(1) _Instinctive veneration for madness._--p. 194.
Insanity is not common among the Indians. Men in this unhappy
situation are always considered as objects of pity. Every one, young
and old, feels compassion for their misfortune; to laugh or scoff at
them would be considered as a crime, much more so to insult or molest
them. Heckewelder tells the following story concerning their treatment
of one suspected of insanity, which proves their peculiar feeling with
regard to this unfortunate class of men:--
"About the commencement of the Indian war of 1763, a trading Jew, who
was going up the Detroit river with a bateau load of goods which he
had brought from Albany, was taken by some Indians of the Chippewas
nation, and destined to be put to death. A Frenchman, impelled by
motives of friendship and humanity, found means to steal the prisoner,
and kept him so concealed for some time, that, although the most
diligent search was made, the place of his confinement could not
discovered. At last, however, the unfortunate man was betrayed by some
false friend, and again fell into the power of the Indians, who took
him across the river to be burned and tortured. Tied to the stake,
and the fire burning by his side, his thirst from the great heat
became intolerable, and he begged that some drink might be given him.
It is a custom with the Indians, previous, to a prisoner being put to
death, to give him what they call his last meal; a bowl of pottage or
broth was therefore brought to him for that purpose. Eager to quench
his thirst, he put the bowl immediately to his lips, and, the liquor
being very hot, he was dreadfully scalded. Being a man of a very quick
temper, the moment he felt his mouth burned, he threw the bowl with
its contents full into the face of the man who had handed it to him.
'He is mad! he is mad!' resounded from all quarters. The by-standers
considered his conduct as an act of insanity, and immediately untied
the cords with which he was bound, and let him go where he pleased."