--Receive the appointment of
Secretary to the Indian Commission at Chicago--Result of the expedition,
as shown by a letter of Dr. Mitchell to General Cass.

CHAPTER VII.

Trip through the Miami of the lakes, and the Wabash Valley--Cross the
grand prairie of Illinois--Revisit the mines--Ascend the
Illinois--Fever--Return through the great lakes--Notice of the
"Trio"--Letter from Professor Silliman--Prospect of an appointment under
government--Loss of the "Walk-in-the-Water"--Geology of Detroit--Murder
of Dr. Madison by a Winnebago Indian.

CHAPTER VIII.

New-Yearing--A prospect opened--Poem of Ontwa--Indian biography--Fossil
tree--Letters from various persons--Notice of Ontwa--Professor
Silliman--Gov. Clinton--Hon. J. Meigs--Colonel Benton--Mr.
Dickenson--Professor Hall--Views of Ex-presidents Madison, Jefferson,
and Adams on geology--Geological notices--Plan of a gazetteer--Opinions
of my _Narrative Journal_ by scientific gentlemen--The impostor John
Dunn Hunter--Trip up the Potomac--Mosaical chronology--Visit to
Mount Vernon.

CHAPTER IX.

Appointed an agent of Indian affairs for the United States at Saint
Mary's--Reasons for the acceptance of the office--Journey to
Detroit--Illness at that point--Arrival of a steamer with a battalion of
infantry to establish a new military post at the foot of Lake
Superior--Incidents of the voyage to that point--Reach our destination,
and reception by the residents and Indians--A European and man of honor
fled to the wilderness.

CHAPTER X.

Incidents of the summer during the establishment of the now post at St.
Mary's--Life in a nut-shell--Scarcity of room--High prices of
everything--State of the Indians--Their rich and picturesque
costume--Council and its incidents--Fort site selected and occupied--The
evil of ardent spirits amongst the Indians--Note from Governor
De Witt Clinton--Mountain ash--Curious superstitions of the
Odjibwas--Language--Manito poles--Copper--Superstitious regard for
Venus--Fine harbor in Lake Superior--Star family--A locality of
necromancers--Ancient Chippewa capital--Eating of animals.

CHAPTER XI.

Murder of Soan-ga-ge-zhick, a Chippewa, at the head of the falls--Indian
mode of interment--Indian prophetess--Topic of interpreters and
interpretation--Mode of studying the Indian language--The Johnston
family--Visits--Katewabeda, chief of Sandy Lake--Indian mythology, and
oral tales and legends--Literary opinion--Political opinion--Visit