"The glass or cup thus passes through the circle without the liquor being tasted by any one, and is upon the point of being returned to the red-clothed Manitou, when one of the Indians, a brave man and a great warrior, suddenly jumps up and harangues the assembly, on the impropriety of returning the cup with its content: It was handed to them, said he, by the Manitou, that they should drink out of it as he had done: to follow his example would be pleasing to him, but to return what he had given to them, might provoke his wrath, and bring destruction on them; and since the orator believed it for the good of the nation, that the contents should be drunk, and as no one else would do it, he would drink it himself, let the consequences be what they might: it was better for one man to die, than that a whole nation should be destroyed. "He then took the cup, and bidding the assembly a solemn farewell, at once drank up its whole contents. Every eye was fixed on the resolute chief, to see what effect the unknown liquor would produce. "He soon began to stagger, and at last fell prostrate on the ground; his companions now bemoan his fate, he falls into a sound sleep, and they think he is dead: he wakes again:--he asks for more, his wish is granted; the whole assembly then imitate him, and all become intoxicated. [Illustration] "After this general intoxication had ceased, the man with the red clothes, who had remained in his great canoe while it lasted, returned again and distributed presents among them, consisting of beads, axes, shoes and stockings, such as white people wear. "They soon became familiar with each other, and began to converse by signs; the strangers made them understand that they would not stay here, that they would return home again, but would pay them another visit next year, when they would bring them more presents and stay with them awhile. "They went away, as they had said, and returned in the following season, when both parties were much rejoiced to see each other; but the white men laughed at the Indians, for they had the axes and hoes, which they had given them the year before, hanging to their breasts, as ornaments, and the stockings were made use of as tobacco pouches. The whites now put handles to the axes for them, and cut down trees before their eyes, hoed up the ground, and put the stockings on their legs: here, they say, a general laughter ensued among the Indians, that they had remained ignorant of the use of such valuable tools, and had borne the weight of them hanging to their necks for such a length of time. They took every white man they saw for an inferior attendant on the supreme Manitou in the red laced clothes. [Illustration] "As they became daily more familiar with the Indians, the white men proposed to stay with us, and we readily consented.