ribe. The whole of London was illuminated as light as noonday,
and the atmosphere was remarkably clear. The southern hemisphere, at the
time mentioned, although unclouded, was very dark, but the stars, which
were innumerable, shone beautifully. The opposite side of the heavens
presented a singular but magnificent contrast; it was clear to the
extreme, and the light was very vivid; there was a continual succession
of meteors, which varied in splendor. They apparently formed in the
centre of the heavens, and spread till they seemed to burst; the effect
was electrical; myriads of small stars shot out over the horizon, and
darted with that swiftness towards the earth that the eye scarcely could
follow the track; they seemed to burst also and throw a dark crimson
over the entire hemisphere. The colors were the most magnificent that
ever were seen. At half-past two o'clock the spectacle changed to
darkness, which, on dispersing, displayed a luminous rainbow in the
zenith of the heavens and round the ridge of darkness that overhung the
southern portion of the country. Soon afterwards, columns of silvery
light radiated from it; they increased wonderfully, intermingled amongst
crimson vapor, which formed at the same time; and, when at the full
height, the spectacle was beyond all imagination. Stars were darting
about in all directions, and continued until four o'clock, and all died
away. During the time that they lasted, a great many persons assembled
on the bridges across the river Thames, where they had a commanding view
of the heavens, and watched the progress of the phenomenon attentively."

_Oct. 2d_. Mr. J.H. Kinzie, of Chicago, mentioned to me, in a former
interview, a striking trait of the barbarity of the Potawattomies in the
treatment of their women. Two female slaves, or wives of Wabunsee, had a
quarrel. One of them went, in her excited state of feeling, to the
chief, and told him that the other had ill-treated his children. He
ordered the accused to come before him. He told her to lie down on her
back on the ground. He then directed the other (her accuser) to take a
tomahawk and dispatch her. She split open her skull, and killed her
immediately. He left her unburied, but was afterwards persuaded to
direct the murderess to bury her. She dug a grave so shallow, that the
Wolves dug out the body that night and partly devoured it.

_3d_. James L. Schoolcraft brought me some mineralogical and geological
specimens from _Isl