ed upon having them again, as an example to deter others from
practising the like imposition. The parties were angry at my
determination, and looking upon the medicine bag that was suspended on
the willows near the tent, and which is carried by most of the Indians,
as a sacred depository for a few pounded roots, some choice bits of
earth, or a variety of articles which they only know how to appreciate
with superstitious regard, they told me that "they had bad medicine for
those who displeased them." I insisted, however, on the return of the
articles I had given to the boy, and obtained them; at the same time
promising that if he would go back to the school-house, he should have
his clothes again; but added, that "it would never be allowed for
Indians to bring their children to the school, which was established to
teach them what was for their happiness, merely for the purpose of
getting them clothed and provided with blankets, and then to entice
them to leave it."

JAN. 20.--The severity of the winter has driven a number of wolves to
hover about the Settlement in search of provisions; they are perfectly
harmless however, as they are met singly, and skulk away like a dog
conscious of having committed a theft. But in packs, they kill the
horses, and are formidable to encounter. In the pursuit of buffaloes
and the deer on the plains, they are known to form a crescent, and to
hurry their prey over precipices, or upon the steep muddy banks of a
river, where they devour them. No instance has occurred of their having
seized any of the children of the settlers, though they sometimes kill
and eat the carcases of the dogs close to their houses.

FEBRUARY 3.--It appears that I have given great offence to one of the
remaining Swiss emigrants, for refusing to baptize, at his immediate
request, the child of his daughter, born of fornication, and cast away
by her, as living in adultery. I deeply lamented the circumstance, but
felt the obligation to defer the administration of the sacrament, from
the conviction that the profligacy of the case called for an example
which might deter others among the Swiss from acting in the like
manner; and at the same time be a public expression of disapprobation,
on my part, of such unblushing depravity, in the eyes of a numerous
young people growing up at the Colony. Unless chastity be considered as
a virtue, what hope can be entertained of forming any organized
society? and if the Colonists fearles