lis EXPEDITION TO THE 



likewise claimed by the Indians. They trace the origin of 

 their acquaintance with this valuable condiment, to the ob- 

 servation of the preference given by elks to the water from 

 salt licks ; having tasted it, they liked it, and took some to 

 boil their vegetables with, and having found it palatable, 

 they boiled down the water in the manner that they had 

 done the sap, and thus obtained salt. It is not improbable, 

 that the sediments of white salt, which are frequently ob- 

 served during dry seasons, in the vicinity of salt springs, 

 may have taught them that it was by evaporation that the 

 substance could be separated from the water which holds 

 it in solution ; for although the Indians were totally ignorant 

 of the nature and causes of evaporation, they had noticed 

 the process, and were aware, that it could result as well 

 from the action of fire as from that of the sun. 



Prior to their intercourse with white men, it appears 

 that these Indians were not acquainted with any intoxi- 

 cating liquors ; if we except a decoction of a plant resem- 

 bling the whortleberry, which was used by the Chippe- 

 was in cases of sickness only ; it produced vertigo. As 

 this fact was ascertained by Dr. Hall at Chicago, where the 

 Chippewas and Potawatomis frequently meet, it is not 

 improbable that the latter were also acquainted with it, but 

 it was never used except in cases of sickness. To the 

 Europeans they are therefore indebted for all the evils 

 which have attended too free a use of spirituous liquors. 



The Potawatomis are not divided into tribes, designated 

 by the name of animals, as is reported to be the case with 

 the Missouri Indians, but they are distinguished merely 

 from their local habitations. Those that live on the St. 

 Joseph form a small tribe, in every respect similar to 

 those residing near Chicago, or near Lake Michigan. Al- 

 though not divided into regular tribes, they have a sort of 



