I shall not here enter upon these reflections further, suffice the
above for they are too long, too frequent. And besides, I wish to
sacrifice the little paper I have remaining to such other things as I
have, and which I think may not be quite uninteresting to you. Had
there been but their speeches and the ceremonies, I should not perhaps
have thought so deeply. But their cries of "He! He!" and "Ha! Ha!"
[were] so repeated and vociferous, that I was struck with a certain
horror and thought that half of the devils in hell had entered the
throats of these men to give _me_ an idea of their pandemonium
below. Good God! What a miserable reflection! But how much moreso the
occasion leading to it!
[Roots and Medicines]
Notwithstanding, they sometimes _Dream_ of roots (medicines). There is
a certain place, according to their notions, consecrated to _Esculapius_
(and perhaps Apollo also, conjointly). It is depicted as a most
heavenly abode, so delightful.
[The Abode of the Medicine Spirit]
He (_Esculapius_) resides in a mountain, in the bowels of which is his
house. It has six doors, but so mysteriously constructed that no soul
whatever besides himself and his _inmates_, of whom there are a great
number (of every nation and language), can open them.
The lock apparently is in the form of a screw, or spiral, and is
opened on the inside, but only to such as Esculapius deems worthy of
admission. These doors open _to_ different quarters, the house being
immensely large and, as above mentioned, in the bowels of ye mountain.
_In_ this residence is of every medicine useful in life such as do not
_vegetate_--minerals [and] fossils. These are shown to the votary. He is
instructed in their use, the manner of preparing and mixing them, the
ceremonies, songs and sacrifices to be performed in their application,
taking of them up, or in instructing _others_, because it is not every
_Indian_ that is favored with these dreams.
The mountain is of a moderate size, and there issue from it forty
rivers which fall into a lake not far from the _base_ and situated in a
beautiful plain. This lake is shallow and has some handsome sandy
shoals, and in the borders of it in the water grow beautiful
_rushes_. The water in every one of these rivers is of a different
color, no two being alike; one is black, another white, red, green,
blue, _ash-color_. _In_ the latter grow herbs and plants of a vast
variety, as also their nature.
[Teaching the Medicines to the Votary]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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