CiiAP. I.] THEIR LEGENDARY LORE. 37 



inent of the Algonquin tribes ; those whose strug- 

 gles and sufferings form the theme of the ensuing 

 History. In speaking of the Iroquois, some of the 

 distinctive peculiarities of the Algonquins have 

 already been hinted at. It must be admitted that, 

 in moral stability and intellectual vigor, they are 

 inferior to the former; though some of the most 

 conspicuous offspring of the wilderness, Metacom, 

 Tecumseh, and Pontiac himself, o^\Tied their blood 

 and language. 



The fireside stories of every primitive people are 

 faithful reflections of the form and coloring of the 

 national mind ; and it is no proof of sound philos- 

 ophy to turn with contempt from the study of a 

 fairy tale. The legendary lore of the Iroquois, 

 black as the midnight forests, awful in its gloomy 

 strength, is but another manifestation of that spirit 

 of mastery which uprooted whole tribes from the 

 earth, and deluged the wilderness with blood. The 

 traditionary tales of the Algonquins wear a differ- 

 ent aspect. The credulous circle around an Ojibwa 

 lodge-fire listened to wild recitals of necromancy 

 and witchcraft — men transformed to beasts, and 

 beasts transformed to men, animated trees, and 

 birds who spoke with human tongue. They heard 

 of malignant sorcerers dwelling among the lonely 

 islands of spell-bound lakes ; of grisly iveendigoes, 

 and bloodless geebi ; of evil manitoes lurking in the 

 dens and fastnesses of the woods ; of pygmy cham- 

 pions, diminutive in stature but mighty in soul, who, 

 by the potency of charm and talisman, subdued the 

 direst monsters of the waste ; and of heroes, who, 



