children in all our earlier editions of Webster's Spelling Book.

All the rest of the United States is a far-off land to us. For one, I
draw around my fire, get my table and chair properly located, and resort
to my books, and my Indian _ia-ne-kun-o-tau-gaid_ let the storm whistle
as it may.

_25th_. Zimmerman may write as much as he pleases about solitude. It is
all very well in one's study, by his stove, if it is winter, with a good
feather bed, and all comforts at hand; but he who would test his
theories should come _here_. It is a capital place, in the dead of
winter, for stripping poetic theories of their covering.

CHAPTER XIV.

Amusements during the winter months, when the temperature
is at the lowest point--Etymology of the word Chippewa--A
meteor--The Indian "fire-proof"--Temperature and weather--Chippewa
interchangeables--Indian names for the seasons--An incident in
conjugating verbs--Visiting--Gossip--The fur trade--Todd, McGillvray,
Sir Alexander Mackenzie--Wide dissimilarity of the English and Odjibwa
syntax--Close of the year.

_1822. December 1st_. We have now plunged into the depths of a boreal
winter. The blustering of tempests, the whistling of winds, and the
careering of snow drifts form the daily topics of remark. We must make
shift to be happy, with the most scanty means of amusement. Books and
studies must supply the most important item in this--at least, so far as
I am concerned.

It is observed by Dr. Johnson "that nothing can supply the want of
prudence, and that negligence and irregularity, long continued, will
render knowledge useless, wit ridiculous, and genius contemptible." This
sententious apothegm is thrown out in contemplating the life of Savage,
one of the English poets who united some of the highest requisites of
genius with the lowest personal habits. But how much instruction does it
convey to all! It does not fall to the lot of all to have wit or genius,
or to be eminent in knowledge. None, however, who are not absolute
idiots are without some share of the one or the other. And in proportion
as these gifts are possessed, how fruitless, and comparatively useless
do they become, if not governed by prudence, assiduity, and regularity!

_3d_. The Indian tribes in this vicinity call themselves Ojibwaeg. This
expression is in the plural number. It is rendered singular by taking
off the _g_. The letter _a_, in this word, is pronounced like _a_ in
hate, or _ey_ in obey. Chippewa-