, where this animal is not to be 
 found. I should wish to avoid repetitions, but 
 I do not distinctly recollect anything that has 
 been stated by these ingenious gentlemen on 
 the subject, or even what Buffon wrote about 
 it in his closet. I will communicate to you 
 only what I have myself actually seen, and 
 been from good authority informed of, respect- 
 ing these astonishing creatures. If I men- 
 tion circumstances which others have narrated 
 before me, you may consider it as affording 
 additional evidence of what you were previously 
 acquainted with ; and if what I advance be new, 
 you will, I hope, give me credit for adding to 
 your information. 
 
 A small river flows into the lake on the 
 western side. The beavers have barricadoed the 
 mouth of it by a dike, completed in a manner 
 which would not disgrace a corps of engineers ; 
 the water is thus kept back, and forms a pond, 
 in which they have erected their habitations. It 
 is proper to notice that the river in question is
 
 424 THE BEAVER. 
 
 never dried up, as otherwise they would not 
 have fixed upon it for their purpose. 
 
 The stakes fixed in the earth, and the trunks 
 of trees which are laid across them, are of con- 
 siderable thickness and length. It is difficult 
 to conceive how such small animals are able to 
 transport such bulky articles. But what is more 
 astonishing is, that they never make use of trees 
 blown down by the wind, or levelled by the 
 strength of man, but select them themselves, 
 cutting down such as are peculiarly adapted for 
 the intended building, and doing this always on 
 the banks of lakes or large rivers, in order to 
 avail themselves of the opportunity of conveying 
 them by water to the place intended. 
 
 While five or six are occupied in cutting or 
 sawing with their teeth the bottom of the trunk, 
 another stations himself in the middle of the 
 river, and indicates by a hissing sound, or by 
 striking the water with his tail, which way the 
 top inclines towards the fall, that the operators 
 without interrupting their labour may conduct it 
 with proper caution, and preclude all danger. It 
 is worthy of remark, that they never gnaw the 
 tree on the land side, but always on that of 
 the lake or river, in order to ensure its falling 
 into it. 
 
 The whole tribe then combine their exertions,
 
 THE BEAVER. 425 
 
 and float the trunk to the place where it is 
 wanted. Here, with their teeth, they point 
 the stakes ; with their claws dig deep holes 
 for them in the earth, and with their paws 
 introduce and drive them in. They then place 
 branches against them, and fill up the interstices 
 with mortar, which some prepare while the 
 others are cutting down the trees, or engaged in 
 different departments of labour ; for the tax of 
 labour is carefully distributed, and no individual 
 remains unemployed. The mortar used by these 
 wonderful animals becomes more hard and solid 
 than the finest Roman cement. 
 
 When the dike is completed, and has been 
 proved fit for the purpose designed, they effect 
 an opening at the bottom of it, by way of flood- 
 gate (which they open or close as may be re- 
 quired,) that the stream may not be too much 
 impeded. They then commence building their 
 habitation in the midst of the mass constituting 
 the dike. They never begin to erect the habi- 
 tation previously to forming the dike, lest the 
 latter operation should fail of success, and they 
 should consequently lose their valuable time and 
 labour. 
 
 Their mansion, formed equally of wood and 
 mortar, consists of two stories, and is double; its 
 length is in proportion to the number of the tribe 
 for whom it is intended.
 
 426 THE BEAVER. 
 
 The first stage, or story, is a magazine in 
 common for provisions, and is under water; the 
 second is divided into dormitories, each family- 
 having its distinct chamber; this part of the 
 building is above the water. 
 
 Under the foundations of the building they 
 form a number of avenues, by means of which 
 they enter and quit subterraneously, so as not 
 to be perceived by the most keen and watchful 
 Indian ; these all terminate at a distance from 
 their dwelling, and in part of the mound consti- 
 tuting their dike, or in lakes or rivers, near 
 which they usually form their establishments, 
 that they may have it in their power to select 
 that direction which may be most convenient 
 and least dangerous in the various incidents and 
 exigencies of their lives. 
 
 Beavers are divided into tribes, and some- 
 times merely into small bands, each of which 
 has its chief; and order and discipline exist in 
 these distinct societies to a greater extent pro- 
 bably than among the Indians, or even among 
 some civilized and polished nations. 
 
 Their magazines are invariably fully stored 
 with provisions in summer ; and no one is per- 
 mitted to break in upon this stock until the 
 scarcity of winter begins to be experienced, 
 unless circumstances render it imperatively ne- 
 cessary to violate this rule. In no case, how-
 
 THE BEAVER. 427 
 
 ever, is any one permitted to enter without the 
 express authority and indeed the presence of 
 the chief. Their provisions consist, in general, 
 of the bark of trees, principally of the willow 
 and poplar species. On some occasions, when 
 bark is not to be found in sufficient quantities, 
 they collect also the wood of those trees, which 
 they divide into distinct parcels with their 
 teeth. 
 
 Each tribe has its peculiar territory. Tf any 
 foreigner be taken in the act of marauding, he is 
 delivered over to the chief, who, on the first 
 offence, chastises him with a view to correction ; 
 but, for the second, deprives him of his tail, 
 which is considered as the greatest disgrace to 
 which a beaver can be exposed : for the tail is 
 the carriage on which he conveys stones, mor- 
 tar, provisions, &c. and it is also the trowel (the 
 figure of which it represents exactly) which he 
 uses in building. This violation of international 
 rights, however, is considered among them as 
 so great an outrage, that the whole tribe of the 
 mutilated culprit take up arms in his cause, and 
 proceed immediately to obtain vengeance. 
 
 In this conflict, the victors, availing them- 
 selves of the customary rights of war, expel the 
 conquered from their home, take possession of 
 it themselves, appoint a provisional garrison for 
 the occupation, and eventually establish in it a
 
 428 THE BEAVER. 
 
 colony of young beavers. In this connection, 
 another circumstance relating to these truly 
 wonderful creatures will appear not less asto- 
 nishing. 
 
 The female beaver whelps usually in the 
 month of April, and produces as many as four 
 young ones. She sustains, and carefully in- 
 structs them for a year, that is, till the family 
 are on the eve of a new increase ; and then 
 these young beavers, compelled thus to make 
 room for others, build a new home by the 
 side of the paternal mansion, if they be not very 
 numerous ; but if there should be too many to 
 admit of this, they are obliged to go, with others, 
 to a new spot, forming a new tribe and a new 
 establishment. If, then, about this season the 
 enemy should happen to be driven from his 
 quarters, the conquerors install in them their own 
 young ones of the current year, provided they 
 be duly qualified for emancipation, or, in other 
 words, capable of managing for themselves. 
 
 The Indians have related to me as a positive 
 fact another circumstance respecting the con- 
 duct of these animals ; but it is so extraordinary, 
 that I leave you to credit it or not, as you may 
 think proper. 
 
 They allege, and some will even assert them- 
 selves to have been eye-witnesses of such a fact, 
 that the two chiefs of hostile tribes sometimes
 
 THE BEAVER. 429 
 
 terminate the quarrel by a single combat, in 
 presence of the two opposing armies, instances 
 of which have occurred in various nations ; or 
 by a conflict of three with three, like the Ho- 
 ratii and Curatii of antiquity. 
 
 Beavers practice the usage of matrimony, and 
 death alone separates the parties. They inflict 
 heavy punishments on their females for infide- 
 lity, and sometimes even death itself. 
 
 In cases of sickness, they mutually and 
 anxiously take care of each other ; and the sick 
 express their pain by plaintive sounds and tones 
 like the human race. 
 
 The Indians hunt the beaver in the same 
 way in which I formerly described them to you 
 as hunting the musk-rat : indeed the latter ani- 
 mal may be considered as a beaver of a secon- 
 dary order. It is of the same shape, only 
 smaller, and resembles it in many of its qua- 
 lities, but its fur is very inferior in beauty and 
 fineness. It may be added, that in winter the 
 Indians make holes in the ice which covers the 
 ponds surrounding the habitation of the bea- 
 vers, and, carefully watching for the moment 
 when they lift their heads up to take breath, 
 instantly shoot them. 
 
 Great Hare, at Bloody lake, confidently as- 
 sured me that, on reaching the spot where two 
 tribes of beavers had just been engaged in battle 
 with each other, he had found upon the field
 
 430 RELIGION OF THE SAVAGES. 
 
 fifteen, dead or dying : and other Indians, both 
 Sioux andCypowais, have equally declared that 
 they have occasionally obtained capital prizes on 
 the like occasions. It is perfectly correct that 
 they are sometimes taken without a tail. I have 
 seen one in that state myself, which corroborates 
 the history of the punishment inflicted by them on 
 obstinate offenders. In short, these animals are 
 deemed so very extraordinary, even by Indians, 
 that they consider them as men metamorphosed 
 into beavers ; and killing them is regarded as 
 conferring upon them a very essential service, 
 as it is conceived to be a restoration of them to 
 their original state of being. Here, again, my 
 dear Countess, is a puzzle for those who are 
 desirous of compacting the religion of these 
 tribes into a system ! But it is time for us now 
 to return to the Mississippi. 
 
 We rejoined it on the evening of the 3rd, at 
 the place where we had quitted it the even- 
 ing before, and again passed the night there. 
 Our household gods seemed to have expected 
 our arrival, for the fire we had kindled there 
 was still burning. 
 
 On the 4th, we struck our tents very early, 
 and arrived in the evening at Red Cedar lake, 
 so called on account of the number of those 
 beautiful trees, whose dark green foliage over- 
 shadows its islands and banks. 
 
 The Mississippi, from the mouth of Heron's
 
 REMARKABLE ECHO. 431 
 
 river, receives no other, but may be said to flow 
 constantly through the midst of water, for all its 
 banks are submerged and shaking, though va- 
 ried by prairies and forests. Its bed is always 
 very deep, and its course gentle and uniform. 
 It traverses or forms four superb lakes, the 
 largest of which is seven miles in circumference, 
 and the smallest four. I have called them Pro- 
 vidence lakes, on account of the fields of wild 
 rice which Providence has formed there, and the 
 ears of which resemble those of the land of pro- 
 mise. After passing through the streight of the 
 last of those lakes, the river enters Red Cedar 
 lake to the south, and flows out of it on the left, 
 at E. N. E., at the end of a bay formed by a 
 tongue of land which projects into the lake at 
 
 s. s.w. 
 
 On the right of the entrance of the lake, 
 accident discovered to us a very remarkable 
 and indeed astonishing echo. It was night, and 
 my Indian and Bois-brule called out in loud 
 voices, as usual, in order to learn the situation 
 of the flying camp of the Indians who inhabit 
 this lake. Their calls were repeated times 
 without number, gradually diminishing in loud- 
 ness, and at length fading through the distance 
 into extreme faintness. 
 
 This lake is the non plus ultra of all the disco- 
 veries ever made in these regions before my
 
 432 RED CEDAR OR CASSINA LAKE. 
 
 own. No traveller, no expedition, no explorer, 
 whether European or American, has gone be- 
 yond this point : and it is at this lake that Mr 
 Schoolcraft fixed the sources of the Mississippi 
 in 1819. For the more complete celebration of 
 this fortunate discovery, this illustrious epoch, 
 he rebaptized it by the name of lake Cassina, 
 from the name of Mr Cass, governor of Michigan 
 territory, who was at the head of the expedition. 
 Mr Schoolcraft was the historiographer. 
 
 The geographers who had previously com- 
 prised this lake in their maps, might fairly pro- 
 test against this conduct as usurpation, for he 
 has infringed on the right which they unques- 
 tionably possess of calling it Red Cedar lake, or 
 the lake of Red Cedar, a name long since con- 
 secrated by usage, and inveterate usage (you 
 know) is held equivalent to law. You will per- 
 haps, remark, that I have myself baptized a 
 tolerable number of lakes. Mine, however, 
 must be admitted to have been fair subjects for 
 the ceremony. They were not only not to be 
 found in any map, but they were unknown to 
 all the world ; and I trust that flattery has no 
 share in my inaugurations of them, as I applied 
 to them only such names as- were consecrated 
 by my veneration for the dead or my friend- 
 ship for the living. 
 
 This lake is also to be considered as a large
 
 Schoolcraft's sources. 433 
 
 lake, if we are to comprise in its extent that of 
 two others with which it communicates by two 
 streightson the W. and E. S. E. Some islands 
 which intercept the full view of it, are of an im- 
 mense size, though they might appear small to 
 the eye of the observer who merely passed for 
 a moment into its first basin, and, after break- 
 fasting there, returned almost immediately by 
 the way he came, satisfied with being able to 
 say, " I have been there," and with having had 
 the portrait taken in a sort of miniature. But 
 those who advance farther, and examine with 
 more attention, experience no small surprise on 
 discovering the vast expanse of water before and 
 around them, sufficiently convincing them that 
 in those regions, yet more than in others, that 
 element covers more than two-thirds of their 
 surface ; while the picturesque and enchanting 
 scenes, continually presented to the eye, excite 
 the most intense delight and admiration. Mr 
 Cass represented merely what, as I before inti- 
 mated, must be considered as a miniature deli- 
 neation (taken from his encampment on the 
 western bank of the lake, where I encamped 
 myself,) of the western island, which is in fact 
 of great extent. As soon as the hasty sketch had 
 been taken, he returned to join the expedition, 
 which he had left, for the greater part, at Sandy 
 vol. ir. f F
 
 434 WESTERN SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 lake, as we shall see at the close of the present 
 letter. 
 
 The figure of the first basin is varied by bays 
 and promontories, and four islands divide it 
 into numerous arms. One of these islands is 
 about twenty miles in circumference, and inha- 
 bited by about a hundred Cypowais Indians. 
 According to the opinion of those Indians, the 
 circumference of this basin must be considered 
 as about eighty miles. That which joins it on 
 the E. S. E., of an oval form, and surrounded 
 by gloomy pine and cypress trees, is about 
 eight miles. The third, to the west, which is 
 nearly triangular, is little less than thirty miles. 
 At the bottom of this last lake, on the west, 
 is found the entrance of a considerable river, 
 which the Indians call Demizimamiamaguen- 
 sibi, or the river of lake Traverse. It issues 
 from the lake, (the second of that name,) twenty 
 miles above its mouth, on the N. W. This 
 lake communicates, in the same direction, by a 
 streight of two or three miles in length, with ano- 
 ther lake, which the Indians call Moscosaguai- 
 gtien, or Bitch lake, which receives no tributary 
 stream, and seems to draw its waters from the 
 bosom of the earth. It is here, in my opinion, 
 that we shall fix the western sources of the 
 Mississippi. The waters beyond the high lands
 
 LEECH RIVER. 435 
 
 which surmount this lake flow towards the north 
 into Hudson's Bay. 
 
 The Julian or northern sources of the Missis- 
 sippi, are about a hundred miles distant from 
 Red lake; about that distance, therefore, from 
 those fixed by Mr Schoolcraft ; and the sources 
 of Bitch lake, or the western sources, are, I con- 
 ceive, fifty miles distant. We resume the course 
 of the river. 
 
 On issuing* from the Red Cedar lake it turns 
 to the east, and continues in the same direction 
 as far as lake Winipeg, which is about fifty miles 
 in circumference. It traverses this lake, and 
 issues from it in the direction of E. S. E. At 
 some distance from this, it forms a small lake 
 four or five miles round ; and twenty-five or 
 thirty miles farther on, in the direction of 
 S. S. W., it receives the river Leech, (Caza- 
 guaguagine-sibi,) which is the first tributary 
 river to be found below Red Cedar lake for the 
 space of seventy miles, and which flows down 
 from the west. 
 
 Its depth and its progress are always the 
 same, and these regions may be almost as 
 truly said to bathe the river, as that to bathe 
 them ; for, to whatever part of the bank we 
 direct our view, we see nothing but water and 
 shaking bog. On the night of the 6th, in order 
 to avoid getting in contact with the water, I con-
 
 43G MISERIES OF ALL SORTS. 
 
 structed a pile formed of three layers of the 
 branches of trees, over which I spread my bear- 
 skin ; but all my precaution was insufficient to 
 secure me from the springs which bubbled up 
 around me; and whenever 1 turned, I felt myself 
 rocking as with the movement of a cradle, and 
 as if floating, like another Apollo, in the isle of 
 Delos. 
 
 While you read these "pages, your friendly 
 regard will perhaps take alarm at every leaf you 
 turn over ; and you will be apprehensive that 
 I shall sink under the fatigues incidental to so 
 very laborious and novel a mode of life. You 
 will be comforted, however, by the assurance 
 that I have scarcely felt even a head-ache, 
 though, when I wake in the morning, I am com- 
 pletely drenched by the dew from above, and by 
 the bubbling of the springs below me ; though 
 I always sleep in the open air, and am there- 
 fore, completely exposed to the inclemency of 
 the season, and the attacks of musquitos, gnats, 
 emmets, and reptiles ; though my gun only can 
 be depended upon for food, and the river for my 
 drink ; though, in short, I am surrounded by all 
 sorts of miseries. You may hence, my dear 
 Countess, judge of the elevation of these regions, 
 the purity and elasticity of the air of which can 
 impart spirits and vigour sufficient to counteract 
 such inconveniences and dangers.
 
 CYPOWAIS PLUNDERERS, 437 
 
 On the night of the 7th I slept at the mouth 
 of this same Leech river. The lake whence 
 it issues is a new Colchis, where a second 
 Jason found, like the first, a golden fleece ; 
 where Mr Pike fixed the sources of the Mis- 
 sissippi, fourteen years before Mr Cass fixed 
 them at Red Cedar lake. This circumstance 
 could not fail of exciting my curiosity, and I 
 determined, in consequence, to go and view the 
 scene which had given birth to the conjectures 
 of the first of my two predecessors. 
 
 We arrived on the evening of the Sth at lake 
 Sogahyguen, or Muddy lake. Like those of 
 Providence, it is completely covered with wild 
 rice. Only one river discharges itself into the 
 Leech before it reaches the lake. The Indians 
 call it Bagatwa-sibi, or the Owl. It flows from 
 the north. By means of this river and a few 
 portages, a short cut may be taken to reach 
 Cedar lake. 
 
 On the 9th we arrived at Leech lake, (Kaza- 
 gas-guaiguen,) at Macuwa or Bear island, where 
 we found a considerable band of Cypowais plun- 
 derers, so denominated from their plundering and 
 murdering the first Canadians who pushed their 
 commerce to such a dangerous distance. 
 
 This band is very numerous and warlike. I 
 found it divided into two factions, one of which 
 is actuated by the spirit of legitimacy, the other
 
 438 CYPOWAIS FACTIONS. 
 
 by its opposite. The Pokes kononepe, or Cloudy 
 Weather, a usurper, contests the crown and 
 empire with the chief Esquibuskoge, or Wide 
 Mouth, who possesses them by hereditary right : 
 but as these Indians beyond all others require 
 for their head a daring and active man who can 
 conduct them to victory over the Sioux, by 
 whom they are frequently harassed, instead of 
 an idle and profligate poltroon, always reposing 
 under the shade of his genealogical tree, and des- 
 titute of all merit but that allowed him by his 
 flatterers, Cloudy Weather has the majority on 
 his side. The government of the United States 
 acknowledges both ; Cloudy Weather, because he 
 declaims in their favour ; and Wide Mouth, in 
 order to detach him from the English, to whom 
 he is friendly ; but principally, I imagine, from 
 the policy of keeping alive division in a band 
 powerful in force but precarious in attachment. 
 From the observation I have myself made, I 
 must acknowledge I am tempted to believe that 
 the whole affair of apparent disunion may be a 
 mere farce originating in Indian craft and sub- 
 tlety, having for its object to turn to the best 
 account the solicitations and liberality of both 
 these nations. And in fact they receive the rich 
 repasts and grand galas of both with the same 
 customary phrases of friendship, devotion, and 
 fidelity. When an option will become absolutely
 
 CAUTIOUS POLICY. 439 
 
 necessary, they will probably side with the 
 party most skilful in intrigue and most liberal 
 in bribes : they will most likely, therefore, 
 take part with the English. The fact is, that 
 the two chiefs reign respectively over their 
 peculiar partisans, or perhaps it may be said 
 more truly, are respectively their slaves. 
 
 On my arrival among them they were in no 
 little commotion on another subject, involving the 
 two parties in new contention. Cloudy Weather s 
 son-in-law had been killed a few days before by 
 the Sioux, and they had at the same time re- 
 ceived intelligence of the affair at Cayenne river, 
 and of what had happened to my two Indians on 
 Bloody river. Wide Mouth demanded an imme- 
 diate war, and was desirous of forming an army, 
 of which he himself never constituted any part. 
 Cloudy Weather, who is not deficient in sense, 
 suspected that this warlike ardour, this extraor- 
 dinary eagerness and zeal, were assumed with a 
 view to remove him out of the way, and turn his 
 absence to his injury ; and therefore, although 
 the principal person aggrieved, strongly recom- 
 mended 'prudence and moderation. 
 
 I had no sooner disembarked than he imme- 
 diately called a council of war, which is com- 
 posed of the chief officers of the army, and came 
 to me to invite my attendance. It is to be ob-
 
 440 COUNCIL OF WAR. 
 
 served, that all these Indians had seen me at 
 Fort St Peter. 
 
 He began by observing, that the Great Spirit 
 had sent me for the express purpose of giving 
 them salutary counsels ; that as the friend of 
 their father (the agent) it became me to fulfil the 
 duties which the circumstances required of me ; 
 that division existed in their camp ; that his 
 heart was torn with grief for the death of his 
 son-in-law, while at the same time he was aware 
 that it would ill become him to sacrifice his be- 
 loved Cypowais for the sake of his own personal 
 vengeance ;. that he had every need, therefore, 
 in such a conflict of mind, of consulting with 
 that man of another world, who had smoked with 
 them the calumet of friendship, and been a witness 
 of the peace which the Sioux had sworn to with 
 them, &c. &c. My reply was soon made. I told 
 them that, being a stranger to the Americans, to 
 America, and to the Indians, I neither ought nor 
 designed to interfere in their affairs, and more 
 particularly in their quarrels ; but that, as it 
 was the duty of every one to answer as well as 
 he could those who confidingly asked his advice, 
 I must declare mine to be that, as they had in 
 Mr Tagliawar a father who loved them, and 
 who represented the government, they should 
 do nothing without his consent ; and that such
 
 the author's advice. 441 
 
 was too the will and command of the Great 
 Spirit. The council approved of what I said ; 
 and Cloudy Weather offered to accompany me to 
 Fort St Peter to consult his Father. 
 
 A few moments after, Wide Mouth sent to re- 
 quest my attendance. I went accordingly. I 
 found him lying at full length in his tent, like 
 old Silenus, in a state of intoxication, sur- 
 rounded by his partisans. He began a discourse, 
 and seemed to intend introducing into it a num- 
 ber of subjects, but I cut short his address, and 
 merely observed that wars in general served 
 only to gratify the views and passions of the 
 ambitious or despotic few ; that the public good 
 was often solely the pretext for them, but the 
 people always became their victim ; that as to 
 anything farther on my part, I had nothing to 
 do with them, that I had neither time nor incli- 
 nation to involve myself in their quarrels, and 
 that I referred them to the proposition I had 
 just suggested to the other council. This in- 
 deed they could scarcely fail of having been 
 informed of, for I had reason to know that even 
 Indians have among them the same neutral class 
 as abounded in Greece of old, and as may be 
 found indeed in all parts of the world — ca- 
 meleons of all colours — renegadoes of all parties. 
 
 The royal chief, ill satisfied with my observa- 
 tions, and desirous of counteracting truth by
 
 442 INDIAN DELPHIC ORACLE. 
 
 imposture, consulted the oracle respecting the 
 event of the war he wished to engage in : and 
 the oracle was favourable, as might naturally be 
 expected ; for the decision was given by one of 
 his own priests. 
 
 I cannot repress my astonishment at finding 
 the usages and ceremonies of antiquity every 
 instant copied or renewed among these Indians. 
 Their oracles spoke precisely by the same means 
 as did the oracle of Delphos formerly. Instead 
 of the Pythian priestess, one of their priests is 
 seated on a perforated tripod completely con- 
 cealed under a bell-formed cover of birch bark, 
 which has a round opening at the top, through 
 which the divine annunciation issues. Beneath 
 the tripod a tube, also made of bark, communi- 
 cates under ground with a stove, over which a 
 kettle filled with water and aromatic herbs is 
 kept boiling, the vapour of which passing through 
 the tube has the effect of heating and sublimat- 
 ing to what are deemed prophetic visions the 
 brain of the officiating priest, who utters the 
 cries and ravings of a demoniac, and borrows 
 on those occasions a language intelligible only 
 to the Coryphcci of the Indian sanctuary. My 
 Bois-brule himself, though well acquainted with 
 the Algonquin language, understood not a single 
 word that was delivered. It is a remarkable cir- 
 cumstance, that professional jealousy excludes
 
 FUNERAL CEREMONY. 443 
 
 all foreign priests from this ceremony, conform- 
 ably to the practice both of ancient and modern 
 times ; and I had some difficulty in persuading 
 them that I was totally unconnected with the 
 priesthood, in order to be permitted to be pre- 
 sent at it. I have been informed that similar 
 means are sometimes used for applying vapour 
 baths to the sick ; and, occasionally, even for 
 suffocating the individuals whom the Grand 
 Medicine junta, wish to get rid of. 
 
 I was a spectator of the funeral ceremony 
 performed in honour of the manes of Cloudy 
 Weather s son-in-law, whose body had remained 
 with the Sioux, and was suspected to have fur- 
 nished one of their repasts. What appeared not 
 a little singular, and indeed ludicrous in this 
 funeral comedy, was the contrast exhibited by 
 the terrific lamentations and yells of one part of 
 the company, while the others were singing and 
 dancing with all their might. I was scarcely able 
 several times to refrain from laughing : but the 
 ceremony having some resemblance to the usages 
 of the ancients, who also on such occasions paid 
 and employed together Tibicenes and PrcvficcE, 
 my respect for antiquity and our antiquaries 
 enabled me to preserve my gravity. At another 
 funeral ceremony for a member of the Grand 
 Medicine, and at which, as a man of another world, 
 I was permitted to attend, the same practice oc-
 
 444 LAST OBSEQUIES. 
 
 curred. But, at the feast which took place on that 
 occasion, an allowance was served up for the de- 
 ceased out of every article of which it consisted, 
 while others were beating, wounding, and tor- 
 turing themselves, and letting their blood flow 
 both over the dead man and his provisions, think- 
 ing possibly that this was the most palatable 
 seasoning for the latter which they could possi- 
 bly supply. His wife furnished out an enter- 
 tainment present for him of all her hair and 
 rags, with which, together with his arms, his 
 provisions, his ornaments, and his mystic medi- 
 cine bag, he was wrapped up in the skin which 
 had been his last covering when alive. He was 
 then tied round with the bark of some particular 
 trees which they use for making cords, and cords 
 of a very firm texture and hold (the only ones 
 indeed which they have,) and instead of being 
 buried in the earth, was hung up to a large oak. 
 The reason of this was, that as his favourite 
 Manitou was the eagle, his spirit would be 
 enabled more easily from such a situation to 
 fly with him to Paradise. Here, again we 
 perceive another trait of antiquity, and a rich 
 relish for our antiquarian amateurs, whom, I 
 think, I must at length have completely satis- 
 fied. The oak is also among the Indians the 
 tree consecrated to the eagle, that is to say, to 
 Jupiter.
 
 PIKE'S SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 445 
 
 Mr Pike, who was at the head of the expedi- 
 tion despatched by the government of the United 
 States in 1805, to discover the sources of the 
 Mississippi, fixes them at this lake, although 
 the river Leech which flows into it on the 
 N.N.W., ascends more than fifty miles higher up; 
 and although various other rivers, the courses 
 of which are as yet unknown, equally flow 
 into this lake. But it was in winter; the cold 
 was excessively severe, and it is no pleasant or 
 easy matter to discover sources through ice. It 
 is impossible to doubt, that, at a different season 
 of the year, and with a less embarrassing party, 
 Mr Pike would have pushed his discoveries 
 farther. He was a bold and enterprising man ; 
 and his expedition to New Mexico, and his glo- 
 rious death in the field of honour, merit a place 
 in history. He will always be entitled to the 
 distinction of having been the first who extended 
 his researches so far in regions so wild and re- 
 pulsive, and that at a time when there existed 
 no fort whatever on the Mississippi. 
 
 This lake is interspersed with innumerable 
 islands and peninsulas, the latter of which form 
 a number of deep bays, that appear to be so 
 many separate lakes. That which is to the 
 north of the Indian camp exhibits the per- 
 spective of a theatre, the promontories which
 
 446 TRIBUTARY RIVERS. 
 
 gradually advance from each side representing 
 so many scenes. The lake has a great number 
 of issues, which, by means of various portages, 
 afford the Indians facility in traversing, with 
 their canoes, either in or out of them, all the 
 surrounding territory ; and cross cuts which pre- 
 clude the necessity of those wearisome and 
 almost endless circuits, that would require to be 
 traversed in entering upon it by the Mississippi 
 and the mouth of Leech river. 
 
 By ascending the last-mentioned river about 
 fifteen miles, and then crossing two lakes and 
 effecting two portages, we may go in one day to 
 Red Cedar lake ; and the last portage termi- 
 nates at its small basin. 
 
 On the west, we rejoin Raven's Plume river, 
 which flows into the Mississippi, and ascends 
 nearly as far as Otter's-tail lake. 
 
 On the south we descend to the Mississippi 
 by Pines river ; and on the south-east by the 
 river Willow, which Pike has denominated Pike 
 river. 
 
 The day and night of the 12th were the 
 most dreadful of my whole life. I tremble 
 whenever I even think of them ; thank God, 
 however, I did not tremble at the time. I was 
 aware that, if I exhibited before the Indians the 
 slightest indication of fear, it was all over with
 
 SCENE OF HORROR AND DANGER. 447 
 
 me. I carefully preserved, therefore, my self- 
 possession, and an intrepidity, I flatter myself, 
 of no easy attainment. 
 
 A number of these Indians, who drink at 
 two fountains, had just been visiting the English 
 agents at Romaine island, on lake Huron ; and 
 among the presents distributed among them they 
 had received some barrels of whiskey. This 
 was soon circulated through the encampment, 
 almost every member of which soon became 
 violently heated and maddened by it. 
 
 It is the usual practice of the female Indians, 
 when they see cases of intoxication in their own 
 tent, or in the camp, to preserve to themselves 
 the strictest sobriety, that they may be enabled 
 to prevent or mitigate the frequently dreadful 
 consequences of intemperance in the men. But, 
 on this occasion, the women were more com- 
 pletely inebriated than the men, and with the 
 exception of a few young persons, all were 
 plunged in the most frightful state of intoxica- 
 tion. 
 
 The hell of Virgil, and of Dante, or even that 
 painted by Orcagna, at St Maria Novella in 
 Florence, in a style so deeply impressive, are 
 only faint sketches in comparison with that full 
 display of terror and death presented in the 
 tragedy now acted; a tragedy exhibiting in all 
 their horrors the "Bacchantes, the Furies, the
 
 448 the author's life menaced. 
 
 Eumenides, Medusa, and all the monsters of 
 history or fiction. 
 
 Hatred, jealousy, long standing quarrels, 
 mortal antipathies, all the ferocious passions, 
 were in most exasperated excitement and con- 
 flict. The shrieks of the women and children, 
 mingled with the yells of these cannibals, and 
 the bayings of dogs, added the tortures of hear- 
 ing to all the agonies which appalled the sight. 
 
 Standing on a mound of earth with my cut- 
 lass in my girdle, my gun in my hand, and my 
 sword half unsheathed at my side, I remained a 
 spectator of this awful scene, watchful and mo- 
 tionless. I was often menaced, but never 
 answered except by an expressive silence, which 
 most unequivocally declared that I was ready to 
 rush on the first who should dare to become my 
 assailant. My Bois-brule had concealed him- 
 self, and I had great difficulty in rallying him to 
 my side, where he at length appeared to feel 
 more confidence and security than elsewhere ; 
 for he became convinced that there was a greater 
 probability of escaping the threatened catas- 
 trophe by courage and resolution than by inde- 
 cision and terror. 
 
 But it became necessary for me, for a few 
 moments, to quit my mtrenchment. The life of 
 the chief, Cloudy Weather, was in danger. I 
 was his host, and he v/as the father of the beau-
 
 INDIAN ASSASSINS. 449 
 
 tiful fVoascita, who, by giving me timely notice, in 
 two instances, of plots formed for my destruction, 
 and thus kindling into stronger power the fierce 
 and menacing expression of my countenance, 
 had been twice my preserver. I darted forward 
 with her and my Bois-bruU, who was now 
 become a hero, and we saved him by disarming 
 of their knives the two assassins who had at- 
 tacked him, and against whom, merely with a 
 small piece of wood, he defended himself like a 
 lion. We pushed him into his tent, and com- 
 mitted him to the care of a warrior chief, one of 
 his intimate friends, who was enjoined to protect 
 him and prevent his going out. He found how- 
 ever a knife, which had been concealed ; and, 
 whether from that impulse natural to Indians, 
 which often occasions them in their passion to 
 make a victim of the first man they meet, or 
 whether through real mistake, he rushed on his 
 friend and stabbed him with repeated thrusts : 
 we however returned instantly at the call of 
 Woascita, and fortunately in time to prevent 
 the completion of murder. 
 
 On this occasion I was exceedingly surprised 
 and affected, my dear Countess, by a display of 
 genuine magnanimity and generosity. 
 
 The son of the wounded savage, about eighteen 
 years of age, entered the tent, and surveying 
 with an expression of terrific dignity the as- 
 
 VOL. II. G G
 
 450 MAGNANIMITY IN A YOUNG INDIAN. 
 
 sassin of his parent, with heroic self-possession 
 thus addressed him: — "Thou hast stabbed my 
 father . . . thy own friend ... I ought to avenge 
 him, and I could do it . . . but thou wouldest 
 not have done this, hadst thou not been intox- 
 icated ... I pardon thee." In this young In- 
 dian, the son of Beards-heart, I perceived Rome 
 and Greece united. He was the hero of the 
 day. He was not only able to resist the temp- 
 tation of a liquor so exceedingly attractive to 
 Indians, but he contributed greatly to mitigate 
 the effects of its deadly influence. I embraced 
 him with sentiments such as these savage peo- 
 ple had never before excited in me. The noble 
 conduct of this young man is also one of those 
 circumstances which infuse such contradictions 
 into the character of Indians, and almost pre- 
 clude the power of defining them. In order to 
 testify my admiration of his conduct, I gave him 
 a liberal quantity of powder, the most valuable 
 present that, situated as I was, I could possibly 
 bestow upon him. I would have conferred on 
 him an empire, had I been able; but my desti- 
 tution was even greater than his own. 
 
 On examination, the ensuing day, twenty-four 
 were found to have been wounded, seven of 
 them mortally, and two dead, one of whom was 
 my poor Indian from Red lake. 
 
 My Dois-brule also had received a wound in
 
 DEPARTURE OF THE EOIS-BRULE. 451 
 
 one of his hands. He was desirous moreover 
 now of going back to his family, and not with- 
 out reason, for the provisions I had left them 
 must have been all consumed, and without his 
 exertion it would be impossible for them to ob- 
 tain subsistence. I gave him fresh proofs of my 
 gratitude, as far as lay in my power. I pur- 
 chased a canoe for him to go back in, and then 
 went forward in my own, with Cloudy Weather 
 for my companion. The encampment was still 
 in a state of agitation, and seemed, indeed, now 
 to be menaced with new horrors. To the ra- 
 vages of whiskey, and the cruel wars which 
 they are perpetually, and often causelessly, 
 waging against each other, the Indians may 
 justly ascribe their progressive extinction. 
 
 The lake was rough and the weather stormy, 
 and I was always a bad navigator. When we 
 were in the bay which conducts you to the river, 
 a violent wind from the south-east drove us on 
 the opposite bank. We again embarked how- 
 ever, but all our efforts were useless, and we 
 passed there the night of the 13th. On the 
 morning of the 14th, I landed at the establish- 
 ment of the South-West Company, near the 
 exit of the Leech river, in hopes of replacing in 
 some measure my Bois-brulL But we found 
 only a single person there, left to take care of the 
 place ; and it was quite impossible for him to
 
 452 NAVIGATION RESUMED. 
 
 leave it ; I was therefore obliged to go on with 
 Cloudy Weather only. However, I obtained all 
 the instructions that were necessary to enable 
 me to proceed with information as far as Sandy 
 lake ; and I found myself gradually more intelli- 
 gible to my new Indian associate. 
 
 We resumed the navigation of the Mississippi 
 just where I had quitted it. On my return the 
 wild rice was in a state of ripeness, and we 
 were consequently in the midst of abundance. 
 But, owing to a singular circumstance, I was 
 situated like Tantalus, and unable to eat, though 
 my food abounded immediately before me. 
 
 When leaving Leech lake, I had parted with 
 my large boiler to my Bois-brule, and kept for 
 myself only a small one, thinking that his ma- 
 jesty would be sure to supply the deficiency out 
 of his royal outfit. But he had not, in fact, 
 brought with him even his bark spoon, and the 
 whole of his wardrobe consisted merely of his 
 buffalo's skin. On the second day after our 
 departure, we saw a hut of Indians in a wood, 
 near the river; and my companion, after going 
 to speak to them, returned and took up my 
 kettle. As he had in the morning intimated 
 that it was too small, I supposed that he in- 
 tended to change it for a larger one, but he came 
 back without any. All my injunctions and all 
 my resentment were of no avail. He had
 
 ROYAL PETTY LARCENY. 453 
 
 bestowed it on one of his partisans. These In- 
 dian kings, in order to ascend or preserve them- 
 selves upon the throne, will actually deprive 
 themselves of everything. No being is more 
 destitute and miserable than an Indian chief; 
 indeed, the results of a blind ambition to rule 
 and reign are everywhere similar. I was now 
 therefore reduced to my tin cup ; from the luck 
 of the pot I passed to that of the goblet, or what 
 perhaps was about a sufficient allowance for a 
 hungry black-bird. My eccentric companion 
 laughed at seeing me obliged to go through my 
 culinary process three distinct times before I 
 could at all appease my appetite, and enjoyed 
 the sight of my dinner of three acts as much 
 perhaps as he would a comedy. For his own 
 dinner he took the rice without any preparation 
 whatever, and at last I was compelled to do the 
 same myself. 
 
 The Mississippi continues to flow almost un- 
 interruptedly over quaking and boggy land, as 
 far as down to the little falls which the Indians 
 call Kekebican, about seventy miles from the 
 confluence of Leech river. At about fifty miles 
 we find, on the western side, the Pakegamana- 
 guen, or Hook lake ; and at sixty, the Onomoni- 
 kana-sibi, or Vermilion river, which enters on the 
 east. 
 
 These falls may be subdivided into six divi-
 
 454 FALLS AND CATARACTS. 
 
 sions. They commence by a great rapid di- 
 vided by a small island, the first that occurs in 
 going down the river. The vast mass of water 
 then proceeds, in a direction nearly vertical, 
 to dash against some rocks which, by their re- 
 sistance, work it into a state of foam, the opera- 
 tion of the sun's rays on which produces all the 
 beautiful phenomena of the rainbow. Impe- 
 tuous and boiling waves next rush over an in- 
 clined plane for about fifteen paces, and are 
 then hurled down two more successive falls 
 at a little distance from each other ; and a second 
 rapid, still more violent than the first, closes the 
 scene : it comprises the space of about a mile, 
 which we passed by portage. 
 
 A hill, clothed with mournful cypresses, dark 
 pines, and majestic cedars, overhangs these falls 
 on the west; and a small hillock, verdant with 
 foliage, and luxuriant with shrubs of delightful 
 flower and fragrance, bounds it on the east, 
 while numerous rocks are seen scattered around, 
 rearing their striking forms in the shape of obe- 
 lisks and pyramids, and the melody of birds of 
 every engaging note and song produces an im- 
 pressive contrast to the hoarse croakings of the 
 raven. Such a mixture of sublime and roman- 
 tic attraction imparts to this extraordinary scene 
 of nature something even of the marvellous. And 
 a crash so awful and tremendous in the midst of
 
 THUNDERING RAPIDS. 455 
 
 eternal solitude ! I must leave it to yourself 
 to form a just conception of so wonderful a 
 spectacle, and to indulge the exquisite feelings 
 appropriate to it. 
 
 About ten miles from these falls, the Sassicy- 
 Woenne, or Thundering Rapids, presented the 
 spectator with another agreeable variety. At 
 this place a portage is usually made; but my 
 royal Indian chose to distinguish himself and 
 his fellow-traveller from the vulgar crowd, and 
 we passed over them in the canoe. What is 
 new and extraordinary generally affords the 
 mind gratification and delight. This result I 
 experienced on the occasion in question, although 
 the agitation of the waves, the rolling of the 
 canoe, and the rocks that threatened our course, 
 kept us, for the space of half a mile, I may 
 almost say, within two fingers'-breadth of eter- 
 nity : it was however soon over ; we could not 
 be said to navigate, but rather flew. 
 
 On the evening of the 17th we arrived at 
 Sandy lake, on the east, ( Lamitonga-aguen) 
 which is about one hundred and twenty miles 
 from the last-mentioned place, about three hun- 
 dred from Red lake, and about three hundred 
 also from Leech lake. In the space between the 
 Thundering Rapids, and the exit and discharge 
 of the river out of Sandy lake, the Mississippi 
 receives Muskotensoi-sibi, or Prairie river, Wa-
 
 456 SITUATION OF SANDY LAKE. 
 
 haske-sibi, or Roebuck river, Namago-sibi, or 
 Trout river, and Wabazio-sibi, or Cypress river, 
 all which fall into it on the east. On the wes- 
 tern side it receives the Singonki-sibi, or Marten 
 river. Three rapids occur also in the above 
 mentioned distance, two of them between Cy- 
 press river and Willow Portage, (a place so 
 called from a portage which communicates be- 
 tween the Mississippi and Willow river,) and the 
 third lower down. 
 
 All the maps, whether of former or recent 
 date, even those constructed conformably to 
 expeditions, are exceedingly incorrect with re- 
 spect to the situation of Sandy lake. They 
 place it at the S. E. of lake Leech, though it is 
 nearly at the east ; and this error draws after it 
 others respecting its latitude and longitude. I 
 have observed this mistake by the due application 
 of my compass, the result of which corresponds 
 with the opinions of the Indians on the subject, 
 who, indeed, are very seldom deceived in their 
 geographical statements. 
 
 We will now, my dear Countess, rest awhile, 
 for we have far to go before we reach the mouths 
 of the Mississippi, being as yet only four hun- 
 dred miles from its Julian sources.
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 Fort St Charles, on the Missouri, 
 Oct. 24, 1823. 
 
 Whenever I resume my pen to write to you, 
 my dear Countess, it is under an implied en- 
 gagement with myself to spare at once your 
 patience and my own, by presenting only a ge- 
 neral view of the most remarkable places and 
 incidents that I meet with ; but, continuing as 
 I still do, in regions so remote and almost un- 
 known, where nature developes herself under 
 forms so new and diversified, I am irresistibly 
 attracted beyond my designed limits, and my 
 system of rapid and sketchy observation is fre- 
 quently broken in upon either by the admiration 
 of some novel object presented to my senses, or 
 by the exquisite emotions which, on particular oc- 
 casions and in particular circumstances, agitate
 
 458 SANDY LAKE. 
 
 my heart. It is not every one who is gifted as 
 the Turk is, to sit with the most apathetic indif- 
 ference on the noblest monuments of Egypt and 
 of Greece. Rapidly as I pass over a variety of sub- 
 jects, I experience more and more the difficulty 
 of being laconic, and at the same time of giving 
 you a narrative of my progress with any tolera- 
 ble exactness. It is, indeed, nearly impossible 
 to avoid occasional repetitions, either through the 
 necessity of great explicitness to attain desirable 
 perspicuity, or through the deep interest excited 
 by occurring scenes and circumstances, when 
 describing a river, perhaps the most grand and in- 
 teresting in the world, the chief points of which 
 may be of the highest importance to future ge- 
 nerations, and whose charms and wonders would 
 nearly exhaust all the terms which language can 
 supply. But let me return to where I left you 
 in my last letter — to Sandy lake. 
 
 This lake is a handsome basin, about ten miles 
 in circumference. Some neighbouring hills, four 
 islands, and a number of small promontories, 
 attach to it abundant and agreeable variety. 
 The river of the same name issues from it on 
 the west, and enters it at E. N. E. By means 
 of a portage it communicates with the river Sa- 
 vannah, which runs into the St Louis, as that 
 does into lake Superior, exactly at the place 
 called the End of the Lake, at its most westerly
 
 MICHILIMAKINAC ESTABLISHMENT. 459 
 
 point. This passage, from Sandy lake to lake 
 Superior, may be effected in two days ; which 
 is a new proof that Sandy lake is much more to 
 the east of Leech lake than it is marked upon 
 the maps. Through this channel are conveyed 
 all those articles which constitute the staple of 
 commerce with the Indians in these regions ; 
 and of which, as has been already mentioned, 
 Michllimakinac is one of the South-West Com- 
 pany's two general entrepots. Sandy lake re- 
 ceives on the S. S. E. Wild Oats river, (Meno- 
 meny-sibi,) which proceeds to a great distance 
 into the interior. 
 
 Its banks constitute the rendezvous of a tribe 
 of Indians, amounting to the number of about 
 five hundred, who roam in small and scattered 
 bands, or even single families, and reunite in 
 autumn and in spring to barter with the Com- 
 pany. The Company's establishment is near 
 the spot where Sandy river falls into the Mis- 
 sissippi. 
 
 There also, as at Leech lake, we found only 
 one person, a housekeeper or guard of the esta- 
 blishment, a Canadian, possessed of great good- 
 nature and kindness, but who had nothing be- 
 sides wild rice and potatoes ; and who, to con- 
 sole me under my privations, gave me a list of 
 those which he had himself experienced, and 
 indeed was experiencing still ; among others,
 
 460 WINTER QUARTERS. 
 
 he stated that he had been ten years without 
 once tasting bread : however, he procured for 
 me a kettle, a rug, a little rum, and some am- 
 munition. It is only at this season that the 
 directors of each establishment are at their post, 
 and they were, on my arrival, actually on their 
 route ; but I was unable to make any stay. They 
 supply the Indians with everything necessary 
 for their winter hunt, and receive from them in 
 the spring the skins obtained by them in the 
 chace, which they take with them to Michili- 
 makinac, where, in summer, they balance their 
 accounts, and prepare again for what they call 
 their winter quarters, employing the whole of the 
 autumn in travelling to them. It was here, as 
 I have already observed, that General Cass left 
 nearly the whole of his expedition, when he 
 went up to Red Cedar lake. 
 
 On the 21st of September I quitted the Ca- 
 nadian and the Sandy river. The frost had 
 already set in on the night of the 19th. Being 
 fatigued with rowing, and desirous of giving free 
 indulgence both to my eyes and thoughts, I en- 
 gaged another Indian. But I found myself 
 again still without an interpreter. 
 
 I will, in the first place, describe to you the 
 principal directions of the river as far as Fort St 
 Peter, in order to give you in one continuous 
 view an idea of its course to that point, and to
 
 pike's river. 461 
 
 avoid distracting your thoughts, by these details, 
 from what is more interesting to observe, and to 
 admire. 
 
 It flows W. S. W. as far as Pines river, a 
 distance of about one hundred and fifty miles. 
 It then turns, and continues in a course S. S. W. 
 as far as Raven's Plume river, about ninety 
 miles ; it then proceeds in a southerly course to 
 the falls of the Great Rock, a distance of one 
 hundred miles ; beyond that it runs south- 
 easterly as far as Rook's river, one hundred and 
 fifty miles lower; after which, finally, it tra- 
 verses about sixty in the direction of E. S. E. to 
 Fort St Peter ; which is just about nine hun- 
 dred and fifty miles from the Julian sources, and 
 five hundred and fifty from Sandy lake. 
 
 As the Sioux much haunt the banks of the 
 river, chiefly below the mouth of the Raven's 
 Plume, in order to carry on war against the 
 Cypowais, I elevated my umbrella as a stan- 
 dard, or rather a signal by which they might 
 understand that the canoe was navigated by a 
 foreign and neutral power. 
 
 Willow river is the first that we meet with 
 below the Sandy river. This is the river to 
 which Pike gave his own name, and by which 
 he first went up to the Leech lake. The Indians 
 call it Meaogeo-sibi. It is about forty miles 
 from Sandy lake.
 
 462 THUNDER STORM. 
 
 Were I to acquaint you with all the storms 
 that I have experienced, I should be under the 
 necessity of exposing you almost incessantly to 
 peals of thunder and flashes of lightning : but, 
 much as I am inclined to spare you, I cannot 
 help noticing that which occurred on the 29th, 
 because it was a really remarkable one. 
 
 We were compelled to seek a landing ; not to 
 find shelter — for in such a deluge that was ut- 
 terly impossible — but because the drops of rain 
 were of so enormous a size as almost instantly 
 to fill the canoe. The surface of the river was 
 struck by them with such violence, that over its 
 whole appearance it exhibited the appearance 
 of a spouting-up fountain. 
 
 Peals of thunder succeeded each other with 
 scarcely the slightest intermission ; but in this 
 country the electric fluid, although excessively 
 abundant, discharges itself simultaneously by 
 such numerous channels, that the objects on 
 which it lights are struck by it less violently 
 than in Italy. Our canoe was merely grazed 
 by it, and a few trees were stripped of their 
 bark. 
 
 The fall of rain was inexpressibly heavy, 
 and must, I imagine, have been equally exten- 
 sive, as on the morrow the river had risen to the 
 height of eight feet. Even the Indians did not 
 recollect an instance of so great and sudden a
 
 ROEBUCK HUNTING. 463 
 
 rise. We were obliged to lie by the whole of 
 the 23rd, for everything was soaked completely 
 through, and my Indian sovereign was ill. At 
 night, I went with the other Indian to hunt the 
 roebuck, in a manner that was new to me. 
 
 The hunter covers the whole of his breast with 
 a coating of oak-bark, and on a shelf or ledge 
 attached to this carries a lighted torch made of 
 pine- wood. The roebuck, dazzled and con- 
 founded by his appearance, makes a sudden 
 halt, and the hunter then fires. We were, how- 
 ever, unsuccessful. 
 
 At the distance of a hundred miles from Sandy 
 lake, we find the second island that adorns the 
 Mississippi. The Indians cajl it Minitik, or 
 Great Island. Between it and Wild Oats river, 
 the Stamp, (or Sossabegoma-sibi,) the Pitchers, 
 (or Piskociokoako-sibi,) the Red Cedar, (or Kamos- 
 koaka-sibi,) which issues from the second lake of 
 that name, all flow into the great river on the 
 east; and on the west, the Little Willow, or 
 Sissimonageo-sibi. 
 
 At Pines river, (Singuoako-sibi,) which enters 
 also on the right, the chief was disturbed at not 
 finding his son and two of his partisans, whom 
 he had appointed to meet him at that place, 
 which they were to have reached by a course of 
 portages, in order to go down with us as far as 
 St Peter's. With respect to myself, however, I
 
 464 ISLAND OF CYTHEREA. 
 
 was better pleased as the case was. I had three 
 ferocious brutes less to guard against. These 
 three Indians had distinguished themselves by 
 their savage conduct in that horrid scene which 
 I gave you an account of in my last letter. 
 
 As far down as the Pines the river is gentle 
 and even, if we except three small rapids situ- 
 ated above that river, and which are only at a 
 small distance from each other. Its bed is al- 
 ways very deep ; its banks wear a constant 
 and funereal gloom, everywhere abounding in 
 pines, cedars, and cypresses. Afterwards the 
 scene changes : a lovely island receives the 
 waters of Pines river, and divides them into 
 two branches. The great river becomes at once 
 more gay and more majestic, and the landscape 
 more varied with hills and prairies, copses, and 
 forests. 
 
 At six miles distance from the Pines, five 
 islands form, as it were, a crown for a sixth, 
 which rises magnificently in the midst of them. 
 Nothing but a temple is wanting to give it the 
 appearance of another Cytherea ; and, as it was 
 not known by any name, I called it by that. 
 
 In the evening of the 26th we were joined by 
 a small party of Indians from Sandy lake : they 
 were desirous of accompanying me down to 
 visit Mr Tagliawar. They were fifteen in 
 number, and occupied five canoes. On their
 
 INDIAN TOILET. 465 
 
 arrival, I was employed in eating my allowance 
 of wild rice, which I continued to do without 
 even looking at- them, or uttering a single word. 
 I gave my Indian chief to understand that I 
 was determined to keep my fire and my kettle 
 to myself. After finishing my supper, I ordered 
 them to be called ; and, distributing among 
 them a little tobacco, I smoked with them the 
 pipe of peace and civility. On the morrow, I 
 gave each of them a glass of rum, but still with- 
 out any communication by word or gesture. 
 This, my dear Countess, is the proper way to 
 prevent their insolence and command their re- 
 spect. They behaved like angels during the whole 
 of the voyage, scarcely allowing themselves 
 to laugh when they saw me washing my face ; 
 and probably would have completely avoided it, 
 had I been able myself to help laughing when 
 I saw them rubbing over their own with char- 
 coal or kettle black, or with white, red, or 
 yellow clay. They employ much more time in 
 thus completing their toilet opposite a looking- 
 glass, than would be required by the most 
 fashionable of our coquets for her smartest gala 
 preparations. The rain frequently deranged their 
 operations, and it was not a little ludicrous to 
 see how it veined and marbled their faces. 
 
 Raven's Plume river is a grand discharge of 
 various lakes which on the west empty their 
 
 VOL. II. H H
 
 466 morse's sources of the Mississippi. 
 
 waters into the Mississippi. It is a truly mag- 
 nificent river, and, at their confluence, is, I 
 think, as large as the Mississippi itself. Its 
 principal source is White Bear lake, where 
 Mr Morse's American Gazetteer has placed the 
 sources of the Mississippi. Two delightful 
 islands divide it into three branches, at its 
 mouth, and render it highly majestic and 
 picturesque. 
 
 The Wokco-sibi, which flows from the east 
 about twenty miles from the last river, is 
 deemed remarkable among the Indians : it was 
 the abode of a Cypowais, who passed for a pro- 
 phet, and it has inherited his name. 
 
 Six miles lower down, the river forms a small 
 lake ; and how luxuriant and delicious a view 
 does it afford! Nature has scattered over it 
 twelve islands, which Lenotre himself could not 
 have distributed with finer taste ; and has dif- 
 fused over its banks such delightful scenes as 
 even Catullus has only inadequately described 
 in the picture he gives of his charming residence 
 at the lake of Garda. I have called these islands 
 the Sirens. 
 
 From Bitch river (Mosko-sibi,) which flows 
 also from the west, we pass through a succes- 
 sion of rapids, till we reach that of Great Rock 
 (Kekebicange,) which is a small fall. Here 
 generally a portage is made, which we however
 
 ISLAND OF THE SUN. 467 
 
 avoided by passing through a narrow channel on 
 the east, behind an island. This fall is formed 
 by a small strait. The river, confined between 
 two rocks, forms a gulph, from which it rushes 
 with a tremendous roaring. 
 
 On the evening of the 28th we encamped 
 about twenty miles from this fall, at a place 
 where the river, surrounding a very noble island, 
 of a figure precisely round, suggests to the me- 
 mory the temples which the ancients conse- 
 crated to the sun, and the Druids to their gods. 
 The stately and superb forest which embo- 
 soms the basin, corresponds finely with the 
 image here suggested. I have named the island, 
 therefore, the Island of the Sun. 
 
 Between this place and the Great Rock, the 
 river receives the tributary streams of Wabizio- 
 sibi, or the Swans (the second of that name,) and 
 Kanizotygoga, or the Two Rivers, which flow 
 from the west. 
 
 At a little distance lower we find, also on the 
 west, the mouth of the Zakatagana-sibi, from 
 the name of a certain species of wood, which is 
 the only kind of tinder that the Indians make 
 use of. It is difficult to find a better match : 
 I have kept a sample of it among my Indian 
 curiosities. The confluence with Pines Tail river 
 (Bekozino-sibi) takes place at a very short dis- 
 tance farther on the east.
 
 4G8 GOVERNMENT EXPEDITIONS. 
 
 Here is the commencement of extensive prai- 
 ries, which spread both to the east and west, but 
 are interrupted by woods and thickets. In 
 winter, buffalos are frequently found here. 
 
 Between the Bikabikao-sibi, or Shuffle-board, 
 on the east, and the Renards (O.vaguio-sibi,) 
 on the west, there is another fine river also on 
 the west. It is perfectly unknown even to the 
 Indians. I would have given it a name; but as 
 it is within only a few days distance from the Fort 
 St Peter, I did not choose to infringe on a right 
 which might be supposed to belong to the officers 
 of that garrison. There are among these gen- 
 tlemen men of merit, highly capable of serv- 
 ing the government in the plans it seems to 
 entertain of exploring and becoming fully ac- 
 quainted with this mighty stream, and these 
 interesting regions. A single individual, pos- 
 sessed of practical philosophy and genuine 
 philanthropy, with a moderate knowledge of 
 geography and astronomy, would, in a country 
 beset on every side with obstacles and difficul- 
 ties, and among tribes of men peculiarly subtle 
 and suspicious, accomplish much more than an 
 expedition fitted out at great expense. For, in 
 proportion to the number of persons attached to 
 the expedition, will be the alarm with which the 
 Indians will be impressed by it, the dangers in 
 which it will be involved, the wants to which it
 
 BOTANIC MANIA. 469 
 
 will be exposed ; dangers and wants which fre- 
 quently detain and obstruct it when it would be 
 of the utmost importance that it should proceed, 
 when advances into the interior of the country- 
 would be most indispensable to attaining the 
 object of their mission. As I have begun this 
 subject, I feel bound to communicate to you the 
 various reflections I have made upon it. 
 
 The advantages which have been hitherto de- 
 rived from these expeditions have not, I believe, 
 answered the views of the government, or the 
 expectations of the public. They have consisted 
 of a few plants, with which perhaps all but the 
 members of the expedition were acquainted, 
 and which swell that mass of unintelligible hiero- 
 glyphics, that scientific but tasteless and terrifying 
 nomenclature, unfortunately consecrated by a great 
 name, serving merely to overlay the memory and to 
 blot out the lovely picture of nature; a few gaudy 
 butterflies and other insects, of which we have 
 already too many everywhere ; of birds, which 
 can only gratify curiosity and luxury; of stones, 
 suggesting a thousand conjectures of their nature 
 and origin, and which, whether silicious or calca- 
 reous, or designated by any other learned terms, 
 serve as materials for the idle discussions of 
 pretenders to science, but contribute little or 
 nothing to the benefit of the public ; — such have
 
 470 ADVICE REGARDING EXPEDITIONS. 
 
 been the principal results of these pompous and 
 costly enterprises. 
 
 The study of natural history is unquestionably 
 a study by no means to be neglected, particu- 
 larly so far as it is connected with utility. But 
 it ought not to be made a principal object by an 
 enlightened and liberal government. It is the 
 grand business of such a government to study 
 practically the nature and character of man, and 
 to provide for his real wants; and man, even in 
 his uncivilized and savage state, is not unworthy 
 of its careful attention. By acting on such 
 principles as these, the administrators of the 
 power of states may procure a name dear to 
 humanity and venerated by their dependants. 
 
 Let a single officer then, a man deserving of 
 confidence, accompanied merely by clever in- 
 terpreters, and two good rowers, (Canadians,) be 
 employed to explore the territory of the Indians. 
 Let him attentively observe their manners, their 
 customs, their physical and moral tendencies, 
 and their means of subsistence ; let him inves- 
 tigate, on the very scenes which he visits, what 
 must become of these people when their hunts 
 fail to procure them adequate supplies, a period 
 which now cannot be very remote ; and what may 
 be the result of such a crisis to civilized nations 
 in their immediate neighbourhood, if, on the one
 
 BREAD BEFORE RELIGION. 471 
 
 hand, these barbarian hunters emigrate or become 
 extinct, or on the other turn their attention to 
 agriculture and the useful arts. In proportion 
 as his views enlarge, while examining closely 
 all the local peculiarities, let him contemplate 
 the means of facilitating, and turning to the 
 best account, a revolution in the manners of 
 these wandering tribes so eminently important. 
 Let him however begin with secular plans and 
 objects; sacred or spiritual ones will follow na- 
 turally and of course. In situations such as 
 this, bread is the best preparative for the gospel. 
 The charity of active beneficence, the grand 
 virtue which the gospel inculcates, is of infinitely 
 more value than that which consists barely in 
 preaching. Before announcing to these untaught 
 men the beatitudes of heaven, they should be 
 instructed in the best means of sustaining life, 
 and of enjoying it on earth. The latter is the 
 natural and unerring guide to the former ; for 
 in that merciful Providence to which they will 
 be indebted, under a new system of living, for 
 sustenance, security, and tranquillity, they will 
 readily acknowledge an actual deity, of whom 
 they will soon desire a clearer knowledge, to 
 whom they will soon present their thanksgivings 
 and adorations ; and, after they have advanced 
 to this desirable point, then will be the season 
 for pouring spiritual reasonings into their do-
 
 472 CURIOUS QUESTION. 
 
 cile minds, and effecting their gospel regene- 
 ration. 
 
 The work of Mr Morse on this subject is 
 animated by a piety and philanthropy truly 
 exemplary; but it is deficient in that spirit of 
 philosophy, without which every physical or 
 moral system is destitute of value in proportion 
 as it is weak in its foundation. We frequently 
 talk of heaven, but our meditations and affec- 
 tions are ever recurring to earth, as we are every 
 moment experiencing wants which press impe- 
 ratively and overwhelmingly on our mortal 
 existence. A being therefore so material and 
 unspiritualized as the Indian, must be operated 
 upon and absorbed by such wants still more 
 than ourselves. This subject, my dear Countess, 
 brings to my recollection an Indian chief who, 
 when the interpreter was explaining to him one 
 of Mr Morse's sermons, in doing which it was 
 necessary to make frequent use of the word 
 bible, asked eagerly whether the bible was any- 
 thing to eat? 
 
 All the French missionaries in Canada, who 
 adopted and acted upon these principles, at- 
 tained most completely the object of their 
 mission, and made the greatest number of pro- 
 selytes among the Indians. They were indeed 
 the only ones whom they respected, and their 
 memory is still held by them in veneration.
 
 AN ARCHIPELAGO. 473 
 
 Below Renard's river, rapids follow one ano- 
 ther in quick succession, till we arrive at a place 
 where they are terminated by an Archipelago. 
 The river here presents a miniature resemblance 
 of that sea which proved so noble a theatre for 
 the ancient inhabitants of Greece in their strug- 
 gles against Darius and Xerxes, before Salamis 
 and Artemisia, and which is scarcely less bril- 
 liantly distinguished by the present glorious 
 efforts of their descendants against the despotism 
 and oppression of the cruel Ottoman. It is won- 
 derful to observe how this river combines all the 
 features of grandeur and beauty, all that can 
 affect and astonish. It comprises at this spot, 
 within a spacious and enchanting enclosure, 
 fifteen islands, rivalling each other in elegance 
 and charms. Nature seems to repose with plea- 
 sure in the view of them, and to be proud of 
 her work, like Michel Angelo surveying his pic- 
 ture of the Last Judgment in the Sistine chapel, 
 when he exclaimed, Hmv beautiful it is! Even 
 the Indians stopped, with some indication of 
 emotion, or at least they seemed affected by 
 mine. 
 
 I had here a very fine opportunity of perpe- 
 tuating my name in these Indian territories, by 
 giving it to this enchanting place ; and you will 
 perhaps be surprised at my so completely
 
 474 VIOLENT RAPIDS. 
 
 neglecting myself. After my death, my dear 
 Countess, men will dispose of my name, as 
 God will of my soul, according as I shall have 
 well or ill deserved during my life ; and I leave 
 to my friends and to those who have had oppor- 
 tunities of becoming acquainted with my heart, 
 the charge of defending my memory, should it 
 ever be attacked by injustice or prejudice. But 
 not to dwell upon this, a strolling excursioner, 
 without commission or pretension, like myself, 
 who writes his letters on his knees in the midst 
 of vast deserts, as Caesar wrote his Commenta- 
 ries on the pummel of his saddle and amidst 
 the tumult of a camp, could hardly perhaps 
 place himself upon a level with celebrated tra- 
 vellers and professional authors. Do not, my 
 dear Countess, for a moment imagine that, by 
 recurring to Caesar for a little analogy, I 
 am weak enough to think myself his rival in 
 glory. 
 
 About seven or eight miles from this Archipe- 
 lago, we again meet with violent rapids. The 
 Indians encounter them with an intrepidity and 
 dexterity truly surprising. They do just what- 
 ever they like with their canoes. I frequently 
 discovered new subjects of admiration in our 
 little pasteboard-like flotilla, which, scattered as 
 they were over the surface of the agitated stream,
 
 EFFECTS OF SOLITUDE. 475 
 
 frequently led me by their form and movements 
 to recollections of antiquity. 
 
 On the evening of the 27th we stopped at a 
 place where a roebuck, which my Indian chief 
 had fired at from his canoe, had gone to die ; a 
 spot of the most* delicious sweetness, and to 
 which we were led by the merest chance. 
 
 In every situation there are moments when 
 man feels a sort of necessity for abandoning 
 himself entirely to his own thoughts, but never 
 more so than after he has been for some time 
 exclusively in the society of an uncultivated 
 people, and in the midst of forests and deserts. 
 I ascended a slight elevation, commanding the 
 river and the adjoining country, and there I 
 fixed my camp in complete solitude. In the 
 morning, sitting on my bed, which had been 
 made by the hand of nature, inclining my head 
 against a tree whose spreading top constituted 
 my pavilion, and the uncovered part of whose 
 root had been my pillow, I beheld the rising of 
 that beneficent star which returns every day to 
 reanimate the world and rejoice mankind with 
 his all-cheering beams. How lovely did he 
 appear after such a season of storm ! I saw the 
 vapours of the dawn soon scattered by his 
 influence, and then beheld, in a new basin formed 
 by the river, a new production of nature, as 
 perfectly fascinating as it was singular. It was
 
 47G ENCHANTING PICTURES. 
 
 an island of a pentagon form, in the middle of 
 the river, presenting a model of the finest work 
 that ever proceeded from the genius and pencil 
 of our celebrated Vanvitelli, the Lazaretto of 
 Ancona. I say the finest work, for on account 
 of the magic art with which h$ has so admirably 
 and appropriately distributed the offices, both 
 sanitary and commercial, and of the difficulties 
 which he overcame to accomplish this effect ; I 
 prefer it even to those wonderful productions, 
 the palace of Caserta and the bridge of Matalone. 
 How exquisitely soothing and delightful was my 
 bed ! Even the hours of night itself had unfolded 
 to my solitary vigils objects of high interest and 
 feeling, such as in the bowers of luxurious indo- 
 lence perhaps never occur. The moon and stars 
 diffused their changeful and fascinating light 
 over pictures of enchanting beauty ; and even 
 when the tempestuous weather made my situa- 
 tion unpleasant and painful, I still felt something 
 amidst my sufferings which raised me above 
 them, I might almost say above myself; and 
 my feelings might have been envied by many of 
 those who stagnate under purple and ermine. 
 The Indians call this place Anikitoucian, or the 
 Great Echo, which however is considerably in- 
 ferior to that of Red Cedar lake. It is about 
 twenty-five miles below the Archipelago. 
 
 Within a short distance, a considerable river,
 
 THE BEAR IN THE OAK TREE. 477 
 
 also without a name, descends from the west ; 
 and afterwards, from the same quarter, the 
 river Clear Water, (Kawanibio-slbi,) a name de- 
 servedly applicable to it. 
 
 The river Kapitotigaya-sibi, or river Double, 
 which enters on the east, and which comes from 
 the Thousand Lakes, is the termination of the 
 voyage on the Mississippi made by father Hen- 
 nepin, the first who ever navigated it so high up 
 as this river, to which he gave the name of St 
 Francis, probably from the day on which he 
 discovered it. It is about sixty-five miles from 
 Fort St Peter. An island almost completely 
 blocks up its mouth. It is a river of considerable 
 magnitude, as is also Rook's river, which we 
 reach five miles lower down on the west, and 
 which the Cypowais call Poanagoan-sibi, or the 
 Sioux river, for there these hostile nations often 
 meet, and, like Bloody river, it has been often 
 dyed with the blood of battles. I saw here a 
 bear upon a tree ; but as my own gun and that 
 of the chief were as usual wet with the rain, he 
 in consequence escaped. At this season, when 
 there are no longer any fruits, the bear returns 
 to his acorns, and climbs up the oaks to find out 
 the softest of them. I should have felt as if I had 
 performed an extraordinary achievement, had I 
 killed a bear perched on a tree like a bird.
 
 
 478 THE MOUFFETA. 
 
 On the night of the 29th all around us was 
 winter, and the weather, although so early, ter- 
 ribly cold. But I could scarcely help feeling 
 myself warm, when I looked at my half-naked 
 companions, who had nothing to cover them, by 
 night or by day, but a single rug or skin which, 
 notwithstanding all their dexterity in managing 
 it, frequently escapes from one part while they 
 are endeavouring to cover with it another ; and 
 even this, their only garment, is seldom entire ; 
 for whenever they want a bit of rag to clean their 
 gun, they resort to this wardrobe, which indeed 
 comprises their whole stock. 
 
 In the morning I shot an animal to which na- 
 turalists, if I am not mistaken, give the name of 
 mouffeta. It deserves a few minutes notice. 
 
 It is about the size of a small otter, being 
 ,. nearly as long, but its muzzle is much longer 
 and more pointed, and its legs are somewhat 
 shorter. This prevents its running with suffi- 
 cient speed to escape the hunter, who takes it 
 the more easily from its not being amphibious, 
 and therefore unable to take refuge in the water. 
 But nature has given it a weapon of mighty 
 power against its assailant, consisting in the in- 
 tolerable stench of a liquid which it conceals 
 under its tail, (as the serpent conceals its poison 
 under its fangs,) and which it darts on the
 
 EFFECTS OF IRRITATION'. 479 
 
 pursuer with such force, that it reaches him 
 sometimes at the distance of sixty paces. Na- 
 turalists pretend that it is the animal's urine ; 
 but in this they are in error, as they are in many 
 other of their statements ; a circumstance not 
 unlikely to happen to men who study nature 
 only in the seclusion of their closets. 
 
 I dissected the animal, and found the fluid to 
 be contained in a bladder completely distinct. 
 I was nearly suffocated by the horrible smell 
 which proceeded from it and infected the all- 
 around during the operation. It almost took 
 away my senses and breathing. If it is spilt on 
 any clothes, all the essences and detergents in 
 the world would be insufficient to disinfect and 
 purify them; and it is remarkable that the 
 smell is not impaired, or at least only very 
 slightly so, by time. The Indians have disco- 
 vered no method of removing it but by burying 
 the apparel, that happens to be thus polluted, 
 for some days in the earth. It is also worthy of 
 notice, that the quantity of this fluid thrown out 
 by the animal is always in proportion to its irri- 
 tation and danger, as in the case of the negroes, 
 who never so copiously exhale the odour pecu- 
 liar to them as when they are assaulted or exas- 
 perated. The like effervescence or ebullition is 
 also produced by the bilious humour of a sple-
 
 480 RETURN TO CIVILIZATION. 
 
 netic and melancholy man, when he is gnawed 
 by bitter passion and mortification. 
 
 After passing the confluence of the Missay- 
 guani-sibi, or river Brandy, on the east, and that 
 of another river, which is unknown, on the west, 
 I approached that grand and interesting spec- 
 tacle which I mentioned to you in my fifteenth 
 letter, the Falls of St Antony. We heard the roar 
 of the enormous mass, which rushes down with 
 such impetuosity that rocks, unable to resist its 
 force, are carried away and broken by its vio- 
 lence. I already saw rising from the foaming 
 waters a dense haze, which concealed the hori- 
 zon from our view. The strength of the current 
 hurried forward our canoe with alarming rapi- 
 dity; and at length I discerned between the 
 trees, and in a pleasant back-ground, the roof of 
 a house, indicating of course civilized habitation. 
 This was the mill for the garrison at the fort. 
 On reaching this place, my mind, still dwelling 
 on all the grand and terrible scenes which had 
 occurred to me in the course of three months, 
 while traversing eternal deserts, among barba- 
 rous tribes and unknown regions, was agitated 
 with emotions which I could scarcely describe 
 or discriminate. 
 
 The sight of this object, which announced my 
 approach to the residence of cultivated man,
 
 DRESS OF SKINS. 481 
 
 produced in me a conflict of opposite feelings. 
 I regretted the independence of savage life, 
 while at the same time I experienced a thrill of 
 delight at returning within the sphere of civi- 
 lized society. 
 
 After having cleared the portage, I completed 
 my Indian toilet for the last time; that is, I 
 shaved myself without either soap or glass, and 
 with razors which were much like saws. I 
 took my bath in the river, and dressed myself 
 as well as I was able, in order to appear at the 
 fort as decently as possible. But I was beset 
 on all sides with dirt and squalidness : these 
 perhaps have in fact formed the greatest of my 
 sufferings. My head was covered with the 
 bark of a tree, formed into the shape of a hat 
 and sewed with threads of bark; and shoes, a 
 coat, and pantaloons, such as are used by Cana- 
 dians in the Indian territories, and formed of 
 orlgnal skins sewed together by thread made of 
 the muscles of that animal, completed the gro- 
 tesque appearance of my person. I am indebted 
 for my new wardrobe to the fair Woascita, who 
 had compassion on the nakedness to which the 
 thorns and brambles of the forest had reduced 
 me. The Indians attach a high value to the skin 
 of the orignal, which is the most beautiful of 
 quadrupeds, the monarch of rein-deer, and only 
 very rarely to be met with. The gift therefore 
 
 VOL. II. I I
 
 482 RETURN TO FORT ST PETER. 
 
 is valuable in itself, and as such I shall preserve 
 it with care, but still more as a memorial of 
 regard and friendship. Woascita deserves the 
 appropriation of a few pages to record her merit, 
 nor probably would they by any means be des- 
 titute of interest. But the world has been so 
 rilled with Attains, that history is no longer 
 deemed worthy of credit. I therefore check my 
 pen. On some future occasion however it is by 
 no means impossible that I may more worthily 
 record her genuine excellence. 
 
 My Indians announced their approach in the 
 customary manner, that is, by the discharge of 
 guns loaded with ball, and with shouts and 
 chants accompanied by the sound of their har- 
 monious drums. 
 
 Melancholy rumours respecting my safety had 
 been circulated at the fort, and young Snelling, 
 on his return to it, having expressed the appre- 
 hensions he felt on my account when we parted 
 at Pembenar, had thus strengthened the belief 
 in them. These gentlemen in fact supposed me 
 to be dead. 
 
 On the arrival of the flotilla all the officers 
 hastened down to enquire about me. They were 
 answered by the supposed dead man himself. 
 While replying to their kind questions I divested 
 myself of the skin covering which I had on, in 
 the disguise of an Indian ; a character which my
 
 KIND RECEPTION. 483 
 
 countenance and general appearance greatly- 
 contributed, to my supporting. I saw in the ex- 
 pression of their physiognomies both a move- 
 ment of surprise, and sentiments of affection and 
 friendship. The excellent Mr Tagliawar em- 
 braced me in the most cordial manner, and the 
 colonel, his respectable wife, and his children, 
 received me with demonstrations of the most 
 lively joy. I was much moved, and could not 
 help shedding tears of gratitude and attachment. 
 This was the first time since fate began to steep 
 my existence in anguish that I beheld a gleam 
 of those happy moments which, in Italy, friend- 
 ship always procured for me whenever I returned 
 from my occasional absences. And during the 
 short time that I remained among them I expe- 
 rienced nothing of the constraint, nothing of the 
 cold and formal politeness which Americans in 
 general are accustomed to affect, particularly 
 towards strangers, and which, like a moral rust, 
 tarnishes their natural benevolence and impairs 
 the value of their hospitality. They were in- 
 dignant against Major Long for acting towards 
 me in the miserable manner that he did. With 
 respect to myself, I felt towards him a sort of 
 gratitude for having by his disgusting manners 
 only strengthened my determination to leave him, 
 in order to discover the sources of the kino- of 
 rivers ; and it is partly to him that I am indebted
 
 484 DEPUTATIONS 1 FROM THE SIOUX. 
 
 for the fortunate success of my enterprise, as 
 the Americans are for the jealousy which that 
 success has excited in them. 
 
 My Indians arrived in time. We found there 
 deputations from almost all the distant bands of 
 Sioux, who exhibited a novel spectacle, and in- 
 deed a somewhat imposing one, by the pomp 
 and diversified costumes which the respective 
 deputies displayed in the assembly, where they 
 were all met, to present to Mr Tagliawar their 
 homage and complaints, their pretensions and 
 their compliments. They smoked new calumets 
 of peace, and I again became a witness on the 
 occasion. God knows how often this peace 
 may have been violated before the moment in 
 which I am now relating it! 
 
 I learnt from these deputations themselves 
 the correctness of the idea which had suddenly 
 struck me, when my two Cypowais were at- 
 tacked on Bloody river. But they were eager 
 to convince me that it was also out of regard for 
 myself that they had abandoned the field of 
 battle. I pretended to believe them, and with 
 great profession of gratitude thanked them, 
 making them a present of some tobacco. They 
 told me, moreover, that I had acted judiciously 
 in making myself known to them by means of 
 my umbrella signal, as I should otherwise have 
 experienced a shower of balls as well as arrows.
 
 HOW TO TREAT AN ENEMY. 485 
 
 I did not forget to notice and recommend my 
 Bois-brutt to Mr Agent Tagliawar. His un- 
 happy family deeply interested me. 
 
 That gentleman objected to me in the first 
 place the bad qualities of the man, his aversion 
 to the Americans, his connection with the Eng- 
 lish. The charge was certainly true ; and I did 
 not undertake to justify him. But if we cannot 
 subdue a dangerous enemy, we should, I ob- 
 served, try to win him over by caresses. This, 
 I remarked, was a maxim with greater politi- 
 cians than ourselves. I added that this was the 
 policy of Herennius, when the Samnites en- 
 quired what they should do with the Romans 
 whom they held blocked up in the Caudine 
 valley, and which the enquirers were so very 
 injudicious as to reject. I even ventured farther 
 to observe that, as long as this man was debarred 
 from tasting American bread, he would be con- 
 stantly tempted to assuage his misery with that 
 of the English ; that, after having in vain offered 
 his services, he would become a declared enemy, 
 as hatred may be sometimes pardoned, but con- 
 tempt never can be ; that he had great influence 
 over the whole of these Indians, in the midst of 
 whom he directed and governed alone ; and 
 finally, that he was by far more dangerous 
 from uniting great talent with great guilt. Mr 
 Tagliawar, whose disposition is naturally kind,
 
 486 THE CHIEF CLOUDY WEATHER. 
 
 was convinced of the justness of these observa- 
 tions, and approved the sentiments by which 
 they were dictated ; and he accordingly gave 
 me a commission, which I sent off immediately 
 to the Bois-brule by Cloudy Weather. Titus com- 
 plained, with reason, that he had lost a day 
 when its course had been unmarked by some 
 act of beneficence ; for those hours, which recall 
 to our recollection benefits performed to huma- 
 nity, are the most valuable and delightful of our 
 lives. They furnish an inexhaustible source of 
 consolation, which will never quit us on earth 
 but to conduct us to unalloyed enjoyment in 
 heaven. 
 
 I did not neglect the opportunity of sending 
 by the above conveyance some memorial of my 
 ardent gratitude to the beautiful Woascita, and 
 of my admiration to the young hero of the 
 dreadful tragedy of the 12th. Before I for ever 
 take leave of my Indian king, I must add one 
 word to all that I have already said respecting 
 him, in order to fix your ideas as much as pos- 
 sible on the subject of the sentiments or instinct 
 of these peculiar people. 
 
 You have seen from my last letter that I saved 
 his life at the peril of my own, and that I pre- 
 vented him from completing the murder of his 
 intimate friend. He frequently talked of this, 
 and mentioned it in a very handsome way, but
 
 TRAITS 01- INDIAN CHARACTER. 487 
 
 never manifested the slightest degree of grati- 
 tude. Even a dog, after such events as these, 
 would have continued to manifest his thankful 
 feelings for a long time by gestures and caresses. 
 I made him several presents to compensate for 
 his services as my pilot ; but I gave the kettle 
 which I had bought at Sandy lake to my other 
 guide, with a significant smile, intimating to 
 his majesty that I intended by this to punish 
 him for parting with the first so very unseason- 
 ably to one of his partisans. Without entering, 
 however, at all into my raillery, he haughtily 
 turned round to me, saying, " Thou hast frequently 
 reproached us with being vindictive ; but at least we 
 are vindictive for objects of consequence and value, 
 while you Whites are so for the merest trifles." My 
 presence had saved these men twice from the 
 ambushes of the Sioux, on Bloody river, and on 
 the Mississippi, near the Raven's Plume, where 
 a party was lying in wait for them, and spared 
 them solely from their observing my signal of 
 the umbrella; yet before they left me, they 
 said, " Thou art always obliging us to make peace 
 with the Sioux, that they may murder us more 
 securely." However, I still think, that the Cy- 
 powais, speaking generally, are less barbarous 
 and depraved than the Sioux, and perhaps more 
 brave. 
 
 I was very desirous of resuming my project
 
 488 MISSOURI FUR COMPANY, 
 
 of passing from Fort St Peter to that of Council 
 Bluff on the Missouri, across the deserts which 
 separate them ; but, besides the circumstance 
 of the season being too far advanced in these 
 excessively cold climates, war was raging in the 
 countries through which I must have gone, and 
 would have rendered my plan somewhat hazard- 
 ous. To satisfy your curiosity on this subject, 
 I will explain my meaning in a few words. 
 
 A new American Company, under the de- 
 nomination of the Missouri Fur Company, has 
 just started a new system of speculation on the 
 Indian territory, which is, in fact, a new aggres- 
 sion on the property of these people, and an 
 addition to all the numerous vexations and op- 
 pressions to which the rapacity of civilized na- 
 tions has exposed them ever since the discovery 
 of America. This Company has engaged, and 
 keeps in pay, a number of men to become hun- 
 ters themselves in those parts where the most 
 valuable animals are most abundant, and conse- 
 quently to usurp the rights of the Indians, and 
 destroy the only means of subsistence now left 
 to these miserable nations, — to whom Mr Morse 
 would, in exchange, communicate the Bible, 
 thus profaned as it is every moment before their 
 eyes ! This newly-raised legion was attacked in 
 June last by the Rikara Indians ; and, after 
 sustaining a great loss in killed and wounded,
 
 ITS WAR WITH THE INDIANS. 489 
 
 had barely time to make a retreat. Colonel 
 Leavensworth, the commandant of Fort Council 
 Bluff, was called in to their assistance, and he 
 immediately moved up the river with three hun- 
 dred men ; but, on arriving at the camp of the 
 rebel Indians, struck perhaps with the injustice 
 of the cause of the new adventurers, instead of 
 avenging the American blood and name, as was 
 expected, he granted terms of peace : and, at 
 the moment I am writing, the only war that 
 exists is carried on in the newspapers, between 
 him and the agents of the new Company. 
 
 I left Fort St Peter on the 3rd of October. 
 Though I have in general the greatest aversion 
 to return the way I came, yet the Mississippi 
 has still developed to me new charms. I could, 
 indeed, never restrain my admiration of it. What 
 a beautiful — what a majestic river ! 
 
 Our voyage was very favourable, in a decked 
 vessel called a keel-boat; and I found excel- 
 lent company in some gentlemen travelling from 
 the military academy at West Point, near New 
 York, and whom I met with at Prairie du Chien, 
 to which place they had conveyed recruits by the 
 route of the lakes and Owisconsing. 
 
 These gentlemen are going with the rank of 
 officers to Fort Council Bluff. They are very 
 well informed, as those generally are who come 
 from that establishment, which is the Poly-
 
 490 YOUNG MILITARY OFFICERS. 
 
 technic School of the United States. What 
 a pity it seems, that they should be thus 
 doomed to pass their days in such inhospita- 
 ble wilds, remote from all respectable society, 
 and surrounded by such a corrupt and dege- 
 nerate race of beings as the Indians in the 
 neighbourhood of these establishments always 
 are ! Thus delivered up to their own manage- 
 ment and discretion at a season of life sus- 
 ceptible of all kinds of impressions, it is to 
 be feared that they may soon forget the know- 
 ledge they have acquired, and that the polished 
 manners, moral principles, and elevated senti- 
 ments they now carry with them, may be suc- 
 ceeded, at no distant period, by habits of in- 
 temperance and libertinism. The government 
 is, in my opinion, much to blame for not 
 having established a professor of mathematics 
 at Council Bluff, and another at Fort St Peter, 
 in order to keep up the knowledge of the young- 
 officers it appoints to them. Besides with- 
 drawing them, by this means, from the danger 
 of idleness, they would be training a number 
 of men to become useful to the Indians, to their 
 own country, to government, and to society ; 
 and the expenses attending expeditions from 
 Washington might well be spared. The ap- 
 pointments in these expeditions are often as 
 ill arranged as possible, and prove that favour-
 
 FAVOURITISM IN THE REPUBLIC. 491 
 
 itism may prevail in a republic as well as in a 
 monarchy. 
 
 From St Louis, which I reached on the 20th, 
 I am now arrived at the place of date, for the 
 sake of a milder climate and a little repose.
 
 LETTER XXII, AND LAST. 
 
 Nciv Orleans, 13th Dec. 1823. 
 
 The day of my arrival at New Orleans was a 
 clay of real consolation. I had long been de- 
 prived of all correspondence with those whom I 
 most esteem and love. Judge then, my dear 
 Countess, of the delight I experienced on find- 
 ing at this place two letters from yourself, and 
 others from various relations and friends : it 
 was the clay on which I began to contemplate 
 with less regret and frequency than before the 
 independence of savage life. 
 
 I wrote my last letter to you from St Charles 
 on the Missouri. The course which I am now 
 going to take, from that place to the mouths of 
 the Mississippi, you are partly acquainted 
 with ; I mean that part between St Louis to the
 
 ST CHARLES TOWN. 493 
 
 mouth of the Ohio. We have now, therefore, 
 only to survey the territory intervening between 
 the Ohio and the Gulph of Mexico, which has 
 been described by geographers and even cele- 
 brated by poets. Think not that I mean to 
 follow the example of the latter. I do not 
 mean, as I proceed in my extensive tour, to lull 
 you to sleep, in order to make you dream like 
 them at the expense of truth and common sense ; 
 to embellish agreeable fictions, or to adorn with 
 flowers the truly gloomy and monotonous banks 
 of this part of the Mississippi. I have described 
 to you the enchantment which I felt at the sight 
 of the admirable scenery which it presents from 
 its origin to the Ohio. I shall now only call 
 your attention to a few points, in order to render 
 more complete your view of the entire course of 
 this truly great river, and to notice some pre- 
 vailing geographical errors. 
 
 St Charles is a handsome little town, though 
 as young as the Missouri State, of which it is 
 the capital. It is situated on the left bank of 
 this great river, twenty-two miles from St Louis. 
 Opposite to it, on the right bank, there is a 
 small town forming a charming object in the 
 view, and fronting the little capital on the south. 
 Rows of finely tufted trees which line the banks 
 of the Missouri, ornament it on the west and 
 east ; and on the north luxuriant meadows furnish
 
 494 FLORISSANT. 
 
 a beautiful perspective, closed by the woods 
 which border the Mississippi. 
 
 By its situation it would seem destined to 
 become a place of great importance ; and its 
 progress would be still more rapid than it is, 
 but for the conspiracy of a few selfish specula- 
 tors to remove from it the seat of government, in 
 order to fix it at the mouth of the Osage, about 
 three hundred miles farther up ; the object of 
 which is to increase the value of considerable 
 grants or acquisitions of land, which they have 
 obtained there at different times by different 
 means. 
 
 About four miles to the south of St Charles, 
 there is a small village precisely corresponding 
 in fact to the name it bears, and which is 
 Florissant. It lies in the midst of a magnifi- 
 cent plain variegated by wood and prairie, and 
 in which the operations of the plough have 
 been already highly extensive and productive. 
 M. Dubourg (the bishop of St Louis) has already 
 formed an establishment of nuns, well calculated 
 to promote the education of the daughters of the 
 persons residing there ; and also another of 
 Jesuits, by whose means he proposes to spread 
 the Catholic religion among the Indians dis- 
 persed over the border countries. May they 
 answer the evangelical and philanthropic views 
 of this prelate, if he sincerely entertain such !
 
 PRAIRIE OF ST CHARLES. 495 
 
 But the ultra-jesuitism which he has hitherto 
 promulgated, and is still incessantly promulga- 
 ting, authorises the belief that he is merely the 
 zealous tool of the junta of Montrouge. Several 
 well-informed persons have assured me that the 
 principle of these gentry is in perfect accordance 
 with the vulgar maxim " to stick by one another." 
 
 From St Charles I returned to St Louis across 
 an immense prairie, which conducts, at E.N.E. 
 to the Sioux portage. Small hills or mountains 
 are scattered over the prairie in great profu- 
 sion, and, on account of their form, are called 
 Nipples. 
 
 From the tops of these hills the eye is pre- 
 sented with a view of the most delightful and 
 impressive character — the encounter between 
 two rival streams, which, after mingling their 
 waters, are seen for a long distance flowing on 
 with majesty and beauty. Setting out in their 
 course at a considerable distance from each 
 other, although nearly in the same latitude, they 
 traverse an immense extent of territory inces- 
 santly drawing nearer to each other, down to 
 the moment when the more impetuous Missouri 
 rushes on the Mississippi, and darkens its 
 stream by mixing with it waters less clear but 
 more salubrious. From the summits of these 
 hills we look down upon a country the most 
 variegated and enchanting, at the sight of which
 
 496 ENCHANTING SCENERY. 
 
 even the most material and sensual of human 
 beings can scarcely help becoming spiritualised 
 and meditative. Herds of cattle and flocks of 
 sheep, intermingled frequently with the does 
 and roebucks, with pelicans, cranes, swans, and 
 golden plovers, which feed without collision or 
 jealousy over the vast expanse with which they 
 are surrounded, form delightful varieties in this 
 magnificent display of nature. These hills, 
 moreover, seemed to constitute one grand In- 
 dian cenotaph, which naturally furnishes a 
 strong presumption in support of the opinion, 
 that these people were formerly extremely nu- 
 merous. 
 
 The highest pyramid of Egypt would, I con- 
 ceive, be compelled to lower the standard of its 
 pretensions before the Nipples of the prairie of 
 St Charles ; for unquestionably it does not com- 
 mand the prospect of two such superb rivers, 
 such verdant plains, such fragrant groves, or so 
 many interesting tribes of animal life as serve to 
 diversify this astonishing spectacle. 
 
 From this spot, my dear Countess, I again be- 
 held the chain of perpendicular rocks resembling 
 the substructions of the palaces of Pompey and 
 Domitian, which I mentioned to you in my Four- 
 teenth Letter. The illusion is complete. And 
 as I viewed these rocks rising above the thatch- 
 roofed village of the Sioux Portage, I fancied
 
 M. ACQUARONI. 497 
 
 that I beheld the palace of Armida looking down 
 from its haughty eminence on the humble cabin 
 of Baucis and Philemon. 
 
 The Sioux Portage is so called, because for- 
 merly the Sioux extended their territorial pre- 
 tensions to this point, and made a portage here 
 for the sake of a short pass from the Mississippi 
 to the Missouri, over the tongue of land extend- 
 ing between these rivers to the point of their con- 
 fluence. It exhibits a collection of about thirty 
 huts, inhabited by a people who have descended 
 from Indians, and who may be considered as 
 demi-Indians. 
 
 These poor creatures, on hearing that I was 
 an Italian, pressed around me — men, women, 
 and children — with a warmth of feeling abso- 
 lutely filial, enquiring for intelligence of their 
 common father. " Do you know him? (they 
 asked.) Oh, what a deal of good he has done 
 us ! what love he has shewn for us ! what suf- 
 ferings he has gone through for us ! We shall 
 never have another father like him ! We have 
 perhaps lost him for ever!" Affected by such a 
 scene of tenderness, I enquired who it was that 
 they so much regretted. They then named 
 M. Acquaroni, an Italian priest. This ecclesi- 
 astic, during a residence of three or four years 
 among this worthy people, had become their 
 idol, by the piety and charity which had dis- 
 tinguished his ministry. To give all he had to 
 
 VOL. II. K K
 
 498 the traveller's cave. 
 
 feed the poor ; to collect for them ; to cultivate 
 the ground with his own hands, in order to ob- 
 tain a subsistence for them as well as himself; 
 to rest from bodily labour merely for the pur- 
 pose of engaging in spiritual ; such was the life 
 of this excellent missionary. I have had the 
 pleasure here of being introduced to him, and I 
 embraced him with sentiments of attachment 
 which true virtue only can inspire. He is vicar 
 of this cathedral, coadjutor of the abbe Moni, 
 who is himself eminent for his meekness and 
 christian virtues. When I meet with a good 
 priest, or a good king, it is a day of happiness 
 and triumph to me, as I deem nothing on earth 
 more truly venerable. That I have so seldom 
 opportunities of exercising this veneration must 
 be ascribed to kings and priests themselves. To 
 find those who are truly worthy of it, is nearly as 
 difficult as the search after the philosopher's stone. 
 
 I departed from St Louis on the 9th of last 
 month, with arms and baggage ; by the latter 
 of which I particularly mean my Indian curiosi- 
 ties, and my faithful companion the celebrated 
 canoe of Bloody river, for which I also engaged 
 a passage in the Dolphin steam-boat. 
 
 Human infirmity will ever be discovering and 
 exposing itself. I must acknowledge it to you, 
 that I am as yet inconsolable for the loss of my 
 highly valued canoe, and I am convinced I shall 
 still be so for a long time to come. The captain
 
 ELEGY ON THE CANOE. 499 
 
 was a man of an austere and unkind nature, 
 and, indeed, wholly destitute of politeness. 
 Without the slightest attention to my remon- 
 strances, he seemed resolved to place it with- 
 out care or caution in contact with the out- 
 side of the steam -boat; which, happening 
 to get a-ground about seven or eight miles 
 from St Louis, the violence of the shock broke 
 my poor canoe to shivers. How can I pos- 
 sibly help lamenting my much-loved little skiff, 
 which had conveyed me in safety amidst a 
 thousand rocks and over a space of more than 
 two thousand miles ! We had sustained toge- 
 ther such a number of vicissitudes — we had by 
 turns carried each other — we might be sup- 
 posed to cherish mutual hopes of recalling in old 
 age the embarrassing and difficult regions we 
 had traversed, the labours we had endured, and 
 the dangers we had defied. Alas ! a single in- 
 stant destroys our illusions, and has reduced 
 to annihilation the object of my sincere attach- 
 ment ! My mind, long ruminating on mournful 
 ideas, accustomed to reflect even on the slightest 
 incidents of life, beholds in everything around 
 me the destiny that overwhelms me, and the 
 melancholy impress of human fragility — the si- 
 tuation of one who has the misfortune to survive 
 that which he held most dear. I owed a tri- 
 bute of gratitude to my departed vessel, and 
 have written the following epitaph on it.
 
 500 SWELLING OF THE OHIO. 
 
 Quod petis infandum, Dilecta Liburnica, fatum ! 
 
 Vesuvioque procul Stabia * (lira tibi est. 
 Vidisti jam tanta ubicumque pericula victrix ; 
 
 Teque triumpbantem coedit iniqua manus. 
 Inclotnitas sprevisti mecum, ssevasque catervas; 
 
 Sed solus repetam, te pereunte, Lares. 
 Nunc eris in superis index Mortalibus alter. 
 
 Exultant fletu sidera cuncta meo. 
 
 You may recollect, my dear Countess, that 
 wooden house which I have already mentioned 
 as apparently rising out of the water at the 
 confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi. On 
 repassing the spot at this time I could not per- 
 ceive it; though my eyes searched for it with 
 the utmost eagerness I could see nothing. I 
 imagined that it had been swallowed up : it 
 was however at length pointed out to me at a 
 great distance from the bank, to the E.N.E., 
 of the confluence. This phenomenon, which 
 would be highly curious on our petty rivers, is 
 far from being so here, where it is renewed every 
 year. The periodical rising (which is sometimes 
 truly extraordinary) of these two large rivers, 
 had placed it in the middle of the waters, and 
 these on withdrawing within their regular chan- 
 nel, had left it as it now stood, on dry land. 
 
 * It was in bis liburnica, or little boat, and near ancient 
 Stabia, in tbe gulf or crater of Naples, tbat Pliny was de- 
 stroyed by the ashes of Vesuvius, in the eruption of 79, in 
 the reign of Titus.
 
 NEW MADRID. 501 
 
 The steam-boat having stopped for a supply of 
 wood, I had the curiosity to take a nearer view 
 of it, and found it to be really the same I had 
 first noticed. It was erected on piles fifteen 
 feet in height, which, when I saw it first, were 
 entirely concealed by the water. To enable 
 you to estimate the astonishing increase of these 
 two rivers in spring, it is as well for me to men- 
 tion that the house in question is at present as 
 it were upon a hill more than fifty feet above 
 the level of the waters. The Naiads had de- 
 serted the place, to avoid the insalubrity of its 
 air in summer. 
 
 The river below the mouth of the Ohio is 
 very wide, and comprises within its bed large 
 islands : that known by the name of Wolf 
 island is the largest that it meets with or has 
 formed in its course, being five miles long and 
 two wide. It is at this part also that the river 
 is widest, it being estimated to be here six 
 miles broad. This place is about eighteen 
 miles from the Ohio. The Mississippi, from 
 the Ohio to its several mouths, with scarcely 
 an exception, passes through a country re- 
 markably flat. 
 
 New Madrid, forty-four miles from Wolf 
 island, is in fact neither new nor old. It is now 
 nothing. An earthquake in 1812, and another 
 in 1819, destroyed or swallowed up the houses 
 which composed it, and which indeed were but
 
 502 NEW PASSAGE OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 few and mean. Its situation however is well 
 adapted to become an entrepot of commerce be- 
 tween civilized nations and the Indian tribes in 
 the rear of it, and this might have rendered it a 
 place of considerable consequence. The land 
 on which it stood, and that around it, has sunk 
 considerably, and is now unfit for any purpose 
 whatever. The Mississippi, like all great rivers, 
 has its periodical overflows, generally in May or 
 June, when its inundation spreads often to the 
 extent of a hundred miles. It then constitutes 
 what may be almost called a sea. 
 
 Forty-three miles lower, the river has opened 
 a new passage for itself across a peninsula, 
 which is now become an island. This extraordi- 
 nary event happened no longer ago than two 
 years, and is as yet unknown to geographers. 
 This new pass saves more than twelve miles of 
 circuitous navigation. Some have supposed that 
 this channel has been effected by the force or 
 momentum of the enormous volume of water, 
 but the depth of it and its unequal form in- 
 duced me to consider it as the result of an 
 earthquake. This passage is about three quar- 
 ters of a mile in length, and is called the New Cut. 
 
 About forty miles lower we find a conside- 
 rable hill, called Chikasaw Bluff, and three others 
 in succession, under the same denomination, in 
 the space of between fifty and sixty miles : 
 they are all on the eastern bank, in the state of
 
 CITY OF MEMPHIS. 503 
 
 Tennessee, which on the river is contiguous to 
 that of Kentucky on the north, and on the south 
 to that of Mississippi. They belonged, as well 
 as all the surrounding territories, to the Indians 
 of that name. But the Americans are always 
 afraid that they shall be in want of land ; though, 
 as I have already mentioned, they do not cultivate 
 a nineteenth part in twenty of what they already 
 possess. They have likewise driven them away on 
 the west of the Mississippi, at the Arkansaws, 
 White river, &c. There is indeed reason to ap- 
 prehend that the Americans, in consequence of 
 thus hunting and driving the savages before them, 
 may at length become savages themselves. I 
 have met with some of that people in the forests 
 and deserts, who were to be distinguished from 
 Indians only by their language and the charac- 
 teristic cleanliness of their persons and dress. 
 These three Bluffs are as it were insulated 
 points, which admirably interrupt and diversify 
 the tiresome extent of flat territory. 
 
 Between the mouth of Wolf river and the 
 last of these Bluffs, there is pointed out to 
 you a place called the city of Memphis. 
 But there is nothing of the ancient, nor the 
 progress of the modern. The place is an incon- 
 siderable village, which the annual inundations 
 threaten to destroy. It has however encreased 
 twice its former size since it has belonged to 
 the United States.
 
 504 RIVER ST FRANCIS. 
 
 You will naturally ask, as I did myself, 
 why do they not erect the village on the 
 Bluff? When the inundation ceases, the ex- 
 halation of miasma is absolutely mortal on the 
 Bluff, whilst farther down it is only slightly 
 injurious. 
 
 About fifty-six miles lower we reach the mouth 
 of the river St Francis, on the west. I am told 
 that it is navigable for more than three hundred 
 miles, that it ascends nearly in a parallel line 
 with the Mississippi on the N.N.W., and that 
 its sources are near those of the Merrimac, 
 which discharges it, as we have already no- 
 ticed, near St Louis. An iron mine has just 
 been discovered between the sources of these 
 two rivers, the ore of which is abundant and 
 so excellent that it is malleable after the first 
 fusion : it must certainly in this case be in- 
 valuable. Near the mouth of the St Francis, 
 also, there is a bluff, the only one existing (and 
 a remarkable circumstance it is) on the right 
 bank of the Mississippi, from Cape Girardeau to 
 its mouths, a course of about thirteen hundred 
 miles. 
 
 You will recollect, that we have already met 
 with a river St Francis, above the Falls of St 
 Peter. I imagine that M. la Salle, who was 
 descending the Mississippi as Father Hannepin 
 was ascending it, discovered this very river on 
 the same day that the latter discovered that
 
 WHITE RIVER. 505 
 
 higher up, and that this circumstance led to the 
 application of the same name to both. The 
 mouth of this river, and the lower part of its 
 course, are in the territory of the Arkansaws, 
 which is bounded on the north by the Missouri 
 state, on the south by that of Louisiana, on the 
 west by the mountains of New Mexico, and on 
 the east by the Mississippi. 
 
 Eighty miles, or somewhat more, below the 
 St Francis, White river enters the Mississippi, 
 on the same side. This river is an apple of dis- 
 cord among the American geographers. Some 
 of them generously bestow on it a navigable 
 course of twelve hundred miles, while others 
 limit the whole extent of its flow within three 
 hundred. Some maps fix its principal sources 
 in the direction of N.N.W. near its tributary, 
 Black river, and others in that of W.S.W. : in 
 short, it is mentioned by some with a tone of 
 perfect knowledge and confidence, though they 
 know if possible still less of it than myself, who 
 acknowledge my perfect ignorance on the sub- 
 ject. I have, however, seen the mouth of it. 
 One thing that may be depended upon as cer- 
 tain is, that about twenty-five or thirty miles 
 above its confluence with the Mississippi, it 
 communicates with the Arkansaws by means of 
 a Bayou, a term applied to express all the chan- 
 nels which nature has formed, of communication 
 or discharge, in the Lower Mississippi.
 
 50G RIVER ARKANSAWS. 
 
 Twenty miles from White river, the Arkan- 
 saws pours its tributary stream into the great 
 river. 
 
 This river (the Arkansaws,) next to the Mis- 
 souri, the Ohio, and the Red river, (which we 
 shall meet with lower down,) seems to be the 
 largest that flows into the Mississippi. Opi- 
 nions are much divided respecting its sources 
 and the length of its course. Hence, you 
 will easily conclude that nothing on these 
 subjects is positively known, yet all these 
 regions have been traversed by grand expedi- 
 tions. The amiable Major Long also made one, 
 but his expedition, as I have been led to under- 
 stand, was equally fruitless with the others, 
 though he has contrived to spin out two volumes 
 upon the subject. But whether the river de- 
 scends from the Black Mountains, or Rocky 
 Mountains, or Cypowais Mountains ; whether it 
 is navigable for a space of one thousand nine 
 hundred and eighty, or two thousand miles, or its 
 whole course is limited within fifteen hundred, 
 it still is incontestable that its sources are in the 
 direction of New Mexico, and that it is a very 
 large river. It must be admitted, that this is 
 rather a loose and vague account of its geo- 
 graphy; but, having seen merely the mouth of 
 it, I can tell you nothing more on the subject, 
 unless indeed, like others, I were to substitute 
 invention for facts, and betray your confidence.
 
 SOLITARY YANKEES. 507 
 
 Twenty or thirty miles lower we stopped in 
 the evening at a small cabin which was inha- 
 bited by a happy family, consisting of a father 
 and mother and two children. They cultivate a 
 little maize, and have a stock of cattle ; and the 
 father calculates that, before his children be- 
 come of age, and can properly quit their paternal 
 mansion, they will have earned him at least fifteen 
 hundred piastres each, by cutting wood for the 
 steam-boats, transporting it to New Orleans 
 in flats, (a species of covered rafts,) and by 
 other speculations which that grand mart has 
 laid open to the various and vast regions of the 
 interior. He added, that then, as far as he could 
 judge, he should have no farther need of their 
 services, and they might leave him and go in 
 peace, to form, like the beavers, a colony of their 
 own. These people are Yankees. 
 
 The next day we stopped at another small 
 hut, consisting also of Yankees. An American 
 gentleman, who had formerly been acquainted 
 with them at another place two or three thou- 
 sand miles distant, enquired what adventure had 
 induced them to abandon their first establish- 
 ment. The head of the family replied, that it 
 was to get out of the way of neighbours ; and 
 that he was going also to leave his present situa- 
 tion, as a family had just come and settled in his 
 neighbourhood, about sixty miles off. The gen- 
 tleman asked him where his wife was ; she was
 
 508 COLONEL BOON. 
 
 gone, he said, to see a neighbour, one of her 
 relations, about eighty miles from home. You 
 see therefore, that the space which in Italy- 
 can supply us with half a dozen sovereigns, 
 is too confined in the New World even for 
 a single family of Americans. It seems as 
 if the spirit of association had, in that quar- 
 ter, scarcely any natural operation, or that the 
 collisions of interest impel to separation. Co- 
 lonel Boon, who was one of the first that pene- 
 trated into the vast deserts of Kentucky, to 
 attack and hunt down the Indians and wild 
 beasts by which it was infested, had so com- 
 plete an antipathy to neighbourhoods, that for 
 forty years he continued retreating farther and 
 farther still into the interior in order to avoid 
 them ; having proceeded from the eastern boun- 
 daries of Kentucky, by a series of removes and 
 stations, till at last he reached the river Osages, 
 a distance of thirteen hundred miles. A family 
 with which I am acquainted, having settled a 
 hundred miles in his rear, was just rousing him 
 to one remove more, when death rendered him 
 finally stationary. It is supposed, that had his 
 life been spared but a short time longer, his 
 eagerness to fly from approaching neighbours 
 would have hurried him to the Pacific Ocean, 
 whence probably some new neighbourhood would 
 soon have driven him to the region of New 
 Holland.
 
 NATCHEZ. 509 
 
 The Yazoo river flows from the east and sepa- 
 rates the Tennessee and the Mississippi states. It 
 traverses a large part of Western Georgia and 
 the whole space of territory between the limits 
 of that state and the Mississippi river. All the 
 countries through which it passes were also a 
 short time since the property of Indians. It is 
 about one hundred and seventy miles from the 
 river Arkansaws. 
 
 Twelve miles farther down is a beautiful hill, 
 called Walnut hill, which pleasantly interrupts 
 the monotony of these eternal marshes. 
 
 We next, arrive at Natchez, the first place 
 after St Louis which presents traces of an ad- 
 vanced civilization. We must halt here for a 
 moment, and this it is the more necessary to do 
 so as, before we go any farther, it will be proper 
 to take a general survey of what these countries 
 have been, in order duly to appreciate what 
 they at present are. I can however only shew 
 you what they have been in reality and what 
 they are. If you desire to see them in a micro- 
 cosm and with a microscope, read the Natchez 
 and Attala. 
 
 The town of Natchez is built upon a hill 
 which commands the eastern bank of the Mis- 
 sissippi. It is about eight hundred and fifty miles 
 from St Louis ; six hundred and seventy-one 
 from the mouth of the Ohio ; two hundred and 
 eighty-five from that of the Arkansaws, and one
 
 510 DISCOVERIES OF M. LA SALLE. 
 
 hundred from that of Yazoo, on the north. On 
 the south it is about three hundred miles from 
 New Orleans; one hundred and seventy-five 
 from Baton Rouge, and seventy-three from the 
 mouth of the Red river. 
 
 I mentioned in a former letter, that the French 
 were the first discoverers of the territory called 
 Upper Louisiana. We are now in Lower Louis- 
 iana, the discovery of which was also made by 
 the French. 
 
 M. la Salle, a man of firmness and enter- 
 prise, was not discouraged by the ill success of 
 his discoveries on the Illinois. His constancy 
 was not only unabated, but even increased by 
 his failure, and he proceeded with new attempts. 
 After fixing an establishment at Kaskaskia, 
 which he also confided to his faithful Achates 
 the Chevalier Tonti, he, in 1678, went down the 
 Mississippi as far as Natchez. He returned to 
 Canada without exciting any suspicion of his 
 secret, and thence sailed to France, where, after 
 communicating to the court his recent disco- 
 veries and his plans, he obtained a squadron, 
 men, and all the necessary means, for a trans- 
 atlantic expedition, and the formation of new 
 colonies. 
 
 He arrived in the gulf of Mexico about the 
 year 1684, and passed in front of the mouths of 
 the Mississippi, which he was actually in quest 
 of; but, whether through obstinacy or presump-
 
 EXPEDITION OF M. D'lBERVILLE. 511 
 
 tion, he refused to attend to the opinion of those 
 who pointed them out to him. When off St 
 Bernard's bay, he became convinced of his mis- 
 take. He was then desirous of going back, and 
 getting into the proper course; but the com- 
 mander of the squadron turned a deaf ear to all 
 his representations, and carried his cruelty so 
 far as to land him on that inhospitable shore, 
 where this intrepid man, worthy of a better fate, 
 was murdered by the adventurers who had fol- 
 lowed him. Such is the history of the first 
 expedition. 
 
 The mania for discoveries prevailed at that 
 time among the French as well as among various 
 other nations of Europe. Monarchs, instead of 
 attending to the happiness of their subjects, in 
 hopes of finding new means of gratifying their 
 love of pomp and profligacy, ruined the Old 
 "World in order to ransack the regions of the 
 New. M. d'Iberville went out next to La Salle, 
 and landed, in 1699, in the bay of Mobile, where 
 he raised an ill-constructed fort, which he called 
 Fort Dauphin, or Massacre island, so named 
 from the number of human skeletons which he 
 found there. 
 
 He again reached the Mississippi, by an over- 
 land passage, with a detachment of his men, 
 and ascended the river as far as the place 
 now called Natchez, which perhaps had been 
 pointed out by M. la Salle ; and here he erected
 
 512 UNSUCCESSFUL COLONIZATION. 
 
 a fort, which he called Fort Rosalie. Natchez 
 was the name of the Indians who inhabited these 
 territories, and who received the French with 
 hospitality. 
 
 The same M. d'Iberville established another 
 small colony at the mouth of the Perdido, which 
 he named Biloxi; but. the unhealthiness of these 
 places, and the distance of the establishments 
 from each other, prevented their flourishing; and 
 in the following year he returned to France. 
 
 He was succeeded by M. Crosat, as farmer- 
 general of the whole colony for ten years ; but, 
 before the expiration of that time, he resigned, 
 and succeeded in extricating himself from a pri- 
 vilege that had already swallowed up his private 
 fortune, though a very considerable one. 
 
 The new settlers were totally averse to agri- 
 culture, without which no colony can prosper. 
 The petty commerce with the Indians could 
 only supply them with a few furs, but furnished 
 no bread; and while they were hunting after 
 mines of gold and silver, which they never found, 
 they lost the few resources they had possessed, 
 and incurred diseases by which they were 
 destroyed. Such are the causes of the little 
 success with which all their enterprizes were 
 attended. 
 
 In the year 1718, the famous Company of 
 Law, or the Indies, took possession of Lower 
 Louisiana. But, though M. Bienville was a
 
 EFFECTS OF MISGOVERNMENT. 513 
 
 able and enlightened governor, the vexatious and 
 harassing conduct of the company to the indus- 
 trious colonists, who had at length devoted 
 their exertions to agriculture, the taxes with 
 which they were loaded, and the monopolies 
 which cut down the profits of their industry, 
 the influx into the colony from the mother 
 country of all the dregs of its population, and 
 lastly, the hostilities of the Indians, whom the 
 injustice and rapacity of officers appointed 
 without judgment or feeling had unappeasably 
 exasperated ; all these circumstances combined 
 to render still more wretched the establishments 
 of Lower Louisiana, and compelled the govern- 
 ment, in 1731, to recall the privileges it had 
 granted to a company which was ruining both 
 France and its colonies, and was also one of the 
 remote causes of the revolution which that de- 
 lightful country has recently experienced. 
 
 The colony was not more prosperous from 
 1731 to 1763, at which epoch France ceded 
 Lower Louisiana to Spain, with all the territory 
 she possessed to the west of the Mississippi, 
 giving up at the same time to England all that 
 she held on the east of it, Canada included. 
 Spain used it only to enrich a few favourites and 
 governors ; and Natchez and New Orleans, with 
 all the dependent territory, began to flourish 
 
 VOL. II. LL
 
 514 LIBERAL GOVERNMENTS. 
 
 only when, in 1803, the United States obtained 
 them from Napoleon. 
 
 The Americans do not perhaps individually 
 possess more merit than the French or Spaniards, 
 nor should I wish to indulge in those odious 
 comparisons which are too often made both 
 between nations and individuals; but I will 
 assert and repeat, with the utmost publicity 
 and confidence, that a liberal government is 
 alike advantageous to the people and to the mo- 
 narch, and that a despotic government is essen- 
 tially and universally a bad one. In the first, 
 the sovereign is assisted by the best of his 
 subjects, who, having a common interest with 
 himself, and, having no apprehensions from ad- 
 dressing him in the language of truth, impart 
 their advice to him with judgment and freedom. 
 Whereas, in the other case, his will has no check, 
 and he becomes always a mark and victim of 
 the intrigues of favourites stimulated by their 
 insatiable rapacity, and of ministers who end by 
 making him their slave. 
 
 I would by no means however assert that the 
 government of the United States is without 
 faults. Human nature does not admit of per- 
 fection. But I do not hesitate to say, that I 
 do not think there is another government in 
 the world that has so few, not even the republic 
 of St Marino itself, which consists simply of the
 
 INDIAN WARS. 515 
 
 little town from which it derives its name, and 
 the whole territory of which may be surveyed 
 from its church-clock. 
 
 I have mentioned, my dear Countess, the wars 
 to which these Indians were provoked by the 
 conduct of a few Frenchmen : it may not per- 
 haps be injudicious or unentertaining for a few 
 moments to direct your attention to them. 
 
 The Natchez being those who had felt with 
 most severity the vexations and oppressions 
 inflicted on them by the commander of Fort 
 Rosalie, and some other officers as unprincipled 
 and unfeeling as himself, resolved to execute 
 upon them summary vengeance. Too weak 
 to act openly, they conspired with all the other 
 Indian nations to effect a general massacre of 
 their oppressors. As they had no almanack 
 by which to fix upon the important day, they 
 decided that each tribe should set up in its en- 
 campment fifteen stakes on the very day on 
 which their solemn determination was agreed to, 
 and that one of these should be removed every 
 day, the last that remained being to be consi- 
 dered as the signal for massacre. In conse- 
 quence of this arrangement, on the appointed 
 day, and almost at the same hour, a considerable 
 number of Frenchmen were massacred at Fort 
 Rosalie, on the Yazoo, and in other places. But, 
 those who survived avenged the destruction of
 
 51G NATCHEZ. 
 
 their countrymen by the almost total destruc- 
 tion of the Natchez tribe ; and the town of Nat- 
 chez has been erected, and now flourishes, on the 
 very spot where these Indians once had their 
 principal encampment, and where the French 
 afterwards built Fort Rosalie ; and the woods, 
 where that unfortunate tribe hunted the doe and 
 the roebuck, are now plains and hills abounding 
 in the growth of cotton. 
 
 The town is a really beautiful one, and its 
 environs contain a great number of handsome 
 country-seats, where the planters for many years 
 made and enjoyed ample fortunes, though, by 
 the depreciation of cotton, they are now in a 
 state of rapid impoverishment. 
 
 In the present year the yellow fever has 
 committed dreadful ravages. Nearly four 
 hundred persons have died, and the emaciated 
 and pallid faces that met my eye in every street, 
 plainly indicated that numbers of the living had 
 narrowly escaped. Among the dead were four 
 physicians. 
 
 Large three-masted vessels come up to this 
 place, although at more than four hundred miles 
 distance from the sea, and would ascend still 
 higher were they certain of obtaining cargoes. 
 It is in the state of Mississippi ; and its popu- 
 lation, previously to the late ravages of the fever, 
 amounted to about five thousand.
 
 TOWNS ON THE RED RIVER. 517 
 
 The farther we proceed downward, the houses 
 on the river's banks become more numerous : 
 cotton and maize are the principal articles of 
 cultivation there. 
 
 The mouth of Red river, as I have already 
 mentioned, is seventy-three miles below Nat- 
 chez. It presents a noble view on the west. 
 This river flows through a country exceedingly 
 rich in cotton, the fineness and length of whose 
 fibre render it nearly equal to that of Georgia. 
 
 The first establishment formed there by the 
 French, was under the government of M. dTber- 
 ville, in the Natchitoches. This colony was 
 the most flourishing of the whole, on account of 
 its superior government. It was under the di- 
 rection of M. St Denis ; an officer possessing at 
 once courage and wisdom, who by his prudent 
 management completely conciliated the affec- 
 tions of the Indians, and was thereby enabled to 
 extend its commerce into New Mexico, notwith- 
 standing the vigilant jealousy of the Spaniards. 
 But all the establishments of Red river, since 
 the country has come into the possession of the 
 Americans, have made astonishing advances. 
 The town of Owachitta has already a popula- 
 tion of almost three thousand ; Natchitoches of 
 more than eight thousand; Alexandria, or the 
 Rapids, of about seven thousand. These towns 
 are all comprised within the state of Louisiana,
 
 518 RED RIVER. 
 
 the capital of which, as I before stated, is New 
 Orleans. Steam-boats pass up to all these 
 establishments without the slightest obstacle. 
 
 This river is a very considerable one, and its 
 course of great extent, but its sources are en- 
 tirely unknown. The persons composing a cer- 
 tain expedition, however, thought they had dis- 
 covered them. When descending some river, 
 they rather prematurely settled the latitudes and 
 longitudes of Red river, the general direction 
 of its course, and its various windings; they 
 described the beauties of its banks, and even 
 saw some red sand at the bottom of its bed. At 
 its mouth, the gentlemen of the expedition con- 
 ceived themselves to be of course on the Missis- 
 sippi, whilst they were in fact in the Arkansaws ; 
 and the river which they had just descended 
 was the Canadian, which flows from the south- 
 west to the north-east, whereas Red river runs 
 from north-west to south east. I was informed of 
 this blunder by an officer who was with Major 
 Long in the same expedition, and who accompa- 
 nied us in the steam-boat : he gave the account 
 very circumstantially and confidently, and his 
 statement was confirmed by the captain of the 
 steam-boat and several passengers, who appeared 
 well acquainted with all the particulars. 
 
 Red river is the last tributary stream to the 
 Mississippi, as Heron river, near the Julian
 
 THE BAYOUX SABINE RIVER. 519 
 
 sources, (agreeably to what I mentioned in a 
 former letter,) is the first. 
 
 Below Red river, the Mississippi may be 
 said to become tributary itself, for all the issues 
 found along its banks, and which are called 
 Bayoux, are, properly speaking, only vents or 
 passes, which it has formed for itself, to carry off 
 its waters, in periods of overflow, into the sea. 
 Thus, on the right, across the low lands which 
 were formerly inhabited by tribes of Indians, 
 and which still retain the names of Opeloussas, 
 Attakapas, Alchafalaya, it discharges itself into 
 a succession of lakes communicating with the 
 sea on the side of St Bernard's bay, and some 
 of the mouths of the Sabine. On the left it 
 flows through lakes Pontchartrain, Maurepas, 
 and Borgne, towards Beloxi and Mobile. 
 
 The river Sabine separates Louisiana from 
 Texas, on the west, the territory disputed be- 
 tween Mexico and the United States, and where 
 the colony, or expedition, under the direction of 
 General Lallemand met with such misfortunes. 
 This province ought to belong to the United 
 States, for the Rio del Norte, which bounds it 
 on the west, seems to have been appointed by 
 nature as the limit on that side to New Mexico. 
 We now return to the Bayou v. 
 
 The Louisianians in these Bayoux ought parti-
 
 520 BATON ROUGE. 
 
 cularly to admire the order of Providence ; for, 
 without the expedient it has thus brought into 
 operation, the two banks of the river, from Red 
 river even below New Orleans, would be con- 
 stantly inundated, or, more accurately speaking, 
 would no longer exist, and New Orleans itself 
 would be annihilated. All the immense regions 
 which extend from Natchez, as high up as New 
 Madrid, are flooded almost every year by the Mis- 
 sissippi, which sometimes rises fifty feet above 
 its usual level, while at New Orleans it rarely 
 rises beyond thirteen, and that city is never inun- 
 dated. Such is the effect of these tutelary Bayoux* 
 
 The articles cultivated in these plantations 
 are sugar, cotton, maize, and rice. Indigo com- 
 pletely degenerated there, and is no longer 
 grown : the land is too moist and too hot for 
 corn. 
 
 After making these general observations, we 
 shall now return to our regular course. 
 
 Baton Rouge is a pleasant little town, situated 
 on a small eminence, which is the last to be found 
 on the Mississippi. It commands the river, and 
 affords an extensive and admirable view of both 
 sides of it. 
 
 The government of the United States is erect- 
 ing in this place extensive barracks ; for the 
 purpose perhaps of making it a depot for troops
 
 ISLANDS IN THE MISSISSIPPI. 521 
 
 destined to repel any attacks that may be made 
 on a place so important as New Orleans. 
 
 Fourteen miles lower down, the ManchacBayou 
 presents a fine situation for opening, by means 
 of a canal of no great length, a convenient and 
 very useful navigation from the Missouri to lake 
 Pontchartrain, and thus communicating with the 
 Mobile, Pensacola, &c. 
 
 I pointed out to you the first island of the 
 Mississippi, in the midst of the Little Falls 
 above Sandy lake ; I must now notice its last. 
 It is thirty miles below the Bayou Manchac, 
 and might with great propriety have been called 
 by the distinguished name of d'Iberville, who 
 was the first European that ascended this part 
 of the Mississippi. Eleven miles from this 
 island is Donaldson, a small town situated on the 
 Bayou la Fourche, which leads to the Attakapas, 
 Opeloussas, and various other regions. It is 
 seventy-five miles from New Orleans. The 
 space between these two places may be consi- 
 dered as one continued town, consisting of the 
 habitations of planters. While passing over the 
 distance, I was reminded of the Persian prince, 
 who, when accompanying the emperor Constan- 
 tius towards Rome, thought he was entering that 
 city while yet fifty miles without its walls, at 
 the Augustan bridge near Fescennia. I saw in 
 it likewise some resemblance to those delicious
 
 522 ORIGIN OF NEW ORLEANS; 
 
 tracts on the banks of the Brenta, between 
 Padua and Venice, which the wealth and good 
 taste of the Venetians have formed into an 
 earthly paradise. 
 
 When Law's Company of the Indies took pos- 
 session of Louisiana, the seat of government was 
 still at Fort Dauphine ; but, a dreadful tempest 
 having blocked up Mobile bay with sand, it was 
 transferred by governor Bienville to the place 
 where New Orleans now stands ; a name be- 
 stowed upon it to remind posterity of the re- 
 gency and the wisdom of Philip of Orleans. I 
 consider the date of this city, therefore, to be 
 1718 or 19. The establishment of Biloxi, also, 
 was afterwards transferred to it; that place being 
 both barren and unhealthy ; but this accession 
 had no effect in promoting the prosperity of the 
 new city. It continued to languish while under 
 the Spanish domination ; and it is only owing to 
 its being placed under the government of a na- 
 tion whose rulers, instead of being the people's 
 tyrants, are merely the depositaries of their 
 will — it is only owing to its freedom from all 
 vexatious restrictions on its industry, commerce, 
 and prosperity, from capricious abuses of power, 
 profligate monopolies, and selfish corporations, — 
 that this city has risen to the astonishing pros- 
 perity which distinguishes it at the present mo- 
 ment.
 
 ITS ASTONISHING PROSPERITY. 523 
 
 It is built on the left bank of the river, in the 
 form of a crescent, in an island about one hun- 
 dred and fifty miles in circumference, formed by 
 the Mississippi, Bayou Manchac, and lakes 
 Maurepas and Pontchartrain. 
 
 The new buildings, which are nearly all of 
 brick, present a striking contrast to the old ones, 
 which were built of wood. It is inhabited in a 
 great measure by foreigners, and Creoles of 
 French extraction, as well as Americans who 
 are attracted thither by its facilities for com- 
 merce, and of course for acquiring wealth. It 
 is more brilliant than any other American city 
 that I have seen. It contains about forty-five 
 thousand inhabitants ; a prodigious population 
 for a place which may be said to have just 
 emerged from a swamp, and where the yellow 
 fever and the natural insalubrity of the climate 
 every year effect deplorable ravages. 
 
 A stranger who entered it by night would 
 imagine himself arrived at some grand capital ; 
 for the streets are well lighted with reflecting 
 lamps, and the busy agitation and rapid move- 
 ment of carriages, in connection with that cir- 
 cumstance, easily lead to such a conclusion. 
 
 It is astonishing that a place which may be 
 said to be only just stepping out of its infancy, 
 should already exhibit, in the department of
 
 524 GAMBLING HOUSES. 
 
 amusements, a number of those attractions which 
 are displayed in the capitals of Europe. Horse- 
 races, dramatic representations, concerts, balls, 
 and gaming academies of every description, are 
 here to be met with. Within its comparatively 
 small compass there are not fewer than six 
 public gaming houses, — more in fact than exist 
 in Paris. I acknowledge that I did not ex- 
 pect to find this passion in such intense opera- 
 tion among a commercial, active, and republican 
 people ; I supposed it confined to courts, dissi- 
 pation, and idleness. The Lacedemonians looked 
 upon gaming with such horror, that Chilon, when 
 sent to conclude a treaty of alliance with the 
 Corinthians, was so indignant at finding them 
 absorbed by this practice, that he almost imme- 
 diately left them, with the rebuke, " that it 
 would tarnish the glory of Lacedemon to ally 
 itself with a nation of gamblers." So much has 
 been written on the fatal consequences of this 
 habit, that nothing new is to be advanced on 
 the subject ; and we can only repeat what the 
 greatest men have said before us both in ancient 
 and modern times. Tacitus remarks, that such 
 is the dominion of this passion over a man com- 
 pletely addicted to it, that the Germans often 
 finished by staking themselves, that is, by 
 gambling away their freedom and their persons.
 
 PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. 525 
 
 It is difficult to explain this attachment to so 
 dangerous a diversion in a place abounding with 
 so many other means of dissipation. 
 
 Besides the attractions of private societies, 
 public amusements are extremely frequent. 
 
 Two theatres furnish high gratification both to 
 the eye and ear, and the actors who perform there 
 would not be despised even in Europe : I must 
 add that, during my repeated attendances, I 
 have observed nothing of those dirty buffoone- 
 ries and obscene equivoques which, among 
 nations pretending to greater refinement, fre- 
 quently put decency and modesty to the blush. 
 
 The American theatre, though smaller, is 
 more regular in its form than the French ; and 
 both are very convenient, and most judiciously 
 adapted, though the architects never perhaps 
 studied Vitruvius or Bramante. 
 
 The French theatre has accessory rooms and 
 offices, such as are probably not to be met with 
 in any provincial theatre in Europe ; particu- 
 larly a large room, where subscription, dress, 
 and masked balls are given, which would rival 
 those exhibited in our capitals ; where the beau- 
 tiful Creoles fascinate and dazzle under the 
 forms of the Graces, and where luxury and de- 
 corum are in happy combination. Louisiana is 
 indebted for this elegant establishment to Mr 
 Davis, who has sacrificed to it a great part of
 
 526 FRENCH theatre; 
 
 his fortune. There is also a Spanish theatre — 
 which is, indeed, in every sense Spanish. 
 
 The French theatre, to the precision and fas- 
 cination of the machinery introduced upon the 
 stage, adds decorations of the most superb de- 
 scription and almost marvellous effect. M. Fog- 
 liardi, who is the painter, has obtained a well- 
 merited reputation, and is thoroughly acquainted 
 with the true theory of perspective. This ex- 
 cellent artist would need nothing but to have 
 been the pupil of a Gonzaga or a Cagliari, to 
 acquire celebrity even in Europe. He distri- 
 butes objects with such discrimination, brings 
 them out with such distinctness and breadth 
 displays such admirable adaptation of light and 
 shade, that the scene, small as it is in itself, by 
 a sort of magic power becomes extended and 
 spacious, and the eye and imagination of the 
 spectator see almost with the conviction of rea- 
 lity the very spot where the action of the piece 
 is supposed to pass. 
 
 Though a great admirer of the ancients, I 
 avail myself of every opportunity, consistently 
 with my reverence for our all-staunch antiqua- 
 ries, of expressing my just admiration of the 
 moderns. Though the ancients were our masters 
 in almost all the arts, they could not possibly 
 contest with the moderns the glory of having 
 carried to perfection the science of perspective.
 
 ITS SUPERIOR SCENOGRAPHY. 527 
 
 Albert Durer and Pietro del Borgo may be con- 
 sidered as its inventors. Titian, Dominichino, 
 and Balthazar Peruzzi, were eminent masters, 
 who left successors still more eminent than 
 themselves, particularly in the French and 
 Flemish schools ; and at present, Granet, Bassi, 
 Werstapen, and various others, do honour to the 
 age by their skill in this delightful and almost 
 miraculous art, which on the stage has been 
 carried nearly to perfection. We must, how- 
 ever, while circumscribing the merits of the 
 ancient painters, beware of adopting the opinion 
 of Perault, in denying them any knowledge 
 of perspective whatever. The discovery of the 
 ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum must, I ima- 
 gine, have contributed to render his presumptu- 
 ous assertions on this subject still more ridiculous 
 than they were before. 
 
 To superior talents for what may be called 
 scenography, M. Fogliardi unites those of design; 
 of that art, the benefits and wonders of which 
 cannot be too highly eulogized, and which ought 
 to be pursued by our youth with almost idola- 
 trous attachment. 
 
 Man is only the interpreter of nature ; but 
 the mere hand of nature, powerful, indefatiga- 
 ble, and plastic as it is, is sufficient only for a 
 few effects. A servile imitation of the external 
 appearances of nature never produces grand re-
 
 528 NATURE EMBELLISHED BY GENIUS. 
 
 suits. It is only by the aid of that genius with 
 which she inspires her favoured votaries, that 
 genius which is her most precious gift, and by 
 those rules which she has permitted it to invent 
 for its guidance, that she may be said to re-pro- 
 duce herself under the aspect of a nature still 
 more beautiful and sublime ; and the exercise 
 of this genius and of these rules is the offspring 
 of the great art of design. Nature creates 
 forms, design perfects them, and, like a Pro- 
 metheus, animates them with a spirit which 
 makes them appear to the most ignorant and 
 stupid observer possessed of all the vigour and 
 truth of reality. Without the aid of the ge- 
 nius of design, nature could not have produced 
 the supreme and almost divine beauty of the 
 virgins of Raphael and Sasseferrato, and of 
 the angels of Corregio and Guido Reni ; the 
 voluptuous attractions in the works of Albano, 
 or the speaking expression of the figures of 
 Giotto and Cimabue. 
 
 It is design which introduces us to the mys- 
 teries delle tre Arti Sorelle, of the three sisters so 
 important and indispensable to the wants of 
 luxury which man has created for himself — 
 architecture, sculpture, and painting ; and it is 
 by these three arts that civilized man may be 
 considered as distinguished from the savage. 
 They are the most enduring depositaries both of
 
 BENEFITS OF DRAWING. 529 
 
 his virtues and infirmities. History herself de- 
 rives from this source her most correct and her 
 most impressive lessons. I have seen her my- 
 self in Latium, in Magna Grecia, and elsewhere, 
 resorting to the venerable monuments of anti- 
 quity to find out what had previously escaped 
 all her researches, or to correct errors which she 
 had been led into by the conjectures of the 
 learned. In short, to the art of design, the three 
 kingdoms of nature owe their highest advances. 
 
 M. Fogliardi, who was the first to open an 
 academy in this place for the promotion of these 
 objects, deserves both eulogium and encourage- 
 ment, and I doubt not that he will obtain them. 
 For, how insignificant and worthless among an 
 enlightened people must that man appear, who 
 makes no effort and feels no wish to co-operate 
 in the means which revive the image of a be- 
 loved friend, or transmit to posterity the me- 
 mory of transcendant minds and beneficent 
 citizens ? The government, to whom the na- 
 tion confides the charge of superintending the 
 progress of its civilization, and who are able 
 justly to appreciate the virtuous efforts which 
 produced this institution, will unquestionably 
 give it their highest support. 
 
 I have visited, with great pleasure, the esta- 
 blishment of this distinguished artist and most 
 excellent man ; but I have seen, what is to be 
 
 VOL. II. m M
 
 530 QUALIFICATIONS FOR AN ARTIST. 
 
 seen also in many of our own countrymen — I 
 have observed the young people who attend 
 him too eager to free themselves from the re- 
 straint of rules founded on experience, and from 
 long received theories. A house is never be- 
 gun to be built at the roof; but always at the 
 foundation. It is impossible ever to paint or 
 sculpture an entire human figure without previ- 
 ously becoming acquainted with the particular 
 parts. It is impossible to represent a landscape 
 in due perspective without knowing the forms 
 which ought to be given to trees, and the place 
 appropriate to them in the picture : without 
 being acquainted with the peculiar motion, 
 shape, and character of animals, intended to con- 
 stitute figures in it ; and without attending to 
 the principles which regulate distribution and 
 grouping. No painter or sculptor will ever be 
 able to adjust the drapery to a figure before he 
 has studied it in its naked state ; as an architect 
 will never be able to complete a Corinthian co- 
 lumn without being well acquainted with the 
 rules of the Doric and Ionic ; for, otherwise, the 
 results would be absolute monsters, like the 
 edifices proceeding from the extravagant pencil 
 of our countryman Borromini ; who, in conse- 
 quence of endeavouring to innovate on archi- 
 tecture, became its Attila, completely bar- 
 barising it.
 
 BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 531 
 
 But, for the present, let us leave New Or- 
 leans, and follow the course of the river to its 
 mouths. 
 
 Between five and six miles lower down, I 
 must stop to show you the scene on which the 
 Americans triumphed over the English in the 
 celebrated battle, called the Battle of New Or- 
 leans. It is on the left bank of the Mississippi, 
 and between the plantations of Rodriguez and 
 Welcome. 
 
 The Americans have, no doubt, talked about 
 it a great deal, but it certainly appears that they 
 were well justified in doing so ; for, though they 
 were nearly all militia, not more than four or 
 five thousand strong, and collected in haste, yet, 
 for fifteen days successively, they repulsed, and 
 on the sixteenth completely beat and drove back, 
 a force of about twelve thousand, commanded 
 by one of Wellington's celebrated generals, Ge- 
 neral Pakenham, who seemed to despise the 
 enemy he came to fight, but who paid for his 
 audacity with his life. 
 
 This battle procured a well-merited fame for 
 General Jackson. He displayed in the critical 
 conjuncture in which he was placed, courage, 
 skill, and firmness, which enabled him to over- 
 come, in the first place, obstacles which ap- 
 peared to be wantonly thrown in his way to 
 thwart and irritate him, and afterwards the
 
 532 CONDEMNATION OF GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 enemy in the field. He rescued Louisiana from 
 the English yoke. 
 
 The gratitude of his fellow-citizens was mani- 
 fested to the triumphant commander in a thou- 
 sand different ways. He was carried in triumph 
 through the public streets, and crowned in the 
 theatre amidst the applauses of a crowded audi- 
 ence absolutely intoxicated with joy and victory. 
 It is a remarkable circumstance that, at the 
 very time when he was thus hailed by the 
 people as their liberator, one of the judges sen- 
 tenced him to a fine of a thousand piastres for a 
 breach of the laws ; and what adds to his glory 
 is, that he paid it, like a citizen who bent in due 
 submission to the tribunals of his country when 
 its safety was no longer in danger, and no 
 longer, therefore, required the application of 
 martial law, which he had considered it neces- 
 sary to enforce with vigour, in circumstances 
 so highly critical, that half-measures could have 
 only tended to produce greater anarchy. 
 
 The firmness of the zealous magistrate who 
 condemned the victorious general would pro- 
 bably have excited more admiration, if by so 
 doing he had not in fact been avenging an insult 
 committed against his own person and autho- 
 rity. It is a serious fault, which can never long- 
 continue under a wise and liberal constitution, 
 to permit a magistrate to be at once party and
 
 THE LADIES OF NEW ORLEANS. 533 
 
 judge, and more particularly when the object in 
 view is to avenge with the arm of the impassible 
 law a personal offence or insult, which stimu- 
 lates our passions more powerfully even than 
 interest, strong as it is universally admitted 
 to be. It is one of those cases which are in- 
 cluded in the judicious maxim of the ancients, 
 " Judicis incompetentis factum, pro iniquo et nullo 
 habendum est." General Jackson, in the course 
 of events and transactions which preceded the 
 battle, had committed this judge to prison, for 
 having granted a Habeas Corpus to a member 
 of the legislature who had opposed some of his 
 measures, from an idea that they were arbi- 
 trary. 
 
 The valour of the general was admirably se- 
 conded by that of the troops, who consisted 
 principally of the inhabitants of Tennessee and 
 Louisiana. 
 
 The ladies of New Orleans on this occasion 
 distinguished themselves by their humanity as 
 much as their brothers and husbands did by their 
 valour. I cannot help thinking that these ami- 
 able Creoles contributed not a little to the vic- 
 tory ; for the idea of being enabled, like another 
 Medorus, to become the object of the attentions 
 and compassion of some lovely Angelica, might 
 add greatly to the patriotism and bravery of the 
 combatants.
 
 534 INFLUENCE OF THE FAIR SEX. 
 
 People may say what they please, my dear 
 Countess, but women constitute the grand spring 
 by which men are influenced. You may per- 
 ceive it in my own case. I write long letters 
 to you, though I never before wrote any but 
 short ones ; and the pleasure I find in it arises 
 from the impulse to display before you, to the 
 best of my ability, whatever incidents or views 
 deeply impressed my own senses, affections, 
 or imagination. Were I merely to attempt to 
 write to beings of the hard and rocky nature of 
 that sex in whom I never found anything but 
 malignity — who have already inflicted on me 
 so much misery, and who, as you well know, 
 are still inflicting it, and that purely from the 
 pleasure of giving pain and doing harm — both 
 my mind and pen would recoil with disgust. 
 Let us return, however, to our subject from this 
 digression. 
 
 For the period of more than a year before this 
 battle, General Jackson had proceeded on in a 
 steady course of victory. He had completely 
 defeated the Creeks, whom the English, assisted 
 by the Spaniards of the Floridas, had excited 
 against the Americans from the beginning of the 
 war. They are a nation of Indians, of great 
 ferocity, and were at that time very numerous, 
 residing in the territory which separates the 
 states of Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi,
 
 FLORIDAS TAKEN FROM SPAIN. 535 
 
 from the Floridas. They are now almost en- 
 tirely destroyed — the natural fate of those who 
 suffer themselves, like despicable satellites, to 
 be basely worked upon by venality and in- 
 trigues. The Spaniards themselves soon began 
 to repent their having promoted the projects of 
 the English, as they thus furnished the Ameri- 
 cans with a plausible pretext for taking posses- 
 sion of the Floridas, which they have since 
 obtained by a treaty concluded between the 
 United States and the Cortes. 
 
 A little lower than the field of battle com- 
 mences the Lazaretto, which has nothing in com- 
 mon with the sanitary establishments of Europe 
 but the name. The chief object of this pre- 
 tended Lazaretto is to prevent the introduction 
 of the yellow fever, which was supposed to have 
 been imported to New Orleans from the island 
 of Cuba. The Spaniards of that island made 
 reprisals, and obliged the vessels that arrived 
 from New Orleans to perform quarantine. I 
 conclude from these circumstances that the yel- 
 low fever is indigenous to both countries. 
 
 Twelve miles farther, where the Mississippi 
 makes a considerable bend, is the place they 
 called English Turn ; a name applied to it from 
 the circumstance of the English, on arriving in 
 the beginning of the last century at this spot 
 with a view to ascend and examine the Missis-
 
 536 THE MOUTHS OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 sippi, turning back, on finding that they had 
 been anticipated by the French. 
 
 At Plaquemine bay, on the left, is Fort St 
 Philip, which serves to protect that pass to the 
 sea. Only small vessels however are capable of 
 navigating it. It is seventy miles from New 
 Orleans. 
 
 Eighteen miles farther, on the right, there is 
 another grand passage to the sea, which is called 
 South-west Pass, and another, three miles farther, 
 called South Pass ; six miles beyond is the great 
 pass, also on the right, called South-east Pass 
 and Main Pass ; and, almost immediately be- 
 yond, two others, one of which, called Otter 
 Pass, is on the north-east; the other, to the 
 north-west, has no name. These are all the 
 different passages which constitute the mouths 
 of the great river Mississippi, the sources of 
 which you have seen close to lake Julia, and 
 the navigation of which we have now com- 
 pleted through its whole course of about three 
 thousand and two hundred miles. 
 
 I observed to you, my dear Countess, that the 
 Mississippi was perhaps the first river in the 
 world : now, however, there is no perhaps in the 
 case. I declare, and will maintain it to be so, 
 without fear of contradiction. In order to convince 
 you of this, it is necessary that we should now 
 return to its sources. Do not, however, be alarmed .
 
 THE FIRST RIVER OF THE WORLD. 537 
 
 You will find that our voyage up will be much 
 shorter than that we have just finished downward. 
 
 You have seen that the Mississippi, by its 
 various bayoux or passes on both sides, commu- 
 nicates with all the lands of Louisiana, with an 
 infinite number of lakes, and with the sea. 
 
 By Red river, it communicates with New 
 Mexico. 
 
 By the Yazoo, it traverses all those regions 
 which are found on the limits of the Tennessee 
 and Mississippi states ; and, as the Yazoo is navi- 
 gable up to its sources, in Georgia, it may com- 
 municate, by means of some portage, with rivers 
 that fall into the Atlantic Ocean. The sources 
 of Tombecbee are also near those of the Yazoo, 
 and consequently an easy communication may 
 be effected with the Alabama and the lands sur- 
 rounding the bay of the Mobile, into which the 
 Tombecbee discharges itself. 
 
 By means of the Arkansaws, it serves as an 
 inlet to the establishments formed in the west 
 territory of that name ; and, as it is presumed 
 that the sources of the Arkansaws are almost 
 contiguous to those of the Colorado, it follows 
 that, by means of a portage, the Mississippi could 
 communicate with the gulph of California. 
 
 By White river and the St Francis, it pene- 
 trates a great way into regions highly fertile 
 and rich in mines.
 
 538 TRIBUTARIES TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 You have seen, with what immense coun- 
 tries, with what numerous states, it commu- 
 nicates by means of the Ohio, which is the life 
 and soul of the western states, Illinois, Indiana, 
 Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, of western Penn- 
 sylvania and Virginia. But, should the canals 
 which are projected be completed, other com- 
 munications would result far more important. 
 The Monongahela would join the Potowmac 
 which flows through Chesapeak bay into the 
 Atlantic. The Alleghany would join lake Erie, 
 and consequently, by the new canal of Buffalo, 
 it would communicate with New York, and by 
 the St Lawrence with the whole of Canada and 
 the Northern Atlantic ; with all the lakes, or the 
 Canadian sea formed by the lakes St Clair, 
 Huron, Michigan, Superior, and others. These 
 projects would also tend to join the Muskingum, 
 the Miami, and the Wabash, to lake Erie. We 
 now resume our course. 
 
 By means of the river Kaskaskia, it penetrates 
 far into the lands known by the name of the 
 American Bottom, which are considered as the 
 most fertile in America, and through which some 
 pretend that the Mississippi formerly flowed. 
 
 The Marimak conveys down to it the lead and 
 iron supplied by its mines. 
 
 The Missouri, by its southern and western 
 sources, would establish the communication of
 
 TRIBUTARIES TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 539 
 
 the Mississippi with the rivers Lewis and Clark, 
 which 'run into the Columbia, and of course 
 with the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 The Illinois would enable it to communicate, 
 by means of a small canal (which is in contem- 
 plation,) with the river Cikago, which discharges 
 itself into lake Michigan. 
 
 You have seen the rivers Le Moine, Yawoha, 
 Rocky, Fever, Turkey, &c. bearing large boats 
 on their streams far into the interior. 
 
 The Owiskonsing, another tributary to the 
 Mississippi, communicates also with lake Mi- 
 chigan through a portage at the Foxes river. 
 
 The river Cypowais, near lake Pepin, com- 
 municates by means of a portage with the 
 Menomeni, and consequently with lake Su- 
 perior. 
 
 The St Croix also communicates with it, by a 
 short portage from its sources to the river Bois- 
 
 brule. . . 
 
 You have already seen the direction ot the 
 
 course of the St Peter. 
 
 The rivers Brandy and St Francis, communi- 
 cate, by means of the Thousand Lakes whence 
 they issue, with other rivers which also pour 
 themselves into lake Superior. 
 
 The Raven's plume, by means of Leaf river, 
 which flows into it near its sources, communi- 
 cates with Otter Tail lake, from which issues
 
 540 TRIBUTARIES TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 the river of that name, which the English have 
 named also Red river and which falls into Hud- 
 son's bay. 
 
 You recollect, that Sandy river, which falls 
 into the Mississippi, communicates likewise by 
 a short portage, and by the rivers Savannah and 
 St Louis, with the end of lake Superior, and 
 that by means of Pines, Willow, and Bloody 
 rivers, the Mississippi communicates with im- 
 mense regions inhabited by Indians. 
 
 At the end of the second lake Winipeg, on 
 the north of it, it communicates by a short por- 
 tage with Oak river, which falls into Rainy 
 river, by which we may descend both to Hud- 
 son's bay, by lake Wood, and to the Atlantic 
 Ocean by Rainy lake, lake Superior, &c. 
 
 You have seen that, from Red Cedar lake, 
 these Indian territories may be traversed on 
 the west as far as Bitch lake. 
 
 Also, that the Julian sources are almost conti- 
 guous to those of Bloody river, and that conse- 
 quently the Gulf of Mexico communicates at three 
 different points with the Frozen Sea, across the 
 immense space of about four thousand five hun- 
 dred miles; that is, by means of the Raven's 
 plume, lake Winipeg, and the Julian sources. 
 
 You recollect that a canoe can ascend as far 
 as the sources of the river, and a large boat 
 within three miles of them.
 
 TRIBUTARIES TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 541 
 
 That a river, of such immense extent, presents 
 no other obstacles to its navigation than three 
 short portages at the falls of St Antony, the great 
 rapids, and the little falls. 
 
 That a steam-boat has gone up as far as Fort 
 St Peter, and that it might pass up the river St 
 Peter as high as about sixty miles. 
 
 You have seen that the steam-boats run over, 
 in every sense, the whole valley of the Ohio, and 
 penetrate even into the interior of the states 
 watered by that river; that they traverse the 
 Arkansaws territory, Red river, the bayoux, &c. 
 
 That large three-masted vessels may ascend 
 this great river more than four hundred miles 
 from its mouths. 
 
 We have traversed together on its stream one 
 of the most extensive and beautiful vallies, and 
 perhaps also the most fertile, in the world, and 
 we have noticed innumerable tributary rivers 
 flowing into it as into a common centre prepared 
 for them by nature. 
 
 You have seen that, by facilitating commerce, 
 that inexhaustible source of wealth, it imparts 
 occupation and life to a world. 
 
 Finally, you have admired with me its beauty, 
 its opulent mines, its almost always smooth and 
 tranquil course, and the wisdom of nature in its 
 bay our or passes. 
 
 Judge now whether another such river can be
 
 542 FATHER ANTHONY. 
 
 found on the globe which thus communicates 
 with every sea and at various points, which 
 combines so many wonders with such great 
 utility, which surveys more than one hundred 
 steam-boats gliding over its waters, with an 
 infinite number of other vessels freighted with 
 the productions and manufacture of both worlds, 
 and to which futurity promises such brilliant 
 destinies. Judge whether the Mississippi be 
 not the first river in the world ! 
 
 The Amazon, and the la Plata, may exceed 
 the Mississippi in the volume of their waters; 
 but in all other respects, far more important, 
 they cannot be compared with it; and what 
 confers on the latter a decided superiority is, 
 that along the whole extent of its banks man 
 can breath the air of liberty, and industry meets 
 with no restriction. 
 
 I cannot, and indeed ought not, to quit New 
 Orleans without mentioning to you Father An- 
 thony. He is a venerable Spanish capuchin, 
 who for eight and forty years has devoted his 
 life to imparting the consolations of faith to this 
 population, with simplicity, and without either 
 fanaticism or intolerance. As he could never 
 bring himself to say that it was midnight at mid- 
 day, or midday at midnight, he has not been 
 made a bishop; but he is not, on that account, 
 less regarded as the patriarch, the father of the
 
 THE MISSISSIPPI AXD NAPOLEON. 543 
 
 Catholic religion in this city, and the founder of 
 all its churches ; and he is, by the inhabitants 
 in general, highly esteemed and beloved. Mon- 
 seigneur Dubourg is the bishop of New Orleans. 
 
 You have seen, my dear Countess, with me 
 the cradle of the Mississippi, and the deep tomb 
 which swallows it up on its closing its long and 
 brilliant course. Madame Deshouilliere, in a 
 charming idyl, compares the life of man to the 
 agitated course of a river. This interesting 
 image is justly applicable to ordinary men ; but 
 nothing, in my opinion, resembles so nearly the 
 course of this great river as the career of that 
 extraordinary man who, originating in obscu- 
 rity, exhibited a brilliant course of glory, and 
 was at length entombed in the ocean of his own 
 triumphs. 
 
 The hand of Providence has brought me to 
 the conclusion of an enterprise which, solitary, 
 and in all possible ways thwarted as I was, I 
 scarcely dared to consider practicable, and the 
 recollection of which brings back to my mind 
 privations and dangers which make me shudder.* 
 I cannot however help surveying this mighty 
 river, the scene of all these sufferings, with satis- 
 faction and pride. Though it appears here in 
 
 * I escaped death, I imagine, only because those bar- 
 barous people thought they saw in that temerarious solitary 
 man some extraordinary supernatural being.
 
 544 UNVEILED DEITY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 all its majesty, it seems towards me to display a 
 carriage of less hauteur, a demeanour less over- 
 whelming. I have obtained over it a sort of 
 empire. I alone penetrated into the seclusion 
 of his sanctuary, where the deity of the stream 
 had concealed himself from mortal eyes. I saw 
 him in the first struggle of his birth, apprehen- 
 sive, cautious, and starting from the touch even 
 of a bark canoe ; and while announcing and 
 upholding his sovereign dominion, I may be 
 considered to have impaired the honours of his 
 divinity by developing to the world all the se- 
 crets of his prodigies, and incidents of his course. 
 
 I have discovered the place of his origin in 
 space, but who can disclose to us his origin in 
 point of time ? Did the first beams of the sun 
 constitute also the first of his days? Does he 
 belong to incalculable antiquity or to modern 
 ages? Here are questions of " height and depth," 
 the discussion and solution of which I leave to 
 those who are fond of plunging in the ocean of 
 immensity. For my own part, I require repose 
 and breathing-time to prepare myself for new 
 labours and travels. I am going to proceed to 
 Mexico, and perhaps to countries still farther 
 distant. 
 
 You perceive, my dear Countess, that I am 
 almost always in motion and in divertion of 
 mind But there are voids which nothing can
 
 CONCLUSION. 54 
 
 fill up ; there are impressions which neither 
 time nor travel can wear away!.... I am not a 
 little inclined to think with iEsop, that Prome- 
 theus moistened with tears the clay from which 
 he formed man ; and to exclaim with the sage — 
 
 O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane! 
 
 No other consolations are now left me than the 
 recollection and veneration of those extraordi- 
 nary virtues which we cherished with common 
 feelings, and the friendship of those whom I 
 sincerely esteem. May you, my dear Countess, 
 never withdraw from me yours ! 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY C. II. REYNELL, DROAD STREET, GOLDEN SQUARE.
 
 itefe 
 

 
 
 ^jJillil^ 
 
 I 

 
 REFERENCE 
 
 PLATES OF INDIAN ORNAMENTS, &c. 
 
 PLATE I. 
 
 1 A Medicine Sack, made of the coat of an animal. 
 
 2 A Pouch (Sioux). 
 
 3 A Knife-sheath (Cypowais). 
 
 4 A Woman's Apron-pouch. 
 
 [All these ornaments are embroidered with porcupine quills]. 
 PLATE II. 
 
 1 A War Pipe (Sioux). 
 
 2 A Scalp of a Sioux, given to M. Beltrami by the Great Eagle Chief of the 
 
 Cypowais. 
 
 3 A Necklace made of the claws of the White Eagle. 
 
 4 A Pipe-bowl (Saukis). 
 
 5 A Knife-sheath (Sioux). 
 
 [The ornaments 1 and 5 are embroidered with porcupine quills]. 
 
 PLATE III. 
 
 1 A Mocassin (Sioux). 
 
 2 (Cypowais). 
 
 3 (Ditto female.) 
 
 4 A Basket made of bark, and embroidered with coloured grass. 
 
 5 A Wooden Idol (Cypowais). 
 
 6 A Pewter Pipe-bowl (Ditto). 
 
 [The ornaments 1, 2, and 3, are embroidered with porcupine quills]. ■
 
 REFERENCE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PLAN OF THE GARDENS AT SCHWETZINGEN. 
 
 A. The Chateau. 
 
 B. Dining and Assembly Rooms. 
 
 C. The Orangery. 
 
 D. The Theatre. 
 
 E. The Sea-horse spouting water 
 
 F. Orangery and Hot-house 
 
 G. The Temple of Apollo. 
 H. The Baths. 
 I. The Grotto. 
 K. The Botanic Temple. 
 L. The Aqueduct. 
 
 M. Roman Ruins, with a cascade. 
 
 N. Hydraulic Machine. 
 
 O. The Barracks. 
 
 P. Ruins of a Temple to Mercury 
 
 Q. Turning Bridge. 
 
 R. 
 
 The Mosque. 
 
 oms. S. 
 
 The Temple of Minerva. 
 
 T. 
 
 The Grotto of Pan. 
 
 U. 
 
 Hotbeds and Houses. 
 
 ater. V. 
 
 The Kitchen Garden. 
 
 W. 
 
 The Fruit Garden. 
 
 X. 
 
 Plantation for young trees. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Ditto for foreign trees. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Plantations. 
 
 a. Parterres in the French fashion. 
 
 b. Succession Beds to the Orangery. 
 
 c. Flower Beds. 
 
 d. Fountains. 
 
 c. Statues and Vases.
 
 REFERENCE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PLAN OF KARLSRHUE. 
 
 1 Grand-ducal Castle. 
 
 2 Castle Tower, the centre of the 
 
 Plantations. 
 
 3 Castle yard. 
 
 4 Guard-room. 
 
 5 Parade. 
 
 6 Castle Garden. 
 
 7 Court Church. 
 
 8 Library, Cabinet of Natural History, 
 
 and Dispensary. 
 
 9 Court Stables. 
 
 10 Riding School. 
 
 1 1 Coach-houses. 
 
 12 Engine-house. 
 
 13 Equerry's Office. 
 
 14 Chief Court-marshal's Office and 
 
 Kitchen. 
 
 15 Confectionery Room and Wash- 
 
 house. 
 
 16 Court Theatre. 
 
 17 Orangery and Court-steward's Of- 
 
 fice. 
 
 18 Picture and Sculpture Gallery. 
 
 19 New Orangery. 
 
 20 Green-house for Exotics. 
 
 21 Court Dwelling Apartments. 
 
 22 Pheasantry and Deer-park. 
 
 23 Flower Garden. 
 
 24 Vegetable Garden. 
 
 25") Palace of His R. H. the Arch-duke, 
 
 263 and Garden. 
 
 271 Palace of Her Highness the Mar- 
 
 28 J gravine Amelia, and Garden. 
 
 29 Palace of Her Majesty the Queen 
 
 Frederica. 
 „«") Palace of their Highnesses the Mar- 
 „. > graves Leopold, William, and 
 
 J Maximilian ; and Garden. 
 32 1 Palace of Her H. the Margravine 
 33j Christiana Louisa, and Garden. 
 
 34 Arsenal. 
 
 35 Infantry Barracks. 
 
 36 Cavalry Barracks and Stables. 
 
 37 Body-guard Room. 
 
 38 Artillery Barracks. 
 
 39 Government House. 
 
 40 City Commandant's House. 
 
 41 Military School. 
 
 42 Office of the Ministry, and of the 
 
 Archives and Annuity Redemp- 
 tion Fund. 
 
 43 War Office and Fund. 
 
 44 Surveyor-general's Office. 
 
 45 States General Fund Office. 
 
 46 Frontier Fund Office. 
 
 47 Widow's Pension-fund Office. 
 
 48 Grand-ducal Domain Office. 
 
 49 Superintendant of Police Office. 
 
 50 Chief Post, and Letter Post Office. 
 
 51 Travelling Post Office. 
 
 52 Post-house and Stables. 
 
 53 Council-house, Prison, Engine-house, 
 
 and Office for City Affairs. 
 
 54 Office for Country Affairs. 
 
 55 Office of Domain. 
 
 56 Chief Import Collector's Office. 
 
 57 Lutheran Church. 
 
 58 Lyceum. 
 
 59 Catholic Church. 
 
 60 Parsonage. 
 
 61 Reformed Church. 
 
 62 Parsonage. 
 
 63 German School. 
 
 64 Catholic School. 
 
 65 Drawing and Singing School. 
 
 66 Synagogue. 
 
 67 Hospital. 
 
 68 Well Tower. 
 
 69 Museum. 
 
 70 Prison. 
 
 71 Wood-meter's House. 
 
 72 Slaughter-house. 
 
 73 Promenade-house. 
 
 74 Powder Magazine. 
 
 75 Laboratory. 
 
 76 Shooting-house. 
 
 77 Durlach Gate. 
 
 78 Miihlburg Gate. 
 
 79 Linkenheim Gate. 
 
 80 Pheasant Gate. 
 
 81 Garden Gate. 
 
 82 Riippur Gate. 
 
 83 Ettling Gate. 
 
 84 Karls Gate. 
 
 85 Churchyard. 
 
 86 Jews' Burial Ground.
 
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