XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 



sible of pain, certainly made them less susceptible of 

 passion, than the higher races of men, the Hurons were 

 notoriously dissolute, far exceeding in this respect the 

 wandering and starving Algonquins.^ Marriage existed 

 among them, and polygamy was exceptional ; but divorce 

 took place at the will or caprice of either party. A 

 practice also prevailed of temporary or experimental 

 marriage, lasting a day, a week, or more. The seal of 

 the compact was merely the acceptance of a gift of wam- 

 pum made by the suitor to the object of his desire or his 

 whim. These gifts were never returned on the dissolution 

 of the connection ; and as an attractive and enterprising 

 damsel might, and often did, make twenty such marriages 

 before her final establishment, she thus collected a wealth 



1 Among the Iroquois there were more favorable features in the con- 

 dition of women. The matrons had often a considerable influence on the 

 decisions of the councils. Lafitau, whose book appeared in 1724, says 

 that the nation was corrupt in his time, but that this was a degeneracy 

 from their ancient manners. La Potherie and Charlevoix make a similar 

 statement. Megapolensis, however, in 1644, says that they were then 

 exceedingly debauched ; and Greenhalgh, in 1677, gives ample evidence 

 of a shameless license. One of their most earnest advocates of the 

 present day admits that the passion of love among them had no other 

 than an animal existence. (Morgan, League of the Iroquois, 322.) There is 

 clear proof that the tribes of the South were equally corrupt. (See 

 Lawson, Carolina, 34, and other early writers.) On the other hand, 

 chastity in women was recognized as a virtue by many tribes. This was 

 peculiarly the case among the Algonquins of Gaspe, where a lapse in 

 this regard was counted a disgrace. (See Le Clerc, Nouvelle Relation de 

 la Gasp€sie, 417, where a contrast is drawn between the modesty of 

 the girls of this region and the open prostitution practised among those 

 of other tribes.) Among the Sioux, adultery on the part of a woman is 

 punished by mutilation. 



The remarkable forbearance observed by Eastern and Northern tribes 

 towards female captives was probably the result of a superstition. Not- 

 withstanding the prevailing license, the Iroquois and other tribes had 

 among themselves certain conventional rules which excited the admira- 

 tion of the Jesuit celibates. Some of these had a superstitious origin ; 

 others were in accordance with the iron requirements of their savage 

 etiquette. To make the Indian a hero of romance is mere nonsense. 



