164 
OWIIYIIEE. 
tions df the Alg’onquins ; so that they soon began to fancy them- 
selves as well qualified, either for war or hunting, as their neighbours 
The Algonquins having murdered a hunting party of the Iroquois 
out of jealousy at their success, the latter, after trying their prowess 
on other inferior nations, attacked the Algonquins with such diaboli- 
cal fury, as shewed that they could be satisfied with nothing less 
than the exterm in atio.n of the whole race; which, had it not been for 
the interposition of the French, they would have accomplished. Th-e 
few Algonquin nations that are now to be seen, seem entirely igno- 
rant of agriculture, and subsist by fishing and hunting. They have 
a plurality of wives ; notvvithstanding which, they daily decrease in 
population, few or none of their communities containing above six 
thousand souls, and manv of them not two thousand. 
Inhabitants or Owhyiiee. 
The men are above the middle size, stout, well-made, and fleshy 
but not fat. Their cMour is brown olive. The women are in gene- 
ral masculine, but there are some exceptions. The features of both 
sexes are good, and some of the females are really fine women. 
They are very healthy, and some live to a great age. They are all 
thieves, w’ithout exception. The custom of tattow'ing prevails greatly 
among them, but the men have a much larger share of it than the 
women. Both men and w^omen are very cleanly in their persons ; 
the latter wash their bodies tw'ice, and sometimes three times, ^ day. 
Their clothing consists of cloth of different kinds ; that worn by the 
men, which is called marro, is about half a yard wide and four yards 
long, and that of the women, three-quarters of a yard wide, and of 
the same length as the men’s ; this they called pah-o-ouwa ; they 
both wear it round the middle, but the men pass it between their 
legs. This is the general dress of both sexes ; but tbe better sort 
sometimes throw a large piece loosely over their shoulders. 
Besides the marro, they have several other kinds of cloth ; all, how^- 
ever, are made from the Chinese paper mulberry tree. The princi- 
pal of these is the cappa, which is about ten or twelve feet long, and 
nearly as many wide, and is thick and w arm ; they wrap themselves up 
in this when they retire to sleep. They have another kind, which is 
white, and much thinner ; it is sometimes twenty or thirty yards long, 
and wide in proportion. The marro and pah-o-ouwa are curiously 
painted, of various patterns ; but the others are generally white, or 
dyed red, black, and yellow. The principal ornaments of the men 
are feather caps and cloaks. They have also a kind of fly cap, 
made of a bunch of feathers, fixed to the end of a thin piece of 
polished wood ; the handle is very frequently made of the bones of 
the arm or leg of those whom they have killed in battle, curiously 
inlaid with tortoise-shell : these they deem very valuable, and will 
not part with them under a great price. This ornament is common 
to the superiors of both sexes. 
The ornament which the women value most, is the orai. This is 
a kind of ruff or necklace, made of red, green, black, and yellow 
feathers, curiously put together, and in most elegant patterns. Others 
