Travels în North America. 27$ 



Thing that may fhew the Efteem they had for the Deceafed. 

 They fometimes put on it his Portrait, and every Thing that 

 may ferve to ihew to PafTengers who he was, and the fineft Ac- 

 tions of his Life. They carry frelh Provifions to the Tomb 

 every Morning ; and as the Dog3 and other Beafts do not fail to 

 reap the Benefit of it, they are willing to perfuade themfelves 

 that thefe Things have been eaten by the Souls of the Dead. 

 It is not ftrange, after this, that the Savages believe in Appa- 



Of Jptaritions ^'^^^^^^ • Fa6l they tell Stories of this 



/ ppan ions» g^^^ y^^^^^^^ Ways, I knew a poor 



Man, who, by continually hearing thefe Stories, fancied that he 

 had always a Troop of Ghofls at his Heels ; and as People took 

 a Pleafure to encreafe his Fears, it made him grow foolifii.--Ne- 

 verthelefs, at the End of a certain Number of Years, they take 

 as much Care to efface out of their Minds the Remembrance of 

 thofe they have loft, as they did before to preferve it ; and this 

 folely to put an End to the Grief they felt for their Lofs. 



Some Milfionaries one Day afking their new Converts, why 

 they deprived themfelves of their moft neceffary Things in Fa- 

 vour of the Dead ? they replied, It is not only to Ihew the 

 Love we bore to our Relations, but alfo that we may not 

 have before our Eyes, in the Things they ufed, Objeéls which 

 would cpntinually i^enew our Grief.'' It is alfo for this Rea- 

 fon that Ûicj forbear, for fome Time, to pronounce their Names; 

 and if any other of the Family bears the fame Name, he quits it 

 all the Time of Mourning. This is probably alfo the Reafon 

 why the greateft Outrage you can do to any Perfon, is to fay tQ 

 them, î^our Father is deady or, Tour Mother is dead. 



When any one dies in the Time of Hunting, they expofe his 

 Various Fra Body on a very high Scaffold, and it remains 

 / ' there till the Departure of the Troop, w^ho 



tices about the . '.-u .i, ^.i, -xr-n t^i 



jy^^^ carry it with them to the village. \ here are 



fome Nations who praélife the fame with Re^ 

 gard to all their Dead ; and I have feen it pradifed by the 

 MiJJifaguez, of Detroit, The Çodies of thofe who die iii War 

 are burnt, and their Afhes brought back to be laid in the Bury- 

 ing-Place of their Fathers. Thefe Burying-Places, among the 

 moll fettled Nations, are Places like our Church-yards, near the 

 Village. Others bury their Dead in the Woods, at the Foot of 

 a Tree ; or dry them, and keep them in Chefts till the Feftival 

 of the Dead, which I ihall prefently defcribe : But in fome 

 Places they obferve an odd Ceremony for thofe that are drowned, 

 or are frozen to Death. 



Before I defcribe it, it is proper, Madam, to, tell you that the 

 ^.Savages believe, when thefe Accidents happen, that the Spirits 

 are inceraed, and that their Anger is not,appeafed till the Body 

 N n g is 



