A PAPER—BY WM. GOSSIP. 161 
Micmacs was derived, and have reason to believe it is nota proper 
designation. If there are Irishmen and Scotchmen in this assem- 
blage, they may by putting their heads together be able to guess 
at a solution of the problem. I once asked an intelligent Squaw 
the question. She did not know. “They were becoming so mixed 
that no one knew.” A more ancient and euphonious name for 
them is that of Souroquois, which has a French sound, and 
certainly divides the honours with that of Micmac. I believe 
that neither is correct. Neither can it be “ Mignog, which some 
suppose it to be.’ I have never been able to discover it from the 
Indians themselves, who inherit little or no traditions except 
some legendary ones. In conversation once with an intelligent 
Micmac I asked him how they came to be called by that name 
The question seemed rather to puzzle him for a moment, and he 
replied by asking another, “ How you come to be called blue 
Nose? Micmacs, I suppose, come in same way.” Then, said I, 
you are not Micmacs? “ Not very much.” said he. The Rev. 
Mr. Rand, of Nova Scotia, a Baptist Minister, than whom no one 
alive is better acquainted with our Indians, who has lived 
amongst them, preached to them, and done all he could to improve 
their morality,and make them adopt more civilized habits, replied 
as follows to a question I submitted to him on the subject :* 
Perhaps one cause of his failure to influence them may be that 
they are staunch Romanists and will not be otherwise persuaded. 
There is no direct evidence from which to prove the extreme 
antiquity of the Algonkin race; but the man himself and his 
works are before us from which to deduce the fact. His natural 
colour is that of the Adam, and remains unchanged, except 
through intermixture with other races. He lived in a rude camp 
or wigwam made expressly for removal from place to place, and 
never intended for permanent settlement. He is a hunter and 
fisher, and a wanderer from the beginning, and may have com- 

Nore.—lI regret that the letter of Rev. Mr. Rand, replying to my question, has 
gone astray since the copy of this paper was prepared and furnished for the 
press. So far as I can recollect, it implied that the tribe were very strong men 
--head crushers—could beat all creation, and gave the true tribal name as Buc- 
towege —which has much the same signification, and may be translated as ‘* strong 
drink,” the strength of which, unfortunately, the Micmacs are too fond of prov- 
ing.—W. G. 
