276 TRIBES AND DIALECTS OE CONNECTICUT 



|ETH. ANN. 43 



Bones oC the skeleton of a snake are poisonous and should be buried 

 when found, lest some one step on them. 



Small birds are believed by some to ride upon the backs of the 

 wild geese. The wide extent of this belief, both in America and 

 the Old World, Doctor Speck has treated in an article on Bird-Lore 

 of the Northern Indians, Public Lectures of Facultj' of University of 

 Pennsylvania, 1919-20 (Philadelphia, 1921). 



FOLK TALES 



No explanation, I presume, is needed for the appearance in this 

 paper of the few disconnected legends that follow. While they are 

 for the most part of purely local bearing, some of them embody 

 concepts of folk-lore fitting in with a wider distribution among the 

 Algonkian peoples. All of them portray aspects of the native mind, 

 adding to our lamentably meager store of information from the 

 region. Other Mohegan tales, some of them of greater mytho- 

 logical value, were published in articles referred to in the list on 

 page 206 of this paper (references c, e, g, i). Miss Tantaquidgeon is 

 to be credited with having recorded many of them from her tribesfolk. 



The Mohegan narrators were Mrs. Fielding, James Rogers, Amy 

 Cooper (pi. 29, c), and Burrill Fielding (pis. 22, a; 28, d). The 

 Poosepatuck tale was related to me (1900) by Mase Bradlej-; the 

 Scatticook tales (1903) by Jim Harris (pi. 40, h). 



Captain Kidd and the Pirates 



MOHEGAN LEGENDS 



In the days of Captain Kidd he and other buccaneers used to come 

 up the Thames River in their boats and lie to during the periods of 

 pursuit. Up there among the Indians they could pass the time pleas- 

 antly, and also fmd secluded regions wherein to bury their booty. 

 So the Mohegans have some tales of these visits from the pirates 

 which have furnished the motive for many nightly excursions to 

 dreamt-of spots where treasure is thought to exist. Until this day 

 futile attempts are made to lay hands on some of the gold that is 

 said to be buried along the river shores. 



One time two Mohegans, having dreamed of a certain spot where 

 IQdd's money was buried, went down to the river with spades. 

 They began their trench, and soon had the good fortune to disclose 

 the top of a great iron box with a ring in it. Their surprise was so 

 great that one of them said, "Here it is!" At that moment a tre- 

 mendous black dog appeared at the rim of the pit and growled. At 

 the same moment the chest vanished. The men were so terrified 

 that they never tried to find the place again. 



