14 



THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. 



CHAP. XXI. 



If I ]uid been in that country, I would haye answered 

 you.'* 



The vapour-bath played an important part in their 

 ceremonies : it was not only used for medicinal purposes, 

 but in it the conjurors were accustomed to propitiate the 

 deities, or Kichi-kouai, who presided over their hunting- 

 grounds. The conjurors would frequently pretend to see 

 the feeding haunts of the caribou or moose, the winter 



THE CONJUROR IN HIS VAPOUK-BATH. 



lair of the bear, or the coming geese in tlie spring, from 

 their vaporous tabernacle, and give the news in a loud 

 voice to the credulous spectators squatting on the 

 outside. It was generally constructed in the same 

 manner as the vapour-baths of the present day, but 

 sometimes of much larger dimensions, so that two, 

 three, and even more might enjoy the bath together, 



* IJf'latiou des Jesuites, 1684. 



