COUNCILS AND CEREMONIES OF ADOPTION OF NEW YORK INDIANS 353 



which in their language is the sign of peace ; he was received with 

 many caresses of kindness." A meaning more in accordance with 

 the mourning council may be found. In describing the Huron feast 

 of the dead in 1636, Brebeuf said : 



At the end of the feast, as a compliment to him who had enter- 

 tained them, they imitated, as they say, the cry of the souls, and 

 issued from the cabin crying hace, hae, and reiterated this cry of the 

 souls all the way. This cry, say they, comforts them greatly ; other- 

 wise this burden, though but of souls, would weigh heavily on the 

 back, and cause them a pain in the side for the rest of their lives. 



The names of the chiefs vary much in the several dialects, and 

 due allowance must be made for their being sung in Mohawk, as is 

 the custom. These songs go on almost continuously up to a certain 

 stage, full of lamentations, and concluding with the declaration that 

 they are dejected in their minds. The several songs of this part 

 follow as they are written, the Mohawk and translation on opposite 

 pages. 



