512 THE MOUNDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 
no part in the labor, i. e., because “they were always at war or hunt- 
ing,” is the same that is to-day made to do duty in justifying the exist- 
ence of a similar condition of affairs among people who boast not a 
little of their civilization. 
Among most of the other tribes north of the Ohio and south of the St. 
Lawrence, Huron as well as Algonquin, the men not only habitually 
cleared the ground*—no small undertaking, be it understood, in a 
heavily-timbered region—but they frequently took part in what is 
technically known as ‘‘ working” the crop, and also aided in the labors 
of the harvest field. This may not have been a part of their duty, but 
we have the authority of Charlevoix for saying that when asked to aid 
in gathering the crop ‘they did not scorn to lend a helping hand.”t 
On this point, however, it is necessary to make haste-slowly, as our 
euides not only contradict each other, but are very often at odds with 
themselves, and it requires some judgment to pick our way amid the 
conflicting statements. As an instance of some of the least of the dif- 
ficulties that beset out path at this stage of the inquiry, let us take the 
younger Bartram, whose account of his travels among the Indians of 
the Gulf States is one of the most trustworthy that has come down to 
us. Timeand again, in the course of his narrative, he speaks of the 
part taken by the men in the work of raising corn,i and yet, on page 513, 
he tells us that they “perform nothing except erecting their mean 
habitations, forming their canoes, stone pipes, tambour, eagle’s tail, or 
standard, and some other trifling matters, for war and hunting are 
their principal employments.” In Vander Donck’s New Netherlands 
there is an instance even more to the point, though it is no means an 
extreme case. On one page he tells us that the Indiaus “subsist by 
hunting and fishing throughout the year,” having apparently forgotten 
that in a previous chapter he had said that “mush or sapaen” was 
their common food, and that they rarely pass a day without it unless 
they are on ajourney or hunting.§ Strictly speaking, the statements 
fatigue, tho’ their masters will very often help them.” Jbid.,p.18. ‘Therefore the 
plantation work,” among the Iroquois, “is left for the women and slaves to look 
after.” Lawson, Carolina, p. 188. London, 1718. See also Lafitau, vol. m1, p. 308: 
Paris, 1724. Charlevoix, Letters, p. 162: London, 1763. Hennepin, 4: New Discovery 
of a Vast Country, ete., vol. 1, pp. 43, 215, and 234: London, 1698. John Bartram, 
p. 79: London, 1751. By almost all of the old chroniclers ‘‘ captive” and “slave” 
are used as convertible terms. 
*“Ce sont les hommes par toute l’Amerique qui sont chargés de marquer les 
champs et Ven abattre les gros arbres. Ce sont eux aussi, qui en tout temps sont 
obligés de couper le gros bois,” ete.: Lafitau, Moeurs des Sawages Ameriquains, 
vol. u, p. 109: Paris, 1724. ‘The qualifications of man - - - to build cottages, 
to fell trees,” ete.: La Hontan, Voyages, vol. 1, p. 9: London, 1703. Compare La 
Potherie, vol. 11, p. 18: Paris, 1753. 
t Charlevoix, Letters, p. 237: London, 1763. 
{ Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, ete., 
pp. 194, 512, 517: Philadelphia, 1791. 
§ Vander Donck’s New Netherlands, in Collections New York Hist. Soc., vol. 1, of 
new series, pp. 195 and 197. 
