Population of Michilimackinack--Notices of the weather--Indian name of the Wolverine--Harbor closed--Intensity of temperature which can be borne--Domestic incidents--State of the weather--Fort Mackinack unsuccessfully attacked in 1814--Ossiganoc--Death of an Indian woman--Death of my sister--Harbor open--Indian name of the Sabbath day--Horticultural amusement--Tradition of the old church door--Turpid conduct of Thomas Shepard, and his fate--Wind, tempests, sleet, snow--A vessel beached in the harbor--Attempt of the American Fur Company to force ardent spirits into the country, against the authority of the Agent.

1834. Jan. 1st. My journal for this winter will be almost purely domestic. It is intended to exhibit a picture of men and things, immediately surrounding a person isolated from the world, on an island in the wide area of Lake Huron, at the point where the current, driven by the winds, rushes furiously through the straits connected with Lake Michigan. Where the ice in the winter freezes and breaks up continually, where the temperature fluctuates greatly with every wind, and where the tempests of snow, rain and hail create a perpetual scene of changing phenomena.

Society here is scarcely less a subject of remark. It is based on the old French element of the fur trade--that is, a commonalty who are the descendants of French or Canadian boatmen, and clerks and interpreters who have invariably married Indian women. The English, who succeeded to power after the fall of Quebec, chiefly withdrew, but have also left another element in the mixture of Anglo-Saxons, Irishmen or Celts, and Gauls, founded also upon intermarriages with the natives. Under the American rule, the society received an accession of a few females of various European or American lineage, from educated and refined circles. In the modern accession, since about 1800, are included the chief factors of the fur trade, and the persons charged by benevolent societies with the duties of education and of missionaries; and, more than all, with the families of the officers of the military and civil service of the government.

In such a mass of diverse elements the French language, the Algonquin, in several dialects, and the English, are employed. And among the uneducated, no small mixture of all are brought into vogue in the existing vocabulary. To fouchet, and to chemai, were here quite common expressions.

The continued mildness of the weather enabled the Indians from the surrounding shore to approach the island, not less than fifty-four of whom, in different parties, visited the office during the day. This day is a sort of carnival to these people, who are ever on the qui vive for occasions "to ask an alms." I had prepared for this. To each person a loaf of bread.

To adult males a plug of tobacco. No drink of any kind, but water, to a soul.

Snow fell during the day, rendering it unpleasant.

Jan. 2d. ShabowÂwa, a Chippewa chief, and part of his band, with the remainder of the Point St. Ignace band, got across the Traverse this morning. The whole number who visited the office during the day was thirty. ShabowÂwa said we might soon expect cold weather.

3d. Visits from a number of Indians (about twenty), who had not before called, to offer the bon jour of the season. Among them were several widows and disabled old people, to whom presents of clothing were given.

The atmosphere has been severely cold. A hard frost last night. I killed an ox for winter beef, and packed it, when cut into pieces, in snow. There has been floating ice, for the first time, in the harbor. The severe weather prevented the St. Ignace Indians from returning.

One of the St. Ignace Indians, referring to the meteoric phenomenon of the morning of the 13th of November, said that the stars shot over in the form of a bow, and seemed to drop into the lake. Such a display, he added, was never before seen. He says that the Chippewa Indians called the Wolverine "Gween-guh-auga," which means underground drummer. This animal is a great digger or burrower.

4th. Stormy and cold.

5th. S. Cold. Mr. Barber preached on the character and trials of Noah. The old N.E. divines loved to preach from texts in the Old Testament.

6th. A change of wind from N. to S.W. created a very perceptible increase of temperature. Indians, who had been detained by floating ice since New Year's day, got over to Point St. Ignace.

The postmaster sends me word that the second express will start to-morrow, without awaiting the return of the first.

On visiting the monthly concert in the evening, I was reminded that this day had been set apart by various churches for imploring a special blessing on the Word of God, in the conversion of the world.

7th. Yesterday afternoon the harbor filled with floating ice. This morning it is frozen over into a solid body, completely closing up the harbor. But the passage between it and Round Island is open, and the lake in other directions. Wind northerly and westwardly; thermometer as on the 3d, 4th, and 5th; but the air does not feel to be as cold as those days. This is the effect of its having remained about a week of nearly the same temperature. It is, in truth, the range of the thermometer between given points, and not the absolute degree of it, that creates the sensation of intense change. And herein must be sought the secret of people's standing a great degree of cold in the north, without being duly sensible of the extreme degree of it. This remark ought, perhaps, to be limited to such severe degree of cold (say 40° below zero), as a man can withstand or live in.

The ice, being only glued together, separated about 2 o'clock, and left the harbor free again before night.

The express from St. Mary's came in, about two hours after our Detroit express left. By letters brought by it, I learn that letters of recall have recently passed the Sault for Capt. Back. It is stated that Capt. Ross has unexpectedly returned to England, after an absence of four years, great part of which time he had passed among the Esquimaux, or in an open boat on the sea. That he had made observations to fix the magnetic meridian, and had discovered a large island, almost the size of Great Britain, which he named Boothea.

Mr. Ferry, Lieut. Kingsbury, and Mr. P. passed the evening with us.

Fires were seen on the main land, which are supposed to be signals from our express men.

8th. Snow--blustering--cold. Our first express to Detroit has so far overstayed its time, that it is impossible to say when it may now be expected. Fires again seen on the main land, and an unsuccessful attempt made to reach them, the floating ice preventing.

9th. Maternal Association meets at my house, which, Mrs. S. reports, is well attended. In the evening, Mr. H., Mr. J., Miss McF., and Miss S.

Floating ice in the straits, and no crossing.

11th. Snowing--blustering. Expecting the mail soon, I prepared my letters, and, being Saturday, sent them to the post-office, lest the mail should arrive and depart on Sunday.

13th, Deep snow drifts, stormy--cold. Very difficult, in consequence of the drifts, to reach the teacher's concert, in the evening, which met at the Court House. Meeting between Mr. D. and Mr. Ferry at my house, to try the effects of conciliation.

14th. High wind died away last night: the sun rose, this morning, clear and pleasant, but the air still cold. Ice completely fills the channel between Boisblanc and the main harbor; the outer channel is still open.

Mrs. Kingsbury passed the day with us. The church session on examination accepts her, and Mr. D. Stuart, the gentleman named in Irving's Astoria.

15th. The express from Detroit arrives, having crossed from the main to Boisblanc on the ice, and from thence in a boat. By this mail we have a week's later dates than were brought by the "Warren." No political intelligence of importance. I received a number of printed sheets of the appendix to the narrative of my tour to Itasca Lake. Heard also from LeConte, the engraver, at New York.

16th. Took Mr. D. in my cariole to Mr. Ferry's, to further the object of a reconciliation of the matters in difference between them. It commenced raining, soon after we got there, and continued steadily all evening. Got a complete wetting in coming home, and in driving to the fort Mrs. Kingsbury, whom I found there.

17th. Yesterday's fain has much diminished the quantity of snow; bare ground is to be seen in some spots. Atmosphere murky, and surcharged with moisture, rendering it disagreeable to be out of doors.

The soldiery of the garrison invite Mr. F. to hold a meeting in the garrison every Sabbath afternoon, showing an awakened moral sense among them.

18th. Depression of the atmospheric temperature. Frost renders the walking slippery, and the snow crusted and hard. This condition of things, in the forest, is fatal to wild hoofed animals, which at every step are subject to break through, and cut their ankles. In this way the Indians successfully pursue and take the moose and reindeer of our region.

19th. Mr. David S. and Mrs. K. are admitted to the communion, on a profession of faith, and Mr. Seymour, Miss Owen, and Miss Leverett, by letter. The Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Barber were also, for the first time, present.

Snow fell upon the previous glare surface, and, being attended with wind, rendered the day very blustering and boisterous. The wind being from the west, was very strong--so strong as to blow some persons down. The temperature at the same time was quite cold.

20th. Coldness continued; the thermometer stood at only 2° above zero at 8 o'clock in the morning; the west wind continuing. The air, in consequence of this depression, became colder than the water of the lake, producing an interchange of temperature, and the striking phenomenon of rising vapor. The open lake waters gave out their latent heat, like a boiling pot, till the equilibrium was restored. This singular phenomenon I had seen before in the North, and it is to be observed, in the basin of the upper lakes, some days every winter.

I received a visit from Mr. Barber. Conversation on the state of religious knowledge. Do geology and the natural sciences afford external evidence of the truth of God's word?

21st. Atmospheric temperature still low; the thermometer at 8 o'clock A.M. standing at 9° above zero. The harbor and straits, between the island and Point St. Ignace, frozen over; but the channel, in which, there is a strong current, between the outer edge of the harbor and Round Island, still open. Along this edge very deep water is immediately found, and these waters, under the pressure of lake causes, rush with the force of a mill-race. 22d. The air is slightly warmer, the thermometer standing at 8 o'clock, A.M., at 16° above zero. The soldiery further request of Mr. F. to hold a Bible class in the fort.

23d. The temperature still rises a few degrees, the thermometer standing at 21° at 8 o'clock, A.M. The express from the Sault arrives. Prepared my mail matter and dispatched it to the office.

24th. The thermometer falls five degrees, standing at 16° at 8 o'clock A.M.; but in consequence of the cessation of winds at night, and accumulation of floating ice, the open districts of the lake were entirely frozen over. Kebec, the Sault expressman, went off on his way to Detroit, at a very early hour, walking on the ice from about abreast of the Old Still House, direct to the main. The thermometer in the fort was observed to be, at one time during the night, at 5° below zero, denoting more intense cold than my 8 o'clock observation indicates. This is, therefore, so far, the maximum cold for January.

25th. A strong easterly wind broke up the ice, which was solid, as far as the Light-House, about ten miles, and again exposed the limpid bosom of the lake in that direction; but it did not disturb the straits west. My son John began, this day, to pronounce words having the sound of r, for which, agreeably to a natural organic law recognized by philologists, he has heretofore substituted the sound of l.

26th. S. A sermon on the inefficacy of the prayer of faith without submission to God's better wisdom. I was this day set apart as an elder.

27th. The temperature, which has risen since the 24th, still rises, creating a perceptible change in feelings. Visited Mr. Agnew, who reached the island from the Sault yesterday.

28th. The harbor breaks up with a south-east wind, but the ice remains firm between the island and the main, and in the direction to Pt. St, Ignace. This wind is attended with a farther moderation of the temperature. I fell in descending the steep hill, which is exposed to the south, in coming back from a visit to Lieut. Penrose, in the fort. This fort is what engineers call a talus, being, as I suppose, the exact area, very nearly, of the top of a cliff overlooking the town. It was very effective for controlling the Indians, but was found in 1812 to be commanded by a still higher point within cannon range, which was seized and fortified by the British.

This apex they made the site of Fort George; the Americans changed the name to Fort Holmes, after a gallant officer, a Kentuckian, who fell in the unsuccessful attempt of Col. Croghan to retake the island in 1814.

29th. The temperature still rises, and is mild for the season. Gave each of my children a new copy of the Scriptures. If these truths are important, as is acknowledged, they cannot too early know them. I visited Mr. Mitchell.

30th, The temperature continues to moderate. Drove to the mission, accompanied by Mr. D., to converse, at his request, with Mr. Barber, on the unhappy topics of difference between him and Mr. F. Mr. and Mrs. Abbott called at my house, in the interval, and were received by Mrs. S. In the evening I attended the social prayer meeting at Mr. Dousman's.

31st. The sun shone clear; no snow, no high winds, but a serene and pleasant atmosphere. Visits were received from Maj. Whistler and Lieut. Kingsbury. Conversation on the probable reception of the President's Message, etc., by our next express.

This being Mrs. Schoolcraft's birth-day, I presented her a Bible.

Feb. 1st. The mildness and pleasantness of the weather continued. Drove out to Mr. Davenport's with Mrs. Schoolcraft and the children. Davenport is a Virginian. He was one of the residents driven off the island by the events of the late war, and was on board of Commodore St. Clair's squadron, sailing around the island, and in sight of his own home, during the expedition to recapture the island, in 1814. For his sufferings and losses he ought to have been remunerated by the Government, whom he faithfully served.

Our second express from Detroit arrived, bringing us the expected newspaper intelligence, and letters from friends. Heard of the alarming illness of my sister, in Oneida County, N.Y.

2d. S. A sermon on the often handled subjects of election and free grace--how God elects, and how man is free to come himself.

3d. Devoted to newspaper reading. In the evening attended the monthly concert.

4th. A small party at dinner, namely, Major Whistler, Lieut. Kingsbury, Mr. Agnew, Mr. Stuart the elder, Mr. Abbott, Mr. Dousman, and Mr. Johnston. The weather continues mild, clear, and calm. In the evening I prepared my mail matter for the Sault, intending to dispatch it by a private express to-morrow.

5th. Finished and dispatched my mail for St. Mary's by two Indians, who set out at ten o'clock A.M. I received an official visit from Ossiganac, and seven men from the village of L'Arbre Croche. He stated it to be the wish of the Ottawas, to visit Washington. The reasons for such a visit arose from a desire to see the President, on the subject of their lands. Many of these lands were denuded of game. Drummond Island had been abandoned. They thought themselves entitled to compensation for it. They were poor and indebted to the traders. The settlements would soon intrude on their territories. Wood was now cut for the use of steamboats and not paid for. They had various topics to confer about. This was, in fact, the first move of the Lake Indians, leading in the sequel to the important treaty of March 28th, 1836.

6th. The thermometer is again depressed, and a recurrence of easterly winds.

7th. The depression of temperature creates the sensation of coldness after the late mild weather, although the thermometer, examined at 8 o'clock, has not fallen below 26°, but six degrees below the freezing point.

I embodied Ossiganac's remarks in a letter to the Department, and also requesting the survey of the old grants under Wayne's Treaty of 1793. I likewise proposed the establishment of an Indian Academy at Michilimackinack for the Indian tribes of the upper lakes. Mackinack has peculiar facilities of access in the open months for a large circle of cognate tribes; and, in view of a future cession of the country, these tribes will possess ample means. I wrote to my sister Catharine, in the prospect of her dying of consumption; directing her mind to the great moral remedy in the intercession of Christ.

8th. Our third express for Detroit left this morning. The day was clear and calm, with the thermometer at 30° at 8 o'clock. I began sketching some remarks, to be transmitted to the American Lyceum, on the best mode of educating the Indians.

9th. S. Mild. An Indian woman was buried to-day, who has borne the character of a Christian. As her end drew near she said she did not fear to "pass through the valley of death." She appeared to be prepared to die, and had the testimony of Christians in her behalf, many of whom attended her funeral. As a general fact, the Christian Indians whom I have known, seize with great simplicity of faith on an Intercessor and his promises.

10th. Mild. In consequence of the protracted mildness of the weather, Indians from Thunder Bay visited the office. They spoke of the meteoric phenomenon of November. I asked the leader of the party what he thought of it. He replied that it betokened evil to the Indian race--that sickness would visit them calamitously.

In the evening the wind veered from a favorable quarter suddenly to the north, producing a strong sensation of cold.

12th. Dine with Kingsbury.

13th. Dine with Mitchell. In the afternoon Mr. F. and Mr. D. met by appointment at my house, to endeavor to close their accounts and terminate their difficulties.

14th. Yesterday's effort to compromise matters between F. and D. was continued and brought to a close, so far as respected items of account; but this left unhealed the wounds caused by mutual hard thoughts, of a moral character, and for which there has seemed, to Christians, in Mr. D., a cause of disciplinary inquiry. I felt friendly to Mr. D., and thought that he was a man whose pride and temper, and partly Christian ignorance, had induced to stand unwittingly in error. But he took counsel of those who do not appear to have been actuated by the most conciliatory views. He stood upon his weakest points with an iron brow and "sinews of brass."

15th. Visited Mr. Barber. Meeting in the evening at Mr. Mitchell's.

16th. Snow.

17th. The temperature fell several degrees, and lake closed, as seen at a distance. I finished my remarks for the American Lyceum.

18th. Engaged in pursuing Mr. F.'s lectures, delivered at a prior time, on the character and differences between the Protestant and Romish Churches.

19th. The weather assumes a milder turn, and gives us rain. Messrs. F. and D., having called on Mr. Mitchell, renew their meeting at my house.

20th. Rain and thunder.

21st. Temperate; sinks and turns cold in the evening.

22d. Cold, with some snow.

23d. Thermometer continues to sink, and the ice is reported as having become strong everywhere.

24th. The third express from Detroit came in at an early hour, and my letters and papers were brought in before breakfast. During breakfast I opened a letter, announcing the death of my sister Catharine, on the 9th of January, at Vernon, N. Y.

Mr. Agnew and Mr. Chapman, who have been guests on the island, set out for the Sault. The lake is now finally and strongly closed by a covering of solid ice. Trains cross to-day, for the first time, to Point St. Ignace.

25th. Mr. Levake, another guest on the island, called at eight o'clock for my letters, with a view of overtaking the party who left yesterday.

26th. Wind west, and so strong as to drive the ice out between the harbor and the light-house, but did not affect the harbor itself, nor the straits.

27th. Snow and rain. Richardson May, a discharged soldier, and Manito Geezhig (Spirit-sky), a Chippewa Indian, arrived with the express mail for Saginaw.

28th. The weather is mild again. An express from the Hudson's Bay Company departed for Saginaw, at seven o'clock A.M. The adverb "fiducially" first brought to my notice, as the synonym of confidently, steadily. Finished the perusal of Mr. F.'s manuscript lectures, on the Romish Church. Think them an offhand practical appeal to truth, clear in method, forcible in illustration. Learning and research, such as are to be drawn from books other than the Bible, have not been evidently relied on. They might not do to print without revision. The New Testament does not, as an example, declare that Peter ever was at Rome, and yet that fact, got from other sources, is much relied on by that Church.

March 1st. The change in temperature continues. It is so mild and warm that the snow melts.

2d. S. Mild, and Sabbath exercise as usual.

3d. The temperature falls, and it becomes sensibly cold and wintry. The sky and lower atmosphere, however, remain clear.

Cadotte, an expressman from La Pointe, Lake Superior, arrived in the course of the afternoon, with letters from Mr. Warren. Miss W., Miss D. and Mr. J., pass the evening.

4th. Weather mild; snow soft and sloppy. Receive visits from Mr. Abbott, Mr. Ferry, and Mr. Mitchell.

5th. Snow has melted so much, in consequence of the change of temperature, that I am compelled to stop my team from drawing wood. The ice is so bad that it is dangerous to cross. The lake has been open from the point of the village to the light-house, since the tempest of the 26th ultimo. The broad lake below the latter point has been open all winter. The lake west has been, in fact, fast and solidly frozen, so as to be crossed with trains, but twelve days!

Mr. Warren's express set out for Lake Superior this morning. Our fourth express from Detroit came in during the evening, bringing New York dates to the 4th of February.

6th. The evidences of the approach of spring continue. The sun shines with a clear power, unobstructed by clouds. Snow and ice melt rapidly. Visited the Mission's house in the evening.

7th. Clouds intercept the sun's rays. An east wind broke up the ice in the harbor, and drives much floating ice up the lake.

8th. The wind drives away the broken and floating ice from the harbor, and leaves all clear between it and Round Island. It became cold and freezing in the afternoon. Conference and prayer meetings at my house.

9th. Very slippery, and bad walking, and icy roads. Freezes.

10th. In consequence of the increase of cold, and the prevalence of a calm during the night, there was formed a complete coating of ice over the bay, extending to Round Island. This ice was two inches thick. Mrs. Schoolcraft spent the evening at Mrs. Dousman's. On coming home, about nine o'clock, we found the ice suddenly and completely broken up by a south wind, and heaped up along shore.

11th. Harbor and channel quite clear; the weather has assumed a mildness, although the sky is overcast, and snow drifted in the roads during the morning. Miss Jones, Mr. D. Stuart, Dr. Turner, and Mr. Johnston spent the evening with me.

12th. Filled my ice-house with ice of a granular and indifferent quality, none other to be had.

13th. Mild, thawing, spring-like weather. Visits by Captain and Mrs. Barnum.

14th. About eight o'clock this morning, a vessel from Detroit dropped anchor in the harbor, causing all hearts to be gay at the termination of our wintry exclusion from the world. It proved to be the "Commodore Lawrence," of Huron, Ohio, on a trip to Green Bay. Our last vessel left the harbor on the 18th of December, making the period of our incarceration just eighty-five days, or but two and a half months. Visited by Lieut. and Mrs. Lavenworth.

15th. Mild and pleasant. Plucked the seed of the mountain ash in front of the agency dwelling, and planted it on the face of the cliff behind the house. Mr. Chapman arrived with express news from the Sault.

16th. S. Anni-me-au-gee-zhick-ud, as the Indians term it, and a far more appropriate term it is than the unmeaning Saxon phrase of /Sunday.

17th. Very mild and pleasant day. The snow is rapidly disappearing under the influence of the sun. Mackinack stands on a horse-shoe bay, on a narrow southern slope of land, having cliffs and high lands immediately back of it, some three hundred feet maximum height. It is, therefore, exposed to the earliest influences of spring, and they develop themselves rapidly. Mr. Hulbert arrived from the Sault in the morning, bringing letters from Rev. Mr. Clark, Mr. Audrain, my sub-agent at that point, &c.

18th. Wind southerly. This drives the ice from the peninsula into the harbor, it then shifts west, and drives it down the lake. A lowering sky ends with a sprinkling of rain in the forenoon; it then clears up, and the sun appears in the afternoon. Dr. Turner visits me at the office. Conversation turns on my translations into the Indian, and the principles of the language. An Indian has a term for man and for white; but, when he wishes to express the sense of white man, he employs neither. He then compounds the term wa-bish-kiz-zi---that is, white person.

19th. The weather is quite spring-like. Prune cherry trees and currant bushes. Transplant plum tree sprouts. Messrs. Biddle and Drew finish preparing their vessel, and anchor her out.

20th. The thermometer sinks to 18° at eight o'clock A.M. Snows, and is boisterous all day, the wind being north-east.

21st. The snow, which has continued falling all night, is twelve to fourteen inches deep in the morning; being the heaviest fall of snow, at one time, all winter. Some ice is formed.

22d. The body of snow on the ground, and the continuance of cold, give quite a wintery aspect to the landscape. In the course of the day, Mr. Ferry, Mr. Mitchell, and Mr. Stuart call.

23d. S. Cold.

24th. Wintery feeling and aspect.

25th. The temperature still sinks. Visits from Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Ferry, and Mr. Stuart. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, Mr. Hulbert, Mr. Chapman, and Mr. Johnston spend the evening.

26th. Drove, with Mr. Ferry, to Mr. Boyd's, and thence to Mr. Davenport's.

27th. Ice still lingers in the harbor, but the day is clear and sunshiny, and the snow melts rapidly. Visit the mission, and inquire into the effects of its government and discipline on the character of the boys, one or two of whom have been recently the subject of some scandals. Accompanied in this visit by Mr. Hulbert, Mr. Stuart, and Mr. Mitchell. Thomas Shepard, a mission boy, calls on me at an early hour, and states his contrition for his agency in any reports referred to.

28th. Weather mild; snow melts; wind S.W.; some rain.

With this evening's setting sun,
Years I number forty-one.

Visited the officers in the fort. Rode out in my carriage in the evening, with Mrs. Schoolcraft, to see Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, and Mr. and Mrs. Ferry. Satan's emissaries appear to be busy in circulating scandal respecting our pastor, Mr. F., a person of high moral worth and probity.

To put these down effectively, it appears necessary to probe them to the bottom, and ascertain their length and breadth. This was a duty of the eldership, and it could be thoroughly performed without fear, respecting a man of Mr. F.'s character. It was necessary, I found, to unmask all the actors. The scandal appears to be one originating with certain Metif boys of the Mission school. One of these, it was averred, had looked through the key-hole of the common parlor door of the Mission house, and beheld the Rev. Mr. F. sitting near a Miss S., one of the assistant missionaries of the establishment. The door was locked. The hair of the young lady was dishevelled; her comb had fallen on the floor. It was early in the morning. Another boy was called to look; no change of position was observed--nothing that was not respectful and proper.

This story was detailed, a night or two afterwards, by Thomas Shepard, one of the boys, at a drinking conclave in the village, where bon vivants, and some persons inimical to Mr. F. were present, and created high merriment. From that den it was spread. It appeared that Miss S. had, for some time, had doubts on the subject of her conversion, and sought a conversation with her pastor to resolve them.

29th. Moderate temperature continues. A meeting of some of the leading persons of the place, citizens and officers, at which statements, embracing the above narrative, were made, which were quite satisfactory in regard to the reports above mentioned. The reports are traced to a knot of free livers, free drinkers, and infidels, who meet a-nights, in the village, to be merry, and who drew some of the mission boys into their revelries. A case of discipline in the church, which led, finally, to the excommunication of one of the leading persons of the place, has raised enemies to the Rev. Mr. F., who were present at these orgies, and helped to spread the report.

30th. Service as usual, but more than usually interesting.

31st. Mild weather continues; clear and sunny; snow melts. The remaining ice is completely broken up by an easterly wind. Visit Mr. Stuart's child, which is very low.

April 1st. A dark drizzly morning terminates before ten o'clock in rain. It cleared away at noon; the broken ice of the day and night previous, is mostly driven down the lake by westerly winds.

Satisfied of the excellency of the mission school, I sent my children to it this morning. The Rev. Mr. Ferry, Rev. Mr. Barber, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. D. Stuart, and Mr. Chapman dine with me. In the evening, Capt. and Mrs. Barnum, and Lieut. Kingsbury make a visit.

2d. The harbor is now entirely clear of ice, with a west wind. Wrote to Rev. D. Greene, Missionary Rooms, Boston, giving my opinion respecting the establishment of a mission among the Odjibwas at Fond du Lac, Lake Superior.

3d. Pleasant, mild, clear. Winter has now clearly relaxed his hold. Indians who came in to-day from L'Arbre Croche, report that the ice is, however, still firm at Point Wa-gosh-ains (Little Fox Point), on the straits above. This point forms the bight of the straits, some twenty miles off, at their entrance into Lake Michigan. Attended the funeral of William Dolly, a Metif boy, of Indian extraction.

4th. The season is visibly advancing in its warmth and mildness. Began to prepare hot-beds. Set boxes for flowers and tubs for roots.

5th. The mission schooner "Supply" leaves the harbor on her first trip to Detroit, with a fine west wind, carrying our recent guests from St. Mary's. Transplant flowering shrubs. Miss McFarland passes the day with Mrs. Schoolcraft at the agency.

7th. Cloudy but mild. Adjusting fixtures for gooseberry bushes, &c.

8th. Superintending the construction of a small ornamental mound and side wall to the piazza, for shrubbery and flowers. Books are now thrown by for the excitement of horticulture. Some Indians visit the office. It is remarkable what straits and suffering these people undergo every winter for a bare existence. They struggle against cold and hunger, and are very grateful for the least relief. Kitte-mau-giz-ze Sho-wain-e-min, is their common expression to an agent--I am poor, show me pity, (or rather) charity me; for they use their substantives for verbs.

9th. The schooner "White Pigeon," (the name of an Indian chief,) enters the harbor, with a mail from Detroit. "A mail! a mail!" is the cry. Old Saganosh and five Indian families come in. The Indians start up from their wintering places, as if from a cemetery. They seem almost as lean and hungry as their dogs--for an Indian always has dogs--and, if they fare poor, the dogs fare poorer.

Resumed my preparations at the garden hot-beds.

The mail brought me letters from Washington, speaking of political excitements. The project for an Indian academy is bluffed off, by saying it should come through the Delegate. Major Whiting writes that he is authorized to have a road surveyed from Saginaw to Mackinack.

10th. Engaged at my horticultural mound. The weather continues mild.

11th. Transplanting cherry trees.

12th. Complete hot-bed, and sow it in part.

14th. The calmness and mildness of the last few days are continued. Spring advances rapidly.

15th. Mild, strong wind from the west, but falls at evening. Write to Washington respecting an Indian academy.

Walking with the Rev. Wm. M. Ferry through the second street of the village (M.), leading south, as we came near the corner, turning to Ottawa Point, he pointed out to me, on the right hand, half of a large door, painted red, arched and filled with nails, which tradition asserts was the half of the door of the Roman Catholic church at old Mackinack. The fixtures of the church, as of other buildings, were removed and set up on this spot. I afterwards saw the other half of the door standing against an adjoining house.

16th. Wind westerly. Begin to enlarge piazza to the agency. A party of Beaver Island Indians come in, and report the water of the Straits as clear of ice, and the navigation for some days open.

The schooner "President," from Detroit, dropped anchor in the evening.

17th. The schooners "Lawrence," "White Pigeon," and "President," left the harbor this morning, on their way to various ports on Lake Michigan, and we are once more united to the commercial world, on the great chain of lakes above and below us. The "Lawrence," it will be remembered, entered the harbor on the 14th of March, and has waited thirty-two days for the Straits to open.

18th. Wind N.E., chilly. It began to rain after twelve o'clock A.M., which was much wanted by the gardens, as we have had no rain for nearly a month. All this while the sun has poured down its rays on our narrow pebbly plain under the cliffs, and made it quite dry.

I was present this morning at the Mission, at the examination of the Metif boy Thomas Shepard, and was surprised at the recklessness and turpidity of his moral course, as disclosed by himself, and, at the announcement of the names of his abettors.

The fate of this boy was singular. He set out alone to return to Sault Ste. Marie, where his relations lived, across the wilderness. After striking the main land, his companions returned. All that was ever heard of him afterwards, was the report of Indians whom I sent to follow his trail, as the season opened, who found a spot where he had attempted, unsuccessfully, to strike a fire and encamp. From obscure Indian reports from the channels called Chenos, the Indians there had been alarmed by news of the inroads of Na-do-was (Iroquois), and seeing some one on the shore, in a questionable plight, they fired and killed him. This is supposed to have been Thomas Shepard.

19th. Wind westerly--chilly--cloudy--dark.

20th. The "Austerlitz," and "Prince Eugene," two of Mr. Newbery's vessels, arrived during the afternoon. Rain fell in the evening.

21st. The schooner "Nancy Dousman" arrived in the morning from below. A change of weather supervened. Wind N.E., with snow. The ground is covered with it to the depth of one or two inches. Water frozen, giving a sad check to vegetation.

22d. This morning develops a north-east storm, during which the "Nancy Dousman" is wrecked, but all the cargo saved: a proof that the harbor is no refuge from a north-easter. The wind abates in the evening.

23d. Wind west, cloudy, rainy, and some sleet. About midnight the schooner "Oregon" came in, having rode out the tempest under Point St. Ignace.

24th. Still cold and backward, the air not having recovered its equilibrium since the late storm.

25th. Cloudy and cold--flurries of snow during the day.

26th. The weather recovers its warm tone, giving a calm sky and clear sunshine. The snow of the 21st rapidly disappears, and by noon is quite gone, and the weather is quite pleasant. The vessels in the harbor continue their voyages.

27th. S. A boat reaches us from the Sault, showing the Straits and River St. Mary to be open. It brought the Rev. Mr. Clark, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who occupies Mr. F.'s position, before the soldiery, in the evening.

28th. The atmosphere is still overcast, although the thermometer ranges high.

Levake, a trader for the Indian country, went off about two o'clock P.M. On granting him his license, I directed him to take no ardent spirits. He therefore ordered a barrel of whisky to be taken back to the American Fur Company's store, where he had purchased it. Mr. Abbot, the agent, sent it back to him. Mr. Levake finally remanded it. Mr. Abbot said, "Why! Mr. Schoolcraft has no authority to prevent your taking it!" The moment, in fact, the boats leave the island they enter the Indian country, where the act provides that this article shall not be taken on any pretence. This was an open triumph of the Agent of the United States against the Fur Company. I wrote to the Rev. Mr. Boutwell, at Leech Lake, by this opportunity.

29th. The atmosphere has regained its equilibrium fully. It is mild throughout the day. Indians begin to come in freely from the adjacent shores. Sow radishes and other early seeds.

30th. The schooner "Napoleon," and the "Eliza," from Lake Ontario, come in. The Indian world, also, seems to have awaked from its winter's repose. Pabaumitabi visits the office with a large retinue of Ottawas. Shabowawa with his band appear from the Chenoes. Vessels and canoes now again cross, each other's track in the harbor.