64 A NEW RELIGION. 



himself up into a fury, ending by saying " that if I were 

 allowed to go back, many more white men would come/' on 

 which an old Indian, who had seated himself beside me, 

 touched me on the arm and pointed towards the tents, evi- 

 dently meaning me to go with him, which I did, taking Badger 

 with me. 



When we reached his tent, which was a very large one and 

 evidently belonged to a chief, he motioned me to a seat and 

 told me, through Badger, that if I had remained at the council 

 I should certainly have been killed ; but that with him I was 

 safe. 



He said that he was chief of a large band of the Crees then 

 present, and being a friend of the white men would protect me ; 

 but I must remain in his tent till the council broke up, which 

 it would probably do in two or three days. Not a very pleasant 

 prospect as I had no books or newspapers with me. 



Badger was sent for our things and reported that the talk at 

 the council was still about me ; and that a good many Indians 

 were opposed to injuring me, as it would do them so much 

 harm with the Company. 



Late in the evening I was surprised by five of them coming 

 in and a sort of service being held, during which something 

 wrapped in a beautifully dressed buffalo-calf skin was laid iu 

 front of the chief and treated with great veneration ; and after 

 the service was ended and the Indians gone, I asked him what 

 this was, and what the service meant. 



He very carefully unfolded the skin and produced a book, 

 evidently made of sheets torn from a large ledger, the paper 

 being lined foolscap ; and this he very reverently held up to the 

 light of the fire, when I could see some watermarks in the 



