rawn a temporary notoriety upon himself by his position
in the late war party, which is, to some extent, fallacious. His modesty
is, however, a recommendation. I proposed to have invested him with a
second class medal and flag; but he brought them to me again, laying
them down, and saying that he perceived that it would produce
dissatisfaction and discord in his tribe; and that they were not
necessary to insure his good influence and friendship for the United
States. On consultation with the band, these marks of authority were
finally awarded to WABEZHAIS. Presents, including the last of my dry
goods, were then distributed. Among them, was a small piece of fine
scarlet cloth, but too little to make a present to each. The divider of
the goods, which were given in camp, who was Indian, when he came to
this tore it into small strips, so as to make a head-band or baldric for
each. The utmost exactness of division was observed in everything.

ORIFICES FOR TREADING OUT RICE.--I saw artificial orifices in the ground
near our encampment. On inquiry, I learned that these were used for
treading out the wild rice. A skin is put in these holes which are
filled with ears. A man then treads out the grain. This appears to be
the only part of rice making that is performed by the men. The women
gather, dry, and winnow it.

A LIVE BEAVER.--The Indians brought into camp one morning, while I was
at Rice Lake, a young beaver; an animal more completely amphibious, it
would be difficult to find. The head and front part of the body resemble
the muskrat. The fore legs are short, and have five toes. The hind legs
are long, stout, and web-footed. The spine projects back in a thick
mass, and terminates in a spatula-shaped tail, naked and scale-form. The
animal is young, and was taken about ten days ago. Previously to being
brought in, it had been taken out in a canoe into the lake, and
immersed. It appeared to be cold, and shivered slightly. Its hair was
saturated with water, and it made use of its fore paws in attempts to
express the water, sometimes like a cat, and at others, like a squirrel.
It sat up, like the latter, on its hind legs, and ate bread in the
manner of a squirrel. In this position it gave some idea of the
kangaroo. Its color was a black body, brownish on the cheeks and under
the body. The eye small and not very brilliant. Its cry is not unlike
that of a young child. The owner said, it would eat rice and fish. It
was perfectly ta