been instrumental in producing the delivery, I presented a
silver medal of the first class, with a written speech approbatory of
the act, and complimentary of himself. In the meantime, my preparations
for attending the general convocation of tribes, at Prairie du Chien,
were completed. I placed the agency under the charge of Captain N. S.
Clark, 2d Infantry, who had satisfactorily and ably performed its duties
during my absence at New York. I had selected a delegation of the most
influential chiefs to attend the contemplated council. And all things
being ready, and my _canoe-allege_ in the water, with its flag set, I
embarked for the trip on the 24th. I descended the straits that day, and
having turned Point Detour reached Michilimackinack the next morning.
The party from Detroit had reached that point the same morning, after
traversing the Huron coasts for upwards of 300 miles, in a light canoe.
Congratulations on the success that had attended the demand for the
Chippewa murderers, awaited me. Some practical questions, deemed
indispensable respecting that transaction, required my immediate return
to St. Mary's, which was effected on the 27th, and I again embarked at
St. Mary's on the 28th, and rejoined the party at Mackinack on the 30th.
The distance traversed is about ninety miles, which was four times
passed and repassed in six days, a feat that could only have been
accomplished in the calms of summer.

We finally left Mackinack for our destination on the Mississippi, on the
1st of July. The convocation to which we were now proceeding was for the
purpose of settling internal disputes between the tribes, by fixing the
boundaries to their respective territories, and thus laying the
foundation of a lasting peace on the frontiers. And it marks an era in
the policy of our negotiations with the Indians, which is memorable. No
such gathering of the tribes had ever before occurred, and its results
have taken away the necessity of any in future, so far as relates to the
lines on the Mississippi.

We encountered head winds, and met with some delay in passing through
the straits into Lake Michigan, and after escaping an imminent hazard of
being blown off into the open lake, in a fog, reached Green Bay on the
4th. The journey up the Fox River, and its numerous portages, was
resumed on the 14th, and after having ascended the river to its head, we
crossed over the Fox and Wisconsin portage, and descending the latter
with safety,