* * * * *
(1) _Hobbamock_--p. 120.
This was the Indian Devil. "Another power they worship, whom they call
_Hobbamock_, and to the northward of us, _Hobbamoqui;_ this, as farre as
wee can conceive, is the Devill; him they call upon to cure their wounds
and diseases. When they are curable, hee perswades them hee sends the
same for some conceiled anger, but, upon their calling upon him, can and
doth help them; but, when they are mortall, and not curable in nature,
then he perswades them Kiehtan is angry, and sends them diseases whom
none can cure; insomuch, as in that respect onely they somewhat doubt
whether hee bee simply good, and therefore in sicknesse never call upon
him. _This Hobbamock appears in sundry formes unto them,_ as in the
_shape of a man, a deare, a fawne, an eagle, &c., but most ordinarily at
a snake_."--_Purchas' Pilgrims_.
Dr. Jarvis, a shrewd and learned American theologian and writer,
observes, "This Hobbamock, or Hobbamoqui, who "appears in sundry forms,"
is evidently the _Oke_ or _Tutelary Deity,_ which each Indian worships;
and Mr. Winslow's narrative affords a solution of the pretended worship
of the devil, which the first settlers imagined they had discovered, and
which has since been so frequently mentioned on their authority,
without examination. The natives, it was found, worshipped another being
besides the Great Spirit, which every one called his _Hobbamock_, or
_Guardian Oke_. This the English thought could be no other than the
_Devil_, and accordingly they asserted, without farther ceremony, what
they believed to be a fact."
(2) _Conjurors_.--p. 121.
Both Charlevoix and Heckewelder have treated of Indian priests, and
conjurors, and jugglers, as though they were separate professions, and
several late writers have fallen into the same error. Hear Carver:
"The _priests of the Indians are at the same time their physicians, and
their conjurors_; whilst they heal their wounds, or cure their diseases,
they interpret their dreams, give them protective charms, and satisfy
that desire which is so prevalent among them, of searching into
futurity. ***** When any of the people are ill, the _person who is
invested with this triple character of doctor, priest, and magician,
sits by the patient, &c."--Carver,_ 251, 252.
My opinion is decidedly with Carver, that the two professions are
conjoined. The physician never uses his simples, without invoking, in
his quality of priest, the aid of the Supreme Being.
The appearance which they make, and the dress in which their
incantations are performed, deserve mention for their singularity. The
following passage from Mr. Heckewelder describes their appearance, and
is the original of those in Mr. Cooper's Novels of The Prairie and Last
of the Mohicans: "The dress this juggler had on consisted of an entire
garment, or outside covering, made of one or more bear-skins, as black
as jet, so well fitted and sewed together that the man was not in any
place to be perceived. The whole head of the bear, including the mouth,
nose, teeth, ears, &c., appeared the same as when the animal was living,
so did the legs with long claws; to this were added a huge pair of horns
on the head, and behind a large bushy tail, moving as be walked, as
though it were on springs; but for these accompaniments, the man walking
on all-fours might have been taken for a bear of an extraordinary size.
Underneath there his hands were, holes had been cut, though not risible
to the eye, being covered with the long hair, through which he held and
managed his implements, and he saw through two holes set with
glass."--_Hist. Account,_ p. 288, 289.
He then describes the practice of these medical gentlemen of the forest:
"He approaches his patient with a variety of contortions and gestures,
and performs by his side, and over him, all the antic tricks that his
imagination can suggest. He breathes on him, blows in his mouth, and
often makes an external application of the medicines which he has
prepared, by throwing them over in his face, mouth, and nose; he rattles
his gourd filled with dry beans or pebbles; pulls out, and handles about
a variety of sticks and bundles, in which be appears to be seeking for
the proper remedy; all which is accompanied with the most horrid
gesticulations, by which he endeavours, as he says, to frighten the
Spirit or the disorder away," &c.--_Hist. Acc._. 225.
An Indian physician never applies his medicines without accompanying
them with mysterious ceremonies, to make their effect supernatural. He
therefore prepares his roots and herbs with the most singular
ceremonies, and, in mixing them up, invokes the aid of the Great Spirit.
He also accompanies his directions with various gesticulations and
enigmatical expressions. The ceremonies he uses are various. Sometimes
he creeps into the oven where he sweats, howls, and roars, and now and
then grins horribly at his patient. Altogether I cannot conceive of a
more irrational manner of performing Esculapian duties, than that
adopted by the "faculty" of the Western Wilderness.
(3) _Rum_.
That the Indians were made drunk by Hendrick Hudson, at his first
interview with them, seems well settled. A tradition also prevails among
the Iroquois, that a scene of intoxication occurred with a party of the
natives on the arrival of the first ship in their waters.
The same tradition prevailed among the tribe named in the tale. See also
the tradition of The Coming of Miquon in the second volume.