196 NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION. 



during the day, we reached the mouth of the Milwaukie River, 

 and encamped on the beach some time after dark. This is a 

 large and important river, and is connected by an Indian portage 

 with the Rock River of the Mississippi. The next morning 

 adverse winds confined us to this spot, where we remained a con- 

 siderable part of the day, which enabled us to explore the locality. 

 We found it to be the site of a Pottawattomie village. There 

 were two American families located at that place, engaged in the 

 Indian trade. 



The name of Milwaukie,* exhibits an instance of which there 

 are many others, in which the French have substituted the sound 

 of the letter I in place of 7i, in Indian words. J/m, in the Algon- 

 quin languages signifies good. Wauhie^ is a derivative from auhi^ 

 earth or land, the fertility of the soil, along the banks of that 

 stream, being the characteristic trait which is described in the In- 

 dian compound. 



When the wind lulled so as to permit embarkation, we pro- 

 ceeded on our course. At the computed distance of five miles, we 

 observed a bed of light-colored tertiary clay, possessing a com- 

 pactness, tenacity, and feel, which denote its utility in the arts. 

 This bed, after a break of many miles in the shores, reappears in 

 thicker and more massive layers, at eight or ten miles distance. 

 The waves dashing against this elevated bank of clay,t have 

 liberated balls and crystallized masses of sulphuret of iron. 



Some of the more recently exposed masses of this mineral are 

 of a bright brass color. The tendency of their crystallization is 

 to restore octahedral and cubical forms. We advanced along this 

 shore about thirty-five miles, encamping on an eligible part of the 

 beach before dark. I found, in examining the mineralogy of the 

 coast, masses of detached limestone, containing fissures filled with 

 asphaltum. On breaking these masses, and laying open the fis- 

 sures, the substance assumed the form of naphtha. We observed 

 among the plants along this portion of coast, the tradescantia vir- 



* Milwaukie is the principal city of the State of Wisconsin. It lies in latitude 

 43° 3'' 45^^ North. It is ninety miles north of Chicago and seventy-five east from 

 Madison. It contains thirty churches, five public high schools, two academies, five 

 orphan asj-lums, and other benevolent institutions, seven daily and seven weekly 

 newspapers, four banks, and, by the census of 1850, 20,161 inhabitants. 



I An admired kind of cream-colored bricks are manufactured from portions of 

 the clay found near Milwaukie. 



