“I thank you much for the two little books which you have been good enough to send me. Let me congratulate you very heartily on having been permitted to help so many to hear or read in their own tongue the wonderful works of God.” Surely we have no cause to _boast_ of our doings, but if there is one thing the advocates of the Bible in Nova Scotia have reason to be glad of,—not _proud_ of—it surely is that under God they have been permitted to unfold their priceless volume to the long-neglected Indians. SILAS T. RAND. [Illustration] FIRST VERSE OF SCRIPTURE TRANSLATED INTO MICMAC BY DR. RAND. _Mudu Nikskam teliksatcus oositcumoo wedjeigunumooedogub-unn neooktoo-bistadjul oocwisul, coolaman m’sit wen tan kedlamsitc ootenincu, ma oonma-djinpooc, cadoo ooscoto apskooawe memadjooocun._—JOHN III: 16. * * * * * “I can never forget the thrill of emotion that filled my soul and body at the completion of this task—for _task_ it was, taxing all my powers of mind and body.”—Extract from Dr. Rand’s private diary written during the summer of 1849. J. S. C. MICMAC MYTHOLOGY MICMAC MYTHOLOGY.[2] * * * * * “Weegegijik. Kessegook, wigwamk; Meskeek oodun Ulnoo, kes saak.” [May you be happy. The old people are encamped; There was once, long ago, a large Indian village.] With this suggestive couplet the Legends, or Ahtookwokun of the Micmacs, in their original form, almost invariably commence. The inseparable introduction shows us how the literature of the people had long ago taken on a settled form, even though there were no written records; it confirms to a considerable degree the common impression that they had a ballad arrangement, and were chanted to weird music in that ancient time; and also indicates how carefully the old men cherish the memory of their former greatness. These people look upon their folk-lore as a sacred treasure to be carefully preserved by their holy men; and, as in our Saxon traditions the dying Bleys relates the story of Arthur’s birth, so an aged Sakumow may be heard repeating the immortal legends to faithful witnesses, just before he passes on to the regions of the far West, where Glooscap dwells in the presence of the Great Spirit, and where the golden sunsets give us foregleams of that beautiful abode, the happy hunting-ground of the faithful. Let us approach the study of Micmac Mythology with a becoming reverence, for we are dealing with sacred things; and, as we learn what little we can about a vanishing religion, may we not join with the great American poet in the hope