Whether it be question of ax-head, 

 powder, ball or tobacco the seeker of 

 favours must solemnly engage himself to 

 make good to the trader at the first oppor- 

 tunity. The stipulation is invariable. 

 Neither the spirits nor he who summons 

 them will be party to a dishonesty. This 

 element of the transaction does not appear 

 upon the face of the earlier accounts, but 

 one greatly doubts that it is in the nature 

 of a Christian veneer over Pagan custom. 

 Probably it was always there, though 

 unnoted. 



Upon both the new heads — the existence 

 of actual emergency before the spiritual 

 machinery may be set in motion, the obli- 

 gation to render payment — T 's evi- 

 dence is clear. In the other respects he 

 bears out former narratives so closely that 

 it would be but repetition to set down the 

 details afresh; nor has he the least further 

 light to cast upon the strange occurrences 

 which have passed before his eyes. With 

 conscience and mind disposed against 

 belief, after following the whole course of 

 the proceedings with sharp-eyed attention, 

 he was left as wholly in the dark as those 

 others — not even names to him — who have 

 been called here to witness. 

 197 



