194 TRAVELS through 



•1756 there arrived a deputation of Indians at 

 Fort Chartres^ of the nation of Mijj'ouris * •, 

 there was an old woman among them, who 

 pafTed for a magician ; (he wore round her naked 

 body, a living rattle fnake, whofe bite is mor- 

 tal, if the remedy is not applied the moment 

 after. 



This prieftefs of the devil, fpoke to the fer- 

 pent, which feemed to underftand what Ihe faid : 

 I fee, faid Ihe, thou art weary of flaying here ; 

 go, then, return home, I fhall find th^e at my 

 return : the reptile immediately ran into the 

 woods, and took the road of the Mijj'ouris. If 

 1 had been inclined to be fuperflitious, I fhould 

 have told you that I had feen the devil appear 

 to thefe nations under the figure of a fnake. 

 Many Miffionaries have been willing to perfuade 

 "US in their relations and edifying letters, that the 

 devil appears to thefe people, in order to be 

 adored by them, but it is eafy to fee, that there 

 is nothing preternatiiral in it, and that it is a 

 mere juggle. 



You 



* A nation living to the weftward of Louifianay on a ri- 

 ver which bears their name, and falls into the Miffififpi, 



