i882. 61 Trans. N. V. Ac. Set. 



had found a similarity in the system of nomenclature of rivers, 

 something resembling the Latin, aqua. 



The subject was further discussed by Mr. R. Johnson, in re- 

 gard to the poetry of the Indians, and by a visitor, who had 

 found apparent resemblances between words of the Chippewa and 

 Oriental languages. For the names of rivers, very figurative ex- 

 pressions were used by the Chippewas, e.g., the great gathering of 

 waters (Mississippi), the river that follows the shore, the straight 

 river (Hiwassee), the middle river, the river beyond the land, etc. 



Mrs. Smith had remarked that, in the Iroquois names of rivers, 

 some terms imply " flowing," but no definite system prevailed. 

 Five hundred Indian tongues have been spoken in the United 

 States, but little is yet known concerning any of these ; and it 

 seems both difhcult and unwise to endeavor to trace analogies 

 among them, before a single one has been thoroughly studied. 



The President stated that the literature and destiny of the In- 

 dians had always been a subject of great interest to him. He had 

 been among forty tribes, and had known something of the value 

 of the materials, as bearing on the origin, structure and muta- 

 tions of languages, which are soon to be lost. He had been 

 associated for a time with George Gibbs, and with Turner, whose 

 linguistic investigations were of the greatest value, and whose early 

 death was much to be deplored. The subject under discussion 

 was of the highest scientific character. The work of the Bureau of 

 Ethnology promises to give a very important and well-digested ser- 

 ies of investigations in regard to the Red Men, in place of the 

 hasty observations and generalizations of Schoolcraft, and even 

 those of Parkman, which are for the most part guess-work. Only 

 by going among this people is their real spirit to be understood, 

 and in this way the basis for a true history of the aboriginal 

 occupants of this country will soon be gained. The policy of the 

 early Government and colonists of Canada, and of some of our own 

 colonists, e.g., those of Penn, was a just one in the treatment of 

 the Red Men, and very useful in the collection of ancient records 

 which are now doubly precious. A very important contribution to 

 history will be acquired when all these materials shall be properly 

 arranged and written out. 



