794 2§ft Voyages an & Obfervatiom of J. A. de Mandelfloe, Book L 
whole Body ; but their Swords Hiort and broad. Befides 
which, they alfo make ufe of Knives, or Bayonets, like 
thofe of the Japanefe . Sometimes certain Villages enter 
into a Confederacy againft divers other Villages, in which 
cafe they don’t choofe a General, or any Commander in 
chief, but fuch among them as have acquired fome Repu- 
tation of Courage, by having cut off fome of their Ene- 
mies Heads, are followed by a certain Number of Volun- 
teers, wh© go abroad in Parties, and furprize their Ene- 
mies, 
They commonly engage in War againft the Hand of 
fuginy the Inhabitants thereof are fo fufpicious, that they 
will not let a Foreigner or others fet a Foot on Shore, not 
the Chinefe themfeives, who come thither to trade with 
them, but are forced to remain on Board their Veffels, 
whither thefe Flanders come to exchange Commodities 
with them. If they are fo happy as to carry off an Ene- 
my’s Head, Or perhaps only a Lock of his Hair, or a 
Pike, they carry it in Triumph, as a Sign of their Victory, 
appoint a publick Thankfgiving-day, fing Hymns, and of- 
fer Sacrifices to their Gods. He who has done the Ex- 
ploit, is looked upon ever after as an extraordinary Man, 
has particular Reverence paid him by all the reft, and he 
preferves the Head, or Pike of his Enemy, as a moft pre- 
cious Relick in his Family, which they value beyond any 
Gold or Silver. No body here claims any Preference above 
another, more than what is allowed to Age. Each Vil- 
lage being governed by twelve Senators, chofen every two 
Years out of the moft aged Perfons, who are not inverted 
with any other Power, or Authority, than that of calling 
together the whole Village in one of their Temples, and 
propofing to them what they think neceffary to be done, 
making ufe of all their Eloquence (of which they have 
fufficient Share bellowed upon them by Nature) to per- 
fuade the Chief of the Families there prefent, to a Com- 
pliance with what has been propofed to them, which they 
are at Liberty to accept of, or rejeft, according as they 
think fit. 
The only Power thofe Senators are inverted with, con- 
fifts in this, that they fee the Commands of their female 
Priefts put in Execution, take care that Satisfaction may 
be given to fuch as are injured, not by any corporal Pu- 
nifhments, but by enjoining them to give a Piece of Cloth, 
Deer-fkin, fome Rice, or perhaps a Pot of ftrong Liquor, 
as an Attonement to their Adverfaries ; for thofe Magif- 
trates have no Power to puniffi Murder, Theft, or Adul- 
tery. In the firft cafe the Matter is commonly compofed 
by the Mediation of the Relations on both Sides. If any 
one be robbed, he goes, accompanied by his friends, to the 
Houfe of him who has ftolen his Goods, and with their 
Affiftance forces him to make an immediate Reparation ; 
and what is agreed upon betwixt them, he carries away 
with him to his own Houfe. In cafe of Adultery, the in- 
jured Hulband goes, without any farther Ceremony, to the 
Dwelling-place of his Wife’s Gallant, takes from him two 
or three pigs, in Satisfaction of the Affront put upon him. 
We told you before, that there is no Difference of Condi- 
tion among them, which is fo abfolutely true, that 
the very Names of Matters and Servants are not fo much 
as known among them. All the RefpeCt they pay one to 
another is in regard to old Age, which is in fo high Ef- 
teem among them, that a young Man meeting an old 
one, goes out of his Way, and turns his Back to him, 
till he is parted ; nay, fuch is the RefpeCl the young Peo- 
ple ftiew to aged Perfons, that they will not refufe them 
eafily any thing they defire, tho s it fhould be to go three 
or four Leagues upon their Bufinefs. Men are forbid to 
marry till they are at leaft twenty Years of Age. They 
don’t let their Hair grow below their Ears till after Se- 
venteen, and inftead of Sciffars, or Razors, make ufe of 
a Chopping-knife, with which they cut it upon a Piece of 
Wood: The Hair of their Beards they draw out with 
brafs Pincers. 
Maids always let their Flair grow, and may marry as 
foon as they can. The Courtftiip is performed by the 
young Man’s female Relations, whom he fends to the 
young Woman’s Relations, or Friends, to ftiew them 
what he intends to beftow upon his Miftrefs, which if it 
be accepted of, the Match is made, and he may confum- 
4 
mate the Marriage the next Day if he pleafes, The Pre* 
fents commonly offered to the Bride confift in fome Silk 
or Calicoe Scarfs the Women wear round the Watte * 
fome Waiftcoats, Bracelets of Cane, ten or twelves Rings 
of Deers Horn, four or five coarfe Cloth Girdles, fome 
little Veftments made of Dog’s Hair ; fome chinefe Gar- 
ments, a Bag of Dog’s Hair, and four or five Pair of 
Stockings of Deer-fkin, amounting perhaps in all to about 
140 Crowns ; the poorer fort are content with a Prefent 
of a few Bracelets, and two or three Garments, not amount- 
ing to above three or four Crowns. When the Marriage 
is to be confummated, the Bridegroom gets into his Miff 
trefs’s Father’s Houfe by ftealth, at Night, and without 
being feen by any body, and fo creeps into her Bed. Lie 
continues thus for many Years after, always coming into 
the Houfe at Night, and going thence in the Morning 
before Day-light, the Wife living all this while in the Fa- 
ther’s Houfe, till her Elufband be forty Years of Age, and 
never fee one another by Day, unlefs fhe happen to be at 
Home alone, or elfe in the Field. The Women are ob- 
liged not to bring any Children into the World till they 
are thirty-five, or thirty-fix Years of Age, but deftroy all 
their Children in the Womb, by caufing one of their 
Priefteffes to kneel upon their Bellies till they caufe an 
Abortion. 
As their Marriages are foon made, fo they are as foon 
diffolved ; for if they grow weary of one another, they 
may divorce ; which Liberty is equally allowed to both 
Parties, with this Difference only, that if the Hufbandl 
fends away his Wife without any Caufe, Jfhe keeps the 
Prefents he has given her before Marriage ; but if for Adul- 
tery, or any other Affront offered to him, ihe is obliged 
to make Reftitution. No Marriages are contracted among 
them within the fourth Degree of Confanguinity, or Affi- 
nity. Their Houfes are generally large, and better built 
than is common in the Indies , with four Doors to each 
Quarter of the Heavens : Some have two Doors on a 
Side ; they are commonly raifed five or fix Feet from the 
Ground, and three or four Stories high. Their Furniture 
confifts in fome wild Boars and Deers Heads, or fome 
other Relicks, taken from their Enemies, are their chief 
Ornaments ; the reft confifts in Deer-fkins, which they uffi 
inftead of Feather-beds, certain Stuffs with which they 
cover themfeives, a Spade, Pike, Bow, Arrows, a wooden 
Trough inftead of our Dirties, or earthen Drinking- Cup, 
and a Pot to boil their Rice in, which is their ordinary 
Food, and this is all. Though they have no certain Days 
appointed for Devotion, yet they meet at fet Times to 
make good Chear, efpecially every Quarter, in their Tem- 
ples, where the Women alfo appear in a very odd Drels 
made of Dog’s Hair ; for here, inftead of Wool, they cut 
off the Dog’s Hair once a Year, and after they have dyed 
them red, make certain Stuffs of them, which they value 
as much as we do our crimfon Velvets. 
Their Ceremonies ufed after the Death of their Friends, 
are fcarce to be paralleled in Hiftory ; for no fooner is 
any one dead, but by Beat of Drum, made of the Trunk 
of a great Tree, they give Notice thereof to the Village; 
upon which all the People repair immediately to the Houfe 
of the deceafed, and among the reft the Women, after 
they have plentifully drank of Arrack, fall to Dancing ve- 
ry flowly, upon great empty Chefts, which make a dole- 
ful Noife, to exp refs their Sorrow at the Departure of their 
deceafed Friend. Eight or ten Women having thus danced 
for fome Time, with their Backs turned to one another, 
they give Way to others, who continue the fame Exercife, 
which lafts in all two Hours. The next Day Preparation 
is made for the funeral Rites, which are performed, not 
by burying, or burning the Corps, as other Nations do, 
but by drying it in the following Manner. They raife a kind 
of a Scaffold of Canes, five or fix Feet high, to which 
they fatten the Body by the Hands and Feet, and fo dry 
it, by making a good Fire round about it, which lafts nine 
whole Days ; during which Time they facrifice feveral Hogs, 
and feaft upon the Fleffi, waftiing the Body every Day, 
After the Expiration of the nine Days, they place it upon 
another Scaffold, wrapped in a Mat, and feveral Garments, 
where it remains till the third Year; then they take out 
the Bones, and bury them in the fame Houfe, in the Pre- 
fence 
