At the fourth verse, he exhibits his medicines, which he says are the roots of shrubs, and of We-ug-gusk-oan, or herbs, and from these he derives his power, at least in part; but lest his claim, founded on a knowledge of these, should not be considered of sufficient importance, he proceeds to say, in the fifth and sixth verses, that the snakes and the under-ground wild cat are among his helpers and friends. The ferocity and cunning, as well as the activity of the feline animals, have not escaped the notice of the Indians, and very commonly they give the form of animals of this family to those imaginary beings whose attributes bear, in their opinion, some resemblance to the qualities of these animals. Most of them have heard of the lion, the largest of the cats known to white men, and all have heard of the devil; they consider them the same. The wild cat here figured has horns, and his residence is under the ground; but he has a master, Gitche-a-nah-mi-e-be-zhew, (the great under-ground wild cat,) who is, as some think, Matche-Manito himself, their evil spirit, or devil. Of this last they speak but rarely. Gitche-a-nah-mi-e is a compound epithet, and in this application can scarce fail to remind the Greek scholar of many similarly compounded words in that language. The English reader will perceive the resemblance in the following “most heroic” line, preserved by Cowper:—
“To whom replied the Devil yard-long tailed.”
There was never any thing more truly Grecian, says the learned translator of the Iliad, than this triple epithet.
War medicine song.
Fig. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Fig. 1. Che-be-moke sa-aun.
I am rising.
This figure represents the rising sun, and intimates to the warrior the vigilance and activity required in the business on which he goes.