31st.  The winter has passed with less effect from the intensity of its cold and external dreariness, from the fact of my being ensconsed in a new house, with double window-sashes, fine storm-houses, plenty of maple fuel, books, and studies.  Besides the fruitful theme of the Indian language, I amused myself, in the early part of the season, by writing a review for one of the periodicals, and with keeping up, throughout the season, an extensive correspondence with friends and men of letters in various parts of the Union.  I revised and refreshed myself in some of my early studies, I continued to read whatever I could lay my hands on respecting the philosophy of language.  Appearances of spring—­the more deepened sound of the falls, the floating of large cakes of ice from the great northern depository, Lake Superior, and the return of some early species of ducks and other birds—­presented themselves as harbingers of spring almost unawares.  It is still wintry cold during the nights and mornings, but there is a degree of solar heat at noon which betokens the speedy decline of the reign of frosts and snows.

The Indians, to whom the rising of the sap in its capillary vessels in the rock-maple is the sign of a sort of carnival, are now in the midst of their season of sugar-making.  It is one of their old customs to move, men, women, children, and dogs, to their accustomed sugar-forests about the 20th of March.  Besides the quantity of maple-sugar that all eat, which bears no small proportion to all that is made, some of them sell a quantity to the merchants.  Their name for this species of tree is In-in-au-tig, which means man-tree.

April 5th.  PEACE POLICY.—­The agent from La Pointe, in Lake Superior, writes:  “My expressman from the Fond du Lac arrived on the 31st of last month, by whom I learned that the Leech Lake Indians were unsuccessful in their war excursion last fall, not having met with their enemies, the Sioux, and I trust my communication with Mr. Aitkin will be in time to check parties that may be forming in the spring.

“The state of the Indians throughout the country is generally in a critical way of starvation, the wild-rice crops and bear-hunts having completely failed last fall.”

21st.  REVIVAL OF RELIGION AT MACKINAC.—­My brother James, who crossed the country on snow-shoes, writes:  “Mr. Stuart, Satterlee, Mitchell, Miss N. Dousman, Aitken, and some twenty others, have joined Ferry’s church.”  This may be considered as the crowning point of the Reverend Mr. Ferry’s labors at that point.  This gentleman, if I mistake not, came up in the same steamer with me seven years ago.  It is seed—­seed literally sown in the wilderness, and reaped in the wilderness.

29th.  MONEY CRISIS.—­“The fact is,” says a person high in power, “the fiscal concerns of the department have come to a dead stand, and nothing remains but to ascertain the arrearages, and pay them up.  You well know how all this has happened (by diversions and misappropriations of the funds at Washington).  Such management you can form no conception of.  There will be, during the year, a thorough change.