Chapter IV (3)

They believe that the hail has understanding and knowledge. When
my host was giving a feast, that Winter, he said to a young man,
"Go tell the Savages of the other Cabin that they may come when
they wish, that everything is ready; but do not carry a torch." It
was night, and there was a very heavy hailstorm. So I heard the
Savages going out from their Cabins, crying to their people, "Do
not make any light for us, because it hails." I afterward asked
the reason for this, and they answered me that the hail possessed
intelligence, and that it hated [90] the light, usually coming only
at night-time; that, if torches were carried out of doors, it would
stop, and they would be very sorry for this, for it helped them
to capture the Moose. See how intelligent these people are about
atmospheric phenomena. I told them that the hail was nothing but
the water of the rain, congealed by the cold, which was greater
at night on account of the absence of the Sun, and so it hailed
then oftener than in the middle of the day. They answered me in
their usual way, "Thou art an ignoramus; dost thou not see that
it has been cold all day long, and that the hail has waited until
night to come?" I tried to tell them that the clouds had not yet
gathered, but they said, _eca titou eca titou nama Khitirinisin_,
"keep still, keep still, thou hast no sense." This is the money
with which they pay me, and with which they very often pay the
others without any variation. Through superstition, my host cuts
off the end of the tail from all the Beavers he takes, and strings
them together. I asked why; and the old man told me that it was
a resolution or promise that he had made in order to take many
Beavers. As to whom he made this vow, [91] neither he nor I would
be able to tell.

Ils mettent au feu vn certain os plat de Porc épic, puis ils regardent à sa couleur s'ils feront bonne chasse de ces animaux.

They put upon the fire a certain flat bone of the Porcupine; then
look at its color attentively, to see if they will hunt these
animals with success.

Quand quelqu'vn de leurs gens s'est egaré dans les bois, voyans qu'il ne retourne point en la Cabane, ils pendent vn fusil à vne perche pour le redresser; & cela fait, me disoient ils, qu'il voye du feu, & qu'il reconnosse son chemin: quand vn esprit s'est vne fois egaré du chemin de la verité, il donne bien auant dans l'erreur.

When some one of their men is lost in the woods, seeing that he
does not return to his Cabin, they hang a fuse to a pole to direct
him, and, that done, they tell me that he sees the fire and finds
his way back. When the mind has once strayed from the path of
truth, it advances far into error.

Mais à propos de leur fusil, ie diray cy qu'il n'est pas faict comme les nostres; ils ont pour meche la peau d'vne cuisse d'vn aigle, auec le duuet qui prẽd feu aisement, ils battent deux pierres de mine ensemble, comme nous faisons vne pierre à fusil, auec vn morceau de fer ou d'acier: au lieu d'allumettes, ils se seruẽt d'vn petit morceau de tondre, c'est vn bois pourry & bien seché, qui brusle aisement & incessammẽt iusques à ce qu'il soit consommé: ayant pris feu ils le mettent dans l'escorce de Cedre puluerisée, & soufflant [92] doucement cette écorce s'enflamme. Voila comme ils font du feu. I'auois porté vn fusil françois auec moy, & cinq ou six allumettes, ils s'estonnoient de la promptitude auec laquelle i'allumois du feu, le mal fut que mes allumettes furent bien tost vsées, ayant manqué d'en porter vn peu dauãtage.

But, in regard to their fuse, I will say here that it is not made
like ours. For wick they use the skin of an eagle's thigh, covered
with down, which takes fire very easily. They strike together two
metallic stones, just as we do with a piece of flint and iron or
steel; in place of matches, they use a little piece of tinder, a
dry and rotten wood which burns easily and continually until it is
consumed. When they have lighted it, they put it into pulverized
Cedar bark; and, by gently [92] blowing, this bark takes fire. That
is how they light their fires. I brought a french fuse with me, and
five or six matches. They were astonished at the ease with which
I could light a fire; the trouble was that my matches were soon
exhausted, as I had failed to bring enough.

Ils ont encore vne autre espece de fusil, ils tournent vn petit baston de Cedre, de ce mouuement sort du feu qui allume du tondre: mais comme ie n'ay point veu l'vsage de ce fusil plus familier aux Hurons qu'aux Montagnais, ie n'en diray pas dauantage.

They have still another kind of fuse. They twist a little Cedar
stick, and this friction causes fire, which lights some tinder;
but, as I have never seen them use this fuse, which is more
familiar to the Hurons than to the Montagnais, I will say no more
about it.

Quand quelqu'vn d'eux a pris vn Ours, il y a bien des ceremonies deuant qu'il soit mangé, vn de nos gens en prit vn. Voicy ce qu'on obserua.

When some one of them has taken a Bear, there are extensive
ceremonies before it is eaten. One of our people took one, and this
is what they did:

Premierement l'Ours estant tué, celuy qui l'a mis à mort ne l'apporte point, mais il s'en reuient à la Cabane en donner la nouuelle, afin que quelqu'vn aille voir la prise comme chose precieuse; car les Sauuages preferent la chair d'Ours à toutes leurs autres viandes: il me semble que le ieune Castor ne luy cede en rien, mais l'Ours a [93] plus de graisse. Voila pourquoy il est plus aimé des Sauuages.

First, the Bear having been killed, the man who killed it did not
bring it back, but he returned to the Cabin to impart the news,
so that some one might go and see the prize, as something very
precious; for the Savages prefer the meat of the Bear to all other
kinds of food; it seems to me that the young Beaver is in no way
inferior to it, but the Bear has [93] more fat, and therefore the
Savages like it better.

Secondement l'Ours a[p]porté toutes les filles nubiles, & les ieunes femmes mariées qui n'ont point encore eu d'ẽfans, tant celles de la Cabane où l'Ours doit estre mangé, que des autres voisines, s'en vont dehors, & ne rentrent point tant qu'il y reste aucun morceau de cet animal, dont elles ne goustent point: Il negeoit & faisoit vn temps fort fascheux, il estoit quasi nuict quãd cét Ours fut apporté en nostre Cabane: tout à l'heure les femmes & les filles sortirent, & s'en allerent Cabaner ailleurs le mieux quelles peurent non sans patir beaucoup, car ils n'ont pas tousiours des écorces à leur commandemẽt pour dresser leur maison, qu'ils couurẽt en tel cas de brãches de Sapin.

Second, the Bear being brought, all the marriageable girls and
young married women who have not had children, as well as those of
the Cabin where the Bear is to be eaten, and of the neighboring
cabins, go outside, and do not return as long as there remains a
piece of this animal, which they do not taste. It snowed, and the
weather was very severe. It was almost night when this Bear was
brought to our Cabin; immediately the women and girls went out and
sought Shelter elsewhere, the best they could find. They do this
not without much suffering; for they do not always have bark at
hand with which to make their house, which in such cases they cover
with branches of the Fir tree.

En troisiesme lieu, il faut bien éloigner les chiens, de peur qu'ils ne lechent le sang, ou ne mangent les os, voire les excremens de cette beste, tãt elle est cherie. On enterre ceux-cy sous le foyer, & on iette ceux-là au feu; voila ce que i'obseruay en cette superstitiõ. On fit deux banquets de cét Ours, [94] l'ayant fait cuire en deux chaudieres, quoy qu'en mesme temps. On inuita les hõmes & les femmes âgées au premier festin, lequel acheué, les femmes sortirent, puis on depẽdit l'autre chaudiere, dont on fit festin à manger tout entre les hommes seulement. Cela se fit le soir de la prise; le lendemain sur la nuict, ou le second iour, ie ne m'en souuiens pas bien, l'Ours estant entierement mangé, les ieunes femmes, & les filles retournerent.

In the third place, the dogs must be sent away, lest they lick
the blood, or eat the bones, or even the offal of this beast, so
greatly is it prized. The latter are buried under the fireplace,
and the former are thrown into the fire. The preceding are
the observations which I made during the performance of this
superstition. Two banquets are made of this Bear, [94] as it is
cooked in two kettles, although all at the same time. The men
and older women are invited to the first feast, and, when it is
finished, the women go out; then the other kettle is taken down,
and of this an eat-all feast is made for the men only. This is done
on the evening of the capture; the next day toward nightfall, or
the second day, I do not exactly remember, the Bear having been all
eaten, the young women and girls return.

Si l'oiseau qu'ils nomment _Ouichcatchan_, qui est quasi de la grosseur d'vne pie, & qui luy ressemble, (car il est gris aux endroicts que la pie est noire, & blanc ou elle est blanche) se presente pour entrer dans leur Cabane, ils le chassent fort soigneusement, pource disent ils, qu'ils auroient mal à la teste: ils n'ẽ dõnent point de raison ils l'ont, si on les croit, experimenté, ie les ay veu prendre le gesier de cét animal, le fendans & regardans dedans fort attentiuement; mon hoste me dit, si ie trouue dedans vn petit os d'Originac (car cét oyseau mange de tout) ie tueray vn Orignac, si ie trouue vn os d'Ours, ie [95] tueray vn Ours, & ainsi des autres animaux.

If the bird which they call _Ouichcatchan_, which is nearly the
size of the magpie, and which resembles it (for it is gray in the
places where the magpie is black, and white where it is white),
tries to get into their Cabins, they drive it away very carefully,
because, they say, they would have a headache; they do not give
any reason for this, but have, if they are to be believed, learned
it by experience. I have seen them take the throat of this animal,
split it open, and look into it very attentively. My host tells me,
"If I find inside a little bone of the Moose (for this bird eats
everything) I shall kill a Moose; if I find a bone of the Bear, I
[95] shall kill a Bear;" and so on with other animals.

Dans la famine que nous auons enduré, nos Sauuages ne voulurent point manger leurs chiens, pource que si on tuoit vn chiẽ pour le manger, vn hõme seroit tué à coups de hache, disoiẽt-ils.

In the famine which we endured, our Savages would not eat their
dogs, because they said that, if the dog was killed to be eaten, a
man would be killed by blows from an axe.

Mon hoste iettant quelques branches de pin dans le feu, il prestoit l'oreille au bruit qu'elles feroient en se bruslant, prononçant quelques paroles; ie luy demanday pourquoy il faisoit cette ceremonie, pour prendre des Porcs épics, me respond il, de dire quel rapport il y a de ces branches bruslées auec leur chasse, c'est ce qu'ils ne sçauent pas, & ne sçauroient sçauoir.

My host, throwing some pine branches into the fire, listened
attentively to the noise which they made in burning, and pronounced
some words. I asked him why he went through this ceremony; "To
capture Porcupines," he answered me. What connection there is
between these burning branches and their hunting, they neither do
nor can explain.

Ils ne mangent point la moëlle des vertebres ou de l'espine du dos de quelque animal que ce soit, car ils auroient mal au dos, & s'ils fourroient vn baston dans ces vertebres, ils sentiroiẽt vne douleur, comme si on le fichoit dans les leur. Ie le faisois expres deuant eux pour les desabuser, mais vn mal d'esprit si grand, comme est vne superstition inueterée depuis tant de siecles, & succée auec le laict de la nourrice [96] ne se guerit pas en vn moment.

They do not eat the marrow of the vertebræ or backbone of any
animal whatever, for they would have a backache; and, if they
were to thrust a stick into these vertebræ, they would feel the
pain the same as if some one had driven it into theirs. I did it
purposely, in their presence, to disabuse them; but a disease of
the mind so great as is a superstition firmly established for so
many centuries, and drunk in with the nurse's milk, [96] is not
eradicated in a moment.

Ils ne mangent point les petits embrions d'Orignac, qu'ils tirent du ventre de leurs meres, sinon à la fin de la chasse de cét animal, la raison est que leurs meres les aiment, & qu'elles s'en rendroient fascheuses & difficiles à prendre, si on mangeoit leur fruict si ieune.

They do not eat the little embryos of Moose, which they take from
the wombs of the mothers, except at the end of the chase for this
animal. The reason is that their mothers love them, and they would
become angry and difficult to capture, if their offspring were
eaten so young.

Ils ne reconnoissent que dix Lunes en l'année, i'entends la pluspart des Sauuages, car i'ay fait auouër au Sorcier qu'il y en auoit douze.

They recognize only ten Moons in the year,--I mean the greater part
of the Savages, for I made the Sorcerer admit that there are twelve.

Ils croyent que la Lune de Feurier est plus lõgue de plusieurs iours que les autres, aussi la nomment ils la grande Lune; Ie leur ay demanday d'où venoit l'Eclypse de Lune & de Soleil; ils m'ont respondu que la Lune s'éclypsoit ou paroissoit noire, à cause qu'elle tenoit son fils entre ses bras, qui empeschoit que l'on ne vist sa clarté. Si la Lune a vn fils, elle est mariée, ou l'a été, leur dis-je, oüy dea, me dirent ils, le Soleil est son mary qui marche tout le iour, & elle toute la nuict; & s'il s'eclypse, ou s'il s'obscurcit, c'est qu'il prend aussi par fois le fils qu'il a eu de [97] la Lune entre ses bras: oüy, mais ny la Lune ny le Soleil n'ont point de bras, leur disois-je, tu n'as point d'esprit: ils tiẽnent tousiours leur arcs bandés deuant eux, voila pourquoy leurs bras ne paroissent point; & sur qui veulent ils tirer? hé qu'en sçauons nous. Ie leur demanday que vouloient dire ces taches qui se font voir en la Lune; tu ne sçay riẽ du tout, me disoient ils; c'est vn bonet qui luy couure la teste, & non pas des taches. Ie m'enquis pourquoy le fils du Soleil & de la Lune n'estoit pas luisant comme ses parents, ains noir & obscur; nous n'en sçauons rien, me firent ils, si nous auions esté au Ciel nous te respondrions. Au reste ils croyent qu'ils viẽt quelquefois en terre, & quand il se pourmene en leur pays, ils meurent en grand nõbre. Ie leur ay demandé s'ils n'auoiẽt point veu de Cometes, ces Estoilles à longue queuë, & ce que c'estoit; nous en auons veu, me dirent ils, c'est vn animal qui a vne grande queuë, 4. pieds, & une teste, nous voyons tous cela, disoiẽt-ils.

They believe that the February Moon is longer by several days than
the others, and therefore they call it the great Moon. I asked them
whence came the Eclipse of the Moon and of the Sun. They answered
that the Moon was eclipsed, or appeared to be dark, because she
held her son in her arms, which prevented her brightness from being
seen. "If the Moon has a son, she is married, or has been," I told
them. "Oh, yes," they replied, "the Sun is her husband, who walks
all day, and she all night; and if he be eclipsed, or darkened, it
is because he also sometimes takes the son which he has had by [97]
the Moon, into his arms." "Yes, but neither the Moon nor the Sun
has any arms," I answered them. "Thou hast no sense; they always
hold their drawn bows before them, and that is why their arms do
not appear." "And whom do they wish to shoot?" "Ah, how do we
know?" I asked them what those spots meant that appear on the Moon.
"Thou knowest nothing at all," they said; "it is a cap which covers
her head, and not spots." I inquired why the son of the Sun and of
the Moon was not bright like parents, but black and gloomy. "We do
not know," said they; "if we had been in the Sky, we might answer
thee." Furthermore, they think that he comes now and then upon
earth; and, when he walks about in their country, many people die.
I asked them if they had never seen Comets, those Stars with long
tails, and what they were. "We have seen them," they answered; "it
is an animal that has a long tail, 4 feet, and a head; we can see
all that," they said.

Ie les interrogeay sur le tonnerre, ils me dirent qu'ils ne sçauoient pas quel animal c'estoit, qu'il mangeoit les serpents [98] & quelquefois les arbres, que les Hurons croyẽt que c'est vn oiseau fort grãd induit à cette creãce, par vn bruit sourd que fait vne espece d'hirondelle qui paroist icy l'Esté: Ie n'ay point veu de ces oiseaux en France, i'en ay tenu icy, il a le bec, & la teste, & la figure du corps, cõme vne hirondelle, sinõ qu'il est vn peu plus gros; il se pourmene le soir en l'air, faisant vn bruit pesãt par reprises. Les Hurons disent qu'il fait ce bruit du derriere, cõme aussi l'oiseau qu'ils pẽsent estre le tõnerre, & qu'il n'y a qu'vn seul hõme qui voye cét oiseau, & encore vne fois en sa vie; c'est ce que m'ẽ dit mõ vieillard.

I asked them about the thunder; they said that they did not know
what animal it was; that it ate snakes, [98] and sometimes trees;
that the Hurons believed it to be a very large bird. They were led
to this belief by a hollow sound made by a kind of swallow which
appears here in the Summer. I have not seen any of these birds in
France, but have examined some of them here. They have a beak, a
head, and a form like the swallow, except that they are a little
larger; they fly about in the evening, repeatedly making a dull
noise. The Hurons say that they make this noise from behind, as
does also the bird which they think is the thunder; and that there
is only one man who has seen this bird, and he only once in his
lifetime. This is what my old man told me.

Voila vne partie de leurs superstitiõs; que de poussiere dedans leurs yeux, & qu'il y aura de peine à la faire sortir, pour leur faire voir le beau iour de la verité. Ie croy neãtmoins, que qui sçauroit parfaittement leur langue, pour les payer promptement de bonnes raisons, qu'ils se mocqueroient eux mesmes de leurs sottises: car par fois ie les rendois honteux & cõfus, quoy que ie ne parle quasi que par les mains, ie veux dire par signes.

These are some of their superstitions. How much dust there is in
their eyes, and how much trouble there will be to remove it that
they may see the beautiful light of truth! I believe, nevertheless,
that any one who knew their language perfectly, in order to give
them good reasons promptly, would soon make them laugh at their own
stupidity; for sometimes I have made them ashamed and confused,
although I speak almost entirely by my hands, I mean by signs.

Ie veux conclurre ce chapitre par vn estõnement; on se plaint en France d'vne [99] Messe, si elle passe vne demie heure; le Sermon limité d'vne heure semble par fois trop long, à peine exerce l'on ces actes de Religion vne fois la semaine, & ces pauures ignorants crient & hurlent à toute heure.

I am going to conclude this chapter with a surprise; they complain
in France of a [99] Mass, if it lasts more than half an hour; a
Sermon limited to an hour seems too long; those Religious services
are performed hardly once a week; and yet those poor ignorant
people cry and howl all the time.

Le Sorcier les assemble souuent en plein minuict, à deux heures, à trois heures du matin, dãs vn froid qui gele tout; iour & nuict il les tient en haleine, employans non vne ou deux heures, mais trois & quatre de suitte, à faire leurs deuotions ridicules. On fait sortir les pauures femmes de leurs Cabanes, se leuãts en pleine nuict, emportants leurs petits enfans parmy les neiges chez leurs voisins. Les hommes harassez du trauail du iour, ayant peu mangé & couru fort lõg temps, au moindre cry qu'on leur faict quittent leur sommeil, & s'en viennent promptement au lieu où se fait le Sabbat, & ce qui semblera au delà de toute creance. Ie n'ay iamais veu former aucune plainte parmy eux, ny aux femmes ny aux hommes, ny mesme aux enfans, chacun se montrant prompt & allaigre à la voix du Sorcier ou du jongleur, hélas! mon Dieu, les ames qui vous aiment seront [100] elles sans sentiment, voyants plus de passion pour des folies, que pour la verité? Belial est-il plus aimable que IESVS? pourquoy dõc est-il plus ardãment aimé, obey plus promptement, & plus deuotement adoré? mais passons outre.

The Sorcerer often brings them together at midnight, or at two or
three o'clock in the morning, in a cold which freezes everything.
Day and night he holds them with bated breath, during not one
nor two hours, but three or four in succession, to perform their
ridiculous devotions. They make the poor women go out from their
Cabins, rising at midnight and carrying their little children over
the snow to their neighbors. Men, harassed by the work of the day,
who have eaten but little and hunted a long time, at the first cry
waken and promptly betake themselves to this Witches' Sabbath;
and, what will seem beyond all belief, I have never known a single
complaint to arise among them, neither among the women nor the men,
nor even the children, each one showing himself prompt and glad to
obey the voice of the Sorcerer or juggler. Alas, my God, will the
souls that love you be [100] without feeling, when they see more
zeal shown for folly than for truth? Is Belial more lovely than
JESUS? Why then is he more ardently loved, more promptly obeyed,
and more devotedly adored? But let us pass on.

CHAPITRE V.

DES CHOSES BONNES QUI SE TROUUENT DANS LES SAUUAGES.

SI nous commençons par les biens du corps, ie diray qu'ils les possedẽt auec auantage: ils sont grands, droicts, forts, bien proportionnez, agiles, rien d'effeminé ne paroist en eux. Ces petits Damoiseaux qu'õ voit ailleurs, ne sont que des hõmes en peinture, à comparaison de nos Sauuages. I'ay quasi creu autrefois que les Images des Empereurs Romains representoient plustost l'idée des peintres, que des hommes qui eussent iamais esté, tant leurs testes sont grosses & puissãtes, mais ie voy icy sur les épaules de ce peuple les testes de Iules Cesar, de Pompée, d'Auguste, d'Othon, & des autres que i'ay veu en France, tirées sur [101] le papier, ou releuées en des medailles.