acles; and finally transforms
on the spot two of the party, who had consulted him, and asked the gift
of immortality, the one into a cedar-tree, and the other into a block
of granite.

Manabozho is regarded by the Indians as a divine benefactor, and is
admired and extolled as the personification of strength and wisdom. Yet
he constantly presents the paradox of being a mere mortal; is driven to
low and common expedients; and never utters a sentiment wiser or better
than the people among whom he appears. The conception of a divinity,
pure, changeless, and just, as well as benevolent, in the distribution
of its providences, has not been reached by any traits exhibited in the
character of this personage. And if such notions had ever been
conceived by the ancestors of the present race of Indians in the East,
they have been obliterated, in the course of their long, dark, and
hopeless pilgrimage in the forests of America. The prevalence of this
legend, among the Indian tribes, is extensive.

The character, the place, which he holds in the Indian mythology are
further denoted in the 5th vol. of my _Hist._, p. 417, where he is
represented as giving passage to souls on their way through the regions
of space, to the Indian paradise; and also in the legend of the White
Stone Canoe. The general myth, is recognized in the legend of the
Iroquois, under the name of Hiawatha, and Tarenyawazon. See _Notes on
the Iroquois_, page 270 (1846), and also in the 3d vol. _Hist._, p. 314.
Mr. Longfellow has given prominence to it, and to its chief episodes, by
selecting and generalizing such traits as appeared best susceptible of
poetic uses.

[6] An abbreviated term for "my grandmother," derived from
no-ko-miss.

[7] This is a term for the west wind. It is a derivative from
_Kabian-oong_, the proper appellation for the occident.

[8] An interjection indicating pain.

[9] The scirpus, or bulrush.

[10] Do not--do not.

[11] The Northern Indians, when travelling in company with each
other, or with white persons who possess their confidence, so as
to put them at ease, are in the habit of making frequent
allusions to Manabozho and his exploits. "There," said a young
Chippewa, pointing to some huge boulders of greenstone, "are
pieces of the rock broken off in Manabozho's combat with his
father." "This is the duck," said an Indian interpreter on the