30 



constitution undergo the same fate. When the 

 father is asked what is become of one of his sons, 

 he will pretend, that he has lost him by a natural 

 death,. He will disavow an action, that appears 

 to him blamable, but not criminal. "The poor 

 mure he will tell you, " could not follow us ; 

 we must have waited for him every moment ; he 

 has not been seen again, he did not come to sleep 

 where we passed the night." Such is the can- 

 dor and simplicity of manners, such the boasted 

 happiness of man in the state of nature ! He 

 kills his son, to escape the ridicule of having 

 twins, or to avoid journeying more slowly; in 

 fact, to avoid a little inconvenience. 



These acts of cruelty, I confess, are less fre- 

 quent, than they are believed to be ; yet they 

 occur even in the missions, during the time when 

 the Indians leave the village, to retire to the 

 conucos of the neighbouring forests. It would 

 be erroneous, to attribute these actions to the 

 state of polygamy, in which the uncatechized 

 Indians live. Polygamy no doubt diminishes 

 the domestic happiness and internal union of 

 families ; but this practice, sanctioned by Is- 

 maelism, does not prevent the people of the east 

 from loving their children with tenderness. 

 Among the Indians of the Oroonoko, the father 

 returns home only to eat, or to sleep in his ham- 



* In Tamanack mure signifies a child ; eniuru, a son. 



