pany's territory. The intimacy which he cultivated with the whites, united to a high degree of native cunning, proved the means of his acquiring many arts, which gave him on his return a kind of distinction among his people. He had also obtained, by means of a white man, a quantity of poison, and had learned its properties and use. Tchatka was an unprincipled, deceitful, cunning, cowardly man. Although young and vigorous he always kept out of danger. While the warriors of his tribe were fighting in the plain, he would be seated on a hill or some other spot from which he could observe all that passed. He had been initiated into all the tricks of the jugglers. He never performed incantation and juggleries without a good horse beside him, on which he sprang in case of defeat. He was always the first to escape, abandoning the combatants to their own luck, and got off as well as he could. As we shall see in the sequel, he became chief of 280 lodges, or about I,2oo warriors. The great confidence which they had in their leader seems :a have been the cause of his great success in the war against the Blackfeet and other enemies of the nation.
As soon as Tchatka had attained the requisite age, he used every effort to attain his object and satisfy his ambition. He calculated the advantages and ascendancy he would obtain over the people by becoming initiated in the great band of medicine men or jugglers,° and he pretended to the gift of prophecy. A second motive for this initiation was, that he might thereby conceal his want of bravery - a quality indispensable in a chief. Many remarkable stories are related of his exactitude in predicting future events, and for which the simple savages could give no explanation.
s The Wah-kons, or medicine men, among the American Indians, and the Panomoosi of Northern Asia, belong to the same class. In both hemispheres these charlatans pretend to heal diseases by witchcraft; they predict the issue of wars and hunts. In all cases they pretend to be inspired by manitous; that is, divinities or spirits. They generally retire to the depth of the forests, where they pretend to fast for several days, and often practice very rigorous penances, consisting especially in