26th.  Mackinack has again assumed its winter phase.  We are shut in from the tumult of the world, and must rely for our sources of intellectual sustenance and diversion on books, or researches, such as may present themselves.

The following words, I am assured, are different, in the Ottawa and Chippewa dialects:—­

CHIPPEWA.  OTTAWA.

1.  Axe, Wag-a-kwut, Nah-bah-gun. 2.  Point, Na-au-shi, Sin-gang. 3.  Spring (season), Se-gwun, Me-no-ka-mi. 4.  Scissors, Mozh-wa-gun, Sip-po-ne-gun. 5.  Spear, Ah-nit, Nah-bah-e-gun. 6.  Stop; cease; be still, Ah-no-wa-tan, Mah-ga-nick. 7.  It’s flown away, Ke-pah-ze-qwah-o, Ke-ke-ze-kay. 8.  Maple tree, In-ne-nah-tig, As-sin-ah-mish. 9.  Milk, To-dosh-a-bo, Mo-nah-gan-a-bo. 10.  Small lake, or pond, Sah-gi-e-gan, Ne-bis. 11.  He smokes, Sug-gus-wau, Pin-dah-qua. 12.  It is calm, Ah-no-wa-tin, To-kis-sin. 13.  It will be a severe,
      or bad day, Tah-mat-chi-geezh-ik-ud.  Tah-goot-au-gan.
14.  I will visit, Ningah-mah-wa-tish-e-way, Ningah-Ne-
          
                                             bwatch-e-way.
15.  He will quarrel
     (with) you, Kegah-Ke-kau-mig, Kegau-ne-tehi-we-ig.
16.  He will strike you, Kegah-Puk-e-tay-og, Kegah-wa-po-taig. 17.  Hammer, Puk-ke-tai-e-gun, Wap-o-ge-gin. 18.  Dog, An-ne-moosh, An-ne-mo-kau-gi. 19.  My mother, Nin-guh, Nin-gush, 20.  Yes, Aih, Au-nin-da.

It is evident that these dialectic differences arise, not from the use of a different language, but a different mode of applying the same language—­a language in which every syllable has a well-known primitive meaning.  Thus, in the name for maple tree(8), the Chippewa means, spouted, or man tree (alluding to its being tapped for its sap), and the Ottawa, stoned, or cut tree, alluding to the same feature.  The same terms are equally well known, and proper in both dialects.  So in 10, the one says a collection of running water, the other, a little mass of water.  So in 13, the one says, literally, it will be a bad day; the other, it will storm.  So in 17, the one says strike-instrument; the other swing-instrument.  So in 20, one uses an affirmative particle, the other says, certainly.