318 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 



one of the rivers of Michigan. Throughout its length 

 of two hundred miles it flows through pine and oak 

 forests, througli the richest section of a State famed for 

 its agricultural products, and like the Nile, if I may so 

 compare the relics of a great people with those of one 

 comparatively unknown, is looked down upon by the 

 silent monuments of the past. To me the comparison 

 is not unreasonable, for I consider the tumuli of those 

 mound -builders scattered over the hills and vallej^s of 

 America, worthy of as much interest and respect 

 as the more splendid remnants of a higher civil- 

 ization. 



At this point the stream is still broad and picturesque. 

 As to its name I am undecided. According to some 

 it is a corruption of Ke-Kenemazoo, meaning " the 

 boiling pot," and according toothers of Kik-alamazoo, 

 " the miraw river, " because to the fanciful Indian the 

 stones that jutted, dark and wet, out of the river-bed 

 looked like otters. The village on its banks was settled 

 in 1829, and after being known for two years by the 

 name of its first settler, Bronson, became, in 1836, 

 Kalamazoo. It is thoroughly alive, has a population 

 of about 18,000, and its position as the half-way place 

 between Detroit and Chicago adds considerably to its 

 importance. I lectured here to a full house, being 

 introduced by Major R. F. Judson, formerly of 

 General Custer's staff, and bearing a high reputation 

 as a soldier. Intercourse with one who had known 

 the General so well, and who held him in such loyal 

 regard, gave me a new insight into the life of 



" That mighty man of war, 

 A lion in battle, and a child by the fireside." 



