194 NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION. 



catur, Capt. Burnham (Perry's boatswain in the memorable naval 

 battle of Lake Erie, Sept. 11, 1813), to Michilimackinac, together 

 with the extra baggage. 



Thus relieved in numbers and canoe-hamper, we were reduced 

 to two canoes ; the travelling family of Gov. Cass now consisted 

 of Capt. Douglass, Dr. "Wolcott, Maj. Forsyth, Lieut. Mackay, and 

 myself. Leaving Fort Howard at two o'clock P. M., we parted 

 with Mr. Trowbridge and his party at the mouth of Fox River, 

 at half-past two, and taking the other, or east side of the bay, 

 proceeded along its shores about twenty -five miles, and encamped 

 on the coast called Red Banks. This is a term translated from 

 the Winnebago name, which is renowned in their traditions as 

 the earliest spot which they can recollect. They dwelt here when 

 the French first reached Green Bay in their discoveries in the 

 seventeenth century. Here, then, is a test of the value and con- 

 tinuity of Indian tradition, so far as this tribe is concerned, for 

 admitting, what is doubtful, that the French reached this point 

 so early as 1650, the period of recognized Winnebago history, as 

 proved by geography, reaches but 170 years prior to the above 

 date. 



In a short time after entering the bay, we were overtaken by 

 Kewaygooshkum and his party, who travelled and encamped with 

 us. In the course of the evening he pointed out a rocky island, 

 at three or four miles distance, containing a large cavern, which 

 has been used by the Indians from early times as a repository for 

 the dead. The chief, as he pointed to^it, as if absorbed in a spirit 

 of ancestral reverence, seemed to say : — 



"It hath a charm the stranger knoweth not, 

 It is the [sepulchre] of mine ancestry ; 

 There is an inspiration in its shade, 

 The echoes of its walls are eloquent, 

 The words they speak are of the glorious dead ; 

 Its tenants are not human — they are more ! 

 The stones have voices, and the walls do live; 

 It is the home of memories dearly honored 

 By many a trace of long departed glory." 



The appearance of ancient cultivation of this coast is such as 

 to give semblance to the Winnebago tradition of its having been 

 their former residence. The lands are fertile, alluvion, bearing 



