268BELLI GERENDI RATIO; ARMA; CRUDELITAS IN CAPTIVOS.BELLA temere ac ferociter suscipiunt, nulla sæpe, aut perlevi de causa. Duces communi suffragio legunt, eosque vel familiarum præcipuarum natu maximos, vel quorum virtus bellica, aut etiam eloquentia perspecta sit. Civili bello nunquam inter se concurrunt; arma in finitimos tantum movent; neque imperii ac ditionis proferendæ causa, sed ferè ut illatam sibi, vel fœderatis, injuriam ulciscantur. Gladios, & gravidas nitrato pulvere fistulas, à Batavis & Anglis accepere, quibus armis freti, certiùs & audacius in hostium, atque adeò Europæorum perniciem conspirant. Interdum bella singulari certamine finiunt. Agmina duo, hinc Montanorum, quos vocant, inde Iroquæorum constiterant ante aliquot annos, velut in procinctu. Duces antegressi jam designabant locum ad aciem explicandam, cum unus alterum sic allocutus fertur: Parcamus nostrorum sanguini, imo nostro: manibus nudis rem agamus. Uter alterum dejecerit, is vincat. Placuit conditio. Manus ambo conferunt. Montanus Iroquæum ita delassavit, dolum artemque virtuti miscens, ut humi denique prostratum ligaverit, impositumque humeris ad suum agmen victor detulerit. Clypeos conficiunt è ligno dolato, plerumque cedrino; paulum ad oras incurvos:270leves, prælongos & peramplos, ita ut totum corpus protegant. Jam, ne jaculis, aut securibus perrumpantur omnino ac dissiliant, eos intus consuunt restibus ex animalium corio contextis, quæ totam clypei molem continent connectuntque. Non gestant è brachio suspensos, sed funem ex quo pendent, rejiciunt in humerum dextrum: adeo ut latus corporis sinistrum clypeo protegatur; mox ubi jaculum emiserunt, aut ferream disploserunt fistulam, paulum retrahunt dextrum latus, ac sinistrum clypeo tectum obvertunt hosti.In prælio id maximè student, vivos ut hostes capiant. Captis & in suos abductis pagos primum vestes detrahunt; deinde ungues crudis dentibus singillatim avellunt: tum palo alligatos verberant ad satietatem. Mox vinculis solutos cogunt ire, ac redire, geminum inter ordinem armatorum spinis, fustibus & ferramentis. Denique, accenso circum foco, lentis ignibus miseros torrent. Interim torosas carnes fodicant candentibus laminis, & verubus, aut recisas ac semiustulatas, sanie fluentes & sanguine, vorant. Nunc tædis ardentibus totum corpus, ac præsertim hiatus vulnerum, pertentant: nunc detracta capitis cute inspergunt nudæ calvæ favillam, & fervidos cineres: nunc brachiorum nervos ac pedum vellunt, lancinant, aut hebeti secant lente ferro, derepta parumper cute, in pedis malleolo, & manus carpo. Sæpe cogunt captivum infelicem ingredi per subjectos ignes: aut frusta suæ carnis mandere, ac vivo sepulcro condere. Hujusmodi carnificinam non pauci è Patribus Societatis272pertulere. Hanc porro extrahunt in multos dies; utque novis cruciatibus tristis victima suppetat, intermittunt eosdem aliquandiu, donec ad extremum fatiscant corpora, & concidant. Tunc è pectore cor avellunt, torrent subjectis prunis; & cruore condîtum juvenibus avidè comedendum objiciunt, si captivus suppliciorum acerbitatem generosè fuerit perpessus: ut viri fortis, inquiunt, masculum robur juventus bellatrix combibat. Laudatur qui rogum, cultros, vulnera, irretorto vultu aspexerit, & exceperit: qui non ingemuerit, qui risu cantuque tortoribus illuserit: nam canere tot inter mortes, amplum ac magnificum esse putant. Itaque cantilenas ipsi multo ante componunt, quas capti, si sors ferat, recitent. Reliqua multitudo cadaver absumit in ferali convivio. Dux reservat sibi verticis pellem cum coma, monumentum victoriæ, trophæum crudelitatis.
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BELLA temere ac ferociter suscipiunt, nulla sæpe, aut perlevi de causa. Duces communi suffragio legunt, eosque vel familiarum præcipuarum natu maximos, vel quorum virtus bellica, aut etiam eloquentia perspecta sit. Civili bello nunquam inter se concurrunt; arma in finitimos tantum movent; neque imperii ac ditionis proferendæ causa, sed ferè ut illatam sibi, vel fœderatis, injuriam ulciscantur. Gladios, & gravidas nitrato pulvere fistulas, à Batavis & Anglis accepere, quibus armis freti, certiùs & audacius in hostium, atque adeò Europæorum perniciem conspirant. Interdum bella singulari certamine finiunt. Agmina duo, hinc Montanorum, quos vocant, inde Iroquæorum constiterant ante aliquot annos, velut in procinctu. Duces antegressi jam designabant locum ad aciem explicandam, cum unus alterum sic allocutus fertur: Parcamus nostrorum sanguini, imo nostro: manibus nudis rem agamus. Uter alterum dejecerit, is vincat. Placuit conditio. Manus ambo conferunt. Montanus Iroquæum ita delassavit, dolum artemque virtuti miscens, ut humi denique prostratum ligaverit, impositumque humeris ad suum agmen victor detulerit. Clypeos conficiunt è ligno dolato, plerumque cedrino; paulum ad oras incurvos:270leves, prælongos & peramplos, ita ut totum corpus protegant. Jam, ne jaculis, aut securibus perrumpantur omnino ac dissiliant, eos intus consuunt restibus ex animalium corio contextis, quæ totam clypei molem continent connectuntque. Non gestant è brachio suspensos, sed funem ex quo pendent, rejiciunt in humerum dextrum: adeo ut latus corporis sinistrum clypeo protegatur; mox ubi jaculum emiserunt, aut ferream disploserunt fistulam, paulum retrahunt dextrum latus, ac sinistrum clypeo tectum obvertunt hosti.
In prælio id maximè student, vivos ut hostes capiant. Captis & in suos abductis pagos primum vestes detrahunt; deinde ungues crudis dentibus singillatim avellunt: tum palo alligatos verberant ad satietatem. Mox vinculis solutos cogunt ire, ac redire, geminum inter ordinem armatorum spinis, fustibus & ferramentis. Denique, accenso circum foco, lentis ignibus miseros torrent. Interim torosas carnes fodicant candentibus laminis, & verubus, aut recisas ac semiustulatas, sanie fluentes & sanguine, vorant. Nunc tædis ardentibus totum corpus, ac præsertim hiatus vulnerum, pertentant: nunc detracta capitis cute inspergunt nudæ calvæ favillam, & fervidos cineres: nunc brachiorum nervos ac pedum vellunt, lancinant, aut hebeti secant lente ferro, derepta parumper cute, in pedis malleolo, & manus carpo. Sæpe cogunt captivum infelicem ingredi per subjectos ignes: aut frusta suæ carnis mandere, ac vivo sepulcro condere. Hujusmodi carnificinam non pauci è Patribus Societatis272pertulere. Hanc porro extrahunt in multos dies; utque novis cruciatibus tristis victima suppetat, intermittunt eosdem aliquandiu, donec ad extremum fatiscant corpora, & concidant. Tunc è pectore cor avellunt, torrent subjectis prunis; & cruore condîtum juvenibus avidè comedendum objiciunt, si captivus suppliciorum acerbitatem generosè fuerit perpessus: ut viri fortis, inquiunt, masculum robur juventus bellatrix combibat. Laudatur qui rogum, cultros, vulnera, irretorto vultu aspexerit, & exceperit: qui non ingemuerit, qui risu cantuque tortoribus illuserit: nam canere tot inter mortes, amplum ac magnificum esse putant. Itaque cantilenas ipsi multo ante componunt, quas capti, si sors ferat, recitent. Reliqua multitudo cadaver absumit in ferali convivio. Dux reservat sibi verticis pellem cum coma, monumentum victoriæ, trophæum crudelitatis.
METHODS OF WARFARE; WEAPONS; CRUELTY TO PRISONERS.THEY engage in war rashly and savagely, often with no cause, or upon a very slight pretext. They choose as leaders, by general vote, either the eldest members of illustrious families or those whose warlike valor, or even eloquence, has been approved. In civil war they never engage; they carry arms only against their neighbors, and not for the sake of extending their dominion and sway, but usually, in order that they may avenge an injury inflicted upon themselves or their allies. They have obtained swords and guns from the Dutch and English, and, relying upon these weapons, they plan with greater determination and boldness the destruction of their enemies, and even of the Europeans. Sometimes they decide their wars by single combat. Two bands, one of the so-called Montagnais,70the other of Iroquois, had met a few years ago in readiness for battle. The leaders had advanced and were already designating the positions for the formation of the lines of attack, when it is said that one thus addressed the other: "Let us spare the blood of our followers; nay, rather let us spare our own. Let us settle the matter with our bare hands, and he who overcomes the other shall be the victor." The proposition was accepted, and the two joined battle. The Montagnais, by means of a combination of strategy and skill with courage, so wearied the Iroquois that he finally hurled the latter to the ground, bound him, and triumphantly carried him off upon hisshoulders to his own band. They make their shields of hewn wood, principally cedar, with slightly-curving edges, light, very long and very large, so that they cover the entire body. Next, in order that they may not be penetrated and split by spears or tomahawks, they overlace them on the inner side with thongs made from the skins of animals, which hold together and connect the whole mass of the shield. They do not carry the shield suspended from the arm, but cast by a cord over the right shoulder, so that it protects the left side of the body; when they have cast their spears or fired their guns they slightly retire the right side and turn toward the enemy the left side, which is protected by the shield.In battle they strive especially to capture their enemies alive. Those who have been captured and led off to their villages are first stripped of their clothing; then they savagely tear off their nails one by one with their teeth; then they bind them to stakes and beat them as long as they please. Next they release them from their bonds, and compel them to pass back and forth between a double row of men armed with thorns, clubs and instruments of iron. Finally, they kindle a fire about them, and roast the miserable creatures with slow heat. Sometimes they pierce the flesh of the muscles with red-hot plates and with spits, or cut it off and devour it, half-burned and dripping with gore and blood. Next, they plant blazing torches all over the body, and especially in the gaping wounds; then, after scalping him they scatter ashes and live coals upon his naked head; then they tear the tendons of the arms and legs, lacerate them, or, after removing a little of the skin, leisurely cut them with a knife at the ankle and wrist. Often they compel the unhappy prisonerto walk through fire, or to eat, and thus entomb in a living sepulchre, pieces of his own flesh. Torture of this sort has been borne by not a few of the Fathers of the Society. Moreover, they prolong this torment throughout many days, and, in order that the poor victim may undergo fresh trials, intermit it for some time, until his vitality is entirely exhausted and he perishes. Then they tear the heart from the breast, roast it upon the coals, and, if the prisoner has bravely borne the bitterness of the torture, give it, seasoned with blood, to the boys, to be greedily eaten, in order, as they say, that the warlike youth may imbibe the heroic strength of the valiant man. The prisoner who has beheld and endured stake, knives and wounds with an unchanging countenance, who has not groaned, who with laughter and song has ridiculed his tormentors, is praised; for they think that to sing amid so many deaths is great and noble. So they themselves compose songs long beforehand, in order that they may repeat them if they should by chance be captured. The rest of the crowd consume the corpse in a brutal feast. The chief reserves for himself the scalp as a sign of victory, a trophy of cruelty.
THEY engage in war rashly and savagely, often with no cause, or upon a very slight pretext. They choose as leaders, by general vote, either the eldest members of illustrious families or those whose warlike valor, or even eloquence, has been approved. In civil war they never engage; they carry arms only against their neighbors, and not for the sake of extending their dominion and sway, but usually, in order that they may avenge an injury inflicted upon themselves or their allies. They have obtained swords and guns from the Dutch and English, and, relying upon these weapons, they plan with greater determination and boldness the destruction of their enemies, and even of the Europeans. Sometimes they decide their wars by single combat. Two bands, one of the so-called Montagnais,70the other of Iroquois, had met a few years ago in readiness for battle. The leaders had advanced and were already designating the positions for the formation of the lines of attack, when it is said that one thus addressed the other: "Let us spare the blood of our followers; nay, rather let us spare our own. Let us settle the matter with our bare hands, and he who overcomes the other shall be the victor." The proposition was accepted, and the two joined battle. The Montagnais, by means of a combination of strategy and skill with courage, so wearied the Iroquois that he finally hurled the latter to the ground, bound him, and triumphantly carried him off upon hisshoulders to his own band. They make their shields of hewn wood, principally cedar, with slightly-curving edges, light, very long and very large, so that they cover the entire body. Next, in order that they may not be penetrated and split by spears or tomahawks, they overlace them on the inner side with thongs made from the skins of animals, which hold together and connect the whole mass of the shield. They do not carry the shield suspended from the arm, but cast by a cord over the right shoulder, so that it protects the left side of the body; when they have cast their spears or fired their guns they slightly retire the right side and turn toward the enemy the left side, which is protected by the shield.
In battle they strive especially to capture their enemies alive. Those who have been captured and led off to their villages are first stripped of their clothing; then they savagely tear off their nails one by one with their teeth; then they bind them to stakes and beat them as long as they please. Next they release them from their bonds, and compel them to pass back and forth between a double row of men armed with thorns, clubs and instruments of iron. Finally, they kindle a fire about them, and roast the miserable creatures with slow heat. Sometimes they pierce the flesh of the muscles with red-hot plates and with spits, or cut it off and devour it, half-burned and dripping with gore and blood. Next, they plant blazing torches all over the body, and especially in the gaping wounds; then, after scalping him they scatter ashes and live coals upon his naked head; then they tear the tendons of the arms and legs, lacerate them, or, after removing a little of the skin, leisurely cut them with a knife at the ankle and wrist. Often they compel the unhappy prisonerto walk through fire, or to eat, and thus entomb in a living sepulchre, pieces of his own flesh. Torture of this sort has been borne by not a few of the Fathers of the Society. Moreover, they prolong this torment throughout many days, and, in order that the poor victim may undergo fresh trials, intermit it for some time, until his vitality is entirely exhausted and he perishes. Then they tear the heart from the breast, roast it upon the coals, and, if the prisoner has bravely borne the bitterness of the torture, give it, seasoned with blood, to the boys, to be greedily eaten, in order, as they say, that the warlike youth may imbibe the heroic strength of the valiant man. The prisoner who has beheld and endured stake, knives and wounds with an unchanging countenance, who has not groaned, who with laughter and song has ridiculed his tormentors, is praised; for they think that to sing amid so many deaths is great and noble. So they themselves compose songs long beforehand, in order that they may repeat them if they should by chance be captured. The rest of the crowd consume the corpse in a brutal feast. The chief reserves for himself the scalp as a sign of victory, a trophy of cruelty.
274INDOLES ANIMI: CORPORIS CULTUS: CIBI, CONVIVIA; SUPELLEX: RELIGIO, & SUPERSTITIONES.SIC hostes accipiunt: at domi colunt pacem, rixasque diligenter cavent, nisi quas ebrietatis impotentia excitavit. Fortunati, si nunquam illis hanc pestem Europa importasset! Irasci ne norunt quidem, ac vehementer initio mirabantur, cum inveherentur Patres in vitia pro concione, eosque furere existimabant, qui pacatos inter auditores, & amicos, tanta contentione se jactarent. Liberalitatis & munificentiæ famam aucupantur: sua largiuntur ultro; ablata vix repetunt: nec fures aliter, quam risu & sannis ulciscuntur. Si quem, oborta simultate nefarie aliquid moliri suspicantur, non minis deterrent hominem, sed donis. Ex eodem concordiæ studio fit ut assentiantur ultro, quidquid doceas; nihilo tamen secius tenent mordicus insitam opinionem aut superstitionem: eoque difficilius erudiuntur. Quid enim agas cum annuentibus verbo & concedentibus omnia; re nihil præstantibus? Miserorum egestatem benignè sublevant; viduarum ac senum sustentant orbitatem, nisi cum senio ætas vieta marcet, vel morbus gravior incidit: tunc enim abrumpere infelicem vitam satius arbitrantur, quàm alere ac producere. Quæcumque calamitas ingruat, nunquam se dimoveri de animi tranquillitate patiuntur, qua felicitatem potissimum276definiunt. Inediam multorum dierum, morbos, & ærumnas lenissime & constantissimè perferunt. Ipsos partus dolores, licet acerbissimos, ita dissimulant feminæ vel superant, ut ne ingemiscant quidem: ac si cui lacryma vel gemitus excideret, æterna flagraret ignominia, neque virum, à quo duceretur, prætereainveniret, Nihil unquam amicus cum amico, uxor cum viro, cum uxore vir, queritur & expostulat. Liberos mira caritate complectuntur: sed modum non tenent; in eos enim neque animadvertunt ipsi, neque ab aliis animadverti sinunt. Hinc petulantia puerorum & ferocitas, quæ, postquàm se corroboravit ætate, in omne scelus erumpit. Quam autem erga liberos & familiares comitatem præ se ferunt, eandem cum ceteris civibus suis, ac popularibus, usurpant. Si quis amariore joco quempiam momordit, (nam dicaces vulgo sunt, & in jocos effusi) belle dissimulant, aut vicem reponunt, & absentes remordent; nam præsentes cavillari, aut coram dictis incessere, religio est. Non aliud libentiùs convicium regerunt lacessiti, quàm si hominem ingenio carere dicant. Scilicet ingenii laudem vindicant sibi; nec temere. Nemo inter illos hebes, ac tardus; quod nativa illorum in deliberando prudentia, & in dicendo facundia, declarat. Auditi quidem sæpe sunt tam appositè ad persuadendum perorare, idque ex tempore, ut admirationem exercitatissimis in dicendi palæstra moverent.Respondet ingenio corpus, aptum membris, proceritate278formosum, robore validum. Idem, qui Gallis, color; tametsi corrumpunt illum unguine, & oleo putri, quo se perungunt; necnon pigmentis variis, quibus sibi pulcri, nobis ridiculi, videntur. Alios cernas naso cæruleo, genis vero & superciliis atratis: alii frontem, nasum, & genas, lineis versicoloribus discriminant: totidem larvas intueri te putes. Ejusmodi coloribus credunt se hostibus esse terribiles; suum pariter in acie metum, quasi velo, tegi: demum pellem ipsam corporis indurari, ad vim hiberni frigoris facilius tolerandam. Præter istos colores induci pro cujusque libidine ac deleri solitos, non pauci stabiles ac perpetuas avium aut animalium, putà serpentis, aquilæ, bufonis, imagines imprimunt cuti, hunc in modum. Subulis, cuspidibus, aut spinis collum, pectus, genasve ita pungunt, ut rudia rerum istarum lineamenta effingant: mox in punctam & cruentam cutem immittunt atrum è carbone comminuto pulverem, qui cum sanguine concretus impressas effigies ita inurit vivæ carni, ut eas nulla temporis diuturnitas expungat. Totæ quædam nationes, ea præsertim quæ a Tabaco nomen habet, itemque alia quæ Neutra dicitur, id constanti more ac lege usurpat, nec sine periculo interdum; maxime si est tempestas frigidior, aut debilior [347] corporis constitutio. Tunc enim dolore victi, licet eum ne gemitu quidem significent, linquuntur animo, & exanimes aliquando concidunt. Laudant oculos exiles, labra repanda & prominentia:280pars radunt comam, pars alunt: his nudum sinciput, illis occiput: aliis coma tota surrigitur in vertice, aliis parcè ad tempora utrimque propendet. Barbam, instar monstri, execrantur; ac si quis in mento succrescat pilus, statim vellunt. Viri æque ac feminæ imas auriculas pertundunt: & iis inaures è vitro, testisve piscium, inferunt. Quo foramen amplius est, eo censent formosius. Nunquam ungues resecant. Europæos rident, qui defluentem è naribus humorem candidis sudariis excipiant, &, Quo, inquiunt, rem adeo sordidam reservant isti? Saltantes curvant arcuatim corpus prono capite, & brachia sic agitant, ut qui farinam manibus subigunt, raucùm identidem grunnientes. Alvum infimam succingunt lato cortice, vel animantis pelle, aut versicolore panno, cetera nudi. Feminæ pelles ex humeris & collo promittunt ad genua. Zonas atque armillas, è concha veneria, quam vulgo porcellanam appellamus, aut seta hystricis non inscite contextas, gestant: torques hunc in modum confectos magno habent in pretio. Storeas è marisco (junci marini genus est) satis eleganter elaborant: iis pavimentum sternunt, in iisdem carpunt somnos, aut in vitulorom marinorum, fibrorumve mollibus exuviis. Dormiunt circa focum in mapali medio semper ardentem, si frigus est: sub dio, si æstas.Mensam, aut cathedram, in casa tota videas nullam; in clunes subsidunt, simiarum instar: is vescentium,282is 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 plurimos284conjiciebant 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 domesticæ286pars, 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 morte288se 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 ratioineptissima tantamvim 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 prunas290naso, 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.
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SIC hostes accipiunt: at domi colunt pacem, rixasque diligenter cavent, nisi quas ebrietatis impotentia excitavit. Fortunati, si nunquam illis hanc pestem Europa importasset! Irasci ne norunt quidem, ac vehementer initio mirabantur, cum inveherentur Patres in vitia pro concione, eosque furere existimabant, qui pacatos inter auditores, & amicos, tanta contentione se jactarent. Liberalitatis & munificentiæ famam aucupantur: sua largiuntur ultro; ablata vix repetunt: nec fures aliter, quam risu & sannis ulciscuntur. Si quem, oborta simultate nefarie aliquid moliri suspicantur, non minis deterrent hominem, sed donis. Ex eodem concordiæ studio fit ut assentiantur ultro, quidquid doceas; nihilo tamen secius tenent mordicus insitam opinionem aut superstitionem: eoque difficilius erudiuntur. Quid enim agas cum annuentibus verbo & concedentibus omnia; re nihil præstantibus? Miserorum egestatem benignè sublevant; viduarum ac senum sustentant orbitatem, nisi cum senio ætas vieta marcet, vel morbus gravior incidit: tunc enim abrumpere infelicem vitam satius arbitrantur, quàm alere ac producere. Quæcumque calamitas ingruat, nunquam se dimoveri de animi tranquillitate patiuntur, qua felicitatem potissimum276definiunt. Inediam multorum dierum, morbos, & ærumnas lenissime & constantissimè perferunt. Ipsos partus dolores, licet acerbissimos, ita dissimulant feminæ vel superant, ut ne ingemiscant quidem: ac si cui lacryma vel gemitus excideret, æterna flagraret ignominia, neque virum, à quo duceretur, prætereainveniret, Nihil unquam amicus cum amico, uxor cum viro, cum uxore vir, queritur & expostulat. Liberos mira caritate complectuntur: sed modum non tenent; in eos enim neque animadvertunt ipsi, neque ab aliis animadverti sinunt. Hinc petulantia puerorum & ferocitas, quæ, postquàm se corroboravit ætate, in omne scelus erumpit. Quam autem erga liberos & familiares comitatem præ se ferunt, eandem cum ceteris civibus suis, ac popularibus, usurpant. Si quis amariore joco quempiam momordit, (nam dicaces vulgo sunt, & in jocos effusi) belle dissimulant, aut vicem reponunt, & absentes remordent; nam præsentes cavillari, aut coram dictis incessere, religio est. Non aliud libentiùs convicium regerunt lacessiti, quàm si hominem ingenio carere dicant. Scilicet ingenii laudem vindicant sibi; nec temere. Nemo inter illos hebes, ac tardus; quod nativa illorum in deliberando prudentia, & in dicendo facundia, declarat. Auditi quidem sæpe sunt tam appositè ad persuadendum perorare, idque ex tempore, ut admirationem exercitatissimis in dicendi palæstra moverent.
Respondet ingenio corpus, aptum membris, proceritate278formosum, robore validum. Idem, qui Gallis, color; tametsi corrumpunt illum unguine, & oleo putri, quo se perungunt; necnon pigmentis variis, quibus sibi pulcri, nobis ridiculi, videntur. Alios cernas naso cæruleo, genis vero & superciliis atratis: alii frontem, nasum, & genas, lineis versicoloribus discriminant: totidem larvas intueri te putes. Ejusmodi coloribus credunt se hostibus esse terribiles; suum pariter in acie metum, quasi velo, tegi: demum pellem ipsam corporis indurari, ad vim hiberni frigoris facilius tolerandam. Præter istos colores induci pro cujusque libidine ac deleri solitos, non pauci stabiles ac perpetuas avium aut animalium, putà serpentis, aquilæ, bufonis, imagines imprimunt cuti, hunc in modum. Subulis, cuspidibus, aut spinis collum, pectus, genasve ita pungunt, ut rudia rerum istarum lineamenta effingant: mox in punctam & cruentam cutem immittunt atrum è carbone comminuto pulverem, qui cum sanguine concretus impressas effigies ita inurit vivæ carni, ut eas nulla temporis diuturnitas expungat. Totæ quædam nationes, ea præsertim quæ a Tabaco nomen habet, itemque alia quæ Neutra dicitur, id constanti more ac lege usurpat, nec sine periculo interdum; maxime si est tempestas frigidior, aut debilior [347] corporis constitutio. Tunc enim dolore victi, licet eum ne gemitu quidem significent, linquuntur animo, & exanimes aliquando concidunt. Laudant oculos exiles, labra repanda & prominentia:280pars radunt comam, pars alunt: his nudum sinciput, illis occiput: aliis coma tota surrigitur in vertice, aliis parcè ad tempora utrimque propendet. Barbam, instar monstri, execrantur; ac si quis in mento succrescat pilus, statim vellunt. Viri æque ac feminæ imas auriculas pertundunt: & iis inaures è vitro, testisve piscium, inferunt. Quo foramen amplius est, eo censent formosius. Nunquam ungues resecant. Europæos rident, qui defluentem è naribus humorem candidis sudariis excipiant, &, Quo, inquiunt, rem adeo sordidam reservant isti? Saltantes curvant arcuatim corpus prono capite, & brachia sic agitant, ut qui farinam manibus subigunt, raucùm identidem grunnientes. Alvum infimam succingunt lato cortice, vel animantis pelle, aut versicolore panno, cetera nudi. Feminæ pelles ex humeris & collo promittunt ad genua. Zonas atque armillas, è concha veneria, quam vulgo porcellanam appellamus, aut seta hystricis non inscite contextas, gestant: torques hunc in modum confectos magno habent in pretio. Storeas è marisco (junci marini genus est) satis eleganter elaborant: iis pavimentum sternunt, in iisdem carpunt somnos, aut in vitulorom marinorum, fibrorumve mollibus exuviis. Dormiunt circa focum in mapali medio semper ardentem, si frigus est: sub dio, si æstas.
Mensam, aut cathedram, in casa tota videas nullam; in clunes subsidunt, simiarum instar: is vescentium,282is 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 plurimos284conjiciebant 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 domesticæ286pars, 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 morte288se 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 ratioineptissima tantamvim 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 prunas290naso, 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. Whatevermisfortune 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 andusage; 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,71which 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 sleepabout 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 receptaclesof 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 ofspirits, 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 judgesand 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.
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. Whatevermisfortune 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 andusage; 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,71which 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 sleepabout 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 receptaclesof 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 ofspirits, 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 judgesand 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.
292[51] Rerum Insigniorum Indiculus.ALCES consideratio,7virtus mira ungulæ ejus,8Angli barbaris gladios et gravidas nitrato pulvere fistulas suppeditant,27Animarum de natura delirant Canadenses,20,46Aves Novæ Franciæ,14Avis prædatrix,15Batavi barbaris arma vendunt,27Canada fluvius,5Canadensium domus,16mulierum labores,17morbi et ægrorum cura,18funera,20bella,27arma,28crudelitas in captivos,29indoles,33corporis cultus,37cibi,42convivia,44[52]Canadensium supellex,44religio et superstitiones,45Captivorum crudelis sors,29Casæ Canadensium,16cadavera perjanuam nunquam esseruntur,20Casæ fibrorum,10Causarus seu Piscis armatus,12Clypei barbarorum,28294Coquendi ratio in cacabis è cortice confectis,42Ebrietas ab Europæis discitur,44Exequiarum ritus,20Feminis imponitur quidquid laboris est,17Fibri consideratio,9Fluvii quid habent singulare,6Franciæ Novæ descriptio, flumina,5cœlum,6soli natura,7feræ,7Galliæ rex cur magni æstimabatur,45Hurones diem Mortuorum celebrant,25Infantium mira mortalitas,17cur corpora propter viam sepeliunt,21Infernales ignes esse probat sacerdos,48[53]Iroquæi bellum cum Montanis singulari certamine finiunt,28Iroquæorum lacus,12Kebecum, urbs primaria Novæ Franciæ,6Magna Bellua, quid,7Manitoù, genius malorum,46Missisipus fluvius,6Montani bellum singulari certamine finiunt,28Morborum fontes duo,18Mortuorum festa celebritas apud Hurones,25Mos Canadensis mortuos suscitandi,25Naviculæ barbarorum,6Neutra Natio,38Numen nullo certo cultu prosequuntur,44Palumbes absque numero,14Pisces armatus,13Patres non pauci Societatis Jesu dire torquentur,31Religio Canadensium,45Reticula pedibus substrata ut super nives de ambulent,8296S. Laurentii fluvius,5, 6Sagamita quid,42[54]Saltus seu catadupæ in fluviis,6Sinus Sancti Laurentii,14Somniorum vanitas,46Sudando noxios humores ejiciunt,19Tabacum, natio ejus nominis,38Trophæus,32Volucrum insula,14
292
[51] Index of Prominent Topics.[The page numbers refer to O'Callaghan's Reprint.]ELK: description,7wonderful efficacy of its hoof,8The English supply swords, guns and ammunition to the savages,27Absurd ideas of Canadians concerning the soul,20,46Birds of New France,14A bird of prey,15The Dutch sell arms to the savages,27The river Canada,5Homes of the Canadians,16tasks of the women,17diseases and treatment of the sick,18funerals,20wars,27weapons,28cruelty to prisoners,29character,33care of the body,37food,42feasts,44[52]Implements of the Canadians,44religion and superstitions,45Cruel fate of prisoners,29Houses of the Canadians,16corpses are never carried out through the door,20Houses of the beavers,10The Causar or armored Fish,12Shields of the savages,28Manner of cooking in vessels made from bark,42Drunkenness is learned from the Europeans,44Rites of sepulture,20Whatever work there is, is placed upon the women,17Description of the beaver,9Peculiarities of the rivers,6Description of New France, rivers,5climate,6nature of the soil,7wild animals,7Why the king of France was greatly respected,45The Hurons celebrate the day of the Dead,25Remarkable mortality among infants,17why they bury the bodies near the road,21A priest proves that there is hell fire,48[53]The Iroquois conclude a war with the Montagnais by single combat,28Lake of the Iroquois,12Kebec, the chief city of New France,6The Great Beast, what it is,7Manitou, the spirit of evil,46Mississippi river,6The Montaignais conclude a war by single combat,28Two sources of disease,18Festival of the Dead among the Hurons,25Canadian manner of honoring the dead,25Boats of the savages,6The Neutral Nation,38They revere a deity with no fixed form of worship,44Innumerable pigeons,14The armored fish,13Fathers of the Society of Jesus are cruelly tortured,31Religion of the Canadians,45Network bound under the feet, to walk over the snow,8St. Lawrence river,5, 6Sagamita, what it is,42[54]Water-falls, or cataracts, in the rivers,6Gulf of St. Lawrence,14Ignorant belief in dreams,46They expel noxious humors by sweating,19Tobacco, the nation of that name,38The trophy,32Isle of Birds,14
[The page numbers refer to O'Callaghan's Reprint.]
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA: VOL. IIOur text of Lescarbot'sLa Conversionfollows, to the close of p. 44 (original pagination), the copy at Lenox Library: pp. 45, 46, the "Regitre de Bapteme," follow the copy at John Carter Brown Library, Providence, R. I., as the Lenox copy does not have these two pages.It is a rare book; the two copies above cited are the only ones known to us, in America. Leclerc, inBibliotheca Americana(Paris, 1867), p. 206, says: "Cette pièce est plus rare que l'Histoire de la Nouvelle France," referring to Lescarbot's better-known work. Sabin speaks of it (vol. x., no. 40167), as "probably the rarest of Lescarbot's works."See further references in the John Carter Brown Catalogue (Bartlett'sBibliotheca Americana, Providence, 1882), vol. ii., no. 99: Graesse'sTrésor de Livres Rares et Précieux(Dresden, 1863), vol. iv., p. 175; Harrisse'sNotes sur la Nouvelle France(Paris, 1872), no. 21; Ternaux'sBibliothèque Américaine(Paris, 1837), no. 330; Winsor'sNarrative and Critical History of America, vol. iv., p. 299; and LenoxCatalogue of Jesuit Relations(N. Y., 1879), p. 3.[XVII.]Title-page.This is given in photographic facsimile, in this reissue. The Lenox and Brown copies are alike, in this. It will be noticed that there is no date of publication, this being established from the Privilege.Collation.Title, 1 p.; blank at back of title, 1 p.; dedication "A la Royne," 3 pp., signed "Marc Lescarbot;" privilege, 1 p., dated "Paris, 9 Sep., 1610," and signed "Brigard;" text, pp. 7-44. Page 7 is misnumbered 1. (The Brown Catalogue says: Page 1 is misnumbered 7." This is a misprint in the Catalogue.) "Fin," at end of p. 24; then pp. 23 and 24 are reprinted, all except the last sentence on p. 24: "Dieu vueille par sa | grace conduire le tout en sorte que la chose | reüssisse à sa gloire & à l'édification de ce peu-| ple, pour lequel tous Chrétiens doivent faire | continuelles prieres à sa divine bonté, à ce qu'il | lui plaise confirmer & avancer l'œuvre qu'il | lui a pleu susciter en ce temps pour l'exaltation | de son nom, & le salut de ses creatures. |Fin."It is evident that the intention was to have the first leaf (pp. 23, 24) cut out. This duplication of pp. 23, 24 is in both the Brown and Lenox copies.The "Extrait du Regitre de Bapteme" in the Brown copy (it is not in the Lenox Copy) forms 2 pages at the end of text. The first page of this "Regitre" is not numbered; the second is numbered "46" (intended for 46), and this ends thebook. The same "Regitre" appears in somewhat different order in Lescarbot'sNouvelle France, (1612 ed.), pp. 638-640, chap. 5, book v.; also, according to Harrisse'sNotes, in chap. 3, book v., of the 1611 ed.IIIn Bertrand'sLettre Missive, we follow the original Paris edition, in Lenox. It is a rare publication, the Lenox copy being apparently the only one in the United States; Brown has a manuscript copy, made from that at Lenox. Sabin (vol. x., no. 40682), says: "It is a piece of unusual rarity." Sabin has a previous reference in vol. ii., no. 5025, under caption "Bertrand," wherein a misprint makes him cite the date of the letter as "28 June, 1618" (eight years later than the actual date); a further misprint causes Sabin to record the pamphlet as having "48 pages or less," the actual number being 8. In hisNotes, Harrisse omits a line-ending after the second "nouuelle" in his description of the title-page. See, for further references: Ternaux, no. 329; Winsor, p. 299; Lenox Catalogue, p. 3; Brown Catalogue, vol. ii., no. 103.Title-page.Given in photographic facsimile, in present volume.Collation.Title, 1 p.; blank at back of title, 1 p.; text, pp. 3-6; dated on p. 6, "Port Royal xxviij. Iuin, 1610," and signed "Bertrand." Blank leaf at end, completing 4 leaves = 8 pp.III-VIIn these four letters, by Biard and Massé, we follow Carayon'sPremière Mission des Jésuites au Canada(Paris, 1864). It is a scarce book, and brought $8 atthe Barlow Sale, in New York, 1890. See references in Harrisse, p. 285; Sabin, no. 10792; Winsor, pp. 151, 292, 300; and Lenox Catalogue, p. 15. The origin of the letters in the volume is found at the top of the first page of each letter; and these data, with accompanying notes by Carayon, are reproduced in the present series, which will, in strict chronological order, contain all of the papers given by that editor; although in many cases we shall follow the original issues of the letters, whenever found. Documents III., V., and VI. were written in Latin; and Document IV. in French.Collation.Blank, 2 pp.; bastard title, 1 p.; blank, 1 p.; title proper, 1 p.; blank, 1 p. Preface begins on p. vii. (not numbered), and ends on p. xvi. Preface acknowledges indebtedness to F. Felix Martin, S. J., for copying and translating into French (from the Latin) most of the letters in the volume. Text, pp. 1-302; Table at end, 2 pp.; the last of these is numbered 304.VIIWe follow the style and make-up of Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan's Reprint (Albany, N. Y., 1871) of theCanadicæ Missionis, in Jouvency'sHist. Soc. Jesu, part v., commencing p. 321. In the Lenox Catalogue, it is designated "O'Callaghan's Reprint, No. 4." This numbering of O'Callaghan's reprints, is merely a device peculiar to the Lenox Catalogue, for sake of easy reference, and has been followed by Winsor; the reprints themselves bear no numbers.The text of this document, however, we have compared with the original folio edition of Jouvency's work, in the library of St. Francis Xavier College, New York, and the pagination thereof is indicatedinstead of that of the O'Callaghan Reprint. The list, "Missiones Societatis Jesu in America Septentrionali Anno M. DCC. X.," which O'Callaghan reprints as if a part of the originalCanadicæ Missionis, is on pp. 961, 962 of the same volume of Jouvency in which the latter appears (part v.).Title-page.The O'Callaghan Reprint is closely imitated.Collation of O'Callaghan Reprint.Title, 1 p.; reverse of title, with inscription: "Editio viginti quinque exemplaria. O'C.," 1 p.; Biardi Eulogium ac Vita, pp. i-v.; blank, 1 p.; Tabula, 1 p.; blank, 1 p.; text, pp. 5-33; colophon: "Albaniae Excvdebat Joel Munsellius | Mense Aprilis Anno | CIↃ. IↃCCC. LXXI.," 1 p.; half-title, "Appendix," 1 p.; blank, 1 p.; "Missiones Societatis Iesu | in America Septentrionali |Anno M.DCC.X.," 2 pp., the last of which is numbered 38.VIIIWe follow the style and make-up of O'Callaghan's Reprint (Albany, 1871), which is numbered 5 in the Lenox Catalogue. The text and pagination follow the original, in Jouvency'sHist. Soc. Jesu, part v., commencing p. 344.Title-page.The O'Callaghan Reprint is closely imitated.Collation of O'Callaghan Reprint.Title, 1 p.; reverse of title, with inscription: "Editio viginti quinque exemplaria. O'C.," 1 p.; Tabula Rerum, 1 p.; blank, 1 p.; text, pp. 5-49; blank, 1 p.; Rerum Insigniorum Indiculus, 4 pp.; colophon: "Albaniae Excvdebat Joel Munsellius | Mense Qvintilis Anno | CIↃ. IↃCCC. LXXI.," 1 p.FOOTNOTES:[XVII.]In order to save needless repetition of long titles, bibliographical works, when once cited in full, will thereafter be referred to by the usual cut-shorts: e.g., the John Carter Brown Catalogue will be hereafter known in our Bibliographical Data as "Brown Catalogue;" the list of Jesuitica in Winsor'sNarrative and Critical Historyvol. iv., as "Winsor;" the LenoxCatalogue of Jesuit Relations, as "Lenox Catalogue;" Harrisse'sNotes sur la Nouvelle France, as "Harrisse'sNotes," or simply as "Harrisse;" etc., etc. The student who is familiar, in a general way, with these bibliographical sources,—and it is presumed that those are, for whom this series of reprints is designed,—will not be confused by the customary method of brief citation.
Our text of Lescarbot'sLa Conversionfollows, to the close of p. 44 (original pagination), the copy at Lenox Library: pp. 45, 46, the "Regitre de Bapteme," follow the copy at John Carter Brown Library, Providence, R. I., as the Lenox copy does not have these two pages.
It is a rare book; the two copies above cited are the only ones known to us, in America. Leclerc, inBibliotheca Americana(Paris, 1867), p. 206, says: "Cette pièce est plus rare que l'Histoire de la Nouvelle France," referring to Lescarbot's better-known work. Sabin speaks of it (vol. x., no. 40167), as "probably the rarest of Lescarbot's works."
See further references in the John Carter Brown Catalogue (Bartlett'sBibliotheca Americana, Providence, 1882), vol. ii., no. 99: Graesse'sTrésor de Livres Rares et Précieux(Dresden, 1863), vol. iv., p. 175; Harrisse'sNotes sur la Nouvelle France(Paris, 1872), no. 21; Ternaux'sBibliothèque Américaine(Paris, 1837), no. 330; Winsor'sNarrative and Critical History of America, vol. iv., p. 299; and LenoxCatalogue of Jesuit Relations(N. Y., 1879), p. 3.[XVII.]
Title-page.This is given in photographic facsimile, in this reissue. The Lenox and Brown copies are alike, in this. It will be noticed that there is no date of publication, this being established from the Privilege.
Collation.Title, 1 p.; blank at back of title, 1 p.; dedication "A la Royne," 3 pp., signed "Marc Lescarbot;" privilege, 1 p., dated "Paris, 9 Sep., 1610," and signed "Brigard;" text, pp. 7-44. Page 7 is misnumbered 1. (The Brown Catalogue says: Page 1 is misnumbered 7." This is a misprint in the Catalogue.) "Fin," at end of p. 24; then pp. 23 and 24 are reprinted, all except the last sentence on p. 24: "Dieu vueille par sa | grace conduire le tout en sorte que la chose | reüssisse à sa gloire & à l'édification de ce peu-| ple, pour lequel tous Chrétiens doivent faire | continuelles prieres à sa divine bonté, à ce qu'il | lui plaise confirmer & avancer l'œuvre qu'il | lui a pleu susciter en ce temps pour l'exaltation | de son nom, & le salut de ses creatures. |Fin."
It is evident that the intention was to have the first leaf (pp. 23, 24) cut out. This duplication of pp. 23, 24 is in both the Brown and Lenox copies.
The "Extrait du Regitre de Bapteme" in the Brown copy (it is not in the Lenox Copy) forms 2 pages at the end of text. The first page of this "Regitre" is not numbered; the second is numbered "46" (intended for 46), and this ends thebook. The same "Regitre" appears in somewhat different order in Lescarbot'sNouvelle France, (1612 ed.), pp. 638-640, chap. 5, book v.; also, according to Harrisse'sNotes, in chap. 3, book v., of the 1611 ed.
In Bertrand'sLettre Missive, we follow the original Paris edition, in Lenox. It is a rare publication, the Lenox copy being apparently the only one in the United States; Brown has a manuscript copy, made from that at Lenox. Sabin (vol. x., no. 40682), says: "It is a piece of unusual rarity." Sabin has a previous reference in vol. ii., no. 5025, under caption "Bertrand," wherein a misprint makes him cite the date of the letter as "28 June, 1618" (eight years later than the actual date); a further misprint causes Sabin to record the pamphlet as having "48 pages or less," the actual number being 8. In hisNotes, Harrisse omits a line-ending after the second "nouuelle" in his description of the title-page. See, for further references: Ternaux, no. 329; Winsor, p. 299; Lenox Catalogue, p. 3; Brown Catalogue, vol. ii., no. 103.
Title-page.Given in photographic facsimile, in present volume.
Collation.Title, 1 p.; blank at back of title, 1 p.; text, pp. 3-6; dated on p. 6, "Port Royal xxviij. Iuin, 1610," and signed "Bertrand." Blank leaf at end, completing 4 leaves = 8 pp.
In these four letters, by Biard and Massé, we follow Carayon'sPremière Mission des Jésuites au Canada(Paris, 1864). It is a scarce book, and brought $8 atthe Barlow Sale, in New York, 1890. See references in Harrisse, p. 285; Sabin, no. 10792; Winsor, pp. 151, 292, 300; and Lenox Catalogue, p. 15. The origin of the letters in the volume is found at the top of the first page of each letter; and these data, with accompanying notes by Carayon, are reproduced in the present series, which will, in strict chronological order, contain all of the papers given by that editor; although in many cases we shall follow the original issues of the letters, whenever found. Documents III., V., and VI. were written in Latin; and Document IV. in French.
Collation.Blank, 2 pp.; bastard title, 1 p.; blank, 1 p.; title proper, 1 p.; blank, 1 p. Preface begins on p. vii. (not numbered), and ends on p. xvi. Preface acknowledges indebtedness to F. Felix Martin, S. J., for copying and translating into French (from the Latin) most of the letters in the volume. Text, pp. 1-302; Table at end, 2 pp.; the last of these is numbered 304.
We follow the style and make-up of Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan's Reprint (Albany, N. Y., 1871) of theCanadicæ Missionis, in Jouvency'sHist. Soc. Jesu, part v., commencing p. 321. In the Lenox Catalogue, it is designated "O'Callaghan's Reprint, No. 4." This numbering of O'Callaghan's reprints, is merely a device peculiar to the Lenox Catalogue, for sake of easy reference, and has been followed by Winsor; the reprints themselves bear no numbers.
The text of this document, however, we have compared with the original folio edition of Jouvency's work, in the library of St. Francis Xavier College, New York, and the pagination thereof is indicatedinstead of that of the O'Callaghan Reprint. The list, "Missiones Societatis Jesu in America Septentrionali Anno M. DCC. X.," which O'Callaghan reprints as if a part of the originalCanadicæ Missionis, is on pp. 961, 962 of the same volume of Jouvency in which the latter appears (part v.).
Title-page.The O'Callaghan Reprint is closely imitated.
Collation of O'Callaghan Reprint.Title, 1 p.; reverse of title, with inscription: "Editio viginti quinque exemplaria. O'C.," 1 p.; Biardi Eulogium ac Vita, pp. i-v.; blank, 1 p.; Tabula, 1 p.; blank, 1 p.; text, pp. 5-33; colophon: "Albaniae Excvdebat Joel Munsellius | Mense Aprilis Anno | CIↃ. IↃCCC. LXXI.," 1 p.; half-title, "Appendix," 1 p.; blank, 1 p.; "Missiones Societatis Iesu | in America Septentrionali |Anno M.DCC.X.," 2 pp., the last of which is numbered 38.
We follow the style and make-up of O'Callaghan's Reprint (Albany, 1871), which is numbered 5 in the Lenox Catalogue. The text and pagination follow the original, in Jouvency'sHist. Soc. Jesu, part v., commencing p. 344.
Title-page.The O'Callaghan Reprint is closely imitated.
Collation of O'Callaghan Reprint.Title, 1 p.; reverse of title, with inscription: "Editio viginti quinque exemplaria. O'C.," 1 p.; Tabula Rerum, 1 p.; blank, 1 p.; text, pp. 5-49; blank, 1 p.; Rerum Insigniorum Indiculus, 4 pp.; colophon: "Albaniae Excvdebat Joel Munsellius | Mense Qvintilis Anno | CIↃ. IↃCCC. LXXI.," 1 p.
FOOTNOTES:[XVII.]In order to save needless repetition of long titles, bibliographical works, when once cited in full, will thereafter be referred to by the usual cut-shorts: e.g., the John Carter Brown Catalogue will be hereafter known in our Bibliographical Data as "Brown Catalogue;" the list of Jesuitica in Winsor'sNarrative and Critical Historyvol. iv., as "Winsor;" the LenoxCatalogue of Jesuit Relations, as "Lenox Catalogue;" Harrisse'sNotes sur la Nouvelle France, as "Harrisse'sNotes," or simply as "Harrisse;" etc., etc. The student who is familiar, in a general way, with these bibliographical sources,—and it is presumed that those are, for whom this series of reprints is designed,—will not be confused by the customary method of brief citation.
[XVII.]In order to save needless repetition of long titles, bibliographical works, when once cited in full, will thereafter be referred to by the usual cut-shorts: e.g., the John Carter Brown Catalogue will be hereafter known in our Bibliographical Data as "Brown Catalogue;" the list of Jesuitica in Winsor'sNarrative and Critical Historyvol. iv., as "Winsor;" the LenoxCatalogue of Jesuit Relations, as "Lenox Catalogue;" Harrisse'sNotes sur la Nouvelle France, as "Harrisse'sNotes," or simply as "Harrisse;" etc., etc. The student who is familiar, in a general way, with these bibliographical sources,—and it is presumed that those are, for whom this series of reprints is designed,—will not be confused by the customary method of brief citation.
[XVII.]In order to save needless repetition of long titles, bibliographical works, when once cited in full, will thereafter be referred to by the usual cut-shorts: e.g., the John Carter Brown Catalogue will be hereafter known in our Bibliographical Data as "Brown Catalogue;" the list of Jesuitica in Winsor'sNarrative and Critical Historyvol. iv., as "Winsor;" the LenoxCatalogue of Jesuit Relations, as "Lenox Catalogue;" Harrisse'sNotes sur la Nouvelle France, as "Harrisse'sNotes," or simply as "Harrisse;" etc., etc. The student who is familiar, in a general way, with these bibliographical sources,—and it is presumed that those are, for whom this series of reprints is designed,—will not be confused by the customary method of brief citation.