CHAPTER VIII.
ON THEIR WILLS, FUNERAL RITES, AND BURIALS, AND ON THEIR RELIGION.
THE sick man having been appointed by the Autmoin to die, as we have said, all the relations and neighbors assemble and, with the greatest possibles solemnity, he delivers his funeral oration: he recites his heroic deeds; gives some directions to his family, recommends his friends: finally, says adieu. This is all there is of their wills. As to gifts, they make none at all; but, quite different from us, the survivors [89] give some to the dying man, as you will hear. But we must except the Tabagie, for it is a general injunction which must be observed everywhere, so that the ceremonies may be according to law.
Doncques, si le mourãt a quelques prouisions, il faut qu'il en face Tabagie à tous ses parents, & amis. Cependant qu'elle cuit, les assistants luy font reciproquemẽt leurs presents en signe d'amitié, des chiens; des peaux, de flesches, &c. On tue ces chiens pour les luy enuoyer au deuãt en l'autre monde. Lesdits chiens encores seruẽt à la Tabagie, car ils y trouuent du goust. Ayant banqueté, ils commencent leurs harengues de commiseratiõ, & leurs Adieus pitoyables, que le cœur leur pleure, & leur saigne de ce que leur bon amy les quitte, & s'en va; mais qu'il s'en aille hardimẽt puis [90] qu'il laisse de beaux enfans, qui seront bons chasseurs, & vaillants hommes: & des bons amis, qui bien vengerõt les [128] torts qu'on luy a faicts, &c. Ce train dure iusques à ce que le trespassant expire, ce qu'arriuant ils iettẽt des crys horribles, & est chose furieuse, que de leurs Nænies, lesquelles ne cessent ny iour, ny nuict, quelque fois durẽt toute vne sepmaine; selon que le defunct est grand, & que les complorants ont de prouision. Si la prouision defaut entierement, ils ne font qu'enterrer le mort, & different ces obseques, & ceremonies à vn autre temps, & lieu, au bon plaisir du ventre.
So if the dying man has some supplies on hand, he must make Tabagie of them for all his relatives and friends. While it is being prepared, those who are present exchange gifts with him in token of friendship; dogs, skins, arrows, etc. They kill these dogs in order to send them on before him into the other world. The said dogs are afterwards served at the Tabagie, for they find them palatable. Having banqueted they begin to express their sympathy and sorrowful Farewells; their hearts weep and bleed because their good friend is going to leave them and go away; but he may go fearlessly, since [90] he leaves behind him beautiful children, who are good hunters and brave men: and good friends, who will avenge his wrongs, etc. They go on in this way until the dying man expires and then they utter horrible cries; and a terrible thing are their Nænias [funeral dirges] which continue day and night, sometimes lasting a whole week, according to how great the deceased is, and to the amount of provisions for the mourners. If there are none at all, they only bury the dead man, and postpone the obsequies and ceremonies until another time and place, at the good pleasure of their stomachs.
Cependant tous les parents & amis se barboüillent la face de noir: & prou souuent se peignent d'autres couleurs; mais c'est pour se faire plus beaux & iolis; le noir leur est marq̃ du dueil & tristesse.
Meanwhile all the relatives and friends daub their faces with black, and very often paint themselves with other colors; but this they do to appear more pleasing and beautiful. To them black is a sign of grief and mourning.
[91] Ils enterrent leurs morts en ceste façon. Premierement ils emmaillottent le corps, & le garrotent dans des peaux; non de son long, ains les genoux contre le ventre, & la teste sur les genoux tout ainsi que nous sommes dans le ventre de nostre mere. Apres, la fosse estant faicte fort creuse, il l'y logent, non à la renuerse ou couché comme nous: ains assis. Posture en laquelle ils s'aimẽt fort, & qui entr'eux signifie reuerence. Car les enfans, & ieunes, s'assient ainsi en presence de leurs peres & des vieux qu'ils respectent. Nous autres nous en rions, & disons, que c'est s'asseoir en guenon, eux prisent ceste façon & la trouuent commode. Depuis le corps logé, & n'arriuant pas à fleur de terre pour la profondeur de la fosse; Ils voutent laditte fosse auec des bastons, à celle [92] fin que la terre ne retombe dedans, & ainsi couurent le tombeau au dessus. Si c'est quelqu' illustre personnage, ils bastissent vne forme de Pyramide, [130]ou monument à tout des perches liées par ensemble: aussi cupides de gloire en cela, que nous en nos marbres, & porphyres. Si c'est vn homme, ils y mettent pour enseignes & marque son arc, ses flesches, & son pauois: Si vne femme des cueilliers, des matachias, ou iouyaux, & parures, &c.
[91] They bury their dead in this manner: First they swathe the body and tie it up in skins; not lengthwise, but with the knees against the stomach and the head on the knees, as we are in our mother's womb. Afterwards they put it in the grave, which has been made very deep, not upon the back or lying down as we do, but sitting. A posture which they like very much, and which among them signifies reverence. For the children and the youths seat themselves thus in the presence of their fathers, and of the old, whom they respect. We laugh at them, and tell them that way of sitting is the fashion with monkeys, but they like it and find it convenient. When the body is placed, as it does not come up even with the ground on account of the depth of the grave, they arch the grave over with sticks, so [92] that the earth will not fall back into it, and thus they cover up the tomb. If it is some illustrious personage they build a Pyramid or monument of interlacing poles; as eager in that for glory as we are in our marble and porphyry. If it is a man, they place there as a sign and emblem, his bow, arrows, and shield; if a woman, spoons, matachias or jewels, ornaments, etc.
I'ay pensé m'oublier du plus beau: c'est qu'ils inhument auec le defunct tout ce qu'il a, comme son sac, ses fleches, ses peaux, & toutes ses autres besongnes & bagage, & encores ses chiens, s'ils n'ont esté mangés. Voire les viuants y adioustent encores plusieurs telles offrandes pour amitié. Estimés par là, si ces bonnes [93] gens sont loing de ceste maudite auarice, que nous voyons entre nous; laquelle pour auoir les richesses des morts, desire & pourchasse la perte, & trespas des viuants.
I have nearly forgotten the most beautiful part of all; it is that they bury with the dead man all that he owns, such as his bag, his arrows, his skins and all his other articles and baggage, even his dogs if they have not been eaten. Moreover, the survivors add to these a number of other such offerings, as tokens of friendship. Judge from this whether these good [93] people are not far removed from this cursed avarice which we see among us; who, to become possessed of the riches of the dead, desire and seek eagerly for the loss and departure of the living.
Ces obseques ainsi faictes, ils s'en fuyent du lieu, & hayssent deslors toute la memoire du mort. S'il arriue, qu'il en faille parler, c'est sous vn autre nom nouueau. Comme par exemple le Sagamo Schoudon, estant mort, il fut appellé le Pere; Membertou nommé le grand Capitaine. Et ainsi du reste.
These obsequies finished, they flee from the place, and, from that time on, they hate all memory of the dead. If it happens that they are obliged to speak of him sometimes, it is under another and a new name. As for instance, the Sagamore Schoudon[21] being dead, he was called "the Father" [Père.] Membertou was called "the great Captain," and so on.
Or toute leur Religion, pour le dire en vn mot, n'est autre qu'és sorceleries & charmes des Autmoins, tels que nous vous auons recité cy deuant, parlants de leurs maladies. Ils ont beaucoup d'autres semblables sacrifices faicts au Diable, pour auoir bonne fortune [94] à la chasse, pour la victoire, pour le bon vent, &c. Ils croyent aussi aux songes, à fin que nulle sorte de folie ne leur manque. Aussi, dit-on, que souuent ces Necromantiens de Pilotoys prouoquent des spectres, & illusions aux yeux de ceux qui les croyent, faisants apparoistre des serpents & autres bestes, qui entrent & sortent de leur bouche [132] tandis qu'ils harenguent: & plusieurs autres semblables traicts de Magicien. Mais ie ne me suis iamais rencontré en tels spectacles. On nous donnoit aussi à entendre deuant qu'arriuer là, que le malin esprit tourmẽtoit sensiblemẽt le corps de ces pauures gẽts auãt le baptesme, & non apres; ie n'ay rien veu de tout cela, ny ouy dire estant sur le lieu, quoy que ie m'en sois fort enquesté. Ce que ie mets icy, à fin de rembarrer les [95] faux tesmoins de Dieu, comme les appelle S. Paul: c'est à dire, ceux qui racontent des faux miracles pour honnorer Dieu. Combien que l'escriuain du factum, qui a controuué tel mensonge, n'auoit pas dessein d'honnorer Dieu, en auançãt ces miracles: ains de charger les Iesuites cõmẽt que ce fust.
Now all their religion, to speak briefly, is nothing else than the tricks and charms of the Autmoins, as we have related before in speaking of their illnesses. They have many other similar sacrifices which they make to the Devil, so they will have good luck [94] in the chase, victory, favorable winds, etc. They believe also in dreams, that no kind of nonsense may be wanting to them. Furthermore, they say that the Magic of the Pilotoys often calls forth spirits and optical illusions to those who believe them, showing snakes and other beasts which go in and out of the mouth while they are talking; and several other Magical deeds of the same kind. But I never happened to be present at any of these spectacles. We were given to understand before we went there, that the evil spirit greatly tormented the bodies of these poor people before baptism, but not afterwards; I saw nothing of all this, nor heard of it while I was there, although I inquired into the matter very carefully. I put this down here in order to confute the [95] false witnesses of God, as St. Paul calls them; namely, those who relate false miracles in order to glorify God; to show that the writer of the memoir,[25] who has forged such a lie, does not intend to glorify God in advancing these miracles so much as to charge that they were manufactured by the Jesuits.
Les Sauuages m'ont bien souuent dit, que du temps de leurs Peres, & auant la venuë des François, le Diable les mastinoit fort, mais qu'il ne le faict plus maintenant, comm'il appert. Membertou aussi m'a asseuré qu'estant encores Autmoin (car il l'auoit esté, & fort celebre) le Diable s'estoit apparu souuẽtesfois à luy: mais qu'il l'auoit quitté, ayant fort bien cogneu qu'il estoit meschant, parce qu'il ne commandoit iamais que de mal faire. Voila tout ce que i'en ay peu apprendre.
The Savages indeed have often told me that, in their Fathers' time, and before the coming of the French, the Devil tormented them a great deal, but that he does not do it any more, as it appears. Membertou has assured me that when he was still Autmoin (for he was one, and very celebrated too), the Devil appeared to him many times; but that he had avoided him, knowing well that he was wicked, because he never commanded him to do anything but evil. Now this is all I have been able to learn on this subject.
[96] Ils croyent vn Dieu, ce disent-ils: mais ils ne sçauent le nommer que du nom du Soleil Niscaminou, Ny ne sçauent aucunes prieres, ny façon de l'adorer. Vn ieune Autmoin interrogé par moy sur cela, respondit: Que quand ils estoyent en necessité il prenoit sa robe sacrée, (car les Autmoins ont vne robe precieuse, exprés pour leurs Orgies) & se tournant vers l'Orient disoit, Niscaminou hignemoüy ninem marcodam: [134] Nostre Soleil, ou nostre Dieu, donne nous à manger. Qu'apres cela ils alloyẽt à la chasse, & volontiers auec bõheur: autre chose ne me sceust il dire. Ils tiennent l'immortalité de l'ame, & la recompense des bons & des mauuais, cõfusément & en general; mais ils ne passent point plus auant en recherche ny soucy, comment cela doit estre, occupés tousiours & preoccupés ou [97] des necessitez de la vie, ou de leurs vs & coustumes. Voila briefuement le plus principal de ce que i'ay peu apperceuoir de ces nations, & de leur vie.
[96] They believe in a God, so they say; but they cannot call him by any name except that of the Sun, Niscaminou,[22] nor do they know any prayers or manner of worshipping him. When I asked a young Autmoin about this, he answered, that when they were in great need he put on his sacred robe (for the Autmoins have a precious robe, expressly for their Orgies) and turning toward the East said, Niscaminou, hignemoüy ninem marcodam: "Our Sun, or our God, give us something to eat;" that after that they went hunting cheerfully and with good luck; he could not tell me anything more. They have an incoherent and general idea of the immortality of the soul and of future reward and punishment: but farther than this they do not seek nor care for the causes of these things, occupied and engrossed always either [97] in the material things of life, or in their own ways and customs. Now these are briefly the principal features of what I have been able to learn about these nations and their life.
Mais si ores nous venons à sommer le tout, & apparier leurs biẽs, & leurs maux auec les nostres, ie ne sçay si en verité ils n'ont point bonne raison de preferer (comm' ils font) leur felicité à la nostre, au moins si nous parlons de la felicité temporelle, que les riches & mondains cherchent en ceste vie. Car si bien ils n'ont pas toutes ces delices, que les enfans de ce siecle recherchent, ils sont frãcs des maux qui les suiuent, & ont du contentement, qui ne les accompagne pas. Il est vray neantmoins, qu'ils sont purement, & absoluement miserables, tant parce qu'ils n'ont aucune part en la felicité naturelle, qui est en la contemplation [98] de Dieu, & cognoissance des choses grandes, & perfectiõ des parties nobles de l'ame, comme principalemẽt parce que ils sont hors la grace de nostre Seigneur Iesvs-Christ, & le chemin du salut Eternel.
But now if we come to sum up the whole and compare their good and ill with ours, I do not know but that they, in truth, have some reason to prefer (as they do) their own kind of happiness to ours, at least if we speak of the temporal happiness, which the rich and worldly seek in this life. For, if indeed they have not all those pleasures which the children of this age are seeking after, they are free from the evils which follow them, and have the contentment which does not accompany them. It is true, nevertheless, that they are purely and absolutely wretched, as much because they have no part in the natural happiness which is in the contemplation [98] of God, and in the knowledge of sublime things and in the perfection of the nobler parts of the soul, but chiefly because they are outside the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the way of Eternal salvation.