[...] [(20)] [...]

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

[...] [(21)] [...]

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

[...] [(22)] [...]

(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

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