458 MYTHS OF THE CHKROKEE (eth.an.n.19 



him by the EngHgnnian, who would v\-vi\ liavi- |iut liiin to death, Imt for the inter- 

 ference of the Indians, to whom if was lioped he would impute no part of theoffence. 

 They further requested, that he would remain, and inhabit their eountry, and not 

 return anions' the English; that is, go eastward." 



He adds that the appearance of the rattlesnake so far north was regarded as an 

 extraordinary omen, and that very little else was spoken of for the rest of the even- 

 ing. The next day, while steering across Lake Huron in their canoe, a terrible storm 

 came up. 



"The Indians, beginning to Ije alarmed, frequently called on the rattlesnake to 

 come to their assistance. By degrees the waves grew high; and at 11 o'clock it blew 

 a hurricane, and we expected every moment to be swallowed up. From prayers, 

 the Indians now proceeded to sacrifices, both alike offered to the god-rattlesnake, or 

 iiiiinito-kinihic. One of the chiefs took a dog, and after tying its forelegs together, 

 threw it overboard, at the same time I'alling on the snake to preserve us from being 

 drowned, and desiring him to satisfy his hunger with the carcass of the dog. The 

 snake was unpropitioua, and the wind increased. Another chief sacrificed another 

 dog, with the addition of some tobacco. In the prayer which accompanied these 

 gifts, he besought the snake, as before, not to avenge upon tfie Indians the insult 

 which he had received from myself, in the conception of a design to jmt him to 

 death. He assured the snake, that I was absolutely an Englishman, and of kin 

 neither to liim nor to them. At the conclusion of this speech, an Indian, who sat 

 near me, observed, that if we were drowned it would be for my fault alone, and that 

 I ought myself to be sacrificed, to appease the angry manito, nor was I without 

 apprehensions, that in case of extremity, this would be my fate; but, happily for 

 me, the storm at length abated, and we reached the island safely." 



The Delawares also, according to Heckewelder, called the rattlesnake grandfather 

 and refrained from injuring him. He says: "One day, as I was walking with an 

 elderly Indian on the banks of the Muskingum, I saw a large rattlesnake lying across 

 the path, which I was going to kill. The Indian immediately forbade my doing so; 

 ' for,' said he, ' the rattlesnake is grandfather to the Indians, and is placed here on 

 purpose to guard us, and to give us notice of impending danger liy liis rattle, which 

 is the same as if he were to tell us, 'look about.' 'Now,' added he, 'if we were to 

 kill one of those, the others would soon know it, and the whole race would rise 

 upon us and bite us.' I observed to him that the white people were not afraid of 

 this; for they killed all the rattlesnakes that they met with. On this he enquired 

 whether any white man had been bitten by these animals, and of course I answered 

 in the affirmative. ' No wonder, then !' replied he, ' you have to blame yourselves 

 for that. You did as nuich as declaring war against thein, and you will find them in 

 y(Mr country, where they will not fail to make freqvient incursions. They are a very 

 dangerous enemy; take care you do not irritate them in mir country; they and their 

 grandchildren are on good terms, and neither will hurt the other.' These ancient 

 notions have, however in a great measure died away with the last generation, and 

 the Indians at present kill their-grandfather, the rattlesnake, without ceremony, 

 whenever they meet with him" (Indian Nations, p. 252). 



SaUhvdifi — "The old Tiiscaroras had a custom, w'hich they supposed would keep 

 their teeth white and strong through life. A man caught a snake and held it by its 

 head and tail. Then he bit it througli, all the way from the head to the tail, and 

 this kept the teeth from decay" (W. M. Beauchamp, Iroquois Notes, in Journal of 

 American Folk-Lore, July, 1892). 



iS('»(/ torrenix of ruin — The belief in a connection lietween the serpent and the rain- 

 gods is well-nigh universal aniong primitive jieoples, and need only lie indicated 

 here. 



50. The Ukte.na and the Ui-fSsi'Ti (p. 297) : The belief in the great Ukti-na and 

 the magic power of the Uluilsu'tl is firmly implanted in the Cherokee breast. The 

 Uktena has its parallel in the Gitchi-Keneljig or Great Horned Serpent of the 



