We had hardly finished breakfast when our hunter, who had received the
ammunition, returned, bringing with him about fifty fine ducks, which he
had shot in little more than an hour. From that time until the close of
our journey our supply of these delicate birds was never wanting.




CHAPTER VII.

BUTTE DES MORTS--LAKE PUCKAWAY.


The Butte des Morts, or Hillock of the Dead, was the scene long
since[11] of a most sanguinary battle between the French and the
Mis-qua-kees, or Foxes. So great was the carnage in this engagement,
that the memory of it has been perpetuated by the gloomy appellation
given to the mound where the dead were buried. The Foxes up to this time
had inhabited the shores of the river to which they had given their
name, but, being completely overwhelmed and beaten in this conflict,
they retired to the neighborhood of the Mississippi, and sought an
asylum among their allies, the Saukies, or, as they are now called, the
Sauks, with whom they became gradually incorporated, until the combined
tribes came to be known, as at present, by the name of "Sauks and
Foxes."

Among the French inhabitants of the upper country, each tribe of Indians
has a particular appellation, descriptive of some peculiarity of either
their habits or their personal appearance. Thus, the Chippewas, from