762 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 137 



The medicine man or shaman was called in to pray over the new 

 corn, he performed ceremonies in order to find a lost object, he 

 brought on rain and tempest, he was asked to pray over a new fish- 

 weir so that many more fish would enter, and, when it thundered, 

 he would blow toward the sky and repeat formulae (Gatschet, 1877- 

 1880, vol. 16, pp. 635-638; vol. 17, pp. 500-501; vol. 18, pp. 489-491; 

 Swanton, 1922, pp. 383-385). Following is Le Moyne's description 

 of the performances of an aged shaman in order to forecast the result 

 of Chief Utina's expedition against the Potano : 



The sorcerer . . . made ready a place in the middle of the army, and, seeing 

 the shield which D'Ottigny's page was carrying, asked to take it. On receiving 

 it. he laid it on the ground, and drew around it a circle, upon which he in- 

 scribed various characters and signs. Then he knelt down on the shield, and 

 sat on his heels, so that no part of him touched the earth, and began to recite 

 some unknown words in a low tone, and to make various gestures, as if en- 

 gaged in a vehement discourse. This lasted for a quarter of an hour, when 

 he began to assume an appearance so frightful that he was hardly like a human 

 being; for he twisted his limbs so that the bones could be heard to snap 

 out of place, and did many other unnatural things. After going through with 

 all this he came back all at once to his ordinary condition, but in a very fatigued 

 state, and with an air as if astonished ; and then, stepping out of his circle, he 

 saluted the chief, and told him the number of the enemy, and where they were 

 intending to meet him. (Le Moyne, 1875, pp. 5-6; Swanton, 1922, p. 385.) 



The event is said to have verified the prediction. 



Pare j a mentions "the ceremony of the laurel [evidently the Ilex] 

 performed to serve the Demon" (Gatschet, 1877-1880, vol. 18, p. 491; 

 Swanton, 1922, pp. 381-382). Reference has been made to the "chief 

 cult," and the following ceremony related by Le Moyne illustrates it : 



Their custom is to offer up the first-born son to the chief. When the day 

 for the sacrifice is notified to the chief, he proceeds to a place set apart for 

 the purpose, where there is a bench for him, on which he takes his seat. In 

 the middle of the area before him is a wooden stump two feet high, and as 

 many thick, before which the mother sits on her heels, with her face covered 

 in her hands, lamenting the loss of her child. The principal one of her female 

 relatives or friends now offers the child to the chief in worship, after which 

 the women who have accompanied the mother form a circle, and dance around 

 with demonstrations of joy, but without joining hands. She who holds the 

 child goes and dances in the middle, singing some praises of the chief. Mean- 

 while, six Indians, chosen for the purpose, take their stand apart in a certain 

 place in the open area ; and midway among them the sacrificing officer, who is 

 decorated with a sort of magnificence, and holds a club. The ceremonies being 

 through, the sacrificer takes the child, and slays it in honor of the chief, before 

 them all, upon the wooden stump. The offering was on one occasion performed 

 in our presence. (Le Moyne, 1875, p. 13; Swanton, 1922, p. 382.) 



Elvas declares that human sacrifices were made by the Indians 

 about Tampa Bay : 



Since they are servants of the devil, they are accustomed to offer him souls 

 and blood of their Indians or of any other people they can get. They say that 



