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Transcribed letters are held in the collection of the Zion Lutheran Church Archive, Ann Arbor, Michigan
On my journeys to Detroit, when I visit the Germans fifteen miles up the lake [St. Clair], I often have an opportunity to meet with Indians, with whom I speak, as far as I can about the great spirit (as they call God who lives in the heavens). When I was in Detroit about four weeks ago, a large group of poor heathen encamped on the near side of the Huron River, having come down this stream in order to receive their yearly gifts in Canada from the King of England. The sight of their arrival upon the swift current in their little canoes built from hollowed-out trees, equipped with homemade little sails, and the large number, which certainly numbered twenty-five to thirty, made a singular impression upon me...
I stood on the shore and watched then as they hurried about fearlessly in their small canoes. As soon as I could, I hunted them up and soon found them near the city -- what a sight it was for me: Women and children, old people who could scarcely walk, lay in the canoes, and the imprint of an ancient heathenism was written on their red faces; the ornaments in their ears and about their necks attested to the might of darkness and superstition among them. They very frequently have their ears hanging full of tin and lead, and those of rank, with silver, which hangs down to their shoulders, so that when a number of them run about one hears a peculiar jingling. I went from canoe to canoe and greeted them; several of them looked wild and rough and their black hair hung down over their dark faces, their loins and the upper parts of their bodies covered, but the rest of the body nude. On the other hand, others were very friendly, pressed my hand and wore clothes that were according to their manner. I could see peculiar dress and various colors and they stood about, each according to the colors of dress thrown about them in order of rank and appearance.