126 



KNOVSrLEDGE 



[April 1, 1887. 



hero, who is to return at the right moment, and lead his 

 people to victory and happiness, is a popular myth all over 

 the two continents. Among the Iroquois it is loskeha, 

 Wasi to the Cherokees, Tamoi to the Caribs, and among the 

 Algonquins it is Michabo. 



He is said " to sleep through the winter months, and at 

 the time of the falling leaves, by way of composing himself 

 for his nap, he fills his great pijie and divinely smokes," or, as 

 Dr. Brinton expresses it, " in the autumn, in the moon of 

 the falling leaf, ere he composes himself to his winter's 

 sleep, he fills his great pipe and takes a godlike smoke." 

 The balmy clouds float over hills and woodlands, filling the 

 air with the haze of the " Indian Summer." * 



Among the Hiawatha legends is a quaint Odjibwa allegory 

 of Winter and Spring. Schoolcraft relates it as follows : — 



An old man was sitting in his lodge by the side of a 

 frozen stream. It wtis the close of winter, and his tire was 

 almost out. He appeared very old and very desolate. His 

 locks were white with age, and he trembled in every joint. 

 Day after day passed in solitude, and he heard nothing but 

 the sounds of the tempest, sweeping before it the new fallen 

 snow. 



One day, as his fire was just dying, a handsome young 

 man, named Seegwun, approached and entered his dwelling. 

 His cheeks were red with the blood of youth, his eyes 

 sparkled with animation, and a smile played upon his lips. 

 He walked with a light, quick step. His forehead was 

 bound with a wreath of sweet grass in place of a wariior's 

 frontlet, and he carried a bunch of flowers in his hand. 



" Ah, my son 1 " said the old man, " I am happy to see 

 you. Come in. Come, tell me of your adventures, and 

 what strange lands you have been to see. Let us pass the 

 night together. I will tell you of my prowess and exploits, 

 and what I can perform. You shall do the same, and we 

 will amuse ourselves." 



He then drew from his sack a curiously -wrought antique 

 pipe, and, having filled it with tobacco, handed it to his guest. 

 When this ceremony was over the old man spoke as fol- 

 lows : — 



"I blow my breath, and the streams stand still. The 

 water becomes stiff and hard as clear stone." 



" I breathe," said the young man, " and flowers spring up 

 all over the plains." 



" I shake my locks," said the old man, " and snow covers 

 the land. The leaves fall from the trees at my command, 

 and my breath blows them away. The birds rise from the 

 water and fly to distant lands. The animals hide themselves 

 from my breath, and the very ground becomes as hard as 

 flint." 



"I .shake my ringlets," said the young man, "and warm 

 showers of soft rain fall upon the earth. The plants lift up 

 their heads out of the earth ; my voice recalls the birds ; the 

 warmth of my bi-eath unlocks the streams ; music fills the 

 groves wherever I walk, and all nature rejoices." 



At length the sun began to rise. A gentle warmth came 

 over the place. The tongue of the old man became silent. 

 The streams began to murmur, and the fragrance of flowers 

 scented the air. 



Daylight showed Seegwun that he had been entertained 

 by Peboan with the icy visage. Streams began to flow from 

 his eyes. As the sun increased he grew less and less in 

 stature, and soon had melted completely away. Nothing 

 remained on the place of his lodge fire but the miskodeed, 

 a small white flower (Clat/tonia virginica) with a pink 

 border, which is one of the earliest species of northern 

 plants. t 



* " Myths of the New World," Brinton, p. 177. 

 •[■ " Hiawatha Legends," Schoolcraft, p. "JO. 



In conclusion, we may note the account of how Glooskap 

 found the Summer, which appears to be the more complete 

 form of the legend of Peboan and Seegwun. 



" In the long time ago when people lived always in the 

 early red morning, before sunrise, Glcosknp went very far 

 north, where all was ice. He came to a wigwam. Therein 

 he found a giant, a great giant, for he was Winter. 

 Glooskap entered ; he sat down. Then Winter gave him 

 a pipe ; he smoked, and the giant told tales of the old 

 times. 



" The charm was on him ; it was the frost. The giant 

 talked on and froze, and Glooskap fell asleep. He slept for 

 six months like a toad. Then the charm fled, and he 

 awoke. He went his way home ; he went to the south ; 

 and at every stejJ it grew warmer, and the flowers began to 

 come up and talk to him. 



" He came to where there were many little ones dancing 

 in the forest ; their queen was Summer. I am singing the 

 truth ; it was Summer, the most beautiful one ever born. 

 He caught her up ; he kept her by a crafty trick. The 

 Master cut a moose-hide into a long cord. As he ran away 

 with Summer, he let the end trail behind him. 



" The fairies of Light pulled at the cord, but as Glooskap 

 ran the cord ran out, and, though they pulled, he left them 

 far away. So he came to the lodge of Winter — but now he 

 had Summer in his bosom — and Winter welcomed him, 

 for he hoped to freeze him again to sleep. I am singing 

 the .song of Summer. 



" But this time the Master did the talking. And ere 

 long the sweat ran down Winter's face, and then h3 melted 

 more, and at last he had melted quite away, as did the 

 wigwam. Then everything awoke : the grass grew, the 

 fairies came out, and the snow ran down the rivers, 

 carrying away the dead leaves. Then Glooskap left 

 Summer with them, and went home." 



AMERICA'S GROWTH.* 



^lERONEOUS ideas are entertained by most 

 Englishmen and by many Americans about 

 the relations existing between that jiortion 

 of the great English-speaking community 

 which remains associated with Great 

 Britain, either at home or in her colonies, 

 and that other portion, now the main 

 body, which prefers to have its own system 

 of government apart from the old country. That the 

 diversity between the two systems of government differen- 

 tiates these two portions of communities not only English- 

 speaking, but to all intents and purjooses British, into 

 different nations, must of course be admitted ; but that 

 there ought to be any feeling apart from taste or con- 

 venience which should cause any member 6f either of these 

 communities to attach himself preferably to one rather than 

 to the other seems, if we consider the question as it actually 

 stands at present, absurd on the face of it. During a period 

 extending over about a century and a half, Britons (them- 

 selves a race of settlers in Great Britain) settled in various 

 parts of North America, without any feeling that they were 

 deserting their own kindred in thus making homes for 

 themselves elsewhere. Gradually as they grew in numliers, 

 as they gathered together into cities, and as their wealth 

 increased, they appeared of greater importance in the eyes 

 of the home government, as being better worth taxing to 



* " Triumphant Democracy ; or. Fifty Years' March of the Re- 

 public.'' By Andrew Carnegie. London : Sampson Low, Mar.ston, 

 J Searle, & llivlngton. 



