region of his soul. And can we suppose such a man to have been otherwise than happy? A contrary supposition would imply gross ignorance of our nature, and be little less than impiety towards its author.

ART. V.-1. Narrative of an Expedition through the Upper Mississipi to Itasca Lake, &c. 1832. Under the direction of Henry R. Schoolcraft. New York, 1834.

2. Travaux d'Améliorations Intérieures, projetés ou executés par le Gouvernement Général des Etats-Unis d'Amérique, de 1824 à 1831. Par Guillaume Tell Poussin. Paris, 1834.

THE Source of the Missouri, and the source and termination of the Columbia rivers, having been ascertained by Messrs. Lewis and Clark, the government of the United States, immediately after obtaining possession of Louisiana in 1805, sent an expedition under Lieutenant Pike, in order to penetrate to the sources of the Mississipi. Sandy and Leech Lakes however formed the limit of this gentleman's travels, and thus the matter rested till 1820, when Governor Cass, who commanded in the Michigan territory, again attempted to solve this question; and, starting in the month of May, passed beyond Leech Lake into another body of water of 120 square miles, and which has since been named Cass Lake. Here the supplies of the expedition failed, and the water became so low that it was deemed prudent to return forthwith.

Ten years afterwards, Mr. Henry Schoolcraft, the Indian agent stationed at Sault St. Marie, was ordered to proceed with the same inquiry; but, the instructions arriving too late, it was not till 1831 that the new expedition started, entering Lake Superior at St. Mary's. After coasting along the shores of this great basin, they entered Ottawa Lake, and thence proceeded to Chetac, the principal source of the Red Cedar River. This stream expands into four lakes, joins the Chippewa, and flows with it into the Mississipi. From the mouth of the Chippewa the travellers descended to Galena in Illinois, where they divided forces; one party returned by the Wisconsin, and the other crossed the mine country. The year 1832 saw the starting of the expedition of which we have to treat; and which, profiting by past labours, was reorganized and increased to thirty persons, among whom were a surgeon, a geologist, an interpreter, and a missionary. The objects of the expedition were also rendered more impor

tant; and, besides the mere geographical question, Mr. Schoolcraft was ordered to endeavour to make a lasting peace between the Sioux and the Chippewas, the two principal Indian nations of that part of the country; to ascertain the state of the trade, to collect as many statistical facts as possible, and to spread the benefits of vaccination as widely as circumstances would permit.

The starting point was again St. Mary's, which is situated on the communication which connects Lake Huron with Lake Superior; and on the 27th of June the whole party was in motion. Lake Superior is called Igomi, Chigomi, and Gitchigomi by the Indians," and lies in a basin of trap rocks, with alternations of the granite and sand-stone series." Its waters, remarkably deep and pure, cover an area of at least 30,000 square miles, and their level is 640 feet above the Atlantic. The shape of the Lake is extremely irregular; it contains several islands, harbours, bays, inlets, &c. and receives a number of rivers. The white-fish, the sturgeon, and the salmon-trout are the most important of its productions, but an extensive trade in furs and peltries is carried on along its shores, the principal American post for which is close to St. Mary's. A mission has lately been established on Magdalene Island, or La Pointe, consisting at first of a Mr. and Mrs. Hall, and a Mr. Ayer; but, as it has encountered no serious obstacle, it has been since enlarged and extended. A daughter of the two former was the first white child born within the precincts of the lake. A rough calculation makes the Indian popu lation amount to 5000, who seem willing to receive the light of Christianity, and do not feel less respect for the mission from its being placed on the spot (according to tradition) where the Mudjikiwis or Waishki of the Chippewas resided, and where their ancient council-fire was situated. The time when these magistrates ruled the nation is always referred to as a period of Indian splendour; the office was hereditary, and the descendants of the last Waishki still pride themselves on their birth. He visited Quebec in the time of Montcalm, and was greatly instrumental in the driving out of his cousins-german, the Foxes, from Chippewa. The present head of the family is named Chi Waishki, or Pizhikee, or the Buffalo; and when invested with a silver medal by an Indian agent, he said, "What need I of this? It is known whence I am descended." To the expedi tion of which we are now speaking he presented the peace-pipe.

Leaving the shores of Lake Superior, Mr. Schoolcraft and his party, on the 23d of June, entered the river St. Louis, and then crossed over land to the Mississipi, a distance of about 150 miles. At Sandy Lake, general arrangements were made for the rest of the route; and, as the Indians of that place were

mostly absent, it was determined to assemble them at the junction of the Des Corbeaux river, by appointment, on the return of the expedition. The presents intended for these people, and supplies for the homeward route, were placed in trust-worthy care, with orders for their being taken to the Isle des Corbeaux on the 24th of July. These affairs being concluded, the party again pursued its way. At the post of Winnipec they learned some particulars of the opposition, or Hudson's Bay trade, and, among others, that constant use is made by this company of spirits, which is a forbidden traffic among the Americans. The strength of the spirit is, however, reduced in the proportion of one part to four, in consequence of the maddening effect produced by it on the minds of the Indians.

On the morning of the 10th, the party crossed Lake Winnipec, and, passing up the Mississipi, reached Cass Lake, which it will be remembered was the remotest point of previous discovery. A band of Indians saluted them, and led the way to their habitations on the large island of Colocaspi. The reception given by them elicits the following remark from Mr. Schoolcraft.

"They came eagerly to the water's edge, giving each one a hand as he alighted from the canoe. He who has formed his estimate of an Indian from the reading of books, in which he is depicted as cruel and morose, without any insight into his social character, need only be ushered into a scene like this, to be convinced that he has contemplated an overshadowed picture. We found these Indians to be frank, cheerful, and confiding."

We also copy Mr. Schoolcraft's description of an Indian town, which, he says, will furnish a model for all others, and in every part of America.

"It is nothing but an assemblage of wigwams, built exclusively to suit the particular convenience of the occupant, without right-angled streets, for which (as they have no carts or waggons) they have no occasion, and they get thereby the additional advantage of having no clouds of dust blown up from the denuded surface. There is (as we should say) a public square, or rather an open grassy spot, where councils and dances are held, and the ceremonies of the wabeno and medicine society performed. Hillocks and elevated grounds are selected for erecting their lodges on, and clumps of small trees and shrubs are sought. Large trees are avoided, for the simple reason, that they often lose a limb during windy weather, and are liable to be blown down by the tempests. But the whole circular opening, constituting a town plot, is surrounded with forest, to shelter them in the summer and winter. Gardens are variously located, and generally without fences, as there are no domesticated cattle."

Final preparations were made at Cass Lake to proceed to the

sources; the Indians furnished maps of the country and canoes, and Oza Windib, the chief of the band in Colocaspi island, with two young men, undertook the office of guides; seven engagés and a cook were added to the number, making in all sixteen persons, who proceeded from this spot. The baggage consisted of "travelling beds, provisions for ten days, a tent and poles, oilcloth, mess-basket, tea-kettle, flag and staff, a medicine-chest, some instruments, an herbarium, fowling pieces, and a few Indian presents." The remainder of the party and equipments were left in charge of a clerk of one of the upper posts, who had joined the expedition at Fond du Lac, and who, during his stay, undertook to procure various points of information. Before starting, the natives crowded round the encampment, and among them were the widow and children of a Chippewa warrior, who had just fallen in a battle with the Sioux. Three scalps had been taken during this engagement, one of which was presented to the widow. The burial-ground of these people was an open space, with a simple bark enclosure. In this was an arch made of bent twigs and saplings, on which were hung the decayed remains of scalps. The fresh scalp was suspended from one of the rods, and the people danced round it, shouting as it waved to and fro in the wind. All seemed deeply interested in what was going forward, and at every interval of the dance, presents for the widow were thrown into the circle. This is called the scalp-dance.

Starting on the 11th, the expedition proceeded in a westerly direction for above an hour, when they, to save distance, carried baggage and canoes, for about fifty yards, over a sandy plain, terminating in a lake several miles in extent, of which they did not learn the name. They crossed it, and re-entered the river on its western side, and thereby entered another lake (for there is no end to lakes in this country) called Tascodiac. About fifteen miles from Cass Lake, the meadow-land ceased, and "boulders of a primitive character lie close to numerous rapids." These rapids appear to bear a proportion of ten to twenty-five miles.

The most northern point of the Mississipi is a large expanse of water called Lac Travers, or Pamitchi Gumaug, lying fifty feet above the level of Cass Lake, twelve miles long from north to south, and six or seven broad, surrounded by high shores covered with trees. On the side opposite to that by which the party had entered, the Mississipi flows into the lake with a stream 150 feet broad, its beach strewn with helices and uniones (snails and horse-muscles), and comes directly from the south. Four miles from this point it presents two branches, the eastern and smaller of which was first ascended by the travellers. This also

expands, at intervals, into three lakes, round which the soil is marshy, but covered with alders, tamaracks, willows (which invariably bring musquitoes with them), grey pine, &c. Water-fowl alone seem to delight in these gloomy forests, one of which was shot in the act of grasping a muscle in its beak. This small branch of the Mississipi receives a tributary called the Naiwa, originating, according to Oza Windib's account, in a lake infested with copper-headed snakes, and, at its junction with the Mississipi, violent rapids obstruct the passage of the canoes. soil at this place, says Mr. Schoolcraft," was of a diluvian character, and embraced pebbles, and small boulders of syenite, traprock, and quartz, and other debris of primitive and secondary rocks. One of the party picked up a well-characterized piece of zoned agate."

The

The canoes, &c. were carried the length of the rapids, and on re-entering the river they found it dwindled into a brook of placid current, with marshy shores, and ending in Ossowa Lake, bordered with marshes and aquatic plants, which again receives two brooks, the true sources of the eastern branch of the Mississipi. With difficulty did the party find a firm footing, and a slight elevation, drier than the rest, on which they might breakfast; and after that repast they proceeded a distance of six miles across the land, to the western branch. They crossed part of the series of sand ridges which lie between the Mississipi valley and the Red river named Hauteur des Terres. This ridge forms the tableland between the waters of Hudson's Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, and gives rise to the furthest tributaries of the river St. Louis, which, through Lake Superior" and its connecting chain, may be considered as furnishing the head-waters of the St. Lawrence."

When the burdens are carried as we have described, the bearers are often obliged to rest for a few moments, each of which rests is called a posé. Thirteen of these posés form a portage, which term we shall in future make use of for the sake of brevity. Even here, midway in the portage, they met with a small lake, which they crossed in their canoes; but at last the long-sought goal appeared, and, on turning out of a thicket, a transparent body of water burst on their sight, which proved to be Itasca Lake, the positive source of the noble river they were sent to explore, and lying, according to Mr. Schoolcraft's meagre map, in forty-seven degrees some minutes north latitude, nearly 96° west longitude, 3160 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and 1500 feet above its level.

Before we follow our travellers on their route home, we will give a brief summary of the country through which we have been journeying with them. Its general features seem to be swamps, lakes, and marshes; the drier parts covered with several sorts