La Salle and the discovery of the great West - North Central ...

1680.] HENNEPIN AS A MISSIONARY. 263in steam three times a week, — a processfrom whichhe thinks he derived great benefit. His strengthgradually returned, in spite of his meagre fare; forthere was a dearth offood, and the squaws were lessattentive to his wants than to those of their children.They respected him, however, as a person endowedwith occult powers, and stood in no little awe of apocket compass which he had with him, as well as ofa small metal pot with feet moulded after the face ofa lion. This last seemed in their eyes a " medicine "of the most formidable nature, and they would nottouch it without first wrapping it in a beaver-skin.For the rest, Hennepin made himself useful invarious ways. He shaved the heads of the children,as was the custom of the tribe ;bled certain asthmaticpersons, and dosed others with orvietan, the famouspanacea of his time, of which he had brought withhim a good supply. With respect to his missionaryfunctions, he seems to have given himself littletrouble, unless hisattempt to make a Sioux vocabularyis to be regarded as preparatory to a futureapostleship."I could gain nothing over them," hesays, "in the way of their salvation, by reason oftheir natural stupidity."Nevertheless, on one occasion,he baptized a sick child, naming itAntoinettein honor of Saint Anthony of Padua. It seemed torevive after the rite,but soon relapsed and presentlyevery aperture. A pile of heated stones is placed in the middle,and water is poured upon them, raising a dense vapor. They arestill (1868) in use among the Sioux and some other tribes.