t thirty or forty rods in width. At present, they are
navigable about half their length for small steamboats and bateaux.
Their bed is of limestone, covered with pebbles. I was a passenger on
board the Matilda Barney, on her first trip,--the first steamer that
ever ascended the St. Joseph, which I consider the most perfectly
beautiful stream that I ever have seen. I remember well the many
flocks of wild turkeys and herds of deer that the 'iron horse'
frightened in his winding career. The Indian canoe is now giving way
to the more costly but less beautiful row-boat, and those rivers are
becoming deeper and deeper every day. Instead of the howl of the wolf,
the songs of husbandmen now echo through their vales, where may be
found many comfortable dwellings.

"The Saginaw runs toward the north and empties into Lake Huron,--that
same Huron which has been celebrated in song by the young poet, Louis
L. Noble. This river is navigable for sixty miles. The river Raisin is
a winding stream, emptying into Lake Erie, called so from the quantity
of grapes that cluster on its banks. Its Indian name is Nummasepee,
signifying River of Sturgeons. Sweet river! whose murmurs have so
often been my lullaby, mayst thou continue in thy beauty forever. Are
there not streams like thee flowing through the paradise of God?

"Notwithstanding the comparative newness of Michigan, its general
aspect is ancient. The ruin of many an old fort may be discovered on
its borders, reminding the beholder of wrong and outrage, blood and
strife. This was once the home of noble but oppressed nations. Here
lived and loved the Algonquin and Shawnese Indians; the names of
whose warrior chiefs--Pontiac the proud, and Tecumseh the brave--will
long be treasured in history. I have stood upon their graves, which
are marked only by a blighted tree and an unhewn stone, and have
sighed deeply as I remembered their deeds. But they have gone--gone
like the lightning of a summer day!

"It is traditionary land. For we are told that the Indian hunters of
old saw fairies and genii floating over its lakes and streams, and
dancing through its lonely forests. In these did they believe, and to
please them was their religion.

"The historian, James H. Lanning, Esq., of this State, thus writes, in
alluding to the olden times: 'The streams rolled their liquid silver
to the lake, broken only by the fish that flashed in their current, or
the swan that floated upon their surface. Veget