{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42479/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42479","id":"gutenberg_42479","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42479","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Cree Indians -- Religion","Cree mythology","Ojibwa Indians -- Religion"],"text":"LA RONGE JOURNAL, 1823\n\n\n\n George Nelson\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Transcriber's Note:\n\nProduced by Owen O'Donovan.\n\n(Includes additional materials: List of some other publications of his\nwork; editing notes; an example of a music scroll; details of Nelson's\nfur trade career; table of contents; page images of handwritten\nmanuscript; references.)]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n ALSO BY GEORGE NELSON\n\nPeers, Laura & Schenck, Theresa (eds.). _My First Years in the Fur Trade:\nThe Journals of 1802-1804_. St. Paul. Minnesota Historical Society\nPress. 2002.\n\n\nThe La Ronge journal of 1823 has also been published in hard copy in\nan extensively researched work by Jennifer S. Brown and Robert\nBrightman in 1988. This work contains extensive additional analysis of\nthe mythology, the shaking lodge ceremony, medicines and religious\npractices of the Northern Algonquin peoples. Additional commentaries\nfrom aboriginal perspectives on the Nelson text are given by Stan\nCuthand and Emma laRoque.\n\nBrown, Jennifer S. H. & Brightman, Robert (eds.). _\"The Orders of the\nDreamed\": George Nelson on Cree and Northern Ojibwa Religion and Myth,\n1823_. Winnipeg. The University of Manitoba Press. 1988\n\n\n\n\n\n\n EDITING NOTES\n\nNelson's manuscript is a handwritten first draft for a work on North\nAmerican aboriginal belief systems completed in June, 1823. Nelson\nhad intended to edit and publish it at a later date. The first\npublication did not occur until 1988 in _\"The Orders of the Dreamed\":\nGeorge Nelson on Cree and Northern Ojibwa Religion and Myth, 1823_\nwhere it is given a comprehensive, analytical and contextual\ntreatment by Jennifer Brown and Robert Brightman with contributions\nfrom other authors.\n\nThe goals for this edition of Nelson's La Ronge Journal of 1823 are to\nmake Nelson's work accessible to a wider audience and ensure its\npreservation and availability in digital format. It is presented in\nthree parts.\n\nPart 1 provides a lightly edited version of the manuscript. Nelson's\ntext is an excellent example of common English usage in early\nnineteenth century North America. Idiosyncratic misspellings are\ngenerally corrected; archaisms and localizations have been\nmaintained. Where the spelling of names is irregular or abbreviated,\na consistent spelling is chosen. Punctuation has been somewhat\nmodernized.\n\nEditorial interjections, including section and subsection headings not\nin the original, are enclosed in brackets. Nelson occasionally used\nbrackets in the text for parenthetical remarks; these have been\nreplaced with braces.\n\nPart 2 is a verbatim and line by line transcription of the original\nhandwritten document. The transcription serves as the starting point\nfor Part 1. It is included here because of the importance of the journal\nas an historical document and the desire to preserve and make the\nmanuscript available close to the original form while moving it to a\ndigital version. No attempt has been made to edit or correct the text.\n\nPart 3 (omitted from the text-only and some portable reader versions)\nis a set of digital images of the manuscript made from photocopies\nprovided by the Toronto Reference Library, the holder of the Nelson\npapers. The size of the images is reduced to make them suitable for\non-line use; resolution is kept adequate for direct comparison with the\ntranscription.\n\nAn added table of contents provides links (in the hypertext versions)\nto sections or pages in each of the three parts. Page numbering\npreserves that of the manuscript for reference purposes.\n\nCertain sections of the this e-text may display poorly on some e-book\nreaders: (1) References to World Wide Web resources may be longer than\ncan be contained on normally formatted lines. To simplify correct\ncopying of the references, the lines have not been split. (2) In Part 2,\nthe line by line transcription of the handwritten manuscript, Nelson\nsometimes made additions or corrections increasing the number of words on\na line of text. The length of the transcribed text line was increased to\nmaintain the line correspondence between the manuscript and the\ne-text.\n\nThe Nelson manuscript was made available courtesy of the Toronto Public\nLibrary. I would like to thank the staff of the Baldwin Room Manuscripts\nCollection at Toronto Reference Library for their assistance in making\nthe material available for digitization. I would also like to express\nthanks to my wife, Susan O'Donovan, for the hours spent proofing text\nand clarifying many fine details of the language.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n I HEAR THE SPIRIT SPEAKING TO US\n [Transcription of an Objibwa song scroll]\n\n I hear the spirit speaking to us.\n I am going into the medicine lodge.\n I am taking (gathering) medicine to make me live.\n I give you medicine, and a lodge, also.\n I am flying into my lodge.\n The Spirit has dropped medicine from the sky where we can get it.\n I have the medicine in my heart.\n\n\nMid\u0113 Song Scroll. Collection and translation by W. H. Hoffman, 1885-1886.\n_The Mid\u0113\u00b4wiwin or \"Grand Medicine Society\" of the Ojibwa_\nProject Gutenberg E-book #19368.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n GEORGE NELSON'S FUR TRADING WORLD\n[Transcriber's Note: Western North America Map: Lake Superior to Alberta]\n\n\nGeorge Nelson's Postings and Employing Companies\n\n1802/1803 Yellow River (Fort Folle Avoine), Wisconsin, XY Company (XYC)\n1803/1804 Lac du Flambeau, Chippewa River, Wisconsin, XYC\n1804/1805 Red River area, Manitoba, XYC / North West Company (NWC)\n1805/1806 Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, NWC\n1806/1811 Dauphin River, Manitoba, NWC\n1811/1812 T\u00eate au Brochet (Jack Head), Manitoba, NWC\n1813/1816 Long Lake, Ontario area, NWC\n1818/1819 T\u00eate au Brochet, Manitoba, NWC\n1819/1821 Moose Lake, Manitoba, NWC / Hudson's Bay Company (HBC)\n1821/1822 Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, HBC\n1822/1823 Lake la Ronge, Saskatchewan, HBC\n\nNelson's experiences and accounts come from his life and work with\nOjibwa / Saulteau cultures around Lake Superior and Lake Winnipeg and\ncontact in his later career with the Cree of Lake Winnipeg, the\nSaskatchewan Delta, Cumberland House and Lake la Ronge. He makes\nreference to the Beaver Indians (Dane-zaa) who, until the nineteenth\ncentury, lived as far east as the Slave and Clearwater Rivers bringing\nthem and other Athabaskan cultures into contact with fur trading at\nIle \u00e0 la Crosse, the administrative centre for Nelson's post at Lake\nla Ronge.\n\nHis journal of 1802/1803 was instrumental in leading to the\nrediscovery of the Folle Avoine posts of the XY Company and North West\nCompany in 1969 by Harris and Frances Palmer with assistance of\nlocal residents. Subsequent archaeological work was undertaken and\nthe forts were reconstructed and have been operated as the Forts Folle\nAvoine Historical Park by the Burnett County Historical Society since\n1989. The Society provides tours, displays and programs on the fur\ntrade and aboriginal culture of the area.\n\nNelson recalled many accounts of Ojibwa practices in the Lake Superior area in\nhis 1823 La Ronge journal.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n GEORGE NELSON'S FUR TRADING WORLD, 1822-23\n [Transcriber's Note: Map of Lake La Ronge area]\n\n\nLake la Ronge was the site of some twenty trading posts dating from\n1779. Nelson's Hudson's Bay Company post was a reestablishment in\n1821 of an earlier North West Company post. According to _The Atlas\nof Saskatchewan_, it was the only fort on the Lake over the winter of\n1822/1823. The location is likely a known archaeological site in the\narea shown on the map identified in the Atlas as Lac la Ronge II.\n\nIn 1947, the road network reached La Ronge townsite founded in the early\n1900's, and Stanley Mission, which dates from 1851, in 1978.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n TABLE OF CONTENTS\n\nPART 1\nIntroductory Remarks ... ... 1\nConjuring: The Interpreter's Account\nInitiations and Conjuring ... ... 4\n In Quest of Dreams\n Dialogue with a Spirit ... ... 5\n Principal Spirits\n Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k / Gey-Shay-mani-_to_ ... ... 6\n Key-jick-oh-kay (Old Nick)\n Water Lynx ... ... 7\n Sun\n A Dream Meeting with Sun\n Thunder ... ... 8\n Roots and Herbs (Medicines)\nThe Manner of Conjuring\n Building the Lodge\n Preparing the Conjurer\n Spirits who Enter the Lodge and Interactions with Them\n Meeh-key-nock (Turtle) ... ... 9\n Thunder\n Flying Squirrel\n Wolverine\n Loon\n Hercules / Strong Neck: Altercation with a Young Man\n O-may-me-thay-day-ce-cee-wuck (Ancients or Hairy Breasts)\n Sun ... ... 10\n Pike\n Buffaloe\n Omniscience of Spirits\n Showing the Turtle Spirit ... ... 11\n Bear\n Keyjickahkaiw\n Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k\n Practices of Powerful Conjurers\nMythology\n North Wind & his Daughter\n (Birth of Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k & Mishab\u00f4se) ... 13\n Death of Mishab\u00f4se\n Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k and Kingfisher\n Myths of the Flood\n Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k's Revenge on the Sea Lynxes\n Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k Tricks a Water Lynx and Beaver\n Recreation of the Land ... ... 14\n Wolf Surveys the Land ... ... 15\n Creation of Humans\n Separation of Land into Plains and Woods ... 16\n Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k Travels the Earth, has a Son, becomes a Woman\nLanguage Use\nConversations ... ... 17\n The Figure in the Dream is Sickness\n Sickness Gives Warnings of Diseases\n Reappearances of Spirits in Dreams to Teach the Votary ... ... 18\n Malevolent Spirits (Need for Regular Sacrifices)\n Accounts of Pahkack\n Attacks at Home and While Hunting\n Making Offerings at a Hunting Camp ... ... 19\n Description of Pahkack\n The Feast to Pahkack ... ... 20\nRoots and Medicines ... ... 21\n The Abode of the Medicine Spirit\n Teaching the Medicines to the Votary\n Stones and Their Virtues ... ... 23\nSongs and Notes\nTreatment of the Sick ... ... 24\n Ceremonies and Songs Related to Starvation ... ... 25\nFugitive Pieces\n The Soul ... ... 27\n An Attempt to Capture a Soul\n Representation of the Soul ... ... 28\n Imprisonment of a Soul\n Medicines Used to Harm Others ... ... 29\n Used Against a Woman\n Wild Carroway ... ... 31\n Used in Hunting\n As Love Potions (Baptiste's Stories) ... ... 32\n Effecting and Avoiding Spells ... ... 33\n Dealing with Spells on Firearms\n The Old Canadian's Account ... ... 34\n The Iroquois' Account\n The Half Breed's Account ... ... 35\nStories of the Hairy Breasts and Nayhanimis... ... 36\n North Wind's Challenge\n Nayhanimis Wars with the Hairy Breasts ... ... 37\nNotes\n Motives for Writing the Journal ... ... 40\n Comments on Aboriginal Beliefs ... ... 41\n Mee-tay-wee\n Conjuring\n Evidence of Spirits through Conjuring Practice\nConjuring Ceremony for a N. W. Co. Gentleman ... ... 42\nStories ... ... 43\n The Hunter and the Wolf Spirit\n Pursuit by a Pahkack\nWetiko ... ... 44\n Trapping a Wetiko\n Habits and Types of Wetiko ... ... 45\n Those Driven to Cannibalism by Starvation\n Story of a Wetiko Woman ... ... 46\n Those who Dream of Ice and the North ... ... 47\n Dream Feasts Of Human Flesh\n Behavior of Infected People ... ... 48\n An Account of Survival\n Executing a Wetiko\n Treatments and Recovery ... ... 49\nMalignant Spirits... ... 50\n North, Ice, Skeleton and the Crazy Woman\nConfession ... ... 51\nAnimal Sacrifice (Beaver Indians) ... ... 53\nFragments ... ... 54\n The Great Doctor\n The Devil and the Tailor Caricature\nFeasts\nConjuring Ceremony (June 4th., 1823) ... ... 56\n\nPART 2\nTypescript of Manuscript\n\nReferences\n\n\n\n\n\n\n LA RONGE JOURNAL, 1823\n\nPART 1\n\n{1} [Introductory Remarks]\n\nThe following few stories or tales will give a better notion or idea\nof the religion of these people than every other description _I_ am able\nto pen. And as their _history_ is read with interest, I am persuaded\nthese few pages will be found equally deserving attention. I give them\nthe same as I received them and leave every one to make his own\nremarks and to draw his own conclusions.\n\n\n[Conjuring: The Interpreter's Account]\n\nMy interpreter, a young half breed, passed the winter of 1819-20 with\nthe Indians and gives this account. One day shortly before Christmas,\nhe was out with an elderly man, a chief of this place, a\nhunting. Suddenly he stopped as to _listen_, apparently with great\neagerness and anxiety, upon which, after allowing a sufficient time,\nthe interpreter asked what was the matter.\n\n\"Listen and you'll hear.\"\n\n\"I have listened,\" says the interpreter, \"but hear nothing, and it is\nsurprising that you who are deaf should hear and I not.\"\n\n\"Ah! A white man is thy father, and thou are just as _skeptical_,\ndoubting and ridiculing every thing we say or do 'till when it is then\ntoo late. Then ye lament, but in vain.\"\n\nAfter this the Indian became much downcast and very thoughtful for\nseveral days. And as if to increase his anxiety, or rather to\ncorroborate the husband's assertions, his wife said that one day she\nalso _heard_, though the other women that were with her heard nothing,\nand an altercation ensued.\n\nHis uneasiness increasing too much, he was forced to have recourse to\n_their_ only alternative in such cases, _une Jonglerie_ as the French term\nit, that is conjuring.\n\nOne of their party, another half-breed abandoned many years since by\nhis father and leading an Indian life, was applied to. He is reputed a\n_true man_: [he] never lies. Out of respect to the other, he was induced\nto consent, but much against his will. \"For I am much afraid that\n[one] of these times _they will carry me off_.\"\n\nHe was prepared, and entered with his _rattler_, shortly after which the\nbox and the rattle began to move in the usual brisk and violent\nmanner. _Many_ [spirits] entered, and one asked what was wanted that\nthey had been called upon.\n\nThe Indian, from the outside of the frame (for only the conjurer\nalone enters), inquired if there was not some evil spirit near from\nwhom he had everything to dread.\n\n\"No.\" replied the same voice. \"_All is quiet_, you trouble yourself with\nvain phantoms.\"\n\n\"What then is the meaning,\" asked again the Indian, \"of those sudden\nflashes of light I sometimes see in the night?\"\n\n\"What?\" rejoined another voice from within. \"Hast thou attained unto\nthis age and never yet observed this?\" And then laughing, [it]\ncontinued, \"It is always the case during this _moon_ (December). And if\nyou doubt me, for the future observe attentively and you will find it\nto be the case.\"\n\nThis satisfied him for the time. He became cheerful and assumed his\nwonted ways, but not for a long time. He soon relapsed and, after some\ndays, applied again to the conjurer. When he had entered his box or\nframe, a number again entered and one of them enquired why they were\ncalled for.\n\nThe conjurer said [why].\n\n\"What?\" says he, the Spirit, \"Again! Thou art very skeptical. Dost\nthou not believe? Now thou art fond of, thou wantest to be\nhaunted. Well thou shalt have thy desire!\"\n\n{2} At these dreadful words, which were uttered in an angry and\nreproving manner, every soul was struck with terror. But as if to give\nsome consolation, [the voice] assured him that that spirit had but\njust left his _home_, and coming on very slowly, would not be up with\nthem 'till _such a time_, a little prior to which they were ordered to\nconjure again, when they would be told what to do.\n\nThis was no pleasant information to the conjurer who never undertook\nthis job but with the greatest reluctance--nay indeed even sometimes\nhorror. However, he neither, poor creature, had [an] alternative. At\nthe time appointed he entered again, everything being prepared.\n\nAfter the preliminary demands or questions, \"Yes,\" replies one of the\n_spirits_, \"that which thou dreadest _is_ near, and is drawing on apace.\"\n\n\"How shall we do? What shall we do?\" exclaimed the Indian.\n\nAt last one of them, who goes by the name of the Bull or Buffaloe,\n(through the conjurer, for he alone could understand him, his voice\nbeing hoarse through, his uttering thick and inarticulate) asked the\nIndian if he remembered of a dream he made while yet a young man?\n\n\"Yes,\" replies the Indian, \"I remember perfectly. I dreamed I saw one\njust like yourself who told me that, when advanced in life, I should\nbe much troubled one winter. But by a certain sacrifice and a sweating\n_bout_ I should be relieved. But I have not the means here. I have no\nstones.\"\n\n\"You are encamped upon them,\" rejoined the _spirit_, \"and at the door of\nyour tent are some.\"\n\n\"Yes, but,\" says the Indian, \"the dogs have _watered_ them, & they are\notherwise soiled.\"\n\n\"Fool! Put them in the fire. Will not the fire heat and make them\nchange color and purify them? Do this, fail not and be not uneasy. We\nshall go, four of us (spirits), and amuse him upon the road and\nendeavour to drive him back.\"\n\nAt this the interpreter burst out laughing, exclaimed, \"Sacr\u00e9 bande de\nb\u00eates! And do you believe all that d----d nonsense?\"\n\n\"You doubt too.\" says a voice addressing him (the interpreter) from\nthe inside. \"Go out of the tent and listen, you'll see if _we_ lie.\"\n\nHe did indeed go out to some distance, and after a while heard [the\nspirits] as a distant hollow noise which increased 'till it became\nconsiderably more distinct, and then vanished as a great gust of wind,\nthough the night was mild, calm, clear and beautifully serene. It even\nstartled the dogs.\n\n\"_Mahn_!\" (an Indian term or exclamation signifying haste) said the\nspirits from within.\n\n _They_ have turned him off the road as soon as the noise was\n heard. But he will not turn back or go home. He is _sent_ after\n you by another Indian who conjured him up out of the deep\n (the bottom of some flood). But be not too uneasy. If these\n four will not do, there are yet a vast many of us, so that\n between us all, we _shall_ drive him back. We will perplex\n and bewilder him, surround, torment and tease him on every\n side. But he is of a monstrous size, ferocious and withal\n enraged against you. The task is mighty difficult. _Observe_!\n See how beautifully serene the night is. If we succeed, the\n sky will change all of a sudden, and there will fall a very\n smart shower of snow attended with a terrible gust of wind.\n\n {3} This will happen between daylight and sunrise _and is his\n spirit_, all that will remain in his power. He'll then return\n to his home.\n\nThe interpreter, though he laughed at all this and could not bring\nhimself to credit it, yet swears that he heard the rumbling noise _on\ntheir road_ and seemingly far off. The Indians gave implicit faith to\nall. And the conjurer did not know what to believe.\n\n\"There is something,\" says he, \"for my _Dreamed_, or _Dreamers_ have\nassured me of it, but _I_ don't know what to say. However, most\nassuredly, tomorrow morning we shall have the snow.\"\n\nThis _snow_ both comforted and depressed the poor Indian very much\nseeing the weather was then so beautiful and so destitute of all the\nusual signs of bad weather. It did snow. It came as foretold, quite\nsuddenly, and as suddenly became fine again.\n\nIn the ensuing morning, the Indian begged of the interpreter to chuse\none of the longest and straightest pine (epinette) trees he could find\nof the thickness of his thigh, to peel off all the bark nicely,\nleaving but a small tuft of the branches at the tip end. This they\npainted cross-ways with bars of vermillion and charcoal alternately\nthe whole length, leaving however some intervals undaubded. And about\nfive or six feet from the ground, [they] fastened a pair of artificial\nhorns representing those of a bull, and decorated [it] with ribbon. He\nalso (the Indian I mean) made the sweating hut, and in short done\n[sic] everything as directed, after which he (the Indian) became to\nresume his wonted cheerfulness and contentment.\n\nHowever, once more he was obliged to have recourse again to the\nconjurer, from hearing another rumbling noise. \"Thou Fool!\" answered\nthe spirits. \"Wilt thou never have done tormenting thyself and\ndisquieting us. That rumbling noise proceeds from the ice on a lake a\nlong way off. It is only the ice. Be therefore peaceable. I shall\n[advise] thee if any ill is to happen thee.\"\n\nThe flashes of light, or those sudden glares that the Indian inquired\nof the spirits, is, as they told him, lightening which always happens\nin the month of December. And they laughed at his having lived so long\nwithout observing it before.\n\nThe conjurer had lost his smoking bag one day that he was out a\nhunting. And as it contained his only steel and not a small part of\nhis winter stock of tobacco, he was very uneasy and hunted several\ntimes for it. They, having told the Interpreter often how kind and\ncharitable and indulgent those _spirits of the upper regions_ were, and\nhe, desirous of proving them, told the conjurer to send for his\nbag. He asked, \"Which of ye will go for my bag that I lost? He that\nbrings it me, I shall make him smoke.\"\n\n\"I will go,\" said one. They heard a fluttering noise, and soon after\nthey heard the same fluttering noise, and the rattler move, and down\nfell the bag by the conjurer, covered with snow.\n\n\"How stupid thou art!\" said the spirit naming the conjurer. \"Thou\npassedst over it and yet did not see it.\" It was a long time since the\nbag was lost, and the distance was several miles.\n\nAnother one could not kill with his gun owing to its being crooked or\nsome other cause. {4} However, he attached the fault to the\ngun. [This happened] the first time, I believe it was, that this\nhalf-breed conjured. The people on the outside, hearing many voices\nspeak as they entered, at last they stopped at one whose voice and\narticulation was different from that of the others. \"Who is that one\njust now entered?\" said those outside.\n\n\"It is the _Sun_,\" replied the conjurer.\n\n\"Ha! Well, I am happy of it.\" said the the Indian. \"Is it not _he_ who\nsays himself able to repair firearms (guns), and do anything with them\nhe pleases? Ask him (addressing the conjurer) if he will not have\ncompassion on me and put my gun to rights that I also may kill. I am\nwalking every day, and frequently shoot at moose, but always miss.\"\n\n\"Hand it me.\" said a voice from the top of the conjuring frame. The\ngun was given to the conjurer. \"It is loaded.\" continued the voice,\n\"Shall I fire it off?\"\n\n\"You may, but take care you hurt nobody.\" replied the Indian. The gun\nwas fired, and shortly after handed back to the owner.\n\n\"Here is your gun. You will kill with it now.\" said the Spirit.\n\nBoth this business of the gun and smoking bag took place the first\ntime, I believe, the man conjured.\n\n\n[Initiations and Conjuring]\n\nThere are but few individuals (men) among the Sauteux or Cris or Crees\nwho have not their medicine bags and [are not] initiated into some\nceremony or other. But it is not _all_ of them who can conjure. Among\nsome tribes most of them can, and among others again there are but\nvery few. Nor is it every one of them that tells _all truth_, some\nscarcely nothing but lies, others again _Not One_ falsehood. And this\ndepends upon their _Dreamed_, sometimes. But I think [it] may be equally\nimputed to their own selves, [to] presumption, ignorance, folly, or\nany other of our passions or weaknesses.\n\n\n[In Quest of Dreams]\n\nBut to become conjurers, they have rites and ceremonies to perform and\ngo through, which, though apparently simple and absurd, yet, I have no\ndoubt, but fully answer their ends.\n\nAny person among them wishing to dive into futurity must be young and\nunpolluted, at any age between 18 and 25, though as near as I can\nlearn between 17 and 20 years old. They must have had no intercourse\nwith the other sex; they must be chaste and unpolluted.\n\nIn the spring of the year, they chuse a proper place at a sufficient\ndistance from the camp not [to] be discovered nor disturbed. They make\nthemselves a bed of grass, or hay as we term it, and have besides\nenough to make them a covering. When all this is done, and they do it\nentirely alone, they strip stark naked and put all their things _a good\nway off_. And then [they] return, lie on this bed, and then cover\nthemselves with the rest of the grass. Here they remain and endeavour\nto _sleep_, which from their nature is no very difficult task. But\nduring whatever time they may remain, they must neither eat nor\ndrink. If they want to dream of the spirits above, their bed must be\nmade at some distance from the ground--if of the spirits inhabiting our\nEarth, or those residing in the waters, {5} on the ground. Here they\nlie for a longer or shorter time according to their success or the\norders of the dreamed. Some remain but three or four days, some\nten. And I have [been] told one remained thirty days without eating or\ndrinking. Such was the delight he received from his dreams!\n\nWhen I laughed at this, the man was vexed, the others not a little\nhurt.\n\nThe first thing they do after their return to their friends is to take\na good drink of water, smoke the pipe, and after that eat, but as\ncomposedly as but just risen from a hearty meal. Their _Dreamed_\nsometimes order them to make a feast, and not uncommonly tell them\nwhere to go where they will find the animals whose flesh is to be\nserved up (always boiled). They sometimes lie in one posture and\nsometimes another--i.e. their head to some one of the cardinal\npoints. Some have the most pleasant dreams imaginable, others\nindifferent.\n\nWhen they are to live to a good old age, they are told, \"You will see\nmany winters! Your head will grow quite white.\" or \"Though you shall\nnever see your head white, yet you shall live till you are obliged to\nmake use of a stick and long after. You shall die old, very old,\nrespected and regretted.\"\n\nIf they are to die young: \"Thou shalt see the years of a young\nman.\"--and so on of the other ages, as well as the manner of life they\nshall have. The language is not very dissimilar to that of our version\nof the Bible. But that stile seems to me to be the language of nature\nwhich _I_ always find the more charming the more retired the _speaker_ is\nfrom the pompous bombastic walks of _high_ life, which though they\nfurnish us with more ideas, _I_ do not think add much to the beauty\nof the language.\n\n\n[Dialogue with a Spirit]\n\nAs I have said before, the purpose of these dreams is to dive into\nfuturity. Everything in nature appears unto them, but in the shape of\na human being. They dream they meet a man who asks them (after some\npreliminary conversation of course), \"Dost thou know me?\" (who or what\nI am?).\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Follow me then!\" replies this stranger. The Indian follows. The other\nleads him to his abode and again makes the inquiry. The answer is\nperhaps as before. Then the stranger assumes his proper form, which is\nperhaps that of a tree, a stone, a fish. And after rechanging several\ntimes in this manner, until such time as the Indian becomes perfectly\nto know him, then this stranger gives him to smoke, [teaches] him _his_\nsong, thus addressing him, \"Now do you remember my song? Whenever you\nwill wish to call upon me, sing this song, and I shall not be far. I\nwill come and do for you what you require.\"\n\n\n[Principal Spirits]\n\nThey know many of _these Spirits_ as soon as they see them (in their\ndreams) by the description the other Indians have given of them. Some,\nhowever, they know from their nature. When the _Snow_ addresses them, he\nthey know because he is perfectly white--the _Ice_ also. The Sun and Moon\n[they know] from their beautiful brilliancy and the elegance of their\nabode--the houses of the two last being uncommonly neat and handsome\nsuch as those of {6} the white (i.e. civilized).\n\n\n[Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k / Gey-Shay-mani-_to_]\n\nOne principal amongst all these, and everything in nature appears at\nleast to some of them, is the Supreme Being, whom they term\nWee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k (the last a's being pronounced as in 'all', 'hawk' etc.; the\nfirst as ale, bail etc.) i.e. by his proper name, his common name,\nGey-Shay-mani-_to_ (this is among the Crees nation), which signifies\n\"the Greatly charitable Spirit.\" He is uncommonly good and kind,\naddresses them and talks to them as to children whom he most\ntenderly loves and is extremely anxious for.\n\nThus far everything is very well, and is perhaps a better _idea_ than\nmany of the vulgar christians can give. But on the other hand again,\ntheir mythology, or stories relating to him, are many of them absurd\nand indecent in the highest degree, reducing him to the level of his\ncreatures, and not unfrequently their making him dupe, but become so\nby such vile, such abominable deception as I doubt to be equalled by\nthe most absurd and romantic of the Arabian tales. For there are many\nof these tales the author durst not publish for the obscenity and\nindecency. There are some obscene passages also in these tales (of the\nIndians) but not more than might be expected from a people yet in a\nperfect state of nature as to their mental powers, to our eternal\nshame and scandal. This one they love, they love him a great deal, and\nare by no means afraid of him, because he always addresses them \"my\nlittle children\" and all the rest of his character is of a piece with\nthis.\n\n[Key-jick-oh-kay (Old Nick)]\n\nThe next one is Old Nick. Him some term \"Key-jick-oh-kay\" (The 'J'\nbeing pronounced soft, as Git or Gil, in French, for I know of no\nEnglish word where properly speaking the J is of any use and has the\nsound seemed intended by it) or \"Key-jick-oh-ka_iw_\". I cannot at\npresent give the proper signification of this name for I am not\nsufficiently acquainted with the language, but it appears to me as to\nmean \"he who made the day or skies, or resides in the sky.\" This one\nthey represent wicked, and terrible, inexorable to the highest degree,\nalways plotting evil and endeavouring to circumvent the rest of the\ncreation. [He] is always jawing and bawling. But when the other\nappears, he orders him in a peremptory manner. \"Hold thy tongue. Get\nthee hence, thou deceiver; thou ill-liver.\" But these words are\nuttered in such an authoratative and commanding tone that the Indians\nthemselves are quite astonished to see one who is so uncommonly kind\nand indulgent to them in every respect, so tender and affectionate,\neven in the choice of his words, assume so suddenly and with so much\nauthority, so much power over one whose name alone they never utter\nbut with the greatest dread and horror. Their horror of the Devil is\nso great, that no one ever utters [his name] but when unavoidable. And\nif, through inadvertency or ignorance, one of their children should\nmention it, he is severely reprimanded by all who hear.\n\n\n[Water Lynx]\n\nThere is also the Sea Serpent, a monstrous animal and has much\npower. {7} The Mermaid (or Sea-Man), the Water Lynx or rather\nTyger--a dreadful character [is] this last, who keeps all the\ninhabitants of the deep in the greatest subjection. There are however\none or two who contend with him, and sometimes he is reduced to the\nnecessity of compounding with them--the Great Turtle, and many\nothers. They have their abodes in the deep, but perfectly dry and\ncomfortable. Each one of these, and indeed all of them, have their\nstories or mythology. Some I forget entirely and others remember too\nincorrectly to mention at present.\n\n{These [spirits], when anyone conjures, if he is a renowned _medicine_\nman, _they_ all appear and speak to him, mostly in his own language.\nSome few excepted are the _Pike_ (a jack fish) who speaks French, the\nSun and Moon both speak English, the Bull or Buffaloe in an unknown,\nor at least strange, language. But all [are] perfectly intelligible\nto the conjurer.\n\nI am quite astray--leaving the proper thread of my story to follow one\nof its branches. I ought to have said that.}\n\n\n[Sun]\n\nThe Sun, when he appears to an Indian, he is seen in the heavens, as\nan Indian (i. e. a man) _walking on the wind_. His dress is of a variety\nof colors and handsome.\n\n\n[A Dream Meeting with Sun]\n\nI had a dream the latter part of which I shall relate to you as it is\nperfectly descriptive of the manner or form in which the Sun\nappears. I related it the next day to some of my half-breeds, when one\nof them replied, \"What a pity! Had you now forborne for a few days\nmentioning _this_, he would have appeared again to you, and then you\nwould have had a fine opportunity of learning (from the fountain-head,\nas we might say) how it is the Indians come to perform those things\nthe white will never credit.\" And he continued that it was precisely\nthe form he assumed when he appears to the Indians.\n\nIn my dream I thought we were travelling a road from which some of our\nparty had the utmost to dread from the ambush of an Indian who could\ntransport himself to what place he pleased. As we were walking, I\nhappened to look above and was much struck with the appearance of a\nman walking in the heavens. His dress was that of a neat _Southern_\nIndian, composed mostly of red and yellow, but also of a few other\ncolors. The garters of his leggings were also neat and handsome and\nhad a tuft of swans-down that had been powdered with vermillion\nattached to the knot on the back part of the leg. To his shoes were\nattached two long swan quills inclosing the foot thus [Transcriber's\nNote: Image of the footwear] with a tuft of down at each end and in\nthe middle on both sides all powdered with vermillion. With these\nquills and down, and the down on his garters, [he was buoyed] up in\nthe air. I addressed [him] in broken Cree. He answered in the same\nbroken accent. Upon my second address, I thought he did not understand\nmore of that language than I did myself. The Sauteux seemed to me his\nproper tongue, and I was glad of having an opportunity of speaking\nthat language. So I the third time addressed him in it, asked him from\nwhence he came, whither he was going. He was very {8} high, insomuch\nthat the others thought it preposterous in my addressing him--that he\ncould not hear from that distance. Upon this he came down and talked\nwith us, saying he was an _ambassador_. Such is the habillement, and\nmanner in which the Sun shews himself.\n\n\n[Thunder]\n\nThe Thunder also appears to them, in the shape and form of a most\nbeautiful bird (The Pea-Cock).\n\n\n[Roots and Herbs (Medicines)]\n\nRoots and herbs also (this also ought to have come in afterwards),\nsuch as are medicinal, appear, and teach their votaries their\nrespective songs, how they must do, what ceremonies they must perform\nin taking them out of the ground, their different applications. But\nthese roots [and] herbs (medicines), though they appear in their\ndreams, they do not shew themselves in the conjuring hut, box, or\nframe, that I learn. They are sent, as appears, by Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k, _to\nteach Indians their use and virtue_ without which _they would be very\nill off, whether to heal or cure themselves, or expell the charms by\nwhich other Indians may have bewitched them_. And though they are\nacquainted with many of these roots, the use and virtue of some of\nwhich I can no more doubt than those used by the faculty in the\ncivilized world, yet they tell me there are several which they use to\ndifferent, and some to diametrically opposite, purposes.\n\n\n[The Manner of Conjuring]\n\n[Building the Lodge]\n\nTheir manner of conjuring is this: In the first place a number [of]\nstraight poles of two, or two and a half inches diameter and about\neight or nine feet long are prepared, cut, branched and pointed at the\nlower end. They seldom require so _few_ as four, commonly six or\neight. These are planted in the ground from twelve to twenty or\ntwenty-four inches deep in an hexagon or octagon form, enclosing a\nspace of three feet diameter, more or less. These poles are secured by\nhoops, three or four in number, and well tied to each pole, so that\nnone be able to move without the rest. This hut, square, box, or\nframe, whatever it may be termed, is covered with skins, an oil cloth,\nor some such sort of thing.\n\n\n[Preparing the Conjurer]\n\nThe conjurer is bound hand and foot, not as if he were a man going to\n_pry_ into futurity, but as a criminal, [a] _mere_, pure devil, and one\nwhom they intend never to loosen, so barricaded and cross-corded is\nthe creature, sometimes all crumpled into a heap. He is tied only with\nhis cloute on him, and thus thrust into the hut underneath by raising\nthe lower covering, his \"she-she-quay\" or rattler with him.\n\n\n[Spirits who Enter the Lodge and Interactions with Them]\n\nSome of them sing on entering, others make a speech. Here they remain,\nsome several hours, others not five minutes, before fluttering is\nheard. The rattler is shaked at a merry rate, and all of a sudden,\neither from the top, or below, away flies the cords by which the\nIndian was tied, _into the lap of he who tied him_. It is then that the\nDevil is at work. Every instant some one or other enters, which is\nknown to those outside by either the fluttering, the rubbing against\nthe skins of the hut in descending (inside) or the shaking of the\nrattler, and sometimes all together. When any enter, the hut moves in\na most violent manner. I have frequently thought that it would be\nknocked down, or torn out of the ground.\n\n\n{9} [Meeh-key-nock (Turtle)]\n\nThe first who enters is commonly Meeh-key-nock (the Turtle), a jolly,\njovial sort of a fellow who, after disencumbering his votary, chats\nand jokes with those outside and asks for a pipe to smoke. There is a\ngood deal of talking inside as may be supposed from the number of\nfolks collected in so small a space.\n\n\n[Thunder]\n\nTo some renowned characters, all the spirits appear. The Thunder also\nfrequently comes, but he is desired to remain outside as he would\nbreake all. It is reported that he once entered and split one of the\npoles into shivers.\n\n\n[Flying Squirrel]\n\nThe Flying Squirrel also enters. He is no liar, but you must take\nevery thing he says as we do our dreams, the opposite. His nature is\nsuch that he durst not tell the truth but in this ambiguous manner,\notherwise the conjurer would soon after die.\n\n\n[Wolverine]\n\nI do not know that the Skunk ever comes. But the Wolverine (Carcajoux)\ndoes and he is known immediately by his stink, which occasions no\nsmall merriment at his expense on the outside.\n\n[Loon]\n\nThe _Loon_ also enters. He is known by his usual cry, \"Nee-wih wee-way\"\nrepeated commonly three times as he does when in the water. And this\ntoo occasions a great laugh, for these four syllables, which form the\nmost common cry of that bird in the _spring_ of the year, as every body\nmay observe, _are_ also three words in the Sauteux and Cree languages,\nwhich signify \"I want to marry; I want to marry!\"\n\n\"What! And will you never have done marrying? You were marrying all\nlast summer and still want to!\" will some outside say. And everyone\nhas his word to put in.\n\n\n[Hercules / Strong Neck: Altercation with a Young Man]\n\n_Hercules_ also comes in. He is perhaps as much revered by those people\nas even he was by the Spartans or Athenians. His name is _Strong Neck_\n(and everybody knows how strong Hercules was). He does not seem over\nfond of jokes, and when the other spirits announce his coming, all\nthose on the outside must cover their heads and not look up, for it\nappears that he cannot [become] _invisible_ as the others do, or will\nnot, but still does not chuse to be seen.\n\n Once upon a time his arrival was announced, and everybody\n was ordered to cover themselves, so as not to see. (This,\n and all such like orders are commands sent to the conjurer,\n and which he, (being inside) must _promulgate_ to those on the\n outside). There was one young buck, however, who wanted to\n shew himself superior to these orders and divert his friends.\n [He] would not cover himself. Hercules entered, and at that\n time, as at all others, he was not in too good a humor. Some\n altercation ensued and \"I am Strong Neck.\" said he.\n\n \"Pah!\" says the young man at last, \"The neck of my\n os-Pubis indeed is [as] strong!\" This raised a most violent\n laugh. But the young man was lost. He disappeared from amongst\n them, and was never after heard of. Since _that_ time they are\n rather more cautious.\n\n\n[O-may-me-thay-day-ce-cee-wuck (Ancients or Hairy Breasts)]\n\nSome of the _Ancients_ also enter. They are called\n\"O-may-me-thay-day-ce-cee-wuck\", _Hairy Breasts_ {10} such as the\nancients are said to be. These are great boasters. They recount the\nexploits of their younger days apparently with the greatest\nsatisfaction. [They] say, \"I used to do so and so on such occasions. I\nnever shot a moose or buffaloe, but pursued them on my feet, and\nripped them open with my knife.\" But this is only _wind_, for no sooner\ndo other powerful ones enter, but these chaps search to secret\nthemselves.\n\n\n[Sun]\n\nThe Sun enters, speaks very bad English at the offset, but by degrees\nbecomes to speak it very easily and fluently. He is gun smith and\nwatch-maker, or at least can repair them. When he is entered, there is\ncommonly a beautiful clear light visible, through the covering. He\n[too] does not admit of too much familiarity, but is still good\nnatured and condescending.\n\n\n[Pike]\n\nThe Pike or Jack fish also enters. As the Sun, [he] also speaks\n(French,) badly enough at the offset.\n\n When there are two or three on the outside who can speak\n French\n and address him together, merely to perplex and bother him,\n he laughs at their folly and says, \"You may talk twenty or\n a hundred of you together if you chuse, yet are you not able\n to perplex me. Come as numerously as you chuse, yet are\n there many more of us _Pike_ than you Frenchmen.\"\n\nHe is very familiar too.\n\n\n[Buffaloe]\n\nThe Bull, or Buffaloe is understood only by the conjurer, his voice\nbeing hoarse, and rough, his language quite foreign. The conjurer must\ninterpret when anything is wanted of him. As is his voice, so are his\nmanners. However, he will joke a little too. But let them beware not\nto let drop anything in a sarcastic or contemptuous manner as to his\npower or knowledge of the future for he takes it up and reproves in a\nvery tart manner. And [he does this] in a way too that conveys no\ncomfortable ideas to anyone present, for they all endeavour to excuse\nit by saying it is only a joke. \"I know jokes too; and I can laugh and\nunderstand the nature of laughing as well as the best amongst you. But\nsuch language is unbecoming, and I will have no more of it!\"\n\n\n[Omniscience of Spirits]\n\n A half breed one time, _because his father was a Frenchman_,\n thought he might go any lengths he pleased with him (the\n Buffaloe). He replied very warmly thus:\n\n \"How durst thou doubt anything I say! Knowest thou not\n how clearly and distinctly objects are discovered and seen\n in a plain from an eminence? And my abode is in the regions\n above. I see every object as distinctly as you see at your\n feet. Doubt then no more, and never hereafter call our power\n to question.\"\n\n \"Aye!\" replied some of the other spirits, \"We not only see\n _all that you do, however secret and hid you think yourselves_,\n but we also hear every word you utter.\"\n\n \"If that indeed be the case, tell me where now are and when\n will be here my father's countrymen?\" {The conjurer had been\n employed to tell what the people were about, as it was long\n since the time they were expected, and ought to have arrived,\n had elapsed.}\n\n \"Wait! I shall go and see.\" And shortly after he returned.\n \"They are now all asleep at such a place. The weather will be\n calm tomorrow, and, though the {11} distance is great, yet will\n you see them tomorrow night, for they are as anxious as\n yourselves.\"\n\n Another one said, \"Since then ye Spirits pretend to know\n everything and are vexed when we call any of your sayings\n in question, come tell me how long shall I live? Shall I yet\n see two more winters?\"\n\n \"Ha!\" (laughing replied the same voice) \"Two winters? I see\n you all yet alive two winters hence. Every soul that sits here\n and considerably more; and some of you I see crawling with old\n age!\"\n\n\n[Showing the Turtle Spirit]\n\nWith some of the Spirits, as I've already said, the bystanders (or\nsetters, for they are seated on the ground round about) are very\nfamiliar. The Turtle is one of them. He is very humorsome, and their\njokes with him were such (for I've heard this myself) as I should have\nbeen ashamed to hold even with a bawd. It was pure _ribaldry_. But they\ndurst not doubt him when he speaks seriously, for he is very powerful,\nand makes himself respected when he thinks it necessary.\n\n\"Who is that now speaking?\" said one of the Indians. (This I was\ntold.)\n\n\"It is Mihkenach,\" said the conjurer.\n\n\"If it be him, prove it. Take him in your hand and show him to us.\"\nNow the conjurer was a very great medicine man. He took the turtle\nupon his hand, raised the covering of his _box_, and called them to\nlook. Every one was astonished at his beauty. He was very small,\nscarcely more than two inches long. When all had gazed enough, the\nconjurer drew him in.\n\nThe Turtle was very quiet while out, but as soon as he got in\nexclaimed, \"Oh! how afraid I was when I saw the children look so\neagerly. I was afraid some of them would have attempted to take me in\ntheir hands and let me fall, perhaps in the fire.\" and laughed\nheartily.\n\n\n[Bear]\n\nThe Bear is a rough beast and makes a devil of a racket.\n\n\n[Keyjickahkaiw]\n\nTowards the latter end, Master Keyjickahkaiw, that old serpent Satan,\nenters. His arrival is announced. All hands are grieved for then the\nconclusion is soon to take place. He makes everything fly again,\nkicking up his own (the Devil's) racket, jawing and blabbing, scolding\nand giving the lie to and abusing all hands. The Indians are hurt and\ndispleased, but durst not say anything. They must swallow all quietly\nAnd then it is that the conjurer most dreads for his own _bacon_. This\nhowever does not last very long, for Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k (the Supreme Being)\nenters last. As soon as his coming is announced, Nick begins to sneak,\nbut still _en maitre_. Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k enters, Nick _jaws_, silence is\nimposed, Nick [is] still troublesome. At last the word comes\nauthoratatively and away _he_ flies.\n\n\n[Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k]\n\nThe Indians are uncommonly fond of Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k. He commonly speaks\nto this effect.\n\n My Little (Grand) Children, I am very indulgent and kind. I\n am very charitable, and love you much, a great deal more than\n you imagine. You must not live ill, nor make a bad use of your\n power and knowledge, for I hate that. Hence it is I command\n Nick in that authoratative manner, {12} because he is wickedly\n inclined. Mischief and destruction are in his nature; he\n grieves at any good he sees. Take ye heed, beware of him, for\n he is ever on the watch to destroy you.\n\nWhen _Charly_ enters, after some abuse, he calls out, \"Get ye hence,\nget ye hence. What are ye doing so long from your home? Off with ye\nimmediately!\". And [he] rubs up and down the skins that form the\ncovering lest any should be hid. Thus he sends off all the spirits,\nwho, as they _fly_ off, as well as when they enter, give this frame a\nterrible shaking. It may be supposed what sort of a shaking he gives\nas he comes and goes, and how he shakes the rattler;--for they all\nshake the rattler on entering. When Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k goes off all is\ndone.\n\n\n[Practices of Powerful Conjurers]\n\nSome conjurers are so powerful that the _hut_ they enter, must be\ndoubled; that is two rows or sets of poles, one on the outside [of]\nthe other, and each row fastened with good strong hoops well tied,\nafter which the outer and inner row are also fastened. Thus arranged\nthey seem to be beyond the power of any three or four men to move. Yet\nwhen the spirits enter, it sets a-going with a motion equal to that of\na single pole indifferently stuck in the ground and violently moved by\na man.\n\nI have never seen any of these double ones, but twice or thrice saw\nthe others whilst the conjurer was in. Some time afterwards, when they\nwere off, I shook them with both hands and with all my strength, but\nthe motion was nothing like that of the conjurers. I have been told\nthat those [conjurers] who enter these double ones are so powerful\nthat almost all the creation comes to see them, and [the poles] are\nshaken with uncommon violence.\n\nThis motion, the conjurers say, is produced by the concussion of the\nair. The spirits come and enter with such velocity that it is the _wind\nthey produce_ which occasions it. The conjurer is all the while seated\npeaceably in the bottom, (on the ground) of his hut.\n\nSome of them to shew their power have had small sticks of the hardest\nwood (such as produces the wild pear, and of which the Indians make\ntheir arrows, and ram-rods for guns) about the size of a man's finger,\nmade as sharp-pointed as possible and dried, when they become in\nconsequence nearly as dangerous as iron or bayonets. Some have\neighteen, twenty-four, more or less, though seldom less than eighteen\nplanted in the bottom of their hut. They are about twelve or fourteen\ninches out of the ground.\n\nOn the points of these sticks is the conjurer placed, sometimes on his\nbottom, at others on his knees and elbows. And there he remains as\nquietly and composedly as if he were on \"_a bed of roses_\". And when he\ncomes off, no marks of injury appear, though he entered naked, only\nhis cloute about him, and of course the cords with which he is\ntied. _Their familiars (their dreamed, or those who appear to them in\ntheir dreams and promise them their assistance and protection) support\nthem so that no injury happens them!!!_\n\n\n{13} [Mythology]\n\n\n[North Wind and his Daughter (The Birth of Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k and Mishab\u00f4se)]\n\nMarch 29th.--I feel but very indifferently disposed to write, but I am\non the eve of an accumulation of business and may not after a few days\nhave the necessary time, so that I shall [take the] risk.\n\nA couple of days back, I have been conversing with a Cree (Indian) who\n_piecemeal_ gives me the following account of their mythology:\n\nThe North (Wind), apparently one of oldest of created rational beings,\nthus addressed his daughter, his only child, \"My daughter! Be very\ncareful, and remember that anything you do, or wherever you go, on\nturning yourself, turn _always in the same direction with the sun, and\nnever in a contrary direction_.\"\n\nNow women are a compound of perverseness, obstinacy and curiosity, and\nwithall forgetful enough too _sometimes_. This girl, one day she was\nchopping fire-wood. Without thinking of her father's admonition, in\ngoing to another tree, [she] turned round to the right in a contrary\ndirection to the sun, and instantly fell to the ground and died.\n\nThe time she used to take up in this occupation being expired, her\nparents became very uneasy, and after some search, found her on her\n_back_ dead, and her belly [swollen] to an enormous size. The father and\nmother, on each or opposite sides, contemplated her situation with\ngreat grief. At last the father arose, stood up, and made a long\nspeech, praying to \"The Father of Life\" to have mercy and compassion\non his child.\n\nHis speech was not ineffectual. The girl was delivered of a boy, and\nshortly after, of another. The elder was called Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k; the\nyounger \"Mi (or Mee) shaw-b\u00f4se\". After this the girl recovered and\nbecame as aforetime. These two young men immediately attained \"man's\nestate\", manhood, and became hunters.\n\n\n[Death of Mishab\u00f4se]\n\nThe younger of the two one day was in pursuit of a grey or rein deer\n(carriboeuf), after which also pursued a wolf. The deer, having thus\nno hopes of escape, fled to a rock on the edge of the waters and\nplunged in. Mishab\u00f4se and the wolf followed. But they all three became\na prey to the Michi-Pichoux, or Great Lynx, i.e. Water Lynx,\nWater-Cat, or Water Dog.\n\n\n[Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k and Kingfisher]\n\nWee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k was very uneasy for his brother. [He] was anxious to\nrevenge his death, but scarcely knew well how. At last one day, seeing\na Kingfisher hovering in a certain spot, [ Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k] addressed\nhim thus, \"My younger brother! What art thou there looking at?\"\n\n\"I am looking at Mishab\u00f4se, your brother, lying in the bottom of the\ndeep, drowned.\"\n\n\n[Myths of the Flood]\n\n\n[Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k's Revenge on the Sea Lynxes]\n\nAfter some further conversation, Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k discovered the means of\navenging himself. He accordingly set to work and made himself a _large\ncanoe_ on board of which he embarked the Moose, Deer, Bear, Otter,\nBeaver, Muskrat, Wolf [and others] and repaired to the place where the\nSea Lynxes used to resort to sleep. This was a fine, pleasant place on\nthe land. Here he observed several of them and began his work. It is\nnot related how many he did kill, but the water upon their death came\nrushing upon him in a violent torrent.\n\nAs he expected this, he had brought his canoe near hand. But before he\nreached it, after killing his enemies, he was already knee-deep {14}\nin the water. However, he got safely on board, but in his hurry [he]\nforgot to embark a little earth.\n\nNow the waters swelled immensely, and in a very short time the highest\nland was covered, and Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k was tossed about by the wind and\nwater. It appears that he had not the foresight either of taking with\nhim sufficiency of provisions, for he became very hungry, and thus\nexpressed himself to his crew.\n\n\n[Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k Tricks a Water Lynx and Beaver]\n\nAfter some time he saw something on the water, very large and moving\ntoward him. He thus addressed it, \"Who or what art thou my younger\nbrother?\" (For he, being the first born, always addressed the rest of\nthe creation, whether animate, inanimate, or rational or not, as his\n_younger brothers._) \"And whither art thou going?\"\n\n\"Why, my elder (brother), I am a _water lynx_, and am sent by\n_confrers_ in search of Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k and to destroy him!\n\n\"Aye! Is it so indeed? And how or with what instrument do you intend\nto destroy him?\"\n\n\"I have a large and very strong iron tail, with which if I smite his\ncanoe he must perish!\"\n\nWee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k, seeing his danger, thought to get off by duplicity and\ndissimulation, and thus continued, \"Indeed you must have a very\nextraordinary _tail_, my _younger_ [brother] .... Come near and let me\nsee it, how it is made.\"\n\nThe Lynx drew up, presented his tail. Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k took hold as to\nlook on it, and placed it on the gunnel of his canoe and with a stone\ncut it off saying, \"Now go to thy friends, and tell them how\nWee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k has served thee.\"\n\nHe retired double quick, grieved, ashamed, and not with a little pain.\n\n\"Ha!\" said the Water Lynxes on perceiving the situation of their\ncompanion, \"Ha! Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k is cunning, and too powerful. We must\ndestroy him for our own safety. Come now. Who amongst us will\nvolunteer, and go to destroy that enemy of ours?\"\n\nThey at last pitched upon an enormous beaver and thus addressed him at\nhis departure. \"Go thou, our brother. Destroy that mutual enemy of\nours. Be not afraid of him for he is not worthy of fear. But still be\ncautious, for he is very artful.\"\n\nWee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k descryed him also, and the same addresses and\ncompliments passed as with the first. \"And how do you intend to\ndestroy Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k?\"\n\n\"With my teeth.\"\n\n\"Well then do come near and let me see them.\"\n\nThe beaver drew up, and shewed his teeth. Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k put his hand\non his head and while exclaiming \"What terrible teeth! How immensely\nbroad and sharp! They are like large axes!\" He, with his other hand,\ntook up a large stone and with a dreadful blow broke them all in his\nhead. \"Now go thou too to your friends and tell them how\nWee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k hath served thee.\"\n\nIndeed the beaver did go, sniffling and blowing and yelling. The\nLynxes were astonished and durst no more attempt anything at him.\n\n\n[Recreation of the Land]\n\nHis situation, however, was very disagreable, very uncomfortable, and\nwhat added to it was his want of food. He thus addressed his\ncompanions one day, \"Come now, we very reprehensibly forgot to bring\nearth with us, and who knows how long this will {15} continue? Which\nof you all will endeavour to get a little earth for me out of which I\nshall try to make _land_ for us to live on? Whoever will go shall be\namply rewarded.\"\n\nThey all said it was very deep. There was scarcely an hope.\n\nThen he said to the Otter, \"Go thou, my _Younger_ (brother), and if\nthou diest in the attempt, I shall restore thee to life, and make\nthee immortal.\" Saying this he tied a long leather thong to his tail\nand sent him down. He found the otter was dead, hauled him up in to the\ncanoe, rubbed him dry and blowed in his nostrils, when he revived.\n\nThen he sent the Musk Rat. \"Come, my little brother, go thou, thou art\nsmall and very active, art fond of the water, and goeth to great\ndepths. Thy reward shall be as that of the Otter.\" The rat was secured\nwith a thong also, and down he went. Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k found he was dead,\nhauled him up, and was extremely happy to find he had some earth in\nhis little paws and mouth. He restored him to life as he did the\notter, and sent him down again. When he brought [him] up, his mouth\n[was] as full as it could hold, and a good deal [was] in his _hands_\nwhich he held pressed to [his] breast.\n\nNow Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k took this earth and made a ball of it, and blew [on]\nit a considerable time. And [he] sent off the Wolf to make its circuit\nto see if it was large enough.\n\n[Wolf Surveys the Land]\n\nAfter four nights he returned and thus spake, \"My Elder, the earth is\nindeed large and beautiful, but our number now is small. When we will\nincrease, it will be too small for us. We will be all upon top of each\nother.\" (We will be in each other's way etc.) \"And if you make man as\nyou contemplate, it will be much more so.\"\n\nWee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k then blew it out again and once more sent the wolf. He\nwas eight nights absent, and reported it still too small.\nWee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k then blew it out for a long time and sent the wolf again.\n\nBut before he went off he said, \"My Elder, the Earth must now be very\nlarge, and I shall possibly be too much wearied to make its circuit. I\nshall traverse, and if I find anything to assure me of its being large\nenough, I shall _howl_, which will be a sign to you. And whatever place\nmay suit me, there will I make my residence.\"\n\nAfter several nights absence they heard him howl, wherefore they all\nconcluded the Earth was sufficiently large.\n\nWee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k then _blessed_ the others and sent them away telling\nthem to multiply, \"and be good, not vicious or ill inclined, nor secret\nor hide [yourselves] too much from _my_ little brothers, (the human\nbeings, which he was about to create) when they might want to eat.\"\n\n\n[Creation of Humans]\n\nNow after this he became very lonesome and bethought himself of making\n_Indians_, human beings. He, in consequence, took up a stone and\nfashioned it into the form of a man. But whilst at this work, it\nstruck him that by forming them of so strong and hard a substance\nthat, in time when they would [come] to know their nature, they would\ngrow insolent and rebellious, and be a great annoyance to each other,\nand of course also would never die. \"This will not do. {16} I must\nmake them of a more weake and fragible substance so that they may live\na reasonable time and behave as becomes human beings.\" Upon this he\ntook up a handful of common earth and made the form of a man, and blew\ninto his nostrils _the breath of life_.\n\nThe Moon formed the female as Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k did the male, hence the\nreason of the periodical return of their sickness with that of the\nMoon, \"as also among the sluts\" (bitches). Hence also all women are\nforbidden, when they go out from the calls of nature, and that _one_\nin particular, to look at the moon while thus employed. Those who are\nthus forgetful, ignorant or obstinate immediately find the effect by\nthe return.\n\nI should have said that he bruised the stone to pieces, although a\ngreat part of it was already formed.\n\nFor the white (I believe it was the Moon again), he made a partner for\nhim of one of his ribs and another piece, which he wrapped in a\nhandkerchief and laid beside him saying, \"This, by the time thou\nrisest, shall be a full grown woman and shall be thy companion.\"\n\n\n[Separation of Land into Plains and Woods]\n\nAfter all this done, he made a separation in the Earth, one part of\nwhich was a beautiful, plain meadow ground, and the rest woody.\n\n\n[Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k Travels the Earth, Has a Son, Becomes a Woman]\n\nAnd then [he] set off travelling in the Earth. He took a partner to\nhimself by whom he had a son. This soon got to man's estate, but had a\ngreat aversion to the female sex, which gave his parents a great deal\nof anxiety. All their trouble, all their remonstrances, were to no\neffect. At last the father bethought of a plan in which he was sure of\nsuccess.\n\n[He] transformed himself into a most beautiful woman. And when the son\nwas returned from his hunting, \"Well son!\" said the mother, \"Here is a\nyoung and handsome woman we have procured merrily for thee. Does she\nplease thee?\"\n\nHer _charms_ were so great the young man immediately became extremely\nfond of her. But this, in the end, became the source of much trouble\nto both parents--and of disgrace to the father particularly. The mother\nbecame jealous and vexed on her son's account that he should so\n[impose], and [do] many shameful things to her husband.\n\nHere follows a train of stories, the most indecent and shameful and\nsometimes obscene that one can well imagine. But these people are yet,\nso far as regards their faculties, in a state of nature. Everything\nappears reasonable and natural and must be very gross and palpable\nindeed when they do not give credit to [it].\n\n\n[Language Use]\n\nTheir language is also that of nature, and they speak out what they\nthink. They do not use circumlocution to avoid an indecent term, nor\nhave they flourishes to embellish their discourses. And their\nspeeches, to my taste at least, are far more pleasing and natural than\nthose strained and laboured compositions we meet with amongst\nourselves. But this is not the place for these discussions.\n\n\n{17} [Conversations]\n\n_April 4th, 1823_. There is a sick Indian with me whom I have been\nobliged to feed with his whole family all winter, not being able to\nendure the cold on his lungs, and in a manner deserted by his\nfriends. To get as near the truth as I can possibly do in all things\nrelating to their mythology, I frequently converse with him on these\nsubjects. And when _not forbidden by his Dreamed or familiars_, [he]\nis explicit enough. A few nights back he thus informed me upon the\nseveral questions I proposed.\n\n\n[The Figure in the Dream is Sickness]\n\nThe one that I saw in my dream, as above related, _is not the Sun_, as\nmy half-breeds told me. The Sun is dressed like a gentleman, [in] a\nshort coat, waistcoat, short breeches, stockings, boots, a hat and a\nbeautiful feather stuck in it. He speaks English and the rest as\nmentioned above.\n\nBut the one I mentioned above, is Sickness, or the Plague. There are\nfour of them: two walking in the air as I mentioned, and two _in_ the\nearth--in the bowels of the earth at a certain moderate distance from\nthe surface, perhaps in the same _proportion_ as those who are above.\n\n\n[Sickness Gives Warning of Diseases]\n\nThe Indian thus relates of him:\n\n When I was a young man, he appeared to me and told me his\n name was Sickness, and that every time a _general_ sickness\n was to take place amongst us, he would come and forewarn me.\n\n See, four winters ago (in 1819), after we had taken debt in\n the fall and were proceding, each of us, to our hunting grounds,\n he appeared to me one night and said, \"I am come to tell you to\n get out of the way of all _large waters_ (lakes and rivers) and\n pitch off immediately into the woods. Be cautious, also select\n proper ground for an encamping. Never pitch your tents in large\n high woods particularly of the pine kind, chuse _low woods_ to\n encamp in. And never look up to gaze lest I see you see and you\n be smitten. Keep off always from large waters, for I am on a\n circuit round the earth. I shall follow the travelling waters\n (the routes or roads usually frequented or navigated), and\n smite all those I there find with sickness. In the interior\n or to one side I shall not go. Tell this to the Indians that\n they keep out of the way.\"\n\nIt was that year that the _measles_ made such havock in some places.\nHe thus continued:\n\n This last fall (in December) I saw him again. He told me he\n was on another circuit and intended making a large selection,\n passing through the plains and coming down again this way. He\n said he would pass when the leaves would be rather large\n (about the 20th June, in these parts) and told me as before\n to admonish everybody to keep out of the way of _large waters_\n [and] trees.\n\n \"It is not my doings, nor is it my choice that I thus _prowl_\n through the earth.\" said he. \"But I am sent, and cannot resist.\"\n\n Now we will be again this spring visited with some sickness,\n but I cannot tell which--it is a breaking out in the flesh.\n And his appearing {18} to you (me) is a sign that he will\n certainly pass.\n\nI then asked him if he intended telling the other Indians of it.\n\n\"I shall tell my Elder (brother), but not the others, for they\nwon't believe me.\"\n\nHe was very diffident. He wanted to communicate to me all he was told.\nBut [he] said he durst not lest he should injure himself by exasperating\nthe other (_Sickness_) and being _enigmatically_ forbidden!\n\n\"He told me,\" continued the Indian, \"as a sign, that two of our number\nshould die this winter: one a small one, (and _he_ is dead, naming to\nme a child that had died about that time, though very distant then from\nhim) and the other a full grown person. Whom he is I know not, _but one\nmust die_!\"\n\n\n[Reappearances of Spirits in Dreams]\n\nThese chaps [spirits] seldom appear (in dreams) less than four times,\nbut commonly six times, and each time in a different form until the\nlast, when he _makes himself known_. And ever after [the spirit] appears\n(or rather [they] appear) in the same uniform manner. It is then,\nafter they have made themselves completely known to their votaries,\nthat they communicate their power and teach their _songs_ which, though\nin their dreams, are so indelibly imprinted in their memories that\nthey are never forgotten. For every one of these spirits, genii,\ndemons, phantasies, or whatever you may please to term them, have each\ntheir _song_ which they communicate to their votaries, as well as\nexplain also their power. Hence it is, that when any one amongst them\nhas dreamed of a certain number, commonly a good many, twenty, thirty,\nor perhaps a thousand, that they can _conjure_ when they please. For\nthese, like the guardian genii in the fables, keep always near them,\nand protect them from _too_ much injury from the evil machinations of\nsome of the mischievous ones.\n\n\n[Malevolent Spirits (Need for Regular Sacrifices)]\n\nIndeed, from what I can learn, there are but few of these _familiars_\nbut do do evil to their votaries if they, the votaries, the Indians,\nneglect performing the regular, annual, or perhaps more distant\nperiodical sacrifice. And [for these sacrifices], their _familiar_\ntells them what it is he expects.\n\n\n[Accounts of Pahkack]\n\n\n[Attacks at Home and While Hunting]\n\nA few days ago in the night between the 31st March and 1st April, this\nIndian was sleeping in an old house I sent him to when, at a late hour\nin the night, he was pulled most violently out of his bed so that his\nwife, that was lying beside him, awoke and with difficulty kept him\ndown, though he also struggled himself to make his _familiar_ leave his\nhold. And the house shook violently.\n\nThe next day he sent me his wife to ask a little grease to make a\nsacrifice. (Burnt offering. *God forgive me the comparison, which by\nthe bye, is not meant to ridicule, but is really the case.) I gave her\na little, and the husband came the same evening to sleep with us. Upon\nenquiry, he told me thus:\n\n It was a _Skeleton_. He _was_ displeased with me because I did not\n make him my usual offering. And yet he knows that I am _pitiful_,\n that I cannot move to hunt myself, but am beholding to others\n for every mouthful I and my family eat. But they are wicked\n when they think themselves {19} neglected or abandoned, and\n think nothing of carrying off an Indian and throwing him in\n some distant place, dangerous precipice, or other place where\n he must perish if not succored by some other more kind one.\n\n\"Some years back,\" continued he,\n\n I went out one night in the fall to hunt moose. I had tied\n my canoe very securely in the rushes and there was waiting\n alone to hear the moose either come to the lake, or cry\n after the dam, for it was in the rutting season.\n\n(And the Indians commonly go out in this manner at that season, for\nthe buck has a certain cry which he makes at that time, either to call\nthe female, or as with the domestic cattle, to exult, as one might\nthink, from their capers.)\n\n I all at once heard far ahead of me cries of \"Heh! Heh!\n Heh!\" (or \"Hayh!\", or \"Haih!\") sudden, quick, coming in the\n air, and directly towards me.\n\n \"Oh! Now,\" said I, \"I am gone!\"\n\n Indeed he came. I _cringed_ and laid myself as low in my\n canoe as possible. But he came straight to me, took me up\n and threw me in the water, all the time crying, \"He! He!\"\n I then endeavoured to take out my _fire-bag_; but this he\n would not let me do. Having then no alternative, I was\n obliged to make for the shore as well as I could, he all\n the time crying in the same manner just above my head, as\n if he intended absolutely my death. However, I reached the\n shore, though with the greatest difficulty. Then I took\n some dry grass which I rubbed and bruised 'till it became\n soft and put it under my arm pits and crumpled myself into a\n small heap and remained 'till the sun began to warm when I\n swam back to my canoe. He kept hovering over me all night and\n until the Sun was pretty high, always making the same cry.\n Though when he found me so benumbed with cold on my\n debarkation, he laughed, \"Ha! Ha! Ha!\"\n\nToday (Apr. 4th) he asked me for a needle and thread to sew the sleeve\nof his capot which this _ghost_! had torn in his endeavours to carry\nhim off the other night. Whilst he was sewing, \"How he has vexed me,\"\nsaid he, \"by tearing my old coat. But I am afraid of him.\"\n\n[Making Offerings at a Hunting Camp]\n\nHe related me another story of _them_ as follows.\n\n I went out one time a hunting beaver with a friend of mine.\n It was a long distance from our lodges. We killed six beavers,\n and slept out. I awoke in the night and was much astonished\n to observe a man seated on the opposite side of the fire,\n resting his head on both hands, with his elbows on his knees\n apparently in a very pensive, sullen manner. He had but skin\n and bone--not the least particle of flesh; and _this_ one had\n hair on his bony head.\n\n I gently pushed my friend and told him to look at _that\n stranger_. We were both extremely agitated in consequence\n of our fear, and were at a loss what to do.\n\n Having no alternative I arose. Conceiving he came to ask\n for something to eat, I took a beaver, cut it in two and\n presented him the half of it. He did not deign to look at\n it. I was much afraid. I then bethought of cutting it into\n mouthfuls, which after presenting him, I threw into the\n fire. Thus I did with the whole, and when done, he arose\n and walked off peaceably in the _air_.\n\n\n{20} [Description of Pahkack]\n\nThis sort they term _P\u00e2h-k\u00e0ck_, Skeletons, or such as die of hunger, or\nsome that die extremely lean, whether from the consumption or other\nsickness. These, many of them, when they have nothing but just the\nmere skin and bone remaining, some of them in this situation,\ndisappear from the earth and go to reside with all those who have\nalready departed in that distressed state. This band, or congregation,\n[has] a head or chief. Their color is commonly green, though sometimes\nblack. And it is extremely uncommon when one has even any hair, being\nbald--as if a blown bladder.\n\nThey sometimes are heard in the day; the [noise] is sometimes as of a\nquantity of dried bones rattled or shaken in a forcible manner in a\nkettle. And sometimes [they are heard], as above related, making that\nsame monotonous but frightful cry of \"He'h! He'h!\" very quick and\nwith an abrupt termination.\n\n\n[The Feast to Pahkack]\n\nThe sacrifice they offer to these is grease, generally a large bladder\nfull, and of the best kind. All the natives present are\ninvited. Tobacco, of course, goes before everything else. He who makes\nthe feast or his assistant most commonly lights, or fills rather, the\npipes of all who smoke. But when it is [lighted], it is first\npresented to that quarter where _these_ are supposed to reside (I\nbelieve in the northwest or west), then to the cardinal points, then\nto the (bladder of) grease which is put in a dish fit to contain it\nand covered with down.\n\nSome of them have a small board about twenty or twenty-four inches\nlong, flat, painted with red earth, and a head made to it, of the same\npiece, and flat as the rest. At a certain distance below the neck, as\nwe might suppose the shoulders, other small pieces made in the same\nform and about three or four inches long are stuck in each side at\nshort distances, reaching to the ground--the lower end being small, and\nthe head end would bear some resemblance to the ribs or arms were\nthere not so many, by their being somewhat in a hanging form.\n\nAfter smoking and some speeches in which these ghosts are addressed,\nhe who makes the feast _waves_ it three times crying \"He! He!\" very loud\nfor a good many times. And [he] then presents it to this board which\nis intended as a representative of the Pahkack, desiring _him_ to accept\nit and be propitious and merciful to them, neither to injure them nor\ntheir _little ones_.\n\nThen he dances three times round the tent (in the inside), and when he\ncomes to the fourth time, the one seated next him (in the direction of\nthe sun) rises. He makes a feint of offering it twice to the one who\nrises, who in his turn _does_ as if he was going to receive it. And the\nthird time it is thrown into his hands. This one makes a double turn\nupon his heels and dances or _trots_ once round the tent, and the [one]\nnext him seated rises to take it in his turn with the same ceremony\n'til all have passed. Then it comes into the master's hands again who\nreperforms the same ceremonies once more, puts down the grease, cuts\nit up, and shares to every male or widow present, in proportion to\ntheir numbers (the families they may have).\n\nShortly after my arrival here this last fall, they invited me through\ncompliment to two of these feasts. I went both times {21} merely to\nhave a better opportunity of making my observations, which are as\nabove, as near as I can bring them.\n\nBut my mind was too much disturbed with reflections which soon became\nso melancholy that I had nothing to bestow on what was going on. \"Poor\nunfortunate creatures!\" I often exclaimed to myself.\n\n Ye are desirous, nay anxious, to perform your duties to\n your maker, but know not how. If you only knew how he\n abominates this ceremony which you perform with so much\n devotion! How soon would you cast off all your superstitions,\n and rather live without any religion at all, and risk all\n upon chance, than perform sacrifices, for aught I know, to\n demons!\n\nI shall not here enter upon these reflections further, suffice the\nabove for they are too long, too frequent. And besides, I wish to\nsacrifice the little paper I have remaining to such other things as I\nhave, and which I think may not be quite uninteresting to you. Had\nthere been but their speeches and the ceremonies, I should not perhaps\nhave thought so deeply. But their cries of \"He! He!\" and \"Ha! Ha!\"\n[were] so repeated and vociferous, that I was struck with a certain\nhorror and thought that half of the devils in hell had entered the\nthroats of these men to give _me_ an idea of their pandemonium\nbelow. Good God! What a miserable reflection! But how much moreso the\noccasion leading to it!\n\n\n[Roots and Medicines]\n\nNotwithstanding, they sometimes _Dream_ of roots (medicines). There is\na certain place, according to their notions, consecrated to _Esculapius_\n(and perhaps Apollo also, conjointly). It is depicted as a most\nheavenly abode, so delightful.\n\n\n[The Abode of the Medicine Spirit]\n\nHe (_Esculapius_) resides in a mountain, in the bowels of which is his\nhouse. It has six doors, but so mysteriously constructed that no soul\nwhatever besides himself and his _inmates_, of whom there are a great\nnumber (of every nation and language), can open them.\n\nThe lock apparently is in the form of a screw, or spiral, and is\nopened on the inside, but only to such as Esculapius deems worthy of\nadmission. These doors open _to_ different quarters, the house being\nimmensely large and, as above mentioned, in the bowels of ye mountain.\n\n_In_ this residence is of every medicine useful in life such as do not\n_vegetate_--minerals [and] fossils. These are shown to the votary. He is\ninstructed in their use, the manner of preparing and mixing them, the\nceremonies, songs and sacrifices to be performed in their application,\ntaking of them up, or in instructing _others_, because it is not every\n_Indian_ that is favored with these dreams.\n\nThe mountain is of a moderate size, and there issue from it forty\nrivers which fall into a lake not far from the _base_ and situated in a\nbeautiful plain. This lake is shallow and has some handsome sandy\nshoals, and in the borders of it in the water grow beautiful\n_rushes_. The water in every one of these rivers is of a different\ncolor, no two being alike; one is black, another white, red, green,\nblue, _ash-color_. _In_ the latter grow herbs and plants of a vast\nvariety, as also their nature.\n\n\n[Teaching the Medicines to the Votary]\n\nIn the sides of the mountain are of every herb and plant that grows in\nany part of the world whatever. When any one of them {22} (of the\nIndians I mean) is thus favored, he appears first at these rivers when\nthe head or chief of the mountain comes out. [He] [accosts] [the\nIndian] in a friendly manner. And after some conversation, he is\nintroduced into the interior of the house where he is astonished to\nfind people of every nation and language in the earth. But if I can\nform a right opinion, there are but few of each language.\n\nThey are seated in four rows--their seats being something like those of\na theatre, semicircular and rising a little one above the other. These\nare all doctors, and it is their business to instruct the _votary_ in\nthe object of his mission. They have a great quantity of medicines\nalready prepared of such as are produced in the bowels of the earth,\nsuch as minerals, stones, shells. And most, or many of these, are hung\nup in the house.\n\nHere he is taught how and in what manner to prepare these, as also the\nsongs and sacrifices appropriate to each different one or sort. When\non the outside, or out of doors, he is shown all the roots, herbs,\nplants, and is taught the respective song (of each) or of any\nparticular one, or number, or such only as grow in the climate he\ninhabits. Both the songs and the plant, [the] herb, are so indelibly\nimprinted on his mind (or memory), though he had never seen them\nbefore, or should not happen to meet with any of them for years\nafterwards, yet on his first view, he immediately recognises them and\nevery circumstance that had been instructed him, as if he had passed a\nregular apprenticeship. This may seem very extraordinary, if not\nindeed absurd, to people unacquainted with them, but still it is no\nless a positive fact.\n\nThese rivers, waters, are of different colors. So also is the _rapidity_\nof each stream, some of them moving in a turbulent and awful manner,\nas the rapids and eddies at the foot of large falls, some moving in\nlarge majestic waves like the swells of a large deep lake agitated by\nthe wind, and some in a beautiful smooth current, down which the\n_canoes_ are scarcly perceived to move. These are the tokens or signs or\nemblems of the manner of _our_ lives here below so far as regard to\nhealth and sickness. And of course the description requires no further\nexplanation.\n\nIn some of these rivers grow herbs or plants which themselves, as well\nas their roots, are a rank, deadly poison, more or less. And their\neffects, when any demon-spirited wretch employs them as instruments of\nvengeance, though I have known none to carry off the object\n_immediately_, yet have a most melancholy, baneful effect. Some of\n[these plants are] exactly similar (in their effects) to _Lunar\nCaustic_, and oftentimes with an additional _humiliating_ effect (but\nmore of this hereafter). And some deprive the object of every one of\nhis senses but that of feeling. A melancholy instance of this I saw in\nthe Spring of 1813 and sufficient of itself to _[emolliate]_ a\nheart of adamant!\n\nSometimes Esculapius will not instruct his votary in their use,\nsatisfying himself with telling them _they are bad medicines_, or\nperhaps not mentioning them at all. To others again he [will explain]\nevery _circumstance_ relating to them, but with a _most strict_ {23}\ninjunction never to employ them at his _Peril_:\n\n ... unless you wish to die. I teach you all these these\n things because I love you, and know your heart to be\n compassionate. But _mind my words_, if ever you employ them\n with an ill or evil _view_, thou shalt die! Other _Indians_ as\n well as thyself love life. It is sweet to everybody; render\n it therefore not a burthen or _disgrace_; and I _hate_ those\n who thus abuse my confident affection!\n\nThey are also forbidden, sometimes as strictly, and for the same\nreasons, instructing others in their use. Notwithstanding this great\nlove and cautious diffidence of Esculapius, there are other malignant\npowers who teach them and encourage their use. Hence those distressing\nobjects I cannot here, for the want of paper, speak of.\n\n\n[Stones and Their Virtues]\n\nWhat I have mentioned of minerals, which from their description are\nindeed really such--minerals, yet I cannot take upon myself from my\nslender knowledge of their language and _technical_ terms, to _assure_\nyou that they are prepared after _our_ manner, by chemical\nprocesses. Mercury, sulphur, saltpetre or nitre, I do not know that\nthey have. But there being french, english, german, and, from the\ndescription, greek and hebrew doctors among the number, I should not\nsuppose it preposterous in concluding that they have them all in the\nsame way as ourselves.\n\nBut from what I can learn, it is _stones_, that is some particular kinds\nof them, that are most used, such as _talc_, pumice stones and various\nother kinds. These they are shewn how to reduce to powder, and with\nwhat water, out of which river (or colored water if you please), the\nwater is taken to mix up these powders. _With the roots and herbs it is\ndifferent. _They are boiled_. These _stones_ (for they are most commonly\nthus denominated by them) are held in very great repute by them,\nthough many of them that have been shewn me as possessing wonderful\nvirtues, I considered as very common and foolish or at least harmless\nthings.\n\nHere! I am again digressing, which is everlastingly the case with me\nwhen not in the _humor_ of scribbling. I should have mentioned first\n(because as you may see, I have begun _this_ story in the _middle_\ninstead [of] at either of the two ends) that when they want to dream of\nthese things, as well as of any other particular thing, they must fast,\nand lay down to sleep, keeping their minds as free as possible from any\nother thoughts whatever, and wholly bent and employed on that\nparticular one alone.\n\nI also should have observed in the proper place that the door [at\nwhich] the votary is introduced [through] is exactly in the middle of\nthese rivers, there being twenty on each side of the door. The use [or]\nintent of the other five doors I never thought to enquire, and must\nleave you to guess as well as myself 'till such times as I can get\nthis matter explained.\n\n\n[Songs and Notes]\n\nTheir songs are delivered in _notes_, impressed or drawn on bark, in\nthe form of hierlographics, and thus taught. And being hierlographics,\n(and not very dissimilar to those anciently used by the egyptians, nay\nindeed, I have reason to think from what I have seen of both, that any\n_learned_ man being perfectly acquainted with the one could trace a\ngreat deal in the other, but this opinion I hazard from my own\nignorance), no two are alike. It therefore requires {24} him to learn\nthem, that is [every] _one_ of them. For those notes are not like\nours, _marked_ with regular bars so that one gamut serves for all. But\nwith them, each one may be said to be itself a _gamut_. However, I\nhave reason to think that they are regular and uniform. For many years\nago, when I was still scarcely more than a boy, I remember throwing\naway the contents of one these medicine bags in which there were\nseveral strips of bark covered with these notes. An Indian happened to\nbe by. He took one up and with the point of his knife, placing it on\none of these, began to sing moving the knife regularly as children do\nwhen they begin to learn their a, b, c.\n\nThis surprised me a little at the time, for the Indian was a stranger\nand had but lately arrived from his own lands that were several\nhundred miles off. After laughing at and ridiculing him, as is the\ncustom with us, I asked how he could make them out?\n\n\"The same,\" said he, \"as you do to _reckon_ (read) your _papers_. See\nthis one is (meant for) the _Thunder_, that the Earth. But I only know\na few of these songs. The possessor of this bag knew a great deal. He\nwas a great medicine man, [a] doctor.\"\n\nAs far as I can learn, every different root, herb, plant, mineral,\nspirit (or whatever you may please to term this latter) has each [its]\nrespective songs. And [these] they must sing, were [their] voices like\nthat of a choked pig, when [they] employ them for one of themselves,\nor [teach] them to another. When they sing, those of their _familiars_\nwho instructed this song, [whether] to the one who sings, as having\nlearnt it from himself ([the] familiar) or having been handed to him,\n[the familiar] is said to attend, invisibly of course, and perform\nthat which he promised this (medicine, supposing it is one) should\neffect. _{This is a long and complex job, and I doubt much if I can get\nthrough with it without more of my blundering. But I shall risk\nblunders, omissions, and repetitions.}_ Hence it is they always sing\nwhen they attend on a desperately sick person amongst themselves,\nthough very rarely when they administer to the white.\n\n\n[Treatment of the Sick]\n\nWhen any one is very sick, and that they be _called upon_, or perhaps,\nthough rarely ordered in their dreams by their familiars, they sing,\nblow and suck alternately and with such violence that one would think\nthey wanted to to blow them to the d----l, or swallow them down their\nthroats. But no, it is to force in the medicine of which they have\ngenerally a mouthful masticated into a pulp, or something near _salve_,\nsometimes. The suction business is to draw out the Devil: the\nmedicine, bone, stone, iron, brass, stick, or whatever they imagine it\nis, that occasions the disease.\n\nIf the complaint lies in any particular part, to that part it is they\napply themselves most and sometimes _only_--supposing the hip [or] knee,\nfor there they imagine it is a worm or maggot gnawing them. But if the\ncomplaint is universal, that is the whole system be sick and\ndebilitated, it is then the pit of the stomach and the temples,\nrubbing sometimes the wrist, the palms of the hands and opposite the\nheart. This is very frequently done. And in the intervals the songs\nand rattler [are sung and played] together. {25} And often a short\nspeech or prayer [is made] to that one of their _Familiars_ whom they\nthink will be most propitious on the occasion, or _he_ from whom they\nhold such, or such instruction.\n\nThese songs are a dull monotony. For though they have a few variations\nand are high and low, and the [transitions are] sometimes so very\nsudden that it requires a particular command of the throat to sing\nthem, and to _me_ [are] so difficult, I should, I believe, require a\nseven years apprenticeship even with Esculapius (But I believe it is\n_Pluto_ or _Pan_ who teaches the songs.) himself for me to learn\nthem. There is certainly no musick in them, though some few that I've\nheard many years ago, passing a winter with them, I found pleasing\nenough. But perhaps more from the _solemnity_ with which all was going\non was I struck than anything else. Indeed we had great reason to be\nsolemn, for we were dreadfully pinched by hunger.\n\n\n[Ceremonies and Songs Related to Starvation]\n\nWhen oppressed through starvation, they have a variety of ceremonies\nwhich they perform. And though the songs be different, as also the\n_ceremonies_ themselves, still are they intended to answer the same\npurpose. I shall endeavour to describe a couple to you from which you\nmay form a pretty just idea of the rest.\n\nIt was the latter end of January or beginning of February 1804. Four\nof us, only _white_ people mind, were pitching off, or rather flying off\nfrom our houses we had built in the fall on account of _the_ enemies. We\nhad a small stock of dry provisions and speared a few fish once or\ntwice. But there were so many of us that we were soon brought to short\ncommons, as the _strip_ of country we were then going through contained\nno other animals but a few stragling bears. But these animals at _this_\nseason could not be found notwithstanding all the exertions of our\nhunters. One evening on my return to our lodges, one of the women told\nme that the oldest man of our band, a great doctor, or conjurer, as we\nfrequently denominate them, said that if I were to pay him half a\ncarrot (one and a half pounds) tobacco, he would conjure and be\nassured of success, for it required payment. Though I suspected there\nwas a trick in this, I did not hesitate but gave him his demand. The\nfirst night their songs and ceremonies were as usual. \"Tomorrow, my\n_familiar_ tells me, we shall get a bear.\"\n\nAll the hunters returned at evening _mais tous \u00e0 blanc_. The second\nnight, the rattler, songs, speeches, smoking, and medicine bags\nopened. \"Tomorrow we will assuredly get something.\" But the same as\nthe day before. The third night, the same, but everything conducted\nwith a sort of awful silence and solemnity that surprised me a good\ndeal. I was harassed with constant walking, weake through hunger, and\ntired with their _b\u00eatises_ as the French say. But the manner of their\nconduct kept me that time from growling.\n\n\"Oh! Now tomorrow indeed, we shall not fail. We shall certainly eat\nflesh for the old man is a great conjurer and well liked. He prayed to\nthe _Master_ or Giver of _Life_, and his dreamed have promised him\nsuccess.\"\n\nBut we get no more than before. In these conjuring boutes they made no\nuse of drums, but instead of that had cut a small hollow tree of\nmaple, about five feet long and scooped it out, after splitting so\nthat it resembled a semicircle {26} or stove pipe split down. This\n_hollow_ board had been well dressed--reduced to about half an inch in\nthickness and well polished. There were, to the best of my memory,\nfour men seated tailor fashion and held a small stick about three\nquarters of an inch diameter and about fifteen inches long in each\nhand. With these they beat time to the tune and another moved or\nshaked the rattler in the same manner. All this however was to no\npurpose.\n\nThere was another Indian in company with us, but _tenting_ by himself\n(and his family). This Indian, who was very fond of me, would\nfrequently call me in and give me a share of what he had to\neat. \"Well!\" said he, \"What success have your great men?\"\n\nI answered I did not expect much.\n\n\"No.\" replied he.\n\n They did not go the right way to work. Had I not\n polluted (spoiled, as he said) my person last fall\n (alluding to an Indian he had then killed) I should try.\n And I believe that my familiars would be _charitable_ to me.\n However, I shall let them go on until they are done, after\n which I shall make a trial. Perhaps on _your accounts_ they\n may shew me their wonted attention.\n\nI took this as wind, but as he spoke in so very _earnest_ (si naivement)\na manner, I concealed my sentiments. The second night after the others\nhad finished, he began a little after dusk. But what a difference\nbetween them!\n\nHe had an immense large drum, as large [as] those among the military,\nand stretched hard. Upon this he beat time, but very hard, to accord\nwith his songs which were as loud as he could bawl. At certain\nintervals also he used only his rattler, but with as much violence as\nhe could. Thus he continued alternately singing, praying (or making\nspeeches) and smoking, 'till broad daylight. When he began we thought\nthis fellow was mad or only jesting. But the Indians of our lodge\nreproved us.\n\nAt sunrise he came out of his lodge, and made a long speech in which\nhe told one to go one way, a second another, and himself by another\nroute. \"Thou,\" addressing the first one, a young lad, \"thou wilt soon\nfind thy (bear).\"\n\n\"But thou,\" addressing the father:\n\n On thy way on thou wilt pass very near, but will not see\n him. Thou'lt search along and return giving up all hopes.\n But when come to this, thou must return again and between\n _this_, thy last track and the first one thou shall make this\n morning, thou'lt see him in his nest. As for me, I shall\n have much trouble to get mine.\n\nI heard him speak, but not understanding sufficiently the language,\nthe women explained to me. I need not tell you how _we_ laughed at the\npoor devil, and so went off hunting _ivy_ which had been our support for\na long time. But in the evening we found all that he predicted\nperfectly verified. This I assure you is a fact, and will maintain it\nnotwithstanding everything _skeptics_, (excuse the term) or those\nunacquainted, or but superficially so, with these people may say. And\nI am also certain that he had no previous knowledge of their being\nthere, for there was plenty of snow, and there were no other tracks\nbut those of these two hunters, [and] we had pitched _up_ (the river)\nthat day.\n\nBut, here I am digressing--to return therefore.\n\n\n{27} [Fugitive Pieces]\n\nI am altogether out of the regular track that I had proposed to myself\nat my first setting off. My time is too short and my memory too bad\nto read over the whole so as to resume the regular course. The\nremainder shall be composed of _fugitive pieces_. Indeed the nature of\nsome of them being a _compound_ will not admit of their being _treated_\nof but in _sections_ if I may use the term.\n\n\n[The Soul]\n\nThe first therefore, lest I have not time to _enter_ all, I shall speak\nof is _The Soul!_ This seems, to me at least, a most extraordinary and\nincomprehensible thing. Yet from the different sources which I have\nreceived it, and the manner of relation, serves but more and more to\nperplex. Whether it is really and absolutely the soul, or some other\n_principle_ on which the very existence depends, I cannot say. But\nsomething it is, lodged apparently in the heart or breast, that on\nthese occasions flies off and leaves them, and at the very instant of\nits exit it is perceived. And [the parting] occasions such a\nderangement of the whole system, and particularly of the faculties, as\nvery soon to deprive the object of life, but [primarily causes] a\ntotal want of sense, such as we suppose the soul _endows_ us with.\n\n\n[An Attempt to Capture a Soul]\n\nI shall here relate you one of the many stories of the kind, verbatim,\nas I received it. It was from an Indian, of course. He told me that\none summer, being on a visit rather to a distant part of the country\n(perhaps two or three hundred miles [distant]), he fell in with one of\nhis acquaintances who (as often happens between strangers,\nparticularly to such as come from the southward) asked to purchase\n_medicines_ of him.\n\n I had but a small quantity, and only of four sorts or kinds.\n He being very anxious for them, I sold them _all_ to him. He\n was not satisfied. He must have more, though I positively\n assured him I had given him the last. Then he menaced me,\n and said I should feel the effects of his resentment arising\n from my avarice and _uncharitable_ spirit. Knowing his\n disposition, I returned to my friends, intending to be as\n far out of his way as possible.\n\n One night in the winter he conjured. I was fast asleep (and\n several hundred miles off) and never thought more of him. But\n he called upon his familiars and demanded my soul! _It was taken_\n to him. But just as it was on the eve of entering his conjuring\n hut, I perceived it and sprang from my bed in the most dreadful\n agonies and convulsions, insomuch that two men holding and\n pulling of me with all their might, and [who] also had the\n assistance of the women, could not keep me quiet. I was\n constantly springing forward, rushing hither and thither and\n absolutely (totally) deprived of my faculties, for I have not\n yet the least knowledge of what I was doing, so great was my\n horror in observing this conjuring tent.\n\n At last a friendly spirit interfered and forbad the conjurer\n at his peril to do anything to my soul, but allow it to return\n immediately. He was afraid for his own life and durst not\n disobey. He let _it_ go. I cannot tell you how happy I felt and\n so easy. The distance was great indeed, but I soon flew back\n and reentered my body, when I became entirely composed.\n\n {28} But I had been so dreadfully agitated that I found myself\n in a profuse sweat, my whole frame so shaken, debilitated, and\n weake, that for several days I could not move but with pain.\n\n \"Heh!\" said I, \"What a narrow escape!\"\n\n The other Indians asked what ailed me? I told them where _I_ had\n been. They would scarcely credit [it]. But in the ensuing summer,\n upon enquiry, they found it true, and were now fully convinced\n that this power doth lodge with Indians!\n\n\n[Representation of the Soul]\n\nThey represent the soul as being small, not very dissimilar in size\nand shape from the yolk of a large hen or duck egg. Some of them [are]\nvery hard, and much of the nature and substance of a stone, but still\nnot of that substance. And others again [are] much more soft and\ntender. Some are easily _kept_ and bruised, but others are with\ndifficulty taken and continually in motion. But all are extremely\nimpatient of restraint and cannot bear it. Confinement is death to the\nbody from which it has issued!\n\nSome conjurers possessing sufficient power and influence take a soul\nif they want to destroy the body, (in the conjuring box or tent), and\nwrapping it in a piece of leather, rub and bruise it between both\nhands 'til they destroy its subtility or subtilty. As soon as it comes\nwithin view of the conjuring tent, its agonies are terrible, as also\nthose of the body, however distant that may be. But as soon as its\nmotion is destroyed, the body dies likewise.\n\n\n[Imprisonment of a Soul]\n\nOthers again take it and put it in a japannd tobacco box and tie the\nlid or cover securely with a _woman's garter_ from whence, if not\nloosened by someone, it can never escape. Any other lashing is not\nanything near so completely effectual as this. Reflect and you will\nguess immediately the reasons they give. As I do not know Latin and\nyou don't understand Indian, I must suppress this and many other\nthings. Others again take a different method thus. But by-the-bye,\nthis has but very little relation to the soul. I shall therefore refer\nit until afterwards and give you another story as received from a\nCanadian, an eye witness.\n\nHe was passing the winter with the Indians, and one night the head man\nof the tent he lodged in gave a feast. He was in the habit of doing it\nand was himself apparently a good and peaceable man, but not to be\ntrifled with by other Indians. Everything being prepared, the guests\nwere just going to eat when the feast-man's mother dropped suddenly as\nif dead. Everyone was struck with consternation. They had recourse to\ntheir medicines, songs, rattlers as usual. At last he fell to sucking\nhis mother in one of her temples. Suddenly they heard something\n_crack_. The Indian drew back, his mother arose perfectly recovered and\nall became well. However, that which occasioned the _crack_, the Indian\ntook out of his mouth, wrapped carefully up and gave it to his wife to\nput in a tobacco box, which she did. It had all the appearance of a\n_bean_ (une f\u00e8ve). The wife wanted to tie the lid, but the husband said\nthere was no necessity. They resumed their meal.\n\nBut the old woman was not long in possession of her senses. She very\nsoon relapsed, and as instantaneously as at the first. \"Ho!\" exclaimed\nthe Indian, \"The _Dog_ is off.\" They looked into the tobacco box but\nnothing was found. They continued conjuring three nights and the last\n[night] especially. The man told me he thought the devil {29} was\namongst them from a certain kind of undescribable noise in the air\nround about their tent and the sudden flashings of light. This was\npowder (gun powder). They had carefully thrown out all the fire,\nthrown a great quantity of snow and water on the hearth, and then put\nfresh earth upon it. It was perfectly dark in the lodge, there being\nno other light than what is usually emitted from the heavens. Upon\nthis hearth of fresh earth they would throw some powder and then\nretiring to the bottom of the tent would say, \"Come! Let me see if I\nbe a manito?\" then singing. Off the powder would fly!\n\nThey continued this way three nights, but all to no purpose. The old\nwoman yet lived two years but never spoke.\n\nHe said (the Indian) that this _bean_ \"... was the soul or spirit of\nanother Indian, then at a vast distance, which he darted at my mother\nto render her pitiful and miserable. But I shall make the dog suffer.\"\n\nHowever, after this, the Canadian enquired why he did not revenge\nhimself and kill him.\n\n\"No,\" said he, \"that won't do. He has got back his soul it is true,\nand I cannot get it again. Yet I might easily kill him if I chuse, but\nthis won't do. He is somewhat [justified] for I took both his wives\nfrom him.\"\n\nThere are many other instances of a like nature, but different in the\nproceedings, that I do not recollect sufficiently to commit to paper.\n\n\n[Medicines Used to Harm Others]\n\nNow again for the other way: If an Indian has a spite against another\nand is induced to it for the preservation of his own life or from\nmotives of revenge, he takes the following plan or method. He takes a\npiece of leather and cuts it into the shape of his _enemy_. And if he\nwants him to die speedily, he places a little _powdered medicine_\nopposite the heart, or upon it. This medicine is, I believe, a root\nand very inflammable. He holds a small spark of fire _near_ it. It\nimmediately _explodes_, and that part of the leather on which _it_ was\nbecomes burnt and shrivelled. When he performs this, he generally\nutters words like these, \"Let the heart of _such a one_ become like this\nleather. Let it shrivel and die within him!\"\n\nIf it is a leg, an arm, the head, or any other particular part, or\nparts or even the whole body, it is the same, and the words also,\nunless he doth not wish for the death. Then he will say, \"Let _such a\npart_, become lame, useless, ulcerous,\" according to his\ndisposition. And that part, or parts become thus affected according to\nhis wish.\n\n\"But how is it possible that such things can be? Do you really think\nthat an insignificant root of no apparant power or virtue whatever can\neffect such things?\" Thus I would frequently question. And their\nanswers with little variations [were] universally the same.\n\nYes, most certainly it is not [accomplished by] the root alone, but\nwith the assistance of that one of his dreamed that is most powerful\nand most fond of him. \"He! You white people, you know not. You are\nconsummately ignorant of the power of our great medicine men. Many\nthings might I tell you much more surprising. But you do not believe\nthese trifles--how much less then those [things] you do not know?\"\n\nWhat then is to be done! How do with, {30} what say to, a people so\nblind, so infatuated!\n\nThey have some roots that are dreadful in their effects. To being a\nfemale, I think I should prefer immediate death! They have some that\nhave the same effects as _Lunar Caustic_. They use them thus: During the\ntime of their \"seperation\" (menstruation) they endeavour to give them\nto smoke, which is never refused. There is some of this root mixed\nwith the tobacco. One smoking is sufficient. A few months after, their\ncomplexion begins to change, and at last becomes of a _nasty_ black with\nabundance of hair growing out of the face. And if these women were to\nshave, I verily believe their beards would become as bushy and thick\nas those of any man whatever.\n\nIn performing this they must also utter words thus. \"Let the one for\nwhom I intend this, and who shall smoke of it, become black and hairy,\nand become as ugly and rejected as she is now fair and searched for!\"\n\nSometimes they mingle it with their food or the liquor they\ndrink. There is more than one kind of this dreadful root, one of which\nI was shewn but have forgotten, there being two or three others\nresembling it. It is like many others, a perennial herb, and hath some\nresemblance to the long or tall thistle.\n\nTo return: When the subject or object discovers that she hath been\nthus dealt with, which they sometimes do a few weeks after, they may\nbe restored for there is an _antidote_ to it. But I have never known one\ninstance of this, though a dozen of the others I have. Some handsome,\nfair complexioned, young females refusing the importunate\nsollicitations of an abandoned, vicious, revengeful wretch become the\nvictim of [their] _coyness_. And two or three years after, I have\npositively not known them and could scarcely believe my eyes.\n\nThere is of another kind [of root] and which is very common, whose\neffect is an extraordinary _vacuation_ of blood and [which] in a few\ndays would occasion death.\n\n\n[Used Against a Woman]\n\n A half breed I lately had with me, the son of a man who many\n years ago was a servant of yours, being not of an extraordinary\n good moral character, finding his solicitations rejected with\n scorn, became jealous and very anxious to revenge himself. He\n applied to an old Indian, but in so cautious a manner that the\n Indian gave him of the root without suspecting and told him\n how to use it. He pulverised it, and mingled it with a little\n vermillion, and then watched his opportunity which occurred,\n I believe, the ensuing morning.\n\n In our _outposts_ we have no temples dedicated to Cloacinda.\n And, besides, the females here are ashamed to _sacrifice_ at\n them. He therefore could not miss his opportunity. He watched,\n and after she entered, he went and soon found the place by the\n _smoke_. Here he sprinkled some of this powder which he took in\n a quill, pronouncing, \"Let me see blood issue from the same\n place _this_ hath done. I want to see blood.\"\n\n Scarcely five hours after, the woman who was married, and\n of course so much the less bashful, said, \"What is the matter\n with me, I have been just now out and want to go again.\" You\n may suppose her astonishment seeing the time of the natural\n return was scarcely half elapsed. {31} But how much more so,\n finding it issue far beyond anything she had ever known.\n This continued 'till very late in the day.\n\n And the beast was watching to see if it would answer. He\n went in to the house on pretence of a friendly visit and\n remarked how _pale_ she was. The mother told him, \"My daughter\n has been _bewitched_, and could you not do something to ease\n her?\"\n\n He became extremely uneasy in his turn. He went out, and\n passing by the place she went to, he easily discovered,\n notwithstanding her precaution, of what dreadful consequences\n it would be if not timely attended to. He was afraid she\n would die before anything could be done. However, he went\n to the old Indian and speaking in a most sympathising strain\n asked him if he could not administer something to stop that\n extraordinary issue.\n\n \"Why!\" replied the old fellow, \"That root I gave you the\n other day is its own antidote. Give her the length of her\n middle finger to _eat_ and it will stop quick enough.\"\n\n He did not chuse to tell the Indian that it was this that\n had occasioned it, lest he should be punished by him in his\n turn. But artfully conducting his discourse, [he] got more\n from him, administered it to the woman muttering in himself,\n \"Let this blood cease, I have seen enough of it.\" And she was\n soon healed!\n\n I done all I could to make him confess it, without coming to\n the point. But he never would. He satisfied himself by\n assuring me with the most solemn assertions that it was the\n case. \"And if you doubt it,\" continued he, \"you may make the\n experiment. You need be under no apprehensions whatever, for\n in giving her of the same root to _eat_, it will stop.\"\n\nThis root, when mastigated and applied when reduced to pulp, but\nbetter when pulverised, stops the blood immediately on application to\nany wound--_how profusely soever it may flow_. It is very astringent and\nsomewhat hot.\n\n\n[Wild Carroway]\n\nAnother herb, I believe it is the (wild) carroway, which we commonly\ndenominate aniseeds--at least the smell and taste much resemble\nthat. And its stalk bears a very great resemblance to the wild mint,\nas well as the leaves and flowers. I _suppose_ this is the one meant,\nbecause they tell me the taste and smell are delicious. This root and\nall its appurtenances (stalk, leaves and flowers) is of wonderful\neffects in various _things_. I shall give you some of the stories\nrelating to it as I received them.\n\n\n[Used in Hunting]\n\n I was living out with _such_ an Indian, and we became reduced to\n _short commons_. One day he (the Indian) took a piece of bark and\n drew upon it three moose, and put some of this _medicine_ upon\n the heart and head of each. Then he fastened a piece of sinew\n to it, and told me to fasten it to a small stick that had\n been stuck _slant-way_ in the Ground.\n\n \"Now,\" said he, \"let me see if this will do. Oh no! I am\n afraid it won't. But I'll try. If it answers, the bark will\n dance!\"\n\n I laughed at his idea (a half breed told me this) and so did\n one of his sons. However, the son told me that he had\n seen his father do so before, and that he killed every\n time.\n\n \"Stop! Let us see how he will go on.\" said the son. The\n father began to sing (and if _I_ remember right, beat the\n drum also). Shortly after the bark began {32} to move,\n and as the old fellow raised his voice, so did its\n motion increase, 'till at last it began whirling round\n with great violence, sometimes one way and then another,\n 'till it was wound up close to the stick, when it began\n changing sides--sometimes _upon_ & sometimes _below_ the stick.\n\n He ceased, began to talk with us and saying he was\n afraid it would not _answer_. Thus he did three times,\n and the bark moved every time with the same violence.\n Now he desired, in the beginning, that if his _familiar_\n would have compassion on him, he would render these three\n moose foolish that they might not be possessed of their\n usual cunning.\n\n The next day we went out, the old man, his son and myself,\n a hunting. We were hungry; we walked till late in the day,\n and finding no tracks, I proposed our return. But he told\n me we ought to proceed, for in the low ground beyond a small\n ridge then near in sight of us we may perhaps find some\n tracks. \"I am never deceived when I am answered (my bark\n dances).\"\n\n We soon reached this low ground and shortly after heard a\n noise: jumping, running, and breaking of sticks. \"Ah! Here\n they are!\" said the old man. \"See how their _head_ is turned!\n What a noise they make, how they play. They are foolish.\"\n\n We killed them all. If you doubt me, ask any of the Indians,\n and see if they won't all tell you that _he_ does so when he\n wants to kill.\n\n\n[As Love Potions (Baptiste's Stories)]\n\nAnother story: for _love potions_ or philters are also composed of this.\n\n There were several young men (half-breeds) of us together, and\n also some young women who came with us to await the arrival of\n their husbands from Fort William at _that_ place. Two of our party\n wanted to pay them a _visit_ in the night. And I endeavoured to\n dissuade them, but to no purpose. They went, and met with the\n reception I foretold. They began bawling out, and on purpose,\n to awake every one near and shame us, for we were lodging by\n ourselves. And then [they] took good cudgels and pursued them\n into our place. _We_ enjoyed this confusion of the others though\n partly at our own expense.\n\n One of them then addressed me. \"Come Baptiste, this _bitch_ has\n vexed me. I know you have _good medicine_. Give me some of it that\n I may laugh at her in my turn.\" (I must tell you that one of them\n I have known many years back was, and is still, a _bitch_--i.e.\n according the Indian acceptation (as well as our own) of the term.\n And the man is the same one I mentioned little above, at the\n conclusion and beginning of pp. 30 and 31.)\n\n I gave him some with the _directions_. He returned again very\n soon after (in the same night) [and] found her asleep. He\n then rubbed her forehead, opposite her heart, the _pit_ of the\n stomach, and the palms of both hands. Then he awoke her. The\n next day as my comrades were desirous of revenging themselves,\n they broached the conversation publicly and had the laugh in\n their turn. The women had the _best_ at the offset, but as they\n could not deny the other charges, they became extremely\n confused and vexed. A quarrel ensued, but my comrads\n exultingly told them, \"We can turn and twist you _now_ about\n our fingers as we please!\" And {33} they did too. For the\n women both _giving suck_ at that time, thought it was their\n children that were handling them, as they used but _one_\n finger, and gently.\n\nThe other story is thus.\n\n A man that I have with me at present, in consequence of some\n _slips_ of his _rib_, had frequent and some severe quarrels with\n her. She began to hate him and wanted to go with her\n _paramour_. The husband though vexed and confused _did not want_\n to lose her. He began by soothing, coaxing, and caressing her.\n But she always bawled out as loud as she could that everybody\n might hear, though it were at midnight, \"Thou white dog! Leave me\n alone. Why art thou fumbling at me?\"\n\n The more she became averse the more he coaxed, and she\n bawling out, \"Don't _slabber_ me!\" every time he attempted\n to kiss her. And she was watching a fair opportunity to\n slip off to her lover (an Indian).\n\n At last he lodged his complaints to me and asked if\n I could not _assist_ him. I gave him some of this _medicine_\n with the usual directions. And [I] told him as soon as he had\n executed all properly, to come away and leave her and not\n return to her for a couple of days so that in her turn she might\n suffer.\n\n He had not long left her 'till she called for him as if\n wanting something. And like a goose he went immediately, though\n I done all I could to make him pay her in her own coin. Since\n that time they live as you see them. _But_ if you doubt of this also,\n you can easily make the experiment. Chuse any one you please, and\n let her be ever so coy, and shy, you will bring her as you want!!!\n\n Shortly after this I made some general enquiries of the man\n latterly in question. But he would not avow [to it], though\n from his confusion and [the] precipetency with which he answered,\n I believe there is _something_ in the business.\n\n It is with this medicine (continued the half breed) that the\n young men do completely and universally succeed with all the\n women that please them.\n\n\n[Effecting and Avoiding Spells]\n\n\nWith this also, principally, they succeed in bewitching any one they\nare averse to, and prevent them from killing such animals as they\nplease. They draw the likeness of the animal or animals they do not\nchuse the others to kill, put of this medicine (though most commonly\nmixed with some others in this latter case) upon the hearts, and\ndesire that they may become shy and fly off upon any the least\nappearance or approach of them. Or they will _conjure_ and desire some\nof their _familiars_, one or several, to _haunt such a one_ in all his\nmotions and scare and frighten off and _render wise_ any _such_ and\n_such_ animals--and let the distance be hundreds of miles off. Their\nfamiliars, that are spirits residing in the air, and transport\nthemselves in an instant to any place they [please], and who see all\nthat is going on _below_, keep _all_ away accordingly.\n\nTo evade this is a task that but few can succeed in. They must first\nconjure to learn who it is that has bewitched them. Then they inquire\nwhat is to be done. But here lies the difficulty. Sometimes they are\ntold they _must_ leave the appointed time run out; at others [perform]\nsuch and such ceremonies, which is tantamount to the first answer; but\nat others again, it is easily dispelled. This {34} depends entirely\nupon the precautions the _bewitcher_ has taken; the power, influence, or\nnumber of his dreamed; as also on the other hand, the dreamed, their\npower; [and on the] influence of the _bewitched_. But sometimes on a\nvery slight or trivial cause depends the whole.\n\n\n[Dealing with Spells on Firearms]\n\n\n[The Old Canadian's Account]\n\nI shall tell you another story. An old Canadian I have now with me has\nbeen in the habit of _living-free_ for many years back. In the beginning\nof a winter he was tenting with some Indians, and one of them, an\nimpertinent, bombastic sort of character, was boasting to him of the\ngreat power and effect of some medicines and a drum he had lately\nreceived from a Sauteux.\n\n For some time I did not mind him, but finding he became\n at last troublesome, and insinuating as plainly as he\n durst that _he_ was now invulnerable, or rather immortal,\n and that _we_ were helpless, a quarrel ensued 'till at\n last, \"I fxxt. upon your medicines and drum and the one\n also who gave them to you!\" said I.\n\n We seperated in no good friendship. At night he made a\n feast and invited me amongst the rest with the design of\n poisoning me. But his friends remonstrated so effectually\n that he put this off and intended shooting me going out of\n the lodge. But this also the others would not allow. He\n was vexed. I kept my eye upon him, determined I should\n give the first blow on the least motion he might make.\n Finding himself prevented in these, he said that I indeed\n should kill two moose, but that the rest of the year I\n should starve as a dog.\n\n I seperated next day with my wife and children. They were\n under great apprehensions, but I mocked all their conjurings.\n I very shortly killed two moose, but these indeed were the\n last. I walked and hunted every day. And seldom one day\n passed but I fired at the buffaloe, moose, or some other\n animal, but never got anything, anything! I and my family\n were near dying with hunger.\n\n I tried everything in my power, never giving myself the\n least trouble about the Indian's menaces. At last the spring\n arrived. Ducks and geese came, but no better success. At last\n one day, prowling in my canoe, I met two other _free-men_,\n [one of whom], after mutual inquiries, told me the same thing\n had happened him. And [he said] that an Indian told him to\n file off a small piece of the _muzzle_ of his gun and wash it\n well with water in which _sweet-flag_ had been boiled. And\n [it] killed after that as before.\n\n I laughed at the idea. But reflecting that it was an innocent\n experiment, and I could not offend the Almighty, I tried. And\n the first animals I saw I immediately killed. This sir\n (continued he) I assure you is a positive fact!!!\n\n I find that the Indians have recourse to this method also. But you\n must observe: as is the disease, so is the remedy.\n\n\n[The Iroquois' Account]\n\nAnother story just now occurs to me which I shall relate, not so much\nto multiply these pretended proofs, as to show that our Iroquois,\nAlgonquins [and others] are not such complete converts to the\nChristian faith as most people may complacently imagine. But rather\n[they] have a mongrel religion like those whom the King of Babylon\nsent to inhabit Samaria when he carried Reuben and Ephraim captives\n(in the Bible).\n\nThis winter an Iroquois {35} told me that one winter he was out a\nbeaver hunting with many of his friends. The oldest man of their party\nproposed one day that a certain number of them should go out a hunting\nmoose or buffaloe, and the others beaver. This one says:\n\n I returned at night after a good success--the old man nothing.\n He became envious, a quarrel ensued, and after this many\n others. One day I fired at a moose as he was running past me.\n He fell. I went to him, and just as I was for beginning to skin,\n he rose up, but with my axe I brought him down. It was very far\n from home. I merely opened him and returned light, trusting to\n the others of our party, for I had no desire of partaking of the\n dry provisions the old fellow had of his own. Immediately on\n entering the lodge, we had another severe quarrel, and he told\n me I should not any more exult in my prowess as he should take\n care I should not kill any more animals for _some time_.\n\n As we were coming to _knife work_, I ordered my wife to bundle\n up all our things and my lodge, and pitch off. It was then late,\n and I had not yet eaten. As none of my friends knew that I had\n killed, I did not chuse to tell them, but merely said as I was going\n off. \"Let those who are fond of me, or who chuse, follow me.\" But\n none came, and I encamped upon my moose.\n\n Every day I went a hunting. Scarcely a week passed but I\n fired twenty, thirty, and sometimes upward of fifty shots upon\n buffaloe or moose but could never kill. I would _miss_, or _the ball\n twisting in the hair would fall by the animal_ without doing further\n injury. I starved for a long time and became so weake that I could\n hardly walk.\n\n At last my wife, a woman of this country, one day that I had\n been out as usual had prepared some good strong lye, and on my\n return, washed my gun with it, filled it, and stopping both the\n orifices, put it over the smoke where it remained all night. She also\n took a number of the balls and boiled them likewise in the lye,\n telling me she had seen her uncle do so many years before when he too\n had been bewitched. I thought, at all events, it could do no harm.\n And besides, I could have done anything I was so hungry.\n\n The next day I went out again [and] found another flock or herd of\n near twenty buffaloe. I drew nigh and took all my usual precautions.\n I fired, one dropped; [I] fired again, another dropped. I killed\n fourteen out of that herd, and ever after missed not once!\n\nI asked him how the old fellow had done [it].\n\nHe said, \"I suppose it was as they frequently do: bury a piece of my\nmeat in the ground and pray the Devil to prevent my killing. For the\nIroquois, when they take it in their head, are very wicked and do not\nwant power!\"\n\n\n[The Half Breed's Account]\n\nA few days ago a half-breed abandoned with the Indians came in. And\namongst his other _wantages_, [he] asked me for a small piece of (red)\nsealing-wax, \"... because my brother cannot draw blood from the\nanimals he fires at. By heating his gun and applying this wax the\nblood will flow profusely from the wounds.\" He expressed himself\nafraid that his brother might have been bewitched, and by retarding\nthis operation he might enter _dans sa mal chance_!\n\n{36} These few _examples_ will suffice to shew you that they have\ndifferent methods of _bewitching_ and also different ways of clearing\nthemselves. And the faith and dread they have of this is scarcely\ncredible, and the consequences are often too uncommonly distressing.\n\n\n[Stories of the Hairy Breasts and Nayhanimis]\n\n[North Wind's Challenge]\nI shall now give you of the Story of the Hairy Breasts. Near the days\nof _Noah_, nations were few and small. Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k (Noah, I shall\ncall him for abbreviation sake) had a son, as I told you before, whose\nname was Nay-h\u00e2n-nee-mis [Nayhanimis]. Being strait'ned for provisions,\nhe went out to angle with some of the Hairy-Breasts. They came to a\nlake, pierced several holes, but the North (or North Wind, as you chuse)\nbeing envious of Nayhanimis froze the water down to the very ground so\nthat in the deepest parts they found but earth. And after much\ndigging, at last [they] reached the bottom. But behold that also was\nfrozen--and who knows to what depth in the Earth!\n\nFinding this to be the case Nayhanimis, addressed his friends thus.\n\n I see this is the doing of the North Wind. (Now by rights\n the North Wind ought to have been his maternal Grand Father--but\n what cannot envy do?) He is envious of us and wants to make\n us die of hunger. But he shall not! I have to propose to you\n to cut off my head, rip up my body, beginning at the throat.\n You must not hurt nor break any single one of my bones, but\n carefully take off all the flesh, dry it, and make pounded meat\n of it. Of this you must sprinkle a little in every one of the\n holes. You must also _chop_ up my heart into very small pieces\n and throw a few of these pieces also into each hole. Then put\n in your lines, and you'll take as many fish as you please. But\n my bones you must put in a heap, carefully by themselves.\n\n Mind! Upon your faithful observance of all these commands\n depends our mutual safety. The North thinks himself sole\n master, and would wish to crush us because we begin to have a\n little knowledge. But he shall know me!\n\nThey [did] accordingly, and accordingly also they took abundance of\nfish. North perceived this. He came to see, and finding himself thus\nfrustrated, inquired how it came about. They told [him]. He challenged\nNayhanimis who by this time had revived. And besides, a beautiful\nlarge feather he had sticking in his cap, or head, which none durst\nwear but such as have given incontestible proofs of their manhood\n[and] bravery. He likewise had a smoking bag of the skin of a\nbadger. Nayhanimis accepted the challenge.\n\n\"It seems, Nayhanimis, you are a great man, a man of extraordinary\npower and abilities! Let us have a trial, and see which of us has the\nmost, for I also have some knowledge.\"\n\nNayhanimis answered, \"No! I have but little power. But that little I\nemploy as much as I can to the general benefit of my fellows. Let us\nsee what you can do, which if I cannot, then you will certainly be\nsuperior to me.\"\n\nHere they performed one or two wonderful feats. But in [these]\nNayhanimis had the advantage most confessedly. The North pierced his\nbody through, and [did] another extraordinary thing I cannot well\nrecollect. But the other [did] more and recovered not only more\nsuddenly but more perfectly.\n\nAt last the North put a bet and said, \"Let us see for this last act. I\nwill cut off my head, and if I cannot replace and recover {37}\nperfectly, the same as I am at present, then my _house_ and all I have\nshall be yours. But if I succeed, and you cannot, then all your\n_possessions_ shall be mine.\"\n\nNayhanimis consented for he was secretly desirous of humiliating the\nself-sufficient spirit of North. They tried. North failed, but\nNayhanimis completely succeeded. He deliberately severed his head from\nhis body, put it down on the ground beside him very composedly, and\nthen replaced it, when it became as though nothing had happened. But\nthis was owing to the power and virtue of his _plume_ which, however,\nthe others knew nothing of.\n\nIt appears that the North also recovered but by the assistance of his\nfriends, of whom he had a numerous train. North was faithful to his\npromise. [He] gave him his house which was beautiful and spacious, but\nmostly underground, or at least in the side of a mountain. All\n[North's] friends turned out, put in Nayhanimis and gave him the full\npossession.\n\nBut he was no sooner in than they secured all the outlets: doors [and]\nwindows. And [they] set it on fire to destroy one whom they found so\nmuch more powerful than themselves! Nayhanimis, finding this to be the\ncase, was not in the least dismayed, but took his smoking bag and thus\naddressed it. \"Now _thou_, Badger, our mutual safety depends upon thy\nobedience and expedition. Thou art made to pass _through_ the earth as\n_[quickly]_ as _upon_ it. These fools think to destroy us, but thou must\nshow that we are superior to them.\"\n\nDuring the conflagration they were enjoying the scene and exulting in\nthe idea of having at last succeeded in destroying so formidable an\nadversary. But what was their consternation when they saw him come to\nthem without even one hair of his head singed! They were _appalled_ with\nastonishment, and had not the power of utterance.\n\nAt last, recovering a little, they endeavoured to pass it off as a\njoke and turn it to his own advantage, by silencing at one blow the\nenvy and malice of _all_ his enemies, pretending to be staunch friends\nof his. But he was not thus to be duped. Yet he showed a superiority\nof sentiment and generosity, equal to his powers and abilities, by\ngiving them (though _contemptuous_ if you please) pardon. So much for\nthis _Part_.\n\n\n[Nayhanimis Wars with the Hairy Breasts]\n\nThus did matters pass on for yet a few years. The _Indians_ began to\n_multiply_ and inhabit the world. But the Hairy Breasts, a jealous,\nenvious, and at best foolish people, could not well behold _their_\nprosperity. They made _war_ upon them (the _Indians_) by stealth and\ndestroyed numbers. Their affairs bore a most dismal aspect--[The Hairy\nBreasts wished for] no less than the total extinction of the whole\nrace.\n\n\nAt last Nayhanimis pitched off with his wife, _her father_, and another\none. There were four of them. He found a Beaver lodge. Here some of\nthe _Hairy-Breasts_ came up with him: compliments at first, afterwards\nsneers, taunts and revilings--but so ambiguously [given] that no hold\ncould be taken.\n\n\"How numerous, how many are there of ye?\" inquired [one of] the Hairy\nBreasts.\n\n\"We are twenty of us.\" replied Nayhanimis;\n\n\"And so are we.\" rejoined the others.\n\nNow they here entered into an arrangement that whoever found _Beaver_\nfor the future, it should be his own. But to avoid any wrangles, he\nwho _found_ the Beaver should plant a stick or branch upon the lodge as\na mark. On their return {38} home, each recounted to his family what\nhe had met with in the course of the day.\n\n\"Now,\" said _Nayhanimis_ addressing his family, \"we must take twenty\nbeavers, one for each man of them (meaning the Hairy Breasts) and make\na feast. If it turns out that we be able to eat these twenty beaver,\nand they not, then we shall be superior to them and have the upper\nhand.\"\n\nThe beaver were cooked accordingly. He took his _rattler_ which he shook\nto the tunes of his songs, performed the usual ceremonies, and they\nate the whole twenty beavers with ease. Then addressing his family\nthus said, \"These Hairy Breasts are great boasters, but cowards. They\nare a people of no account. Tomorrow will decide all.\"\n\nThe Hairy Breasts on their return did the same as Nayhanimis and\ncooked also twenty beavers, thinking that his band did really consist\nof that number. They ate, but every one was already full and yet more\nthan three quarters of the feast remained. \"Give me my rattler,\" said\none of the oldest, \"that I sing. It may happen that we find grace.\"\n\nHe sang and shook his rattler, but it would not sound. After frequent\nrepeated trials to no effect, he became vexed and threw it out of\ndoors among the dogs. \"This dog of a rattler will not sound in spite\nof all my endeavours. But hold! Hear how it rattles now that it is\nout. Go for it one of ye! Perhaps it was owing to some fault in me.\"\n\nThey brought it to him. But [it was] still as before; he threw it out\nagain in a rage. It was no sooner out than it sounded [as] well as\nbefore. It was brought in again, but as before, again. Then he threw\nit out for good, vexed and disappointed to the utmost degree. But his\nfriends were not pleased. They considered this a portentious omen and\nhis behavior foolish, and by no means calculated to reconcile their\n_Deities_ to them. He comforted them by telling them, \"The numbers of\nthe adverse party must be few. Otherwise we had surely been able to\n_eat_ the whole of this feast. They are few and we _shall_ subdue them.\"\n\nThe next day they all pitched off. Nayhanimis came first to a beaver\nlodge and marked it. [He] came [to] another and marked that one\nalso. But making a circuit, in which he hung up his bow [and] quiver\nin a tree at his own height, came round to the same lodges and found\nthat the Hairy Breasts had put marks of their own and thrown his one\naway. Exasperated he threw theirs away and replaced his. And [he] made\nanother circuit, when he found the Hairy Breasts had replaced their\nown again. He also remarked that the Hairy Breasts had hung up their\nbows _in the tops of very high trees_, trusting to their numbers.\n\nAt last they met, greeted each other at first, then sneers, quarrels,\na challenge and then the battle. They were to fight _man to man_.\n\nNayhanimis killed nineteen right out, but the twentieth had near\nkilled him. However, this was but an accident usual in battles. He\nsoon killed him also.\n\nThe women were coming up when, raising his voice to a pitch to be\ndistinctly heard by all, [he] said:\n\n Such of ye _Indian_ women as have been taken from your homes\n [and] had your husbands killed, such of ye Indian women as\n are willing to return to your nation, take all axes and\n others arms out of the hands of these Hairy Breast women.\n Seperate yourselves from them; attack {39} and destroy them\n _all_. Leave not one alive to carry the news to the others.\n\nThey seperated accordingly and killed every soul.\n\nThen he took them to his tent and [found] by their answers to his\nqueries that there [was] still another band, not far off, consisting\nof forty young and two old men of the Hairy Breasts. He ordered a\nquantity of poles or pickets to be cut very long, and made a kind of\nfort of them round his own tent. And [he] gave orders to them to\ngather a vast quantity of snow round all the sides of it to come over\nthe points, so that neither the pickets nor tent might be seen, and\nthat this rising might have the appearance of a natural hill--\nsomething in short in the form of a pit. He immediately made a number\nof lances, and spears and walked off in quest of his enemies.\n\nHe soon reached their camp, drew near, and found that there were but\ntwo old men. All the others were out a hunting. Here he listened to\ntheir conversation and was burning with indignation at the stories\nthese two old men told each other of the cruelties they had done to\nthe _Indians_. They were chuckling at this when he sprang into the tent,\ntook each by the head and thrust their faces [into] the fire and\nsprang out again to listen.\n\nOne of them, returning to his senses, for they had both fainted during\nthe ceremony, exclaimed thus, \"My old friend! What is the matter with\nme? I lost my senses quite suddenly and now that I am come to, I feel\nmy face quite sore and cannot see.\"\n\n\"It is the same with me.\" replied the other one\n\n\"Then it must be some evil spirit that has pounced upon us.\" resumed\nthe first.\n\nAt last Nayhanimis addressed them thus:\n\n I shall tell ye old men a story too. There were two old men\n formerly seated in their tents relating to each other the\n exploits of their younger days and the cruelties they\n committed upon the _Indians_.\n\n Nayhanimis was near. He pounced upon them and thrust both\n their heads together into the fire. When your children\n and young men be returned from their hunting, tell them\n this story. In the meantime I shall return home and make\n ready for them. My name is _Nayhanimis_ and I reside at\n _such_ a _place_ (i.e. I am _called_, or named,\n Nayhanimis ...).\n\nThe old men, as may be imagined, were thunderstruck with this and\ndurst not say a word more. But in the evening the young men came\nhome. They were astonished to see their fathers in such a plight.\n\n\"Children! Behold your fathers!\" said they. \"Had any _miscreant_ durst\nact in such a manner to _our_ fathers, their villany should certainly\nnot have passed off thus. _But we are now old men and of no more\naccount_!!!\"\n\nThis last apostrophe above all the rest roused them to vengeance. They\nmerely scraped the snow off their feet and legs and went immediately\nin quest of him vowing vengeance all the way of a most cruel and\n_exemplary_ nature.\n\nNayhanimis was on his guard. Every soul able to wield a weapon had one\nin his hand, besides an infinite number of spears and sharp stakes\nstuck in the ground. The Hairy Breasts came, but not perceiving the\ntrap on account of the snow that was brought over [the] ends of the\nstockades, they all fell in, one upon the other, and impaled\nthemselves in their fall on these sticks. All of them but two or three\nmet with instantaneous death. The few that were not injured were put\n{40} to an excruciating but immediate death to satisfy the _manes_ of\nthe departed _Indians_. And he proceeded immediately to the camp, killed\nthe remaining two old men, scoffing and taunting them at the same\ntime. Immediately after this he ordered such of the _Indian_ women as\nhad had their husbands killed, or were taken by the Hairy Breasts, to\nseperate from the other women and inflict the same punishment upon\nthem and their children as had been done to their friends.\n\n Thus were the Hairy Breasts entirely [extirpated] merely\n by their own folly and wickedness. Had they lived peaceably,\n and allowed the _Indians_ to partake of the blessings of this\n world without envy, as well as themselves, and to which they\n had an undoubted right, they might still have been in existence.\n\n However, there are still two nations of them, one of which is\n on _your_ lands, the others, I believe beyond the seas. But they\n are an insignificant and most despicable people. They pretend\n to antiquity and would fain extort respect from the _moderns_\n (i.e. themselves, or the Indians, _principally_). But their very\n countenance, appearance, everything about them denotes folly,\n and seems more to demand contempt than to call for respect. I\n saw one many years back, who was brought by the traders from\n somewheres on your lands. [His] face was venerable, but still\n there was a meanness in the _whole_ of him that I could not\n account for. I respected him, and wanted to treat him\n accordingly. This is as from the stories I had heard related of\n them. But the traders laughed at _us_ and asked one if I was\n inclined to respect folly, insignificance, and nothing!!!\n\n\n[Notes]\n\nI have been a long time in writing these pages, and have been\nfrequently disturbed. I have been often obliged to put by my paper\nafter seating myself five or six times to write only one word. From\nsuch long and frequent interruptions _much_ method and correctness\ncannot be expected. I therefore send them to you in the form of _notes_.\n\n\n[Motives for Writing the Journal]\n\nMy motives for thus employing my time and paper were first to amuse\nand instruct myself, but principally for your own amusement and such\nfew friends as you may think _worthy_ of the communication. _Lend them\nnot [out] of the house_, nor let too many see them, for I have some\nnotion, please God I live, to digest them into form and regularity,\nand have them published--besides a vast many others I [propose], with\nGod's help, collecting. But this is merely between ourselves, and\nimmediately after perusal blot out all _this_ paragraph.\n\nJournals [and] voyages of these people have been frequently\npublished. But I have met with none that gives so circumstantial a\ndetail of their private life (if I may so say) as is necessary to give\nthat insight to their ideas and notions (and this latter term too, I\nthink, critically speaking, cannot be applicable to them) that is\nrequired, and so much wanted, to form a proper estimate of man in his\n_natural_ state.\n\nWe all see them, hear them and relate of them. But where is there one\nwho can give the _whys_ and _wherefores_ that these people do so and so? I\nbeg you will _blot_ this last paragraph entirely out, at least the first\npart. And do not be premature in your condemnation or judgement of me,\nfor I trust my motives are entirely destitute of vanity, and only the\ndesire of truth urges me, or at least [the desire for] true and just\ninformation. G N. April 16th 1823.\n\n\n{41} [Comments on Aboriginal Beliefs]\n\nSuch are the notions and ideas of these people. They acknowledge a\nsuperior power, not Wee-suck-\u0101-j\u0101\u0101k, as I was erroneously informed, _but\nthe same _one_ you adore in the Christmas holidays_. This one they have a\ngreat respect and veneration for. But seldom it is, as far as I can\nlearn, that they sacrifice or pray to him, make speeches, which,\nthough extempore, _I_ consider as much prayers as though they were\ncomposed after the most deliberate and mature reflection. And many\nparts of them [are] so simple, plain, natural, and withal so sublime,\nthat I frequently felt great pleasure in attending to them.\n\nBut these sentiments are so few comparitively speaking, and the\nabsurdities so great and frequent, that few men can hear them without\nlamenting their ignorance. They have often seemed to me as desirous in\na high degree of becoming acquainted with the true _mode_ of\nworshipping, from the frequent changes, even during my time, they have\nmade in their _worshippings_. As a proof of this is the avidity with\nwhich they seize any new system introduced from their _southern_\nneighbors, the short time they hold it, and how completely it is\nabandoned, if not entirely forgotten for another equally, if not more,\nabsurd than the former. To introduce a new system among them, it is\nonly necessary to report an extravagant tale of some wonderful\ncharacter, the cures by _this_ means that have been performed, and such\nlike miraculous and fantastic nonsense. But in their fundamental\npoints I perceive no visible alteration.\n\n\n[Mee-tay-wee]\n\nThe principal of these is what they call the Mee-tay-wee, a ceremony I\nshall compare to freemasonry. But the initiations are public. Every\none that chuses comes to see them, and many are invited. Here, in the\ncourse of initiation, are ceremonies or deviltries performed that no\nman of his own mere dexterity or power _can_ do.\n\n\n[Conjuring]\n\nThe next principal one is conjuring. This is a principle I believe as\nnatural to man as the air he breathes (though not _so_ necessary).\nEveryone wishes to peep into futurity, and there are few but who would\nnot inquire into causes could they do it, or were it not forbidden\nthem. These two, of course, are consequences or consequents of their\nmythology. There are many in the civilized or Christian world who\nabsolutely and positively deny this power of theirs as being absolutely\nimpossible and at best [believe them] but absurd and idle stories.\n\n\n[Evidence of Spirits through Conjuring Practice]\n\nMany of the things related of these conjurings I acknowledge to be\nso. But at the same time I am as positively and as firmly persuaded of\nthe truth of the assertion _that they have dealings with some\nsupernatural spirit_, as I am convinced that I live and breathe in\nair. [That is] unless, indeed, we chuse to acknowledge and believe a\ncertain sect of philosophers (of the last century I believe) who _wish_\nto tell us that we _only imagine ourselves alive_. And I am by no means\ninclined to acknowledge myself as superstitious. I am convinced of\nthis from reason, argument, comparison--in short, from _analysis_. Let\nany one man, unless he be a headstrong brute who is _determined_\nbeforehand not to be convinced, analyse their _discourses_, and I am\nconfident he will believe as much as many, or have great doubts at\nleast. To absolutely deny this, we must first deny that there is a\nDevil, and afterwards deny his pernicious power. {42} And if we deny\nthese points, we must descend to a third, and [one] more fit for an\natheistical wretch and a beast than a Christian, or even rational\ncreature. I have heard some sensible and well informed gentleman deny\nit on the plea of their _ignorance_. But this again is _a_ basis and\nvery solid one.\n\nThese people are still in a complete state of nature. Their ideas of\nthe true God are far from clear or correct. They acknowledge Him\nindeed as the supreme and absolute master of all, but more, or rather\nas, a passive _deity_ [more] than as he really is. But their notions of\ntheir other deities came far more near the truth.\n\nTheir wants indeed are also few, but they are arbitrary and cannot be\ndispensed with, at least for any time. It is therefore very natural\nthat they should employ their whole thoughts and most of their time in\nprocuring these means to warding off or averting their dangers. And I\ndo not know of any method more adapted to this than the one they\npursue: fasting and sleeping to dream. And they do dream too. And many\nof these dreams are so complicated, or compounded of so many different\nthings that it is absolutely beyond the power of _their_ invention to\nfabricate them.\n\nSurely a man may believe his senses. A man tied, wound up in a blanket\nor skin equally soft. Here he is held by one, two, or three men. He\nslips out of the blanket and presents himself before you free, leaving\nthe cords _untied_ in the blanket. You hear him speak, and perhaps\ntwenty other voices besides, all at the same. Again, he is bound as a\ncriminal, rather indeed as a pig, crumpled into a heap and thrust into\nhis _hut_. At the very instant of his entrance, the hut shakes as if ten\nthousand devils were for pulling it to pieces. You enter this, find\nthe man absent, hear a fluttering about your ears or see a vast number\nof small lights resting on the hoops that hold the poles together.\n\nImmediately after you are out, you hear the man speak within\nagain. You look again and feel for him, but hear him talking at a\ndistance. What can this be but supernatural agency? I have never seen\nfeats of _this_ kind, but others I have, not so _strong_, but equally\nconvincing.\n\n\n[Conjuring Ceremony for a N. W. Co. Gentleman]\n\nI have been informed that a young half-breed, abandoned with the\nIndians almost from his childhood, a few years back entered one of\nthese conjuring _huts_ at the solicitation of one of the North West\ngentlemen to see what retarded the people so long. Previous to his\nentering a great deal of conversation on the subject had been [taking\nplace]. Matters were settled between them and the conjurer. Some time\nafter his entrance, he began to cry (not weep) as a person uneasy. At\nfirst the voice was within, but it appeared as rising in the air, and\nat last was lost.\n\n\"Well!\" said one of the Indians, addressing one of the half-breeds\nliving with the white. \"Well! Enter now, and see if he be there. Thou\nart always doubting and denying what we say of these things. Enter\nthen, and see if he be there. Then indeed are our assertions false.\"\n\nHe raised the bottom of the _casement_ and entered. But as he was not\nbelow, he rose on his feet and felt for him, but [the conjurer was]\nnot to be found. However he was _paid_ for his curiosity. There was a\ndreadful fluttering within, but especially about his head. His hair\n[was] flying about in his face as if in a tempest, and [there were]\nfrequent appearances of small lights before his eyes whichever way he\nturned. He bawled out and asked those without what was the matter with\nhim. He became afraid and _walked_ {43} out as quick as he could.\n\nVery shortly after, they heard the same cries of pain, faintly at\nfirst, but the voice soon entered. The _conjurer_ said he was carried\nto where the people were. \"They are all asleep, at such a place and\ntomorrow will be here.\" He said there were four (spirits) of them,\nthat carried him off. Each held him by the _little finger_ and _little\ntoe_!\n\n\n[Stories]\n\nI shall here relate a couple more of these stories.\n\n\n[The Hunter and the Wolf Spirit]\n\nAn Indian told me that several years back he left his lodge on the\nborders of a large lake to go to the house for some necessaries he\nwanted. He took a traverse for some islands. The weather was dull but\nmild. A storm very soon set in. But he persevered. Thinking the wind\nhad changed, he also changed his course. He became very much fatigued\nand laid down on the ice to rest himself and wait for daylight, for\n_the_ night had overtaken him. He was not long down before, reflecting\non his situation, he became extremely uneasy and was afraid of\nfreezing.\n\nAt last he heard a curious noise near him that he could not account\nfor. At first his fears increased, greatly dreading it was some\nmalignant spirit. But having no alternative he resigned himself to his\nfate.\n\n And I became as composed as though I were safe. And I was\n too, for an animal much resembling a wolf, and black, came up\n and covered me. I was very cold, shivering in every limb, but\n I soon became quite warm. He rose from off me and went on as\n if inviting me to follow. His eyes appeared like two candles.\n I followed.\n\n He led me to an island where I made a fire and warmed and\n dried myself. And as soon as I was rigged, I followed him,\n for he went off and looked at me so earnestly I took it for\n an order. He led me straight to the water hole. There\n happened to be people at the time there going for water.\n They saw _these_ lights and asked me what occasioned them,\n or who it was that came with me. I told them it was a\n compassionate spirit that retrieved me from a dreadful death.\n\n\n[Pursuit by a Pahkack]\n\n_Second_ [Story]! A young man lately told me the following.\n\n I was returning home with my uncle when come to _that_ point,\n we heard something crying behind us, \"He! He! Ha! Ha!\" and\n whistling alternatively. My uncle told me it was a Pah-kack\n (Skeleton), and [it] wanted to destroy us. It came up with\n us very soon and kept constantly buzzing and whistling in\n our ears so that, indeed, we were quite bewildered at last.\n It was at night and dark, but we kept straight on as we\n thought. We were mistaken for, after walking a long time,\n we at last came to the water hole again from where we had\n set off. We were both of [us] much afraid, but finding this\n path, we minded it no more though it pursued us making more\n and more noise the nearer we got _home_.\n\nMany of these stories bear a great resemblance to those extravagant\ntales of la B\u00e9te a la Grande Queue, Loup Garoup, Chasse Galerie and\nmany others natural to superstitious people. It requires, therefore, a\ngreat deal of caution and attention to get at the true ones. I have\nhere _inserted_ more than I originally intended, but they will serve to\ngive you an idea of the notions of these people, and, except a few, I\nhave selected those that appeared most rational. _However they will all\ncome in time_.\n\n\n{44} [Wetiko]\n\nThere is a kind of disease (or distemper rather, and of the _mind_, I am\nfully persuaded) peculiar to the Crees and Sauteux, and of which they\nhave the greatest dread and horror. And certainly [the fear is] not\nwithout the very greatest cause--the consequences, forty-nine times out\nof fifty, being death unfortunately to many besides the _subjects_ or\nobjects themselves. They term _this_ Wen-di-go (according to the French\npronunciation, which is more correct than the English, in this\nword)--the proper signification of which, to me at least, and no one I\nthink can doubt it, is _Giant_ of the Anthropophagi _Genus_, sect, tribe,\nor kind.\n\nThe stories related of these are as extravagant and fantastic as\nthose we read in our old romances _in the days of chivalry_. [They\ndiffer] in no one circumstance hardly but the means used in their\ndestruction which, of course, is often done by the intervention or\nassistance of their guardian genii. However, there are some few more\nrational than those of _ours_, and though still beyond all bounds of\ncredibility, are as devoutly believed by these poor creatures as the\nGospel is by the most orthodox among us. I do not remember any of\nthese sufficiently correctly to give you a few of the stories, one\nexcepted.\n\nSuffice it to say that they are of uncommon size. Goliath is an unborn\ninfant to them. And to add to their _dread_, they are represented as\npossessing much of the power of magicians. Their head reaching to the\ntops of the highest _poplars_ (about seventy or eighty feet), they are\nof proportionate _size_. Of course they must be very heavy. Their gait,\nthough grand and majestic, at every step the earth shakes. They\nfrequently pursue their prey (_Indians_ of course) invisibly. Yet they\ncannot so completely divest themselves of all the incommodities of\nnature as to prevent their approach being known. A secret and\nunaccountable horror pervades the whole system of one, several, or the\nwhole band of those of whom he is in pursuit. [There are] phenomena in\nthe heavens [and] earth.\n\n\n[Trapping a Wetiko]\n\n In the days of _Noah_, (or near them at least) there were a\n large party of _Indians_ collected together for mutual safety.\n Many camps had been already destroyed by him, and the\n Indians were in great danger [of] being entirely exterminated.\n\n At last they bethought themselves of a plan. \"It is needless\n to go to war upon him. What can we do to him with our arms!\n Let us make an immense large trap (of wood) and draw lots\n [for] which of us shall serve as bait. It is a dangerous assay\n indeed, but will any generous one amongst us refuse sacrificing\n his life for the safety of so many?\"\n\n They made this trap on the opposite side of a small opening in\n the woods, so that he might see the person seated from afar.\n It was between large trees which were made to serve as\n _posts_. It was finished.\n\n An old woman stepped up and said, \"My Grandchildren! I am\n now old and of no more account among ye. We are all in danger\n of being devoured by this insatiable and terrible beast\n Why should I then regret sacrificing a life that, at best\n I can now enjoy but only for a short time, seeing it will\n in the end be productive of so much good? _I will go and be\n bait_.\"\n\n The others were extremely touched at her generosity\n but they had no alternative, and circumstances admitted of no\n delay. The old lady seated herself very {45} composedly in\n the trap and awaited his arrival. The others fled off of\n course. It was time too, for he soon _hove_ into sight, stalking\n along in all the stile and terror of imperial grandeur.\n His head [was] equal with the tops of the highest trees, and\n the ground [was] shaking at every step, though frozen, it being\n then depth of winter. And his countenance denoted an\n assemblage of pity, contempt, rage and voraciousness. All\n this did not dismay the old lady; she remained quiet.\n\n He perceived her. \"What! What, old woman, art thou doing there?\"\n But changing his tone, which he did several times, thus continued,\n \"Thou art of my natural enemies and I shall presently grind thee.\"\n\n \"Ah! my grandchild! I am an old woman, abandoned and deserted\n by those whom I have suckled and brought up. They are fled\n off in dread of thee, and being old and helpless, they thrust\n me in this tuft of trees so as to be the less embarrassed.\n Come now and assist me out, and in acknowledgement I shall\n inform thee of their precautions. Otherwise thou'lt lose thy\n life by their deceptions.\"\n\n He was in no dread of the _Indians_, so far as regarded their\n _own_ power, but he thought a little salutary advice would not\n be amiss, intending after this to _grind_ the old _thing_ as he\n had promised himself.\n\n He drew up. \"What a devil of a place they have put thee indeed.\n Did they think to conceal thee from me?\"\n\n He stooped to enter. When she found he had entered far enough,\n she touched a stick. And down came all the weights and cross\n bar upon his back. Though he was uncommonly strong, the weight\n and suddenness of the blow was such that he gave way and was\n jammed between the two beams or bars. Here he struggled denouncing\n [and calling for] vengeance and eternal destruction to the whole\n of the _human_ race.\n\n The great bellowing he made was a signal to the men who were\n in ambush not far off. They came running up and soon dispatched\n him with a multitude of blows from axes and chisels. Thus\n were they, for _one time_, relieved. The women and children\n returned to the camp and enjoyed themselves as usual without\n further apprehensions.\n\nThese giants, as far as I can learn, reside somewhere about the _North\nPole_. And even at this day, [they] frequently pay their unwelcome\nvisits, but which, however, are attended with a complete fright only.\n\nIt seems also that they delegate their power to the Indians\noccasionally. And _this_ occasions that cannibalism which is produced or\nproceeds rather from a sort of distemper much resembling _maniaism_.\n\n\n[Habits and Types of Wetiko]\n\nThere are three sorts or kinds that I know of, and believe there are\nno more. The first I have already related as above, and the two I am\ngoing to give you are sometimes _compounded_ together and sometimes\n_independent_. But they are both equally true and melancholy and\ndistressing in whatever light we may view them. However, I shall not\npretend by any means to palm _all_ that is said about them upon you as\ntrue. Of this you'll by and bye be able to judge as well as myself, and\nnot doubt.\n\n\n[Those Driven to Cannibalism by Starvation]\n\nThe first of these are such as are driven to this dreadful extremity\nby starvation. In all _woody_ countries where the inhabitants lead a\nwandering, roving life and whose subsistence depends upon the game\nthey procure, they must of necessity be frequently pinched and\nsometimes brought very low. All _people_ cannot bear this privation\nalike. And though there is perhaps not {46} a people in this world\nwho take this so patiently as these people do, yet there are not\nwanting instances where, even with them, that _nature_ gives way. They\nvanish as a _dying_ candle.\n\nBut others cannot stand it out so long; they must have something to\neat, be it what it may. Sometimes, though with the most extreme\nreluctance at first, they feed upon the flesh of such as _have\ndied_. Any kind of animal substance, at such times, must come very\ngrateful to the stomack. And hence it is, I believe, that those who\nhave once preyed upon their fellows ever after feel a great desire for\nthe same nourishment. And [they] are not so scrupulous about the means\nof procuring it. I have seen several that had been reduced [to] this\ndistressing alternative. And though [it be] many years after, there\nappeared to me a wildness in their eyes, a confusion in their\ncountenances much resembling that of reprieved murderers.\n\nNow, if we consider how very precarious their mode of subsistance is,\nhow devoted they are to superstition and prejudice, we--such of _us_ as\nknow more about them--we, I say, may wonder how they stand out so\nwell. Very many instances I have known seem to be far beyond the power\nof human nature to stand.\n\nYet, notwithstanding this dreadful privation lasts not for a few days,\nbut even to weeks and months, during all of which time the men are out\nfrom star-light to star-light and have never anything more to _eat_\nthan some bits of leather, moss, bark and such like, it is very rare\nthey will kill a _fellow_ to live upon him. This is not\nuniversal. There are unfortunately still too many exceptions, but\nthese again would seem as denounciations from their gods. They appear\nso to me--I can scarcely doubt it! And the Indians themselves seem to\nthink the same, though in another way.\n\nAt this place where I am now writing (Lac La Ronge, English River),\nbut a few years back, several instances occurred. An old canadian is\nsaid to have lost one of his sons thus, though an excellent\nhunter. The old man sometimes speaks to me of that son. And the second\ndied on his way to the house, and not far off. The same year an Indian\nkilled all his family but two daughters whom he compelled to partake\nwith him, and for the rest of the route he ...........\n\nI shall here give you a few stories of the kind.\n\n\n[Story of a Wetiko Woman]\n\n _That_ same year (I do not know precisely when, but only a\n few years back) a woman alone arrived at the house. Her\n appearance was haggard, wild, and distressed. However, she\n was taken into _the_ house. Questions [were] put as usual,\n but the answers [were] vague, indefinite and contradictory.\n They handed her something to eat. She acted as if eating\n it indeed, but let the whole fall in the _inside_ of her\n gown. This [roused] suspicion. But what added to this was\n the extraordinary stench she emitted from the heat of the\n chimney. And shortly after her entrance a part of a human\n shoulder [was found]. The dogs brought [it] in from upon\n her road. She went off, being directed upon a road leading\n to a camp not far off.\n\n As soon as she made her appearance, the Indians immediately\n conceived what was the matter. But through charity, as well\n as for safety and to find the truth, they gave her to eat\n principally marrow-fat. Now these people pretend that\n cannibals cannot bear this fat or grease. Of course it was\n a kind of _ordeal_.\n\n Everything she did and said, notwithstanding her great\n caution, betrayed her. She took up [one] of the children\n of her acquaintances to {47} kiss, as is customary, but\n would have given it a bite had they not taken it from her.\n They watched her narrowly. All the men slept in one tent\n with her. She pretended to be asleep 'till she imagined\n the others were, then rose very cautiously, and was\n beginning to prepare herself for _action_. One of the men\n perceived this, rose upon her with an axe. Though the\n blow was violent, and upon the head, she would have\n killed him had not the others interfered. Her wretched\n fate was soon decided.\n\nThere is such a singular, strange, incomprehensible contradictoriness\nin almost all these cases. And many I have heard, that I do most\nverily believe they are _denunciations_, witch, or wizardisms. In any\nother manner they are not rationally to be accounted for, unless we\nsuppose all those who feed on human flesh to be thus possessed. Then\nit is natural to man in these cases. But why then not the same with us\nas with these people?\n\n\n[Those who Dream of Ice and the North]\n\nThe third kind--or delegated which by what follows, I believe may be\nallowed to be the term--[is made up of] those who dream of the North or\nthe Ice or both. Everyone knows where the North resides, but only few\nknow the abode of Ice or the Ice. This they pretend is the parent of\nIce. [It] is in the bowels of the earth, at a great depth and never\nthaws. All ice originates from this. These two they are much afraid of\nbecause they are both highly malignant spirits. There is no joking or\njesting with them. Those who at _any_ future period are to become\ncannibals thus dream of them.\n\n\n[Dream Feasts Of Human Flesh]\n\nAfter the certain things usual in all dreams:\n\n I was invited by the North to partake of a feast of ducks\n the most beautiful I had ever seen and well cooked. The dish\n was before me. I set _to_. A stranger by me touched me with\n his elbow and said, \"Eat not thou of that, look into thy dish!\"\n\n Behold that which I had taken for the wing of a duck was the\n arm of a child! \"He! What a narrow escape!\" said I.\n\n Then he took me into another room and gave me most excellent\n meat, the most delicious in appearance I had ever seen. I\n would not eat. I discovered it was the flesh of _Indians_ thus\n served up to me! He took me into a third room and gave me\n tongues. These I also perceived were the tongues of _Indians_.\n\n \"Why refusest thou what I offer thee? Is it not good?\"\n\n \"I feel no inclination to eat.\" I replied.\n\n Then he took me in a fourth room where fine beautiful _hearts_\n were served up, and I was desired to eat. But I perceived\n that it was still the same. I therefore refused.\n\n Then said he, \"It is well done. Thou hast done well!\"\n\n Heh! Had I unfortunately eaten of this, then had I become\n a cannibal in addition to all my other misfortunes.\n\nThose who eat at these feasts are frequently, but not universally told\nthus:\n\n This is a sign to thee that thou shalt one day become a cannibal\n and feed on the flesh of thy fellows. When thou shalt see\n children play with and eat ice (or snow) _in_ thy tent, say\n \"My time is near.\" For then thou shalt soon eat _Indian_ (human)\n flesh.\n\nThey have such dread and horror of this that it is constantly in their\nminds.\n\n You white people! [You] who live at your ease, get your living\n out of your nets or from your Indians, and besides are not\n otherwise troubled as we, make light of these things. I do not\n make much account of them either. But I tell you that he who thus\n once dreams of either of those dogs are for ever after continually\n troubled with them.\n\n {48} We do everything in our power to drive him away from us.\n But still he hovers about us, and we cannot avoid him. You are\n very fortunate! You live as you please; never care for him; nor\n does he molest you.\n\nSuch I am told are the _sentiments_ of these people in general.\n\n\n[Behavior of Infected People]\n\nI look upon this as a sort of mania, a fever, a distemper of the\nbrain. Their eyes (for I have seen [them] thus perplexed) are wild and\nuncommonly clear; they seem as if they glistened. It seems to me to\nlodge in the head. They are generally rational except at short, sudden\nintervals when the paroxysms seize them. Their motions then are\nvarious and diametrically contrary at one time to what they are the\nnext moment: Sullen, thoughtful, wild [looking] and perfectly mute,\nstaring in sudden convulsions, [they use] wild, incoherent and\nextravagant language.\n\n\n[An Account of Survival]\n\nThere was one a few years back infected with this not far from where I\nwas at the time. The accounts given of him, though I shall not vouch\nfor their truth, are thus.\n\n One night towards the latter end of December he began staring\n at his daughter with an extraordinary intenseness.\n\n \"My daughter! I am fond of thee! I love thee extremely!\"\n\n \"I know thou dost.\" replied the woman abashed, for she was then\n very young.\n\n \"Yes! I love thee. I think I could eat a piece of thee, I love\n thee so much.\"\n\n The girl exclaimed at his rashness. There were but three of them:\n the father, daughter and her husband.\n\n When it was dark he put himself stark naked. And uttering a\n strong tremulous noise, and his teeth chattering in his head as\n if through cold, [he] rose up and walked out of the tent and\n laid himself, curled as a dog in a heap, upon the wood that his\n daughter had that day brought to the door. Here he remained all\n night in spite of what they could do. A little before day he\n returned. Thus did he every night for about a month, and every\n time slept out naked. Nor would he eat, excepting at times a\n little raw flesh. In the daytime he was more composed, but his\n face bore the appearance of one possessed of the Devil. He\n recovered and became as usual--composed, and good natured. I\n knew them all well, but had no dealings with them from the year\n before (1812).\n\n\n[Executing a Wetiko]\n\nA young Indian a few years back had _one_ of the above dreams. He became\nvery uneasy and thoughtful finding it recur so very frequently. And he\nwould have willing undergone any torments, any death, rather than\nbecome an anthropophagi. He also frequently desired his friends, upon\nany the least appearance of these symptoms in him, to kill him. \"For\nif you do not kill me 'till I have eaten of _human_ flesh, you'll\nperhaps not be able to do it afterwards. But my children! Oh! my\nchildren! How grieved am I to leave ye! But it must be so; I have no\nalternative. Spare me not my friends, I conjure [sic] you!\"\n\nHe had been a good hunter and a peaceable _Indian_ and, of course, much\nloved by his friends. This business depressed them a great deal. At\nlast, the time approaching fast, his brother one day remained behind\nwith him to watch him whilst the others pitched off. About the time\nthis one thought the others had finished the encampment, he proposed\ntheir setting off to join them. But before long he left his brother\nbehind and laid an ambush for him {49} not far from the tent. This\nwas a preconcerted scheme; the other men, of course, were not far off.\n\nThe sick one drew near in a very slow and thoughtful manner. However,\nwhen he came near to where his brother was hid, he stopped, looked up\nand called out, \"Thou thinkest thyself well hid from me, my brother,\nbut I see thee. It is well thou undertakest [this]. It had been better\nfor thee, however, hadst thou begun sooner. Remember what I told you\nall. It is my _heart_; my _heart_ that is _terrible_, and however you may\ninjure my body, if you do not completely annihilate my _heart_, nothing\nis done.\"\n\nThe brother was sure that he was not discovered--this _knowledge_ being\nthe information of some of the spirits. He therefore did not\nanswer. Some of the other men had gone to meet him and endeavoured to\namuse him, that the brother might give the first blow. Accordingly he\nshot--straight for the heart. He dropped but rose immediately and\ncontinued towards the camp that was within sight, laughing at their\nundertaking. _The ball went through and through, but not a drop of\nblood was seen--_His heart was already formed into Ice_.\n\nHere they seized and bound him, and with ice chissels and axes set to\nwork to dispatch him. According to his desire they had collected a\nlarge pile of dry wood and laid him upon it. The body was soon\nconsumed, but the heart remained perfect and entire; it rolled several\ntimes off the pile. They replaced it as often. Fear seized them. Then\nwith their (ice) chissels they cut and hacked it into small bits, but\nyet with difficulty was it consumed!\n\n[Treatments and Recovery]\n\nThey fancy that blood which circulated through the heart first turns\ninto water, then coagulates or congeals, and shortly after becomes\ninto solid imperforable or impenetrable ice. The only antidote or\nremedy for this is to give them large draughts of high-wines, double\ndistilled spirits, or the spirits of wine, if any can be had the\nbetter. This taken in large draughts and frequently and _kept_ beside\na large fire flows to the heart and thaws the ice. If a profuse sweat\nensues, it is a happy omen.\n\nAn Indian with me this winter gave out his apprehensions that he was\nthus tormented. I communicated it to two others who happened to come\nin about that time.\n\n\"Why do you not give him large draughts of your strongest spirits to\ndrink and keep him in the room beside a large fire?\"\n\nI replied that I was afraid it would burn him.\n\n\"Oh no! If he is a real Windigo, it will only do him good by driving\nout the ice. But if he _lies_ to you, indeed, then it certainly will\ninjure him. But it will be good for him, and teach him for the future\nnot to impose upon people to frighten them.\"\n\nHowever, they are, in general, kind and extremely indulgent to those\nthus infected. They seem to consider it as an infliction and are\ndesirous of doing all they can to assist. There are, however, many\nexceptions. But these again depend upon the circumstances attending\nthem. One of my best hunters here is thus tormented, or at least thus\ntorments himself, and very often desires his friends, in compassion,\nto put a period to [his] existence the first symptoms he may shew of\ncannibalism.\n\nA young girl, lately married, and scarcely worth a _filip_ so small and\ndiminutive, was this winter seized with this phrensy. The consequence\nwas that the men durst not leave the tent for {50} any length of\ntime, being obliged to assist the women in holding and preventing her\nfrom biting or eating any of the children and perhaps herself. They\nbethought of a sacrifice: cropping her hair--and short.\n\nShe recovered and is now well. She says, \"I do not recollect any\nsingle one circumstance of all that is told me. I thought I was always\non the tops of the trees.\"\n\nThere is another one of my Indians thus affected too. The Indians say\nit is a punishment (from some of their _familiars_, of course) for so\nlightly esteeming their ceremonies--nay indeed--and ridiculing them\noften. \"This fall,\" he began:\n\n There were but two men of them together (with each his family).\n Things bore a most dismal aspect.\n\n At last the wife of the other, who, by-the-bye, is said to\n [be] a little affected that way too, told him one day that\n he sprang forward to seize one of _his own_ children, \"Keep\n quiet for, thou dog, if a gun hath no effect on thee, my axe\n shall. I shall chop thee up into slices! Thou hast then better\n be quiet!\"\n\n This kept him indeed quiet for some time. How they are now\n I cannot say, not having heard of them from the beginning\n of December (now April 20th).\n\nThey appear most inclined to prey _first_ upon their own family. And\nthey also think that firearms are absolutely unable to injure them. _A\nball cannot injure _Ice_. To destroy _Ice_, it must be _chopped up_.\nAnd the _heart then is all Ice_.\n\nThey sometimes, indeed frequently, recover with the warm weather, _for\nthe sun then _animates_ all nature_!!!\n\nThere are many other instances of a like kind in their tendency or\nconsequences, but different in their proceedings, that I cannot bring\nto mind at present. I mention several of these to shew you the\ndifferent manner they are infected. In the mean time I shall relate\nyou others not less entertaining.\n\n\n[Malignant Spirits]\n\n\n[North, Ice, Skeletons and the Crazy Woman]\n\nThere are several spirits of whom these people are much afraid, but\nfour principally, they being the most malignant and little accepting\nof _excuses_, however great and urgent they may be, for the non\nperformance of _their_ sacrifices. These are the _North, Ice, Skeletons\nand the Crazy Woman_, or foolish, mad, jealous woman.\n\n Not very many years ago an Indian had entered his conjuring\n _hut_. She came among the rest. But being displeased with the\n conjurer on account of some sacrifice to other spirits, she\n seized and carried him off! Skeleton perceived it, and being\n [fond] of the conjurer, pursued Jealousy. Finding herself\n nearly overtaken, she prefered her own safety to vengeance\n and let the _Indian_ fall _in some place_ at a vast distance from\n where he had been taken. Skeleton took him up and brought\n him back to the great satisfaction of all parties.\n\n\nShe frequently comes with the _others_ when they conjure. But on her\nappearance she is desired to be quiet, \"_Pay-ah-tick_\": gently, quietly,\npeaceably.\n\nMaster Skeleton also is as much dreaded as Folly, if not more, because\nhe shews himself at any time he pleases, it not being necessary to\nconjure to call him to.\n\nThere _is_ an Indian who, before he married, had his _dress shoes_ made\nby this lady (Folly, or Jealousy). She was, of course, extremely fond of\nhim. \"The shoes were beautifully garnished, far superior to anything\nof the kind done by _our_ women!\" There are not {51} wanting ladies,\nliving with the white, who confer full share of their _favors_ on some\nof the Indians, and from one of these I fancy it is he got these\nshoes. But to hide the business, [he] imputed them to Folly, which\nserved him a double end. If I can see that chap I shall be very\nparticular in my inquiries of him. I know him well.\n\nThis brings to my mind the _white stag_ or hind _Sertorius_ had in his\nexile and during his wars with his country, as mentioned by\nPlutarch. Indeed, to be candid, _I_ find a very great affinity between\nthe ideas and notions of these people and those of the Greeks and\nRomans. And by these [affinities], much--far much--better than by the\nincongruous hypothesis of the learned, might be traced the _origin_ of\nthese people. And I am far from taking the task to be difficult. Would\n_we_ only divest ourselves of _our own_ prejudices and take the proper\nplan, this great _Enigma_, if I may so explain myself, would be not\nperfectly cleared I allow, but a rational clew [would be] afforded to\nthe unravelling of it. I have read many of these _hypotheses_, but they\nare so filled with inconsistencies that I could scarcely believe men\ncould employ so much time in them. ..... I could say something else\ninstead of the conclusion of this last sentence.\n\nA Gentleman, and an Englishman too, but I forget his name, would wish\nto _insinuate_ that these people are from a different origin with\nourselves: [from] Adam. And to prove his hypothesis, he begins by an\nanatomizing hogs! (See the Encyclopaedia, not by Rees, but\n_Fitz-Patrick_ I believe.) This puts me in mind of some of the _Newtonian\nSystems_: There is no such thing in nature as _cold_. We must say an\n_absence_ of _heat_! Why cannot we as well say there is no such thing as\n_darkness_, but merely an _absence of light_, or reverse either, and\neither will be as reasonable. Most strange reasoning is this indeed!\n\n\n[Confession]\n\nThese people have a notion that _confession_ saves them from many\naccidents and also preserves the lives of the sick, or rather restores\nthem to their wonted health. I have not learned the origin of\nthis--when, why, or wherefore--but it seems to be very remote, to have\n[sprung up] with their mythology. I shall [make it] a point to enquire\nvery particularly into this, and for this, as well as other things, at\ndifferent quarters to find and detect _errors_. But all, however, that I\nhave written in these pages, though there may be some difference in\nthe recital and perhaps a _few_ straggling circumstances, are, I have\ngreat reason to think, fundamentally the same throughout among these\npeople. .....\n\nWhen any one of them is particularly affected with diseases out of the\ncommon course of nature _here_, or though the disease may be precisely\nthe same as all others, yet, from certain circumstances individually,\nor a combination of them, they say he is Oh-gee-nay in Cree, or\nOn-gee-nay in Sauteux (the On pronounced as in French and _not_\nEnglish), by which it would seem as if they meant he was afflicted or\nchastised for his own sins, or those of some of his or her near\nrelatives: father, mother, if children; if grown up and married\npersons, for their own. Whether they only imagine this, or are\ninformed of it by conjuring, _private_ {52} information from their\n_familiars_, or from the symptoms of the sick person, I cannot say, but\nthe thus afflicted person must confess his sins publicly.\n\nNow in these confessions, as in all their other discourses or\nconversations (_initiating_ and _giving of medicines excepted_), they\nuse no circumlocution, no secret or enigmatical word or term, to\nscreen themselves. But all is delivered in plain terms and before\neveryone that chuses to hear. These confessions are terrible\nthings. And they seem far more sincere and complete than those of many\nCatholics. They have wonderful, retentive memories, and no scene, no\ncrime from their earliest years unto that day do they hide. But Great\nGod! What abominations! One would scarcely imagine the human mind\ncapable of inventing such infamously diabolical actions as _some_ do\ncommit: murder, incest, and other things, if possible an hundredfold\nmore, debasing the human soul. Whether they repent of these things,\nneither can I say, but it would appear as if they were the acts of a\ncontrite and most humbly penitant soul. I have never had an\nopportunity of hearing these from _their own_ mouths, but _other_ Indians\nhave told me of them. And though before their families _sometimes_,\n[they] have never omitted one single circumstance, from the\nsuggestions of the idea, down to the very last _conclusion_.\n\nWhen I heard of these things at first, I _would not_ believe them. But\nhearing them come so circumstantially, _I trembled for the Land I\nsojourned in_ _lest it should vomit me out as the land of Canaan did its\ninhabitants_, _or be swallowed up in its destruction as Sodom and\nGomorrah_!\n\nIt is true they are not _all_ so. No, I am told there are but few, and\nin charity I hope it is [so]. Otherwise what will be my fate seeing I\nam, in a certain degree, partaker with them? Surely the inhabitants of\nsuch a land, at _best_, cannot look for more than mere _present\nenjoyment_. When I reflect seriously on _all_ these things, as I\nsometimes do, revolving them in every different manner in my mind, it\nis beyond the power of words to express my feelings. Poor unfortunate,\nblind creatures! That it is from _blindness_ they commit these things, I\nam fully persuaded, because I am equally confident that they do not\nattach that same degree of criminality to them we, _from the revealing\nof the Scriptures_ to us, do. Some they consider in the light of\ntrifles, some natural, some weaknesses. But all tend to the\ngratification of most bestial appetites whatever may have been the\noriginal cause, _curiosity_ or otherwise.\n\nHowever, I received a piece of information in one of these, and _it_\nwas circumstantially detailed, that has cleared a point to me I could\nnever solve. And though I enquired of both Wool and Bob, they were not\nwiser than myself. Indeed, without the _trial_ or experiment, it seems\nimpossible to say certainly where the cause lies. Now I know it. If\never an opportunity offers, or that it pleases God I again revisit my\nown lands, I shall be able to speak to a certainty. As I cannot write\nLatin, I shall say no more of _it_ at present.\n\nA few years back an Indian at the next post above _this_ died. He had\nbeen a long time sick, {53} and from this conceived himself _ongenay_\nand accordingly prepared for his confession. Having received the\ndetails at second and third hand, I shall endeavour to give _part_ of\nthem to you as near _their_ stile as I can. But really I find myself\n_very inadequate_ to the task. There is a certain _poetic_ sublimity in\ntheir language on such _like_ occasions as will not easily meet with\ncredit from those (the better informed) of the civilized world\nunacquainted with these people. Even amongst ourselves there are but\nfew, for few can judge of the beauties of a language, and most of\nthose few have too high a notion of their own mighty superiority to\nstoop to _regular_ conversation with them.\n\nBut to return--After having revealed all, or most part, of his sins to\nthe company in general, he thus addressed his family in particular:\n\n You see, my children, my distressed state. I cannot move nor\n stir without assistance. And I feel strengthened in my lungs\n (breast, heart), merely as it were by permission of my\n _Dreamed_ (some particular one he meant) to divulge my\n offenses to the gods (or God) publicly, before you all, to\n deter you from the same vices (wickednesses).\n\n I was once a young man also, the same as you are now, healthy\n and vigorous. Nothing appeared difficult nor dangerous to\n me. I lived as became a man, and prospered accordingly. But\n I thought that this proceeded from my own power only. Had\n I so continued, all had been well! But no, I _unfortunately_\n heard speak of such Indians (meaning _this_ place, _as my\n informants tell me_), how powerful they were in their medicines,\n the extraordinary feats they performed. I envied them, and\n thought that I required but _that_ knowledge more to render me\n perfect (immortal) and happy. I undertook a voyage to that\n place. I found that the bare truth had been scarcely told me.\n I burned with anxiety to become as knowing as themselves, and\n I was gratified.\n\n Had I rested here, all had yet been well. But in learning\n their medicines, I also learned of them those vices, those\n sins, that by _their practice_ have reduced me to this\n wretched situation.\n\n My sons! Take example from your father! Be good charitable,\n and peaceable Indians as I was at the first set off of my\n life. And employ the same means; indulge, use the same anxiety\n to _avoid_, that I did to _procure_ that information that hath\n reduced me so far below the level even of a dog. Never forget\n this. Never indulge even the least desire of such acquisitions.\n For if you once begin, you will be deluded by their flattery\n to that destruction I have found. But you are young men! And\n unless you find grace, you also will be deluded and lost as\n I am!\n\nI have heard a good deal said of _this_ Indian's confession and\nexhortations to his sons. They were not lost. He himself lived but a\nshort time and seemed much comforted by it.\n\n\n[Animal Sacrifice (Beaver Indians)]\n\nThere is a tribe of _Athabasca_ that go by the name of _Beaver\nIndians_. From the tenets of their religion, I _am told_ that, when\nlaying under any malediction, bewichisms, or conceive themselves so,\nthey make a vow that the first animal they shall kill they will do\n_so_. They do not fail, but immediately proceed in quest of another\nwhich, by this diabolical action, they think they will soon find and\nkill. They do not _touch_ the animal afterwards, {54} as those beasts\namong the Crees and Sauteux do, but leave it lay as a sacrifice. They\nconsider it as a duty imposed upon them. But the others do it from\nmere beastiality. \"Such a one did so--brought home part of the meat,\nand we all of us eat it! Oh! the dog!\" said an Indian not long ago to\nme.\n\n\n[Fragments]\n\nLest I may not soon have another opportunity of writing on these\nsubjects to _you_, I shall add a few more _fragments_.\n\n\n[The Great Doctor]\n\n An Indian here, passing for a great doctor, was applied to\n (and is still) by many to attend upon them.\n\n Several of these he retrieved from death. One of his dreamed\n I believe the North, was not pleased and told the doctor\n never to administer his medicines to those he had doomed to\n death. The doctor replied it was hard and uncharitable seeing\n he could prolong their days a little.\n\n \"Well! For every one that thou dost deprive me of, I shall\n take one of thy children.\" And the doctor lost eight or nine\n (I cannot now remember well). But he is now grown more cautious.\n\n But this Doctor is himself a beast.\n\n Being unable to stand from sickness, he told two of his wives\n \"Take ye me one under each arm to my [sweet-heart]. I feel\n myself dying and don't chuse _thus_ to go.\" And he actually\n did. Remember _I am told this_, but I have reasons to believe it.\n\n He is an incestuous beast. Otherwise, I find him a good Indian\n and, what is most strange, sensible beyond many of his equals.\n\n\n[The Devil and the Tailor Caricature]\n\nI have got a caracature here of the Devil carrying off a tailor. I\nasked one of my Indians if any of their familiars resembled him and\nhow they were. The reply was:\n\n Yes, he resides in the North (at the Pole I suppose) and\n has a vast number of young men. The Indians report of some\n finding their tracks that are very numerous and exactly\n resemble the tracks of the grey deer (carriboeuf). But\n neither [he] nor his young men are very wicked. North, Ice,\n Skeleton and Folly are the most wicked and ill inclined of\n all those we dream of or enter the conjuring box!\n\n\n[Feasts]\n\nOf their feasts I cannot say more than any common observer. I have\nbeen invited and partaken of many of them, but I never thought of\nenquiring into their origin [and] the causes of them. But from the\nlittle I could learn, or rather understand from the speeches made at\n_all_ of them, and what I have learnt in regard to other things, I think\n[I] may say, without dreading contradiction, that as there are songs\n[and] ceremonies appropriate to every one of their gods or familiars\nor devils, there [are] also _feasts_ made for each according to the\nwhim, dream or some other circumstance of the one who makes them.\n\nWe denominate these 'feasts', and from their own term it would seem\nthey so mean. But I consider this again as a premature interpretation\nwhich I have not leisure to explain. I consider them rather as\n_sacrifices_. Indeed they may perhaps rather be esteemed as partaking of\nboth. I have somewhere above said that they are _obliged_ to make an\nannual sacrifice to some of their gods as the non-performance passes\nnot off with impunity. These therefore are obligatory or compulsory\nsacrifices. But besides these they also have free-will sacrifices.\n\nThese feasts or sacrifices are not _universally_ {55} of _flesh_. They\nhave them of flesh, grease, dried berries [and] rum. And few of these\nfeasts are made without _the one who makes it_ [offering] a certain\n[part] (very small, only a few mouthsful) to _him_ whom it is in honor\nof or intended for. [This] he most commonly puts into the fire, _in_\nor on the ground. Some of them are very grand and ceremonius, the\n_titbits_ of the animal only, as the head, heart, and liver, tongue,\nand paws when of a bear.\n\nIt is only the great men that are allowed to eat of these. Others\nagain, besides the above, [eat] the brisket, rump and ribbs. And very\nseldom a woman is allowed to partake of them, particularly if it is _un\nfestin \u00e0 tout manger_--to eat the whole.\n\nThough there may be sufficient for two or three times the number of\nguests, all must be eaten before day. Though, in certain cases, the\nfeaster is obliged, and commonly does, take part back, providing a\nknife, a bit of tobacco, or something else attend with the dish.\n\nIn these great feasts, the feaster makes one or several speeches\nbefore _we_ begin to eat, and one again after all is done. And [he]\nsometimes sings, beats the drum and [makes] speeches during the whole\ntime of the feast, never partaking of a morsel himself. At some of\nthem there is dancing to be performed.\n\nI happened to be called to one of these many years ago. It was the\nprincipal parts of a bear. And the paunch had been filled with the\nliver, heart and fat, with blood, minced, and much resembling that\ndish the Scotch term _haggish_. We were all very hungry, and though we\ngormandized (it cannot be called _eating_) there yet remained full two\nthirds. The Feaster was uneasy, and said he would have been proud had\nwe eaten all, for in that case his dreamed would have been\npropitious. We were obliged to dance also. But when I could stow no\nmore, I gave him my knife and a bit of tobacco and walked off leaving\nhim to settle with his god as well as he could. But indeed I was not\nvery scrupulous then, otherwise I had most certainly avoided many of\nthem though it is oftentimes dangerous if there be not method or\nqualification in the refusal.\n\nTheir feasts of rum are often to some one of the four wicked ones,\npraying them to be propitious and not allow themselves to be\ninfluenced by the wicked solicitations of envious Indians.\n\nMany years ago I happened to be out a hunting a few miles from the\nhouse and came unexpectedly upon the lodge of a few Indians I had that\nday given rum to. I heard one of them harangue, and drew up cautiously\nto listen. He entreated the rain, snow and frost to have pity upon\ntheir young ones (that they might kill).\n\nI communicated this a few years after to a couple of gentlemen. One of\nthem, longer in the country than myself, denied it and enquired of his\nwife who had lived a long time with the Indians. She corroborated his\ndenial. I perceived the cause, and told him that it was because _they_\ndo not chuse that we become too well informed of all their\nceremonies. It was to no effect, and I had almost a mind to credit the\nwoman too myself, but by _insinuation_ I find I am perfectly right.\n\nThus {56} it happens in almost everything else. A thing that does\nnot meet with our approbation, or be a little beyond the sphere of our\nlimited information, we immediately deny or condemn. Whereas by taking\n_proper_ measures to enquire or inform ourselves, not only those things\nthemselves, but others far more interesting, and sometimes too of the\ngreatest moment, whether to ourselves or others, are rendered\nprobable, reasonable, certain.\n\nHence it is also that many, upon receiving a piece of information,\nthere rest themselves as upon a rock of certainty. Now either of these\nI consider equally blameable as they lead to distrust, doubt, and\nsometimes to a complete refutation or assertion of facts that very\noftentimes cast a stain or stigma, sometimes upon the whole people,\nand without any other foundation than, as might be said, that all\npowerful _veto_.\n\nThey have feasts for the dead, most commonly berries, or in countries\nwhere it is made, sugar. Generally yearly a bark box of perhaps 2 or 3\ngallons is placed _in_ the grave, upon it, or well hid in some private\nnook, if they are afraid, or do not chuse, it be taken.\n\nI ought rather to have said these are sacrifices. But independent of\nthese, they have feasts also, and feasts of baptism--feasts in short\nfor almost every occasion. Besides these they have _smoking_ feasts;\nthese are to deliberate. I shall, should it please God I live, make it\na point to enquire particularly into the origin of all these.\n\n\n[Conjuring Ceremony (June 4th, 1823)]\n\nJune 5th. These last 3 days have been busy and turbulent ones for\nme. It is now considerably past midnight (and of course the 6th June)\nbut my Indians are drinking and I cannot think of going to bed. Till\nthey do I shall employ my few remaining _leisure_ moments ('till next\nyear, please God I live so long) in giving you an account of a\nconjuring bout I, with some difficulty, got an Indian to make last\nnight (June 4th).\n\nIn the evening the hut was prepared at some distance from the houses\non account of the stink, as _the spirits_ cannot or will not endure any\npollution. The hut consisted of ten poles about seven feet out of\nground, well stuck in, and somewhat better than three feet\ndiameter. The Poles were secured with two hoops. They were covered\nwith two parchment skins (of moose) well bound with many rounds of\nstrong leather line. _The top was _covered_ with a dressed skin and\nsecured also, to prevent its being carried off (by the wind).\n\nAbout 10 P.M. (still broad daylight with us) we drew up with the\nconjurer, smoked and chatted some time. After this he took his drum,\nmuch resembling a tambourine, and with a stick gently struck it all\nthe time he made a speech. I was almost touching him (all seated) but\nfrom the noise of the drum and his low voice, for the man has a\ndreadful complaint on his lungs, I could only gather, \"Take pity upon\nme; take pity upon me. Hear and come. Let me not speak in vain, nor\nbecome abashed. Show me charity. ...\" It was a moderate and decent\nprayer. After this _they_, for there were several men, {57} began to\nsing using the drum and rattler. They sang, among others, the Moose,\nHorse, Bear, and Dog songs, about a dozen in number.\n\n[Then] he prepared by taking off his clothes, all to his cloute, and\nasked who should tie him. I replied that I would, but was afraid of\nhurting him. Another conjurer did, beginning with his fingers between\nthe 2 joints nearest the hand, nearly as I can describe it, thus\ngiving a double turn to the line between each finger. And the line was\nnew mackerel, small, which I happened to have in my pocket by\naccident. I drew up to _inspect_. And observing the fingers to swell\nupon his complaining of the tightness, I felt a good deal for him.\n\nAfter this his blanket was wrapped round him and tied in such a\nmanner, lengthways, crossways and every way. And a good knot _I_ tied at\neach meeting of the cords, for I assisted in _this_, that I could have\nlaid any wager that it was beyond the power of spirits themselves,\nthus tied, to [extricate] themselves. And his hands were _under_ his\nhams. As he could no more move than fly, _of himself_, the other\nconjurer and I put him to the door. But behold it was with difficulty!\nWe could just get his head in, the entry being too narrow by about ten\nor twelve inches screwing and jaming considered.\n\n\"It will do, it will do.\" said the conjurer, \"Cover me now.\"\n\nHis back was covered with a blanket, and we all retreated to our\nseats, myself about four feet distant. The others took the drum and\nbegan to sing.\n\nI could not help but laughing in myself and pitying the boldness of\ntheir vanity. But I had soon occasion to think otherwise, and had I\nnot predetermined that reason should conduct me throughout the whole\nof this, I cannot say how far in the _other_ extreme _I_ might have\ngone.\n\nBut to return: The conjurer desired the others to sing. They began a\nshort song, I believe it was that of the _Stone_, and the man entered\nin an instant! I was struck dumb with astonishment, for he appeared to\nme to _slide_ in by something that was neither invisible nor\ndescernible. I heard something that, for the life of me, I cannot\naccount for, and that's all.\n\nFrom the time we covered him (twenty-five minutes past 10 P.M.) to the\ntime we had done hunting for the twine that tied his fingers, not\nquite five minutes elapsed. And not one and a half minutes [passed]\nbefore his blanket and the cords were thrown out to us! Not one of\nthem, apparently (one knot) _untied_! My astonishment and\napprehensions of his being entirely carried off from us were such that\nI was nearly springing up to haul him out for fear of his being\nforever lost.\n\nThe others continued singing a few other songs, and I had the utmost\nanxiety in hearing [him] repeatedly call out, as if in the greatest\napprehensions himself, \"Enough! Enough! {58} Enough of ye I say!\", and\nfrequently for the space of some minutes repeating the same, and now\nand then calling out, \"Do not _Thou_ enter!\"\n\nThe _Stone_ was the first one known to us by his song; for every\none, almost, that entered sang _his_ song, to which those (the Indians)\non the outside would keep chorus. A vast number entered. I verily\nbelieve upward of an hundred [did so], for upwards of that number of\ntimes the frame shook back and forwards, and very smartly, as if to\nfall. And among the first were some truly terrible characters. I have\nalmost entirely converted myself from these foolish ideas of ghosts\nand hobgoblins, but I assure you in truth that I more than once felt\nvery uneasy.\n\nThe Ice entered. He made a noise extremely resembling that made by a\nperson shivering with cold, loud, and hoarse and _liquid_.\n\nThe Devil _himself_ also entered in _propria persona_, in a very\nauthoritative and commanding manner. I assure you there was no\nlaughing nor gigling outside. All the time he sang and spoke.\n\nThe Turtle spoke as an old, jocular man. \"I hate the French, for in\ntheir travels, when they find me, they kill me and eat me. I shall\nanswer none of their questions.\" But this was a joke, for he laughed.\n\n\"Speak out, Turtle! Speak out louder that we hear thee!\" said those\nwithout.\n\n\"I would too,\" replied he, \"but my voice is so strong I must contract\nit thus, otherwise ye could not endure the sound of it. Stop!\"\ncontinued he, \"I must imitate the drunk!\" which he did to the great\ndiversion of us all. And [he] concluded with snoring, the natural end\nof all drunken feasts, and then became quiet.\n\nOn which another voice (which I also perfectly heard and understood as\nwell [as] the Turtle herself [sic]) cried out, \"See! See if she does\nnot look like a frog stretched out!\" and this raised a proper laugh\nboth in and out.\n\nThe Dog entered, and spoke perfectly plain and [distinctly], and\nwith a more elegant and harmonious voice [than] I ever heard in\nmy life.\n\nBears of three or four different sorts, the Horse, Moose, Skeletons,\nspirits of departed and _still living friends_ entered. But none but\nthe latter and above mentioned were to be understood by any but the\nconjurer himself.\n\nOn the entering of one, \"That is my (_adopted_) Son.\" said an Indian\nseated by me, and called out his name to which he readily answered\nbesides questions. This young man and a girl, both living, spoke very\nplain (you must observe that it is not their bodies, but their\nsouls or spirits that enter). [There were] children almost at the\ninstant of birth, dwarfs, giants. But this latter did make a noise\nindeed.\n\nWe all laughed very heartily when the Horse entered, for it appears he\npassed too near the Turtle who called out as the horse was flying\nabout (in the inside) singing and rattling his rattler, \"I wish you\nwould take care of yourself and _not {59} tread_ on one.\" in allusion\nto his diminutive size in comparison with that of Horse.\n\nIt is somewhat surprising that everyone that entered, whether he spoke\n[plainly], or was interpreted, their first words were, \"Your lands are\ndistressed. Keep not on the Grand River--sickness, sickness.\"\n\n\"But from amongst _ye here_ I shall select only a few aged ones.\" said\none of the latter, but in a _voice_ no one but the conjurer could\nunderstand.\n\nAs he went out, however, the conjurer paid him a most bawdy\ncompliment. We all laughed and asked what was the matter.\n\n\"Pah! Nothing. I am only afraid of him.\" said the conjurer\n\nOne of them that entered, apparantly the Devil himself for he spoke\nand acted _en veritable maitre_, startled us all a great deal and\nenquired authoritatively and angrily, \"What want ye of me? Speak!\"\n\nUpon several hurried enquiries put to him, he said that some things I\nsaw and heard in my house this winter were by Mr. Frobisher, who\nexpired so dreadfully in 1819. \"He is a skeleton (Pah-kack); and it is\nhe who built _this_ house. He comes to see.\"\n\nThough I did certainly both hear and see several times this winter,\nand once in particular about two A.M., yet I do not feel much inclined\nto add faith to this assertion of Davy's. I must have something more\nsubstantial. But I am much inclined to doubt master Davy's assertions\nand consider _this_ and several others of his sayings at former\nperiods in the same light as those he delivered at many of [the]\nGrecian temples, for I have every substantial reason to consider him\nas the same identical gentleman. However, a short time hence will\ndecide.\n\nThe Turtle said we should have a good deal of rain, but not a _very\ngreat deal_, and a very high wind, and as soon as the Sun should\nappear. \"At its setting, an Indian (naming him by a very extraordinary\nand bawdy feature in his _person_) should arrive and bring us meat;\n_but this you will eat of course, and I shall go without_.\"\n\n{\"Beware of yourselves. Tomorrow night you shall drink and be\ndrunk. Drink and leave the house as soon as you can, _for there are\nfrom that wind_ (by which he designated the _South_) _who if they\ndrink with ye, ye shall become pitiful_,\" alluding to two blackguard\nhalf breed brothers who, proud of the bravery of their deceased\nfather, are ever and anon insulting and domineering over other\nIndians. It is worthy of remark that an aged man in the course of this\nlast winter was [advised] of the same and repeatedly pressed not to\ndrink at the house on their accord}.\n\nThis is now the 6th (June). The Sun appears, but the wind is very\nhigh, and we have frequent showers of rain and snow. About midnight\nthe conjurer addressed me and asked if I wished to see any of _them_\n(the Spirits). I accepted the offer and thrust my head underneath. And\nbeing upon my back, I looked up and near the top observed a light as\nof a star in a cloudy night, about one and a half inches long and one\nbroad--{60} though dim, yet perfectly distinct. Though _they all_ appear\nas lights, some larger and others smaller, this one was denominated\nthe Fisher Star, the name by which they designate the Plough, I\nbelieve we call it, or Great Bear, from the supposed resemblance it\nbears to that animal, the fisher.\n\nWhen I was entering, several of the Indians on the outside called out\nto the spirits, \"Gently! Gently! It is our Chief who wishes to see\nyou. Do him no evil!\" I had my apprehensions.\n\nA little after one P.M. one of my men looked in with several\nIndians and saw several small lights about as large as the\nthumbnail. A few minutes before two P.M., being daylight, they gave\nanother shaking to the frame and made their exit.\n\nThe above is an account of only a small part, for I am too much\npressed for time. I cannot therefore enter into particulars, nor a\nlarger detail, nor give you my opinion further than a few words. I am\nfully convinced, as much so as that I am in existence, that spirits of\nsome kind did really and virtually enter, some truly terrific, but\nothers, again, quite of a different character.\n\nI cannot enter into a detail by comparisons from ancient and more\nmodern history, but I found the consonance, analogy, resemblance,\naffinity, or whatever it may be termed, so great, so conspicuous that\nI verily believe I shall never forget the impressions of that evening.\n\nBut above all things that stick most forcibly in my mind is the\nunbound gratitude we owe and ought to shew every instant of our\nexistence to that Almighty Power that deigned to sacrifice his only\nSon for us for our Salvation! Oh my God, let me never forget this! And\nteach me to thank thee not only with my lips but with every action of\nmy life!\n\nHere I must close and in a few minutes seal up this for your perusal,\nsincerely wishing I may find an opportunity, safe, of conveying it to\nyou.\n\nHow earnestly I wish Robert had been present and understood the\nlanguage. This would convince the most skeptic.\n\n\nTo Mr Wm Nelson, Wm Henry G. Nelson\n\n\nNote: Read these pages among yourselves and lend them not out of the\nhouse.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPart 2\n\nTypescript\n\n\n Page 1st\nThe following few Stories or Tales will give a better notion or Idea of the religion of these\nPeople than every other description _I_ am able to pen, & as their _history_ is read with interest, I am\npersuaded these few Pages will be found equally deserving attention. I give them the same as I\nreceived them & leave every one to make his own remarks & to draw his own conclusions.\n\nMy Interpretor, a young half breed, passed the winter of \u2013'19-'20 with the Indians &\ngives this account. One day shortly before Christmass he was out with an\nelderly man, a chief of this place, a hunting. Suddenly he stopped as to _listen_, apparent-\nly with great eagerness & anxiety, upon which after allowing a sufficient time the\nInt. asked what was the matter? \"Listen & you'll hear\" \"I have listened, says the Intr. but hear no-\n\"thing & it is surprising that you who are deaf should hear & I not\"--\"Ah! a white man is thy\n\"father & thou are just as _skeptical_: doubting & ridiculing every thing we say or do 'till\n\"when it is then too late--then ye lament, but in vain ....\" After this the Indian became much\ndown-cast & very thoughtful for several days; & as if to increase his anxiety or rather to to corroborate\nthe husbands assertions, his wife said that one day she also _heard_, tho' the other women that were\nwith her heard nothing, & an altercation ensued. His uneasyness increasing too much he was\nforced to have recourse to _their_ only alternative in such cases, i.e. _une Jonglerie_ as the french\nterm it, that is conjuring. One of their party, another half-breed, abandoned many years since\nby his Father & leading an indian life, was applied to: he is reputed a _true man_, i.e. never lies.\nOut of respect to the other he was induced to consent, but much against his will; \"for I am\n\"much afraid that some of these times _they will carry me off_.\" He was prepared, & entered with\nhis _rattler_, shortly after which the box & the _rattler_ began to move in the usual brisk &\nviolent manner. _Many_ entered, & one asked \"what was wanted that they had been called\n\"upon.\" The indian from the outside of the frame (for only the conjuror alone &\nenters) inquired \"if there was not some evil spirit near from whom he had much\n\"every thing to dread?\"--\"No, replied the same voice, _all is quiet_, you trouble yourself\n\"with vain phantoms\" \"What then is the meaning, asked again the Indian, of the those sud-\n\"den flashes of light I sometimes see in the night?\"--\"What! rejoined another voice from within,\n\"hast thou attained unto this age & never yet observed this;\" & then laughing, continued, \"it is al-\n\"ways the case during this _moon_ (December) & if you doubt me, for the future observe\n\"attentively & you will find it to be the case\".--This satisfied him for the time, he became\ncheerful & assumed his wonted ways. But not for a long time--he soon relapsed, & after\nsome days applied again to the conjurer. When he had entered his box or frame--a\nnumber again entered & one of them enquired why they were called for? The conjuror\nsaid -. \"What? says he,* \"again! Thou art very skeptical--dost thou not believe? now\nthou art fond of, thou wantest to be haunted, well thou shalt have thy desire.\" At these\n\n* i.e. the Spirit\n\n\n (2)\nthese dreadful words, which were uttered in an angry & reproving manner, every soul was struck\nwith terror; but as if to give some consolation assured him \"that that spirit had but just\nleft his _home_, & coming on very slowly would not be up with them 'till _such a time_,\na little prior to which they were ordered to conjure again, when they would be told what to\ndo. This was no pleasant information to the conjuror who never undertook this job\nbut with the greatest reluctance, nay indeed even sometimes horor: However, he neither, poor creature had no alternative. At the\ntime appointed he entered again, every thing being prepared. After the preliminary de-\nmands or questions &c. \"yes replies one of the _spirits_, that which thou dreadest _is_ near, &\n\"is drawing on apace\" ... \"How shall we do? what shall we do?\" exclaimed the indian--\nAt last one of them, who goes by the name of the Bull or Buffaloe (thru the conjuror, for he\nalone could understand him his voice being hoarse & rough, his uttering thick & inarticulate)\n\"asked the indian if he remembered of a dream he made whilst yet a young man?.\" \"Yes\"\n\"replies the indian--I remember perfectly,--I dreamed I saw one just like yourself,\n\"who told me that when advanced in life I should be much troubled one winter, but\n\"by a certain sacrifice & a sweating _bout_ I should be releived; but I have not the means\n\"here,--I have no stones\"--\"you are encamped upon them rejoined the _spirit_ & at the\n\"door of your tent are some\" \"yes, but says the indian the dogs have _watered_ them,\n\"& they are otherwise soiled\"--\"Fool, put them in the fire, will not the fire heat,\n\"& make them change color, & purify them? Do this, fail not & be not uneasy--\n\"we shall go four of us (spirits) & amuse him upon the road, & endeavour to\n\"drive him back.\" At this the Interpretor burst out laughing & exclaimed \"sacr\u00e9 bande de\nBetes & do you beleive all that d__d nonsense?\" \"You doubt too says a voice addres-\n\"sing him (the In.) from the inside; go out of the tent & listen, you'll see if _we_\n\"lie\"--he did indeed go out to some distance & after awhile heard as a distant\nhollow noise, which increased 'till it became considerably more distinct & then\nvanished as a great gust of wind, tho' the night was mild, calm, clear & beauti-\nfully serene--it even startled the dogs. \"_Mahn_! (an indian term or exclamation signifying haste)\n\"said the spirits from within, _they_ have turned him off the road, as soon as the noise was\n\"heard, but he will not turn back, or go home: he is _sent_ after you by another indian\n'who conjured him up from out the Deep (i.e the bottom of some flood) but be not\n\"too uneasy, if these four will not do, there are yet a vast many of us, so that between\n\"us all we _shall_ drive him back: we will perplex & bewilder him: surround, tor-\n\"ment & tease him on every side: but he is of a monstrous size, ferocious & withal\n\"enraged against you:--The task is mighty difficult. _Observe_! See how beautifully\n\"serene the night is--if we succeed, the sky will change all of a sudden, & there\n\"will fall a very smart shower of snow attended with a terrible gust of wind. This\n\n\n (3)\n\"This will happen between day light & Sun rise, _& is his spirit_, all that will remain\nin his power--he'll then return to his home.\"--The Intr, tho he laughed at all this,\n& could not bring himself to credit it, yet swears that he heard the rumbling noise, _on\ntheir road_, & seemingly far off: the indians gave implicit faith to all--& the conjuror\ndid not know what to beleive \"there is something says he, for _my Dreamed_, or _Dreamers_\n\"have assured me of it, but _I_ dont know what to say--however, most assuredly tomor-\n\"row morning we shall have the snow.\" This _snow_ both comforted & depressed the poor\nindian very much, seeing the weather was then so beautiful & so destitute of\nall the usual signs of bad weather. It did snow--it came as foretold, quite sudden-\nly, & as suddenly became fine again. In the ensuing morning the Indian begged of the Inter-\npreter to chuse one of the longest & straightest Pine (Epinette) trees he could find of the thickness\nof his thigh; to peel off all the bark nicely, leaving but a small tuft of the branches at the\ntip end--this they painted cross-ways with bars of vermillion & charcoal, alternately\nthe whole length, leaving however some intervals undaubded--\n& about 5 or 6 feet from the Ground, fastened a Pair of artificial horns, representing those\nof a Bull, & decorated with ribbon. He also (the Indian I mean) made the sweat-\ning hut, & in short done every thing as directed, after which he (the indian) became to\nresume his wonted cheerfulness & contentment. However, once more he was obliged\nto have recourse again to the Conjuror, from hearing another rumbling noise; \"Thou\n\"Fool answered the spirits: wilt thou never have done tormenting thyself & dis-\n\"quieting us--that rumbling noise proceeds from the ice in a Lake a long way\n\"off--it is only the ice--be therefore peaceable--I shall advertise thee if any\n\"ill is to happen thee.\"--The Flashes of light, or those sudden glares that\nthe indian inquired of the spirits, is, as the told him, lightning, which always happens in\nthe month of December & they laughed at his having lived so long without observing it\nbefore. The Conjuror had lost his smoking bag one day that he was out a hunting &\nas it contained his only steel & not a small part of his winter stock of Tobacco &c. he\nwas very uneasy, & hunted several times for it: They having told the Interpretor often\nhow kind & charitable & indulgent those _spirits of the upper regions_ were, & he,\ndesirous of Proving them, told the Conjuror to send for his bag. He asked \"which of\n\"ye will go for my bag that I lost? He that brings it me, I shall make him\n\"smoke\" \"I will go, said one--they heard a fluttering noise, & soon after they heard the\nsame fluttering noise & the rattler move, & down fell the bag by the conjuror, covered with snow--\n\"How stupid thou art, said the spirit, naming the Conjuror, thou passedst over it & yet\n\"did not see it.\" It was a long time since the bag was lost & the distance was several miles.--\nAnother one, could not kill with his Gun, owing to its being crooked, or some other cause--\n\n\n (4)\n--however, he attached the fault to the Gun--The first time, I beleive it was, that this\nhalf-breed conjured. The People on the outside hearing many voices speak as they entered,\nat last they stopped at one whose voice & articulation was different from that of the others: \"Who\n\"is that one just now entered? said those outside--\"It is the _Sun_, replied the Conjuror\"\n\"ha! well, I am happy of it, said the the indian, is it not _he_ who says himself able\n\"to repair Fire-arms (Guns), & do anything with them he pleases?--ask him (ad-\n\"dressing the Conjuror) if he will not have compassion on me & put my Gun to rights, that\n\"I also may kill--I am walking every day & frequently shoot at moose, but always miss\"--\n\"Hand it me\" said a voice from the top of the conjuring frame. The Gun was given to\nthe Conjuror. \"It is loaded, continued the voice, shall I fire it off?\"--\"You may, but\n\"take care you hurt no body\" replied the indian. The Gun was fired, & shortly after\nhanded back to the owner--\"Here is your Gun--you will kill with it now\" said the\nSpirit.--Both this business of the Gun & smoking bag took place, the\nfirst time, I beleive, the man Conjured.--\n\tThere are but few Individuals (i.e. men) among the\nSauteux or Cris, or Crees who have not their medicine bags--& initiated into some cere-\nmony or other, but it is not _all_ of them who can Conjur. Among some tribes, most\nof them, can; & among others again, there are but very few. Nor is it every one of them\nthat tells _all truth_, some scarcily nothing but lies, others again _not one_ false-\nhood, & this depends upon their _Dreamed_, sometimes, but I think may be equally\nimputed to their own selves, i.e. Presumption, ignorance, folly, or any other of our\npassions or weaknesses. But to become Conjurors, they have rights & ceremonies\nto Perform & go through, which, tho' apparently simple & absurd, yet I have no doubt but\nfully answer their ends. Any person among them wishing to dive into futurity,\nmust be Young & unpolluted. At any age between 18 & 25. Tho' as near as I can\nlearn between 17 & 20 years old--they must have had no intercourse with\nthe other Sex--they must be chaste & unpolluted. In the spring of the year they\nchuse a proper place at a sufficient distance from the camp not be discovered\nnor disturbed. They make themselves a bed of Grass, or hay as we term it, &\nhave besides enough to make them a covering. When all this is done--& they do it entirely\nalone, they strip stark naked & put all their things _a good way off_ & then return,\nly on this bed & then cover themselves with the rest of the Grass. Here they remain &\nendeavour to _sleep_, which from their nature is no very difficult task. But, du-\nring whatever time they may remain, they must neither eat nor drink. If they want to\nDream of the Spirits above, their bed must be made at some distance from the Ground\n--if of Spirits inhabiting our Earth, or those residing in the waters, on the Ground.\n\n\n (5)\non the Ground. Here they ly for a longer or shorter time, according to their success, or the\norders of the Dreamed. Some remain but 3 or 4 days, some 10, & I have be told one re-\nmained 30 days without eating or drinking; such was the delight he received from his\nDreams!--When I laughed at this, the man was vexed, & the others not a little hurt.\n--The first thing they do after their return to their freinds is to take a good drink\nof water, smoke the Pipe: & after that eat, but as composedly as if they had\nbut just risen from a hearty meal. Their _Dreamed_ sometimes order them to make a\nFeast; & not uncommonly tell them where to go, where they will find the animal whose\nflesh is to be served up (i.e. always boiled) &c. They sometimes lie in one Posture,\n& sometimes in another, i.e. their head to some one of the Cardinal Points. Some have\nthe most pleasant dreams imaginable; others indifferent. When they are to live to\na good old age(!!!) they are told...\"You will see many winters! your head will grow\n\"quite white\"; or \"tho you shall never see your head white, yet you shall live\n\"till you are obliged to make use of a stick, & long after\"--\"You shall die old,\n\"very old, respected & regretted.\"--If they are to die young... \"Thou shalt see the years of a\n\"young man\"; & so on of the other ages, as well as the manner of life they shall have; & the\nlanguage is not very dissimilar to that of our version of the Bible. But that stile seems to\nme to be the language of Nature which _I_ always find the more charming the more re-\ntired the _speaker_ is from the Pompous, bombastic walks of _high_ life, which tho' they furnish\nus with more ideas, _I_ do not think adds so much to the beauty of the language.\n\tAs I have said before, the purpose of these Dreams is to dive into futurity. Every\nthing in nature appears unto them, but in the Shape of a human-being--They dream\nthey meet a man who asks them (after some preliminary conversation of course) \"Dost\n\"thou know me? (who or what I am?)\"--\"No\" \"Follow me then\" replies this strangers,\nthe indian follows--the other leads him to his abode & again makes the inquiry--\nthe answer is perhaps as before. Then the Stranger assumes his proper form, which is\nperhaps that of a Tree, a Stone, a fish &c. &c. & after rechanging several times\nin this manner, 'till such times as the Ind. becomes perfectly to know him, then this stran-\nger gives him to smoke, learns him _his_ Song &c. thus addressing him: \"Now do\n\"you remember my song? .... Whenever you will wish to call upon me, Sing\n\"this Song, & I shall not be far--I will come, & do for you what you require.\"--\nThey know many of _these Spirits_ as soon as they see them (in their dreams) by the des-\ncription the other indians have given of them--some however they know from their\nNature. When The _Snow_ addresses them--he they know, because he is perfectly white. The\n_Ice_ also. The Sun & Moon from their beautifull brilliancy & the elegance of their\nabode. The Houses of the two last being uncommonly neat & handsome, such as those of\n\n\n (6)\nthe white (i e. civilized). One Principal amongst all these, & every thing in Nature appears\nat least to some, of them, is the Supreme Being, whom they term Wee-suck-\u0101 j\u0101\u0101k\n(the last a's being pronounced as in, all, hawk, &c.; the first as ale, bail, &c.) i.e. by his Pro-\nper name, his common name, Gey-Shay-mani-_to_ (this is among the Crees nation),\nwhich signifies \"the Greatly charitable Spirit.\" He is uncommonly good & kind, addresses them,\n& talk to them as to children whom he most tenderly loves & is extremely anxious for. Thus far\nevery thing is very well, & is perhaps a better _idea_ than many of the vulgar Christians can give; but\non the other hand again thier Mythology, or Stories relating to him, are many of them ab-\nsurd & indecent in the highest degree: reducing him to the level of his creatures, & not\nunfrequently their making him dupe; but become so by such vile, such abominable deception as\nI doubt to be equalled by the most absurd & romantic of the arabian Tales; for there\nare many of these Tales the author durst not publish for the obscenity & inde-\ncency. There ares ome obscene passages also in these tales (of the indians) but\nnot more than might be expected from a people yet in a perfect state of\nnature, as to their mental Powers, to our eternal shame & scandal. This one\nthey love, they love him a great deal, & are by no means are afraid of him, because he always\naddresses them \"my Little Children &c.\" & all the rest of his character is of a\npiece with this.--The next one is Old Nick--Him some term \"Key-\n\"-jick-oh-kay\" (The J being pronounced soft, as Git, or Gil, in french, for I\nknow of no English word where properly speaking the J is of any use & has the\nsound seemed intended by it) or \"Key-jick-oh-ka_iw_\". I cannot at present\ngive the proper signification of this name, for I am not sufficiently acquainted with\nthe language, but it appears to me as to mean \"he who made the Day or Skies,\n\"or resides in the Sky\" &c.--This one they represent wicked, & terrible; inexorable\nto the highest degree; always plotting evil, & endeavouring to circumvent the rest\nof the creation; is always jawing & bawling; but when the other appears he or-\nders him in a peremptory manner \"hold thy Tongue; Get the hence, thou\n\"deceiver; thou ill-liver\". But these words are uttered in such an authoratative\n& commanding tone that the Indians themselves are quite astonished, to see one who is\nso uncommonly kind & indulgent to them in every respect; so tender & affectionate,\neven in the choice of his words, assume so suddenly & with so much authority so\nmuch Power over one whose name alone they never utter but with the greatest\nDread & horor. Their Horor of the Devil is so great, that no one ever utters it but\nwhen unavoidable; & if thro' inadvertancy or ignorance one of their children\nshould mention it he is severely reprimanded by all who hear.--\n\tThere is also the Sea Serpent, a monstrous animal & has much Power; The Mer-\n\n\n (7)\nThe Mermaid (or Sea-Man), The Water Lynx, or rather Tyger--a dreadful charac-\nter this last, who keeps all the Inhabitants of the deep in the Greatest Subjection--there\nare however one or two who contend with him; & sometimes he is reduced to the necissity of\ncompounding with them. The Great Turtle, and many others. They have their abodes\nin the Deep, but perfectly dry & comfortable. Each one of these, & indeed all of them\nhave their Stories or Mythology; some I forget entirely, & others remember too incor-\nrectly to mention at present.--[These When any one Conjures, if he is a renouned\n_Medicine_ Man, _they_ all appear, & Speake to him, mostly in his own language, some\nfew excepted as the _Pike_ (a Jack fish) who Speaks french; The Sun & Moon, both speak\nEnglish; the Bull or Buffaloe in an unknown, or at least strange language; but all per-\nfectly intelligible to the Conjuror.--I am quite astray--leaving the proper thread of\nmy story to follow one of its branches--I ought to have said that] The Sun when\nhe appears to an indian, he is seen in the Heavens, as an Indian (i.e. a Man) \"walk-\ning on the Wind.\" His dress is of a variety of Colors & handsome. I had a dream,\nthe latter part of which I shall relate to you as it is perfectly des-\ncriptive of the manner or form in which the Sun appears. I related it the next day to\nsome of my half-breeds, when one of them replied; \"What a pity! had you now forborne\nfor a few days mentioning _this_, he would have appeared again to you; & then you would have\nhad a fine opportunity of learning (from the fountain-head, as we might say) how it is the\nindians come to perform those things the white will never credit:\" & he continued that\nit was precisely the form he assumed when he appears to the indians. In my\ndream I thought we were travelling a road from which some of our Party had the\nutmost to dread from the ambush of an indian who could transport himself to\nwhat place he pleased. As we were walking I happened to look above & was\nmuch struck with the appearance of a man walking in the Heavens. His\ndress was that of a neat _Southern_ Indian, composed mostly of red & yellow, but also of a\nfew other colors: The Garters of his leggings were also Neat & handsome & had a tuft of\nSwans-down that had been Powdered with vermillion, attached to the not, on the\nback part of the leg: To His shoes were attached 2 long Swan quills inclosing\nthe foot thus [Transcriber's Note: Diagram of Sun's footwear] with a tuft of down at each end & in the middle on both\nsides, all Powdered with vermillion--with these quills & down, & the down\non his Garters buoyed him up in the air. I addressed in broken Cree--he answered\nin the same broken accent; upon my second address I though he did not understand more\nof that language than I did myself: the Sauteux seemed to me his proper tongue & I was\nglad of having an opportunity of speaking that language; so I the third time addressed him\nin it asked him from whence he came, whither he was going &c. &c.--He was very hi\n\n\n (8)\nhi, insomuch that the others thought it preprosterous in my addressing him--that he could not\nhear from that distance. Upon this he came down & talked with us--Saying he was an _ambas-\nsador_ &c. Such is the habillement, & manner in which the Sun shews himself.--The Thun-\nder also appears to them, in the Shape & form of a Most beautiful bird (The Pea-Cock).--\n Roots & herbs also (this also ought to have come in afterwards) i.e. such as are medeci-\nnal, appear, & teach their votaries their respective Songs--how they must do, what ceremonies\nthey must perform in taking them out of the Ground, their different applications &c. &c. But\nthese roots, herbs, &c. (medecins) tho' they appear in their Dreams, they do not shew themselves\nin the Conjuring Hut, box, or frame, that I learn. They are sent, as appears, by Wee-\nsuck-a-jaak, \"to teach indians their use & virtue.\" &c., without which \"they would be\nvery ill off, whether to heal or cure themselves, or expell the charms by which other\nindians may have bewitched them\" &c. And tho' they are acquainted with many of\nthese roots &c. the use & virtue of some of which I can no more doubt than those used by the\nFaculty in the Civilized world, yet they tell me there are several which they use to differ-\nent, & some to diametrically opposite purposes.\n\tTheir manner of Conjuring is this--in the first place a number straights poles of\n2, or 2 1/2 ins. diameter & about 8 or 9 feet long are prepared, i.e. cut, branched & Pointed at the\nlower end--they seldom require so _few_ as four, commonly 6 or 8, these are planted in\nthe Ground from 12 to 20 or 24 ins. deep in an hexagon or octagon form, enclosing a space of\n3 feet diameter, more or less--These Poles are secured by hoops,\n3 or 4 in number, & well tied to each pole, so that none be able to move without the\nrest--This Hut, square, box, or frame, whatever it may be termed is covered with skins,\nan oil cloth, or some such sort of thing.--The Conjuror is bound hand & foot, not as if\nhe were a man going to _pry_ into futurity, but as a Criminal, i.e. _mere_, pure\nDevil & one whom they intend never to loosen, so barricaded & cross-corded is the creature,\nsometimes all crumpled into a heap. He is tied only with his Cloute on him & thus\nthrust into the hut, underneath, i.e. by raising the lower covering--his \"she-she-\nquay\" or rattler with him. Some of them sing on entering, others make a speech,\n--. Here they remain some several hours, others not 5 minutes before a fluttering\nis heard. The rattler is shaked at a merry rate & all of a Sudden, either from the\ntop, or below away flies the cords by which the indian was tied _into the lap\nof he who tied him_. It is then that the Devil is at work--Every instant some\none or other enters, which is known to those outside by either the fluttering, the rubbing against\nthe skins of the hut in descending (inside) or the shaking of the rattler, & sometimes all\ntogether. When any enter, the hut moves in a most violent manner--I have fre-\nquently thought that it would be knocked down, or torn out of the Ground. The first\n\n\n (9)\nThe first who enters is commonly Meeh-key-nock (the Turtle) a jolly, jovial sort of a\nfellow, who, after disencumbering his votary, chats & jokes with those outside & asks for a\npipe to smoke &c.--There is a good deal of talking inside as may be supposed from the\nnumber of folks collected in so small a space. To some renowned characters, all\nthe Spirits appear. The Thunder also frequently comes but he is desired to remain\noutside as he would breake all--It is reported that he once entered & split one\nof the Poles into shivers. The Flying Squirrel also enters--he is no liar, but you\nmust take every thing he says as we do our Dreams i.e. the opposite: his nature is such\nthat he durst not tell the truth but in this ambiguous manner, otherwise the\nconjuror would soon after die. I do not know that the Skunk ever comes, but the\nWolverine (Carcajoux) does & he is known immediately by his stink, which occa-\nsions no small merriment at his expense, on the outside. The _Loon_ also enters\n--he is known by his usual cry--\"Nee-wih wee-way\" repeated commonly 3 times as\nhe does when in the water. And this too occasions a great laugh, for these four\nsyllables, which form the most common Cry of that bird in the _Spring_ of the\nyear, as every body may observe, _are_ also 3 words in the Sauteux & Cree languages,\nwhich signify \"I want to marry\"! \"I want to marry\"! \"What! & will you never\n\"have done marrying?--you were marrying all last Summer & still want to\"--will some\noutside say, & every one has his word to put in. _Hercules_ also comes in--he is per-\nhaps as much revered by those people as even he was by the Spartans or Athenians--\nHis name is _Strong Neck_ (& every body knows how strong hercules was)--he does\nnot seem over fond of Jokes--& when the other Spirits announce his coming all\nthose on the outside must cover their heads & not look up; for it appears that he\ncannot come _invisible_ as the others do, or will not, but still does not chuse\nto be seen. \"Once upon a time his arrival was announced, & every body was ordered\n\"to cover themselves, so as not to see (this, & all such like orders are commands sent to\n\"the Conjuror, & which he, (being inside) must _Promulgate_ to those on the outside)--\n\"--there was one young Buck however who wanted to shew himself supe-\n\"rior to these orders & divert his freinds, would not cover himself--Hercules\n\"entered--& at that time, as at all others, he was not in too good a humor--Some alter-\n\"cation ensued & \"I am Strong Neck\" said he \"Pah! says the young man at last,\n\"the neck of my os-Pubis indeed is strong\"! This raised a most violent laugh, but\n\"the young man was lost--he disappeared from amongst them, & was never after\n\"heard of. Since _that_ time they are rather more cautious. Some of the _Ancients_\nalso enter--they are called \"O-may-me-thay-day-ce-cee-wuck\" i.e. _Hairy breasts_\n\n\n (10)\nsuch as the ancients are said to be.. These are great boasters--they recount the exploits of\ntheir younger days, apparently with the greatest satisfaction; say \"I used to do so & so\n\"on such occasions--I never shot a Moose or Buffaloe, but pursued them on my feet,\n\"& ripped them open with my knife &c.\" But this is only _wind_, for no sooner do other\npowerful ones enter, but these Chaps search to secret themselves. The Sun enters--speakes\nvery bad English at the offset, but by degrees becomes to speake it very easily & fluently--He\nis Gun Smith & watch-maker, or at least can repair them. When he is entered there\nis commonly a beautiful clear light visible, through the covering--He neither does not\nadmit of too much familiarity; but is still good natured & condescending. The Pike\nor Jack fish, also enters; as the Sun, they also speak (French,) badly enough at the offset,\n\"When there are 2 or 3 on the outside who can speake french & address him together,\n\"merely to perplex & bother him, he laughs at their folly & says 'you may talk\n\"'20 or 100 of you together if you chuse, yet are you not able to perplex me--come as\n \"'numerous as you chuse, yet are there many more of us _Pike_ that you frenchmen'\"\n--he is very familiar too. The Bull, or Buffaloe is understood only by the Conjuror,\nhis voice being hoarse, & rough--his language quite foreign--the Conjurer must\ninterpret when any thing is wanted of him.--As is his voice, so are his manners--\n--however, he will joke a little too; but let them beware not to let drop anything\nin a sarcastic or contemptuous manner as to his power, or knowledge of the future for he\ntakes it up & reproves in a very tart manner; & in a way too that conveys no com-\nfortable ideas to any one present, for they all endeavour to excuse it by saying it is\nonly a Joke, \"I know Jokes too; & I can laugh, & understand the nature of laughing as\n\"well as the best amongst you, but such language is unbecoming & I will have no\n\"more of it.\"--\"A half breed one time, _because his father was a french man_\n\"thought he might go any lengths he pleased with him (the B.)--he replied very\n\"warmly thus: \"how durst thou doubt anything I say--Knowest thou not how clearly\n\"\"& distinctly objects are discovered & seen in a plain, from an eminence; & my abode is\n\"\"is in the regions above--I see every object as distinctly as you see at your feet, doubt\n\"\"then no more, & never hereafter call our Power to question.\"--Aye! replied some of the other\n\"spirits \"We not only see _all that you do, however secret &hid you think yourselves_\n\"\"but we also hear every word you utter.\" If that indeed be the case tell me, where now are, &\n\"when will be here, my fathers Country Men? [The conjuror had been employed to tell\n\"what the people were about as it was long since the time they were expected, & ought to have\n\"arrived, had elapsed]--\"Wait! I shall go & see\"--& shortly after he returned \"They are\n\"\"now all asleep at such a place--the weather will be calm tomorrow, & tho' the distance\n\n (11)\n\"\"distance is great, yet will you see them tomorrow night, for they are as anxious as yourselves\"--\n\"another one said, \"Since then ye Spirits pretend to know every thing & are vexed when we call\n\"\"any of your sayings in question--come tell me--how long shall I live?--Shall I yet see\n\"\"two more winters? \"Ha! (laughing replied the same voice) two winters? I see you\n\"\"all yet alive two winters hence, every soul that sets here & considerably more; & some of\n\"\"you I see crawling with old age\"\"!!!--With some of the\nSpirits as I've already said the by standers (or setters for they are seated on the\nGround round about) are very familiar--The Turtle is one of them, he is very hu-\nmersome, & their jokes with him were such (for I've heard this myself) as I should\nhave been ashamed to hold even with a bawd--it was pure _ribaldry_: but they durst\nnot doubt him when he speaks seriously; for he is very powerful & makes himself\nrespected when he thinks it necessary. \"Who is that, now speaking?\" said one of the in-\ndians (this I was told)--\"It is Mihkenach\" said the Conjuror--if it be him, prove it\n\"--take him in your hand & show him to us\" Now the Conjr. was a very great me-\n\"decin man,--he took the turtle upon his hand, raised the covering of his _box_,\n\"& called them to look--Every one was astonished at his beauty--he was very\n\"small, scarcely more than 2 ins. long. When all had gazed enough the Conjurer\n\"drew him in.--The Turtle was very quiet while out but as soon as he got in\n\"exclaimed \"Oh! how afraid I was when I saw the children look so eagerly--I\n\"was afraid some of them would have attempted to take me in their hands &\n\"let me fall, perhaps in the fire\" & laughed heartily. The Bear is a rough\nbeast & makes a devil of a racket. Towards the latter end master Keyjickah-\nkaiw, that old serpent, Satan, enters;--his arrival is announced--all hands are greived, for\nthen the conclusion is soon to take place--He makes every thing fly again, kicking\nup his own (i.e. the Devils) racket, jawing & blabing, scolding & giving the lie to &\nabusing all hands: the indians are hurt & displeased, but durst not say anything--they must\nswallow all quietly, & then it is that the Conjuror most dreads for his own _bacon_:\nthis however does not last very long for Weesuckajaak (the Supreme Being) enters last\n--as soon as his coming is announced Nick begins to sneake, but still _en maitre_\n--Wee_k_ enters, Nick _jaws_, silence is imposed, nick still troublesome,\nat last the word comes authoratatively & away _he_ flies. The Indians are uncommonly\nfond of Weesuckaj\u00e2ck--he commonly speaks to this effect \"My Little (i.e. Grand) Children\n\"I am very indulgent & kind, I am very charitable, & love you much,--a great deal more\n\"than you imagine. You must not live ill, nor make a bad use of your power & knowledge\n\"for I hate that;--hence it is I command Nick in that authoratative manner; because\n\n\n (12)\n\"because he is wickedly inclined--mischief & destruction are in his nature--he greives at any\n\"good he sees: take ye heed, beware of him for he is ever on the watch to destroy you\"\n--When _Charly_ enters after some abuse he calls out \"Get ye hence, get ye hence, what\n\"are ye doing so long from your home: off with ye immediately\"; & rubs up & down\nthe skins that form the covering lest any should be hid. Thus he sends off all the\nSpirits, who, as they _fly_ off, as well as when they enter, give this frame a terrible\nshaking. It may be supposed what sort of a shaking he gives as he comes & goes, &\nhow he shakes the rattler;--for they all shake the rattler on entering. When We-\nsuckajaak goes off, all is done.--\n Some Conjurors are so powerful that the _hut_ they enter, must be doubled; that is two\nrows or Setts of Poles one on the outside the other, & each row fastened with good\nstrong hoops well tied, after which the outer & inner row are also fastened--thus\n\n\narranged, they seem to be beyond the power of any 3 or 4 men to move, yet when the\nSpirits enter it sets a-going with a motion equal to that of a Single pole indifferently stuck\nin the Ground & violently moved by a man. I have never seen any of these double\nones, but twice or thrice saw the others, whilst the conjuror was in--Some time\nafterwards, when they were off, I shook them with both hands & with all my strength,\nbut the motion was nothing like that of the Conjurors. I have been told that\nthose who enter these Double ones, are so powerful that almost all the Creation\ncomes to see them, & they are shaken with uncommon violence. This motion\nthe Conjurors say is produced by the concussion of the air; i.e. the Spirits come\n& enter with such velocity that it is the _Wind they Produce_ which occasions it.\nThe conjuror is all the while seated Peaceably in the bottom, (on the Ground) of his\nhut. Some of them to shew their Power have had small sticks of the hardest\nwood (such as produces the wild Pear, & of which the Indians make their arrows, &\nram-rods &c. for Guns) about the size of a mans finger, made as sharp point-\ned as possible, & dried, when they become in consequence nearly as dangerous as iron,\nor bayonets--Some have 18, 24 more or less, tho' Seldom less than 18 planted in the\nbottom of their hut--They are about 12 or 14 ins. out of the Ground--On the Points of these\nSticks is the conjuror placed, sometimes on his bottom, at others on his\nknees & elbows, & there he remains as quietly & composedly as if he were on\n\"_a bed of Roses_\"; & when he comes off no marks of injury appear, tho he entered\nnaked, only his Cloute about him, & of course the Cords with which he is\ntied. \"Their familiars (their Dreamed, or those who appear to them in their dreams &\nPromise them their assistance & Protection) support them so that no injury hap-\npens them\"!!! __________________\n\n\n\n (13)\nMarch 29th- I feel but very indifferently disposed to write; but I am on the eve of an accumula-\ntion of business & may not, after a few days, have the necessary time, so that I shall risk.\n\tA Couple of days back I have been conversing with a Cree (indian) who by _peace-meal_\ngives me the following account of their mythology:--\"The North-(wind) apparently one of\noldest of created rational beings thus addressed his daughter, his only child \"My\n\"daughter! be very careful, & remember that anything you do, or wherever you go, on turn-\ning yourself, turn _always in the same direction with the Sun, & never in a contra-\nry direction_.\" Now women are a compound of Perverseness, obstinacy & curiosity; & withall\nforgetful enough too, _sometimes_. This Girl one day she was chopping fire-wood, without\nthinking of her fathers admonition, in going to another Tree, turned round\nto the right, in a contrary direction to the Sun, & instantly fell to the Ground, &\ndied. The time she used to take up in this occupation, being expired, her Parents became\nvery uneasy, & after some search found her on her _back_, dead, & her belly swolen to an enor-\nmous size. The father & mother, on each or opposite sides, contemplated her si-\ntuation with great grief. At last the Father arose, stood up, & made a long\nspeech, praying to \"The Father of Life\" to have mercy & compassion on his child.\nHis speech was not ineffectual: the Girl was delivered of a Boy, & shortly after, of another--\nThe Elder was called Wee-suck-a-jock; the younger \"Mi (or Mee) shaw-b\u00f4se\"--\nAfter this the Girl recovered & became as aforetime. These two young men immedi-\nately attained \"mans estate\"--i.e. to manhood, &c. and became hunters. The\nyounger of the two one day was in pursuit of a Grey, or rein Deer (Carriboeuf) after\nwhich also pursued a Wolf. The Deer having thus no hopes of escape fled to a\nrock on the edge of the waters & plunged in, Mishab\u00f4se & the Wolf followed; but they\nall three became a prey to the Michi-Pichoux, or Great Lynx, i.e. water Lynx,\nwater-Cat, or water Dog. Wesuckajock was very uneasy for his brother, was\nanxious to revenge his death, but scarcely knew-well how. At last one day seeing\na Kings-fisher hovering in a certain spot addressed him thus \"My younger\n\"Brother! what art thou there looking at?\" \"I am looking at Mishab\u00f4se, your\n\"brother, lying in the bottom of the deep, drowned\" &c. After some further con-\nversation, Weesuck. discovered the means of avenging himself. He accordingly set to\nwork & made himself a _large Canoe_, on board of which he embarked the Moose, Deer,\nBear, otter, Beaver, muskrat, wolf &c. &c. & repaired to the place where the\nSea Lynxes used to resort to sleep; this was a fine pleasant place on\nthe Land. Here he observed several of them & began his work. It is not related\nhow many he did kill, but the waters upon their death came rushing upon\nhim in a violent torrent; as he expected this, he had bro't his canoe near hand,\nbut before he reached it, after killing his enemies, he was already knee-deep in the\n\n\n (14)\nin the water: however he got safely on board; but in his hurry forgot to embark a little earth.\n--Now the waters swelled immensely, & in a very short time the highest land was cover'd\n& Weesuckajock was tossed about by the wind & water. It appears that he had not the fore-\nsight either of taking with him a sufficiency of Provisions for he became very hungry,\n& thus expressed himself to his crew. After some time he saw some-\nthing on the water, very large & moving towards him: He thus addressed it, \"Who,\n\"or what, art thou my younger brother? (for he being the first born, always addressed\nthe rest of the creation, whether animate, inanimate, or rational or not, as his _younger\n\"Brothers_) & whither art thou going?\" \"Why! my Elder (brother) I am a _water Lynx_,\n\"& am sent by _Confrers_ in search of Weesuck. & to destroy him\" \"Aye! is it so indeed?\n\"& how or with with instrument do you intend to destroy him?\" \"I have a large &\n\"very strong Iron-tail, with which if I smite his Canoe, he must perish?\" Wee-\nsuckajock seeing his danger tho't to get off by duplicity & dissimulation & thus\ncontinued: \"Indeed you must have a very extraordinary _tail_ my _Younger_ ....\n\"come near, & let me see it, how it is made &c.\"--The Lynx drew up, present-\ned his tail, Weesuck. took hold as to look on it, & placed it on the Gunnel\nof his Canoe & with a stone cut it off saying,\"Now go to thy friends, & tell\n\"them how Weesuck. has served thee.\"--He retired doubled quick, grieved,\nashamed, & not with a little pain. \"Ha!\" said the water Lynxes on perceiving\nthe situation of their companion, \"ha! weesuck. is cunning, & too powerful,\n\"we must destroy him for our own safety.\" \"Come, now, who amongst us will\n\"volunteer, & go to destroy that enemy of ours?\"--They at last pitched upon an enor-\nmous Beaver & thus addressed him at his departure \"Go thou our Brother, Destroy\n\"that mutual enemy of ours, be not afraid of him for he is not worthy of fear; but still be cau-\n\"tious, for he is very artful.\" Weesuck. descryed him also, & the same addresses &\ncompliments passed as with the first. And how do you intend to destroy Weesuck?\"\n\"with my teeth.\" Well then do come near & let me see them.\" x x x The beaver\ndrew up, & shewed his teeth: weesuck. put his hand on his head & while exclaiming \"What\n\"terrible teeth!--how immensely broad & sharp--they are like large axes!\" he\nwith his other hand took up a large stone & with a dreadful blow broke them\nall in his head. \"Now go to thou too friends & tell them how Weesuck. hath served\n\"thee.\" Indeed the beaver did go, sniffling & blowing & yelling. The Lynxes were\nastonished, & durst no more attempt anything at him. His situation however\nwas very disagreable, very uncomfortable, & what added to it was his want of\nfood. He thus addressed his companions one day. \"Come now we very repre-\n\"hensibly forgot to bring earth with us, & who knows how long this will conti-\n\n\n (15)\n\"continue?--which of you all will endeavour to get a little earth for me out of which I\n\"shall try to make _Land_ for us to live on?--whoever will go shall be amply rewarded.\"\nThey all said it was very deep. There was scarcely an hopes. Then he said to the otter\n\"Go thou my _Younger_ (brother) & if thou diest in the attempt, I shall restore thee to life,\n\"& make thee immortal\". Saying this he tied a long leather thong to his tail & sent him\ndown: he found the otter was dead, hauled him up in to the canoe, rubbed him dry\n& blowed in his nostrils, when he revived. Then he sent the Musk rat: \"Come my\n\"little brother, go thou, thou art small & very active, art fond of the water, & goeth to great\n\"depths--thy reward shall be as that of the otter.\" The rat was secured with a thong\nalso & down he went. Weesuck found he was dead: hauled him up, & was extre-\nmely happy to find he had some earth in his little paws & mouth: he restored\nhim to life as he did the otter, & sent him down again, when he bro't up his mouth as\nfull as it could hold & a good deal in his _hands_ which he held pressed to breast.\n\tNow weesuck. took this earth & made a ball of it, & blew in it a considerable\ntime & sent off the Wolf to make its circuit to see if it was large enough. After\nfour nights he returned & thus spake \"My Elder, the earth is indeed Large & beautiful; but our\n\"number now is small: when we will increase it will be too small for us: we\n\"will be all upon top of each other (i.e we will be in each others way &c.), & if you\n\"make man as you contemplate,...it will be much moreso.\" Weesuck then blew\nit out again & once more sent the Wolf--He was 8 nights absent, & reported it\nstill too small. Weesuck then blew it out for a long time & sends the wolf\nagain. But before he went off he said \"My Elder, the Earth must now be very\n\"large, & I shall possibly be too much wearied to make its circuit: I shall traverse,\n\"& if I find any thing to assure me of its being large enough I shall _howl_,\n\"which will be a sign to you; & whatever place may suit me there will I make my resi-\ndance.\" After several nights absence they heard him howl, wherefore they all\nconcluded the Earth was sufficiently Large. Weesuck. then _blessed_ the others & sent\nthem away telling them to multiply \"& be good, not vicious or ill inclined, nor se-\n\"cret, or hide themselves too much from _My_ little brothers (the human beings\nwhich he was about to create) when they might want to eat\" &c. &c. Now\nafter this he became very lonesome & bethout himself of making _Indians_\ni.e. human beings. He in consequence took up a stone & fashioned it into\nthe form of a man; but whilst at this work it struck him that by forming\nthem of so strong & hard a substance that in time when they would become to\nknow their nature, they would grow insolent & rebellious & be a great a great an-\nnoyance to each other & of course also, would never die. \"This will not do, I must\n\n\n (16)\n\"I must make them of a more weake & fragible substance, \"so that they may live a reas-\n\"reasonable time & behave as becomes human beings.\" Upon this he took up a handful\nof common Earth & made the form of a man, & blew into his nostrils _the breath of life_.\n\tThe Moon formed the Female, as Wesuck. did the Male, hence the reason of the Pe-\nriodical return of their sickness with that of the moon, \"as also among the Sluts.\" (Bitches).\nHence also all women are forbidden when they go out from the calls of nature, & that _one_ in\nparticular, to look at the moon while thus employed. Those who are thus for-\ngetful, ignorant, or obstinate immediately find the effect by the return &c. x x x.\nI should have said that he bruised the stone to Pieces, altho' a great part of it was\nalready formed. For the white (I believe it was the Moon again) he made a Part-\nner for him of one of his ribs & another piece, which he wrapped in a handker-\nchief & laid beside him saying \"this, by the time thou risest, shall be a full\n\"grown Woman & shall be thy companion\" &c.----After all this done, he\nmade a separation in the Earth, one part of which was a beautiful\nplain meadow Ground, & the rest Woody; & then set off travelling in the\nEarth. He took a partner to himself, by whom he had a son. This soon got to mans\nestate, but had a great aversion to the female Sex, which gave his Parents a great\ndeal of anxiety, all their trouble, all their remonstrances were to no effect: at\nlast the father betho't of a plan in which he was sure of success. \"He transformed him-\n\"self into a most beautiful woman & when the Son was returned from his hunting\n\"well Son! said the Mother, here is a young & handsome woman we have procured\n\"merily for thee; does she please thee?\"--Her _charms_ were so great the young man\nimmediately became extremely fond of her. But this, in the end, became the\nsource of much trouble to both Parents & of disgrace to the father particular-\nly. The mother became jealous & vexed on her son's account that he should so\nbe imposed upon, & done many shameful things to her husband.\" Here follows\na train of Stories the most indecent, & shameful & sometimes obscene, that one can\nwell imagine. But these people are yet, so far as regards their faculties, in a\nstate of Nature. Every thing appears reasonable & natural & must be very\ngross & palpable indeed when they do not give credit to them. Their language\nis also that of nature, & they speake out what they think--they do not use circumlocu-\ntion to avoid an indecent term, nor have they flourishes to embellish their dis-\ncourses; & their speeches, to my taste, at least, are far more pleasing & natural\nthan those strained & laboured compositions we meet with amongst ourselves. But this is\nnot the place for these discussions.----\n\n\n (17)\n-_April 4th 1823_} There is a sick indian with me whom I have been obliged to feed with his whole\nfamily all winter, not being able to endure the cold on his lungs, & in a manner deserted by\nhis friends. To get as near the truth as I can possibly do in all things relating to their\nmythology, I frequently converse with him on these subjects; & when \"not forbid-\nden by his Dreamed or familiars\" is explicit enough. A few nights back he\nthus informed me upon the several questions I proposed. The one that I saw in my\ndream as above related _is not the Sun_, as my half-breeds told me. The\nSun is dressed like a Gentleman, i.e a short coat, waistcoat, short breeches, stock-\nings, boots, a hat & a beautiful feather stuck in it. He speakes English &c. and\nthe rest as mentioned above. But the one I mentioned above, is Sickness, or\nthe Plague. There are four of them: two walking in the air as I mentioned, & two _in_\nthe earth, i.e. in the bowels of the earth at a certain moderate distance from\nthe surface, perhaps in the same _proportion_ as those who are above. The indian\nthus relates of him: \"When I was a young man, he appeared to me, & told me his\n\"name was Sickness; & that every time a _general_ sickness was to take place\n\"amongst us he would come & forwarn me. See: Four winters ago (in 1819) after\n\"we had taken debt in the fall & were proceding each of us to our hunting Grounds\n\"he appeared to me one night & said, 'I am come to tell you to get out of the way\n\"'of all _Large waters_ (i.e. Lakes & rivers) & pitch off immediately into the woods:\n\"'Be cautious also & select proper ground for an encamping; never pitch your\n\"'tents in Large high Woods, particularly of the Pine kind, chuse _low woods_\n\"'to encamp in & never look up to Gaze lest I see you see & you be\n\"'smitten. Keep off, always from Large waters, for I am on a circuit round\n\"'the earth: I shall follow the travelling waters (i.e. The routes or roads\n\"'usually frequented or navigated) & smite all those I there find with\n\"'sickness: in the interior, or to one side I shall not go. Tell this to the\n\"'indians that they keep out of the way.'\" It was that year that the _Measles_\nmade such havock in some places. He thus continued, \"This last fall (in December)\n\"I saw him again--he told me he was on another circuit & intended making a\n\"large selection, passing thro' the plains & coming down again this way. He said\n\"he would pass when the leaves would be rather large (about the 20th June,\n\"in these parts) & told me as before to admonish every body to keep out of the\n\"way of _large waters_, trees &c. &c.--'It is not my doings, nor is it my choice\n\"'that I thus _prowl_ thro' the earth, said he, but I am sent, & cannot resist'--\n\"Now we will be again this spring visited with some sickness, but I cannot\n\"tell which--it is a breaking out in the flesh &c. and his appearing to you\n\n\n (18)\n\"to you (i.e. me) is a sign that he will certainly pass.\" I then asked him if he intend-\ned telling the other indians of it. \"I shall tell my Elder (brother), but not the others, for they\n\"wont beleive me.\" He was very diffident: he wanted to communicate to me all he\nwas told, but said he durst not lest he should injure himself, by exasperating the other\n(i.e _Sickness_) & being _enigmatically_ forbidden!--\"He told me, continued the indian,\n\"as a sign that two of our number should die this winter, one a small one (& _he_ is dead\n\"naming to me a child that died about that time, tho' very distant then from him)\n\"and the other a full grown person--whom he is I know not, _but one must die_!\nThese Chaps seldom appear (in dreams) less than 4 times, but commonly 6 times,\n& each time in a different form 'till the last, when he _makes himself known_,\n& ever after appears (or rather appear) in the same uniform manner. It\nis then, after they have made themselves completely known to their votaries,\nthat they communicate their power &c. &c. &c. and teach their their _songs_\nwhich tho' in their dreams, are so indelibly imprinted in their memories that they are\nnever forgotten. For every one of these Spirits, Genii, demons, phantasies, or whatever\nyou may please to term them, have each their _Song_, which they communicate\nto their votaries, as well as explain also their power. Hence it is, that when any\nany one amongst them has dreamed of a certain number, commonly a good\nmany, 20, 30, or perhaps a thousand, that they can _conjure_ when they please; for\nthese like the guardian Genii in the fables, keeps always near them, & pro-\ntect them from _too_ much injury from the evil machinations of some\nof the mischievous ones. Indeed, from what I can learn, there are but few of\nthese _familiars_ but do do evil to their votaries if they (the votary, i.e. the in-\ndian) neglect performing the regular annual, or perhaps more distant\nperiodical sacrifice; and this sacrifice, their _familiar_ tells them what it is he expects.\nA few days ago, in the night between the 31st March & 1st April, this indian was\nsleeping in an old house I sent him to, when at a late hour in the night he was pulled most\nviolently out of his bed; so that his wife that was lying beside him, awoke & with\ndifficulty kept him down, tho' he also struggled himself to make his _Fami-\nliar_ leave his hold: & the house shook violently. The next day he sent me his\nwife to ask a like a little grease to make a sacrifice (i.e. burnt offering X)--I gave\nher a little, & the husband came the same evening to sleep with us. Upon en-\nquiring he told me thus. \"It was a _Skeleton_: he _was_ displeased with me because\n\"I did not make him my usual offering & yet he knows that I am _pitiful_,\n\"that I cannot move to hunt myself, but am beholding to others for every\n\"mouthful I & my family eat; but they are wicked when they think themselves\n\nX God forgive me the comparison, which by the bye is not meant to ridicule, but is really the case.\n\n\n (19)\nneglected or abandoned, & think nothing of carrying off an indian & throwing him in some\ndistant place, dangerous precipice, or other place where he must perish if not succored\nby some other more kind one. \"Some years back continued he, I went out one night\n\"in the fall to hunt moose. I had tied my Canoe very securely in the rushes &\n\"there was waiting alone to hear the moose either come to the Lake, or cry after the\n\"Dam, for it was in the rutting Season (& the indians commonly go out in this\nmanner at that season, for the Buck has a certain cry which he makes at that\ntime either to call the female, or as with the domestic cattle to exult as one\nmight think from their capers) \"I all at once heard far a-head of me cries of heh, heh!\n\"heh (or hayh, or haih) sudden, quick, coming in the air, & directly towards me 'oh!\n\"'now said I, I am gone'!--Indeed he came--I _crinjed_ & laid myself as low in my\n\"Canoe as possible; but he came straight to me, took me up & threw me in the\n\"water, all the time crying he'! he'!--I then endeavoured to take out my _fire-\n\"bag_; but this he would not let me do. Having then no alternative, I was obliged\n\"to make for the shore as well as I could, he all the time crying in the same man-\n\"ner just above my head, as if he intended absolutely my death. However I reached\n\"the shore, tho' with the greatest difficulty. Then I took some dry grass which\n \"I rubbed & bruised 'till it became soft & put it under my arm pits & crumpled\n\"myself into a small heap & remained 'till the sun began to warm when I\n\"swam back to my Canoe. He kept hovering over me all night & until the Sun was\n\"pretty high, always making the same cry; tho' when he found me so benumbed with\n\"cold on my debarkation he laughed, ha! ha! ha!\" &c. &c.--Today (Apr. 4th)\nhe asked me for a needle & thread to sew the sleeve of his Capot, which this _Ghost_!\nhad torn in his endeavours to carry him off the other night. Whilst he was sewing\n\"how he has vexed me, said he, by tearing my old Coat, but I am afraid of him.\"--\n--He related me another story of _them_ as follows. \"I went out one\n\"time a hunting beaver with a friend of mine: It was a long distance from our\n\"lodges--we killed 6 Beavers, & slept out. I awoke in the night & was\n\"much astonished to observe a man seated on the opposite side of the fire, resting his head on both\n\"hands, with his elbows on his knees apparently in a very pensive, sullen manner. He had but skin & bone--not the least particle of\n\"flesh; & _this_ one had hair on his bony head. I gently pushed my friend & told him to\n\"look at _that stranger_. We were both extremely agitated in consequence of our fear,\n\"& were at a loss what to do. Having no alternative, I arose, conceiving he came to\n\"ask for something to eat I took a Beaver, cut it in two & presented him the half of\n\"it: he did not deign to look at it--I was much afraid. I then bethought\n\"of cutting it into mouthfuls, which after presenting him I threw into the fire--\n\"thus I did with the whole; & when done, he arose & walked off peaceably in the _air_.\"\n\n\n (20)\nThis sort they term _P\u00e2h-k\u00e0ck_, i.e Skeletons, or such as die of hunger; or some that die ex-\ntremely lean whether from the consumption or other sickness--Those, i. e. many of them,\nwhen they have nothing but just the mere skin & bone remaining, some of them in this si-\ntuation disappear from the Earth & go to reside with all those who have already departed\nin that distressed state. This band or congregation have a head or chief--Their\ncolor is commonly green, tho' sometimes black; & it is extremely uncommon\nwhen one has even any hair, being bald--as if a blown bladder. They sometimes are heard in\nthe day. The nois is sometimes as of a quantity of dried bones rattled or shaken in\na forcible manner in a kettle; & sometimes as above related making that same\nmonotonous but frightful cry of he'h! he'h! very quick & with an abrupt ter-\nmination. The sacrifice they offer to these is Grease, generally a large bladder full,\n& of the best kind. All the natives present are invited. Tobacco of course goes before every\nthing else. He who makes the feast, or his assistant, most commonly lights, or fills\nrather, the pipes of all who smoke, but when it is light it is first presented to\nthat quarter where _these_ are supposed to reside (I believe in the N. W. or West)\nthen to the cardinal points--then to the (bladder of) Grease which is put is put\nin a dish fit to contain it & covered with down. Some of them have a small\nboard about 20 or 24 ins. long, flat, painted with red earth, & a head made to it, of the\nsame piece, & flat as the rest. At a certain distance below the neck, as we might\nsuppose the Shoulders, other small pieces made in the same form & about 3 or\n4 ins. long are stuck in each side at short distances, reaching to the ground--\nthe lower end being small, & the head end would bear some resemblance to the\nribs or arms were there not so many, by their being somewhat in a hanging form.\nAfter smoking & somes speeches, in which these Ghosts are addressed--He who makes\nthe feast, _waves_ it 3 times crying he! he! very loud for a good many times, & then\npresents it to this board, which is intended as a representative of the Pahkack,\ndesiring _him_ to accept it, & be propitious & merciful to them, neither to injure them\nnor their _little ones_. Then He dances 3 times round the tent (in the inside) &\nwhen he comes to the 4th time, the one seated next him (in the direction of the\nSun) rises. He makes a feint of offering it twice to the one who rises, who in his\nturn _does_ as if he was going to receive it; & the 3d time it is thrown into\nhis hands: this one makes a double turn upon his heels & dances or _trots_ once round the\ntent, & the next him, seated, rises to take it in his turn, with the same ceremony, 'till all\nhave passed. Then it comes into the masters hands again who reperform the same\nceremonies once more,--puts down the Grease, cuts it up, & shares to every male or\nwidow present, in proportion to their numbers (i.e. the families they may have.--Shortly after my arrival here this last\nfall they invited me thro' compliment to two of these feasts--I went both times merely\n\n\n (21)\nmerely to have a better opportunity of making my observations, which are as above, as near as I\ncan bring them. But my mind was too much disturbed with reflections which soon\nbecame so melancholy that I had nothing to bestow on what was going on. Poor\nunfortunate creatures! I often exclaimed to myself--Ye are desirous, nay anxious to perform\nyour duties to your maker, but know not how. If you only knew how he abomi-\nnates this ceremony which you perform with so much devotion, how soon would\nyou cast off all your superstitions, & rather live without any religion at all, & risk\nall upon chance, than perform sacrifices, for aught I know, to demons! I shall not\nhere enter upon these reflections further, suffice the above; for they are too long, too\nfrequent, & besides I wish to sacrifice the little paper I have remaining to\nsuch other things as I have, & which I think may not be quite uninter-\nesting to you. Had there been but their speeches, & the ceremonies, I should\nnot perhaps have thought so deeply. But their cries of he! he! & ha! ha! &c. so repeated\n& vociferous, that I was struck with a certain horror & thought that half of the\ndevils in hell had entered the throats of these men to give _me_ an idea of their\nPandemonium below. Good God! what a miserable reflection! but how much\nmoreso the occasion leading to it is.--\n Notwithstanding they some times _Dream_ of roots (medecines &c.) there is a certain place accord-\ning to their notions consecrated to _Esculapius_ (& Perhaps Appollo also, conjointly). It is depicted\nas a most heavenly abode, so delightful. He (_Esculapius_) resides in a mountain in the\nbowels of which is his house--it has 6 doors, but so mysteriously constructed that no soul\nwhatever, besides himself & his _inmates_ of whom there are a great number (of Every Nation\n& language) can open them--The Lock apparently is in the form of a Screw, or\nSpiral, & is opened on the inside, but only to such as Escu. deems worthy of admis-\nsion These doors open _to_ different quarters, the house being immensely large, & as above mentioned,\nin the bowels of ye mountain: _In_ this residance is of every medicine useful in life, such as\ndo not _vegetate_, i.e. minerals, fossils, &c. &c. These are shown to the votary; he is instruct-\ned in their use; the manner of preparing & mixing them; the ceremonies, i.e. songs & sacrifices,\n&c. &c. to be performed in their application, taking of them up, or in instructing _others_;\nbecause it is not every _Indian_ that is favored with these Dreams. The mountain is of a\nmoderate size, & there issue from it 40 Rivers which fall into a Lake not far\nfrom the _base_ & situated in a beautiful plain--this Lake is shallow & has some\nhandsome sandy shoals, & in the borders of (in the water) it grow beautiful _rushes_.\nThe water in every one of these rivers is of a different color, no two being alike, one is\nBlack, another white, red, Green, blue, _ash-color_ &c. &c. _In_ the latter grow herbs &\nplants of a vast variety, as also their nature. In the sides of the mountain are of every\nof every herb & plant that grows in any part of the world whatever. When any one of them\n\n\n (22)\n(of the indians I mean) is thus favored, he appears first at these rivers, when the head or Chief of the Mountain\ncomes out, accost him in a freindly manner, & after some conversation he is introduced into the\ninterior of the house, where he is astonished to find people of every nation & language in the\nearth. But if I can form a right opinion, there are but few of each language.--They\nare seated in Four rows, their seats being something like those of a Theatre, semicircu-\nlar & rising a little one above the other. These are all Doctors; & it is their business\nto instruct the _votary_ in the object of his mission &c. They have a great quantity of\nmedecines already prepared, of such as are produced in the bowels of the Earth, such\nas minerals, stones, shells &c. &c. and most, or many of these, are hung up in the\nhouse. Here is he is taught how, & in what manner, to prepare these, as also the\nSongs & sacrifices &c. appropriate to each different one or sort. When on the\noutside, or out-of-Doors, he is shewn all the roots, herbs, plants &c. and is taught\nthe respective Song (of each) or of any particular one, or number, or such\nonly as grow in the climate he inhabits. Both the Songs & the Plant, herb &c.\nare so indelibly imprinted on his mind (or memory), tho' he had never seen\nthem before, or should not happen to meet with any of them for years afterwards, yet\non his first view, he immediately recognises them, & every circumstance that had been\ninstructed him, as if he had passed a regular apprenticeship. This may seem very\nextraordinary, if not indeed absurd to people unacquainted with them, but still it\nis no less a positive fact. These rivers i.e. waters are of different colors, so also is the _rapidity_\nof each stream; some of them moving in a turbulent & awful manner as the rapids\n& eddies at the foot of Large falls; some moving in large majestic waves likes the\nswells of a large & Deep Lake agitated by the wind; & some in a beautiful\nsmooth current, down which the _canoes_ are scarcly perceived to move. These\nare the tokens or signs or emblems of the manner of _our_ lives, here below, so far as regards to\nhealth & sickness, & of course the description requires no further explanation.\nIn some of these rivers grow herbs or plants which, themselves, as well as their roots,\nare a rank, deadly poison, more or less; & their effects, when any Demon-Spirited wretch\nemployes them as instruments of vengeance, tho' I have known none to carry\noff the object _immediately_, yet have a most melancholy baneful effect; some of\nthem exactly similar (in their effects) to _Lunar Caustic_, & oftentimes with an ad-\nditional _humiliating_ effect (But more of this hereafter) & some, deprive the ob-\nject of every one of his senses but that of feeling--a melancholy instance of this I saw in\nthe Spring of 1813 & sufficient of itself to _emeliate_ an heart of adamant! Some\ntimes Esculapius will not instruct his votary in their use, satisfying himself with\ntelling them _they are bad medecines_, or perhaps not mentioning them at all. To others\nagain, he explained every _circumstance_ &c. relating to them; but with a _most strict_\n\n\n (23)\ninjunction never to employ them at his _Peril_ \"unless you wish to die: I teach you all these\n\"these things because I love you, & know your heart to be compassionate: but _mind my\n\"words_, if ever you employ them with an ill or evil _view_, thou shalt die. Other _indians_\n\"as well as thyself, love life--it is sweet to every body; render it therefore not a bur-\n\"then or a _disgrace_; & I _hate_ those who thus abuse my confident affection\" &c. &c.\nThey are also forbidden sometimes as strictly, & for the same reasons, instructing\nothers in their use. Notwithstanding this great love & cautious diffidence of Escu-\nlapius, there are other malignant Powers who teach them & encourage their use.\n--Hence those distressing objects I cannot here for the want of Paper, speake of--\n What I have mentioned of minerals &c. which from their description are indeed really\nsuch, i.e. minerals &c. yet I cannot take upon myself from my slender knowledge of their\nlanguage & _technical_ terms, to _assure_ you that they are prepared after _our_ manner,\ni.e. by Chemical processes. Mercury, sulphur, saltpetre or nitre &c. I do not know that they\nhave; but there being french, English, German, & from the description Greek & Hebrew\nDoctors, among the number, I should not suppose it preposterous in concluding that they\nhave them all in the same way as ourselves. But from what I can learn it is _Stones_,\nthat is, some particular kinds of them that are most used, such as _talk_, pumice stones,\n& various other kinds. These they are shewn how to reduce to Powder, & with what water, i.e.\nout of which river (or colord water if you please) the water is taken to mix up these Powders.\n\"With the roots & herbs &c. it is different--_they are boiled_\" &c.--These _stones_ (for they are most\ncommonly thus denominated by them) are held in very great repute by them; tho' many of those that\nhave been shewn me as possessing wonderful virtues I considered as very common & fool-\nish, or at least harmless things. Here! I am again digressing, which is everlastingly the case with\nme when not in the _humor_ of scribbling. I should have mentioned first (because as you\nmay see, I have begin _this_ story in the _middle_ instead at either of the two ends) that when they\nwant to dream of these things, as well as of any other particular thing, they must fast, & lay\ndown to sleep, keeping their minds as free as possible from any other thoughts whatever,\n& wholly bent & employed on that particular one alone. I also should have observed in\nthe proper place that the door the votary is introduced is exactly in the middle of\nthese rivers, there being 20 on each side of the door. The use, intent, &c. &c. of\nthe other 5 doors, I never thought to enquire, & must leave you to guess as well as\nmyself 'till such times as I can get this matter explained. Their songs are\ndelivered in _Notes_, impressed or drawn on bark, in the form of hierlographics,\n& thus taught, & being hierlographics (& not very dissimilar to those anciently used by the\nEgyptians; nay indeed, I have reason to think from what I have seen of both, that any\n_Learned_ man being perfectly acquainted with the one could trace a great deal in the other;\nbut this opinion I hazard from my own ignorance) no two are alike, it therefore requires\n\n\n (24)\nhim to learn them; that is any _one_ of them: for those notes are not like ours, _marked_ with regular\nbars &c. so that one Gamut serves for all; but with them, each one may be said to be itself a _Gamut_.\nHowever, I have reason to think that they are regular & uniform; for many years ago, when\nI was still scarcely more than a boy, I remember throwing away the contents of one these mede-\ncine bags in which there were several strips of Bark covered with these Notes--\n--an indian happened to be by--he took one up & with the Point of his knife placing it on\none of these began to sing, moving the knife regularly as children do when they begin to learn\ntheir a, b, c.--This surprised me a little at the time, for the indian was a stranger\n& had but lately arrived from his own lands that were several hundred miles off.--\nAfter laughing at, & ridiculing, him, as is the custom with us, I asked how he could\nmake them out? \"The same said he, as you do to _reckon_ (i.e. read) your _papers_\n\"See this one is (meant for) the _Thunder_; that, the Earth, &c. &c.; but I only\n\"know a few of these songs:--the possesser of this bag knew a great deal--he\n\"was a great Medecine man, i.e. Doctor\" &c. As far as I can learn, every different\nroot, herb, plant, mineral, Spirit (or whatever you may please to term this latter) have\neach their respective songs; & which they must sing, were his voice like that of a choked\nPig, when he employs them for one of themselves, or learns them to another. When\nthey sing, those of their _familiars_ who instructed this Song, whether to the one\nwho sings, as having learnt it from himself (i.e Familiar) or having been\nhanded to him; he is said to attend, invisibly of course, & perform that which he\npromised this (medecine, supposing it is one) should effect. _[This is a long &\ncomplex job, & I doubt much if I can get thro' with it without more of my blundering;\nbut I shall risk blunders, omissions, & repetitions]_ Hence it is they always sing when\nthey attend on a desperately sick person, amongst themselves, tho very rarely when\nthey administer to the white. When any one is very sick, & that they be _called upon_,\nor perhaps, tho' rarely, ordered, in their dreams, by their Familiars, they sing, blow,\n& suck, alternately, & with such violence that one would think they wanted to\nto blow them to the d___l, or swallow them down their throats; but no, it is to\nforce in the medecine, of which they have generally a mouthful, masticated into\na pulp. or something near _salve_, sometimes: the suction business is to draw out\nthe Devil; i.e the medicine, bone, stone, iron, brass, stick, or whatever they imagine\nit is that occasions the disease. If the complaint lies in any particular part, to that\npart it is they apply themselves most, & sometimes _only_: supposing the hip, knee &c.\nfor there they imagine it is a worm or maggot gnawing them. But if the complaint\nis universal, that is the whole system be sick & debilitated, it is then the pit of the Stomach\n& the Temples; rubbing sometimes the wrist, the palms of the hands. & opposite the heart.\nThis is very frequently done, & in the intervals the songs & rattler together, & often a\n\n\n (25)\n& often a short speech or prayer to that one of their _Familiars_ whom they think will be\nmost propitious on the occasion, or _he_ from whom they hold such, or such instruction &c.\nThese songs are a dull monotony; for tho' they have a few variations & are hi & low, & the\ntransition sometimes so very sudden that it requires a particular command of the\nthroat to sing them; & to _me_, so difficult that I should I believe require a 7 years\napprenticeship even with Esculapius (but I believe it is _Pluto_, or _Pan_ who teaches\nthe songs) himself, for me to learn them, there is certainly no musick in\nthem; tho' some few that I've heard many years ago, passing a winter with them,\nI found pleasing enough; but perhaps more from the _solemnity_ with which all\nwas going on was I struck, than any thing else: indeed we had had great reason to\nbe solemn, for we were dreadfully pinched by hunger. When oppressed thro' star-\nvation, they have a variety of ceremonies which they perform; & tho' the songs be different,\nas also the _ceremonies_ themselves, still are they intended to answer the same purpose.--\nI shall endeavour to describe a couple to you from which you may form a pritty\njust idea of the rest.--It was the latter end of Jany. or beginning of Feby. 1804, four of\nus only _white_ people, mind were pitching off, or rather flying off from our houses we had built in the fall on ac-\ncount of _the_ enemies. We had a small stock of dry Provisions & speared a few fish once or\ntwice, but there were so many of us that we were soon bro't to short commons as the\n_strip_ of country we were then going thru contained no other animals but a few strag-\nling Bears, but these animals at _this_ season could not be found notwithstanding all the\nexertions of our hunters. One evening on my return to our lodges one of the women told me that\nthe oldest man of our band, a great Doctor, or conjuror, as we frequently denominate them,\nsaid that if I were to pay him half a carrot (1 1/2 lbs) tobacco, he would conjure & be assured\nof success, for it required payment. Tho' I suspected there was a trick in this, I did\nnot hesitate, but gave him his demand. The first night their songs & ceremonies were\nas usual.--\"Tomorrow, my _familiar_ tells me we shall get a Bear\". All the hunters\nreturned at evening, _mais tous a blanc_. The second night, the rattler, songs, speeches,\nsmoking, & medicine bags opened: \"Tomorrow, we will assuredly get something.\" But the\nsame as the day before. The third night, the same, but every thing conducted with\na sort of awful silence & solemnity that surprised me a good deal. I was harassed\nwith constant walking, weake thro' hunger, & tired with their _B\u00eatises_ as the\nfrench say; but the manner of their conduct kept me that time from growling.\n\"Oh! Now tomorrow indeed, we shall not fail--we shall certainly eat flesh; for\nthe old man is a great conjuror, & well liked: he prayed to the _master_ or giver of _Life_, & his\nDreamed have promised him success. But we get no more than before. In these conjuring\nboutes--they made no use of drums, but instead of that had cut a small hollow tree of\nmaple, about 5 feet long & scooped it out, after splitting so that it resembled a semicircle--\n\n\n (26)\nor stove pipe split down--this _hollow_ board had been well dressed i.e. reduced to about half an inch in thick-\nness & well polished: there were to the best of my memory four men seated taylor fashion & held a\nsmall stick about 3/4 ins. diameter & about 15(ins.) long, in each hand: with these they beat time\nto the tune & another moved or shaked the rattler in the same manner. All this however was\nto no purpose. There was another indian in company with us, but _tenting_ by himself (& his\nfamily).--This indian who was very fond of me would frequently call me in & give me a\nshare of what he had to eat: \"Well! said he, what success have your great men?\"--I an-\nswered I did not expect much: \"No replied he, they did not go the right way to work,\n\"--had I not polluted (spoiled, as he said) my person last fall, alluding to an indian\n\"he had then killed, I should try; & I beleive that my familiars would be _charitable_\n\"to me: however I shall let them go on 'till they are done, after which I shall make\n\"a trial: perhaps on _your accounts_ they may shew me their wonted attention.\"\n--I took this as wind, but as he spoke in so very _earnest_ (si naivement) a manner, I con-\ncealed my sentiments. The second night after the others had finished--he began a\nlittle after dusk. But what a difference between them!--He had an immense large\ndrum, as large those among the military, & stretched hard: upon this he beat time,\nbut very hard, to accord with his Songs which were as loud as he could bawl: at cer-\ntain intervals also he used only his rattler, but with as much violence as he could.\n Thus he continued alternately singing, praying (or making speeches) & smoking,\n'till broad day light. When he began, we thought this fellow was mad or only jesting;\nbut the indians of our lodge reproved us. At Sun rise he came out of his lodge,\n& made a long speech; in which he told one to go one way, a second another, &\nhimself by another route. \"Thou, addressing the first one, a young lad--thou wilt\n\"soon find thy (bear): but thou, addressing the father, on thy way on thou wilt\n\"pass very near, but will not see him: Thou'lt search a long & return giving up\n\"all hopes: but when come to this thou must return again & between _this_ thy last\n\"track & the first one thou shalt make this morning, thou'lt see him in his\n\"nest. as for me, I shall have much trouble to get mine.\" I heard him\nspeake, but not understanding sufficiently the language, the women explained to me.\nI need not tell you how _we_ laughed at the poor Devil; & so went off hunting _Ivy_\nwhich had been our support for a long time; but in the evening we found all that\nhe predicted, perfectly verified. This I assure you is a fact, & will maintain it\nnotwithstanding every thing _skeptics_, (excuse the term) or those unacquainted, or\nbut superficially so, with these people may say: & I am also certain that he had no\nprevious knowledge of their being there; for there was plenty of snow, & there were no other\ntracks but those of these 2 hunters, & we had pitched _up_ (the river) that day. But, here\nI am digressing: to return therefore.\n\n\n (27)\n--I am altogether out of the regular track that I had proposed to myself at my first setting\noff; my time is to short, & my memory to bad, to read over the whole, so as to resume the regular course\n--the remainder shall be composed of _fugitive Pieces_. Indeed the nature of some of them being a\n_compound_ will not admit of their being treated of but in _sections_ if I may use the term.\n The first therefore, lest I have not time to _enter_ all, I shall speake of is\n_The Soul!_ This seems, to me, at least, a most extraordinary & incomprehensible thing--\nyet from the different sources which I have received it, & the manner of relation serves but\nmore & more to perplex. Whether it is really & absolutely the soul, or some other _principle_\non which the very existence depends I cannot say, but something it is lodged appa-\nrently in the Heart or breast, that on these occasions flies off & leaves them; & at the\nvery instant of its exit it is perceived, & occasions such a derangement of the whole\nsystem, & particularly of the faculties as very soon to deprive the object of life; but\nprimally a total want of sense, such as we suppose the Soul _endows_ us with.\n I shall here relate you one of the many stories of the kind verbatim as I received it.\n It was from an Indian of course. He told me that \"one summer being on a visit\n\"rather to a distant part of the country (perhaps 2 or 300 miles) he fell in with one\n\"of his acquaintances, who (as often happens between strangers, particularly to\n\"such as come from the Southward) asked to purchase _medecines_ of\n\"him. I had but a small quantity, & only of 4 Sorts or kinds: he being\n\"very anxious for them, I sold them _all_ to him: He was not satisfied--he must have more\n\"tho' I positively assured him I had given him the last. Then he menaced me, & said\n\"I should feel the effects of his resentment arising from my avarice & _uncharitable_ spirit.\n\"Knowing his disposition, I returned to my friends, intending to be as far out of his\n\"way as Possible. One night in the winter he conjured--I was fast\n\"asleep (& several hundred miles off) & never thought more of him: but he called upon\n\"his Familiars & demanded my Soul(!)--_it was taken_ to him; but just as it\n\"was on the eve of entering his conjuring hut I perceived it & sprung from my bed\n\"in the most dreadful agonies & convulsions insomuch that two men holding\n\"& pulling of me with all their might, & also had the assistance of the women,\n\"could not keep me quiet: I was constantly springing forward, rushing hither &\n\"thither & absolutely (i.e. totally) deprived of my faculties for I have not yet\n\"the least knowledge of what I was doing, so great was my horor in ob-\n\"serving this conjuring tent. At last a friendly spirit interfered & forbad the\n\"conjuror at his peril to do any thing to my Soul, but allow it to return im-\n\"mediately. He was afraid for his own life & durst not disobey--he let _it_ go.\nI cannot tell you how happy I was felt & so easy--The distance was great indeed--\nbut I soon flew back & re-entered my body; when I became entirely composed\n\n\n (28)\n\"But I had been so dreadfully agitated that I found myself in a profuse sweat, my whole\n\"frame so shaken, debilitated, & weake, that for several days I could not move but with pain.\n\"Heh! said I, what a narrow escape!--The other indians asked what ailed me? I told them\n\"where _I_ had been--they would scarcely credit; but in the ensuing summer upon enquiry\n\"they found it true; & were now fully convinced that this Power doth lodge with indi-\n\"ians\"! They represent the soul as being small: not very dissimilar in size & shape\nfrom the yolk of a large Hen, or duck, Egg:--some of them very hard, & much of the na-\nture & substance of a stone, but still not of that substance; & others again much more soft\n& tender: some are easily _kept_ & bruised, but others are with difficulty taken & continually in motion;\nbut all are extremely impatient of restraint & cannot bear it; & confinement is death to the\nbody from which it has issued! Some conjurors possessing sufficient power, & influence,\ntake a soul, if they want to destroy the body, (in the conjuring box or tent) & wrapping it in\na piece of leather, rub & bruise it between both hands 'till they destroy its subtility or\nsubtilty. As soon as it comes within view of the conjuring tent its agonies are ter-\nrible as also those of the body, however distant that may be; but as soon as its motion is\ndestroyed the body dies likewise. Others again, take it & put it in a Jappand Tobacco box, & tie\nthe lid or cover securely tied with a _womans_ Garter, from whence, if not loosened by someone it can\nnever escape--any other lashing is not, anything near, so completely effectual as this: reflect,\n& you will guess immediately the reasons they give. As I do not know latin, & you dont\nunderstand indian I must suppress this & many other things. Others again take a different\nmethod, thus: But by-the-bye, this has but very little relation to the Soul. I shall therefore\nrefer it 'till afterwards & give you another Story as received from a Canadian an eye\nwitness. He was passing the winter with the indians & one night the head man\nof the tent he lodged in gave a feast. He was in the habit of doing it & was himself ap-\nparently a good & peaceable man, but not to be trifled with by other indians. Every\nthing being prepared the guests were just going to eat when the feast-man's mother\ndropped suddenly as if dead: every one was struck with consternation: they had re-\ncourse to their medicines, songs, rattlers &c. as usual; at last he fell to sucking his\nmother in one of her temples, suddenly they heard something _crack_: the indian\ndrew back, his mother arose perfectly recovered & all became well. However that\nwhich occasioned the _crack_, the indian took out of his mouth, wrapped carefully up & gave\nit to his wife to put in a tobacco box, which she did: it had all the appearances of a\n_Bean_ (un f\u00eave)--the wife wanted to tie the lid but the husband said there was no\nnecessity--they resumed their meal. But the old woman was not long in possessi-\non of her senses. She very soon relapsed, & as instantaneously as at the first \"ho! exclaim-\n\"ed the indian, the _Dog_ is off\"--They looked into the tobacco box but nothing was found--They\ncontinued conjuring 3 nights, & the last especially, the man told me he thought the devil was\n\n\n (29)\nwas amongst them from a certain kind of undescribable noise in the air, round about their tent,\n& the sudden flashings of light. This was Powder (Gun Powder): they had carefully thrown out\nall the fire, thrown a great quantity of snow & water on the hearth, & then put fresh\nEarth upon it--it was perfectly dark in the lodge, there being no other light than what is\nusually emitted from the heavens: upon this hearth of fresh earth they would throw some\nPowder & then retiring to the bottom of the tent would say \"come! let me see if I be a\n\"manito\"--? then singing &c. off the Powder would fly! They continued this way 3\nnights but all to no purpose: the old woman yet lived 2 years but never spoke &c.\nHe said (the indian) that this _bean_ was \"the Soul or Spirit of another indian, then at\na vast distance, which he darted at my mother to render her pitiful & miserable;\nbut I shall make the Dog suffer.\" However , after this, the Canadian enquired why\nhe did not revenge himself & kill him \"No; said he, that wont do: he has got back\n\"his soul it is true, & I cannot get it again, yet I might easily kill him if I chuse,\n\"but this wont do--he is somewhat justifiable, for I took both his wives from\n\"him.\" There are many other instances of a like nature but different in the\nproceedings, that I do not recollect sufficiently to commit to Paper.--\n\tNow again for the other way. If an indian has a spite against another, & is\ninduced to it for the preservation of his own life, or from motives of revenge, he takes\nthe following plan or method. He takes a piece of leather & cuts it into the shape\nof his _enemy_; & if he wants him to die speedily he places a little _Powdered medecine_\nopposite the heart, or upon it. This medecine is I believe a root, & very inflammable,\nhe holds a small spark of fire _near_ it--it immediately _explodes_ & that part\nof the leather on which _it_ was becomes burnt & shrivelled: when he performs this,\nhe generally utters words like these \"Let the Heart of _such a one_ become like this\nLeather, let it shrivel & die within him\"! If it is a leg, an arm, the head,\nor any other particular part, or parts, or even the whole body, it is the same, &\nthe words also; unless he doth not wish for the death; then he will say \"Let\n\"_such a part_, become lame, useless, ulcerous\" &c. &c. according to his disposi-\ntion; & that part, or parts become thus affected according to his wish, \"But\n\"how is it possible that such things can be? Do you really think that an insig-\n\"nificant root, of no apparant power or virtue whatever can effect such things?\"\nThus I would frequently question, & their answers with little variations uni-\n\"versally the same.\" Yes, most certainly it is not the root alone, but with the assistance\n\"of that one of his Dreamed that is most powerful & most fond of him: he! you white people\n\"you know not; you are consummately ignorant of the Power of our Great medecine men\n\"many things might I tell you much more surprising--but you do not believe these trifles,\n\"how much less then those you do not know?\"--What then is to be done! how do with\n\n\n (30)\nwhat say to a people so blind, so infatuated! They have some roots that are dreadful in their\neffects--Being a female, I think I should prefer immediate death. They have some that have\nthe same effects as _Lunar Caustic_. They use them thus. During the time of their\n\"Seperation\" (i.e menstruation) they endeavour to give them to smoke, which is never\nrefused--there is some of this root mixed with the Tobacco. Once smoking is sufficient\n--a few months after their complexion begins to change--& at last becomes of a\n_nasty_ black with abundance of hair growing out of the face; & if these women\nwere to shave, I verily believe their beards would become as bushy & thick as those of\nany man whatever. In performing this, they must also utter words thus: \"Let the\n\"one for whom I intend this, & who shall smoke of it become black & hairy; & be-\n\"come as ugly & rejected as she is now fair & searched for\"! Sometimes they\nmingle it with their food or the liquor they drink: there is more than one kind of this\ndreadful root; one of which I was shewn, but have forgotten, there being 2 or 3 others resembling\nit.--it is like many others a perennial herb, & hath some resemblance to the long or tall\nThistle. To return. When the subject, or object, discovers that she hath been thus dealt\nwith, which they sometimes do a few weeks after, they may be restored, for there is an\n_antidote_ to it; but I have never known one instance of this, tho' a dozen of the others I\nhave. Some handsome, fair complexioned young females refusing the importunate solli-\ncitations of an abandoned, vicious, revengeful wretch, becomes the victim of her\n_coyness_; & 2 or 3 years after, I have positively not known them & could scarcely\nbeleive my Eyes.----There is of another kind & which is very common,\nwhose effects is an extraordinary _vacuation_ of blood, & in a few days would occa-\nsion death. A half breed I lately had with me, the Son of a man who many\nyears ago was a servant of yours, being not of an extraordinary good moral\ncharacter finding his sollicitations rejected with scorn became jealous & very\nanxious to revenge himself. He applied to an old indian, but in so cautious\na manner that the indian gave him of the root without suspecting & told him\nhow to use it. He pulverised it, & mingled it with a little vermillion & then\nwatched his opportunity, which occurred I beleive, the ensuing morning. In our _out_-\nPosts we have no temples dedicated to Cloacinda, & besides, the females here are\nashamed to _sacrifice_ at them: he therefore could not miss his opportunity--he wat-\nched, & after she entered he went & soon found the place by the _Smoke_: here he\nsprinkled some of this Powder which he took in a quill, pronouncing \"Let me see\nblood issue from the same place _this_ hath done--I want to see blood.\"--Scarcely\nfive hours after, the woman who was married & of course so much the less bashful said\n\"what is the matter with me, I have been just now out & want to go again.\" You may\nsuppose her astonishment seeing the time of the natural return was scarcely half elapsed\n\n\n (31)\nbut how much more so finding it issue far beyond anything she had ever known: This con-\ntinued 'til very late in the day & the beast was watching to see if it would answer. He went\nin to the house on pretence of a freindly visit, & remarked how _Pale_ she was--The mother\ntold him \"my daughter has been _bewitched_ & could you not do something to ease her?\"\nHe became extremely uneasy in his turn: he went out & passing by the place she\nwent to he easily discovered notwithstanding her precaution of what dreadful conse-\nquences it would be if not timely attended to. He was afraid she would die\nbefore anything could be done. However he went to the old indian & speaking in a\nmost sympathising strain, asked him if he could not administer something to stop\nthat extraordinary issue. \"Why! replied the old fellow--That root I gave you the other\nday is its own antidote--give her the length of her middle finger to _eat_ & it will\nstop quick enough.\" He did not chuse to tell the indian that it was this that\nhad occasioned it lest he should be punished by him in his turn; but artfully con-\nducting his discourse got more from him, administered it to the woman, mutter-\ning in himself \"Let this blood cease, I have seen enough of it\"--& she was soon\nhealed! I done all I could to make him confess it, without coming to the point;\nbut he never would: he satisfied himself by assuring me with the most solemn\nassererations that it was the case; \"& if you doubt it, continued he, you may\n\"make the experiment--you need be under no apprehensions whatever, for in\n\"giving her of the same root to _eat_ it will stop.\" This root, when mastigated,\n& applied when reduced to pulp, but better when pulverised, stops the blood\nimmediately on application to any wound--\"_how profusely soever it may\n\"flow_.\" It is very astringent, & somewhat hot.\n\tAnother herb, I beleive it is the (wild) Carroway, i. e. which we commonly denominate\naniseeds--at least the smell & taste much resemble that, & its stalk bears a very great resemblance\nto the wild mint, as well as the leaves & flowers. I _suppose_ this is the one meant, because they tell\nme the taste & smell are delicious: This root, & all its appurtenances (i.e. stalk, leaves, & flowers)\nis of wonderful effects in various _things_. I shall give you some of the stories relating to it as I\nreceived them. \"I was living out with _such_ an indian, & we became reduced to _short commons_\n\"--One day he (the indian) took a piece of bark & drew upon it 3 moose--& put some of\n\"this _medecine_ upon the heart & head of each; then he fastened a piece of sinew to it &\n\"told me to fasten it to a small stick that had been stuck _slant-way_ in the Ground--\n\"\"Now said he, let me see if this will do: oh no! I am afraid it wont; but I'll try--if it\n\"\"answers, the bark will dance\"! I laughed at his idea (a half breed told me this) & so\n\"did one of his sons: however the son told me that he had seen his father do so before, &\n\"that he killed every time\"--stop! Let us see how he will go on,\" said the Son. The father\n\"began to sing (& if _I_ remember right, beat the drum also)--Shortly after the bark began to\n\n\n (32)\n\"to move, & as the old fellow raised his voice so did its motion increase, 'till at last it began\n\"whirling round with great violence, sometimes one way & then another 'till it was wound\n\"up close to the stick, when it began changing sides--sometimes _upon_ & sometimes _below_\n\"the stick. He ceased: began to talk with us & saying he was afraid it would not _answer_\n\"Thus he did 3 times, & the bark moved every time with the same violence. Now he\n\"desired in the beginning that \"if his _familiar_ would have compassion on him, he would\n\"render these 3 moose foolish: that they might not be possessed of their usual cunning\"--\n\"&c. The next day we went out--the old man, his son & myself, a hunting--we\nwere hungry--We walked 'till late in the day & finding no tracks I proposed our\nreturn, but he told me we ought to proceed; 'for in the low ground beyond a\n\"small ridge then near in sight of us, we may perhaps find some tracks--\n\"I am never deceived when my I am answered' (i.e. my bark dances)--We soon\n\"reached this low Ground & shortly after heard a noise: jumping, running & breaking\n\"of Sticks 'ah! here they are,' said the old man: 'see how their _head_ is turned!\n\"what a noise they make,--how they play--they are foolish. We killed them all.\"\n\"If you doubt me; ask any of the indians, & see if they wont all tell you that _he_ does so\nwhen he wants to kill.\"--Another story: for _love potions_, or philters, are also com-\nposed of this. \"There were several young men (half-breeds) of us together & also some\n\"young women, who came with us to await the arrival of their husbands from Fort\n\"William at _that_ place. Two of our party wanted to pay them a _visit_ in the\n\"night & I endeavoured to dissuade them, but to no purpose:--they went, & met\n\"with the reception I foretold: they began bawling out and on purpose to awake\n\"every one near & shame us; for we were lodging by ourselves & then took good\n\"cudgels & pursued them into our place: _we_ enjoyed this confusion of the others\n\"tho partly at our own expenses. One of them then addressed me come Bpt. this _bitch_\n\"'has vexed me,--I know you have _good medicine_,--give me some of it that I may\n\"'laugh at her in my turn. (I must tell you that one of them I have known many\nyears back was, & is still, a _bitch_ i.e. according the indian acceptation (as well as\nwell as our own,) of the term; & the man is the same one I mentioned little above,\nat the conclusion & beginning of p.p. 30 & 31) \"I gave him some with the _directions_ -\n\"--he returned again very soon after (in the same night)--found her asleep--he\n\"then rubbed her forehead, opposite her heart, the _pit_ of the stomach, & the palms\n\"of both hands. Then he awoke her. The next day, as my comrades were desi-\n\"rous of revenging themselves, they broached the conversation publicly & had the laugh in\n\"their turn: the women had the _best_ at the offset, but as they could not deny the other\n\"charges they became extremely confused & vexed: a quarrel ensued; but my comrades exult-\n\"ingly told them 'we can turn & twist you _now_ about our fingers as we please.' And they\n\n\n (33)\n\"they did too. For the women both _giving suck_ at that time, thought it was their children\n\"that were handling them, as they used but _one_ finger, & gently.\" The other story is thus:\n--A man that I have with me at present in consequence of some _slips_ of his _Rib_ had fre-\n\"quent, & some severe quarrels with her--she began to hate him & wanted to go with her\n\"_Par-amour_: the husband tho' vexed & confused _did not want_ to lose her: he began by\n\"soothing, coaxing, & caressing her, but she always bawled out as loud as she could that\n\"every body might hear, tho' it were at midnight 'thou white dog, leave me alone\n\"'why art thou fumbling at me?\" The more she became averse the more he coaxed\n\"& she bawling out 'dont _slabber_ me' every time he attempted to kiss her,--&\n\"she was watching a fair opportunity to slip off to her lover (an indian). At last he lodged\n\"his complaints to me, & asked if I could not _assist_ him. I gave him some of this _mede_-\n\"cine with the usual directions & told him as soon as he had executed all properly\n\"to come away & leave her, & not return to her for a couple of days so that in her\n\"turn she might suffer. He had not long left her 'till she called for him as if want-\n\"ing something & like a Goose he went immediately, tho' I done all I could to make\n\"him pay her in her own coin.--Since that time they live as you see them.\n\"_But_ if you doubt of this also, you can easily make the experiment--chuse any\n\"one you please, & let her be ever so coy, & shy, you will bring her as you want\"!!!\n--Shortly after this I made some general enquiries of the man latterly in question,\nbut he would not avow, tho' from his confusion & precipitancy with which he an-\nswered, I beleive there is _something_ in the business. \"It is with this medecine con-\n\"tinued the half breed, that the young men do completely & universally succeed\n\"with all the women that please them.\" With this also, principally, they\nsucceed in bewitching any one they are averse to, & prevent them from killing such\nanimals as they please. They draw the likeness of the animal or animals, they do\nnot chuse the others to kill, put of this medicine (tho' most commonly mixed with\nsome others in this latter case) upon the hearts & desire that they may become shy\n& fly off upon any the least appearance or approach of them. Or, they will _conjure_\n& desire some of their _familiars_, one, or several, to _haunt such a one_ in all his\nmotions & scare & frighten off, & _render wise_ any _such & such_ animals; & let\nthe distance be hundreds of miles off--their familiars that are spirits residing\nin the air, & transport themselves in an instant to any place they place, & who see all\nthat is going on _below_, keep _all_ away accordingly. To evade this is a task that but\nfew can succeed in. They must first Conjure to learn who it is that has bewitched them,\nthen they inquire what is to be done: but here lies the difficulty.--Sometimes they are\ntold they _must_ leave the appointed time run out: at others, such & such ceremonies, which is\ntantamount to the first answer; but at others again, it is easily dispelled--This depends\n\n\n (34)\ndepends entirely upon the precautions the _bewitcher_ has taken, the Power, influence, or number\nof his Dreamed: as also on the other hand of the Dreamed, their, power, influence &c. of the _be-\nwitched_. But sometimes on a very slight or trivial cause depends the whole.--\n I shall tell you another story. An old Canadian I have now with me has been in the\nhabit of _living-free_ for many years back. In the beginning of a winter he was\ntenting with some indians, & one of them an impertinent, bombastic sort of character\nwas boasting to him of the great power & effect of some medicines & a drum he had\nlately received from a Sauteux &c. &c. \"for some time I did not mind him, but\n\"finding he became at last troublesome, & insinuating as plainly as he durst that\n\"_he_ was now invulnerable, or rather immortal & that _we_ were helpless, a quarrel\n\"ensued 'till at last I fxxt. upon your medicines & drum & the one also who gave\n\"them to you said I. We seperated in no good freindship. At night he mad a feast &\n\"invited me amongst the rest with the design of poisoning me; but his freinds remonstrated so ef-\n\"fectually that he put this off & intended shooting me going out of the lodge; but this also\n\"the others would not allow: he was vexed--I kept my eye upon him, determined I should\n\"give the first blow on the least motion he might make. Finding himself prevented\n\"in these he said that I indeed should kill 2 moose, but that the rest of the year I\n\"should starve as a dog. I seperated next day with my wife & children--they were\n\"under great apprehensions, but I mocked all their conjurings--I very shortly\n\"killed 2 moose; but these indeed were the last. I walked & hunted every day--\n\"& seldom one day passed but I fired at the Buffaloe, moose, or some other animal,\n\"but never got anything anything--I & my family were near dying with hunger, I\n\"tried every thing in my power, never giving myself the least trouble about the indians\n\"menaces. At last the spring arrived--Ducks & Geese came; but no better suc-\n\"ess. At last one day prowling in my Canoe I met 2 other _free-men_, who, after mutual\n\"inquiries &c. told me \"the same thing had happened him & that an indian told him to file\n\"off a small piece of the _muzzle_ of his Gun & wash it well with water in which _Sweet-\n\"flag_ had been boiled, & killed after that as before.\" I laughed at the idea, but re-\n\"flecting that it was an innocent experiment & I could not offend the almighty, I\n\"tried, & the first animals I saw I immediately killed.--This Sir, continued\n\"he, I assure you is a positive fact\"!!!--I find that the indians have recourse\nto this method also. But you must observe: as is the disease::so is the remedy. Another story just\nnow occurs to me which I shall relate, not so much to multiply these pretended\nproofs as to shew that our Iroquois, Algonquins &c. &c. are not such complete converts\nto the Christian faith as most people may complacently imagine, but rather have\na mongrel religion like those whom the King of Babylon sent to inhabit Samaria\nwhen he carried Reuben & Ephraim captives (In the Bible). This winter an Iroquois\n\n\n (35)\ntold me that one winter he was out a Beaver hunting with many of his friends.--The\noldest man of their party proposed one day that a certain number of them should go out a\nhunting Moose or Buffaloe, & the others Beaver. This one says \"I returned at night after\n\"a good success--the old man nothing--he became envious--a quarrel ensued; & after\n\"this many others. One day I fired at a moose as he was running past me, he fell--I\n\"went to him; & just as I was for beginning to skin he rose up, but with my\n\"axe I bro't him down--it was very far from home--I merely opened him &\n\"returned light, trusting to the others of our party; for I had no desire of partaking of the dry\n\"provisions the old fellow had, of his own. Imediately on entering the lodge we had a-\n\"nother severe quarrel, & he told me I should not any more exult in my prowess\n\"as he should take care I should not kill any more animals for _some time_. As we\n\"were coming to _knife work_, I ordered my wife to bundle up all our things & my\n\"lodge, & pitch off--it was then late, & I had not yet eaten. As none of my\n\"friends knew that I had killed, I did not chuse to tell them, but merely said\n\"as I was going off 'Let those who are fond of me, or who chuse, follow me'; but none came,\n\"& I encamped upon my moose. Every day I went a hunting--scarcely a week\n\"passed but I fired 20, 30, & sometimes upward of 50 Shot, upon Buffaloe or Moose,\n\"but could never kill--I would _miss_, or _the ball twisting in the hair would\n\"fall by the animal_ without doing further injury. I starved for a long time--\n\"& became so weake that I could hardly walk. At last my wife (a woman of\n\"this country) one day that I had been out as usual had prepared some good\n\"strong lye, & on my return washed my Gun with it; filled it, & stopping\n\"both the orifices put it over the smoke where it remained all night. She\n\"also took a number of the balls & boiled them likewise in the lye, telling me she had\n\"seen her uncle do so many years before when he too had been bewitched.--I thought at\n\"all events it could do no harm; & besides I could have done anything, I was so hungry.--\n\"The next day I went out again,--found another flock or herd of near 20 Buffaloe,\n\"I drew nigh & took all my usual precautions--I fired, one dropped; fired again,\n\"another dropped:--I killed 14 out of that herd; & ever after missed not once\"!\nI asked him how the old fellow had done?--he said \"I suppose it was as they\n\"frequently do--i.e. bury a piece of my meat in the Ground & pray the Devil\n\"to prevent my killing: for the Iroquois, when they take it in their head,\n\"are very wicked, & do not want power\"!--A few days ago a half-breed, abandoned\nwith the indians, came in; & amongst his other _wantages_ asked me for a small piece of (red) sealing-\nwax \"because my brother cannot draw blood from the animals he fires at: by heating his Gun & ap-\n\"plying this wax the blood will flow profusely from the wounds\". He expressed himself afraid that\nhis brother might have been bewitched & by retarding this operation he might enter _dans sa mal chance_!\"\n\n\n (36)\nThese few _examples_ will suffice to shew you that they have different methods of _bewitching_\n& also different ways of clearing themselves. And the faith, & dread, they have of this, is scarcely\ncredible; & the consequences are often too uncommonly distressing.--I shall now give you of the\n Story of the Hairy Breasts. Near the days of _Noah_, nations were few & small.\nWeesuckajock (noah, I shall call him for abbreviation sake) had a son as I told you before\nwhose name was Nay-h\u00e2n-nee-mis. Being straitned for provisions he went out to angle\nwith some of the Hairy-Breasts. They came to a Lake, pierced several holes, but the\nNorth (or North wind, as you chuse) being envious of Nayhanemis, froze the water down\nto the very ground; so that in the deepest parts they found but Earth & after much\ndigging at last reached the bottom; but behold that also was frozen! & who knows\nto what depth in the Earth? Finding this to be the case Nays, addressed his freinds\nthus--\"I see this is the doings of the N. Wind (now by rights the N. Wind ought to have been his\nmaternal Gnd Father--but what cannot envy do?) \"he is envious of us, & wants to make\n\"us die of hunger--but he shall not!--I have to propose to you to cut off my head--rip\n\"up my body, beginning at the throat--You must not hurt nor break any single\n\"one of my bones; but carefully take off all the flesh, dry it, & make Pounded meat of it.\n\"of this you must sprinkle a little in every one of the holes; you must also _chop_ up\n\"my Heart into very small pieces & throw a few of these pieces also into each hole: then put in\n\"your lines, & you'll take as many fish as you please. But my bones you must put in a\n\"heap, carefully by themselves. Mind! upon your faithful observance of all these commands\n\"depends our mutual safety. The North thinks himself sole master, & would wish to\n\"crush us because we begin to have a little knowledge: but he shall know me!\"\nThey done accordingly, & accordingly also they took abundance of fish. North per-\nceived this: he came to see, & finding himself thus frustrated inquired how it came\nabout?--they told: He challenged Nays. who by this time had revived; & besides\na beautiful large feather he had sticking in his cap or head, which none durst wear\nbut such as have given incontestible proofs of their Manhood, bravery &c. he like-\nwise had a smoking bag, of the Skin of a badger. Nayhanimis accepted the\nchallenge. \"It seems Nahanimis you are a great man, a man of extraordinary power & abilities!--\n\"--let us have a trial, & see which of us has the most; for I also have some Knowledge\"--Nahani-\nmis answered \"No! I have but little power, but that little I employ as much as I can\n\"to the General benefit of my fellows: let us see what you can do, which if I cannot,\nthen you will certainly be superior to me.\" Here they performed one or two wonderful feats\nbut in which Nayhanimis had the advantage most confessedly.--The North pierced his body\nthrough, & done another extraordinary thing I cannot well recollect; but the other done more\n& recovered not only more suddenly but more perfectly. At last the North put a bet & said \"Let\n\"us see for this last act: I will cut off my head & if I cannot replace & recover perfectly\n\n\n (37)\n\"perfectly, the same as I am at present, then my _house_ & all I have shall be yours; but if I succeed,\n\"& you cannot, then all your _possessions_ shall be mine.\" Nayhanimis consented; for he was\nsecretly desirous of humiliating the selfsufficient spirit of North. They tried--North failed,\nbut Nayhanimis completely succeeded: He deliberately severed his head from his body, put it\ndown on the Ground beside him, very composedly, & then replaced it, when it be-\ncame as tho' nothing had happened. But this was owing to the Power & virtue of\nhis _Plume_; which, however, the others knew nothing off. It appears that the North also\nrecovered but by the assistance of his friends, of whom he had a numerous train. North\nwas faithful to his promise--Gave him his house which was beautiful & spacious,\nbut mostly underground, or at least in the side of a mountain. All his freinds\nturned out, put in Nayhanimis & gave him the full possession. But he was no sooner in than\nthey secured all the outlets; doors, windows &c. & set it on fire to destroy one whom they\nfound so much more powerful than themselves! Nays. finding this to be the case was\nnot in the least dismayed, but took his smoking bag & thus addressed it \"Now _thou_\n\"Badger,--our mutual safety depends upon thy obedience & expedition--Thou\n\"art made to pass _thro'_ the Earth as _quick_ as _upon_ it: these fools think to destroy\n\"us, but thou must shew that we are superior to them.\" During the conflagration they were\nenjoying the scene & exulting in the idea of having at last succeeded in destroying so formidable\nan adversary: but what was their consternation when they saw him come to them without\neven one hair of his head singed!--they were _appalled_ with astonishment & had not\nthe power of utterance. At last recovering a little they endeavoured to pass it off as a\njoke & turn it to his own advantage, by silencing at one blow the envy & malice of his _all_\nenemies, pretending to be a staunch friend of his. But he was not thus to be duped; yet\nhe shewed a superiority of sentiment & generosity equal to his Powers & abilities by\ngiving them (tho' _contemptuous_ if you please) pardon. So much for this _Part_.--\n Thus did matters pass on for yet a few years. \"The _indians_ began to _multiply_ & inha-\nbit the world: but the Hairy-breasts, a jealous, envious, and at best foolish people,\ncould not well behold _their_ prosperity: they made _war_ upon them (the _indians_) by\nstealth & destroyed numbers: their affairs bore a most dismal aspect--no less than the\ntotal extinction of the whole race. At last Nayhanimis pitched off with his wife,\n_her_ father, & another one--there were four of them. He found found a Beaver lodge--\nhere some of the _Hairy-Breasts_ came up with him. Compliments at first, afterwards\nSneers, taunts & revilings; but so ambiguously that no hold could be taken. \"How nume-\n\"rous: how many are there of ye\" inquired the Hairy B. \"We are twenty of us\" replied\nNayhanimis; \"& so are we rejoined the others. Now, they here entered into an arrangement that\nwhoever found _Beaver_ for the future it should be his own; but to avoid any wrangles, he who _found_\nthe Beaver should plant a stick or branch upon the lodge, as a mark. On their return\n\n\n (38)\nhome each recounted to his family what he had met with in the course of the day. \"Now said _Nay-\n\"hanimis_, addressing his family, we must take 20 Beavers, one for each man of them (meaning the\n\"hairy-breasts) & make a feast. If it turns out that we be able to eat these 20 Beaver, & they\n\"not, then we shall be superior to them & have the upper hand.\" The Beaver were cooked\naccordingly:--he took his _rattler_ which he shook to the tunes of his Songs,--performed the\nusual ceremonies, & they eat the whole 20 B. with ease. Then addressing his family\nthus, said \"These Hairy-Breasts are great boasters, but cowards--They are a people of\nno account--tomorrow will decide all.\" The Hairy Breasts on their return did\nthe same as Nayhanimis & cooked also 20 B. thinking that his band did really con-\nsist of that number. They eat: but every one was already full & yet more than 3/4\nof the feast remained--\"Give me my rattler (said one of the oldest) that I sing &c. it may\n\"happen that we find grace\". He sang & shook his rattler, but it would not sound--\nAfter frequent repeated trials to no effect he became vexed & threw it out of doors\namong the Dogs \"This dog of a rattler will not sound in spite of all my endeavours: but\n\"hold! hear how it rattles now that it is out--go for it one of ye, perhaps it was\n\"owing to some fault in me.\" They bro't it to him: but still as before: he threw\nit out again in a rage; it was no sooner out than it sounded well as before:\nit was bro't in again: but as before again. Then he threw it out for good, vexed\n& disappointed to the utmost degree. But his freinds were not pleased; they considered\nthis a portentious omen & his behavior foolish; & by no means calculated to reconcile their _Deities_\nto them. He comforted them by telling them the numbers of \"the adverse party must be few,\n\"otherwise we had surely been able to _eat_ the whole of this feast: they are few & we _shall_ sub-\n\"due them.\" The next day they all pitched off. Nayhanimis came first to a Beaver\nlodge & marked it--came another & marked that one also. But making a circuit, in\nwhich he hung up his Bow, quiver &c. &c. in a tree, at his own height, came round\nto the same lodges & found that the Hairy-B had put marks of their own & thrown\nhis one away:--exasperated he threw theirs away & replaced his, & made another\ncircuit, when he found the H.B. had replaced their own again: He also\nremarked that the HB. had hung up their Bows &c. &c. _in the tops of very hi trees_, trusting\nto their numbers. At last they met--greeted each other at first, then sneers, quarrels,\na challenge & then the battle: they were to fight _man to man_--Nayhanimis killed 19\nright out, but the 20th had near killed him: however this was but an accident\nusual in battles--he soon killed him also. The women were coming up when raising\nhis voice to a pitch to be distinctly heard by heard by all said \"Such of ye _indian_\n\"women as have been taken from your homes, had your husbands killed &c. such\n\"of ye indian women as are willing to return to your nation, take all axes & others\n\"arms out of the hands of these H. B. women,--seperate yourselves from them; attack\n\n\n (39)\n\"& destroy them all: leave not one alive to carry the news to the others. They seperated accordingly &\nkilled every soul. Then he took them to his tent & finding by their answers to his queries\nthat there were still another band not far off consisting of 40 young & 2 old men of the HB.\nhe ordered a quantity of poles or pickets to be cut very long & made a kind of Fort of\nthem round his own tent:--gave orders to them to gather a vast quantity of snow\nround all the sides of it, to come over the points, so that neither the pickets nor\ntent might be seen, & that this rising might have the appearance of a natural\nhill, something in short in the form of a pit. He immediately made a\nnumber of lances & spears & walked off in quest of his enemies. He soon reached\ntheir camp--drew near & found that there were but 2 old men, all the others were\nout a hunting. Here he listened to their conversation & was burning with indignation\nat the stories these 2 old men told each other of the cruelties they had done to\nthe _Indians_--They were chukling at this when he sprung into the tent, took each\nby the head & thrust their faces in the fire & sprang out again to listen. One\nof them returning to his senses, for they had both fainted during the ceremony, exclaimed thus \"my\n\"old freind! what is the matter with me? I lost my senses quite suddenly & now\n\"that I am come to, I feel my face quite sore & cannot see\"--\"It is the same with me\"\nreplied the other one--\"Then it must be some evil spirit that has pounced upon us\"\nresumed the first. At last Nayhanimis addressed them thus \"I shall tell ye old men a story too.\n\"There were two old men formerly seated in their tents relating to each other the exploits\n\"of their younger days & the cruelties they committed upon the _Indians_--Nayha-\n\"nimis was near--he pounced upon them & thrust both their heads together\n\"into the fire. When your children & young men be returned from their hunting\n\"tell them this Story, in the mean time I shall return home & make ready for them--\n\"--my name is _Nayhanimis_ & I reside at _such_ a _place_\" (i.e. I am _called_ (or\nnamed) Nayhanimis &c.). The old men as may be imagined, were Thunder Struck with this & durst\nnot say a word more. But in the Evening the young men came home--They were astonished to see\ntheir fathers in such a plight. \"Children! behold your fathers! said they--Had any _miscreant_\n\"durst act in such a manner to _our_ fathers, their villanny should certainly not have\n\"passed off thus: _but we are now old men & of no more account_!!!\" This last apostrophe\nabove all the rest roused them to vengeance: they merely scraped the snow off their feet\n&legs & went immediately in quest of him, vowing vengeance all the way of a most cruel & _ex-\nemplary_ nature. Nayhanimis was on his guard, every soul able to weild a weapon had one in\nhis hand, besides an infinite number of spears & sharp stakes stuck in the Ground, The H.\nB. came, but not perceiving the trap on account of the snow that was bro't over ends of the\nstockades they all fell in one upon the other & impaled themselves in their fall on those sticks &c.--\nAll of them but 2 or 3 met with instantaneous death--The few that were not injured were put to\n\n\n (40)\nto an excruciating, but immediate death to satisfy the _manes_ of the departed _indians_; & he proceeded im-\nmediately to the Camp; killed the remaining 2 old men, scoffing & taunting them at the same\ntime. Immediately after this he ordered such of the _indian women_ as had had their hus-\nbands killed, or were taken by the H. B. to seperate from the other women & inflict the same\npunishment upon them & their children as had been done to their friends. \"Thus were\n\"the Hairy Breasts entirely exterpated, merely by their own folly & wickedness. Had they lived\n\"peaceably, & allowed the _indians_ to partake of the blessings of this world without envy,\n\"as well as themselves, & to which they had an undoubted right, they might still have\n\"been in existence. However there are still 2 nations of them, one of which is on _Your_\n\"Lands, the others, I believe beyond the Seas: but they are an insignificant & most\n\"despicable people. They pretend to antiquity & would fain extort respect from the\n\"_moderns_ (i.e. themselves, or the indians, _principally_) but their very countenance, appearance,\n\"every thing about them denotes folly & seems more to demand contempt than to call for\n\"respect. I saw one many years back, who was bro't by the Traders from somewheres\n\"on your Lands: he face was venerable, but still there was a meanness in the _whole_ of\n\"him that I could not account for: I respected him, & wanted to treat him according-\n\"ly--this is as from the Stories I had heard related of them; but the Traders laughed\n\"at _us_ & asked one if I was inclined to respect folly, insignificance, & nothing\"!!!--\n I have been a long time in writing these Pages & have been frequently disturbed--I have been\noften obliged to put by my paper after seating myself 5 or 6 times to write only one word: from such\nlong & frequent interruptions _much_ method & correctness cannot be expected--I therefore send\nthem to you in the form of _Notes_. My motives for thus employing my time & paper were\nfirst to amuse & instruct myself, but principally for your own amusement & such few\nfriends as you may think _worthy_ of the communication. _Lend them not of the house_, nor\nlet too many see them; for I have some notion please God I live to digest them into\nform & regularity & have them published, besides a vast many others I purpose with\nGods help, collecting: but this is merely between ourselves & immediately after perusal\nblot out all _this_ Paragraph. Journals, voyages &c. &c. of these people have been fre-\nquently published: but I have met with none that gives so circumstantial a\ndetail of their private life (if I may so say) as is necessary to give that insight to\ntheir ideas & notions (& this latter term too, I think, critically speaking cannot be appli-\ncable to them) that is required & so much wanted to form a proper estimate of\nman in his _natural_ state. We all see them, hear them & relate of them; but where is\nthere one who can give the_ why's_ & _wherefore's_ that these people do so, & so? I beg you will\n_blot_ this last paragraph entirely out, at least the first part; & do not be premature in\nyour condemnation or judgement of me, for I trust my motives are entirely destitute of\nvanity & only the desire of truth urges me, or at least true & just information &c. &c. G N.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tapril 16th 1823--\n\n (41)\n\tSuch are the notions & ideas of these people. They acknowledge a superior Power, not Wee-Suck-a-\n-jock, as I was erroneously informed \"but the same _one_ you adore in the Christmas holidays\". This\none they have a great respect & veneration for but seldom it is as far as I can learn) that they sa-\ncrifice or pray to him i.e. make speeches, which tho' extempore, _I_ consider as much prayers as tho'\nthey were composed after the most deliberate & mature reflection; & many parts of them so simple,\nplain, natural, & withal so sublime that I frequently felt great pleasure in attending to them.\n But these sentiments are so few comparitively speaking, & the absurdities so great & frequent that\nfew men can hear them without lamenting their ignorance. They have often seemed to me\nas desirous in a hi degree of becoming acquainted with the true _mode_ of worshipping, from\nthe frequent changes, even during my time, they have made in their _worshippings_. As a proof of this\nis the avidity with which they seize any new system introduced from their _Southern_ neigh-\nbors: the short time they hold it; & how completely it is abandoned, if not entirely forgotten\nfor another, equally if not more absurd than the former. To introduce a new system\namong them it is only necessary to report an extravagant tale of some wonderful character,\n--the cures by _this_ means that have been performed & such like miraculous & fantastic\nnonsense. But in their fundamental points I perceive no visible alteration. The prin-\ncipal of these is what they call the Mee-tay-wee. A ceremony I shall compare\nto Free-masonry; but the initiations are public--every one that chuses comes to see\nthem & many are invited. Here, in the course of initiation are ceremonies or deviltries\nperformed that no man of his own mere dexterity or Power _can_ do. The next\nprincipal one is conjuring. This is a principle I believe as natural to man as the air he\nbreathes (tho' not _so_ necessary). Every one wishes to peep into futurity & there are few but\nwho would not inquire into causes could they do it, or were it not forbidden them. Thes two\nof course are consequences or consequents of their mythology. There are many in the\ncivilized or Christian world who absolutely & positively deny this power of theirs as being\nabsolutely impossible & at best but absurd & idle stories. Many of the things related of\nthese Conjurings I acknowledge to be so; but at the same time I am as positive & as\nfirmly persuaded of the truth of the assertion \"that they have dealings with some supernatural\nspirit,\" as I am convinced that I live & breathe in air; unless, indeed, we chuse to acknow-\nledge & believe a certain sect of Philosophers (of the last century I beleive) who _wish_ to tell\nus that we _only_imagine ourselves alive_. And I am by no means inclined to acknowledge\nmyself as superstitious: I am convinced of this from reason, argument, comparison; in-\n-short from _analysis_. Let any one man, unless he be a headstrong brute who is _de-\ntermined_ before hand not to be convinced, analyse their _discourses_ &c. &c. and I am confi-\ndent he will beleive as much as many, or have great doubts at least. To absolutely\ndeny this, we must first deny that there is a Devil, & afterwards deny his pernicious power\n\n\n (42)\nand if we deny these points, we must descend to a third, & more fit for an atheistical wretch\n& a beast than a Christian, or even rational creature. I have heard some sensible & well informed\nGentleman deny it on the plea of their _ignorance_; but this again is _a_ basis & very\nsolid one. These people are still in a complete state of nature: their ideas of the true\nGod are far from clear or correct: they acknowledge him indeed as the Supreme & absolute Master of\nall, but more or rather as a passive _Deity_ than as he really is; but their notions of their other\nDeities come far more near the truth. Their wants indeed are also few, but they are arbitrary\n& cannot be dispensed with, at least for any time; it is therefore very natural that they should em-\nploy their whole thoughts & most of their time in procuring these means to warding off or averting their dangers.\nAnd I do not know of any method more adapted to this than the one they pursue, i. e.\nFasting & Sleeping to dream; & they do dream too: & many of these dreams are so complicated,\nor compounded of so many different things that it is absolutely beyond the power of _their_ in-\nvention to fabricate them. Surely a man man beleive his senses. A man tied, wound up in\na blanket, or skin equally soft: here he is held by one, two, or 3 men--he slips out of the\nblanket & presents himself before you free, leaving the cords &c. _untied_ in the blanket: you\nhear him Speak, & perhaps 20 other voices besides, all at the same: again he is bound as a\ncriminal, rather indeed as a Pig, crumpled into a heap & thrust in to his _hut_--at the\nvery instant of his entrance the hut shakes as if ten thousand devils were for pulling it\nto pieces: you enter this, find the man absent, hear a fluttering about your ears, or see\na vast number of small lights resting on the hoops that hold the poles together:\nimmediately after you are out you hear the man speake within again; you look again & feel\nfor him, but hear him talking at a distance; What can this be but supernatural\nagency?--I have never seen feats of _this_ kind, but others I have, not so _strong_, but equally con-\nvincing. I have been informed that a young half-breed, abandoned with the indians almost\nfrom his childhood, a few years back entered one of these conjuring _huts_ at the solicitation\nof one of the N. W. Gentlemen to see what retarded the people so long. Previous to his entering a great\ndeal of conversation on the subject had been: matters were settled between them & the con-\njuror. Some time after his entrance he began to cry (not weep) as a person uneasy,\nat first the voice was within, but it appeared as rising in the air, & at last was lost.\n\"Well!\" said one of the indians addressing one of the half-breeds, living with the white \"Well! enter\n\"now, & see if he be there: thou art always doubting & denying what we say of these things:\n\"enter then & see if he be there, then indeed are our assertions false.\" He raised the bottom\nof the _casement_ & entered, but as he was not below, he rose on his feet & felt for him, but\nnot to be found. However he was _paid_ for his curiosity: there was a dreadful flutter-\ning within, but especially about his head, his hair flying about in his face as if in\na tempest & frequent appearances of small lights before his eyes which ever way he turned: he\nbawled out & asked those without what was the matter with him: he became afraid & _walkd_\n\n\n (43)\nout as quick as he could. Very shortly after they heard the same cries of pain, faintly, at first, but\nthe voice soon entered. The _Conjuror_ said he was carried to where the people were \"They are all\naslepp, at such a place & tomorrow will be here\" &c. He said there were 4 (spirits) of them,\nthat carried him off: Each held him by the _little finger_ & _little toe_! I shall here relate\na couple more of these stories. And indian told me that several years back he left his lodge\non the borders of a large Lake to go to the house for some necessaries he wanted. He took\na traverse for some islands,--the weather was dull but mild: a storm very soon set in--\nbut he persevered: thinking the wind had changed, he also changed his course. He became\nvery much fatigued & laid down on the ice to rest himself & wait for day light, for\n_the_ night had overtaken him. He was not long down before reflecting on his situation\nhe became extremely uneasy & was afraid of freezing. At last he heard a curious noise near\nhim that he could not account for: at first his fears increased greatly dreading it was\nsome malignant spirit; but having no alternative he resigned himself to his fate \"& I became\n\"as composed as tho' I were safe; & I was too: for an animal much resembling a Wolf\n\"& black, came up & covered me; I was very cold, shivering in every limb, but I soon\n\"became quite warm: he rose from off me & went on as if inviting me to follow--his\n\"eyes appeared like 2 candles.--I followed--he led me to an island where I made a fire\n\"& warmed & dried myself; & as soon as I was rigged I followed him, for he went off & looked at\n\"me so earnestly I took it for an order: he led me straight to the water hole:--\n\"there happened to be people at the time there going for water--They saw _these_ lights\n\"& asked me what occasioned them, or who it was that came with me,--I told\n\"them it was a compassionate spirit that retrieved me from a dreadful death.\"--\n--_2nd_! A young man lately told me the following \"I was returning home with my\n\"uncle when come to _that_ point we heard something crying behind us he! he! ha! ha!\n\"& whistling alternatively. My uncle told me it was a Pah-Kack (Skeleton) & wanted to\n\"destroy us. It came up with us very soon & kept constantly buzzing & whistling in our\n\"ears so that indeed we were quite bewildered at last: it was at night & dark, but\n\"we kept strait on as we thought; we were mistaken, for after\n\"walking a long time, we at last came to the water hole again from where we had\n\"set off. We were both of much afraid; but finding this path we minded it no\n\"more tho' it pursued us making more & more noise the nearer we got _home_.\"\n Many of these stories bear a great resemblance to those extravagant tales of\nla B\u00e9te a la Grande Queue, Loup Garoup, Chasse Galerie & many others\nnatural to superstitious people, it requires therefore a great deal of caution &\nattention to get at the true ones. I have here _inserted_ more than I originally intended,\nbut they will serve to give you an idea of the notions of these people; & except a few, I have\nselected those that appeared most rational: _however they will all come in time_.\n\n\n (44)\nThere is a kind of disease(or distemper rather, & of the _mind_, I am fully persuaded,) peculiar to the\nCrees & Sauteux's & of which they have the greatest dread & horor; & certainly not without the\nvery greast cause, the consequences 49 times out of 50 being death unfortunately to many be-\nsides the _subjects_ or objects themselves. They term _this_ Wen-di-go (according to the\nfrench pronunciation, which is more correct than the English, in this word)--the pro-\nper signification of which, to me at least, & no one I think can doubt it, is _Giant_ of the\nAnthropophagi _Genus_, sect, tribe, or kind &c. The stories related of these are as extravagant\n& fantastatic as those we read in our old romances _in the days of Chivalry_; differing in no one\ncircumstance hardly but the means used in their destruction, which of course is often done by\nthe intervention or assistance of their Guardian Genii. However, there are some few more ra-\ntional than those of _ours_ & tho' still beyond all bounds of credibility, are as devoutly be-\nlieved by these poor creatures as the Gospel is by the most orthodox among us. I do not\nremember any of these sufficiently correctly to give you a few of the stories, one excepted:--\n--Suffice it to say that they are of uncommon size--Goliath is an unborn infant to them;\n& to add to their _dread_, they are represented as possessing much of\nthe Power of Magicians. Their head reaching to the tops of the highest _Poplars_ (about 70, or 80,\nfeet) they are of proportionate _size_, of course they must be very heavy: their gait tho grand\n& majestic, at every step the Earth shakes. They frequently pursue their Prey (_indians_ of\ncourse) invisibly, yet they cannot so completely divest themselves of all the incommodi-\nties of nature as to prevent their approach being known. A secret & unaccountable horor pervades\nthe whole system of one, several, or the whole band, of those of whom he is in pursuit:\nPhenomena in the heavens, earth &c. &c.--\"In the days of_ Noah_ (or near them at least) there\nwere a large party of _indians_ collected together for mutual safety: many camps\nhad been already destroyed by him, & the indians were in great danger being entirely ex-\nterminated. At last they bethought themselves of a plan. \"It is needles to go to war upon him-\n\"--what can we do to him with our arms! Let us make an immense Large trap (of wood)\n\"& draw lots which of us shall serve as bait: it is a dangerous assay indeed, but will any\ngenerous one amongst us refuse sacrificing his life for the safety of so many?\"--They made\nthis trap on the opposite side of a small opening in the woods, so that he might see the\nperson seated from afar. it was between large trees which were made to serve as _Posts_.\nIt was finished. An old woman stepped up & said \"My Grandchildren! I am now\n\"old & of no more account among ye: we are all in danger of being devoured by this insatiable\n\"& terrible beast, why should I then regret sacrificing a life that at best I can now\n\"enjoy but only for a short time, seeing it will in the end be productive of so much good?\n\"_I will go & be bait_.\" The others were extremely touched at her generosity, but they had no\nalternative, & circumstances admitted of no delay. The old lady seated herself very com-\n\n\n (45)\ncomposedly in the trap & awaited his arrival: the others fled off of course. It was time too, for he soon _hove_ in\nsight!--Stalking along in all the stile & terror of Imperial Gradeur, his head equal with the tops\nof the highest trees, & the ground shaking at every step, tho' froze, it being then depth of winter,\n& his countenance denoting an assemblage of pity, contempt, rage & voraciousness. All this\ndid not dismay the old Lady: she remained quiet:--he perceived her--\"What! What\n\"old woman, art thou doing there?\" But changing his tone, which he did several times thus\ncontinued; \"Thou art of my natural enemies & I shall presently Grind thee.\" \"Ah! my\n\"Grand Child! I am an old woman, abandoned & deserted by those whom I have suckled & bro't\n\"up: they are fled off in dread of thee, & being old & helpless they thrust me in this tuft of trees\n\"so as to be the less embarrassed: come now & assist me out & in acknowledgement I shall\n\"inform thee of their precautions, otherwise thou'lt lose thy life by their deceptions.\" He\nwas in no dread of the _indians_, so far as regarded their _own_ Power, but he thought a little\nsalutary advice would not be amiss, intending after this to _Grind_ the old _thing_ as he had pro-\nmised himself. He drew up: \"what a devil of a place they have put thee indeed--did they\nthink to conceal thee from me?\"--He stooped to enter: when she found he had entered\nfar enough she touched a stick & down came all the weights & cross bar upon his\nback. Tho' he was uncommonly strong the weight, & suddenness of the blow was such\nthat he gave way & was jamed between the two beams or bars--here he struggled denouncing\nvengeance & eternal destruction to the whole of the _human_ race. The great bellowing\nhe made was a signal to the men who were in ambush not far off: they came\nrunning up & soon dispatched him with a multitude of blows from axes & Chissels\n&c. &c.\"--Thus were they for _one time_ releived: the women & children returned\nto the camp & enjoyed themselves as usual without further apprehensions. These Gi-\nants as far as I can learn reside somewhere about the _North Pole_; & even at this day\nfrequently pay their unwelcome visits, but which however, are attended with a complete\nfright only. It seems also that they delegate their Power to the indians occasionly; &\n_this_ occasions that cannibalism which is Produced or proceeds rather from a sort of\ndistemper much resembling _maniaism_. There are 3 sorts or kinds that I\nknow of, & beleive there are no more. The first I have already related as above, & the\n2 I am going to give you are sometimes _compounded_ together & sometimes _independent_;\nbut they are both equally true & melancly & distressing in whatever light we may view\nthem: However, I shall not pretend by any means to palm _all_ that is said about\nthem upon you as true--of this you'll by & bye be able to judge as well as myself\n& not doubt. The first of these are such as are driven to this dreadful extremity by\nstarvation. In all _woody_ countries where the inhabitants lead a wandering, roving life, & whose\nsubsistence depend upon the Game they procure, they must of necessity be frequently pinched, & some-\ntimes bro't very low. All _People_ cannot bear this privation alike & tho' there is perhaps not a\n\n\n (46)\na people in this world who take this so patiently as those people do, yet there are not wanting in-\nstances where even with them that _nature_ gives-way. They vanish as a _dying_ Candle; but others can-\nnot stand it out so long: they must have something to eat, be it what it may: sometimes, tho' with\nthe most extreme reluctance at first, they feed upon the flesh of such as _have died_. Any kind of\nanimal substance at such times, must come very grateful to the Stomack; & hence it is I be-\nlieve that those who have once preyed upon their fellows, ever after feel a great desire for the\nsame nourishment, & are not so scrupulous about the means of procuring it. I have seen\nseveral that had been reduced this distressing alternative, & tho' many years after there ap-\npeared to me a wildness in their eyes, a confusion in their countenances much resem-\nbling that of reprieved murderers....Now if we consider how very precarious their\nmode of subsistance is, how devoted they are to superstition & prejudice, we, i. e. such of _us_\nas know more about them, we, I say, may wonder how they stand out so well: very many\ninstances I have known seem to be far beyond the power of human nature to stand:--Yet\nnotwithstanding this dreadful privation lasts not for a few days, but even to weeks & months,\nduring all which time the men are out from star-light to star-light & have never\nanything more to _eat_ than some bits of leather, moss, bark & such like, it is very rare they\nwill kill a _fellow_ to live upon him. This is not universal, there are unfortunately still\ntoo many exceptions; but these again would seem as denounciations from their Gods--\n--They appear so to me--I can scarcely doubt it! and the indians themselves seem to think\nthe same tho' in another way. At this place where I am now writing (Lac La Ronge, English River) but\na few years back several instances occurred. An old Canadian is said to have lost one of his\nSons thus, tho' an excellent hunter: the old man sometimes speakes to me of that son: and the\nsecond died on his way to the house, & not far off. The same year an indian killed all\nhis family but 2 daughters whom he compelled to partake with him, & for the rest of the\nroute he ........--I shall here give you a few stories of the kind. \"_That_ same\n\"year (I do not know precisely when but only a few years back) a woman alone arrived at the\n\"house. Her appearance was haggard, wild, & distressed: However she was taken into _the_ house--\n\"questions put as usual, but the answers, vague, indefinite & contradictory: they\n\"handed her something to eat--she acted as if eating it indeed, but let the whole fall in\n\"the _inside_ of her gown: this rose suspicion. But what added to this was the extra-\n\"ordinary stench she emitted from the heat of the chimney; & shortly after her entrance, a\n\"part of a human shoulder the Dogs bro't in from upon her road. She went off--being\n\"directed upon a road leading to a camp not far off. As soon as she made her appearance the indians\n\"immediately conceived what was to matter; but thro' charity as well as for safety & to find the\n\"truth they gave her to eat, principally marrow-fat.\" Now these people pretend that cannibals\ncannot bear this fat or grease, of course it was a kind of _ordeal_. \"Every thing she did & said, notwithstand-\n\"ing her great caution, betrayed her. She took up some of the children of her acquaintances to kiss\n\n\n (47)\n\"kiss as is customary but would have given it a bite had they not taken it from her. They wat-\n\"ched her narrowly. All the men slept in one tent with her: she pretended to be asleep 'till\n\"she imagined the others were, then rose very cautiously & was beginning to prepare herself for _action_\n\"--One of the men perceived this--rose upon her with an axe; tho' the blow was violent &\n\"upon the head she would have killed him had not the others interfered: her wretched fate\n\"was soon decided.\" There is such a singular, strange, incomprehensible contradictoriness in\nalmost all these cases, & many I have heard, that I do most verily believe they are _denun_-\nciations, witch, or wizardisms: in any other manner they are not rationally to be account-\ned for, unless we suppose all those who feed on human flesh to be thus possest,--then it\nis natural to man in those cases; but why then not the same with us as with these people?\n--The 3d Kind, or delegated, which by what follows, I believe may be allowed to be\nthe term, are those who dream of the North, or the Ice, or both. Every one knows\nwhere the North resides, but only few know the abode of Ice, or the Ice. This they pretend is the\nParent of Ice, is in the bowels of the Earth, at a great depth & never thaws--all ice originates\nfrom this. These 2 they are much afraid of, because they are both highly malignant spi-\nrits: there is no joking or jesting with them. Those who at _any_ future period are to become\ncannibals thus dream of them. After the certain things usual in all dreams \"I was\n\"invited by the North to partake of a feast of ducks, the most beautiful I had ever seen\n\"& well cooked--the dish was before me, I set _too_: a stranger by me touched me with his elbow & said, Eat not thou\n\"of that; look into thy dish; behold that which I had taken for the wing of a duck was\n\"the arm of a child! 'he! what a narrow escape'! said I. Then he took me into another\n\"room & gave me most excellent meat, the most delicious in appearance I had ever seen\n\"I would not eat--I discovered it was the flesh of _indians_ thus served up to me! He\n\"took me into a 3d room & gave me Tongues: These I also perceived were the Tongues of _in_-\n\"dians. 'Why refusest thou what I offer thee? is it not good?' 'I feel no inclination\n\"'to eat' I replied. Then he took me in a fourth room where fine beautiful\n\"_hearts_ were served up, & I was desired to eat, but I perceived that it was still the same\n\"I therefore refused. Then said he 'it is well done--thou hast done well!' Heh! had I unfor-\n\"tunately eaten of this then had I become a cannibal in addition to all my other misfortunes.\"\n Those who eat at these feasts are frequently, but not universally told thus: \" This is a sign to\n\"thee that thou shalt one day become a cannibal & feed on the flesh of thy fellows--When\n\"thou shalt see children play with, & eat, ice (or snow) _in_ thy Tent say 'my time is near';\n\"for then thou shalt soon eat _indian_ (human) flesh.\" They have such dread & horor of\nthis that it is constantly in their minds. \"You white people! who live at your ease, get your\n\"living out of your Nets or from your indians, & besides are not otherwise troubled as we,\n\"make light of these Things:--I do not make much account of them either, but I tell you that he\n\"who thus once dreams of either of those Dogs are for ever after continually troubled with them\n\n\n (48)\n\"--we do every thing in our Power to drive him away from us, but still he hovers about us & we can-\n\"not avoid him. You are very fortunate--you live as you please, never care for him nor does he molest\n\"you.\"--Such I am told are the _sentiments_ of these people in General. I look upon this\nas a sort of mania, a fever, a distemper of the brain. Their eyes (for I have seen thus perplexd)\nare wild & uncommonly clear--they seem as if they glistened--It seems to me to\nlodge in the Head. They are generally rational except at short, sudden intervals when the\nparoxysms cease them: their motions then are various & diametrically contrary at one\ntime to what they are the next moment--Sullen, thoughtful, wild look & perfectly\nmute:--staring in sudden convulsions, wild incoherent & extravagant language.\nThere was one a few years back infected with this not far from where I was at\nthe time: the accounts given of him, tho' I shall not vouch for their truth are\nthus. One night towards the latter end of December he began staring at his daugh-\nter with an extraordinary intenseness: \"My daughter! I am fond of thee! I love\n\"thee extremely\"--\"I know thou dost\" replied the woman abashed, for she was then\nvery young\"--Yes! I love thee--I think I could eat a piece of thee, I love thee\n\"so much\". The Girl exclaimed at his rashness--there were but 3 of them\nthe father, daughter & her husband. When it was dark he put himself stark-naked &\nuttering a strong tremulous noise, & his teeth chattering in his head as if thro' cold, rose\nup & walked out of the Tent & laid himself curled as a dog in a heap upon the wood\nthat his daughter had that day bro't to the door. Here he remained all night in-\nspite of what they could do. A little before day he returned. Thus did he every\nnight for about a month & every time slept out naked; nor would he eat,\nexcepting at times a little raw flesh. In the day time he was more composed,\nbut his face &c. bore the appearance of one possessed of the Devil. He recovered &\nbecame as usual, composed, & good natured--I knew them all well, but had no\ndealings with them from the year before (1812)--A young indian a few years\nback had _one_ of the above Dreams. He became very uneasy & thoughtful finding it recur\nso very frequently: & he would have willing undergone any torments any death rather than\nbecome an anthropophagi: he also frequently desired his friends upon any, the least appear-\nance of these symptoms in him to kill him. \"For if you do not kill me 'till I have eaten of _human_\n\"flesh, you'll perhaps not be able to do it afterwards; but my Children! Oh! my children!\n\"how grieved am I to leave ye! but it must be so--I have no alternative.\" \"Spare me\n\"not, my friends I conjure you\"! He had been a good hunter & a peaceable indian, & of course\nmuch loved by his friends: this business depressed them a great deal. At last the time approach-\ning fast his brother one day remained behind with him to watch him, whilst the others pitch-\ned off: about the time this one thought the others had finished the encampment he proposed their\nsetting off to join them. But before long he left his brother behind & laid an ambush for him not\n\n\n (49)\nnot far from the Tent. This was a preconcerted scheme, the other men of course were not far off.\nThe sick one drew near, in a very slow & thoughtful manner: however when he came near to where\nhis brother was hid, he stopped, looked up & called out \"Thou thinkest thyself well hid from\n\"me my brother, but I see thee: it is well thou undertakest, it had been better for thee however\n\"hadst thou began sooner. Remember what I told you all--it is my _heart_; my _heart_, that is\n\"_terrible_, & however you may injure my body if you do not completely annihilate my _heart_\n\"nothing is done.\" The brother was sure that he was not discovered, this _knowledge_ being the\ninformation of some of the spirits: he therefore did not answer. Some of the other men had\ngone to meet him & endeavoured to amuse him that the brother might give the first\nblow: accordingly he shot, straight for the heart--he dropped, but rose immediately,\n& continued towards the camp that was within sight laughing at their undertaking. \"The\n\"Ball went through & through, but not a drop of blood was seen--_his heart was alrea-\n\"ready formed into Ice_.\" Here they seized & bound him & with ice chissels & axes\nset to work to dispatch him. \"According to his desire they had collected a large pile\n\"of dry wood & laid him upon it.--The body was soon consumed, but the heart remained perfect\n\"& entire\" it rolled several times off the Pile--They replaced it as often: fear ceased them--\n\"then with their (Ice) chissels they cut & hacked it into small bits, but yet with diffi-\n\"culty was it consumed\"!!! They fancy that blood which circulated thro' the heart\nfirst turns into water, then coagulates or congeals, & shortly after becomes into solid\nimperforable or impenetrable ice. The only antidote or remedy for this, is to give them\nlarge draughts of high-wines; double distilled spirits, or the spirits of wine, if any\ncan be had the better: this taken in large draughts & frequently, & _kept_ beside a large\nfire, flows to the heart & thaws the ice: if a profuse sweat ensues it is a happy\nomen. An indian with me this winter gave out his apprehensions that he was thus\ntormented--I communicated it to 2 others who happened to come in about that time: \"Why do you not give him\n\"large draughts of your strongest spirits to drink & keep him in the room beside a large\n\"fire.\" I replied that I was afraid it would burn him \"Oh! no--if he is a real\n\"Wendigo it will only do him good by driving out the ice; but if he _lies_ to you indeed,\n\"then it certainly will injure him; but it will be good for him, & teach him for the future\n\"not to impose upon people to frighten them.\" However, they are in general kind &\nextremely indulgent to those thus infected: they seem to consider it as an infliction &\nare desirous of doing all they can to assist. There are however many exceptions: but these\nagain depend upon the circumstances &c. attending them. One of my best hunters here\nis thus tormented, or at least thus torments himself; & very often desires his friends in\ncompassion to put a period to existence the first symptoms he may shew of cannibalism.\nA young girl lately maried, & scarcely worth a _Filip_, so small & diminutive, was this winter\nseized with this phrensy--the consequence was that the men durst not leave the tent for any\n\n\n (50)\nany length of time, being obliged to assist the women in holding & preventing her from biting or eating\nany of the children, & perhaps herself. They bethought of a sacrifice i.e. cropping her hair & short--\n--she recovered & is now well. She says \"I do not recollect any single one circumstance of all that\n\"is told me.--I thought I was always on the tops of the Trees.\" There is another one of my in-\ndians thus affected too. The indians say it is a punishment (from some of their _familiars_ of\ncourse) for so lightly esteeming their ceremonies; nay indeed & ridiculing them often. This\nfall he began: there were but 2 men of them together (with each his family)--Things\nbore a most dismal aspect;--at last the wife of the other, who by-the-bye is said to\na little affected that way too, told him one day that he sprang forward to seize one of\n_his own_ children, to \"keep quiet, for thou dog if a Gun hath no effect on thee, my\n\" axe shall--I shall chop thee up into slices:--thou hast then better be quiet.\"\nThis kept him indeed quiet for some time: how they are now I cannot say, not hav-\ning heard of them from the beginning of Decr (now Apl. 20th). They appear most\ninclined to prey _first_ upon their own family: & they also think that fire arms\nare absolutely unable to injure them--\"a ball cannot injure _Ice_: to destroy\n\"_Ice_, it must be _chopped up_: & the _heart then is all Ice_.\" They sometimes,\nindeed frequently recover with the warm weather \"for the sun then _animates_\nall nature\"!!!--There are many other instances of a like kind in their tendency\nor consequences, but different in their proceedings that I cannot bring to mind at present: I men-\ntion several of these to shew you the different manner they are infected--in the mean time\nI shall relate you others not less entertaining. There are several Spirits of whom these\npeople are much afraid, but four principally, they being the most malignant & little\naccepting of _excuses_ however great & urgent they may be for the non performance of _their_\nsacrifices. These are the _North, Ice, Skeletons & the Crazy woman_, or foolish,\nmad, jealous, woman. \"Not very many years ago an indian had entered his conjuring _hut_.\n\"She came among the rest; but being displeased with the conjuror on account of some\n\"sacrifice to other spirits, she seized & carried him off! Skeleton perceived it, &\n\"being of the conjuror pursued Jealousy: finding herself nearly overtaken she prefered\n\"her own safety to vengeance & let the _indian_ fall _in some place_ at a vast dis-\n\"tance from where he had been taken--Skeleton took him up & bro't him back\n\"to the great satisfaction of all parties\"! \"She frequently comes with the _others_\nwhen they conjure, but on her appearance she is desired to be quiet \"_Pay-ah-tick_\"\ni.e. gently, quietly, peaceably &c.\" Master Skeleton also is as much dreaded as\nFolly, if-not more, because he shews himself at any time he pleases, it not being\nnecessary to conjure to call him to. There _is_ an indian who before he married had his\n_Dress Shoes_ made by this Lady (Folly, or Jealousy)--She was of course extremely fond of him\"--\"The shoes\n\"were beautifully garnished, far superior to anything of the kind done by _our_ women\"! There are not\n\n\n (51)\nwanting Ladies living with the white who confer full share of their _favors_ on some of the in-\ndians; & from one of these I fancy it is he got these shoes; but to hide the business imput-\n\ned them to Folly, which served him a double end. If I can see that Chap I shall be very\nparticular in my inquiries of him--I know him well. This brings to my mind the\n_White Stag_ or Hind, _Sertorius_ had in his exile & during his wars with his country as\nmentioned by Plutarch. Indeed--to be candid, _I_ find a very great affinity between the\nideas & notions of these people & those of the Greeks & Romans &c. &c. And by these, much,\nfar much better, than by the incongruous hypothesis of the learned might be traced the\n_origin_ of these people; & I am far from taking the task to be difficult: would _we_\nonly divest ourselves of _our own_ prejudices & take the proper plan this great _Enigma_,\nif I may so explain myself, would be not perfectly cleared I allow, but a rational\nclew afforded to the unravelling of it. I have read many of these _hypo-\nthesis_ but they are so filled with inconsistencies that I could scarcely believe men could\nemploy so much time in them ..... I could say something else instead of the conclusion\nof this last sentence. A Gentleman, & an Englishman too, but I forget his name, would\nwish to _insinuate_ that these people are from a different origin with ourselves i.e.\nAdam; & to prove his hypothesis he begins by an anatomising hogs! (See the Encyclopae-\ndia, not by Rees, but _Fitz-Patrick_ I believe) This puts me in mind of some of the\n_Newtonian Systems_ i.e. there is no such thing in nature a _Cold_--we must\nsay an _absence_ of _Heat_! why cannot we as well say there is no such thing as _dark-\nness_, but merely an _absence of light_, or reverse either, & either will be as reasonable\n--most strange reasoning is this indeed!\n Confession. These People have a notion that _confession_ saves them\nfrom many accidents & also preserves the lives of the Sick, or rather restores them to\ntheir wonted health &c. I have not learned the origin of this; when, why, or wherefore, but it\nseems to be very remote, to have sprang with their mythology. I shall it make a point to enquire\nvery particularly into this; & for this, as well as other things, at different quarters, to find & detect\n_errors_ &c. but all, however, that I have written in these pages, tho' there may be some difference\nin the recital & perhaps a _few_ stragling circumstances, are, I have great reason to think\nfundamentally the same throughout among these people....... When any one\nof them is particularly affected with diseases out of the common course of nature _here_,\nor, tho' the disease may be precisely the same as all others, yet from certain circumstan-\nces, individually, or a combination of them, they say he is Oh-gee-nay in Cree,\nor On-gee-nay in Sauteux (the On- pronounced as in french & _not_ English), by which\nit would seem as if they meant he was afflicted or chastised for his own sins, or those of some\nof his or her, near relatives, i.e. father, mother &c. if children: if grown up & married persons,\nfor their own. Whether they only imagine this, or are informed of it by conjuring, _private_ infor-\n\n\n (52)\ninformation from their _Familiars_, or from the Symptoms of the Sick person &c. &c. I cannot say,\nbut the thus afflicted person must confess his Sins publickly. Now in these confessions as in\nall their other discourses or conversations (_initiating_ & _giving of medicines_, excepted) they use no\ncircumlocution, no secret or enigmatical word or term, to screen themselves; but all is de-\nlivered in plain terms & before every one that chuses to hear: These confessions are ter-\nrible things; & they seem far more sincere & complete than those of many catholics.\n--They have wonderful retentive memories, & no scene, no crime from their earliest\nyears unto that day do they hide. But Great God! what abominations!--one would\nscarcely imagine the human mind capable of inventing such infamously dia-\nbolical actions as _some_ do commit: murder, incest, & other things if possible an\nhundred fold more debasing the human Soul. Whether they repent of these things neither\ncan I say, but it would appear as if they were the acts of a contrite & most humbly\npenitant Soul. I have never had an opportunity of hearing these from _their own_ mouths,\nbut _other_ indians have told me of them, & tho' before their families _sometimes_, have never\nomitted one single circumstance from the suggestions of the idea down to the very\nlast _conclusion_. When I heard of these things at first, I _would not_ beleive them; but hearing\nthem come so circumstantially _I trembled for the Land I sojourned in_ \"lest it should\nvomit me out as the land of Canaan did its inhabitants\" \"or be swallowed up in\nits destruction as Sodom & Gomorrah\"! It is true they are not _all_ so; no, I\nam told there are but few, & in charity I hope it is; otherwise what will be my\nfate seeing I am in a certain degree partaker with them! Surely the inha-\nbitants of such a land, at _best_, cannot look for more than mere _present enjoy-\nment_. When I reflect seriously on _all_ these things as I sometimes do, revolv\nving them in every different manner in my mind it is beyond the power of\nwords to express my feelings. Poor unfortunate blind Creatures! That it is\nfrom _Blindness_ they commit these things. I am fully persuaded, because I am equally confi-\ndent that they do not attach that same degree of criminality to them we, _from the re-\nvealing of the Scriptures_ to us, do: some, they consider in the light of trifles; some natural; some\nweaknesses: but all tend to the gratification of most Bestial appetites, whatever may\nhave been the original cause, _curiosity_, or otherwise. However, I received a piece of infor-\nmation in one of these, & _it_ was circumstantially detailed, that has cleared a point to\nme I could never solve: & Tho I enquired of both Wool & Bob, they were not wiser than my-\nself. Indeed, without the _trial_ or experiment, it seems impossible to say certainly\nwhere the cause lies: now I know it, if ever an opportunity offers, or that it pleases God I\nagain revisit my own lands I shall be able to speak to a certainty. As I cannot write\nLatin, I shall say no more of _it_ at present.--\n\tA few years back an indian at the next Post above _this_ died: he had been a long time sick, &\n\n\n (53)\n& from this conceived himself _ongenay_ & accordingly prepared for his Confession.\nHaving received the details at 2 & 3d hand I shall endeavour to give _part_ of them to you as near _their_\nStile as I can; but really I find myself _very inadequate_ to the task: there is a certain\n_Poetic_ Sublimity in their language on such _like_ occasions as will not easily meet with credit\nfrom those (the better informed) of the civilized world unacquainted with these people. Even\namongst ourselves there are but few; for few can judge of the beauties of a language & most of\nthose few have too hi a notion of their own mighty superiority to stoop to _regular_ conver-\nsation with them: But to return: after having revealed all, or most part of his Sins to\nthe company in general he thus addressed his family in particular--\"You see my Chil-\n\"dren my distressed state: I cannot move nor stir without assistance, & I feel strengthened\n\"in my lungs (breast, heart) merely as it were by Permission of my _Dreamed_ (some parti-\n\"cular one he meant) \"to divulge my offenses to the Gods (or God) publicly, before you\n\"you all, to deter you from the same vices (wickednesses). I was once a young man also, the\n\"same as you are now, healthy & vigorous; nothing appeared difficult nor dangerous to me--\n\"I lived as became a man, & prospered accordingly; but I thought that this proceeded from my\n\"own Power only: had I so continued, all had been well! but no, I _unfortunately_ heard\n\"speake of Such indians (meaning _this_ place, _as my informants tell me_), how powerful\n\"they were in their medicines, the extraordinary feats they performed. I envied them, &\n\"thought that I required but _that_ knowledge more to render me perfect (immortal) &\n\"happy:--I undertook a voyage to that place: I found that the bare truth had been\n\"scarcely told me--I burned with anxiety to becoming as knowing as themselves & I\n\"was gratified. Had I rested here, all had yet been well; but in learning their me-\n\"decines I also learned of them those vices, those sins, that by _their practice_ have\n\"reduced me to this wretched situation. My Sons! take example from your father!\n\"be good, charitable, & peaceable indians as I was at the first set off of my life, & employ the\n\"same means, indulge use the same anxiety to _avoid_, that I did to _procure_, that information\n\"that hath reduced me so far below the level even of a dog. Never forget this, never in-\n\"dulge even the least desire of such acquisitions; for if you once begin you will be\n\"deluded by their flattery to that destruction I have found. But you are young men! &\n\"unless you find grace you also will be deluded & lost as I am\"! I have heard a good\ndeal said of _this_ indian's confession & exhortations to his Sons--they were not lost. He\nhimself lived but a short time & seemed much comforted by it.\n There is a tribe of _Athabasca_ that go by the name of _Beaver Indians_. From\nthe tenets of their religion I _am told_ that when laying under any malediction, be-\nwichisms, &c. or conceive themselves so, they make a vow that the first animal the shall\nkill they will do _So_--they do not fail, but immediately proceed in quest of another which by this\ndiabolical action they think they will soon find & kill. They do not _touch_ the animal afterwards as\n\n\n (54)\nas those Beasts among the Crees & Sauteux do, but leave it lay as a sacrifice: they consider it as a\nduty imposed upon them; but the others do it from mere beastiality. \"Such a one did so, bro't home\n\"part of the meat, & we all of us eat it--O! the Dog!\" said an indian not long ago to me.\n Lest I may not soon have another opportunity of writing on these Subjects to _you_ I shall\nadd a few more _fragments_. An indian here, passing for a great Doctor was applied to\n(& is still) by many to attend upon them. \"Several of these he retrieved from death: One\n\"of his dreamed, I beleive the North, was not pleased & told the Doctor 'never to administer\n\"'his medecines to those he had doomed to death.' The Dr replied it was hard & unchari-\n\"table seeing he could prolong their days a little. ' Well! for every one that thou dost\n\"'deprive me of, I shall take one of thy children'; & the Dr lost 8 or 9. (I cannot\n\"now remember well); but he is now grown more cautious\". But this Dr is himself a\nbeast. \"Being unable to stand from sickness he told 2 of his wives 'Take ye me one\n\"'under each arm to my sweat-heart.--I feel myself dying & dont chuse _thus_ to\n\"'go': & he actually did. Remember, _I am told this_; but I have reasons to beleive it.\n--He is an incestuous beast: otherwise I find him a good indian & what is most\nstrange, sensible beyond many of his equals.--\n I have got a caracature here of the Devil carrying off a Taylor. I asked one\nof my indians if any of their familiars resembled him & how they were,--the reply was \"Yes,\n\"he resides in the North (at the Pole I suppose) & has a vast number of young men: The\n\"indians report of some finding their tracks that are very numerous & exactly resemble the\n\"tracks of the Grey Deer (carriboeuf); but neither him nor his young men are very wick-\n\"ed: North, Ice, Skeleton, & Folly are the most wicked & ill inclined of all those\nwe dream of, or enter the conjuring box\"!--\n Of their Feasts, I cannot say more than any common observer--I have been in-\nvited, & partaken of many of them, but I never thought of enquiring into their origin, the\ncauses &c. of them. But from the little I could learn or rather understand from the\nspeeches made at _all_ of them, & what I have learnt in regard to other things, I think\nmay say without dreading contradiction, that as there are songs, ceremonies &c.\nappropriate to every one of their Gods or Familiars or Devils, there also _feasts_ made for\neach according to the whim, dream, or some other circumstance of the one who makes them.\n We denominate these Feasts, & from their own Term it would seem they so mean;\nbut I consider this again as a premature interpretation which I have not leisure to\nexplain: I consider them rather as _sacrifices_--indeed they may perhaps rather\nbe esteemed as partaking of both. I have somewhere above said that they are _obliged_\nto make an annual sacrifice to some of their Gods as the non-performance passes not\noff with impunity--these therefore are obligatory, or compulsory sacrifices; but besides these\nthey also have Free-will sacrifices. These Feasts or sacrifices are not _universally_ of\n\n\n (55)\nof _Flesh_:--they have them of Flesh, Grease, dried berries, rum, &c. &c. and few of these\nFeasts are made without _the one who makes it_ offers a certain (very small, only a few mouths-\nful) to _him_ whom it is in honor of, or intended for, which he most commonly puts into\nthe fire, _in_ or on, the Ground. Some of them are very grand & ceremonius:--the _tit_\nbits of the animal only, as the head, heart, & liver, tongue, & paws when of a Bear: It is\nonly the Great men that are allowed to eat of these: Others again, besides the above, the\nbrisket, rump & ribbs; & very seldom a woman is allowed to partake of them, parti-\ncularly if it is _un festin \u00e0 tout manger_, i. e. to eat the whole; tho' there may be\nsufficient for 2 or 3 times the number of Guests, all must be eaten before day; tho' in\ncertain cases the Feaster is obliged, & commonly does, take part back, providing a\nknife, a bit of tobacco, or something else attend with the dish. In these great\nFeasts the feaster makes one or several Speeches before _we_ begin to eat, & one again\nafter all is done, & sometimes sings, beats the drum & speeches during the whole\ntime of the feast, never partaking of a morsel himself. At Some of them there is\ndancing to be performed: I happened to be called to one of these many years ago\n--it was the principal parts of a bear; & the Paunch had been filled with the\nliver, heart & fat with blood, minced, & much resembling that dish the Scotch\nterm _haggish_: we were all very hungry & tho' we gormandized (it cannot be\ncalled _eating_) there yet remained full 2/3ds. The Feaster was uneasy & said he would\nhave been proud had we eaten all, for in that case his Dreamed would have been\npropitious: we were obliged to dance also; but when I could stow no more I gave him\nmy knife & a bit of Tobacco & walked off leaving him to settle with his God as well\nas he could; but indeed I was not very scrupulous then, otherwise I had most\ncertainly avoided many of them, tho' it is oftentimes dangerous if there be not\nmethod or qualification in the refusal. Their feasts of rum are often to some\none of the 4 wicked ones, praying them to be propitious & not allow themselves to be\ninfluenced by the wicked sollicitations of envious indians. Many years ago I\nhappened to be out a hunting a few miles from the house & came unexpectedly\nupon the lodge of a few indians I had that day given rum to. I heard one of\nthem harangue, & drew up cautiously to listen--He entreated the rain, snow &\nfrost to have pity upon their young ones (that they might kill) &c. I commu-\nnicated this a few years after to a couple of Gentlemen--one of them longer\nin the country than myself denied it & enquired of his wife who had lived a\nlong time with the indians--she corroborated his denial--I perceived the\ncause, & told him that it was because _they_ do not chuse that we become too well\ninformed of all their ceremonies: it was to no effect, & I had almost a mind to credit\nthe woman too myself, but by _insinuation_ I find I am perfectly right. Thus it\n\n\n (56)\nit happens in almost every thing else: a thing that does not meet with our approbation, or be a\nlittle beyond the Sphere of our limited information, we immediately deny or condemn; whereas by\ntaking _proper_ measures to enquire or inform ourselves not only those things themselves but others\nfar more interesting, & sometimes too of the greatest moment, whether to ourselves or others, are rendered\nprobable, reasonable, certain. Hence it is also that many upon receiving a piece of informa-\ntion there rest themselves as upon a Rock of certainty. Now either of these I consider\nequally blameable as they lead to distrust, doubt, & sometimes to a complete refutation or asser-\ntion of facts that very oftentimes cast a stain or stigma sometimes upon a whole people.\n& without any other foundation than as might be said that all Powerful _Veto_.--\n They have feasts for the dead, most commonly berries,--or in countries where it is made,\nSugar: generally yearly a bark box of perhaps 2 or 3 Gallons is placed _in_ the grave, upon\nit , or well hid in some private nook, if they are afraid, or do not chuse, it be taken\n--I ought rather to have said these are sacrifices; but independent of these they have Feasts\nalso, & feasts of Baptism. Feasts inshort for almost every occasion. Besides these\nthey have _smoking_ feasts: these are to deliberate.--I shall, should it please God I live,\nmake it a point to enquire particularly into the origin of all these.--\n June 5th. These last 3 days have been busy & turbulent ones for me--it is now\nconsiderably past midnight (& of course the 6th June) but my indians are drinking\n& I cannot think of going to bed Till they do I shall employ my few remaining\n_leisure_ moments ('till next year, please god I live so long) in giving you an\naccount of a conjuring bout I with some difficulty got an indian to make\nlast night (June 4th).--In the evening the hut was prepared at some dis-\ntance from the houses on account of the stink as _the Spirits_ cannot, or will\nnot endure any pollution--The hut consisted of 10 poles about 7 feet out\nof Ground, well stuck in, & somewhat better than 3 feet diameter--the\nPoles were secured with 2 hoops: they were covered with 2 Parchment skins\n(of Moose) well bound with many rounds of strong leather line: _the\ntop was _covered_ with a dressed skin & secured also, to prevent its being\ncarried off (by the wind)--About 10P.M. (still broad day light with\nus) we drew up with the conjuror, smoked & chatted some time. after\nthis he took his drum (much resembling a tambourine) & with a\nstick gently struck it all the time he made a speech: I was almost\ntouching him (all seated) but from the noise of the drum & his low voice,\nfor the man has a dreadful complaint on his lungs, I could only gather\n\"Take pity upon me; take pity upon me; hear & come: let me not\nspeake in vain, nor become abashed--show me charity\" &c. &c.--it was\na moderate & decent prayer. After this _they_ (for there were several men) began\n\n\n (57)\nbegan to sing, using the drum & rattler--they sang among others the moose, horse,\nBear, & Dog Songs; about a dozen in number, when he prepared by taking off his\nclothes, all to his cloute, & asked who should tie him, I replied that I would,\nbut was afraid of hurting him: another conjuror did beginning with his\nfingers between the 2 joints nearest the hand nearly as I can describe\nit--thus giving a double turn to the line between each\nfinger, & the line was new Mackerel, small, which I happened to have\nin my pocket by accident.--I drew up to _inspect_ & observing the fin-\ngers to swell upon his complaining of the tightness I felt a good deal for\nhim. After this his blanket was wrapped round him & tied in such a\nmanner, lengthways, crossways & every way, & a good knot _I_ tied at\neach meeting of the cords; for I assisted in _this_, that I could have laid\nany wager that it was beyond the Power of Spirits themselves, thus tied, to\neradicate themselves; & his hands were _under_ his hams--as he could no\nmore move than fly, _of himself_, the other conjuror & I put him to the\ndoor, but behold! it was with difficulty we could just get his\nhead in, the entry being too narrow by about 10, or 12 ins. screwing\n& jaming considered. \"It will do, it will do\" said the conjuror--\"cover\nme now\"--his back was covered with a blanket & we all retreated\nto our seats, myself about 4 feet distant--The others took the drum\n& began to sing. I could not help but laughing in myself & pitying the\nboldness of their vanity,--but I had soon occasion to think other-\nwise & had I not predetermined that reason should conduct me throughout the\nwhole of this, I cannot say how far in the _other_ extreme _I_ might have gone.\nBut to return: the conjuror desired the others to sing, they began a short song,\nI believe it was that of the _Stone_, & the man entered in an instant! I was\nstruck dumb with astonishment; for he appeared to me to\n_slide_ in by something that was neither invisible nor descernible--I heard some-\nthing that for the life of me I cannot account for, & that's all: from the time\nwe covered him (25.' Past 10 P.M) to the time we had done hunting for the\ntwine that tied his fingers, not quite 5 minutes elapsed, & not 1 1/2 minutes\nbefore his blanket & the cords were thrown out to us!--Not one of them,\napparently (i.e. one knot) _untied_!--My astonishment & apprehen-\nsions of his being entirely carried off from us were such, that I was nearly\nspringing up to haul him out, for fear of his being for ever lost. The others\ncontinued singing a few other songs & I had the utmost anxiety in hearing repeated-\nly call out as if in the greatest apprehensions himself \"enough! enough! e-\n\n\n (58)\nEnough of ye I say\"; & frequently for the space of some minutes repeating the same,\n& now & then calling out \"do not _Thou_ enter.\" The _Stone_ was the first one known\nto us, by his song; for every one almost that entered sang _his_ song, to which those\n(the indians) on the outside would keep chorus. A vast number entered, I verily\nbeleive upward of an hundred; for upwards of that number of times the frame\nshook back-&-forwards and very smartly as if to fall; & among the first\nwere some truly terrible characters. I have almost entirely converted myself\nfrom these foolish ideas of Ghost & hobgoblins, but I assure you in truth\nthat I more than once felt very uneasy. The Ice entered--he made a noise\nextremely resembling that made by a person shivering with cold, loud, &\nhoarse & _liquid_. The Devil _himself_ also entered in _propria persona_, in\na very authoritative & commanding manner: I assure you there was no\nlaughing nor gigling outside, all the time he sang & spoke. The Turtle\nspoke as an old Jocular man. \"I hate the french; for in their travels\n\"when they find me, they kill me & eat me:--I shall answer none of their questions\"\nbut this was a joke; for he laughed. \"Speake out Turtle, speake out, louder that\n\"we hear the\", said those without \"--I would too, replied he, but my voice is\n\"so strong I must contract it thus otherwise ye could not endure the sound\n\"of it.\" \"Hop! continued he, I must imitate the drunk\", which he did\nto the great diversion of us all & concluded with snoring, the natural\nend of all drunken feasts & then became quiet, on which another voice\n(which I also perfectly heard & understood as well the Turtle herself) cried\nout--\"see! see! if she does not look like a frog stretched out\" & this\nraised a proper laugh both in & out. The Dog entered, & spoke perfectly\nplain & distinct, & with a more elegant & harmonious voice I ever heard\nin my life. Bears of 3 or 4 different sorts, the horse, moose, Skeletons,\nspirits of departed & _still living friends_ entered; but none but the\nlatter & above mentioned were to be understood by any but the conju-\nror himself. On the entering of one \"that is my (_adopted_) Son\" said\nan Indian seated by me & called out his name to which he readily\nanswered besides questions: this young man & a girl, both living,\nspoke very plain (you must observe that it is not their bodies, but their\nSouls or Spirits that enter)--Children almost at the instant of birth,\nDwarfs, Giants; but this latter did make a noise indeed. We all\nlaughed very heartily when the horse entered; for it appears he passed too\nnear the Turtle who called out as the horse was flying about (in the inside)\nsinging & rattling his rattler, \"I wish you would take care of yourself & _not tread\n\n\n (59)\n\"tread_ on one\" in allusion to his diminutive size in comparison with that of\nhorse. It is somewhat surprising that every one that entered, whether he spoke plain,\nor was interpreted--their First words were your lands are distressed--keep\nnot on the Gnd River--sickness, sickness; \"but from amongst _ye here_ I shall\nselect only a few aged ones\" said one of the latter, but in a _voice_ no one but the\nconjuror could understand--as he went out however the Conjur<<<<<