[140] KALAMAZOO. This word is the contraction of an Indian phrase descriptive of the stones seen through the water in its bed, which, from a refractive power in the current, resembles an otter swimming under water. Hence the original term, Negikanamazoo. This term has its root forms in _negik_, an otter, the verb _kana_, to hide, and _ozoo_, a quadruped's tail. The letter _l_ is the mere transposition of _l_ in native words passing from the Indian to the Indo-French language. Fifteen miles further progress towards the north, brought us to the mouth of Grand River--the Washtenong of the Indians--which is, I believe the largest and longest stream of the Michigan peninsula. It is the boundary between the hunting-grounds of the Pottowattomies (who have thus far claimed jurisdiction from Chicago) and the Ottowas. The latter live in large numbers at its rapids and on its various tributaries.[141] The next stream of note we encountered was the Maskigon, twelve miles north of Grand River, where we encamped, having travelled, during the day, fifty-four miles. The view of this scene was impressive from its bleakness, the dunes of sand being more at the mercy of the winds. I found here a large, branching specimen of the club-fungus, attached to a dead specimen of the populus tremuloides, which had been completely penetrated by these drifting sands, so as to present quite the appearance, and no little part of the hardness and consistency, of a fossil. The following figure of this transformation from a fungus to a semi-stony body, presents a perfect outline of it as sketched in its original position. [141] OTTOWAS. So late as 1841, the number of the tribe, reported to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Michigan, was 1,391, which was divided into 13 villages, scattered over its whole valley.--_Schoolcraft's Report on Indian Affairs_, Detroit, A. S. Bagg, 1840. [Illustration]