St. Lawrence, it reached the upper lakes and the upper Mississippi, extending thence north to the dividing ground between the farthest waters of the great Winnipeg and the Athabasca lake. Pursuing down the east bank of the Mississippi, it extended as far south as the junction of the Ohio. The leading tribes of this group, who figure prominently in our history, are the Lenni Lenapeas or Delawares, Nanticokes, Susquehannocks, Munsees, Mohegans, Shawnees, Mississagies, Chippewas, Ottowas, Pottawatomies, Menomonees, Miamis, Kickapoos, Foxes, Sacs, Peorias and Kaskaskias, and Illinois, generally.

§ 7. North of the St. Lawrence and the Lakes existed the Algonquins proper, or Nipercinians, the Maskigoes, and other interior and swamp tribes, extending to, and bordering on the Esquimaux race of Hudson's Bay, and the Kenistenoes or Crus, north of Lake Superior. In central New England, it had its remote affiliated tribes in the Mohegans of Connecticut, the Narragansetts of Rhode Island, the Pokanokets, Natics, and other Massachusetts tribes of that province; the Pinnacooks and other tribes of New Hampshire, and the Norridgwocks, &c., of Maine.

§ 8. Into this great Algonquin circle, the Iroquois group of Western New York, the Wyandots of Ohio and Michigan, and the Winnebagoes of Wisconsin, appear as intrusive and non-affiliated masses. Of these, the Iroquois occupied by far the most eminent position by means of their celebrated confederacy. This type of men consisted originally of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and SeneTo these the Tuscaroras were afterwards reunited from North Carolina, and the Senecas appear to have been split in some ancient feud, casting out the Wyandots. To this family also belonged the ancient Eries, the Kahkwas, and the so called "Neuter Nation." Vermont, the Iricosia of the Dutch, west of the mountains, was part of the ancient hunting ground of the Iroquois, and Lake Champlain was emphatically the Lake of the Iroquois.

cas.

§ 9. The Iroquois were not originally, it appears, men of courage and promise superior to the other tribes; but they became brave and strong through defeats, counsel and combination. The Algonquins appear to have first, under Piskaret, taught them how to fight. The latter called them windy-tongues and Nadowas; they retorted, calling the Algonquins bark-eaters, i. e. Adirondaks. They occupied a favorable position for inroads on the surrounding nations,-they exercised themselves much in martial enterprises, and formed a republic or confederation for the general purposes of peace and war, which rendered them powerful, and they soon made their very name a tower of strength. They first crushed their great adversaries, the Algonquins, in a great battle at Wore River, in the St. Lawrence

valley, and afterwards followed the race far and wide, under all its names—even to the Illinois and the banks of Lake Superior.

10. The southwestern extremity of the Union, including the Apalachian range, was inhabited by the Cherokees, Creeks, or Musagees, Choctaws and Chickasaws, Natchez, Utchees, Alabamas, and various minor tribes, some of whom dwindled away without leaving a vocabulary to other times, by which to compare them. The Catabas and their congeners, the Yamassies, &c., occupied the area of South Carolina.

§ 11. In North Carolina we perceive an intrusion of the Iroquois element in the Tuscaroras, who were still there in 1712. When this State was settled, there were fourteen distinct small tribes, of whom the Tuscaroras were far the most populous, and next to them the Waccous, Mehrrins, Pamlicoes, and Nottoways, &c. About 1600 fighting men were estimated to be in the State in 1608making, by the usual rates, that is to say five souls to one warrior, some 6000 souls.

§ 12. It was inevitable almost, when we consider the laws of climate and population, that the southern temperate latitudes should have the heaviest Indian population, and it was here, also, that there were found the greatest mixtures of fragments of language and tribes. A hunter and nomadic population, revelled in the delights and abundance of its wild climate and fertile soil, where the valleys. yielded their rich fields of corn, and the streams and forests supplied them abundantly with game and fish. There appears to have been in these tribes the elements of two, if not THREE, generic groups of languages. But the actual state of our vocabulary and grammar will not yet permit a final classification. It is a quarter of the Union which offers a rich and inviting field of ethnological research.

§ 13. West of the Mississippi, the Dacota language extended widely, and the tribes speaking the dialects of this tongue still maintain essentially their ancient positions. Beginning at the North, at a point west of the sources of the Mississippi, were the Assinaboines, next their kinsmen the Sioux of the river and the plains, extending in their multiplied tribes to the Missouri, and embracing the roving Arab-like races of the Pawnees, Omahas, Kanzas, &c. &c.—and stretching off by their affiliated tribes, across the Arkansas to the Red River, and the plains of Texas. This is also a rich and wide field of linguistic and statistical inquiry and research, which affords ample records to the observer.

§ 14. Of the tribes of Oregon, the last explored part of the republic, we have just begun to collect the geography and statistics, and its native population, strength, position and character will assume exactitude as we proceed in our investigation. The same may be

said of the Camanches, and other predatory tribes of Texas, who rove over its vast plains and carry their war flag through its unexplored mountain defiles. And when the inquiry is pursued in the direction which our inquisitive population is likely to take, into the table lands and valleys of New Mexico and California, there will, most probably, be found cogent reasons for the opinion thrown out in the outset of this article, that our aboriginal population had a southwestern starting point.

§ 15. We regard the Zea maize as the basis of the semi-civilization which marked the most advanced tribes of the South. It is a plant of the tropics. The labor required to cultivate it is less than that of any of the cereals. It will rise to perfection in hot climates and rich soils even without the periodical labors of the hoe. Wherever our northern tribes migrated, they appear to have carried this grain. And were every other trace of their migration obliterated, still their track would appear by the diffusion and extension of their favorite grain-the emphatic Mondamen or Spirit's grain of the Algonquin nation.

§ 16. From the latest and most reliable accounts, there is a fraction under 37,000 Indians of various nations and bands in the territory of New Mexico alone. Of these, 6000 consist of various. bands of the wandering Apaches and Jicarillas, 4400 of the Yulas, and 12,000 of the Camanches. It is in the province of New Mexico that there are 7000 of the agricultural or sheep-pasturing tribe of the Navihoes; and 2450 of the curious and still more advanced nation of the Moques, supposed to be vestiges of Aztecs, who are represented to possess light complexions, and to exercise many of the useful arts. The latter are both thought to be the most antique tribe in their origin and arts, dating back to the epoch of the migration of the Aztecs to the Mexican valley.

§ 17. To know the exact numbers, names, and actual condition of the various tribes inhabiting the United States; their means of subsistence, the rate of their increase or decrease, as denoted by full statistics of their vitality, and the different capacities and grades of civilization or barbarism which they exhibit, could not but essentially aid legislators and philanthropists in applying plans for their ultimate reclamation. Connected with such inquiries, which, to be valuable, must be authentic, there are questions of history, geography and general ethnology of high interest.

§18. Above all, there is wanted a census, full and complete in its details, and embracing all objects essential to determine the statistics of the industry, education, initial arts, and temperance of each tribe; the annual percapita of the cash annuities from government, their school funds, &c. &c. An effort of this kind is now in the process of being made by the general government, through the au

thority of the appropriate department. The inquiry has been put on an enlarged principle, which promises to supply a desideratum in our knowledge of this race. In this inquiry, the history, geography, antiquities, religion, government, mythology, manners and customs, and language of each tribe, are likewise specifically sought. Printed tables for a census have been prepared, and issued to the several Indian agents in the West, to be filled up at their convenience. And a comprehensive list of historical and general inquiries has been drawn up and addressed to persons who are judged capable of giving replies, in various quarters of the Union. As some indication of the scope of the general inquiries, the following quotations from the pamphlet are made, namely

"The result thus far.-How far has knowledge, art and commerce, and the general progress of civilization, affected the improvement of the Indian tribes, and changed or modified their original manners, customs and opinions? State the general impressions which have been made, and observe what modes of treatment and policy have done best, and on what points the Indian character, in its advanced, or semi-civilized phases, usually breaks down?

"Health of the Tribe.-How does the agricultural state, in the cases where it has been embraced, affect the laws of reproduction, and what change, if any, has been noticed in the character of the diseases of the removed tribes? Is their general health better, and how, if to any extent, has it been influenced by full and regular means of subsistence? Are fevers, or affections of the liver as frequent on the elevated plains west of the Mississippi, as they were in their former positions? How does the change of climate affect pulmonary complaints?

"Progress of Christianity.-What is the present state of the tribe in this respect? What progress has been made in delivering it from the dominion and influence of the native priests, prophets and jugglers? How long has it enjoyed the advantages of Christian teachers? What means were first employed to gain a hearing for the doctrines? Were they found efficacious, or were they varied, and what has been the most successful mode employed?

"Temperance. Are the principles of temperance in the use of ardent spirits on the increase or decrease? What are the prominent causes operating on the minds of persons yet addicted to the use of them, and what are the best means, at this time, of further discouraging the use of such drinks, and of effecting their entire exclusion from the tribe?

"The Cause of Education.-What are the prominent facts in relation to this important means of reclaiming and exalting the tribe? What means have been found most effective in the education of their children and youth? Have females duly participated in these means, and has any part of such means been applied to such branches as are essential to qualify them for the duties of mothers and housewives? Are the ancient prejudices of parents on the subject of education on the wane, and what is the relative proportion of the young population, who, in the last period of ten years, have received the elements of an English education?

"Proofs from Tradition.-Who were the earliest inhabitants of America? What is the light of tradition on this subject? Were the ancestors of the present red race the Aborigines? What evidences exist, if any, of the occupancy of the country by man, prior to the arrival of the Indian or Aonic race?

"Proofs from Geology.-Are there any evidences of the country's having been occupied by man, prior to the deposition of the tertiary or diluvial strata? Are

such evidences confined wholly to the unconsolidated deposits; and, if so, to what deposits, and of what probable eras?

"Proofs from antique Bones.-How deep, in any beds of deposits, local or general, of the upper geological formations, are the bones of extinct or existing kinds of quadrupeds, or other animal remains to be found? Have the fortunes of the red race, or any prior race, been connected with, or are they illustrated by, the extinction of the mastodon or other large animals, whose bones are now found in a fossil state?

"What connection do the United States Indians hold, ethnologically, to those of Mexico. Are there any proofs of affiliation in the grammars and vocabularies? What lights are afforded by history or tradition? Was the valley of the Mississippi probably settled at the period of the establishment of the Aztec empire, under the predecessors of the Montezumas?

"Remnants of the New England Tribes.-What is the number and condition of the Penobscots? Are the Abenakis, who fled from Norridgwock, still under the care of their original teachers, and what progress have they made in industry and the civil arts, since their withdrawal to Canada? What vestiges of the Massachusetts group of tribes remain within the boundaries of that state, inclusive of Martha's Vineyard and other islands? What are the present number and condition of the Narragansetts of Rhode Island, and of the Mohegans of Connecticut?

"Native Tribes of New York.-What is the present number, location and state of industry of the Iroquois? Was their confederacy of ancient or modern date; and what were the principles of their government? Are there any of the stock of the ancient Mohegans, Munsees, or other tribes of the Hudson valley, or of Long Island, and the adjacent coasts, left within the boundaries of the state? What is the meaning of the word Manhattan? Did Hudson ever land on this island?

"What are the character and purport of the ancient inscription found on the Dighton Rock, on the borders of Massachusetts and Rhode Island?--Is this description in the Runic or any other ancient character, in part or altogether; or is it sui generis with the devices and picture-writing of the North American Indians?

"Is the inscription found on opening the Grave Creek mound, in Western Virginia in 1839, alphabetic or hieroglyphic?—If alphabetic, in what ancient character was it executed, what is the purport thereof, and what bearings has it on the early epoch of American history? Furnish an authentic copy of the inscription, with its interpretation, if known?

"Were the evidences of ancient civilization confined to tribes located around the Gulf of Mexico? Do the articles and fragments of ancient earthenware, found at Appalachicola bay, and at other places in Florida, denote a degree of skill in that art superior to that known to have been possessed by the northern tribes, on the planting of the colonies?

"What are the Grammatical Principles of the Language?-Do these principles correspond with the ancient or modern class of languages? If with the ancient, with what family, and in what particulars do resemblances or affinities exist? Are the words simple or compound? If compound, or compound derivatives are used, what are the rules by which these compounds are effected?

[We have only room for one further extract from these interesting inquiries: The last question, No. 348, with the closing remarks.]

"Are you acquainted with any material errors in the general or popular accounts of our Indian Tribes? If so, please state them."

In submitting the preceding questions on the several subjects named, it is not designed to limit the inquiry to these particular forms. Called upon by the terms of the act to embody materials illustrative of the history of the tribes, as well as their statistics, the Department seeks to avail itself of the knowledge