Nqussútam—I remove house: Which they doe upon these occasions: From thick warme vallies, where they winter, they remove a little neerer to their Summer fields; when ’tis warme Spring, then they remove to their fields, where they plant Corne. In middle of Summer, because of the abundance of Fleas, which the dust of the house breeds, they will flie and remove on a sudden from one part of their field to a fresh place: And sometimes having fields a mile or two, or many miles asunder, when the worke of one field is over, they remove house to the other: If death fall in amongst them, they presently remove to a fresh place: If an enemie approach they remove into a Thicket, or Swampe, unlesse they have some fort to remove unto.
Sometimes they remove to a hunting house in the end of the yeare, and forsake it not until Snow lie thick and then will travell home, Men, women and children, thorow the snow, thirtie, yea, fiftie or sixtie miles; but their great remove is from their Summer fields to warme and thicke woodie bottomes where they winter: They are quicke; in halfe a day, yea, sometimes at few houres warning to be gone and the house up elsewhere, especially, if they have stakes readie pitcht for their Mats.
I once in travell lodged at a house, at which in my returne I hoped to have lodged againe the next night, but the house was gone in that interim, and I was glad to lodge under a tree:
The men make the poles or stakes, but the women make and set up, take downe, order and carry the Mats and householdstuffe.
Observation in generall.
The sociablenesse of the nature of Man appears in the wildest of them, who love society; families, co-habitation, and consociation of houses and towns together.
More Particular.
1. How busie are the sonnes of men?
How full their heads and hands?
What noyse and tumults in our own,