in which my three treaties were before
him, in relation to this matter of not affording the presidential
incumbent new sources of patronage, &c., I should not deem it just to
add the latter remark. He was a man of strong will and feelings, which
often betrayed themselves when subjects of public policy were the
topics. And, so far as he interfered with the principles of the treaties
which I had negotiated with the Lake Indians in 1836, he evinced an
utter ignorance of their history, character, and best interests. He
violated, in some respects, the very principle on which alone two of the
original cessions, namely, those of the Ottawas and Chippewas and of the
Saginaws, were obtained; and introduced features of discord, which
disturb the tribes, and some of which will long continue to be felt. And
the result is a severe caution against the Senate's ever putting
private reasons in the place of public, and interfering with matters
which they necessarily know but little about.

_16th_. Dr. Samuel George Morton, of Philadelphia, makes an appeal to
gentlemen interested in the philosophical and historical questions
connected with the Indians, to aid him in the collection of crania--to
be used in the comprehensive work which he is preparing on the subject.

_26th_. Hon. J. B. Sutherland expresses the wish to see an Indian
lexicography prepared under the auspices of the Indian Department, and
urges me to undertake it.

_30th_. Mozojeed, or the Moose's Tail, an Ojibwa chief of Ottawa Lake,
in the region at the source of Chippewa River of the Upper Mississippi,
dictates a letter to me. The following is an extract:--

"My Father--I have a few remarks to make. Every _morning of the year_ I
wish to come and see you. As soon as I take up my paddle I fall sick. It
is now two years since I began to be sick. Sometimes I am
better--sometimes worse. I am pained in mind that I am not to see you
this summer.

"Since you gave me the shonea nahbekawahgun (silver medal) I think I
_have walked in your commands_. I have done all I could to have the
Indians sit still. Those that are far off I could not sway, but those
that are near have listened to me."

His influence to keep the Indians at peace, and the reasons which have
hindered the influence in part, are thus, partly by symbolic figures, as
well expressed as could be done by an educated mind. I have italicised
two sentences for their peculiarity of thought.

_31st_. Mr. Featherstoneha