r main object was to see
him. They had lost four of their friends on the way, and they wished to
know whether they could return in safety to the earth, that they might
inform their friends and relatives of all that had befallen them. They
concluded by requesting him to grant their wishes. He replied, "Yes,
you shall certainly return in safety; but your companions were vain and
presumptuous in their demands. They were Gug-ge-baw-diz-ze-wug.[102]
They aspired to what Manitoes only could enjoy. But you two, as I said,
shall get back to your country, and become as happy as the hunter's
life can make you. You shall never be in want of the necessaries of
life, as long as you are permitted to live; and you will have the
satisfaction of relating your journey to your friends, and also of
telling them of me. Follow me, follow me," he said, commencing his
course again. The ascent was now gradual, and they soon came to a level
plain. After travelling some time he again sat down to rest, for we had
arrived at Nau-we-qua.[103] "You see," said he, "it is level at this
place, but a short distance onwards, my way descends gradually to my
last resting-place, from which there is an abrupt descent." He repeated
his assurance that they should be shielded from danger, if they relied
firmly on his power. "Come here quickly," he said, placing something
before them on which they could descend; "keep firm," said he, as they
resumed the descent. They went downward as if they had been let down by
ropes.

In the mean time the parents of these two young men dreamed that their
sons were returning, and that they should soon see them. They placed
the fullest confidence in their dreams. Early in the morning they left
their lodges for a remote point in the forest, where they expected to
meet them. They were not long at the place before they saw the
adventurers returning, for they had descended not far from that place.
The young men knew they were their fathers. They met, and were happy.
They related all that had befallen them. They did not conceal anything;
and they expressed their gratitude to the different Manitoes who had
preserved them, by feasting and gifts, and particularly to the sun and
moon, who had received them as their children.

[93] The East--_i.e._ place of light.

[94] Ship and boat. These terms exhibit the simple and the
diminutive forms of the name for ship or vessel. It is also the
term for a woman's needlewo