wing over beds of rock and
gravel, and bordered by the most lovely shores. Nothing of the kind can
be more attractive, than the scenery at the upper rapids. On the western
shore, a series of slopes are seen, commencing at the gravelly margin of
the water, and rising one above another, with a barely perceptible
acclivity, for a considerable distance, until the back ground is
terminated by a chain of beautifully rounded hills, over which trees are
thinly scattered, as if planted to embellish the scene. This is the
singular charm of prairie scenery. Although it is a wilderness, just as
nature made it, the verdant carpet, the gracefully waving outline of the
surface, the clumps and groves and scattered trees, give it the
appearance of a noble park, boundless in extent, and adorned with
exquisite taste. It is a wild but not a savage wild, that awes by its
gloom. It is a gay and cheerful wilderness, winning by its social aspect
as well as its variety and intrinsic gracefulness. The eastern shore is
not less beautiful: a broad flat plain of rich alluvion, extending from
the water's edge, is terminated by a range of wooded hills. A small
collection of the lodges of the Saukies and Foxes stood on this plain
when the writer last saw it, but their chief village was about three
miles distant. In the front of the landscape, and presenting its most
prominent feature, is Rock Island, on the southern point of which,
elevated upon a parapet of rock, is Fort Armstrong. The region around is
healthy and amazingly fruitful. The grape, the plum, the gooseberry and
various other native fruits abound,--the wild honeysuckle gives its
perfume to the air, and a thousand indigenous flowers mingle their
diversified hues with the verdure of the plain. But all this fertility
of soil and scenic beauty has produced no ameliorating effect upon the
savages. The Sauks of Illinois, when first visited by the French
missionaries were as they are now. They are still savages, as much so as
the Osages, Comanches and Seminoles, and not superior to the wandering
Chippeways."

The civil polity of these two tribes bears much resemblance to that of
the north western Indians generally. The peace chiefs are partly
elective and partly hereditary. The son succeeds the father by the
assent of the tribe, if worthy of the office, and if not, a successor,
of a more meritorious character, is chosen by them from some collateral
branch of the family. There is a legend among th