182 PRINCE — PASSAMAQUODDY WITCHCRAFT TALES. [Nov. 17, 



In pre-Christian times the Passamaquoddies, like their other 

 Algic kindred, were Shamanists, worshipers of the demons of the 

 wilderness and the lakes, and firm believers in the almost unlimited 

 power of their m* deaulinwuk or wizards, many of whom still exist, 

 subordinately, of course, to the Catholic doctrine, which nearly all 

 the Indians profess. Francis informs me that there are only three 

 or four Protestant Passamaquoddy families 



A few specimens of these sorcerers' power are described below 

 in the curiously curt style of Algic narrative. We see from the 

 following tales that the wizards could transform themselves into 

 animals at will (see tale i) ; that they could cast a spell or curse on 

 an enemy, even though he might also be m'deaulin (tale ii) ; that 

 they could violate the laws of nature so far as to walk in hard 

 ground, sinking up to the ankles or knees at every step (tale iii)^ 

 and, finally, that they could communicate with each other telepathic- 

 ally (tale iv). I need hardly comment on the first two and the 

 fourth of these wonders, as they are common among all Shamanistic 

 conjurers, but the third phenomenon, e. g., the power to sink into 

 hard ground while walking, is, I believe, characteristically American. 

 Rink states that this is not an unusual feat among the conjurers of 

 the Greenland Eskimo, who frequently sink into rocky and frozen 

 ground " as if in snow." The trick is probably done by some pecu- 

 liar way of stooping. Leland compares here, however, the Old 

 Norse statements regarding their wizards, who occasionally sank 

 into the ground and who had power to pass through earth with the 

 same ease as through air or water (^Algonquin Legends, p. 342). 

 It would be hardly permissible to draw a parallel between the 

 ancient Norsemen and the northern Indians on this account, as the 

 case he cites is that of a conjurer who disappeared into the ground 

 head downwards, when he was stabbed at by a foe. It should be 

 noticed that in the following tale, my authority did not see the actual 

 feat, but only the deep tracks of the wizard where he had sunk into 

 the earth " the night before," as Francis expressed it in his expla- 

 nation. 



The fifth anecdote, of a cannibalistic feast, is highly interesting. 

 The wizards here eat their murdered comrade, evidently with the 

 idea of absorbing into themselves some or all of his power. The 

 cannibalistic orgies of the South Sea Islanders should be compared 

 with this practice. For example, the Fijis and the Maoris of New 

 Zealand ate their enemies with the same object in view, e. g.y to 



