lost their senses, rushed shrieking and howling from house to house,
upsetting everything in their way, throwing firebrands, beating those
they met or drenching them with water, and availing themselves of this
time of license to take a safe revenge on any who had ever offended them.
This scene of frenzy continued till daybreak. No corner of the village
was secure from the maniac crew. In the morning there was a change.
They ran from house to house, accosting the inmates by name, and
demanding of each the satisfaction of some secret want, revealed to the
pretended madman in a dream, but of the nature of which he gave no hint
whatever. The person addressed thereupon threw to him at random any
article at hand, as a hatchet, a kettle, or a pipe; and the applicant
continued his rounds till the desired gift was hit upon, when he gave an
outcry of delight, echoed by gratulatory cries from all present. If,
after all his efforts, he failed in obtaining the object of his dream,
he fell into a deep dejection, convinced that some disaster was in store
for him.

[ Brebeuf's account of the Dream Feast is brief. The above particulars
are drawn chiefly from Charlevoix, Journal Historique, 356, and Sagard,
Voyage du Pays des Hurons, 280. See also Lafitau, and other early
writers. This ceremony was not confined to the Hurons, but prevailed
also among the Iroquois, and doubtless other kindred tribes. The Jesuit
Dablon saw it in perfection at Onondaga. It usually took place in
February, occupying about three days, and was often attended with great
indecencies. The word ononhara means turning of the brain. ]

The approach of summer brought with it a comparative peace. Many of the
villagers dispersed,--some to their fishing, some to expeditions of trade,
and some to distant lodges by their detached corn-fields. The priests
availed themselves of the respite to engage in those exercises of private