‘1891-92.] THE ABENAKIS OF SAINT JOHN RIVER. 203 
striking him with some bird’s feathers. One of the most intelligent of 
the Melicites in conversation with me said, “there must be something in 
Glooscap, for have I not seen his pack where he left it, which is now 
turned to stone? Thisis on the seashore below St. John. I have seen too 
the entrails of the moose which he killed near Machias; these are all 
twisted and are of white rock ; then there is his head on the banks of the 
St. John.” One evening I asked this man to tell me all about the famous 
Glooscap, and committed his words to writing, they were as follows :— 
“Glooscap is a spirit, he does not grow old, he lives at the south end of 
the world, the wild geese were his watchers, and the loon and wolf his 
dogs, there were seven Indians who once went to see him in order to get 
their wishes granted; they found him living with his grandmother, whose 
youth he had renewed four times. When these seven men came to where 
Glooscap was, and it had taken them seven years to reach him, one 
of them said to him, I want long life; telling him to come out of the 
wigwam, Glooscap took him to a spot near by, saying, stand there, you 
will get your wish, and then turned him into a cedar tree, all limbs and 
fit for'no use,so that no one would ever cut him down. Gicoscap is con- 
stantly making arrow heads preparing for a general war, he always looks 
young ; where he is there is a medicine man who is blind, he lies on one 
side for seven years, he is then turned over and where he lay, herbs, good 
for medicine, were found growing. The benefits of these were explained 
by him. Glooscap asked this medicine man what he would do in case of 
a general war, he said that when all were dead he would open his eyes. 
When Glooscap’s visitors were ready to leave, he pointed to the remainder 
of them a way of return which led them home in four days. Glooscap 
was very good, anything which was big and dangerous he reduced in size. 
One day he met the squirrel then an animal of great size, and asked him 
what he would do if he met a man; there was a stump close by, at this 
the squirrel rushed and tore it down with his teeth and claws, then 
Glooscap put his hand on the squirrel’s back three times, and reduced him 
to his present size. In former years Glooscap had a camp as large as a 
big city, in this were all kinds of animals, even to the toad, and such 
power had he over them that he made them believe that they were human 
beings. The eagle (kulloo) was there, whose wife was the caribou, he 
had a son and daughter by the caribou, this daughter married the Turtle, 
who was Glooscap’s uncle. Soon after this, Glooscap told his uncle to 
make a feast ; “how can I doit?” said the Turtle. “ You ought to be old 
enough to know yourself” said Glooscap, telling him at the same time to 
go down to a long point which ran out into the sea and wait until a whale 
came along, this he was to catch and carry to his father-in-law’s house ; soon 
one came swimming by, this he caught and towed ashore, putting it on 
