ast region, have
dwindled down to small and feeble bands. The same remark will apply to
all the tribes in North America. The race is rapidly passing away, and
the nation, like that of Edom, will at no distant day become entirely
extinct. The last report of the Secretary of the Interior, states,
that the whole number of Indians within the limits of the States and
Territories of the Union, does not now exceed three hundred and
twenty-five thousand.

CHAPTER IX.

Indian name of Michigan -- Islands -- Lanman's Summer in the
wilderness -- Plains -- Trees -- Rivers -- A traditionary
land -- Beautiful description -- Official report in relation
to the trade of the lakes -- Green Bay -- Grand Traverse Bay
-- Beaver Islands -- L'Arbre Croche -- Boundaries of Lake
Michigan -- Its connections -- Railroad from Fort Wayne to
Mackinaw -- Recent report of -- Amount completed -- Land
grants.

The Indian name of the State of Michigan, is Michi-sawg-ye-gan, the
meaning of which in the Algonquin tongue is the Lake country.
Surrounded as it is almost entirely by water, it possesses all the
advantages of an island. It has numerous streams which are clear and
beautiful, abounding in fish. The surface of the western half (we
allude now to the lower or southern peninsula) is destitute of rocks,
and undulating. In the language of Lanman in his "Summer in the
Wilderness," "It is here that the loveliest of lakes and streams and
prairies are to be found. No one who has never witnessed them can
form any idea of the exquisite beauty of the thousand lakes which gem
the western part of Michigan. They are the brightest and purest
mirrors the virgin sky has ever used to adorn herself. On the banks of
these lakes, grow in rich profusion, the rose, the violet, the lily
and the sweet brier.

"A great proportion of Michigan is covered with white-oak openings.
Standing on a gentle hill, the eye wanders away for miles over an
undulating surface, obstructed only by the trunks of lofty
trees,--above you a green canopy, and beneath, a carpet of velvet
grass, sprinkled with flowers of every hue and form.

"The prairies are another interesting feature of Michigan scenery.
They meet the traveler at every point, and of many sizes, seeming
often like so many lakes, being often studded with wooded islands, and
surrounded by shores of forests. This soil is a deep black sand. Grass
is their natural production, although corn