2 TO Expedition to the 



friction between his warmed hands, and the breast or abdo- 

 men of the patient. At intervals during this operation, and 

 after the termination of it, he rattles his gourd with vio- 

 lence, singing to it with great vehemence, and throwing him- 

 self into grotesque attitudes. All this is sometimes daily 

 repeated, until the convalescence or death of the patient. 



A wealthy man, when sick, will sometimes send to a great 

 distance for a celebrated practitioner, who, if not already en- 

 gaged, removes with his family and lodge to the vicinity of 

 the afflicted. 



The compensation for all this attendance, and powwowing, 

 is proportioned to the violence and duration of the com- 

 plaint, and to the wealth of the individual; it is frequently 

 exorbitant, and consistsof horses, kettles, blankets, &c, which, 

 although they are never demanded, yet the magician does 

 not fail to allude to some of them as objects of his wishes, 

 and the gratitude of the patient seldom fails on this occa- 

 sion. If the patient dies, notwithstanding all this necroman- 

 cy, he is said to be summoned by the Wahconda, and the fee 

 or present to the magician, is made by the relatives or friends 

 of the deceased. 



These men sometimes pretend to the spirit of prophecy. 

 One of them ventured to predict, that two squaws, who had 

 recently married white men, would die in the course of a 

 very short time, which he specified. The squaws being 

 much alarmed at the prospect of approaching death, took 

 with them some tobacco and other presents, and went in 

 search of the prophet, in order to prevail upon him to inter- 

 cede for them, with the Wahconda, and avert their doom. 

 The husband of one of the squaws, a citizen of the United 

 States, hearing of the occurrence, went to the lodge of the 

 magician. He was surprised to see there the squaws per- 

 fectly naked before the magician, who had provided himself 

 with a large kettle of warm water, and was himself engaged 

 in squirting the water from his mouth, over their persons. 



