On leaving the hall, whither he came to see me out, he said: "I am
seventy-eight, and (assuming a gayer vein) in a good state of
preservation." He was then a little bent, but preserved in conversation
the vivacity of his prime. He had, I think, been a man of about five
feet ten or eleven inches. His accent and tone of voice are decidedly
French. His eye, which is black and penetrating, kindled up readily. He
wore a black silk cap to hide baldness.

_15th_. A singular coincidence of the names and ages of Indian chiefs,
is shown in the following notice from a Russian source:--

"We have just received from Nova Archangesk, an account of the death of
the chief of one of the most powerful tribes of North America, Black
Hawk, who was suddenly carried off on the banks of the River Moivna, in
the seventy-first year of his age. The loss of this chief, who kept up
friendly relations with the authorities of the Russian colony, and was
always hostile to the English, is felt in a lively manner by the Russian
government, who rested great hopes on the influence exercised by Black
Hawk, not only over his own tribe, but also over all the neighboring
nations. The Czar has ordered the new governor-general of the Russian
colony in America to endeavor by all means to secure the friendship of
the three sons of Black Hawk, the eldest of whom, now forty-eight years
of age, has succeeded his father in the government of the tribe."--_Le
Commerce_.

_22d_. I left New York on the 12th, in the cars, with Mrs. Schoolcraft
and the children, for Washington, stopping at the Princeton depot, and
taking a carriage for Princeton. I determined to leave my son at the
Round Hill School, in charge of Mr. Hart, and the next day went to
Philadelphia, where I accepted the invitation of Gen. Robert Patterson
to spend a few days at his tasteful mansion in Locust street. I visited
the Academy of Natural Sciences, and examined Dr. Samuel George Morton's
extensive collection of Indian crania. While here, I placed my daughter
in the private school of the Misses Guild, South Fourth Street. I
attended one of the "Wistar parties" of the season, on the 15th, at Mr.
Lea's, the distinguished bookseller and conchologist, and reached the
city of Washington on the 21st, taking lodgings at my excellent friends,
the Miss Polks.

_24th_. Submitted an application to the department for expending a small
part of the Indian education fund, for furthering the general object, by
p