280 Expedition, &c. 



death, they will be restored to the mansions of their ancestors 

 under ground, from which they are intercepted by a large and 

 rapid watercourse. Over this river, which may be compared 

 to the Styx of the ancients, they are obliged to pass on a very 

 narrow footway. Those Indians who have been useful to the 

 nation, such as brave warriors or good hunters, pass over with 

 ease, and arrive safely at the A-pah-he, or ancient village. 

 But the worthless Indians slip off from the bridge or foot- 

 way, into the stream that foams beneath in the swiftness of 

 its course, which hurries them into oblivion, or Lethe. The 

 Mandans, according to Lewis and Clark, have a tradition 

 somewhat similar, and it strongly reminds us of the Alsiratof 

 Mahomet, over which, it was supposed, that great leader was 

 to conduct his Moslems to the bliss of futurity, whilst the 

 unworthy were precipitated into the gulf which yawned 

 beneath it. 



