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BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT. 243 
though little known, and their tales endless cf 
the ‘olden time,’ when the animals and fishes 
were human and gifted with speech. They 
believe in the return of the dead, in second sight, 
and very strongly in necromancy or witchcraft; 
hence their intense dread of powerful medicine 
men. It was formerly the custom for young men 
to seek supernatural gifts by seclusion in the 
wilderness and fasting. Some thus became suc- 
cessful hunters, gamblers, traders or hunters, as 
the gift might be, whilst to the more crafty and 
ill-disposed was vouchsafed the frequently fatal 
gift of imposing on their fellows the belief that 
they were ‘medicine men’ or conjurers. 
Q. Have they any distinction of stars or con- 
stellations? 
A. (Anderson.)—The hunting tribes, like the 
Chaldean of old, are keen observers, and the 
order of the principal constellations is well ob- 
served by them in a rude way. 
A. (Tolmie.)—They have names for several 
of the constellations. 
Q. How do they divide time with reference to 
the year? 
A. (Anderson.)—Chiefly by the natural order 
of the seasons. That is, when the crane appears 
in its northward flight, the goose, the ripening of 
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