Journeying along the shores of Lake Huron, they stopped to avoid a gale of wind and to rest.  Henry, gathering firewood, disturbed a rattlesnake which manifested hostile intentions.  He went back to the canoe to fetch his gun; but upon telling the Ojibwes that he was about to kill a rattlesnake they begged him to desist.  They then seized their pipes and tobacco pouches and returned with him to the place where he had left the rattlesnake, which was still coiled up and angry.

“The Indians, on their part, surrounded it, all addressing it by turns, and calling it their grandfather; but yet keeping at some distance.  During this part of the ceremony they filled their pipes; and now each blew the smoke towards the snake, who, as it appeared to me, really received it with pleasure.  In a word, after remaining coiled, and receiving incense for the space of half an hour, it stretched itself along the ground, in visible good humour.  Its length was between four and five feet.  Having remained outstretched for some time, at last it moved slowly away, the Indians following it, and still addressing it by the title of grandfather, beseeching it to take care of their families during their absence, and to be pleased to open the heart of Sir William Johnson, so that he might show them charity, and fill their canoe with rum.

“One of the chiefs added a petition, that the snake would take no notice of the insult which had been offered him by the Englishman, who would even have put him to death, but for the interference of the Indians, to whom it was hoped he would impute no part of the offence.”

Early the next morning they proceeded on their way, with a serene sky and very little wind, so that to shorten the journey they determined to steer across the lake to an island which just appeared on the horizon.  But after hoisting a sail the wind increased, and the Indians, beginning to be alarmed, frequently called on the rattlesnake to come to their assistance.  By degrees the waves grew high, and at last it blew a hurricane, Henry and his companions expecting every moment to be swallowed up.  From prayers the Indians now proceeded to sacrifices, both alike offered to the god-rattlesnake, or manito-kinibik.  One of the chiefs took a dog, and, after tying its fore legs together, threw it overboard, at the same time calling on the snake to preserve the party from being drowned, and desiring him to satisfy his hunger with the carcass of the dog.  The snake was unpropitious, and the wind increased.  Another chief sacrificed another dog, with the addition of some tobacco.  In the prayer which accompanied these gifts he besought the snake, as before, not to avenge upon the Indians the insult which he had received from the Englishman.  “He assured the snake that I was absolutely an Englishman, and of kin neither to him nor to them.”

“At the conclusion of this speech, an Indian, who sat near me, observed, that if we were drowned it would be for my fault alone, and that I ought myself to be sacrificed, to appease the angry manito; nor was I without apprehensions, that in case of extremity this would be my fate; but, happily for me, the storm at length abated, and we reached the island safely.”