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Show 46 THE LILY AND THE TOTEM. if n. sudden and terrible doom overhung the nation, tho Indian women set up cries of grief and lamentation. '!'heir pngsion grew to madness. In their ragf', the mothers seized upon tho young \•irgins of the tribe, and, with the sharp edges of muscle shells, they lanced their arms, till tho blood gushed forth in free streams, ,vhich they eagerly flung into the air, crying aloud at every moment, "IIc-to-yah! Jlc-to-yah! He-to-yah !"• These ceremonies, though not more meaningless, perhaps, in the eyes of the Christian, tl1an would be our most solemn religious proceedings in those of tho Indian, provoked the laughter of Albert and some of his Frenchmen. 'fhis circumstance awakened the indignation of their excellent friend, Audusta. llis displea,.. sure wa.s now still farther increased by a. proceeding of Captain Albert. It was an atklmpt U}>On their mystcrieli. 'l'hat portion of the ofliciating priesthood-their Iawas-who fled from tho sacred enclosure to deep recesses of the woods, sought there for the prosecution, in secret, of rites too holy for the vulgar eye. IIcre they maintained their !MtGil~m sanctorum. '!'his was the place consecrated t-0 the communion of the god with his immediate servants-the holy of holies, which it was. death to penetrat. o or pass. Albert suffered his curiosity to get the bctklr of his discretion. Offended by tho laughter of the :Frenchmen, at what they had already beheld, and fearing lest their audacity should lead them farther, tho king, Audusta, had gathered them again within the royal wigwam, where he sought, by marked kindness and distinction, to make them forgetful of what had been +Adair liken• the cry of the Southern Indians to the ncred name among the Jew¥-" Je-ho-vah." He writes the Indian syllables thus-•' Yo-hewah," and it con~litute• one of his favorite argumenli for deducing the origin of the North America.n red-men from the ancient Hebrew• TilE LEGEND O.f CUERNACIJE. 47 denied. They had seeu, as he told them, the more impresaive JlOrtions of the ceremonial. There 'vcre others, but not of a. kind to interest them. But the fact th:~.t there was somctl1ing to conee:~- 1, stimubted the curiosity of Albert. In due degree with the king's anxiety to keep his secret, was that of the li'rench captain's to fathom it. Tiolding a brief consultation with his men, accordingly, he declared his dc:>iro to this effect; and proposed, tlmt one of their number :.houhl contrive to !!teal forth, nud, finding his way to the forbidden ~>pot, ~hould place himself in such a position :"IS would enable him to survey :~.!! the mysterious proceedings. To this course, Gucrnache frankly opposed l1is opinions. His greater intimacy with the red-men led him properly to conceive the danger which might ensue, from their disco,•ery of the intrusion. IIe had been well taught by )[oualctta, the degree of importance which they attacl1ed to the security of their mystic rites. Arguing with the honesty of his character, he warned his captain of the risk which such unbecoming curio!<ity would incur-the peril to the offender, himself, if detected; and the huznrds to tho colony from the loss of thnt fl'icnd~<hip to which they had been already so largely indebted. But the counsels of G uemnche wcro rejected with indignity. Prepared, 11lrcady, to rc&rard l1im with dislike nnd suspicion, Albert heard his suggestions only ns so much impertinence ; and rudely commanded him not to forget l1imself ancl place, nor to thrust ltis undesired opinions upon th<.. consideration of gentlemen. 1'he poor fellow wns cffectuall;silenccd by this rebuke. lie snnk out of sight, and presumed m, farther to advise. But the counsel was not wholly thrown away Disregarded by Albert, it was caught up, and insisted on, br others, who had better conventional claims to bo heard, and tho proposition might have been defeated but for the ready intcrposi- |