I resumed my Indian researches with twofold interest. The public duties
of an agent for Indian affairs, if an industrious man, leave him a good
deal of leisure on his hands, and, in a position so remote as this, if a
man have no inclination for studies or belles lettres, he must often be
puzzled to employ his leisure. I amused myself by passing from one
literary study to another, and this is ever refreshing to the mind,
which tires of one thing. Thus, such amusements as the _Appeal of
Pontiac, Rise of the West_, and the _Man of Bronze_, found place among
graver matters. In this manner, a man without literary society may amuse
and instruct himself.
_Nov. 1st_. I have been elected a member of the Legislative Council of
the territory--an office not solicited, and which is not declined. Party
spirit has not yet reached and distracted this territory. So far as I
know, political divisions of a general character, have not entered into
society. The chief magistrate is an eminently conservative man, and by
his moderation of tone and suavity of manners, has been instrumental in
keeping political society in a state of tranquillity.
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