24 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA : 
Cachenonaga Indians, whom I have already 
had occasion to mention. The village contains 
about fifty log houses and a Roman catholic 
church, built in the Canadian style, and orna¬ 
mented within with pictures, lamps, &c. in 
such a manner as to attract the eye as forcibly 
as possible. The outward shew, and nume¬ 
rous ceremonies of the Roman catholic reli¬ 
gion, are particularly suited to the capacities of 
the Indians, and as but very little restraint is 
imposed upon them by the missionaries, more 
of them become converts to that religion than 
to any other. The worship of the Holy Virgin 
meets in a very peculiar manner w ith the ap^ 
probation of the squaws, and they sing her 
praises with the most profound devotion. 
In this and all the other Indian villages si¬ 
tuated in the improved parts of Lower Canada, 
a great mixture of the blood of whites with 
* 
that of the aborigines is observable in the per¬ 
sons of the inhabitants; there are also consi¬ 
derable numbers of the French Canadians 
living in these villages, who have married In¬ 
dian wives, and' have been adopted into' the 
different nations with whom they reside. Many 
of the French Canadians bear such a close re¬ 
semblance to the Indians, owing to their dark- 
complexions, black eyes, and long black hair, 
that when attired in the same habits, it is only 
a person intimately acquainted with the features 
