in the water: however he got safely on board; but in his hurry forgot to embark a little earth.
—Now the waters swelled immensely, & in a very short time the highest land was cover'd
& Weesuckajock was tossed about by the wind & water. It appears that he had not the fore-
sight either of taking with him a sufficiency of Provisions for he became very hungry,
& thus expressed himself to his crew. After some time he saw some-
thing on the water, very large & moving towards him: He thus addressed it, "Who,
"or what, art thou my younger brother? (for he being the first born, always addressed
the rest of the creation, whether animate, inanimate, or rational or not, as his younger"Brothers) & whither art thou going?" "Why! my Elder (brother) I am a water Lynx,
"& am sent by Confrers in search of Weesuck. & to destroy him" "Aye! is it so indeed?
"& how or with with instrument do you intend to destroy him?" "I have a large &
"very strong Iron-tail, with which if I smite his Canoe, he must perish?" Wee-
suckajock seeing his danger tho't to get off by duplicity & dissimulation & thus
continued: "Indeed you must have a very extraordinary tail my Younger ....
"come near, & let me see it, how it is made &c."—The Lynx drew up, present-
ed his tail, Weesuck. took hold as to look on it, & placed it on the Gunnel
of his Canoe & with a stone cut it off saying,"Now go to thy friends, & tell
"them how Weesuck. has served thee."—He retired doubled quick, grieved,
ashamed, & not with a little pain. "Ha!" said the water Lynxes on perceiving
the situation of their  companion, "ha! weesuck. is cunning, & too powerful,
"we must destroy him for our own safety." "Come, now, who amongst us will
"volunteer, & go to destroy that enemy of ours?" —They at last pitched upon an enor-
mous Beaver & thus addressed him at his departure "Go thou our Brother, Destroy
"that mutual enemy of ours,  be not afraid of him for he is not worthy of fear; but still be cau-
"tious, for he is very artful." Weesuck. descryed him also, & the same addresses &
compliments passed as with the first. And how do you intend to destroy Weesuck?"
"with my teeth." Well then do come near & let me see them." x x x  The beaver
drew up, & shewed his teeth: weesuck. put his hand on his head & while exclaiming "What
"terrible teeth!—how immensely broad & sharp—they are like large axes!" he
with his other hand took up a large stone & with a dreadful blow broke them
all in his head. "Now go to thou too friends & tell them how Weesuck. hath served
"thee." Indeed the beaver did go, sniffling & blowing & yelling.  The Lynxes were
astonished, & durst no more attempt anything at him.  His situation however
was very disagreable, very uncomfortable, & what added to it was his want of
food.  He thus addressed his companions one day. "Come now we very repre-
"hensibly forgot to bring earth with us, & who knows how long this will conti-

"continue?—which of you all will endeavour to get a little earth for me out of which I
"shall try to make Land for us to live on?—whoever will go shall be amply rewarded."
They all said it was very deep. There was scarcely an hopes. Then he said to the otter
"Go thou my Younger (brother) & if thou diest in the attempt, I shall restore thee to life,
"& make thee immortal". Saying this he tied a long leather thong to his tail & sent him
down: he found the otter was dead, hauled him up in to the canoe, rubbed him dry
& blowed in his nostrils, when he revived. Then he sent the Musk rat: "Come my
"little brother,  go thou, thou art small & very active, art fond of the water, & goeth to great
"depths—thy reward shall be as that of the otter." The rat was secured with a thong
also & down he went. Weesuck found he was dead: hauled him up, & was extre-
mely happy to find he had some earth in his little paws & mouth: he restored
him to life as he did the otter, & sent him down again, when he bro't up his mouth as
full as it could hold & a good deal in his hands which he held pressed to breast.
Now weesuck. took this earth & made a ball of it, & blew in it a considerable
time & sent off the Wolf to make its circuit to see if it was large enough. After
four nights he returned & thus spake "My Elder, the earth is indeed Large & beautiful; but our
"number now is small: when we will increase it will be too small for us: we
"will be all upon top of each other (i.e we will be in each others way &c.), & if you
"make man as you contemplate,...it will be much moreso." Weesuck then blew
it out again & once more sent the Wolf-- He was 8 nights absent, & reported it
still too small. Weesuck then blew it out for a long time & sends the wolf
again. But before he went off he said "My Elder, the Earth must now be very
"large, & I shall possibly be too much wearied to make its circuit: I shall traverse,
"& if I find any thing to assure me of its being large enough I shall howl,
"which will be a sign to you; & whatever place may suit me there will I make my resi-
dance." After several nights absence they heard him howl, wherefore they all
concluded the Earth was sufficiently Large. Weesuck. then blessed the others & sent
them away telling them to multiply "& be good, not vicious or ill inclined, nor se-
"cret, or hide themselves too much from My little brothers (the human beings
which he was about to create) when they might want to eat" &c. &c. Now
after this he became very lonesome & bethout himself of making Indiansi.e. human beings. He in consequence took up a stone & fashioned it into
the form of a man; but whilst at this work it struck him that by forming
them of so strong & hard a substance that in time when they would become to
know their nature, they would grow insolent & rebellious & be a great a great an-
noyance to each other & of course also, would never die. "This will not do, I must

"I must make them of a more weake & fragible substance, "so that they may live a reas-
"reasonable time & behave as becomes human beings." Upon this he took up a handful
of common Earth & made the form of a man, & blew into his nostrils the breath of life.
The Moon formed the Female, as Wesuck. did the Male, hence the reason of the Pe-
riodical return of their sickness with that of the moon, "as also among the Sluts." (Bitches).
Hence also all women are forbidden when they go out from the calls of nature, & that one in
particular, to look at the moon while thus employed. Those who are thus for-
getful, ignorant, or obstinate immediately find the effect by the return &c. x x x.
I should have said that he bruised the stone to Pieces, altho' a great part of it was
already formed. For the white (I believe it was the Moon again) he made a Part-
ner for him of one of his ribs & another piece, which he wrapped in a handker-
chief & laid beside him saying "this, by the time thou risest, shall be a full
"grown Woman & shall be thy companion" &c.——After all this done, he
made a separation in the Earth, one part of which was a beautiful
plain meadow Ground, & the rest Woody; & then set off travelling in the
Earth. He took a partner to himself, by whom he had a son. This soon got to mans
estate, but had a great aversion to the female Sex, which gave his Parents a great
deal of anxiety, all their trouble, all their remonstrances were to no effect: at
last the father betho't of a plan in which he was sure of success. "He transformed him-
"self into a most beautiful woman & when the Son was returned from his hunting
"well Son! said the Mother, here is a young & handsome woman we have procured
"merily for thee; does she please thee?"—Her charms were so great the young man
immediately became extremely fond of her. But this, in the end, became the
source of much trouble to both Parents & of disgrace to the father particular-
ly. The mother became jealous & vexed on her son's account that he should so
be imposed upon, & done many shameful things to her husband."  Here follows
a train of Stories the most indecent, & shameful & sometimes obscene, that one can
well imagine. But these people are yet, so far as regards their faculties, in a
state of Nature. Every thing appears reasonable & natural & must be very
gross & palpable indeed when they do not give credit to them. Their language
is also that of nature, & they speake out what they think—they do not use circumlocu-
tion to avoid an indecent term, nor have they flourishes to embellish their dis-
courses; & their speeches, to my taste, at least, are far more pleasing & natural
than those strained & laboured compositions we meet with amongst ourselves. But this is
not the place for these discussions.——

-April 4th 1823} There is a sick indian with me whom I have been obliged to feed with his whole
family all winter, not being able to endure the cold on his lungs, & in a manner deserted by
his friends. To get as near the truth as I can possibly do in all things relating to their
mythology, I frequently converse with him on these subjects; & when "not forbid-
den by his Dreamed or familiars" is explicit enough. A few nights back he
thus informed me upon the several questions I proposed. The one that I saw in my
dream as above related is not the Sun, as my half-breeds told me. The
Sun is dressed like a Gentleman, i.e  a short coat, waistcoat, short breeches, stock-
ings, boots, a hat & a beautiful feather stuck in it. He speakes English &c. and
the rest as mentioned above. But the one I mentioned above, is Sickness, or
the Plague. There are four of them: two walking in the air as I mentioned, & two inthe earth, i.e. in the bowels of the earth at a certain moderate distance from
the surface, perhaps in the same proportion as those who are above. The indian
thus relates of him: "When I was a young man, he appeared to me, & told me his
"name was Sickness; & that every time a general sickness was to take place
"amongst us he would come & forwarn me. See: Four winters ago (in 1819) after
"we had taken debt in the fall & were proceding each of us to our hunting Grounds
"he appeared to me one night & said, 'I am come to tell you to get out of the way
"'of all Large waters (i.e. Lakes & rivers) & pitch off immediately into the woods:
"'Be cautious also & select proper ground for an encamping; never pitch your
"'tents in Large high Woods, particularly of the Pine kind, chuse low woods"'to encamp in & never look up to Gaze lest I see you see & you be
"'smitten. Keep off, always from Large waters, for I am on a circuit round
"'the earth: I shall follow the travelling waters (i.e. The routes or roads
"'usually frequented or navigated) & smite all those I there find with
"'sickness: in the interior, or to one side I shall not go. Tell this to the
"'indians that they keep out of the way.'" It was that year that the Measlesmade such havock in some places. He thus continued, "This last fall (in December)
"I saw him again—he told me he was on another circuit & intended making a
"large selection, passing thro' the plains & coming down again this way. He said
"he would pass when the leaves would be rather large (about the 20th June,
"in these parts) & told me as before to admonish every body to keep out of the
"way of large waters, trees &c. &c.—'It is not my doings, nor is it my choice
"'that I thus prowl thro' the earth, said he, but I am sent, & cannot resist'—
"Now we will be again this spring visited with some sickness, but I cannot
"tell which—it is a breaking out in the flesh &c.  and his appearing to you

"to you (i.e. me) is a sign that he will certainly pass." I then asked him if he intend-
ed telling the other indians of it. "I shall tell my Elder (brother), but not the others, for they
"wont beleive me." He was very diffident: he wanted to communicate to me all he
was told, but said he durst not lest he should injure himself, by exasperating the other
(i.e Sickness) & being enigmatically forbidden!—"He told me, continued the indian,
"as a sign that two of our number should die this winter, one a small one (& he is dead
"naming to me a child that died about that time, tho' very distant then from him)
"and the other a full grown person—whom he is I know not, but one must die!
These Chaps seldom appear (in dreams) less than 4 times, but commonly 6 times,
& each time in a different form 'till the last, when he makes himself known,
& ever after appears (or rather appear) in the same uniform manner. It
is then, after they have made themselves completely known to their votaries,
that they communicate their power &c. &c. &c. and teach their their songswhich tho' in their dreams, are so indelibly imprinted in their memories that they are
never forgotten. For every one of these Spirits, Genii, demons, phantasies, or whatever
you may please to term them, have each their Song, which they communicate
to their votaries, as well as explain also their power. Hence it is, that when any
any one amongst them has dreamed of a certain number, commonly a good
many, 20, 30, or perhaps a thousand, that they can conjure when they please; for
these like the guardian Genii in the fables, keeps always near them, & pro-
tect them from too much injury from the evil machinations of some
of the mischievous ones. Indeed, from what I can learn, there are but few of
these familiars but do do evil to their votaries if they (the votary, i.e. the in-
dian) neglect performing the regular annual, or perhaps more distant
periodical sacrifice; and this sacrifice, their familiar tells them what it is he expects.
A few days ago, in the night between the 31st March & 1st April, this indian was
sleeping in an old house I sent him to, when at a late hour in the night he was pulled most
violently out of his bed; so that his wife that was lying beside him, awoke & with
difficulty kept him down, tho' he also struggled himself to  make his Fami-
liar leave his hold: & the house shook violently. The next day he sent me his
wife to ask a like a little grease to make a sacrifice (i.e. burnt offering X)—I gave
her a little, & the husband came the same evening to sleep with us. Upon en-
quiring he told me thus. "It was a Skeleton: he was displeased with me because
"I did not make him my usual offering & yet he knows that I am pitiful,
"that I cannot move to hunt myself, but am beholding to others for every
"mouthful I & my family eat; but they are wicked when they think themselves

X God forgive me the comparison, which by the bye is not meant to ridicule, but is really the case.

neglected or abandoned, & think nothing of carrying off an indian & throwing him in some
distant place, dangerous precipice, or other place where he must perish if not succored
by some other more kind one. "Some years back continued he, I went out one night
"in the fall to hunt moose. I had tied  my Canoe very securely in the rushes &
"there was waiting alone to hear the moose either come to the Lake, or cry after the
"Dam, for it was in the rutting Season (& the indians commonly go out in this
manner at that season, for the Buck has a certain cry which he makes at that
time either to call the female, or as with the domestic cattle to exult as one
might think from their capers) "I all at once heard far a-head of me cries of heh, heh!
"heh (or hayh,  or haih) sudden, quick, coming in the air, & directly towards me 'oh!
"'now said I, I am gone'!—Indeed he came—I crinjed & laid myself as low in my
"Canoe as possible; but he came straight to me, took me up & threw me in the
"water, all the time crying he'! he'!—I then endeavoured to take out my fire-
"bag; but this he would not let me do. Having then no alternative, I was obliged
"to make for the shore as well as I could, he all the time crying in the same man-
"ner just above my head, as if he intended absolutely my death. However I reached
"the shore, tho' with the greatest difficulty. Then I took some dry grass which
"I rubbed & bruised 'till it became soft & put it under my arm pits & crumpled
"myself into a small heap & remained 'till the sun began to warm when I
"swam back to my Canoe. He kept hovering over me all night & until the Sun was
"pretty high, always making the same cry; tho' when he found me so benumbed with
"cold on my debarkation he laughed, ha! ha! ha!" &c. &c.—Today (Apr. 4th)
he asked me for a needle & thread to sew the sleeve of his Capot, which this Ghost!
had torn in his endeavours to carry him off the other night. Whilst he was sewing
"how he has vexed me, said he, by tearing my old Coat, but I am afraid of him."—
—He related me another story of them as follows. "I went out one
"time a hunting beaver with a friend of mine: It was a long distance from our
"lodges—we killed 6 Beavers, & slept out. I awoke in the night & was
"much astonished to observe a man seated on the opposite side of the fire, resting his head on both
"hands, with his elbows on his knees apparently in a very pensive, sullen manner. He had but skin & bone—not the least particle of
"flesh; & this one had hair on his bony head. I gently pushed my friend & told him to
"look at that stranger. We were both extremely agitated in consequence of our fear,
"& were at a loss what to do. Having no alternative, I arose, conceiving he came to
"ask for something to eat I took a Beaver, cut it in two & presented him the half of
"it: he did not deign to look at it—I was much afraid. I then bethought
"of cutting it into mouthfuls, which after presenting him I threw into the fire—
"thus I did with the whole; & when done, he arose & walked off peaceably in the air."

This sort they term Pâh-kàck, i.e Skeletons, or such as die of hunger; or some that die ex-
tremely lean whether from the consumption or other sickness—Those, i. e. many of them,
when they have nothing but just the mere skin & bone remaining, some of them in this si-
tuation disappear from the Earth & go to reside with  all those who have already departed
in that distressed state. This band or congregation have a head or chief—Their
color is commonly green, tho' sometimes black; & it is extremely uncommon
when one has even any hair, being bald—as if a blown bladder. They sometimes are heard in
the day. The nois is sometimes as of a quantity of dried bones rattled or shaken in
a forcible manner in a kettle; & sometimes as above related making that same
monotonous but frightful cry of he'h! he'h! very quick & with an abrupt ter-
mination. The sacrifice they offer to these is Grease, generally a large bladder full,
& of the best kind. All the natives present are invited. Tobacco of course goes before every
thing else. He who makes the feast, or his assistant, most commonly lights, or fills
rather, the pipes of all who smoke, but when it is light it is first presented to
that quarter where these are supposed to reside (I believe in the N. W. or West)
then to the cardinal points—then to the (bladder of) Grease which is put is put
in a dish fit to contain it & covered with down. Some of them have a small
board about 20 or 24 ins. long, flat, painted with red earth, & a head made to it, of the
same piece, & flat as the rest. At a certain distance below the neck, as we might
suppose the Shoulders, other small pieces made in the same form & about 3 or
4 ins. long are stuck in each side at short distances, reaching to the ground—
the lower end being small, & the head end would bear some resemblance to the
ribs or arms were there not so many, by their being somewhat in a hanging form.
After smoking & somes speeches, in which these Ghosts are addressed—He who makes
the feast, waves it 3 times crying he! he! very loud for a good many times, & then
presents it to this board, which is intended as a representative of the Pahkack,
desiring him to accept it, & be propitious & merciful to them, neither to injure them
nor their little ones. Then He dances 3 times round the tent (in the inside) &
when he comes to the 4th time, the one seated next him (in the direction of the
Sun) rises. He makes a feint of offering it twice to the one who rises, who in his
turn does as if he was going to receive it; & the 3d time it is thrown into
his hands: this one makes a double turn upon his heels & dances or trots once round the
tent, & the next him, seated, rises to take it in his turn, with the same ceremony,  'till all
have passed.  Then it comes into the masters hands again who reperform the same
ceremonies once more,—puts down the Grease, cuts it up, & shares to every male or
widow present, in proportion to their numbers (i.e. the families they may have.—Shortly after my arrival here this last
fall they invited me thro' compliment to two of these feasts—I went both times merely

merely to have a better opportunity of making my observations, which are as above, as near as I
can bring them.  But my mind was too much disturbed with reflections which soon
became so melancholy that I had nothing to bestow on what was going on. Poor
unfortunate creatures! I often exclaimed to myself—Ye are desirous, nay anxious to perform
your duties to your maker, but know not how. If you only knew how he abomi-
nates this ceremony which you perform with so much devotion, how soon would
you cast off all your superstitions, & rather live without any religion at all, &  risk
all upon chance, than perform sacrifices, for aught I know, to demons!  I shall not
here enter upon these reflections further, suffice the above; for they are too long, too
frequent, & besides I wish to sacrifice the little paper I have remaining to
such other things as I have, & which I think may not be quite uninter-
esting to you.  Had there  been but their speeches, & the ceremonies, I should
not perhaps have thought so deeply.  But their cries of he! he! & ha! ha! &c. so repeated
& vociferous, that I was struck with a certain horror & thought that half of the
devils in hell had entered the throats of these men to  give me an idea of their
Pandemonium below. Good God! what a miserable reflection! but how much
moreso the occasion leading to it is.—
      Notwithstanding they some times Dream of roots (medecines &c.) there is a certain place accord-
ing to their notions consecrated to Esculapius (& Perhaps Appollo also, conjointly). It is depicted
as a most heavenly abode, so delightful. He (Esculapius) resides in a mountain in the
bowels of which is his house—it has 6 doors, but so mysteriously constructed that no soul
whatever, besides himself & his inmates of whom there are a great number (of Every Nation
& language) can open them—The Lock apparently is in the form of a Screw, or
Spiral, & is opened on the inside, but only to such as Escu. deems worthy of admis-
sion These doors open to different quarters, the house being immensely large, & as above mentioned,
in the bowels of ye mountain: In this residance is of every medicine useful in life, such as
do not vegetate, i.e. minerals, fossils, &c. &c. These are shown to the votary; he is instruct-
ed in their use;  the manner of preparing & mixing them; the ceremonies, i.e. songs & sacrifices,
&c. &c. to be performed in their application, taking of them up, or in instructing others;
because it is not every Indian that is favored with these Dreams. The mountain is of a
moderate size, & there issue from it 40 Rivers which fall into a Lake not far
from the base & situated in a beautiful plain—this  Lake is shallow & has some
handsome sandy shoals, & in the borders of (in the water) it grow beautiful rushes.
The water in every one of these rivers is of a different color, no two being alike, one is
Black, another white, red, Green, blue, ash-color &c. &c. In the latter grow herbs &
plants of a vast variety, as also their nature. In the sides of the mountain are of every
of every herb & plant that grows in any part of the world whatever. When any one of them

(of the indians I mean) is thus favored, he appears first at these rivers, when the head or Chief of the Mountain
comes out, accost him in a freindly manner, & after some conversation he is introduced into the
interior of the house, where he is astonished to find people of every nation & language in the
earth. But if I can form a right opinion, there are but few of each language.—They
are seated in Four rows, their seats being something like those of a Theatre, semicircu-
lar & rising a little one above the other. These are all Doctors; & it is their business
to instruct the votary in the object of his mission &c. They have a great quantity of
medecines already prepared, of such as are produced in the bowels of the Earth, such
as minerals, stones, shells &c. &c. and most, or many of these, are hung up in the
house. Here is he is taught how, & in what manner, to prepare these, as also the
Songs & sacrifices &c. appropriate to each different one or sort.  When on the
outside,  or out-of-Doors, he is shewn all the roots, herbs, plants &c. and is taught
the respective Song (of each) or of any particular one, or number, or such
only as grow in the climate he inhabits. Both the Songs & the Plant, herb &c.
are so indelibly imprinted on his mind (or memory), tho' he had never seen
them before, or should not happen to meet with any of them for years afterwards, yet
on his first view, he immediately recognises them, & every circumstance that had been
instructed him, as if he had passed a regular apprenticeship.  This may seem very
extraordinary, if not indeed absurd to people unacquainted with them, but still it
is no less a positive fact. These rivers i.e. waters are of different colors, so also is the rapidityof each stream; some of them moving in a turbulent & awful manner as the rapids
& eddies at the foot of Large falls; some moving in large majestic waves likes the
swells of a large & Deep Lake agitated by the wind;  & some in a beautiful
smooth current, down which the canoes are scarcly perceived to move. These
are the tokens or signs or emblems of the manner of our lives, here below, so far as regards to
health & sickness, & of course the description requires no further explanation.
In some of these rivers grow herbs or plants which, themselves, as well as their roots,
are a rank, deadly poison, more or less; & their effects, when any Demon-Spirited wretch
employes them as instruments of vengeance, tho' I have known none to carry
off the object immediately,  yet have a most melancholy baneful effect; some of
them exactly similar (in their effects) to Lunar Caustic, & oftentimes  with an ad-
ditional humiliating effect (But more of this hereafter) & some, deprive the ob-
ject of every one of his senses but that of feeling—a melancholy instance of this I saw in
the Spring of 1813 & sufficient of itself to emeliate an heart of adamant! Some
times Esculapius will not instruct his votary in their use, satisfying himself  with
telling them they are bad medecines, or perhaps not mentioning them at all. To others
again, he explained every circumstance &c. relating to them; but with a most strict

injunction never to employ them at his Peril "unless you wish to die: I teach you all these
"these things because I love you, & know your heart to be compassionate: but mind my"words, if ever you employ them with an ill or evil view, thou shalt die. Other indians"as well as thyself, love life—it is sweet to every body; render it therefore not a bur-
"then or a disgrace; & I hate those who thus abuse my confident affection" &c. &c.
They are also forbidden sometimes as strictly, & for the same reasons, instructing
others in their use. Notwithstanding this great love & cautious diffidence of Escu-
lapius, there are other malignant Powers who teach them & encourage their use.
—Hence those distressing objects I cannot here for the want of Paper,  speake of—
    What I have mentioned of minerals &c. which from their description are indeed really
such, i.e. minerals &c. yet I cannot  take upon myself from my slender knowledge of their
language & technical terms, to assure you that they are prepared after our manner,
i.e. by Chemical processes. Mercury, sulphur, saltpetre or nitre &c. I do not know that they
have; but there being french, English, German, & from the description Greek & Hebrew
Doctors, among the number, I should not suppose it preposterous in concluding that they
have them all in the same way as ourselves. But from what I can learn it is Stones,
that is, some particular kinds of them that are most used, such as talk, pumice stones,
& various other kinds.  These they are shewn how to reduce to Powder, & with what water, i.e.
out of which river (or colord water if you please) the water is taken to mix up these Powders.
"With the roots & herbs &c. it is different—they are boiled" &c.—These stones (for they are most
commonly thus denominated by them) are held in very great repute by them; tho' many of those that
have been shewn me as possessing wonderful virtues I considered as very common & fool-
ish, or at least harmless things.  Here!  I am again digressing, which is everlastingly the case with
me when not in the humor of scribbling. I should have mentioned first (because as you
may see, I have begin this story in the middle instead at either of the two ends) that when they
want to dream of these things, as well as of any other particular thing, they must fast, & lay
down to sleep, keeping their minds as free as possible from any other thoughts whatever,
& wholly bent & employed on that particular one alone. I also should have observed in
the proper place that the door the votary is introduced is exactly in the middle of
these rivers, there being 20 on each side of the door. The use, intent, &c. &c. of
the other 5 doors, I never thought to enquire, & must leave you to guess as well as
myself 'till such times as I can get this matter explained. Their songs are
delivered in Notes, impressed or drawn on bark, in the form of hierlographics,
& thus taught, & being hierlographics (& not very dissimilar to those anciently used by the
Egyptians; nay indeed, I have reason to think from what I have seen of both, that any
Learned man being perfectly acquainted with the one could trace a great deal in the other;
but this opinion I hazard from my own ignorance) no two are alike, it therefore requires

him to learn them; that is any one of them: for those notes are not like ours, marked with regular
bars &c. so that one Gamut serves for all; but with them, each one may be said to be itself a Gamut.
However, I have reason to think that they are regular & uniform; for many years ago, when
I was still scarcely more than a boy, I remember throwing away the contents of one these mede-
cine bags in which there were several strips of Bark covered with these Notes—
—an indian happened to be by—he took one up & with the Point of his knife placing it on
one of these began to sing, moving the knife regularly as children do when they begin to learn
their a, b, c.—This surprised me a little at the time, for the indian was a stranger
& had but lately arrived from his own lands that were several hundred miles off.—
After laughing at, & ridiculing, him, as is the custom with us, I asked how he could
make them out? "The same said he, as you do to reckon (i.e. read) your papers"See this one is (meant for) the Thunder; that, the Earth, &c. &c.; but I only
"know a few of these songs:—the possesser of this bag knew a great deal—he
"was a great Medecine man, i.e. Doctor" &c. As far as I can learn, every different
root, herb, plant, mineral, Spirit (or whatever you may please to term this latter) have
each their respective songs; & which they must sing, were  his voice like that of a choked
Pig, when he employs them for one of themselves, or learns them to another. When
they sing, those of their familiars who instructed this Song, whether to the one
who sings, as having learnt it from himself (i.e Familiar) or having been
handed to him; he is said to attend, invisibly of course,  & perform that which he
promised this (medecine, supposing it is one) should effect. [This is a long &
complex job, & I doubt much if I can get  thro' with it without more of my blundering;
but I shall risk blunders, omissions, & repetitions] Hence it is they always sing when
they attend on a desperately sick person, amongst themselves, tho very rarely when
they administer to the white. When any one is very sick, & that they be called upon,
or perhaps, tho' rarely, ordered, in their dreams, by their Familiars, they sing, blow,
& suck, alternately, & with such violence that one would think they wanted to
to blow them to the d___l, or swallow them down their throats;  but no, it is to
force in the medecine, of which they have generally a mouthful, masticated into
a pulp. or something near salve, sometimes: the suction business is to draw out
the Devil; i.e the medicine, bone, stone, iron, brass, stick, or whatever they imagine
it is that occasions the disease. If the complaint lies in any particular part, to that
part it is they apply themselves most, & sometimes only: supposing the hip, knee &c.
for there they imagine it is a worm or maggot gnawing them. But if the complaint
is universal, that is the whole system be sick & debilitated, it is then the pit of the Stomach
& the Temples; rubbing sometimes the wrist, the palms of the hands. & opposite the heart.
This is very frequently done, & in the intervals the songs & rattler together, & often a

& often a short speech or prayer to that one of their Familiars whom they think will be
most propitious on the occasion, or he from whom they hold such, or such instruction &c.
These songs are a dull monotony; for tho' they have a few variations & are hi & low, & the
transition sometimes so very sudden that it requires a particular command of the
throat to sing them;  & to me, so difficult that I should I believe require a 7 years
apprenticeship even with Esculapius (but I believe it is Pluto, or Pan who teaches
the songs) himself, for me to learn them, there is certainly no musick in
them; tho' some few that I've heard many years ago, passing a winter with them,
I found pleasing enough; but perhaps more from the solemnity with which all
was going on was I struck, than any thing else: indeed we had had great reason to
be solemn, for we were dreadfully pinched by hunger. When oppressed thro' star-
vation, they have a variety of ceremonies which they perform;  & tho' the songs be different,
as also the ceremonies themselves, still are they intended to answer the same purpose.—
I shall endeavour to describe a couple to you from which you may form a pritty
just idea of the rest.—It was the latter end of Jany. or beginning of Feby.  1804, four of
us only white people, mind  were pitching off, or rather flying off from our houses we had built in the fall on ac-
count of the enemies. We had a small stock of dry Provisions & speared a few fish once or
twice, but there were so many of us that we were soon bro't to short commons as the
strip of country we were then going thru contained no other animals but a few strag-
ling Bears, but these animals at this season could not be found notwithstanding all the
exertions of our hunters. One evening on my return to our lodges one of the women told me that
the oldest man of our band, a great Doctor, or conjuror, as we frequently denominate them,
said that if I were to pay him half a carrot (1 1/2 lbs) tobacco, he would conjure & be assured
of success, for it required payment. Tho' I suspected there was a trick in this, I did
not hesitate, but gave him his demand. The first night their songs & ceremonies were
as usual. —"Tomorrow, my familiar tells me we shall get a Bear". All the hunters
returned at evening, mais tous a blanc. The second night, the rattler, songs, speeches,
smoking, & medicine bags opened: "Tomorrow, we will assuredly get something." But the
same as the day before. The third night, the same, but every thing conducted with
a sort of awful silence & solemnity that surprised me a good deal. I was harassed
with constant walking, weake thro' hunger, & tired with their Bêtises as the
french say; but the manner of their conduct kept me that time from growling.
"Oh! Now tomorrow indeed, we shall not fail—we shall certainly eat flesh; for
the old man is a great conjuror, & well liked: he prayed to the master or giver of Life, & his
Dreamed have promised him success.  But we get no more than before.  In these conjuring
boutes—they made no use of drums, but instead of that had cut a small hollow tree of
maple, about 5 feet long & scooped it out, after splitting so that it resembled a semicircle—

or stove pipe split down—this hollow board had been well dressed i.e. reduced to about half an inch in thick-
ness & well polished: there were to the best of my memory four men seated taylor fashion & held a
small stick about 3/4 ins. diameter & about 15(ins.) long, in each hand: with these they beat time
to the tune & another moved or shaked the rattler in the same manner. All this however was
to no purpose. There was another indian in company with us, but tenting by himself (& his
family).—This indian who was very fond of me would frequently call me in & give me a
share of what he had to eat: "Well! said he, what  success have your great men?"—I an-
swered I did not expect much: "No replied he, they did not go the right way to work,
"—had I not polluted (spoiled, as he said) my person last fall, alluding to an indian
"he had then killed, I should try; & I beleive that my familiars would be charitable"to me: however I shall let them go on 'till they are done, after which I shall make
"a trial: perhaps on your accounts they may shew me their wonted attention."
—I took this as wind, but as he spoke in so very earnest (si naivement) a manner, I con-
cealed my sentiments. The second night after the others had finished—he began a
little after dusk. But what a difference between them!—He had an immense large
drum, as large those among the military, & stretched hard: upon this he beat time,
but very hard, to accord with his Songs which were as loud as he could bawl: at cer-
tain intervals also he used only his rattler,  but with as much violence as he could.
    Thus he continued alternately singing, praying (or making speeches) & smoking,
'till broad day light. When he began, we thought this fellow was mad or only jesting;
but the indians of our lodge reproved us. At Sun rise he came out of his lodge,
& made a long speech; in which he told one to go one way, a second another, &
himself by another route. "Thou, addressing the first one, a young lad—thou wilt
"soon find thy (bear): but thou, addressing the father, on thy way on  thou wilt
"pass very near, but will not see him: Thou'lt search a long & return giving up
"all hopes: but when come to this thou must return again & between this thy last
"track & the first one thou shalt make this morning, thou'lt see him in his
"nest. as for me, I shall have much trouble to get mine." I heard him
speake, but not understanding sufficiently the language, the women explained to me.
I need not tell you how we laughed at the poor Devil; & so went off hunting Ivywhich had been our support for a long time; but in the evening we found all that
he predicted, perfectly verified. This I assure you is a fact, & will maintain it
notwithstanding every thing skeptics, (excuse the term) or those unacquainted, or
but superficially so, with these people may say: & I am also certain that he had no
previous knowledge of their being there; for there was plenty of snow, & there were no other
tracks but those of these 2 hunters, & we had pitched up (the river) that day. But, here
I am digressing: to return therefore.