of a sound moral and intellectual training; they must be thoughtful, considerate, and intelligent; have their own infirmities of temper and conduct under control; be able to govern their families in the spirit of love, and enjoy life so easily as to make education one of its practical businesses. It supposes, if possible, a country-house, or at least one removed from the bustle of a city, and where the youths can be under a superintendence which never interferes with their sports, nor stints them in the free expression of a joyous or even a boisterous hilarity. It supposes that, amid all the freedom and apparent laxity of a home, there is an unseen parental firmness, ever turning all things to the grand purpose of forming, enlarging, and elevating the minds under its care. How seldom do all these conditions combine in one household-how happy and blessed is the household where they do!

But a consideration of "Home Education" will not be without its use, even if we should find that it is adapted only for a minority of families, and that in only a minority of that minority can it be carried out to its legitimate extent. "I ought to premise," says our able author, "that the phrase, HOME EDUCATION, is not, in my view, to be strictly confined to the training of the children of a single family, under the paternal roof; but may embrace any instances in which the number assembled for instruction is not greater than may well consist with the enjoyments, the intimacy, the usages, and the harmony, that ought to attach to a family. Understanding the term in this extended sense, I entertain the hope that, while professing to write for parents, I may render some aid to teachers also, having the charge of a limited number; for it is only reasonable to suppose that, as well the general principles of intellectual culture, as the specific methods of instruction which are applicable to the eight or ten children of a family, may be brought to bear, with perhaps a little modification, upon the twelve, or fifteen, or even twenty, who may be gathered from several families."

He carefully guards us from supposing, that he means to exalt Home over School Education, as a means of general instruction. In the opening of his book, he says "I am not about to compare public and private education, as if intending to disparage the one, that the other, which is my chosen subject, may appear to the greater advantage. No question can reasonably be entertained as to the great benefits that attach to school discipline, whether effected on a larger or a smaller scale; nor is it to be supposed, whatever may be said of female education, that that of boys could, in the majority of instances, be well conducted beneath the paternal roof."

It is, however, of vast importance to our future welfare, as a nation, that there should be even a small minority of minds amongst our population, trained up in the broad and liberal manner laid down in this book. To thoughtful-minded parents we must therefore look-and hence the great importance, the great value, of Home Education. "The school-bred man is of one sort—the home-bred man is of another; and the community has need of both nor could any measures be much more to be deprecated, nor any tyranny of fashion more to be resisted, than such as should render a public education, from first to last, compulsory and universal. It is found, in fact, that a quiet, firm individuality, a self-originating steadiness of purpose, a thoughtful intensity of sentiment, and a passive power, such as stems the tide of fashion and frivolous opinion, belong, as their ordinary characteristics, to home-bred men ; and especially to such of this class as are mainly self-taught. Now we affirm, that whatever may sometimes be the rigidness or the uncompliant sternness of persons of this stamp, yet that a serious, and perhaps a fatal

damage would be sustained by the community, if it were entirely deprived of the moral and political element which they bring into the mass. As the moral machinery must come to a stand if all possessed so fixed an individuality, as to think and act without regard to the general bent of opinion; so would it acquire too much momentum, if none were distinguished by habits of feeling springing altogether from within. In this view, a systematic HOME EDUCATION fairly claims no trivial importance, as a means of sending forth, among the school-bred majority, those with whose habits of mind there is mingled a firm and modest sentiment of self-respect--not cynical, but yet unconquerable, resting, as it will, upon the steady basis of personal wisdom and virtue. It is men of this stamp who will be the true conservators of their country's freedom."

Having thus set forth the advantages of Home Education, and provided us with, in his own words, an "IDEAL HOME," where it can be carried on to its fullest extent, our author then expounds his system, of which the following is the keystone :-"The doctrine so much talked of, of late, and so eagerly followed by many, is that of DEVELOPMENT; and the question put on all sides is, 'What are the readiest and the surest means of expanding the faculties at an early age?' But the very contrary doctrine is the one professed and explained throughout this work: for I am bold to avow my adherence to the principle of repression and reserve, in the culture of the mind; and it is this principle which I would fain convince the reader may be put in practice consistently with the conveyance of really more information, or of information more comprehensive and substantial, than is usually communicated at school."

The first step in this system of education is to allow free scope for the natural felicity of childhood. "Particular instances of ill health, ill treatment, or ill temper excepted, children are as happy as the day is long, although grimed and grovelling about the gutters and lanes of London or Manchester; much more certainly are they happy, tattered, dirty, and ruddy, at the door of a hut on a common or road-side; they are happy, more than might be believed, in the cellar or the garret of the artisan, or in a jail, or even in a poor-house." This happiness we are not to spoil by our interference-all we have to do is to let it expand of its own accord, and to remove whatever might obstruct its development. "The happiness of children is not a thing to be procured and prepared for them, like their daily food; but a something which they ALREADY POSSESS, and with which we need not concern ourselves, any further than to see they are not despoiled of it. This simple principle, if understood, trusted to, and constantly brought to bear upon the arrangements of a family, would at once relieve the minds of parents from an infinitude of superfluous cares.”

The influence of a "gaily happy childhood" upon the future moral and intellectual character, is strongly insisted upon by our author. On this subject volumes have been, and volumes may be, written for we are yet far from appreciating rightly the power which the remembrances of childhood, carried into manhood, exert upon the body, feelings, and mind. Wordsworth has condensed a volume into a few well-known but immortal lines :"My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man ;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!

The child is father of the man;
And I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety.'

We are all acquainted with that amusing instance of the sub

division of labour-the manufacture of dolls' eyes. "On my first journey to London," said Mr. Ostler, a Birmingham manufacturer, when before a committee of the House of Commons, “a respectable-looking man in the City asked me if I could supply him with dolls' eyes; and I was foolish enough to feel half of fended. I thought it derogatory to my new dignity, as a manufacturer, to make dolls' eyes. He took me into a very large room, and we had just space to walk between stacks, from the floor to the ceiling, of parts of dolls. He said, 'These are only the legs and arms; the trunks are below.' But I saw enough to convince me that he wanted a great many eyes; and as the article appeared quite in my own line of business, I said I would take an order by way of experiment; and he showed me several specimens. I copied the order. He ordered various quantities, and of various sizes and qualities. On returning to the Tavistock Hotel, I found that the order amounted to upwards of five hundred pounds."

This little story may be made to serve a far higher purpose, than merely to stand as an illustration in political and social economy. Why do children delight in toys! What is the source of that extraordinary demand, by which infants and children give the means of employment and wealth to men and women? Is it simply because the little girl is a little girl, that she finds such delight in dressing, nursing, and putting her doll to sleep? And is it simply because the boy is a boy, that he girds on his mimic sash and sword, blows his trumpet, and beats his drum? The question is answered by the author of "Home Education." "Too little attention has," he says, "been given to the broad fact, that a child's mental existence is constituted almost entirely of the workings of the conceptive faculty. The human mind, in its first period, may be said to be all IDEALITY: for it is exclusively so during the half of its time, or more, which is passed in sleep; chiefly so whenever no vivid impressions are made upon the senses; and so, to a great extent, while left to find its own sparkling felicity among its toys and gimeracks...... If we go on to the time when the notion of property has just got a lodgment in the mind, we may meet with a pertinent instance of the vivacity of the conceptive power, when the little stickler for its rights finds its own horse or doll in its brother's or sister's hand, and then, running to find brother's or sister's horse or doll, eagerly discusses the question of meum and tuum; and, notwithstanding the close resemblance of the two subjects of debate, fixes its grasp upon the real and genuine meum. That is to say, this same lisping assertor of its rights has in its brain a picture of its plaything so exact and particular, that it serves at any time as a tally, by means of which it may recover the archetype. Yet this same mental miniature of the hobby, or the rose-lipped darling, does not merely come back, when recalled by the presence of the original, but it floats before the internal eye, called for, and uncalled, waking and sleeping: of which further fact, with all its endless consequences, we have evidence enough; as, for instance, when to the little girl, lost in reverie, we suddenly put the question, What are you thinking about?' About dolly.' 'About dolly-which dolly?' 'Oh, my best dolly, that moves her eyes!' Sometimes, indeed, dolly's own dear name is heard muttered in sleep; when, as we need not doubt, the fair image is vividly present to the fancy. Nor is this all; for while the doating little mama has her own dolly' on her lap, or is dressing and undressing it, or is taking it abroad, or preparing its breakfast, and despatching it to school, the conceptive faculty is working in another and a copious manner, and so as to involve all sorts of consequences to the future character. Dolly is the heroine of a drama, vividly acted in the soul's little theatre. Hence, that is to

say, from the richness and vivacity of the conceptive faculty, comes all, or nearly all, the never-failing delight of which toys are the occasion."

We shall follow out this subject in subsequent articles; meantime we recommend "HOME EDUCATION" to all thoughtful and intelligent parents and teachers.

THE VOW.

A NORTHERN TALE.

IN the ancient heathen times of the Saxons, there happened once a great war with the Danes. Adalbero, Duke of Saxony, who had counselled it, now, in the hour of earnest conflict, stood at the head of his people. There flew the arrows and the javelins; there glanced many valiant blades on both sides; and there shone many bright gold shields through the dark fight. But the Saxons, at every attack, were repulsed, and were already so far driven back, that only the storming of a steep height could deliver the army and the country, disperse the enemy, and change a ruinous

and destructive flight into a decisive victory. Adalbero conducted the attack. But in vain he forced his fiery charger before the squadron; in vain he shouted through the field, the sacred words, "Freedom and Fatherland!" in vain streamed his own warm blood, and the blood of the foe, over his resplendent armour. The ponderous mass gave way; and the enemy, secure on the height, rejoiced in their decided victory. Again rushed Adalbero on with a few gallant warriors; again the faint-hearted fell behind; and again the enemy rejoiced.

"It is yet time," said Adalbero; and again he shouted, "Forward! and if we conquer, I vow to the gods, to set fire to the four corners of my castle, and it shall blaze forth one bright funeral-pile, in honour of our victory and of our deliverance."

Again was the attack renewed, but again the Saxons fled, and the enemy sent forth shouts of joy.

Then cried Adalbero aloud before the whole army, "If we return victorious from the charge, ye gods, I devote myself to you as a solemn sacrifice!" Shuddering, the warriors hastened after him, but fortune was still against him; the boldest fell the bravest fled. Then Adalbero, in deep affliction, rallied the scattered band; and all that remained of the great and noble thou hast counselled this war." Adalbero replied, "My castle collected round him, and spoke thus:-"Thou art our ruin! for and myself I have devoted to the gods for victory, and what can I more?"

The sad multitude called only the more to him, "Thou art our ruin! for thou hast counselled this war."

Then Adalbero tore open his bosom and implored the mighty god of thunder to pierce it with a thunderbolt, or to give the victory to his army. But there came no bolt from heaven; and the squadron stood timid, and followed not the call. In boundless despair, Adalbero at last said, "There remains only that which is for victory. My beautiful blooming wife,--my only heart-loved child,-they belong to thee, Great Ruler in Asgard: with my own hand will I sacrifice them to thee; but I implore thee, give me the victory!"

most dear to me-wife and child I offer thee, thou God of Armies,

Scarcely were these words uttered, when, fearful thunderings rolled over the field of battle, and clouds gathered around the combatants; and the Saxons, with fearful cries, shouted as with one voice, "The gods are with us!" With invincible courage, forward rushed the host;-the height was carried by storm, and Adalbero, with sudden shudder, saw the enemy flying through the field.

The conqueror returned home in triumph; and, in all parts of delivered Saxony, came wives and children forth, and with outstretched arms, greeted their husbands and fathers. But Adalbero knew what awaited him; and every smile of an affectionate wife, and every shout of a blooming child, pierced, as with a

poisoned dart, his anguished heart. At last they came before his magnificent castle. He was not able to look up, as the beautiful Simelde met him at the gate, with her daughter in her hand; while the little one always leapt and cried, "Father, father! beloved father!"

Adalbero looked round on his people, in order to strengthen himself; even there he met quivering eyelids and bitter tears; for among his warriors, many had heard his horrible vow. He dismissed them to their families, feeling what happy men he, the most unhappy, was sending to their homes; then rode into the castle, and sending the domestics away, under various pretexts, sprang from his horse, closed the gates with thundering sound, secured them carefully, and pressed his beloved wife and child to his heart, shedding over them a torrent of tears.

"What is the matter, husband?" said the astonished Simelde. Why do you weep, father?" stammered the little one. "We will first prepare an offering to the gods," replied Adalbero; "and then I shall relate everything to you. Come to me soon, to the hearth."

"I will kindle the flame, and fetch, in the meantime, the implements for sacrifice;" said the sweet Simelde; and the little one cried out, clapping her hands, "I also will help; I also will be there!" and skipped away with her mother.

These words, "I also will help; I also will be there," the hero repeated, as, dissolved in grief, he stood by the flaming pile, with his drawn sword in his trembling hand. He lamented aloud over the joyful innocent child, and the graceful obedient wife, who brought the bowl and pitcher, perfuming-pan and taper, used in

sacrifices.

Then it passed through his mind, that his vow could not be valid; for such sorrow could not find a place in the heart of man. But the answer was given, in dreadful peals of thunder down from heaven.

PARKER'S MISSIONARY TRAVELS IN THE "FAR

WEST."

THE "Far West" is a somewhat indefinite term, applied to that vast extent of territory which extends from the western boundaries of the United States to the Rocky Mountains; and even beyond them, to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The "Oregon Territory" is its proper and definite appellation; at least, of what is known as the North-West Territory. That large portion of it which lies west of the Mississippi, to the foot of the mountain range, and which is drained by the Missouri and its numerous tributaries, is an extensive level or rolling meadowcountry, to which the French word "prairie" (meadow) has been applied; its prairies presenting a rich undulating extent of surface, with but few prominent landmarks, to catch the eye of the traveller. The country on the other side of the mountains, towards the Pacific, has a different aspect. "Towering mountains, and wideextended prairies; rich valleys, and barren plains; and large rivers with their rapids, cataracts, and falls, present a great diversity of prospect."

Simelde began to tremble as the frightful truth burst upon her; and, with soft tears, she said, Ah, hast thou made a vow? Ah! husband, I see no victim!-shall human blood !---"

Adalbero covered his eyes with both his hands, and sobbed so terribly that it echoed through the hall, and the little one terrified shrunk together.

Simelde knew well of such vows, in ancient times. She looked entreating to her lord, and said, "Remove the child!"

"Both, both!-I must!" then murmured Adalbero; and Simelde, with a violent effort, forcing back her tears, said to the

little one, 66 Quick, child! and bind this handkerchief on thine eyes; thy father has brought a present for thee, and will now give it thee.""

"My father looks not as if he would give me a present," sighed the child.

"Thou shalt see; thou shalt see presently," said Simelde hurriedly; and as she placed the bandage over the eyes of the child, she could restrain no longer her tears, but they fell so softly, that the little one knew it not.

The affectionate mother now tore the drapery from her snowwhite bosom, and kneeling before the sacrificer, beckoned that she might be the first victim.

"Quick quick, only quick," whispered she softly to the lingerer; "else will the poor child be so terrified!"

Adalbero raised the dreadful steel-then roared the thunder, and flashed the lightning through the building. Speechless sank

the three to the earth.

As the evening breeze rushed through the broken windows, the little one raised her head, from whence the bandage had fallen, and said, "Mother, what present has my father brought to me?" The sweet voice awakened both parents. All lived, and nothing was destroyed but Adalbero's sword, which was melted by the avenging flash of Heaven.

"The gods have spoken!" cried the pardoned father; and, with a gush of unutterable love, the three delivered ones wept in each other's arms.

Far distant, over the southern mountains, roared the tempest, where many years afterwards Saint Boniface converted unbelievers to the true faith

From the German of Frederick de la Motte Fouqué.

The "Far West" is becoming the repository of the last and lingering remains of the aborigines of central North America— the last standing-ground of the red Indian, the shaggy bison, and the grisly bear. The government of the United States are sending or driving the various Indian tribes on their southern and western frontiers into the "Far West," on the principle avowed in President Van Buren's recently published message to Congress"that a mixed occupancy of the same territory, by the white and red man, is incompatible with the safety or happiness of either, is a position, in respect to which there has long since ceased to be room for a difference of opinion. Reason and experience have alike demonstrated its impracticability." The same document, which must have recently come under the eye of all our readers, contains a detail of the transactions between the American go. vernment and the Indian tribes. "I can speak," says the Preing that the interest of the Indians in the extensive territory embraced by them, is to be paid for at its fair value, and that no more favourable terms have been granted to the United States than would have been reasonably expected in a negotiation with civilised men, fully capable of appreciating and protecting their own rights. For the Indian title to 116,349,897 acres, acquired since the 4th of March, 1829, the United States have paid 72,510,656 dollars, in permanent annuities, lands, reservations for Indians, expenses for removal and subsistence, merchandise, mechanical heavy expenses incurred by the United States, and the circumand agricultural establishments, and implements. When the stance that so large a portion of the entire territory will be for ever unsaleable, are considered, and this price is compared with that for which the United States sell their own lands, no one can doubt that justice has been done to the Indians in these purchases also."

Besides defending the American government from the charges of cruelty and oppression, which had been brought against it, the President speaks in the following pleasing, though rather general terms, respecting the emigrants:

"The condition of the tribes which occupy the country set apart for them in the west is highly prosperous, and encourages the hope of their early civilisation. They have, for the most part, abandoned the hunter state, and turned their attention to agricultural pursuits. All those who have been established for any length of time in that fertile region, maintain themselves by their own industry. There are among them traders of no inconsiderable capital, and planters exporting cotton to some extent; but the greater number are small agriculturists, living in comfort upon the produce instances removed reluctantly, have readily acquiesced in their of their farms. The recent emigrants, although they have in some unavoidable destiny. They have found at once a recompense for past sufferings, and an incentive to industrious habits, in the abundance and comforts around them. There is reason to believe that all these tribes are friendly in their feelings towards the United States; and it is to be hoped that the acquisition of individual wealth, the pursuits of agriculture, and habits of industry, will gradually subdue their warlike propensities, and incline them to maintain peace among themselves. To effect this desirable object, the attention of Congress is solicited to the measures recommended by the Secretary of War for the future government and protection, as well from each other as from the hostility of the warlike tribes around them, and the intrusions of the whites. The policy of the

government has given them a permanent home, and guaranteed to them its peaceful and undisturbed possession. It only remains to give them a government, and laws which will encourage industry, and secure to them the rewards of their exertions. The importance of some form of government cannot be too much insisted upon. The earliest effects will be to diminish the causes and occasions for hostilities among the tribes, to inspire an interest in the observance of laws to which they will have themselves assented, and to multiply the securities of property, and the motives of selfimprovement. Intimately connected with this subject is the establishment of the military defences recommended by the Secretary of War, which have been already referred to. Without them the government will be powerless to redeem its pledges of protection to the emigrating Indians against the numerous warlike tribes that surround them, and to provide for the safety of the frontier settlers of the bordering states."

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, being desirous of obtaining accurate information respecting the moral and physical characteristics of the "Far West," despatched an exploring party, the principals being the Rev. Samuel Parker, and Dr. Whitman, to examine and report from personal inspection. This was undertaken in the years 1835-37, and Mr. Parker has now published the results of his tour, in a volume which appeared in 1838. Mr. Parker is evidently a very honest and a very religious man. So sternly attached is he to the truth, that he would tear in pieces the finest description of Washington Irving, if he thought it was not rigidly exact. Indeed, though he is not a controversialist, he hits Irving's "Tour on the Prairies" very hard; and Ross Cox does not escape without a passing blow. "The license," he says, speaking of his own work, "given to poets and writers of romance, cannot be tolerated here; and no flights of a lively imagination, or graphic powers in relating passing occurrences, can atone for impressions which are not in accordance with truth." We shall, therefore, take Mr. Parker exactly as we find him; and in giving our readers the accompanying abstract of his journey, beg them to recollect, that they are following the track of one who seems to us, from an inspection of his book, to be a scrupulous, intelligent, and candid writer, though his intelligence is somewhat narrowed by peculiar views, and even his exactness tinged by a generous sympathy with the Indians.

Mr. Parker's principal instructions were to collect all the information in his power relative to the climate and productions of the country; but especially in respect of the numbers, manners, and customs of the Native Indians, with the view of ascertaining how far and to what extent missionary enterprise might be diffused amongst them. He was absent upwards of two years, having journeyed 28,000 miles in his tour from the State of New York to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and visiting the Sandwich Islands on his homeward voyage. Wherever he went he found good opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of the ground he passed over, in which he was much assisted by the kindness of the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company and the American Fur Company; and discovered ample room for the labours of the Christian missionary. In the course of the work he observes :"It seems apparent to any observing Christian, that the present is the favourable time for the introduction of the gospel and civilisation among the natives of this wide interior. Soon the cupidity and avarice of men will make the same aggressions here as on the east, and the deadly influence of frontier vices will interpose a barrier to the religion which they now are so anxious to embrace and practise. Every circumstance combines to point out the time when this work should begin, and not the least is that which has enlisted these Indians in favour of white men, and made them feel their condition, in all respects, for this world as well as the coming one, is better than their own."

:

On the 14th of March, 1835, Mr. Parker proceeded from Ithaca, New York, by Geneva and Buffalo, to Erie, Pennsylvania. Next, to Pittsburgh, the Birmingham of America, situated at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, 960 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, where he arrived on the 25th. Then to Cincinnati, 455 miles, by the steamer, gently down the Ohio, calling at Wheling, a considerable manufacturing town. Marietta, 76 miles below Wheling, a little above the confluence of the Muskingum, is one of the earliest-settled towns in the state. On the 27th, he stopped at Maysville, Kentucky, and on the following day arrived at Cincinnati. This is a large city for a new country, its settlement being so late as 1789. Commerce and manufactures are carried on to a large extent, and religion and morals are well sustained by the character of its institutions.

The route was now for St. Louis, by water 690 miles from Cincinnati; on the 30th, Mr. Parker passed Louisville, a flourishing city near the falls of the Ohio; it being high water, they were passed over without accident. Leaving the romantic and beautiful scenery of that noble river, they entered the Mississippi, where the two streams spread out in the form of a narrow sea, and flow on in united grandeur. On the 4th of April, he arrived at St. Louis, a stirring place of business on the west side of the Mississippi, 200 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and 20 below the mouth of the Missouri, in lat. 38° 36′ N. and long. 89° 36′ W. It is the central western depot of the American Fur Company. Adventurers of almost every description of character and nation come here, such as trappers, hunters, miners, and emigrants, as to a starting-point, to go into the still far west, many of whom seek a miserable fortune in the Rocky Mountains. It has 15,000 inhabitants, and its locality for trade is one of the finest in the valley of the Mississippi. The author was here joined by Dr. Whitman, who was appointed to be his associate.

The American Fur Company have about 300 persons employed about the Rocky Mountains, and annually at this time despatch a caravan of sixty persons to convey their necessary articles of food, clothing, &c.; and in return bring back the produce of the year. The travellers made arrangements to proceed with the caravan, which starts from Liberty, one of the most western towns in the United States, whither they went by steam up the Missouri, by slow stages by St. Charles, Jefferson, Boonsville, Franklin, Lexington, &c. At Liberty commences the long journey for the west-where horses and men are mustered. Here much may be learned of the Rocky Mountains; and from several intelligent friends, the travellers had very encouraging accounts of the likely success of missions among the various tribes of Indians scattered over the widely-extended country of the "far west."

On the 15th of May, they commenced their journey for Council Bluffs, directing their course N.W., and, for the last time for a long period to come, lodged in the house of a civilised family. On the morrow they entered upon the Indian country, and encamped on a prairie beyond the limits of civilisation, amidst anxieties and sensations peculiarly exciting.

The caravan proceeded slowly, and having crossed the east or Little Platte, the Nodaway, and Neshnabotana rivers, journeying over some rich country, and meeting some of Ioway, Sioux, and Fox tribes, passed down from the high rolling prairie through the widely extended valley of the Missouri, towards Council Bluffs, amidst scenery at once beautiful and interesting. The extraordinary mounds which are to be seen here, which some have called the work of unknown generations of men, are scattered in every variety of form and magnitude-some conical, some elliptical, some square, and some parallelograms. If they were isolated, who would not say they are artificial? But there are ten thousand such. The mind seeks in vain for some clue to assist it in unravelling the mystery.

They continued at Council Bluffs three weeks. At the agencyhouse of the company, they met several missionaries of the Pawnees belonging to the American Board, and three of the Baptist mission sent to labour among the Otoes. While waiting the movement of the caravan, they made short excursions over the surrounding country, gleaning intelligence as they went. The Papillon unites with the Missouri from the east, and the Platte six miles above from the west, flowing through a rich alluvial plain opening to the south and south-west, as far as the eye can reach, where may be seen hundreds of horses, mules, and herds of cattle. The north is covered with woods. Few places can present a prospect more interesting, and when a civilised population shall add the fruits of their industry, but few places can be more desirable. In respect to efforts for the religious instruction of the Indians, the author is convinced that the first impression the missionary makes upon them is most important. If from any motives, or from any cause, instruction is delayed and their expectations are disappointed, they relapse into their native apathy, from which it is difficult to arouse them. The Indians of this part of the Sioux country, are the Omahas upon the Missouri, about 2000; the Yanktons, about 2000, on the Vermilion river, where it unites with the Missouri from the north; the Ponca Indians on the south side, 800; then there are the Santas Yanktonas, Tetons Ogallalahs, Siones, and the Hankpapes. The aggregate numbers of these tribes may be 40 to 60,000. The Mandans are a more stationary tribe than the others, and hold out good opportunities for missionary exertion.

Journeying west, the Black Hills is the next principal stopping