center of the bottom of it. This kettle was large enough to cook a
whole deer or bear in it. For a long time the Indians kept it as a
sacred relic. They did not keep it near their premises, but securely
hidden in a place most unfrequented by any human being. They did not
use it for anything except for great feasts. Their idea with regard to
this kettle was that it was made by some deity who presided over the
country where it was found, and that the copper mine must be very close
by where the kettle was discovered. One peculiarity of its manufacture
was that it had no iron rim around it, nor bail for hanging while in
use, as kettles are usually made, but the edge of the upper part was
much thicker than the rest and was turned out square about three-
fourths of an inch, as if made to rest on some support while in use.
When the Indians came to be civilized in Grand Traverse country, they
began to use this "Mani-tou-au-kick," as they called it, in common to
boil the sugar sap in it, instead of cooking bear for the feast. And
while I was yet in the government blacksmith shop at the Old Mission in
Grand Traverse, they brought this magical kettle to our shop with an
order to put an iron rim and bail on it so that it could be hanged in
boiling sugar, and I did the work of fixing the kettle according to the
order.

From this evidence of working in metals and from the many other relics
of former occupants, it is evident that this country has been inhabited
for many ages, but whether by descendants of the Jews or of other
Eastern races there is no way for us to determine.




CHAPTER XII.