Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 29).djvu/245

 Sauteux are allies, and considerably intermixed by reciprocal marriages. The latter form the most numerous and widely-diffused nation of these parts.—They are to be met with from the confines of Lower Canada even to the foot of the Rocky Mountains.[129]

This is also the nation of medicine, par excellence:—for all pretend to be jugglers, and sell their medicines and quackery at a high price. In consequence of this attachment to their old, superstitious practices, and the great profits they derive from them, the seed of the Divine Word has hitherto fallen upon an unprofitable soil. An adroit impostor who has been baptized, and who is, moreover, a great medicine man among them, has contributed not a little to keep his nation in an obstinate ignorance, which makes them prefer the shades of paganism to the beneficial light of the gospel. Falling one day into a species of lethargy, it was thought that he had expired—but recovering after a short time, he assembled his band, and told them the following story:

"Immediately after my death I repaired to the heaven of the white man, or Christians, where the Great Spirit and Jesus Christ dwell, {174} but they refused to admit me on account of my red skin. I then went to the country where the souls of my ancestors are, and there, too, I was refused admittance on account of my baptism. I am, therefore, come back to this earth, to renounce the promises I made in baptism and resume my medicine bag, hoping to expiate my former error by my sincere attachment to