mmer."

_16th_. J. D. Doty, Esq., writes from Detroit that a District Court has
been established by Congress in the upper country--that he has been
appointed to the judgeship, and will hold a court at Michilimackinack,
on the third Monday in July. A beginning has thus been made in civil
jurisdiction among us benighted dwellers on this far-off land of God's
creation. He states, also, the passage of a law for claimants to lands,
which have been occupied since 1812. Where law goes, civilization will
soon follow.

_23d_. Giles Sanford, of Erie (Penn.), sends me some curious specimens
of the concrete alum-slate of that vicinity--they are columnar,
fan-shaped--and requests a description. It is well known that the
presence of strong aluminous liquids in the soil of that area had a
tendency to preserve the flesh on General Wayne's body, which was found
undecayed when, after twenty years' burial, they removed it to Radnor
church, in Philadelphia.

_28th_. Governor C. sends me a pamphlet of additional inquiries, founded
chiefly on my replies, respecting the Indian languages. He says--"You
see, I have given new scope to your inquiries, and added much to your
labors. But it is impracticable, without such assistance as you can
render me, to make any progress. I find so few--so very few--who are
competent to a rational investigation of the subject, that those who are
so must be loaded with a double burden."

_July 6th_. Mr. Harry Thompson, of Black Rock, N.Y., writes me that he
duly forwarded, by a careful teamster, my three lost boxes of minerals,
shells, &c., collected in the Wabash Valley, Missouri, and Illinois, in
1821, and that they were received by Mr. Meech of Geneva, and forwarded
by him to E.B. Shearman & Co., Utica. The loss of these collections of
1821 seems to me very grievous.

_19th_. Judge Doty writes from Mackinac: "Believing the winds and fates
to have been propitious, I trust you had a speedy, safe, and pleasant
passage to your home. A boat arrived this morning, but I heard nothing.
Mr. Morrison leaves this evening, and I forward, by him, your
dictionary, with many--_many_ thanks for the use. _We_ completed the
copy of it last evening, making seventy-five pages of letter paper. I
hope I shall be able to return you the favor, and give you soon some
_nice_ Sioux words."

_August 5th_. Judge Doty, in a letter of thanks for a book, and some
philological suggestions, transmits a list of inquiries on the legal
co