—I am altogether out of the regular track that I had proposed to myself at my first setting
off; my time is to short, & my memory to bad, to read over the whole, so as to resume the regular course
—the remainder shall be composed of fugitive Pieces. Indeed the nature of some of them being a
compound will not admit of their being treated of but in sections if I may use the term.
  The first therefore, lest I have not time to enter all, I shall speake of is
The Soul! This seems, to me, at least, a most extraordinary & incomprehensible thing—
yet from the different sources which I have received it, & the manner of relation serves but
more & more to perplex. Whether it is really & absolutely the soul, or some other principleon which the very existence depends I cannot say, but something it is lodged appa-
rently in the Heart or breast, that on these occasions flies off & leaves them; & at the
very instant of its exit it is perceived, & occasions such a derangement of the whole
system, & particularly of the faculties as very soon to deprive the object of life; but
primally a total want of sense, such as we suppose the Soul endows us with.
  I shall here relate you one of the many stories of the kind verbatim as I received it.
  It was from an Indian of course. He told me that "one summer being on a visit
"rather to a distant part of the country (perhaps 2 or 300 miles) he fell in with one
"of his acquaintances, who (as often happens between strangers, particularly to
"such as come from the Southward) asked to purchase medecines of
"him. I had but a small quantity, & only of  4 Sorts or kinds: he being
"very anxious for them, I sold them all to him: He was not satisfied—he must have more
"tho' I positively assured him I had given him the last. Then he menaced me, & said
"I should feel the effects of his resentment arising from my avarice & uncharitable spirit.
"Knowing his disposition, I returned to my friends, intending to be as far out of his
"way as Possible.  One night in the winter he conjured—I was fast
"asleep (& several hundred miles off) & never thought more of him: but he called upon
"his Familiars & demanded my Soul(!)—it was taken to him; but just as it
"was on the eve of entering his conjuring hut I perceived it & sprung from my bed
"in the most dreadful agonies & convulsions insomuch that two men holding
"& pulling of me with all their might, & also had the assistance of the women,
"could not keep me quiet: I was constantly springing forward, rushing hither &
"thither & absolutely (i.e. totally) deprived of my faculties for I have not yet
"the least knowledge of what I was doing, so great was my horor in ob-
"serving this conjuring tent. At last a friendly spirit interfered & forbad the
"conjuror at his peril to do any thing to my Soul, but allow it to return im-
"mediately. He was afraid for his own life & durst not disobey—he let it go.
I cannot tell you how happy I was felt & so easy—The distance was great indeed—
but I soon flew back & re-entered my body; when I became entirely composed

"But I had been so dreadfully agitated that I found myself in a profuse sweat, my whole
"frame so shaken, debilitated, & weake, that for several days I could not move but with pain.
"Heh! said I, what a narrow escape!—The other indians asked what ailed me? I told them
"where I had been—they would scarcely credit; but in the ensuing summer upon enquiry
"they found it true; & were now fully convinced that this Power doth lodge with indi-
"ians"! They represent the soul as being small: not very dissimilar in size & shape
from the yolk of a large Hen, or duck, Egg:—some of them very hard, & much of the na-
ture & substance of a stone, but still not of that substance; & others again much more soft
& tender: some are easily kept & bruised, but others are with difficulty taken & continually in motion;
but all are extremely impatient of restraint & cannot bear it; & confinement is death to the
body from which it has issued! Some conjurors possessing sufficient power, & influence,
take a soul, if they want to destroy the body, (in the conjuring box or tent) & wrapping it in
a piece of leather, rub & bruise it between both hands 'till they destroy its subtility or
subtilty. As soon as it comes within view of the conjuring tent its agonies are ter-
rible as also those of the body, however distant that may be; but as soon as its motion is
destroyed the body dies likewise. Others again, take it & put it in a Jappand Tobacco box, & tie
the lid or cover securely tied with a womans Garter, from whence, if not loosened by someone it can
never escape—any other lashing is not, anything near, so completely effectual as this: reflect,
& you will guess immediately the reasons they give. As I do not know latin, & you dont
understand indian I must suppress this & many other things. Others again take a different
method, thus: But by-the-bye, this has but very little relation to the Soul. I shall therefore
refer it 'till afterwards & give you another Story as received from a Canadian an eye
witness. He was passing the winter with the indians & one night the head man
of the tent he lodged in gave a feast. He was in the habit of doing it & was himself ap-
parently a good & peaceable man, but not to be trifled with by other indians. Every
thing being prepared the guests were just going to eat when the feast-man's mother
dropped suddenly as if dead: every one was struck with consternation: they had re-
course to their medicines, songs, rattlers &c. as usual; at last he fell to sucking his
mother in one of her temples, suddenly they heard something crack: the indian
drew back, his mother arose perfectly recovered & all became well. However that
which occasioned the crack, the indian took out of his mouth, wrapped carefully up & gave
it to his wife to put in a tobacco box, which she did: it had all the appearances of a
Bean (un fêve)—the wife wanted to tie the lid but the husband said there was no
necessity—they resumed their meal. But the old woman was not long in possessi-
on of her senses. She very soon relapsed, & as instantaneously as at the first "ho! exclaim-
"ed the indian, the Dog is off"—They looked into the tobacco box but nothing was found—They
continued conjuring 3 nights, & the last especially, the man told me he thought the devil was

was amongst them from a certain kind of undescribable noise in the air, round about their tent,
& the sudden flashings of light. This was Powder (Gun Powder): they had carefully thrown out
all the fire, thrown a great quantity of snow & water on the hearth, & then put fresh
Earth upon it—it was perfectly dark in the lodge, there being no other light than what is
usually emitted from the heavens: upon this hearth of fresh earth they would throw some
Powder & then retiring to the bottom of the tent would say "come! let me see if I be a
"manito"—? then singing &c. off the Powder would fly! They continued this way 3
nights but all to no purpose: the old woman yet lived 2 years but never spoke &c.
He said (the indian) that this bean was "the Soul or Spirit of another indian, then at
a vast distance, which he darted at my mother to render her pitiful & miserable;
but I shall make the Dog suffer." However , after this, the Canadian enquired why
he did not revenge himself & kill him  "No; said he, that wont do: he has got back
"his soul it is true, & I cannot get it again, yet I might easily kill him if I chuse,
"but this wont do—he is somewhat justifiable, for I took both his wives from
"him." There are many other instances of a like nature but different in the
proceedings, that I do not recollect sufficiently to commit to Paper.—
Now again for the other way. If an indian has a spite against another, & is
induced to it for the preservation of his own life, or from motives of revenge, he takes
the following plan or method. He takes a piece of leather & cuts it into the shape
of his enemy; & if he wants him to die speedily he places a little Powdered medecineopposite the heart, or upon it. This medecine is I believe a root, & very inflammable,
he holds a small spark of fire near it—it immediately explodes & that part
of the leather on which it was becomes burnt & shrivelled: when he performs this,
he generally utters words like these "Let the Heart of such a one become like this
Leather, let it shrivel & die within him"! If it is a leg, an arm, the head,
or any other particular part, or parts, or even the whole body, it is the same, &
the words also; unless he doth not wish for the death; then he will say "Let
"such a part, become lame, useless, ulcerous" &c. &c. according to his disposi-
tion; & that part, or parts become thus affected according to his wish, "But
"how is it possible that such things can be?  Do you really think that an insig-
"nificant root, of no apparant power or virtue whatever can effect such things?"
Thus I would frequently question, & their answers with little variations uni-
"versally the same." Yes, most certainly it is not the root alone, but with the assistance
"of that one of his Dreamed that is most powerful & most fond of him: he! you white people
"you know not; you are consummately ignorant of the Power of our Great medecine men
"many things might I tell you much more surprising—but you do not believe these trifles,
"how much less then those  you do not know?"—What then is to be done! how do with

what say to a people so blind, so infatuated! They have some roots that are dreadful in their
effects—Being a female, I think I should prefer immediate death. They have some that have
the same effects as Lunar Caustic. They use them thus. During the time of their
"Seperation" (i.e menstruation) they endeavour to give them to smoke, which is never
refused—there is some of this root mixed with the Tobacco. Once smoking is sufficient
—a few months after their complexion begins to change—& at last becomes of a
nasty black with abundance of hair growing out of the face; & if these women
were to shave, I verily believe their beards would become as bushy & thick as those of
any man whatever. In performing this, they must also utter words thus: "Let the
"one for whom I intend this, & who shall smoke of it become black & hairy; & be-
"come as ugly & rejected as she is now fair & searched for"! Sometimes they
mingle it with their food or the liquor they drink: there is more than one kind of this
dreadful root; one of which I was shewn, but have forgotten, there being 2 or 3 others resembling
it.—it is like many others a perennial herb, & hath some resemblance to the long or tall
Thistle. To return. When the subject, or object, discovers that she hath been thus dealt
with, which they sometimes do a few weeks after, they may be restored, for there is an
antidote to it; but I have never known one instance of this, tho' a dozen of the others I
have. Some handsome, fair complexioned young females refusing the importunate solli-
citations of an abandoned, vicious, revengeful wretch, becomes the victim of her
coyness; & 2 or 3 years after, I have positively not known them & could scarcely
beleive my Eyes.— — — — — There is of another kind & which is very common,
whose effects is an extraordinary vacuation of blood, & in a few days would occa-
sion death. A half breed I lately had with me, the Son of a man who many
years ago was a servant of yours, being not of an extraordinary good moral
character finding his sollicitations rejected with scorn became jealous & very
anxious to revenge himself. He applied to an old indian, but in so cautious
a manner that the indian gave him of the root without suspecting & told him
how to use it. He pulverised it, & mingled it with a little vermillion & then
watched his opportunity, which occurred I beleive, the ensuing morning. In our out-
Posts we have no temples dedicated to Cloacinda, & besides, the females here are
ashamed to sacrifice at them: he therefore could not miss his opportunity—he wat-
ched, & after she entered he went & soon found the place by the Smoke: here he
sprinkled some of this Powder which he took in a quill, pronouncing "Let me see
blood issue from the same place this hath done—I want to see blood."—Scarcely
five hours after, the woman who was married & of course so much the less bashful said
"what is the matter with me, I have been just now out & want to go again." You may
suppose her astonishment seeing the time of the natural return was scarcely half elapsed

but how much more so finding it issue far beyond anything she had ever known: This con-
tinued 'til very late in the day & the beast was watching to see if it would answer. He went
in to the house on pretence of a freindly visit, & remarked how Pale she was—The mother
told him "my daughter has been bewitched & could you not do something to ease her?"
He became extremely uneasy in his turn: he went out & passing by the place she
went to he easily discovered notwithstanding her precaution of what dreadful conse-
quences it would be if not timely attended to. He was afraid she would die
before anything could be done. However he went to the old indian & speaking in a
most sympathising strain, asked him if he could not administer something to stop
that extraordinary issue. "Why! replied the old fellow—That root I gave you the other
day is its own antidote—give her the length of her middle finger to eat & it will
stop quick enough." He did not chuse to tell the indian that it was this that
had occasioned it lest he should be punished by him in his turn; but artfully con-
ducting his discourse got more from him, administered it to the woman, mutter-
ing in himself "Let this blood cease, I have seen enough of it"—& she was soon
healed!  I done all I could to make him confess it, without coming to the point;
but he never would: he satisfied himself by assuring me with the most solemn
assererations that it was the case; "& if you doubt it, continued he, you may
"make the experiment—you need be under no apprehensions whatever, for in
"giving her of the same root to eat it will stop." This root, when mastigated,
& applied when reduced to pulp, but better when pulverised, stops the blood
immediately on application to any wound—"how profusely soever it may"flow." It is very astringent, & somewhat hot.
Another herb, I beleive it is the (wild) Carroway, i. e. which we commonly denominate
aniseeds—at least the smell & taste much resemble that, & its stalk bears a very great resemblance
to the wild mint, as well as the leaves & flowers. I suppose this is the one meant, because they tell
me the taste & smell are delicious: This root, & all its appurtenances (i.e. stalk, leaves, & flowers)
is of  wonderful effects in various things. I shall give you some of the stories relating to it as I
received them. "I was living out with such an indian, & we became reduced to short commons"—One day he (the indian) took a piece of bark & drew upon it 3 moose—& put some of
"this medecine upon the heart & head of each; then he fastened a piece of sinew to it &
"told me to fasten it to a small stick that had been stuck slant-way in the Ground—
""Now said he, let me see if this will do: oh no! I am afraid it wont; but I'll try—if it
""answers, the bark will dance"! I laughed at his idea (a half breed told me this) & so
"did one of his sons: however the son told me that he had seen his father do so before, &
"that he killed every time"—stop! Let us see how he will go on," said the Son. The father
"began to sing (& if I remember right, beat the drum also)—Shortly after the bark began to

"to move, & as the old fellow raised his voice so did its motion increase, 'till at last it began
"whirling round with great violence, sometimes one way & then another 'till it was wound
"up close to the stick, when it began changing sides—sometimes upon & sometimes below"the stick. He ceased: began to talk with us & saying he was afraid it would not answer"Thus he did 3 times, & the bark moved every time with the same violence. Now he
"desired in the beginning that "if his familiar would have compassion on him, he would
"render these 3 moose foolish: that they might not be possessed of their usual cunning"—
"&c.  The next day we went out—the old man, his son & myself, a hunting—we
were hungry—We walked 'till late in the day & finding no tracks I proposed our
return, but he told me we ought to proceed; 'for in the low ground beyond a
"small ridge then near in sight of us, we may perhaps find some tracks—
"I am never deceived when my I am answered' (i.e. my bark dances)—We soon
"reached this low Ground & shortly after heard a noise: jumping, running & breaking
"of Sticks 'ah! here they are,' said the old man: 'see how their head is turned!
"what a noise they make,—how they play—they are foolish. We killed them all."
"If you doubt me; ask any of the indians, & see if they wont all tell you that he does so
when he wants to kill."—Another story: for love potions, or philters, are also com-
posed of this. "There were several young men (half-breeds) of us together & also some
"young women, who came with us to await the arrival of their husbands from Fort
"William at that place. Two of our party wanted to pay them a visit in the
"night & I endeavoured to dissuade them, but to no purpose:—they went, & met
"with the reception I foretold: they began bawling out and on purpose to awake
"every one near & shame us; for we were lodging by ourselves & then took good
"cudgels & pursued them into our place: we enjoyed this confusion of the others
"tho partly at our own expenses. One of them then addressed me  come Bpt. this bitch"'has vexed me,—I know you have good medicine,—give me some of it that I may
"'laugh at her in my turn. (I must tell you that one of them I have known many
years back was, & is still, a bitch i.e. according the indian acceptation  (as well as
well as our own,) of the term; & the man is the same one I mentioned little above,
at the conclusion & beginning of p.p. 30 & 31) "I gave him some with the directions -
"—he returned again very soon after (in the same night)—found her asleep—he
"then rubbed her forehead, opposite her heart, the pit of the stomach, & the palms
"of both hands. Then he awoke her. The next day, as my comrades were desi-
"rous of revenging themselves, they broached the conversation publicly & had the laugh in
"their turn: the women had the best at the offset, but as they could not deny the other
"charges they became extremely confused & vexed: a quarrel ensued; but my comrades exult-
"ingly told them 'we can turn & twist you now about our fingers as we please.' And they

"they did too. For the women both giving suck at that time, thought it was their children
"that were handling them, as they used but one finger, & gently." The other story is thus:
—A man that I have with me at present in consequence of some slips of his Rib had fre-
"quent, & some severe quarrels with her—she began to hate him & wanted to go with her
"Par-amour: the husband tho' vexed & confused did not want to lose her: he began by
"soothing, coaxing, & caressing her, but she always bawled out as loud as she could that
"every body might hear, tho' it were at midnight 'thou white dog, leave me alone
"'why art thou fumbling at me?" The more she became averse the more he coaxed
"& she bawling out 'dont slabber me' every time he attempted to kiss her,—&
"she was watching a fair opportunity to slip off to her lover (an indian). At last he lodged
"his complaints to me, & asked if I could not assist him. I gave him some of this mede-
"cine with the usual directions & told him as soon as he had executed all properly
"to come away & leave her, & not return to her for a couple of days so that in her
"turn she might suffer. He had not long left her 'till she called for him as if want-
"ing something & like a Goose he went immediately, tho' I done all I could to make
"him pay her in her own coin.—Since that time they live as you see them.
"But if you doubt of this also, you can easily make the experiment—chuse any
"one you please, & let her be ever so coy, & shy, you will bring her as you want"!!!
—Shortly after this I made some general enquiries of the man latterly in question,
but he would not avow, tho' from his confusion & precipitancy with which he an-
swered, I beleive there is something in the business. "It is with this medecine con-
"tinued the half breed, that the young men do completely & universally succeed
"with all the women that please them." With this also, principally, they
succeed in bewitching any one they are averse to, & prevent them from killing such
animals as they please. They draw the likeness of the animal or animals, they do
not chuse the others to kill, put of this medicine (tho' most commonly mixed with
some others in this latter case) upon the hearts & desire that they may become shy
& fly off upon any the least appearance or approach of them. Or, they will conjure& desire some of their familiars, one, or several, to haunt such a one in all his
motions & scare & frighten off, & render wise any such & such animals; & let
the distance be hundreds of miles off—their familiars that are spirits residing
in the air, & transport themselves in an instant to any place they place, & who see all
that is going on below, keep all away accordingly. To evade this is a task that but
few can succeed in. They must first Conjure to learn who it is that has bewitched them,
then they inquire what is to be done: but here lies the difficulty.—Sometimes they are
told they must leave the appointed time run out: at others, such & such ceremonies, which is
tantamount to the first answer; but at others again, it is easily dispelled—This depends

depends entirely upon the precautions the bewitcher has taken, the Power, influence, or number
of his Dreamed: as also on the other hand of the Dreamed, their, power, influence &c. of the be-
witched. But sometimes on a very slight or trivial cause depends the whole.— —
  I shall tell you another story. An old Canadian I have now with me has been in the
habit of living-free for many years back. In the beginning of a winter he was
tenting with some indians, & one of them an impertinent, bombastic sort of character
was boasting to him of the great power & effect of some medicines & a drum he had
lately received from a Sauteux &c. &c. "for some time I did not mind him, but
"finding he became at last troublesome, & insinuating as plainly as he durst that
"he was now invulnerable, or rather immortal & that we were helpless, a quarrel
"ensued 'till at last I fxxt. upon your medicines & drum & the one also who gave
"them to you said I. We seperated in no good freindship. At night he mad a feast &
"invited me amongst the rest with the design of poisoning me; but his freinds remonstrated so ef-
"fectually that he put this off & intended shooting me going out of the lodge; but this also
"the others would not allow: he was vexed—I kept my eye upon him, determined I should
"give the first blow on the least motion he might make. Finding himself prevented
"in these he said that I indeed should kill 2 moose, but that the rest of the year I
"should starve as a dog. I seperated next day with my wife & children—they were
"under great apprehensions, but I mocked all their conjurings—I very shortly
"killed 2 moose; but these indeed were the last. I walked & hunted every day—
"& seldom one day passed but I fired at the Buffaloe, moose, or some other animal,
"but never got anything anything—I & my family were near dying with hunger, I
"tried every thing in my power, never giving myself the least trouble about the indians
"menaces.  At last the spring arrived—Ducks & Geese came; but no better suc-
"ess. At last one day prowling in my Canoe I met 2 other free-men, who, after mutual
"inquiries &c. told me "the same thing had happened him & that an indian told him to file
"off a small piece of the muzzle of his Gun & wash it well with water in which Sweet-
"flag had been boiled, & killed after that as before."  I laughed at the idea, but re-
"flecting that it was an innocent experiment & I could not offend the almighty, I
"tried, & the first animals I saw I immediately killed.—This Sir, continued
"he, I assure you is a positive fact"!!!—I find that the indians have recourse
to this method also. But you must observe: as is the disease::so is the remedy. Another story just
now occurs to me which I shall relate, not so much to multiply these pretended
proofs as to shew that our Iroquois, Algonquins &c. &c. are not such complete converts
to the Christian faith as most people may complacently imagine, but rather have
a mongrel religion like those whom the King of Babylon sent to inhabit Samaria
when he carried Reuben & Ephraim captives (In the Bible). This winter an Iroquois

told me that one winter he was out a Beaver hunting with many of his friends.—The
oldest man of their party proposed one day that a certain number of them should go out a
hunting Moose or Buffaloe, & the others Beaver. This one says "I returned at night after
"a good success—the old man nothing—he became envious—a quarrel ensued; & after
"this many others. One day I fired at a moose as he was running past me, he fell—I
"went to him; & just as I was for beginning to skin he rose up, but with my
"axe I bro't him down—it was very far from home—I merely opened him &
"returned light, trusting to the others of our party; for I had no desire of partaking of the dry
"provisions the old fellow had, of his own.  Imediately on entering the lodge we had a-
"nother severe quarrel, & he told me I should not any more exult in my prowess
"as he should take care I should not kill any more animals for some time. As we
"were coming to knife work, I ordered my wife to bundle up all our things & my
"lodge, & pitch off—it was then late, & I had not yet eaten. As none of my
"friends knew that I had killed, I did not chuse to tell them, but merely said
"as I was going off  'Let those who are fond of me, or who chuse, follow me'; but none came,
"& I encamped upon my moose. Every day I went a hunting—scarcely a week
"passed but I fired 20, 30, & sometimes upward of 50 Shot, upon Buffaloe or Moose,
"but could never kill—I would miss, or the ball twisting in the hair would"fall by the animal without doing further injury. I starved for a long time—
"& became so weake that I could hardly walk. At last my wife (a woman of
"this country) one day that I had been out as usual had prepared some good
"strong lye, & on my return washed my Gun with it; filled it, & stopping
"both the orifices put it over the smoke where it remained all night. She
"also took a number of the balls & boiled them likewise in the lye, telling me she had
"seen her uncle do so many years before when he too had been bewitched.—I thought at
"all events it could do no harm; & besides I could have done anything, I was so hungry.—
"The next day I went out again,—found another flock or herd of near 20 Buffaloe,
"I drew nigh & took all my usual precautions—I fired, one dropped; fired again,
"another dropped:—I  killed 14 out of that herd; & ever after missed not once"!
I asked him how the old fellow had done?-- he said "I suppose it was as they
"frequently do—i.e. bury a piece of my meat in the Ground & pray the Devil
"to prevent my killing: for the Iroquois, when they take it in their head,
"are very wicked, & do not want power"!—A few days ago a half-breed, abandoned
with the indians, came in; & amongst his other  wantages asked me for a small piece of (red) sealing-
wax "because my brother cannot draw blood from the animals he fires at: by heating his Gun & ap-
"plying this wax the blood will flow profusely from the wounds". He expressed himself afraid that
his brother might have been bewitched & by retarding this operation he might enter dans sa mal chance!"

These few examples will suffice to shew you that they have different methods of bewitching& also different ways of clearing themselves.  And the faith, & dread, they have of this, is scarcely
credible; & the consequences are often too uncommonly distressing.—I shall now give you of the
    Story of the Hairy Breasts.  Near the days of Noah, nations were few & small.
Weesuckajock (noah, I shall call him for abbreviation sake) had a son as I told you before
whose name was Nay-hân-nee-mis. Being straitned for provisions he went out to angle
with some of the Hairy-Breasts. They came to a Lake, pierced several holes, but the
North (or North wind, as you chuse) being envious of Nayhanemis, froze the water down
to the very ground; so that in the deepest parts they found but Earth & after much
digging at last reached the bottom; but behold that also was frozen! & who knows
to what depth in the Earth? Finding this to be the case Nays, addressed his freinds
thus—"I see this is the doings of the N. Wind (now by rights the N. Wind ought to have been his
maternal Gnd Father—but what cannot envy do?) "he is envious of us, & wants to make
"us die of hunger—but he shall not!—I have to propose to you to cut off my head—rip
"up my body, beginning at the throat—You must not hurt nor break any single
"one of my bones; but carefully take off all the flesh, dry it, & make Pounded meat of it.
"of this you must sprinkle a little in every one of the holes; you must also chop up
"my Heart into very small pieces & throw a few of these pieces also into each hole: then put in
"your lines, & you'll take as many fish as you please. But my bones you must put in a
"heap, carefully by themselves. Mind! upon your faithful observance of all these commands
"depends our mutual safety. The North thinks himself sole master, & would wish to
"crush us because we begin to have a little knowledge: but he shall know me!"
They done accordingly, & accordingly also they took abundance of fish. North per-
ceived this: he came to see, & finding himself thus frustrated inquired how it came
about?—they told: He challenged Nays. who by this time had revived; & besides
a beautiful large feather he had sticking in his cap or head, which none durst wear
but such as have given incontestible proofs of their Manhood, bravery &c. he like-
wise had a smoking bag, of the Skin of a badger. Nayhanimis accepted the
challenge. "It seems Nahanimis you are a great man, a man of extraordinary power & abilities!—
"—let us have a trial, & see which of us has the most; for I also have some Knowledge"—Nahani-
mis answered "No! I have but little power, but that little I employ as much as I can
"to the General benefit of my fellows: let us see what you can do, which if I cannot,
then you will certainly be superior to me." Here they performed one or two wonderful feats
but in which Nayhanimis had the advantage most confessedly.—The North pierced his body
through, & done another extraordinary thing I cannot well recollect; but the other done more
& recovered not only more suddenly but more perfectly. At last the North put a bet & said "Let
"us see for this last act: I will cut off my head & if I cannot replace & recover perfectly

"perfectly, the same as I am at present, then my house & all I have shall be yours; but if I succeed,
"& you cannot, then all your possessions shall be mine." Nayhanimis consented; for he was
secretly desirous of humiliating the selfsufficient spirit of North. They tried—North failed,
but Nayhanimis completely succeeded: He deliberately severed his head from his body, put it
down on the Ground beside him, very composedly, & then replaced it, when it be-
came as tho' nothing had happened. But this was owing to the Power & virtue of
his Plume; which, however, the others knew nothing off. It appears that the North also
recovered but by the assistance of his friends, of whom he had a numerous train. North
was faithful to his promise—Gave him his house which was beautiful & spacious,
but mostly underground, or at least in the side of a mountain. All his freinds
turned out, put in Nayhanimis & gave him the full possession. But he was no sooner in than
they secured all the outlets; doors, windows &c. & set it on fire to destroy one whom they
found so much more powerful than themselves!  Nays. finding this to be the case was
not in the least dismayed, but took his smoking bag & thus addressed it "Now thou"Badger,—our mutual safety depends upon thy obedience & expedition—Thou
"art made to pass thro' the Earth as quick as upon it: these fools think to destroy
"us, but thou must shew that we are superior to them." During the conflagration they were
enjoying the scene & exulting in the idea of having at last succeeded in destroying so formidable
an adversary: but what was their consternation when they saw him come to them without
even one hair of his head singed!—they were appalled with astonishment & had not
the power of utterance. At last recovering a little they endeavoured to pass it off as a
joke & turn it to his own advantage, by silencing at one blow the envy & malice of his allenemies, pretending to be a staunch friend of his. But he was not thus to be duped; yet
he shewed a superiority of sentiment & generosity equal to his Powers & abilities by
giving them (tho' contemptuous if you please) pardon.  So much for this Part.—
    Thus did matters pass on for yet a few years. "The indians began to multiply & inha-
bit the world: but the Hairy-breasts, a jealous, envious, and at best foolish people,
could not well behold their prosperity: they made war upon them (the indians) by
stealth & destroyed numbers: their affairs bore a most dismal aspect—no less than the
total extinction of the whole race. At last Nayhanimis pitched off with his wife,
her father, & another one—there were four of them. He found found a Beaver lodge—
here some of the Hairy-Breasts came up with him. Compliments at first, afterwards
Sneers, taunts & revilings; but so ambiguously that no hold could be taken. "How nume-
"rous: how many are there of ye" inquired the Hairy B. "We are twenty of us" replied
Nayhanimis; "& so are we rejoined the others. Now, they here entered into an arrangement that
whoever found Beaver for the future it should be his own; but to avoid any wrangles, he who foundthe Beaver should plant a stick or branch upon the lodge, as a mark. On their return

home each recounted to his family what he had met with in the course of the day. "Now said Nay-
"hanimis, addressing his family, we must take 20 Beavers, one for each man of  them (meaning the
"hairy-breasts) & make a feast. If it turns out that we be able to eat these 20 Beaver, & they
"not, then we shall be superior to them & have the upper hand." The Beaver were cooked
accordingly:—he took his rattler which he shook to the tunes of his Songs,—performed the
usual ceremonies, & they eat the whole 20 B. with ease. Then addressing his family
thus, said "These Hairy-Breasts are great boasters, but cowards—They are a people of
no account—tomorrow will decide all." The Hairy Breasts on their return did
the same as Nayhanimis & cooked also 20 B. thinking that his band did really con-
sist of that number. They eat: but every one was already full & yet more than 3/4
of the feast  remained—"Give me my rattler (said one of the oldest) that I sing &c. it may
"happen that we find grace". He sang & shook his rattler, but it would not sound—
After frequent repeated trials to no effect he became vexed & threw it out of doors
among the Dogs "This dog of a rattler will not sound in spite of all my endeavours: but
"hold! hear how it rattles now that it is out—go for it one of ye, perhaps it was
"owing to some fault in me." They bro't it to him: but still as before: he threw
it out again in a rage; it was no sooner out than it sounded well as before:
it was bro't in again: but as before again. Then he threw it out for good, vexed
& disappointed to the utmost degree. But his freinds were not pleased; they considered
this a portentious omen & his behavior foolish; & by no means calculated to reconcile their Deitiesto them. He comforted them by telling them the numbers of "the adverse party must be few,
"otherwise we had surely been able to eat the whole of this feast: they are few & we shall sub-
"due them." The next day they all pitched off. Nayhanimis came first to a Beaver
lodge & marked it—came another & marked that one also. But making a circuit, in
which he hung up his Bow, quiver &c. &c. in a tree, at his own height, came round
to the same lodges & found that the Hairy-B had put marks of their own  & thrown
his one away:—exasperated he threw theirs away & replaced his, & made another
circuit, when he found the H.B. had replaced their own again: He also
remarked that the HB. had hung up their Bows &c. &c. in the tops of very hi trees, trusting
to their numbers. At last they met—greeted each other at first, then sneers, quarrels,
a challenge & then the battle: they were to fight man to man—Nayhanimis killed 19
right out, but the 20th had near killed him: however this was but an accident
usual in battles—he soon killed him also. The women were coming up when raising
his voice to a pitch to be distinctly heard by heard by all said "Such of ye indian"women as have been taken from your homes, had your husbands killed &c. such
"of ye indian women as are willing to return to your nation, take all axes & others
"arms out of the hands of these H. B. women,—seperate yourselves from them; attack