lO King, Folk-lore of the North Avurican Indians. 



their hearts they intend a great deal of harm. I do not understand how this 

 can be consistent with the kindness and assistance that they offer one 

 another, (xii., 9 ff.) 



Death is nearly always ascribed to witchcraft operating 

 by wishes or imprecations or charms. 



It is a question of killing one another here, they say, by charms which 

 they throw at each other, and which are composed of Bears' c'aws, Wolves' 

 teeth, Eagles' talons, certain stones, and Dogs' sinews. Having fallen under 

 the charm and been wounded, blood pours from the mouth and nostrils, or 

 it is simulated by a red powder they take by stealth ; and there are ten 

 thousand other absurdities, that I willingly pass over. The greatest evil is, 

 that these wretches, under pretext of charity, often avenge their injuries, and 

 purposely give poison to their patients, instead of medicine. What is very 

 remarkal)le is their experience in healing ruptures, wherein many others in 

 these regions are also skillful. The most extraordinary superstition is that 

 their drugs and ointments take pleasure, so to speak, in silence and darkness. 

 If they are recognised, or if their secret is discovered, success is not to be 

 expected, (x., 209.) 



Some deaths, such as death by drowning or by 

 lightning, are not attributed to witchcraft, but to the action 

 of higher powers. Such dead bodies, as we shall see later 

 on, are treated in a different way from other dead bodies. 

 The Montagnais savages, we are told (xii , 7), give the name 

 " Manitou " to all nature superior to man, good or bad. 



As to the method of procuring charms, the following 

 passage will serve as an illustration : — 



One of these Sorcerers or Jugglers told me that occasionally the devil 

 speaks to some Savage, who hears only his voice, without seeing anyone. 

 He will say to him, for example, " Thou wilt find a stone upon the snow, or 

 in such a place, or in the heart, or the shoulder, or some other part of an 

 Elk, or of another animal ; take this stone, and thou wilt be lucky in the 

 chase." He assured me that he had found one of these stones in the heart of 

 an Elk, and that he had given it to a Frenchman. " Hence I shall kill nothing 

 more," said he. 



He also said that the Devil made himself known through dreams. A 

 Moose will present itself to a man in his sleep, and will say to him, " Come 

 to me." The Savage, upon awaking, goes in search of the Moose he has 

 seen. Having found it, if he hurls or launches his javelin upon it, the beast 

 falls stone-dead. Opening it, he occasionally finds some hair or a stone in 

 its body, which he takes and keeps with great care, that he maybe fortunate 

 in finding and killing many animals. 



