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desired everlasting life for myself and my people. He said that I might have my wish, 
but bade me first descend to the three layers of the underworld. 
I returned then to the great archway, where the bird awaited me. Cautioning me as 
I mounted not to look backward, it carried me quickly to my home land. We landed 
in the darkness on ground that was strange to me; and the bird flew up into the 
sky and was lost to my sight. I semed to smell fire, and going in its direction found 
a fireplace, but no fire. Dawn came, and I knew where I had landed. I returned 
thence to my home, and found my parents just as I had left them fifteen years before. 
My mother asked me where I had been, and I told her all my experiences, convincing 
both my parents that I would gain everlasting life for all human beings after I had 
travelled through the underworlds by the pathway through the granite door. 
Some moons later I left my parents again, carrying this time a complete travelling 
equipment, even a small birch-bark canoe. I found the chasm securely blocked, and 
stared aghast at the huge, irregular granite masses in front of me, charred and 
discoloured where they had been shattered. ‘All hope is gone then,’ I murmured; 
‘Never shall I obtain the everlasting life’; and I covered my face with my hands. 
But while my face was thus covered the pathway stood revealed to me, and, looking 
up, I searched for the mouth of the chasm by which I must enter. It was late after- 
noon, too late to proceed, so I camped there for the night. 
During the darkness I heard footsteps around my camp and a voice calling to 
me, ‘Ogauns, why do you want me? Was it that you just remembered me from past 
years?’ I uncovered my face, and a bright light shone over me. Leaping t-o my 
feet I exclaimed ‘Why have I slept so late’; for the atmosphere seemed bright as day. 
But my friend, one of the suns in our sky who had come to join my expedition, 
answered me, ‘ It is not day. Your firelight guided me to you through the darkness. 
Not until the moon is full shall we descend to the lower world. By that time we 
shall have enough dried meat to sustain us until we reach the first layer of the 
underworld.’ In the morning, therefore, we went hunting together, and since it was 
the fall of the year, when game was plentiful, we obtained enough meat in one day 
to last us for some time. 
At length I started on my journey, enthralled by my companion’s luminous form 
and fascinated by the gloomy wonders around us. At times the invisible Little 
Wild Indians helped us in our descent through the vaults and galleries hollowed out 
beneath the surface of our earth. At the end of the road lay a pool, which we could 
pass only by diving into the water and emerging at the farther side. A huge, flat 
rock seemed now to bar our passage. Beside it we rested a while, but could find 
no passage save under the water again. We passed through this without difficulty, 
and continued along an easy pathway until we came to another pocket, where we 
remained for quite a long time unable to find an exit. At last we felt a current of 
air rising from beneath us, and as I listened, I could faintly hear the splashing of a 
river. We descended, and came to a jagged chasm charred on both faces as though 
it had been burst asunder long ago by some mighty force. Down it my companion 
worked his way, testing the still air from time to time with a birch-bark torch. I 
followed close behind. The descent was difficult and dangerous, appearing to lead 
nowhere; and, being tired, I persuaded my companion to rest as soon as we reached 
a firm, flat shelf, hemmed in by walls and ceiling that seemed as if made by human 
hands. 
There I remained with our equipment, but my companion continued downward 
to ensure that we might rest in safety. He was absent for a long time, and from 
his countenance it was clear that he had much to tell me, although he was unwilling 
to speak. I urged him to say what he had seen, but he answered briefly that any 
further descent seemed perilous. There was a bewildered, frightened look in his 
eyes, as of a man who had seen an angry manido. I said to him ‘Tell me what you 
saw in that chasm. I am sure that it was something strange and terrible. Whatever 
it was it has left you gravely disturbed. Confide in me.* He tried to evade my 
inquiries, but while he spoke I handed him a pipe already lighted. He accepted it, 
though unaccustomed to smoke, and his reserve gradually melted. ‘Have a good 
rest,* he said, ‘for we must fight when we continue the descent. Travelling far down, 
I found another chasm joining this one at an angle, and extending downward to a 
considerable depth. My light could not penetrate the darkness to the bottom, but a 
steady stream of light came up from far below. It may be some great manido that has 
been watching our descent.’ 
