mething after the
manner of the _Boston Common School Journal_, one of the best things of
the kind, in my humble opinion, to be found in the Union. As the
legislative resolution authorizing a subscription for such a publication
is repealed, a journal, if started, will depend upon the disposition of
the people to sustain it.

"My intention is to address a circular to the different Boards of School
Inspectors throughout Michigan, urging upon them the necessity of doing
something for the cause, and invoking their efficiency in the matter. If
they will take hold and raise a certain amount in their district, and
pledge their constant exertions to excite and keep alive public interest
on the subject of common schools, much will have been effected.

"To succeed, the journal must treat of subjects in the most popular
manner, avoiding, as far as is consistent with the dignity of the object
in view, very elaborate and prosy disquisitions. I shall endeavor to get
a circular out next week. Meantime accept my thanks for the interest you
take in the subject, and be assured that if I succeed in starting the
journal, I shall, at all times, be grateful for contributions from you."

_22d_. Landed at Mackinack after having passed the winter at Detroit. It
appears from Colden that the Iroquois called this island
Teiodondoraghie. What an amount of word-craft is here--what a poetic
description thrown into the form of a compound phrase! The local term in
_doraghie_ is apparently the same heard in Ticon_deroga_--the
imprecision of writing Indian making the difference. _Ti_ is the
Iroquois particle for water, as in _Tioga_, &c. _On_ is, in like manner,
the clipped or coalescent particle for hill or mountain, as heard in
Onondaga. The vowels _i, o_, carry the same meaning, evidently, that
they do in Ontario and Ohio, where they are an exclamatory description
for beautiful scenery. What a philosophy of language is here!

_June 15th_. The balmy, soft influence of a June atmosphere, resting
upon this lovely scene of water, woods, and rocks--a perfect gem in
creation, deeply impressed me. Under a strong sense of its geological
frame-work of cliffs and winding paths, it appeared that it only
required a poetic drapery to be thrown over it and its historical
associations, to render it a pleasing theme of description. So unlike
English scenery, and yet so characteristic--so very American.

_21st_. While standing on the piazza in front of the agency