This Messou, going hunting with lynxes, instead of dogs, was warned that it would be dangerous for his lynxes (which he called his brothers) in a certain lake near the place where he was. One day as he was hunting an elk, his lynxes gave it chase even into the lake; and, when they reached the middle of it, they were submerged in an instant. When he arrived there and sought his brothers [78] everywhere, a bird told him that it had seen them at the bottom of the lake, and that certain animals or monsters held them there. He leaped into the water to rescue them; but immediately the lake overflowed, and increased so prodigiously that it inundated and drowned the whole earth. Le Messou bien estonné, quitte la pensée de ses loups, pour songer à restablir le monde. Il enuoye vn corbeau chercher vn peu de terre, pour auec ce morceau en restablir vn autre. Le corbeau n'en peut trouuer, tout estant couuert d'eau. Il fait plonger vne loutre, mais la profondeur des eaux l'empescha de venir iusques à terre. En fin vn rat musqué descendit, & en rapporta: Auec ce morceau de terre il remit tout en estat: il refit des troncs d'arbres, & tirant des fléches à l'encontre, elles se changeoient en branches. Ce seroit vne longue fable de raconter [79] comme il repara tout: comme il se vangea des mõstres qui auoient pris ses chasseurs, se transformant en mille sortes d'animaux pour les surprendre: bref ce beau Reparateur estant marié à vne soury musquée, eut des enfans qui ont repeuplé le monde. The Messou, very much astonished, gave up all thoughts of his lynxes, to meditate on creating the world anew. He sent a raven to find a small piece of the earth, with which to build up another world. The raven was unable to find any, everything being covered with water. He made an otter dive down, but the depth of the water prevented it from going to the bottom. At last a muskrat descended, and brought back some earth. With this bit of earth, he [Messou] restored everything to its condition. He remade the trunks of the trees, and shot arrows against them, which were changed into branches. It would be a long story to recount [79] how he reëstablished everything; how he took vengeance on the monsters that had taken his hunters, transforming himself into a thousand kinds of animals to circumvent them. In short, this great Restorer, having married a little muskrat, had children who repeopled the world. On voit par ces contes que les Sauuages ont quelque idée d'vn Dieu: Ie dis bien dauantage, qu'ils ont quelque espece de sacrifice. Le Pere Brebeuf m'a asseuré qu'hyuernant auec eux, il leur vit mettre vn petit Eslan ou Orignac souz la cendre, & le brusler. Il cogneut depuis qu'à mesme temps on en auoit brûlé vn en la mesme façon en vne autre cabane, & demandant la raison de cela, ils luy dirent que c'estoit pour la santé d'vn malade.