“ I offer thousands and thousands of thanks for the interest and charity of Your Reverence in our behalf, and in behalf of the many poor people whom you bless by keeping us here; for, although we do but little, yet I hope that we shall make a beginning for those who are to come after us and who will do a great deal. We are all in good health, by the grace of our Lord; and we beseech Your Reverence, with one heart, to send us 29 persons capable of learning the languages. ”

“ Two Savages enter a canoe,—one at the stern, who handles the oars, and the other at the bow, who, by the light of a bark torch fastened to the prow of his boat, looks around searchingly for the prey, floating gently along the shores of this great river. When he sees an Eel, he thrusts his harpoon down, without loosening his hold of it, pierces it in the manner I have described, then throws it into his canoe. There are certain ones who will take three hundred in one night, and even more, sometimes very few. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Lying is as natural to Savages as talking, not among themselves, but to strangers. Hence it can be said that fear and hope, in one word, interest, is the measure of their fidelity. I would not be willing to trust them, except as they would fear to be punished if they failed in their duty, or hoped to be rewarded if they were faithful to it. ”

“ All that I shall say regarding the Savages, I have either seen with my own eyes, or have received from the lips of natives, especially from an old man very well versed in their beliefs, and from a number of others with whom I have passed six months with the exception of a few days, following them into the woods to learn their language. It is, indeed, true that these people have not all the same idea in regard to their belief, which will some day make it appear that those who treat of their customs are contradicting each other. ”

“ THE Savages, being filled with errors, are also haughty and proud. Humility is born of truth, vanity of error and falsehood. They are void of the knowledge of truth, and are in consequence, mainly occupied with thought of themselves. They imagine that they ought by right of birth, to enjoy the liberty of Wild ass colts, rendering no homage to any one whomsoever, except when they like. ”

“ The one who eats the most is the most admired. You will hear them describing the prowess of their jaws, naming the quantity and the parts of the beast which they have eaten. God knows what kind of music follows this banquet, for these Barbarians give full liberty to their stomachs and bellies, to utter whatever sounds they please, in order to relieve themselves. ”

“ I have shown in my former letters how vindictive the Savages are toward their enemies, with what fury and cruelty they treat them, eating them after they have made them suffer all that an incarnate fiend could invent. This fury is common to the women as well as to the men, and they even surpass the latter in this respect. I have said that they eat the lice they find upon themselves, not that they like the taste of them, but because they want to bite those that bite them. ”

“ When they are engaged in drying meat, they will throw down upon the ground a whole side of the Moose, beat it with stones, walk over it, trample upon it with their dirty feet; the hairs of men and of animals, the feathers of birds, if they have killed any, dirt and ashes,—all these are ground into the meat, which they make almost as hard as wood with the smoke. ”

“ Oh, what compassion this spectacle would excite in these people, however little love they have for him who shed his blood for these souls that are being lost every day, 27 because no one gathers it up to apply it to their salvation. ”

“ He replied, "Thou hast no sense. You French people love only your own children; but we all love all the children of our tribe." I began to laugh, seeing that he philosophized in horse and mule fashion. ”

“ 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 ”

“ They do not know what it is to keep a secret, to keep their word, and to love with constancy,—especially those who are not of their nation, for they are harmonious among themselves, and their slanders and raillery do not disturb their peace and friendly intercourse. ”

“ I believe that souls are all made from the same stock, and that they do not materially differ; hence, these barbarians having well formed bodies, and organs well regulated and well arranged, their minds ought to work with ease. Education and instruction alone are lacking. Their soul is a soil which is naturally good, but loaded down with all the evils that a land abandoned since the birth of the world can produce. I naturally compare our Savages with certain villagers, because both are usually without education, though our Peasants are superior in this regard ”

“ During certain Summer months, they attack us with such fury, and so continually, that no skin is proof against their sting, and every one pays his blood as tribute. I have seen persons so swollen after being stung by them, that one would think they would lose their eyes, which can scarcely be seen; now all that is nothing, for this annoyance can be dispelled by means of smoke, which the flies cannot stand, but this remedy attracts the Savages,—if they know our dinner hour, they come purposely to get something to eat. ”

“ A certain peasant said in France that, if he were King, he would drink nothing but grease; the Savages do drink it very often, and even eat and bite into it, when [134] it is hard, as we would bite into an apple. When they have cooked a very fat Bear, or two or three Beavers, in a kettle, you will see them skim off the grease from the broth with a large wooden spoon, and taste this liquor as if what they had were the sweetest Parochimel. Sometimes they fill with it a large bark dish, and it goes the rounds of the guests at the feast, each one drinking with pleasure. ”

“ LET us begin with the Elk. When there is very little snow, they kill it with arrows, the first that we ate being taken in this way. But it is a great stroke of luck when they can approach these animals within range of their bows, as they scent the Savages at a great distance, and run as fast as Deer. When the snow is deep, they pursue the Elk on foot, and kill it with thrusts from javelins which are fastened on long poles for this purpose, and which they hurl when they dare not or cannot approach the beast. ”

“ Savages have no system of government, and that their Captain has no such authority. What he can do, is to ask these wicked people to give up their designs. Indeed, it has happened before, when the Savages feared the Europeans more than they do now, if one of their men wanted to kill a Frenchman, either having dreamed that he was to do it, or from other cause, the others flattered him and made him presents, fearing that he would carry out his wicked intentions, and in this way they might lose the whole country. ”

“ They bury with the dead man his robes, his kettles, and other belongings, because they love him, and also in order that he may make use of the soul of all these things in the other life. They throw, as I have already said, the best meat they have into the fire, to give something to eat to the soul of the deceased, which eats the soul of this food. They do not stretch out the bodies of their dead lengthwise, as we do those of our dead, but they place them in a crouching position like a person who is seated upon his heels. ”

“ It is no slight indication of the efficacy of the grace of holy 125 Baptism, to see a man who had been steeped for over sixty years in Barbarism, accustomed to all the ways of the Savages, imbued with their errors and with their illusions, resist his own wife, his children, his sons-in-law, his friends and his fellow-savages, his Manitousiouets, sorcerers or jugglers, not once but many times, to throw himself into the arms of strangers, protesting that he wished to embrace their belief, to die in their Faith and in their house. ”

“ The Savages are slanderous beyond all belief; I say, also among themselves, for they do not even spare their nearest relations, and with it all they are deceitful. For, if one speaks ill of another, they all jeer with loud laughter ”

“ THE great show of power made at first by the Portuguese in the East and West Indies inspired profound admiration in the minds of the Indians, so that these people embraced, without any contradiction, the belief of those whom they admired. ”

“ They make a profession of this art, and expect to be beaten if they are discovered. For, as I have already remarked, they will endure the blows which you give them, patiently, not as an acknowledgment of their fault, but as a punishment for their stupidity in allowing themselves to be detected in their theft. ”

“ Those who run and become greatly heated often weary themselves more than they advance. I do not say this to defer for a long time the conversion of the Savages. If our Fathers had gone among the Hurons this year, I expected to write to Your Reverence next year that receperat Samaria verbum Dei; that these barbarians had received the faith. That will be when it shall please him upon whom all of this great work depends; for, in my opinion, men can accomplish but very little here, although they should spare neither their labor, nor their blood, nor their lives. ”

“ If the feast is of peas, flour, Cornmeal, or such half-liquid things, he takes the Ouragans, or dishes, of each one and divides what is in the kettle, as equally as he can, returning their plates to them well filled, without noticing at what end he began. There is neither honor nor disgrace in being served first or last. ”

“ They never complain of what is given them; if it be cold, if it be warm, it does not matter. When the food is cooked, it is divided without waiting for any one, not even the master of the house; a share is reserved for him, which is given to him cold. I have never heard my host complain because they did not wait for him, if he were only a few steps from the Cabin. ”

“ As to grains, some people are inclined to think that the land where we are is too cold. Let us proceed systematically, and consider the nature of the soil: these last two years all the vegetables, which come up only too fast, have been eaten by insects, which come either from the neighborhood of the woods, or from that land which has not yet been worked and purified, nor exposed to the air. ”

“ Les larmes qui me tombent des yeux à la veuë des lettres de V. R. arrestent ma plume; je suis dur comme bronze, et cependant son affection m'a tellement amoly, que la joye me fait pleurer et me fait donner mille benedictions à Dieu. O quel cœur! quel amour! quelle volonté elle a pour nous! je ne sçay comme y correspondre, sinon de luy dire ecce me, me voilà tout entier entre ses mains et pour le Canada et pour la France et pour tout le monde, ad majorem Dei gloriam. Je me voy si foible à tout, et Dieu si puissant pour tout, qu'il me semble qu'il n'y a plus rien à désirer ny à refuire. ”

“ In the other feasts, although they are usually permitted to speak, they speak very little, and are astonished at the French who talk as much and more at the table than at any other time, so they call us cackling Geese. Their mouths are almost as large as eggs, and it is the delight they have in tasting and relishing what they eat that closes their mouths, and not politeness. ”

“ From this it happened that, one day, seeing themselves being beaten in the presence of a Frenchman, they said to him, "We are astonished that the devil beats us when thou art with us, seeing that he does not dare to do it when thy companions are here." ”

“ Yet I am persuaded that there has been some Sorcerer or Magician here, if what they tell me is true about diseases and cures which they describe to me; it is a strange thing, in my opinion, that the Devil, who is visible to the South Americans, and who so beats and torments them that they would like to get rid of such a guest, does not communicate himself visibly and sensibly to our Savages. I know that there are persons of contrary opinion, who believe in the reports of these Barbarians ”

“ The second means of commending ourselves to the Savages, to induce them to receive our holy faith, would be to send a number of capable men to clear and cultivate the land, who, joining themselves with others who know the language, would work for the Savages, on condition that they would settle down, and themselves put their hands to the work, living in houses that would be built for their use ”

“ Everyone acknowledges that God is for us, since the hearts of the superiors, which are in his hands, are all for us. How can we be insensible to 37 so many benefits, and keep our hearts and eyes dry, in a downpouring of so many blessings! But let us enter upon affairs; I shall spare neither ink nor paper, since Your Reverence endures with so much love my tediousness and my simplicity. ”

“ All the authority of their chief is in his tongue's end; for he is powerful in so far as he is eloquent; and, even if he kills himself talking and haranguing, he will not be obeyed unless he pleases the Savages. ”