104 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Indian mode of taking bears. 



blished; after which his alliance is as much 

 courted as that of the most valiant captain. They 

 now proceed in a direct line; neither rivers, 

 marshes, nor any other impediments, stop their 

 course, driving before them all the beasts they 

 find. When they arrive at the hunting-ground, 

 they surround as large a space as they can with 

 their company; and then contract their circle, 

 searching at the same time every hollow tree, 

 and every place fit for the retreat of a bear: and 

 they continue the same practice till the time of 

 the chase is expired. 



" As soon as a bear is killed, a hunter puts into 

 his mouth a lighted pipe of tobacco, and, blowing 

 into it, fills the throat with the smoke, conjuring 

 the spirit of the animal not to resent what they 

 are going to do to its body, nor to render their 

 future chases unsuccessful. As the beast makes 

 no reply, they cut out the string of the tongue, 

 and throw it into the fire. If it crackle and 

 shrivel up (which it is almost sure to do), they 

 accept it as a good omen ; if not, they consider 

 that the spirit of the beast is not appeased, and 

 that the chase of the next year will be unfor- 

 tunate. 



" The hunters live well during the chase, on 

 provisions which they bring with them. They 

 return home with great pride and self-compla- 

 cency; and give a great entertainment, at which 

 they make it a point to leave nothing uneaten. 

 The feast is dedicated to a certain genius, whose 



