d to trade. The inmates came forth to gaze upon us. A shout
of welcome was sent forth, as they recognized _Shaw-nee-aw-kee,_ who,
from a seven years' residence among them, was well known to each
individual.

A shake of the hand, and an emphatic "_Bon-jour_--_bon-jour_," is the
customary salutation between the Indian and the white man.

"Do the Indians speak French?" I inquired of my husband.

"No; this is a fashion they have learned of the French traders during
many years of intercourse."

Not less hearty was the greeting of each Canadian _engage_, as he
trotted forward to pay his respects to "Monsieur John," and to utter a
long string of felicitations, in a most incomprehensible _patois_. I was
forced to take for granted all the good wishes showered upon "Madame
John," of which I could comprehend nothing but the hope that I should
be happy and contented in my "_vie sauvage_."

The object of our early walk was to visit the Mission-house and school
which had been some few years previously established at this place by
the Presbyterian Board of Missions. It was an object of especial
interest to Mr. and Mrs. Stuart, and its flourishing condition at this
period, and the prospects of extensive future usefulness it held out,
might well gladden their philanthropic hearts. They had lived many years
on the island, and had witnessed its transformation, through God's
blessing on Christian efforts, from a worldly, dissipated community to
one of which it might almost be said, "Religion was every man's
business." This mission establishment was the beloved child and the
common centre of interest of the few Protestant families clustered
around it. Through the zeal and good management of Mr. and Mrs. Ferry,
and the fostering encouragement of the congregation, the school was in
great repute, and it was pleasant to observe the effect of mental and
religious culture in subduing the mischievous, tricky propensities of
the half-breed, and rousing the stolid apathy of the genuine Indian.

These were the palmy days of Mackinac. As the head-quarters of the
American Fur Company, and the entrepot of the whole Northwest, all the
trade in supplies and goods on the one hand, and in furs and products of
the Indian country on the other, was in the hands of the parent
establishment or its numerous outposts scattered along Lakes Superior
and Michigan, the Mississippi, or through still more distant regions.

Probably few are ignorant of the fact, t