[Footnote H: The site of the town of Nee-nah.]
We were now fairly in the Winnebago country, and I soon learned that the odd-sounding name of the place was derived from the principal chief of the nation, whose residence it was. The inhabitants were absent, having, in all probability, departed to their wintering grounds. We here took leave of our friend Wish-tay-yun, at the borders of whose country we had now arrived.
"_Bon-jour, Chon!_" (John) "_Bon-jour, maman._" A hearty shake of the hand completed his adieu, as we pushed off into the lake, and left him smoking his kin-nee-kin-nick,[I] and waiting until the spirit should move him to take up his long _Indian trot_ towards his home in the Menomonee country.
[Footnote I: The bark of the red willow, scraped fine, which is preferred by the Indians to tobacco.]
With him our sunshine seemed to have departed. The skies, hitherto so bright and serene, became overcast, and instead of the charming voyage we had anticipated over the silver waters of the lake, we were obliged to keep ourselves housed under our canvas shelter, only peeping out now and then, to catch a glimpse of the surrounding prospect through the pouring rain.
It was what might have been expected on an autumnal day, but we were unreasonable enough to find it tedious; so, to beguile the time and lessen my disappointment, my husband related to me some incidents of his early history, apropos to the subject of "Four-Legs."
While he was living at Prairie du Chien, in the employ of the American Fur Company, the chiefs and other Indians, from the Upper Mississippi, used frequently to come to the place to sell their furs and peltries, and to purchase merchandise, ammunition, trinkets, &c.
Entrance to Winnebago Lake (the present town of Neenah). From a sketch by Mrs. Kinzie, in original Edition.]
As is usual with all who are not yet acclimated, he was seized with chills and fever. One day, while suffering with an unusually severe access of the latter, a chief of the Four-Legs family, a brother to the one before-mentioned, came in to the Company's warehouse to trade. There is no ceremony or restraint among the Indians, so hearing that Shaw-nee-aw-kee was sick, Four-Legs instantly made his way to him, to offer his sympathy and prescribe the proper remedies.