CONJURING OR " MEDICINE " CEREMONIES. 127 



mode of death during the summer season. They have 

 been known to strip a half-breed, tie him to a stake on 

 the borders of a marsh in the prairie, and leave him ex- 

 posed to the attacks of millions of mosquitoes, without 

 being able to move any part of his body. When the 

 agony of fever and the torment of thirst come upon him, 

 they leave him to die a dreadful, lingering death with 

 water at his feet, and buzzards hovering and circling 

 around him in greedy expectation. 



By way of illustrating the character of the medicine or 

 conjuring ceremonies which may be witnessed during all 

 seasons of the year when several families are encamped 

 together, I shall describe a scene of which I was an eye- 

 witness near the Hudson's Bay Company's Post at the 

 Touchwood Hills. The conversation was carried on in 

 Cree, but, I believe, faithfully interpreted to me by the 

 officer then in charge of the Post, who was present during 

 the incantations. The interpretation was pronounced 

 exact by one of the Cree half-breeds attached to my 

 party. 



At the time of my arrival at this Post, a conjuror of 

 some celebrity was endeavouring to cure a sickly woman 

 by the exercise of his cunning. The unfortunate invalid 

 was lying in a buffalo skin tent, while the conjuror, painted 

 and decorated, and wearing his medicine bag, employed 

 himself in beating a drum within a few feet of her, and 

 singing at intervals the following words, first uttered 

 slowly, with a pause between each word, then as in or- 

 dinary conversation, lastly, with energy and rapidity : — 



u Great — is — the — man — who — walks — 

 In — the — middle — of — the — earth, — 

 He — is — the — only— true — Lord. ' ' 



The word " Lord " is not employed in the sense of 

 supreme master, but is rather intended to convey an idea 



