288 EXPEDITION TO THE 



the Indians ; on account of the red pigment with which it 

 is bedawbed, it is generally called the painted stone. They 

 remarked that this was the first boulder of primitive rock, 

 which they had seen to the west of Rock river, and this 

 place corresponds well with that at which these boulders 

 were first observed by Mr. Colhoun while travelling by 

 land. It is a fragment of sienite, which is about four and 

 a half feet in diameter. It is not surprising that the In- 

 dians should have viewed this rock with some curiosity, and 

 deemed it wonderful, considering that its characters difier 

 so materially from those of the rocks which are found in 

 the neighbourhood. A man who lives in a country where the 

 highest hills are wholly formed of sandstone and secondary 

 limestone, will necessarily be struck with the peculiar cha- 

 racters of the first specimen of granite that comes under 

 his notice, and it is not to be wondered at, that one who 

 "sees God in all things," should have made of such a stone 

 an object of worship. The Indians frequently offer pre- 

 sents to the Great Spirit near this stone ; among the offer- 

 ings of their superstition, the party found the feather of an 

 eagle, two roots of the " Pomme de Prairie," (Psoralea es- 

 culenta, Nuttall.) painted with vermilion ; a willow branch 

 whose stem was painted red, bad been stuck into the 

 ground on one side, &c. The gentlemen broke off a frag- 

 ment of this idol, to add to the mineralogical collections, 

 taking care, however, not to leave any chips, the sight of 

 which would Avound the feelings of the devotee, by con- 

 vincing him that the object of his worship had been vio- 

 lated. The party landed at a short distance above, to visit 

 the cemetery of an Indian village, then in sight. The ce- 

 metery is on the banks of the river, but elevated above the 

 water's level ; it exhibits several scaffolds, supporting cof- 

 fins of the rudest form ; sometimes a trunk, (purchased 



