( i7o ) 



in a poft in Acadia ; he was ftill abient, though 

 the time he had fixed for his return was already 

 paft. An Indian woman feeing Madame de Mar- 

 lon uneafy, afked her the reafon of it, and ha- 

 ving learned it, told her, after muling fome time 

 on it, not to vex herfelf, that her hufband would 

 return fuch a day at fuch a hour, naming both, 

 with a grey hat on his head. As fhe perceived the 

 lady gave no credit to her prediction, fhe return- 

 ed to her, at the day and hour me had afligned, and 

 afked her whether fhe would not come to fee her 

 hufband arrive, and prefTed her fo ftrongly to follow 

 her, that at laft fhe led her to the bank of the ri- 

 ver. They had fcarce arrived there, when Monf. 

 de Marfon appeared in a canoe, with a grey hat on 

 his head ; and being told what had pafTed, allured 

 them, that he was utterly at a lofs to conceive 

 which way the Indian woman could know the day 

 and hour of his arrival. 



This example, Madam, with many others which 

 I know, and whichfare no lefs certain, prove, that 

 the devil is fometimes concerned in the magick of 

 the Indians ; but it belongs only, fay they, to the 

 jugglers to make the evocations, when the bufinefs 

 is of publick concern. It is pretended that all the 

 Algonquins and Abenaquis, formerly, praclifed a 

 kind of pyromancy, the whole my fiery of which is 

 as follows. They reduced to a very fine powder 

 fome charcoal, made of cedar, they difpofed this 

 powder in their own manner, and afterwards fet fire 

 to it, and by the form which the fire took whiift 

 it ran along this powder, they pretended to 

 difcover what they wanted to know. They add, 

 that the Abenaquis, when they were converted 

 to Chriftianity, had much difficulty in renoun- 

 cing 



