The Indians, to whom the rising of the sap in its capillary vessels in
the rock-maple is the sign of a sort of carnival, are now in the midst
of their season of sugar-making. It is one of their old customs to move,
men, women, children, and dogs, to their accustomed sugar-forests about
the 20th of March. Besides the quantity of maple-sugar that all eat,
which bears no small proportion to all that is made, some of them sell a
quantity to the merchants. Their name for this species of tree is
In-in-au-tig, which means man-tree.
_April 5th_. PEACE POLICY.--The agent from La Pointe, in Lake Superior,
writes: "My expressman from the Fond du Lac arrived on the 31st of last
month, by whom I learned that the Leech Lake Indians were unsuccessful
in their war excursion last fall, not having met with their enemies, the
Sioux, and I trust my communication with Mr. Aitkin will be in time to
check parties that may be forming in the spring.
"The state of the Indians throughout the country is generally in a
critical way of starvation, the wild-rice crops and bear-hunts having
completely failed last fall.
Pages:
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716