Original - North Central Michigan College Library

and at six o'clock in the evening we againencamped. Very little was spoken of throughthe evening, the rattlesnake excepted.Early the next morning we proceeded. Wehad a serene sky and very little wind, and theIndians, therefore, determined on steeringacross the lake to an island which just appearedin the horizon; saving, by this course, a distanceof thirty miles, which would be lost inkeeping the shore. At nine o'clock, A. M., wehad a light breeze astern, to enjoy the benefit ofwhich we hoisted sail. Soon after the windincreased and the Indians, beginning to bealarmed, frequently called on the rattlesnaketo come to their assistance. By degrees thewaves grew high; and at eleven o'clock it blewa hurricane and we expected every moment tobe swallowed up. From prayers the Indiansnow proceeded to sacrifices, both alike offeredto the god-rattlesnake, or manito-kinibic. Oneof the chiefs took a dog, and after tying itsfore-legs together threw it overboard, at thesame time calling on the snake to preserve usfrom being drowned, and desiring him to satisfyhis hunger with the carcass of the dog.The snake was unpropitious, and the windincreased. Another chief sacrificed anotherdog, with the addition of some tobacco. Inthe prayer which accompanied these gifts hebesought the snake, as before, not to avengeupon the Indians the insult which he hadreceived from myself, in the conception of a170