X. 



DREAMS. THE PRAIRIES ON FIRE. A WOOD-DEMON'S TOROB 



DREAMS ! What are dreams ? Why is it that, ^ 

 the silence or stillness of night, when the body lies in- 

 sensible in the repose of sleep, that strange visions rise 

 up before us^ and we seem to wander amid scenes that 

 belong not to the living world, visions that war with 

 natural laws, and yet seem, to our senses, consistent 

 as those of real life ? A new world opens before us, 

 a world governed by different laws ; ; we possess 

 natures, antagonist to our real ones, and are endowed 

 with attributes that belong not to humanity. We 

 take to ourselves wings, and fly like birds through the 

 air ; we rush unharmed through the deep waters, and 

 plunge unhurt down profound precipices; we talk 

 with dumb animals, and hold communion with those 

 who have long been slumbering in the grave. And 



