C 83 ) 



They have a clear and folid judgment, and come 

 at once to the point, without the lead Hop or de- 

 viation. They eafily conceive whatever is within 

 their reach, but it would require a long time and 

 much labour, to put them in a condition of fuc- 

 ceeding in the arts, with which they have hitherto 

 difpenfed, and whereof they have not the fmalleft 

 notion ; and the more fo as they have a fovereigrt 

 contempt of whatever is not neceffary*, that is to 

 fay, for that which we hold in the greateft efti- 

 mation. It would alfo be no eafy matter to render 

 them capable of conftraint, or to applying to things 

 purely fpiritual, or which they look upon as ufe- 

 iefs. As for thofe which they imagine of confe- 

 quence, they obferve the greateft care and delibe- 

 ration ; and in proportion as they difcover phelgm 

 in confidering before they have taken their mea- 

 fures they teftify vivacity and ardour in the exe- 

 cution ; this is remarked in an efpecial manner in 

 the Hurons and Iroquois. They are not only quick 

 but alfo very ingenious, and fmart in their repar- 

 tees. An Outaway called John le Blanc \ who was 

 a bad chriftian and a great drunkard* on being 

 alked by the Count de Frontenac, what he thought 

 the brandy he was fo fond of was made of, he 

 faid, of tongues and hearts s for, added he, after I 

 have drank of it I fear nothing, and I talk like 

 an angel* 



Moft of them have really a noblenefs of foul 

 and a confbancy of mind, at which we rarely ar- 

 rive, with all the affiftance of philofophy and re- 

 ligion. Always matters of themfelves in the moft 

 fudden reverfes of fortune, not the fmalleft alter- 

 ation is feen even in their countenances ; a pri- 

 foner who knows what is to be the end of his cap^ 

 tivity, or what is perhaps more furprizing, who is 



G 2 ftiU 



