388 INDIAN PROPHECir. 



scarcely be held as credible had we not the testi- 

 mony of an actual witness. 



During the time that Mr. Lane was stationed in 

 New Caledonia he received a visit from an aged 

 Indian, of the Carrier tribe, who had been with Sir 

 Alexander Mackenzie in one of his trips of discovery 

 to the sea coast, and had the reputation of being a 

 great medicine-man. As he had not paid a visit to 

 the fort for several years his appearance excited some 

 surprise, and he was asked why he came. He 

 replied that he had come to look at the fort and 

 its inmates for the last time. " Did you ever," said 

 the old man, "hear thunder in the winter time?" 

 Mr. Lane replied in the negative. " Then," rejoined 

 the hidian, "when in two moons' time you hear 

 a clap of thunder, send to my lodge and you will 

 find me dead." 



Within fifteen days of the appointed time Mr. Lane 

 did indeed hear a solitary burst of thunder; the 

 nephew of the old Indian, who was the fort inter- 

 preter, started off directly to his uncle's lodge, and 

 on arrival found that he had just expired. The 

 reahsation of this prophecy did not in the least 

 surprise the rest of the Indians, who had expressed 

 their entire conviction of its fulfilment. 



The superstition of the Indians is a wonderful 



