XXXVl INTRODUCTION. 



ploymeiit, — of war, hunting, fishing, and trade. There 

 was an established system of traffic between the Hurons 

 and the Algonquin s of the Ottawa and Lake Nipissing : 

 the Hurons exchanging wampum, fishing-nets, and corn 

 for fish and furs.^ From various relics found in their 

 graves, it may be inferred that they also traded with 

 tribes of the Upper Lakes, as well as with tribes far 

 southward, towards the Gulf of Mexico. Each branch of 

 traffic was the monopoly of the family or clan by whom 

 it was opened. They might, if they could, punish inter- 

 lopers, by stripping them of all they possessed, unless the 

 latter had succeeded in reaching home with the fruits 

 of their trade, — in which case the outraged monopolists 

 had no further right of redress, and could not attempt 

 it without a breaking of the public peace, and exposure 

 to the authorized vengeance of the other party .^ Their 

 fisheries, too, were regulated by customs having the 

 force of laws. These pursuits, with their hunting, — in 

 which they were aided by a wolfish breed of dogs unable 

 to bark, — consumed the autumn and early winter ; but 

 before the new year the greater part of the men were 

 gathered in their villages. 



Now followed their festal season ; for it was the season 

 of idleness for the men, and of leisure for the women. 

 Feasts, gambling, smoking, and dancing filled the vacant 

 hours. Like other Lidians, the Hurons were desperate 

 gamblers, staking their all, — ornaments, clothing, canoes, 

 pipes, weapons, and wives. One of their principal games 

 was played with plum-stones, or wooden lozenges, black 

 on one side and white on the other. These were tossed 

 up in a wooden bowl, by striking it sharply upon the 

 ground, and the players betted on the black or white.' 



1 Champlain (1627), 84. 



2 Brebeuf, Relation des Hurons, 1636, 156 (Cramoisy). 



