The Sioux, or Dakotas, of whom the Assiniboins are a branch, pretend that thunder is an enormous bird, and that the muffled sound of the distant thunder is caused by a countless number of young birds! The great bird, they say, gives the first sound, and the young ones repeat it: this is the cause of the reverberations. The Sioux declare that the young thunders do all the mischief, like giddy youth, who will not listen to good advice; but the old thunder, or big bird, is wise and excellent, he never kills or injures any one!
The Assiniboins dread vampires and bats. Should these
fly near a man, it is an omen of evil. The Will-with-a-wisp
is also a great terror to them. The man who sees one during the night is certain that death is about to carry away some cherished member of his family.
They believe in dreams. According to them, good dreams come from a spirit that loves them and desires to give them good advice; bad dreams, in particular the nightmare, render them sad and melancholy, and lead them to dread the arrival of painful events.
Not a day passes in an Indian family without some one having seen or heard something that augurs evil. This always excites an anxiety; hence their superstitions become a kind of torment.
I have the honor to be, etc.
P. S.- I hope to send you in a few days some account of Indian hunts and especially of a great bison hunt made by the Assiniboins in a kind of inclosure or park. If possible, I will add a sketch to enable you to understand what I try to describe.
The thermometer stands here at 96° and even Io2°. I am afraid my style shows it. The heat is so excessive that several persons have fallen dead in the streets.
I hope you have received my itinerary, my letter on our shipwreck on the Humboldt, and the address sent me by Crazy Bear, the Assiniboin chief. Please acknowledge receipt of my letters.