SWAN-n.Nl TNPTAX THTBR^^ OF TlTE T.oWF'.H MTSftlKftlPPr VAl.I.RV 119 



As soon lis tlio Fn>n(li ciniiiiiMiKlMiit Miipciircd witli liis tninp the fjroat <-lii»>f 

 (Icscciidcd froiii liis lillrr ti> llic iinisc uC mII his iiinskclry mihI w:is i-cccivcd liy 

 liis wiiiiH'ii Ml tin- door of the i-;dpiii. tlic llonr of wliicli Wiis coxcred \\\\\i very 

 clt'iiii in.-ils. Iicitij,' scMlt'd Uutc with liis lt';;s v-rosscd aoconiiii;,' to their ciisloni, 

 surromidcd by his woiiicn seated mi tlieir knees. Ills Honored men, and (he 

 French, lie look (he ealnniet \vlii<h was [iresenhnl to him, sniok(<d two or threes 

 montlifuls, !ind tli(>n lia<l Ihe pipe jiiven lo Ihe Freneli. in ord(>r lliat they mi^'lit 

 smoke with him, hut l)ecans»\ inslead of expressinf; himself by a sign, he fiave 

 this order in a loud voiee, all the savages who were present replied to it by howl- 

 ing nine times, as is their custom. After this ceremony there were served before 

 him more than oHO dishes of all shapes and of all kinds, of wood, of earth, round, 

 oval, filled with all kinds of viands, having tasted of which he destribnted them 

 to liis women and his entire following, after which h(> had the rest delivered to 

 all of his jieople sc;ittered on the grass in sections: (hat is to s:ly, the women 

 with the women, the girls with the girls, the boys with the boys, and. the men 

 in the same way with the men, but distinguishe<l according to their rank. I 

 mean the warriors with the warriors and the Stinkards with those of their 

 kind. For him he had had prepared a table in his cabin with benches all around 

 it, where he seated himself with the French commander and his officers, whom 

 he treat(>d in the I""'rench manner as best he could. It is true that they had 

 brought with them wine and brandy. 



They had reached the end of the repast when the great chief, having begged 

 the Frenchmen to wait an instant, repaired to the door of his cabin where, at 

 a signal which lie made, all the sav.-iges assembled around him at once. Then 

 lie reproached them violently, asking them if they were not ashamed to know 

 that the French, who were their friends, w^ei-e among them without their having 

 thought of preiiaring anything with which to receive them, and w^hether they 

 thought that they were accustomed, like themselves, to live on gruel and hom- 

 iny. His harangue ended by his giving them an order to jirovide for them. 

 At this speech of their chief the savages I'eplied in their ordinary manner by 

 howling nine times, after wdiich, having detached themselves by troops, they 

 were seen to return at the end of about two hours in single file, bringing to the 

 feet of the great chief, some smoke-dried pieces of bison, other quarters of 

 bear or of deer freshly killed, squirrels, etc. In an instant the floor of the cabin 

 was covered to the depth of more than 1^ feet with meat and game of all kinds. 

 The great chief appeared satisfied with their exactness in executing his orders, 

 and to indicate his satisfaction he showed them a large ball full of sawdust, 

 and presented them at the same time with a gun and an ell of TAinhonrg, 

 which were to be the reward of the one w^ho was victor at that game. Imme- 

 diately all the savages rangeil themselves in two troops of about 8(X) men each, 

 and the gi'eat chief, having thrown the ball into one of the two parties, the game 

 began. It is that which is called la souJe in Brittany, where for a very long 

 time this amusement has been very common among the country people, without 

 anyone being able to say that the savages have taken this usage from the 

 Bretons, nor that the latter have inti'oduced it among them from America. 

 Whatever be its origin it is certain that the savages take much pleasure and 

 exercise themselves very much at this game, which consists among them, when 

 the ball is thrown, of keeping it from remaining in the hands of any of the 

 players, but in making it always fly about without permitting it to fall to the 

 earth. For that purpose when it is in the air each of the two parties is seen 

 to advance and close together from the same side so tightly togettier that a pin 

 would have difficulty in passing between them, and when it is ready to fall all 

 immediately raise their arms to receive it, trying at the same time to prevent 

 their comrades from holding it, and by this means keeping this ball in the air 



