under the skin of the palm of the hand, without letting
any one know what they had done.

For a long time Chapewee's descendants were united as one family, but at
length some young men being accidentally killed in a game, a quarrel
ensued, and a general dispersion of mankind took place. One Indian fixed
his residence on the borders of the lake, taking with him a dog big with
young. The pups in due time were littered, and the Indian, when he went
out to fish, carefully tied them up to prevent their straying. Several
times as he approached his tent, he heard a noise of children talking
and playing; but on entering it he only perceived the pups tied up as
usual. His curiosity being excited by the noises he had heard, he
determined to watch, and one day pretending to go out and fish,
according to custom, he concealed himself in a convenient place. In a
short time he again heard voices, and rushing suddenly into the tent,
beheld some beautiful children sporting and laughing, with the dog-skins
lying by their side. He threw the skins into the fire, and the children,
retaining their proper forms, grew up, and were the ancestors of the
Dog-Rib nation.

On Mr. Dease questioning some of the elderly men as to their knowledge
of a supreme Being, they replied--"We believe that there is a Great
Spirit, who created every thing, both us and the world for our use. We
suppose that he dwells in the lands from whence the white people come,
that he is kind to the inhabitants of those lands, and that there are
people there who never die: the winds that blow from that quarter
(south) are always warm. He does not know the wretched state of our
island, nor the pitiful condition in which we are."

To the question, whom do your medicine men address when they conjure?
They answered,--"We do not think that they speak to the master of life,
for if they did, we should fare better than we do, and should not die.
He does not inhabit our lands."

[Sidenote: December.] On the evening of the 1st of December a brilliant
comet appeared in the western quarter, which had been indistinctly seen
the two preceding nights. A line drawn through alpha and eta Ursae Majoris
led to its position; it also formed a trapezium with alpha Aquilae and alpha
Lyrae and alpha Coronae Borealis. This was the last night of its being
visible. The temperature had been unusually high for several days, about
this time +18 above zero; and, with the exception of the night of the
1s