minutes, the signification of his name,
Mukwakwut, as the meaning did not appear obvious. He smiled and replied
"that in former times his ancestors had seen devils playing ball in the
air, and that his name was in allusion to the ball."

_16th_. Visited by Tems Couvert (the Lowering or Dark Cloud), a noted
war chief of Leech Lake, upper Mississippi. He states that Mr. Oaks took
from him, two years ago, nine _plus_,[50] and has not yet paid him,
together with a medal, which last was not returned to him until his
arrival at Fond du Lac this spring. He also states that Mr. Warren took
from him, while he was at La Pointe on his way out, a pack of thirty
obiminicqua [51] (equal to thirty full-sized, seasonable beavers), and has
not, as yet, offered him anything in payment.

[Footnote 50: _Plus_, Fr. A skin's worth.]

[Footnote 51: _Obiminicqua_, Alg. The value of a full beaver skin.]

Shingabowossin (the Image Stone), Shewabeketon (the Jingling Metals),
and Wayishkee (the First-born Son), the three principal chiefs of the
Home Band, with seventy-one men, women and children, visited me to
congratulate me on my safe return from Detroit. The old chief inquired
if there was any news, and whether all remains quiet between us and
the English.

Guelle Plat, or Ashkebuggecoash (the Flat Mouth), of Leech Lake, upper
Mississippi, announced his arrival, with sixty persons, chiefly warriors
and hunters. He brought a letter from one of the principal traders in
that quarter, backed by the Sub-agent of La Pointe, recommending him as
"the most respectable man in the Chippewa nation." He is said by general
consent to be the most influential man in the large and powerful band of
Leech Lake, comprising, by my latest accounts, seventeen hundred souls.
His authority is, however, that of a village or civil chief, his
coadjutor, the Lowering Cloud, having long had the principal sway with
the warriors.

Being his first visit to this agency, although he had sent me his pipe
in 1822, and, as he said, the first time he had been so far from his
native place in a south-easterly course, I offered him the attentions
due to his rank, and his visit being an introductory one, was commenced
and ended by the customary ceremonies of the pipe.

The chief, Grosse Guelle (Big Throat), together with Majegabowe, and the
Breche's son, all of Sandy Lake, arrived this day, accompanied by four
other persons, and were received with the customary respect and
atte