village by the power of the great Glooskap. For the Mikumwess, at the
great dance which was held that evening at the wedding, astonished all
who beheld him. As he danced around the circle, upon the very hard
beaten floor, they saw his feet sink deeper at every step, and ever
deeper as the dance went on; ploughing the ground up into high, uneven
ridges, forming a trench as he went, until at length only his head was
to be seen. [Footnote: This is very characteristic of the true
magician, both in the Algonquin and Eskimo folk-lore. "The
_angakok_," or sorcerer of Greenland, "after meeting with
_tomarsuk_, or guardian spirits, sometimes manifested it by his
feet sinking into the rocky ground _just as if in snow_." (Rink.)
This phrase indicates the Northern origin of the idea, which occurs in
many Indian stories. I have been assured in all faith that there is a
Passamaquoddy _m'teoulin_, or sorcerer, now living, who can walk
up to his knees in a floor or in the paved street, and an honest and
trustworthy Indian assured me that he had seen him do it.]

And this ended the dancing for that night, since the ground was no
longer to be danced upon by anybody except wizards and witches.

Then the young man and his wife and the Mikumwess entered their canoe
and sailed _boosijk_ (homewards, M.). And yet their trials were
not over. [Footnote: These subsequent trials were not inflicted by the
old chief, but were, as appears by comparison with other legends,
simply jokes played by the incorrigible Glooskap. It is most probable
that in its original form this remarkable myth was all _maya_,
or illusion, and the whole a series of illusions, caused by the
arch-conjurer, typifying natural phenomena.] For they had not gone
far ere they saw an awful storm coming to meet them; and he that had
the Elfin spells knew that it was raised by _boo-oin_, or sorcery,