and when the waters rose upon the earth the o-pes-quie was lifted up and floated upon the surface, until the tops of the highest mountains were covered with the flood.  And when the o-pes-quie had remained for a long time upon the surface of the flood, We-suk-kah called one of the animals, which was with him in the o-pes-quie, and commanded it to go down through the water to the earth, to bring from thence some earth; and after many repeated efforts and with great difficulty, the animal at length returned, bringing in its mouth, some earth; of which, when We-suk-kah had received it, he formed this earth, and spread it forth upon the surface of the water; and went forth himself and all that were with him in the o-pes-quie, and occupied the dry land.”

In the social or family relations of the Sauks and Foxes, it is considered the duty of the men to hunt and clothe their wives and children—­to purchase arms and the implements of husbandry so far as they use them—­to make canoes and assist in rowing them—­to hunt and drive their horses, make saddles, &c. &c.  The duties of the women, are to skin the game when brought home and prepare the skins for market, to cook, to make the camp, cut and carry wood, make moccasins, plant and gather the corn, beans and pumpkins, and do all the drudgery connected with the domestic affairs.  It is the commonly received opinion among the whites that the female Indians are the slaves of their husbands.  This is not literally true.  The men seldom make their wives feel their authority:  as a general rule among the Sauks and Foxes, they live happily together.  The wives take the liberty of scolding their husbands, very frequently, and it is considered by both parties that every thing in the family, except the war and hunting implements, belongs to the wife, and she may do with it as she pleases.  The men may each have two or three, or even more wives.  They generally prefer to take sisters, as they agree better together in the same lodge:  the eldest usually regulates all the domestic affairs of the family and has charge of the property belonging to it.  The men turn off their wives and the latter leave their husbands whenever they become discontented.  While living together, the women are generally faithful to their husbands.  The daughters seldom leave their mothers until they are married, which usually occurs when they are about fourteen or fifteen years of age.  The parents of an Indian girl are generally conciliated by presents from her lover, but they may insist upon servitude from him, which sometimes runs throughout one, two or three years.  There is no particular marriage ceremony among them, beyond that of the contract between the parents or parties.  A young Sauk lover is represented as a silly looking fellow, who can neither eat, drink or sleep—­he appears to be deranged, and with all the pains he takes to conceal his passion, his malady is still apparent to his friends.  The faithfulness of this sketch, will hardly be questioned, when the close analogy which it bears to a pale-faced lover, is recalled to mind.  The Sauks and Foxes, when pinched with hunger, will eat almost any kind of meat, but prefer venison and bear’s meat to all other; they never eat it unless cooked.  They make much use of corn, beans and pumpkins, and annually raise considerable quantities.  They are not fond of fish and seldom eat them if they can procure other kinds of food.