New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-16

him or his fellows as strange. It had occurred
TO him in a dim accidental way often enough
A clear expression of the idea convinced MS rea-
son at once AS to the various powers whicn
were appealed TO In one exlgency or announcer Oh
life--he could easily agree with the priests tnat
they were demoniac as soon as he felt the pres
ence Of greater power. Here he advanced 10 a
stage Of thought which Is dwelt on In the Re-
ations." and which was quite as high as that OF
the Jesuits themselves. or of the New-Engahd
clergymen who were soon afterwafd engaged III
explaining the work Of Providence with uhparai-
eled minuteness To Jesuit father VINO saw
an Indian made whole merely by the touch OF
the relics Of st. Lawrence Of Dublin. the testi-
mony that shoal Of smelts had come In answer
to prayer just In time to prevent starvation was
as convincing as 1t was to Membertou himself
There were many such incidents WITHIN Mem-
bertou's experience or within the circle or MS
observation. Persons whose life had been de-
SPARED OF by the Indian doctors, himself among
the number, had recovered at the mere WORD OF
the priests or Of the head OF the French colony
He could only explain these things in one way,
and fortunately his audience was not at all
sceptical. Nevertheless, he had his Joke occa-
sionally at the expense OF his teachers once
Biard was trying to teach him the Paternoster
bread" he exclaimed: "Oh, can't stop at that!
must have moose-meat and fish," Sometimes.
also, his imagination ran away with his facts. as
when he told Biard. who was somewhat credu-
lous, that In his young days the Mcmacs were
as numerous on the Acadan coast as the hairs
on his head But he was. on the whole wise
old man, a forest philosopher. who taught the
Frenchmen more than he learned from them.
His is not the only attractive native figure In
these volumes OF the historical and scientific
value OF the Relations" much has been said; but
their charm narratives lies mainly In these
human lives very close to nature, and 80 little
touched by anything like civilization as known
to the European invaders
To the investigators of that time. and to many
still, this Indian life seemed to have remote
past in the regions where 1t was found. The
predecessors Of Membertou were reckoned back
to a considerable antiquity and Ii Is well known
that the Iroquois physician Cusck fancied he
could give approximate dates In Indian history
up to time nearly two thousand years ago.
Since the discovery Of cave men In Europe. the
theories as to the antiquity OF the red race have
been much enlarged. 1t Is to this question that
Mr.. Mercer has addressed himself In his present
work. he did formerly In his study OF the
caves of Yucatan. Practically his conclusions
respecting the cave, dwellings and stone-weapon
QuarreS OF Pennsylvania are similar TO those
which nc reached in Yucatan. There Is almost
no evidence Of human life beyond few
hundred years in the past. Only one extinct
animal figures prominently In his list along with
human relics and that is the peccary. But the
surroundings led him to think that this animal
was mere survival among the species OF the
present day. The volume also contains a paper
on shell heaps left By savages along York River.
Maine, and there, too, after computing the time
that an average tribe OF Indians would take In
forming a given heap he decides that the de-
posts are essentially modern In origin. APP
parently he would not date the Indians appear
ance on the Atlantic coast very far back In the
medieval period Of Europe. But, OF course, his
book makes but one chapter In an investigation
where there remains still much to be done.