300 



ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS. 



heaven, and blows through them, as they say, the 

 soul of the deceased, that it may go and find, and 

 enter into a relative. Or, if any relative is pres- 

 ent, the priest will hold his hands on the head 

 of this person, and blow through them, that the 

 spirit of the deceased may enter into him or 

 her; and then, as they affirm, the first child 

 which this person has, will possess the soul of 

 the deceased person. 



When the Carriers are severely sick, they 

 often think that they shall not recover, unless 

 they divulge to a priest or magician, every crime 

 which they may have committed, which has 

 hitherto been kept secret. In such a case, they 

 will make a full confession, and then they ex- 

 pect that their lives will be spared, for a time 

 longer. But should they keep back a single 

 crime, they as fully believe that they shall suf- 

 fer almost instant death. The crimes which 

 they most frequently confess, discover something 

 of their moral character, and therefore deserve 

 to be mentioned. A man will often acknowl- 

 edge that he has had a criminal and incestuous 

 connexion with his own daughter or sister, or a 

 criminal intercourse with a bitch ! and a woman 

 will confess, that she has had the same infamous 

 connexion with her own relations, or with a dog ! 



Murder is not considered by the Carriers as & 



