She did nothing but sing and fast. Thus she pined away, until death, which she so frequently desired, came to her relief. After her decease, the bird was never more seen; and it became a popular opinion that this mysterious bird had flown away with her spirit to the happy land of life. But the bitter tears of remorse fell in the lodge of Wawanosh; and he lived many years to regret his false pride and his harsh treatment of the noble youth.
Thus far the legend which I hold from a worthy sachem of the Lenni Lennapi nation or Delawares.
The Indian Tradition o f the Flood and the Rainbow.
This is the opinion concerning the rainbow and the deluge, which I have found among the Lenni-Lennapi or Delawares,3 who inhabit the Territory of Kansas in the United States.
Sin-go-wi-chi-na-xa4 is the name the Lenni-Lennapi, or First People, give to the rainbow. It is a very significant word; it comprehends a great many things and can hardly be translated. I will try, however, to give the literal signification. Sin-go-wi-chi-na-xa means a large luminous circle, composed of several narrow circles, differing from one another in color, but so mingled that no line of demarcation can be observed between them.
The following is the tradition that is handed down in this tribe. The rainbow dates from the oldest times. After the creation of the earth, the Great Spirit covered it with a dark blue and azure vault. A great uneasiness took possession
a From the French of the third Belgian edition.
3 Father De Smet does not appear ever to have been among the Delawares. His informant in the lore of that nation was Reverend Father Beschor, Delaware and Jesuit, whose story he has told under the name of Watomika.
4 The letter x is used to indicate the German ch-sound. 7o