[...] [(10)] [...]

such as the ancients are said to be.. These are great boasters—they recount the exploits of
their younger days, apparently with the greatest satisfaction; say "I used to do so & so
"on such occasions—I never shot a Moose or Buffaloe, but pursued them on my feet,
"& ripped them open with my knife &c." But this is only wind, for no sooner do other
powerful ones enter, but these Chaps search to secret themselves. The Sun enters—speakes
very bad English at the offset, but by degrees becomes to speake it very easily & fluently—He
is Gun Smith & watch-maker, or at least can repair them. When he is entered there
is commonly a beautiful clear light visible, through the covering—He neither does not
admit of too much familiarity; but is still good natured & condescending. The Pike
or Jack fish, also enters; as the Sun, they also speak (French,) badly enough at the offset,
"When there are 2 or 3 on the outside who can speake french & address him together,
"merely to perplex & bother him, he laughs at their folly & says 'you may talk
"'20 or 100 of you together if you chuse, yet are you not able to perplex me—come as
"'numerous as you chuse, yet are there many more of us Pike that you frenchmen'"
—he is very familiar too. The Bull, or Buffaloe is understood only by the Conjuror,
his voice being hoarse, & rough—his language quite foreign—the Conjurer must
interpret when any thing is wanted of him.—As is his voice, so are his manners—
—however, he will joke a little too; but let them beware not to let drop anything
in a sarcastic or contemptuous manner as to his power, or knowledge of the future for he
takes it up & reproves in a very tart manner; & in a way too that conveys no com-
fortable ideas to any one present, for they all endeavour to excuse it by saying it is
only a Joke, "I know Jokes too; & I can laugh, & understand the nature of laughing as
"well as the best amongst you, but such language is unbecoming & I will have no
"more of it."——"A half breed one time, because his father was a french man"thought he might go any lengths he pleased with him (the B.)—he replied very
"warmly thus: "how durst thou doubt anything I say—Knowest thou not how clearly
""& distinctly objects are discovered & seen in a plain, from an eminence; & my abode is
""is in the regions above—I see every object as distinctly as you see at your feet, doubt
""then no more, & never hereafter call our Power to question."—Aye! replied some of the other
"spirits "We not only see all that you do, however secret &hid you think yourselves""but we also hear every word you utter." If that indeed be the case tell me, where now are, &
"when will be here, my fathers Country Men? [The conjuror had been employed to tell
"what the people were about as it was long since the time they were expected, & ought to have
"arrived, had elapsed]—"Wait! I shall go & see"—& shortly after he returned "They are
""now all asleep at such a place—the weather will be calm tomorrow, & tho' the distance

[...] [(11)] [...]

""distance is great, yet will you see them tomorrow night, for they are as anxious as yourselves"—
"another one said, "Since then ye Spirits pretend to know every thing & are vexed when we call
""any of your sayings in question—come tell me—how long shall I live?—Shall I yet see
""two more winters? "Ha! (laughing replied the same voice) two winters? I see you
""all yet alive two winters hence, every soul that sets here & considerably more; & some of
""you I see crawling with old age""!!!—With some of the
Spirits as I've already said the by standers (or setters for they are seated on the
Ground round about) are very familiar—The Turtle is one of them, he is very hu-
mersome, & their jokes with him were such (for I've heard this myself) as I should
have been ashamed to hold even with a bawd—it was pure ribaldry: but they durst
not doubt him when he speaks seriously; for he is very powerful & makes himself
respected when he thinks it necessary. "Who is that, now speaking?" said one of the in-
dians (this I was told)—"It is Mihkenach" said the Conjuror—if it be him, prove it
"—take him in your hand & show him to us" Now the Conjr. was a very great me-
"decin man,—he took the turtle upon his hand, raised the covering of his box,
"& called them to look—Every one was astonished at his beauty—he was very
"small, scarcely more than 2 ins. long. When all had gazed enough the Conjurer
"drew him in.—The Turtle was very quiet while out but as soon as he got in
"exclaimed "Oh! how afraid I was when I saw the children look so eagerly—I
"was afraid some of them would have attempted to take me in their hands &
"let me fall, perhaps in the fire" & laughed heartily. The Bear is a rough
beast & makes a devil of a racket. Towards the latter end master Keyjickah-
kaiw, that old serpent, Satan, enters;—his arrival is announced—all hands are greived, for
then the conclusion is soon to take place— He makes every thing fly again, kicking
up his own (i.e. the Devils) racket, jawing & blabing, scolding & giving the lie to &
abusing all hands: the indians are hurt & displeased, but durst not say anything—they must
swallow all quietly, & then it is that the Conjuror most dreads for his own bacon:
this however does not last very long for Weesuckajaak (the Supreme Being) enters last
—as soon as his coming is announced Nick begins to sneake, but still en maitre—Week enters, Nick jaws, silence is imposed, nick still troublesome,
at last the word comes authoratatively & away he flies. The Indians are uncommonly
fond of Weesuckajâck—he commonly speaks to this effect "My Little (i.e. Grand) Children
"I am very indulgent & kind, I am very charitable, & love you much,—a great deal more
"than you imagine. You must not live ill, nor make a bad use of your power & knowledge
"for I hate that;—hence it is I command Nick in that authoratative manner; because

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"because he is wickedly inclined—mischief & destruction are in his nature—he greives at any
"good he sees: take ye heed, beware of him for he is ever on the watch to destroy you"
—When Charly enters after some abuse he calls out "Get ye hence, get ye hence, what
"are ye doing so long from your home: off with ye immediately"; & rubs up & down
the skins that form the covering lest any should be hid. Thus he sends off all the
Spirits, who, as they fly off, as well as when they enter, give this frame a terrible
shaking. It may be supposed what sort of a shaking he gives as he comes & goes, &
how he shakes the rattler;—for they all shake the rattler on entering. When We-
suckajaak goes off, all is done.—
Some Conjurors are so powerful that the hut they enter, must be doubled; that is two
rows or Setts of Poles one on the outside the other, & each row fastened with good
strong hoops well tied, after which the outer & inner row are also fastened—thus
arranged, they seem to be beyond the power of any 3 or 4 men to move, yet when the
Spirits enter it sets a-going with a motion equal to that of a Single pole indifferently stuck
in the Ground & violently moved by a man. I have never seen any of these double
ones, but twice or thrice saw the others, whilst the conjuror was in—Some time
afterwards, when they were off, I shook them with both hands & with all my strength,
but the motion was nothing like that of the Conjurors. I have been told that
those who enter these Double ones, are so powerful that almost all the Creation
comes to see them, & they are shaken with uncommon violence. This motion
the Conjurors say is produced by the concussion of the air; i.e. the Spirits come
& enter with such velocity that it is the Wind they Produce which occasions it.
The conjuror is all the while seated Peaceably in the bottom, (on the Ground) of his
hut. Some of them to shew their Power have had small sticks of the hardest
wood (such as produces the wild Pear, & of which the Indians make their arrows, &
ram-rods &c. for Guns) about the size of a mans finger, made as sharp point-
ed as possible, & dried, when they become in consequence nearly as dangerous as iron,
or bayonets—Some have 18, 24 more or less, tho' Seldom less than 18 planted in the
bottom of their hut—They are about 12 or 14 ins. out of the Ground—On the Points of these
Sticks is the conjuror placed, sometimes on his bottom, at others on his
knees & elbows, & there he remains as quietly & composedly as if he were on
"a bed of Roses"; & when he comes off no marks of injury appear, tho he entered
naked, only his Cloute about him, & of course the Cords with which he is
tied. "Their familiars (their Dreamed, or those who appear to them in their dreams &
Promise them their assistance & Protection) support them so that no injury hap-
pens them"!!! __________________

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