• ( 3'- ) 

 for his acYions, at lead, that he deferves no punifh- 

 ment ; but they imagine Jikewife that it is beneath 

 the dignity of a man to defend himfelf againft a 

 woman or a child : provided, however, as I 

 fhould be apt to imagine, that there is no danger 

 of life being loft, or any rifque of being maimed ; 

 in which cafe, their way is, if pofllble, to fave 

 themfelves by flight. But, mould an Indian kill 

 another in his cabin, being drunk, which they of- 

 ten pretend to be when they harbour any fuch de- 

 fig ns, they content themfelves with bewailing the 

 dead : It was a great misfortune, fay they, but 

 as for the murderer he knew not what he did. 



If the thing was done in cold blood, they fup- 

 pofe without difficulty that the perfon who com- 

 mitted it, muft have had very good reafons before 

 he proceeded to this extremity. If it is clear he 

 had none, it belongs to thofe of his own cabin, 

 as being the only perfons concerned, to punifti 

 him ; thefe have power to punifh him with death, 

 but this they rarely do, and even then without any 

 form of juftice, fo that his death does not fo much 

 look like a legal punifhment as the revenge of fome 

 individual ; and fometimes a chief is glad of this 

 opportunity to get rid of a bad fubjecl:. In a 

 word, crimes are punifhed in fuch a manner as 

 neither to fatsfy juftice nor eftabiifh the public 

 tranquillity and fecurity. 



A murder, in which feveral cabins mould be af- 

 fected, would notwithstanding always have trouble- 

 fome confequences, and would often be fufficient 

 to fet a whole town, and even a whole nation in 

 a combuftion : for which reafon, in fuch acci- 

 dents the council of the elders leave nothing un- 

 done in order to accommodate matters cimeoufly j 



~~~~ and 



