America, in three octavo volumes of about 400 pages each. The work will be rendered peculiarly valuable and interesting by a great number of beautiful engravings, from designs taken principally from the living animal, by Mr. C. A. Lesueur, Mr. Rider, and Mr. W. W. Wood. These gentlemen have, each of them, already given the most satisfactory evidence of their great ability and talent. Mr. Lesueur's reputation, in particular, both as a naturalist and an artist, stands too high to leave us room to doubt, for an instant, of the entire success of this part of the work. A great additional value will be conferred upon the "History" by the circumstance, that, among the numerous designs which are to be obtained, there will be many of animals now for the first time figured or engraved. With respect to the authenticity and general merit of the descriptions, no question can be reasonably entertained, when it is known that in addition to the extensive observations and unwearied industry of Dr. Godman, we have the further guaranty of the zealous co-operation of the most distinguished naturalists of the United States. Professor Say, Mr. Charles Bonaparte, Dr. Harlan, Dr. Dekay, Dr. Mitchell, and Mr. Ord, have promised to contribute their assistance in rendering the contemplated History every way worthy of the most liberal support. What peculiarly interests us in the success of Dr. Godman's work, is the gratifying reflection, that the honor will belong almost exclusively to our own countrymen, and that foreigners will no longer have it in their power to reproach us with a dependence upon transatlantic writers, for nearly all the useful knowledge we possess.of the riches and resources of the American animal world. SPIRIT OF SPRING. -the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds Spirit, that from the breathing South By the softened light of that sunny eye, And the perfum❜d breath of that balmy mouth, Spirit of beauty, these thy charms, Spirit of Spring! Spirit of Spring! thou com'st to wake Spirit of Spring! when the cheek is pale, And peace in that brow of beaming bright, Spirit of health, peace, joy and hope, Spirit of Spring! Yet fail it must-for it comes of earth, But oh! there's a changeless world above, Who will not watch, and strive, and pray, To join the throng of the saints in light, March, 1825. DIGAMMA. THE NEW-YORK REVIEW. JULY, 1825. ART. IX.-Travels in the Central Portions of the Mississippi Valley: comprising Observations on its Mineral Geography, Internal Resources, and Aboriginal Population. [Performed under the sanction of Government, in the year 1821.] By HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT. New-York. Collins and Hannay. 1825. MR. SCHOOLCRAFT is already well known to the public, as the author of several interesting and instructive treatises, on the geography and natural history of various portions of our western territory. Among these, may be particularly noticed, his View of the Lead Mines of Missouri, a work, which first gave us any valuable information, with regard to the mineral wealth of that region of country; for neither Stoddard, nor Shultz, nor Breckenridge, nor even Austin himself, wrote with sufficient exactness or detail. Mr. Schoolcraft's Narrative Journal, is an interesting diary of travels through the northwestern districts of the United States, extending from Detroit, through the great chain of American lakes, to the sources of the Mississippi river. The objects of that journey, (which, like the present, was directed and superintended with great ability by Governor Cass,) were, to obtain a correct knowledge of the history, the habits, and the prevailing dispositions of the Indian tribes; to purchase the ground for a garrison at the foot of lake Superior; to collect the materials for an accurate map of the country, and to examine the more remarkable copper and lead mines, and quarries of gypsum, in that part of the northwestern territory, which the expedition had undertaken to explore. The results of that investigation, cannot of course be compared, with the fruits of the magnificent but expensive expeditions, suggested by the vanity of European princes, and upheld by the compulsory contributions of their subjects; but they are certainly very creditable to the gentlemen connected with the party, and greatly surpass what might have been reVOL. I. 12 garded as proportionate to the necessary economy of our national expenditure. The object of the journey, of which the volume before us is a diary, was to purchase from the Ottowa, Chippewa, and Pottowattomie tribes, the land lying between the northern boundary line of the state of Indiana, and the main brauch of the Grand River of lake Michigan. This constitutes the southwestern portion of the peninsula of Michigan, and comprises an extent of fertile territory, capable of supporting a very dense agricultural population. It is not a little remarkable, that until lately, the interior of this peninsula was considered altogether unworthy of the notice of the emigrant.* The shores of lakes Huron and Michigan exhibited, in most places, a forbidding line of arid pine-land; and the certainty of abundance of fertile soil, south of latitude forty-two, made an inquiry into the quality of the less accessible territory scarcely worth the toils and risks of exploration. Another circumstance, to which we think may be attributed the neglect of this part of Michigan, is the want of the facilities of internal navigation; the territory being traversed by no rivers of a larger size than the Saganaut and Grand River of Michigan. The St. Joseph's and Miami, (or Maumee, as Mr. Schoolcraft spells it, to distinguish it from the Miami of the Ohio,) are considerable streams, but they are principally confined to the southern sections of this territory. The smaller streams (particularly those which empty into lake Michigan) are, however, so numerous as to afford, when the country is once settled, abundant compensation for the want of larger water courses. "The greater part of the newly explored lands," says Mr. Schoolcraft, "consists of an argillaceous soil, mellowed with sand and pebble-stones, and clothed with an open growth of oaks and hickories, forming the much esteemed open oak-lands, so favorable to all the staple products of temperate northern latitudes. These oak-lands frequently present themselves to the eye in sloping ridges, with apparently measured interstices between the trees, and together with the larger dry prairies, are principally covered with a species of native grass, of a nutritious quality, which grows to the height of five or six feet, and is * In a map drawn in 1744, by Bellin, a French hydrographer, from data furnished by Charlevoix and others, the interior of Michigan is marked Terrain plus élevé, and this is the amount of the knowledge we possessed of its geography until the close of the last war. Emptying into Saganau Bay, the Anse de Saguinam of Charlevoix. judged to be nearly equal to timothy for cattle. The intervening valleys, enriched with the alluvial wash of the hills, constitute the first rate corn-lands, and are finely timbered with maple, beech, black walnut, bois blanc,* and ash." Capable as those lands are of supporting a large agricultural population, the gradual failure of game has greatly diminished their value to the Indian tribes who inhabit them. It is a striking illustration of the immense advantages of civilized life, that at the very moment when the natives are preparing to abandon a territory, which no longer furnishes their scanty numbers with the means of subsistence, a mass of white population is moving gradually in, without doubting, for an instant, their capacity to extract from this deserted soil all the necessaries and conveniences of life, which an almost unlimited increase of their numbers may require. Portions of this extensive tract had been already ceded to the United States, by the treaties of Spring Wells, St. Mary's, and Saginau. To effect the purchase of that part which is situated between Indiana and Grand River, Governor Cass and Solomon Sibley were, in the year 1821, commissioned by the President. to meet the Indians at Chicago, and to this commission Mr. Schoolcraft was appointed secretary. There are three ways of reaching Chicago from Detroit;first, by ascending the River Raisin, and then following an Indian trail the rest of the way;t secondly, by the circuitous route of the lakes; and thirdly, by the still more indirect process of descending the Wabash and Ohio to the Mississippi, and then going up the Illinois to the ford of the Desplaines. This last route, although, perhaps, seven hundred miles longer than the first, was preferred by the commissioners, because the business of the government required the presence of one of them on the Wabash, and it was thought that the opportunities of examining the geography and natural history of an interesting country, yet but partially known, would compensate for the increased toil, and justify the additional expense. Accordingly, on the third of July, the party left Detroit, and reached Port Lawrence, at the mouth of Maumee Bay, at eight o'clock in the evening. In ascending the Maumee, they en * Liriodendron. The St. Joseph's will one day furnish a more convenient route for the trade between Chicago and Detroit. In the meantime, an act of Congress has been passed, authorizing a road between these places, and the commissioners, we understand, commenced their operations on the 20th of May last. About one hundred and twenty-five years ago, this was the seat of a |