simiarum instar: is vescentium, is deliberantium, & confabulantium
habitus est. Adeuntes amicos salutant inepto risu; sæpius ho, hho,
hhho, conclamantes. Cum vescuntur, potum dapibus non intermiscent,
neque identidem bibunt; sed semel tantùm, sumpto cibo. Qui amicos
convivio accipit, cum iis neque accumbit, nec ciborum partem ullam
attingit, sed epulantibus dividit: aut, si quem adhibet structorem,
sedet seorsum jejunus, & spectat. Inter edendum silent: salem
aversantur, & condimenta: ossa canibus projicere piaculum arbitrantur:
igni cremant, vel terræ infodiunt. Si enim, inquiunt, ursi, fibri,
& aliæ, quas venando captamus, feræ, ossa sua permitti canibus, &
comminui, rescirent; non tam facile capi se paterentur. Adipem è
pinguibus collectum cibis, abstergunt coma; genis interdum brachiisve
allinunt, elegantiæ, ut aiunt, causa, & valetudinis: nam adipe non
solum nitere cutem, sed corroborari membra existimant. Non alio cibo
vescuntur libentius quàm Sagamita. Pulmentum est è farina, præsertim
Indici tritici, confectum: admisto, quod illis condimentum præcipuè
sapit, oleo. Itaque in conviviis pars dapum prima oleum, aut adeps,
in quem concretum & spissum ita dentes infigunt, ut nos in panem aut
pomum. Antequam illis lebetes, cortinæ, aliaque id genus vasa ærea
deferrentur è Gallia, utebantur cacabis è cortice compactis; verùm quia
imponi flammis non poterant impunè, hanc ad coquendas carnes artem
excogitaverant. Silices plurimos conjiciebant in focum, donec penitus
ignem combibissent. Candentes in ollam frigida plenam & carnibus alios
atque alios subinde immittebant. Ad hunc modum aqua calefacta carnes
citius opinione faciliusque percoquit. Ad tergendas manus utuntur
piloso canum tergo, cui illas affricant; item scobe ligni putris. Hæc
matribus vice panniculorum est, ad purgandas infantium sordes; hæc
instar culcitæ languidis corporibus substernitur. Vasa coquinaria, non
extergunt. Quo sunt crasso pingui magis oblita, eo melius, illorum
judicio, nitent. Turpe ducunt & superbum inambulare inter colloquendum.
Odorem mosci graviter ferunt, & meram esse mephitim putant, præ carnis
rancidæ, aut adipis mucidi frusto.
Sexcenta sunt ejus generis, in quibus longissimè recedunt ab Europæorum
institutis: sed ab illorum vitiis propius absunt, eaque vel æquant, vel
superant. Gulæ irritamenta, & inimicas bonæ ac sanæ menti potiones, ab
Europæis mercatoribus acceperunt, quibus lucri bonus est odor, etiam
ex flagitio, & scelerata nundinatione. Tandiu esse pergunt, dum adest
quod edant: nihil in crastinum, aut hyemem, reponunt: nec famem valde
reformidant, quia se ferre diuturnam posse confidunt. Conviviis ea lex
posita consensu moribusque gentis est, ut omnia fercula consumantur.
Si quis edit parciùs, & excusat valetudinem, plectitur, aut ejicitur,
ut insulsus, quasi qui vivendi artem nesciat. Primaria supellectilis
domesticæ pars, olla est, sive ahenum, in quo carnes coquuntur. Opes
lebetum numero metiuntur: nec regem Galliæ aliam ob causam initio magni
æstimabant; quàm quòd plures habere ollas dicebatur. Quanta sit apud
exleges, & omni freno solutos, intemperantiæ impunitas & licentia,
præsertim in adolescentibus, promptum est intelligere: nam grandiores
natu libidinem certis finibus circumscribunt, cùm æstus cupiditatum
deferbuit: nec impune est peccanti feminæ.
Religionis apud illos neque lex ulla, neque cura. Nullo stato & certo
cultu Numen prosequuntur. Esse tamen aliquod, velut in sublustri
nocte, vident. Quod quisque puer aspicit in somnis, cum lucescere
ratio incipit, hoc illi deinceps numen est, canis, ursus, avis.
Vivendi normam & agendi plerumque ducunt è somniis; ut si quem
interficiendum, exempli causa, somniaverint, non conquiescant donec
hominem insidiis exceptum necaverint. Piget fabulas referre, quas de
mundi opificio comminiscuntur. His implent otiosas & avidas plebis
aures harioli, & circulatores nequissimi, impietate quæstuosa.
Malorum auctorem genium nescio quem vocant Manitoù, ac vehementissime
perhorrescunt. Hostem procul dubio generis humani, qui à nonnullis
divinos honores & sacrificia quædam extorquet. Circa naturam animarum
non levius delirant. Simulacra fingunt corporea, cibi & potionis
egentia. Destinatum animabus versus occidentem solem, pagum credunt,
in quem obita morte se recipiant: & ubi epulis, venationi, & choreis
indulgeant. Hæc enim apud illos summa.
Cum primum de sempiternis ignibus, & incendiis sceleri destinatis
audierunt, immane quantum obstupuere: fidem tamen pertinaciter
abrogabant, quòd dicerent ibi esse ignem non posse, ubi nihil ligni
sit: tum, quænam silvæ alere tot ignes, tam diuturnos, possent? Hæc
ratio ineptissima tantam vim apud barbaras mentes habebat, ut iis
persuaderi veritas evangelica non posset. Quippe in homine carnali, ut
ait è SS. PP. nonnemo, tota ratio intelligendi est consuetudo cernendi.
Expugnavit nihilominus pertinaciam sacerdos acer & ingeniosus. Fidenter
affirmavit inferorum terram vices obire ligni, & ipsam ardere per sese.
Risu barbaræ multitudinis exceptus est. Imo, inquit, hujus Avernalis
terræ frustum proferam vobis, ut, quoniam verbis divinis non creditis,
vestris ipsi oculis credatis. Accendit curiositatem promissi novitas &
fiducia. Convenerunt è tota regione ad diem constitutum, & in ingenti
planitie, collibus instar amphitheatri cincta, consederunt. Primores
gentis duodecim lecti fuere, viri graves & cordati, qui sacerdotem
observarent, numquid fraudis ac præstigiarum lateret. Ille sulphuris
glebam depromit, dat istis arbitris & cognitoribus tractandam: hanc
oculis, naso, manu scrutati, haud dubie terram esse confessi sunt.
Aderat olla cum prunis candentibus. Tunc sacerdos populo procul
spectante; inhiantibus, demisso in prunas naso, judicibus, excussit in
carbones è sulphurea gleba particulas aliquot, quæ subito conceperunt
ignem & odore fetido nares curiosas impleverunt. Hoc iterum, ac tertiò
cum esset factum, assurrexit multitudo attonita, manum planam imponens
ori, quo gestu summam admirationem testantur; & inferos esse dicenti
Deo credidit.
MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS; CARE OF THE BODY; FOOD; FEASTS; HOUSEHOLD
UTENSILS; RELIGION AND SUPERSTITIONS.
THUS they treat their enemies; but at home they cultivate peace and
carefully avoid quarrels, except those which the fury of drunkenness
has aroused. Fortunate would they be if Europe had never introduced
this scourge among them! They know nothing of anger, and at first
were greatly surprised when the Fathers censured their faults before
the assembly; they thought that the Fathers were madmen, because
among peaceful hearers and friends they displayed such vehemence.
These people seek a reputation for liberality and generosity; they
give away their property freely and very seldom ask any return; nor
do they punish thieves otherwise than with ridicule and derision. If
they suspect that any one seeks to accomplish an evil deed by means of
false pretences, they do not restrain him with threats, but with gifts.
From the same desire for harmony comes their ready assent to whatever
one teaches them; nevertheless they hold tenaciously to their native
belief or superstition, and on that account are the more difficult to
instruct. For what can one do with those who in word give agreement and
assent to everything, but in reality give none? They kindly relieve
the poverty of the unfortunate; they provide sustenance for widows
and old men in their bereavement, except when, with old age, vitality
is withering away, or some grievous disease arises; for then they
think it better to cut short an unhappy existence than to support and
prolong it. Whatever misfortune may befall them, they never allow
themselves to lose their calm composure of mind, in which they think
that happiness especially consists. They endure many days' fasting,
also diseases and trials, with the greatest cheerfulness and patience.
Even the pangs of childbirth, although most bitter, are so concealed
or conquered by the women that they do not even groan; and if a tear
or a groan should escape any one of them, she would be stigmatized by
everlasting disgrace, nor could she find a man thereafter who would
marry her. Friends never indulge in complaint or expostulation to
friends, wives to their husbands, or husbands to their wives. They
treat their children with wonderful affection, but they preserve no
discipline, for they neither themselves correct them nor allow others
to do so. Hence the impudence and savageness of the boys, which,
after they have reached a vigorous age, breaks forth in all sorts
of wickedness. Moreover, they exercise the same mildness which they
exhibit toward their children and relatives, toward the remainder of
their tribe and their countrymen. If any person has injured another by
means of a rude jest (for they are commonly very talkative, and are
ready jesters), the latter carefully conceals it, or lays it up, and
in retaliation injures his detractor behind his back; for to jest in
the victim's presence, or to make a verbal attack, face to face, is
characteristic of religion. There is nothing which they are more prone
to use as a counter-allegation, when provoked, than to charge a man
with a lack of intelligence. For they claim praise because of their
intelligence, and not without good reason. No one among them is stupid
or sluggish, a fact which is evident in their inborn foresight in
deliberation and their fluency in speaking. Indeed, they have often
been heard to make a peroration so well calculated for persuasion,
and that off-hand, that they would excite the admiration of the most
experienced in the arena of eloquence.
Their bodies, well proportioned, handsome because of their height,
vigorous in strength, correspond to their minds. They have the same
complexion as the French, although they disfigure it with fat and
rancid oil, with which they grease themselves; nor do they neglect
paints of various colors, by means of which they appear beautiful to
themselves, but to us ridiculous. Some may be seen with blue noses,
but with cheeks and eyebrows black; others mark forehead, nose and
cheeks with lines of various colors; one would think he beheld so many
hobgoblins. They believe that in colors of this description they are
dreadful to their enemies, and that likewise their own fear in line of
battle will be concealed as by a veil; finally, that it hardens the
skin of the body, so that the cold of winter is more easily borne.
Besides these colors, which are usually applied or removed according
to the pleasure of each person, many impress upon the skin fixed and
permanent representations of birds or animals, such as a snake, an
eagle, or a toad, in the following manner: With awls, spear-points,
or thorns they so puncture the neck, breast or cheeks as to trace
rude outlines of those objects; next, they insert into the pierced
and bleeding skin a black powder made from pulverized charcoal, which
unites with the blood and so fixes upon the living flesh the pictures
which have been drawn that no length of time can efface them. Some
entire tribes--that especially which is called the Tobacco nation,
and also another, which is called the Neutral nation--practice it as
a continuous custom and usage; sometimes it is not without danger,
especially if the season be somewhat cold or the physical constitution
rather weak. [347] For then, overcome by suffering, although they do
not betray it by even a groan, they swoon away and sometimes drop dead.
They praise small eyes and turned-up and projecting lips. Some shave
their hair, others cultivate it; some have half the head bare, others
the back of the head; the hair of some is raised upon their heads, that
of others hangs down scantily upon each temple. They detest a beard as
a monstrosity, and straightway pull out whatever hair grows upon their
chins. The men as well as the women pierce the lobes of their ears, and
place in them earrings made of glass or shells. The larger the hole,
the more beautiful they consider it. They never cut their nails. They
ridicule the Europeans, because the latter wipe off the mucus flowing
from the nose with white handkerchiefs, and say: "For what purpose do
they preserve such a vile thing?" In dancing, they bend the body, with
the head lowered, in the form of a bow, and move their arms like those
who knead dough, at the same time emitting hoarse grunts. They gird
the lower portion of the belly with a broad piece of bark or hide or a
parti-colored cloth, and leave the rest of the body naked. The women
wear skins hanging from the shoulders and neck to the knees. They wear
belts and bracelets ingeniously manufactured from Venus shells,[71]
which we commonly call porcelain, or from porcupine quills; and
necklaces made in this fashion they value highly. They make very neat
mats from marisco (a variety of marine rush); with these they cover
their floors, and also take their rest upon them, or upon the soft
furs of the seal or the beaver. In winter they sleep about a fire
constantly burning in the middle of the lodge, in summer under the open
sky.
Neither table nor chair can be seen in the hut. They squat upon their
haunches like monkeys; this is their custom while eating, deliberating
or conversing. They greet approaching friends with silly laughter,
more often exclaiming, ho, hho, hhho. When they eat they do not take
beverages with their food, nor do they drink often, but only once
after eating. Whoever entertains his friends at a feast neither sits
with them nor touches any part of the food, but divides it among the
feasters; or, if he has some one act as carver, sits apart fasting
and looks on. While eating they keep silence; they reject salt and
condiments; they consider it a sin to throw the bones to the dogs; they
either burn them in the fire or bury them in the ground. For, they
say, if the bears, beaver, and other wild animals which we capture in
hunting should know that their bones were given to dogs and broken to
pieces, they would not suffer themselves to be taken so easily. They
wipe off upon their hair the grease which is collected from fatty
foods; sometimes they smear their cheeks or arms for the sake, as they
say, of elegance and health; for they think that not only is the skin
made resplendent with grease, but that the limbs are thus strengthened.
For no other food do they have such fondness as for Sagamita. It is a
relish made from flour, especially that of Indian corn, mixed with oil,
which as a flavor is held in especial esteem among them. Therefore, in
feasts the first course consists of oil or fat, in hard and compact
lumps, into which they bite as we do into a piece of bread or an apple.
Before pots, kettles and other vessels of the sort were brought to
them from France, they used receptacles of closely joined bark; but,
because they could not place them with safety over the flames, they
devised the following way of cooking meat: They cast a large number of
flint stones into the fire until they had become red-hot. Then they
would drop these hot stones one after another into a vessel full of
cold water and meat. In this manner the water was heated and the meat
cooked more quickly and more easily than one would suppose. For wiping
their hands they use the shaggy back of a dog, also powder of rotten
wood. The last-named is used by mothers, in the place of wash-cloths,
to clean the dirt from their infants; it is also used as a mattress to
support the weary body. They do not cleanse their cooking utensils.
The more they are covered with thick grease, so much the better are
they, in their judgment. They consider it disgraceful and arrogant to
walk while conversing. They dislike the odor of musk, and consider it a
downright pest in comparison with a piece of rancid meat or moldy fat.
There, are six hundred matters of this sort in which their customs
differ very widely from those of Europeans; but they are less removed
from the faults of the latter, and either equal or excel them. They
have received stimulants of the appetite, and drinks hostile to a good
and sound mind, from European traders, who think much of profit, even
when tainted with the disgrace of a wicked traffic. They continue to
exist so long as they have anything to eat; they store up nothing for
to-morrow, or for the winter; nor do they greatly dread famine, because
they are confident of their ability to bear it for a long time. In
feasts it is the rule, by general consent and custom of the race, that
all the food shall be consumed. If any one eats sparingly and urges
his poor health as an excuse, he is beaten or ejected as ill-bred, just
as if he were ignorant of the art of living. The principal article
of their household utensils is the pot or kettle in which the meat
is cooked. They measure property by the number of kettles, and in
the beginning conceived a high opinion of the king of France, for no
other reason than because he was said to possess a good many kettles.
How great is the impunity and wantonness of licentiousness among men
uncivilized and free from all restraint, especially among the youth,
maybe readily observed; for the elder men confine their lust within
fixed limits, after the violence of their passions has subsided, and an
erring woman does not go unpunished.
There is among them no system of religion, or care for it. They honor
a Deity who has no definite character or regular code of worship. They
perceive, however, through the twilight, as it were, that some deity
does exist. What each boy sees in his dreams, when his reason begins
to develop, is to him thereafter a deity, whether it be a dog, a bear,
or a bird. They often derive their principles of life and action from
dreams; as, for example, if they dream that any person ought to be
killed, they do not rest until they have caught the man by stealth
and slain him. It is wearisome to recount the tales which they invent
concerning the creation of the world. Soothsayers and worthless quacks
fill with these the idle and greedy ears of the people in order that
they may acquire an impious gain. They call some divinity, who is the
author of evil, "Manitou," and fear him exceedingly. Beyond doubt it
is the enemy of the human race, who extorts from some people divine
honors and sacrifices. Concerning the nature of spirits, they go none
the less astray. They make them corporeal images which require food
and drink. They believe that the appointed place, for souls, to which
after death they are to retire, is in the direction of the setting sun,
and there they are to enjoy feasting, hunting, and dancing; for these
pleasures are held in the highest repute among them.
When they first heard of the eternal fire and the burning decreed as
a punishment for sin, they were marvelously impressed; still, they
obstinately withheld their belief because, as they said, there could
be no fire where there was no wood; then, what forests could sustain
so many fires through such a long space of time? This absurd reasoning
had so much influence over the minds of the savages, that they could
not be persuaded of the truth of the gospel. For, plainly, in the
physical man, as some one from Sts. Peter and Paul says, the entire
system of knowledge is based on vision. Nevertheless, a clever and
ingenious priest overcame their obstinacy. He confidently declared that
the lower world possessed no wood, and that it burned by itself. He
was greeted by the laughter of the crowd of savages. "But," said he,
"I will exhibit to you a piece of this land of Avernus, in order that,
since you do not believe the words of God, you may trust the evidence
of your own eyes." The novelty and boldness of the promise aroused
their curiosity. Upon the appointed day they assembled from the whole
neighborhood, and sat down together in an immense plain, surrounded by
hills like an amphitheater. Twelve leading men of the tribe, persons
of dignity and sagacity, were chosen to watch the priest, in order
that neither fraud nor sorcery might be concealed. He produced a lump
of sulphur and gave it to the judges and inspectors to be handled;
after examining it with eyes, nose, and hand, they admitted that it
was certainly earth. There stood near by a kettle containing live
coals. Then the priest, under the eyes of the people at a distance,
while the judges were gaping with their noses thrust down toward the
coals, shook some grains from the lump of sulphur upon the coals, which
suddenly took fire and filled the curious noses with a stifling odor.
When this had been done a second and a third time, the crowd arose in
astonishment, placing their hands flat over their mouths, by which
gesture they signify great surprise; and believed in the word of God
that there is a lower world.
[51] Rerum Insigniorum Indiculus.
_ALCES consideratio_, 7
_virtus mira ungulæ ejus_, 8
_Angli barbaris gladios et gravidas nitrato
pulvere fistulas suppeditant_, 27
_Animarum de natura delirant Canadenses_, 20, 46
_Aves Novæ Franciæ_, 14
_Avis prædatrix_, 15
_Batavi barbaris arma vendunt_, 27
_Canada fluvius_, 5
_Canadensium domus_, 16
_mulierum labores_, 17
_morbi et ægrorum cura_, 18
_funera_, 20
_bella_, 27
_arma_, 28
_crudelitas in captivos_, 29
_indoles_, 33
_corporis cultus_, 37
_cibi_, 42
_convivia_, 44
[52] _Canadensium supellex_, 44
_religio et superstitiones_, 45
_Captivorum crudelis sors_, 29
_Casæ Canadensium_, 16
_cadavera perjanuam nunquam esseruntur_, 20
_Casæ fibrorum_, 10
_Causarus seu Piscis armatus_, 12
_Clypei barbarorum_, 28
_Coquendi ratio in cacabis è cortice confectis_, 42
_Ebrietas ab Europæis discitur_, 44
_Exequiarum ritus_, 20
_Feminis imponitur quidquid laboris est_, 17
_Fibri consideratio_, 9
_Fluvii quid habent singulare_, 6
_Franciæ Novæ descriptio, flumina_, 5
_coelum_, 6
_soli natura_, 7
_feræ_, 7
_Galliæ rex cur magni æstimabatur_, 45
_Hurones diem Mortuorum celebrant_, 25
_Infantium mira mortalitas_, 17
_cur corpora propter viam sepeliunt_, 21
_Infernales ignes esse probat sacerdos_, 48
[53] _Iroquæi bellum cum Montanis singulari certamine finiunt_, 28
_Iroquæorum lacus_, 12
_Kebecum, urbs primaria Novæ Franciæ_, 6
_Magna Bellua, quid_, 7
_Manitoù, genius malorum_, 46
_Missisipus fluvius_, 6
_Montani bellum singulari certamine finiunt_, 28
_Morborum fontes duo_, 18
_Mortuorum festa celebritas apud Hurones_, 25
_Mos Canadensis mortuos suscitandi_, 25
_Naviculæ barbarorum_, 6
_Neutra Natio_, 38
_Numen nullo certo cultu prosequuntur_, 44
_Palumbes absque numero_, 14
_Pisces armatus_, 13
_Patres non pauci Societatis Jesu dire torquentur_, 31
_Religio Canadensium_, 45
_Reticula pedibus substrata ut super nives de ambulent_, 8
_S. Laurentii fluvius_, 5, 6
_Sagamita quid_, 42
[54] _Saltus seu catadupæ in fluviis_, 6
_Sinus Sancti Laurentii_, 14
_Somniorum vanitas_, 46
_Sudando noxios humores ejiciunt_, 19
_Tabacum, natio ejus nominis_, 38
_Trophæus_, 32
_Volucrum insula_, 14
[51] Index of Prominent Topics.
[_The page numbers refer to O'Callaghan's Reprint._]
_ELK: description_, 7
_wonderful efficacy of its hoof_, 8
_The English supply swords, guns and ammunition to the savages_, 27
_Absurd ideas of Canadians concerning the soul_, 20, 46
_Birds of New France_, 14
_A bird of prey_, 15
_The Dutch sell arms to the savages_, 27
_The river Canada_, 5
_Homes of the Canadians_, 16
_tasks of the women_, 17
_diseases and treatment of the sick_, 18
_funerals_, 20
_wars_, 27
_weapons_, 28
_cruelty to prisoners_, 29
_character_, 33
_care of the body_, 37
_food_, 42
_feasts_, 44
[52] _Implements of the Canadians_, 44
_religion and superstitions_, 45
_Cruel fate of prisoners_, 29
_Houses of the Canadians_, 16
_corpses are never carried out through the door_, 20
_Houses of the beavers_, 10
_The Causar or armored Fish_, 12
_Shields of the savages_, 28
_Manner of cooking in vessels made from bark_, 42
_Drunkenness is learned from the Europeans_, 44
_Rites of sepulture_, 20
_Whatever work there is, is placed upon the women_, 17
_Description of the beaver_, 9
_Peculiarities of the rivers_, 6
_Description of New France, rivers_, 5
_climate_, 6
_nature of the soil_, 7
_wild animals_, 7
_Why the king of France was greatly respected_, 45
_The Hurons celebrate the day of the Dead_, 25
_Remarkable mortality among infants_, 17
_why they bury the bodies near the road_, 21
_A priest proves that there is hell fire_, 48
[53] _The Iroquois conclude a war with the Montagnais by single
combat_, 28
_Lake of the Iroquois_, 12
_Kebec, the chief city of New France_, 6
_The Great Beast, what it is_, 7
_Manitou, the spirit of evil_, 46
_Mississippi river_, 6
_The Montaignais conclude a war by single combat_, 28