collects a
fathom or two of sewan, and comes to the nearest friends of the person
whom he desires, to whom he declares his object in her presence, and if
they are satisfied with him, he agrees with them how much sewan he
shall give her for a bridal present; that being done, he then gives her
all the Dutch beads he has, which they call Machampe, and also all
sorts of trinkets. If she be a young virgin, he must wait six weeks
more before he can sleep with her, during which time she bewails or
laments over her virginity, which they call Collatismarrenitten; all
this time she sits with a blanket over her head, without wishing to
look at any one, or any one being permitted to look at her. This
period being elapsed, her bridegroom comes to her; he in the mean time
has been supporting himself by hunting, and what he has taken he brings
there with him; they then eat together with the friends, and sing and
dance together, which they call Kintikaen. That being done, the wife
must provide the food for herself and her husband, as far as
breadstuffs are concerned, and [should they fall short] she must buy
what is wanting with her sewan.

For this reason they are obliged to watch the season for sowing. At
the end of March they begin to break up the earth with mattocks, which
they buy from us for the skins of beavers or otters, or for sewan.
They make heaps like molehills, each about two and a half feet from the
others, which they sow or plant in April with maize, in each heap five
or six grains; in the middle of May, when the maize is the height of a
finger or more, they plant in each heap three or four Turkish beans,
which then grow up with and against the maize, which serves for props,
for the maize grows on stalks similar to the sugar-cane. When they
wish to make use of the grain for bread or porridge, which they call
Sappaen, they first boil it and then beat it flat upon a stone; then
they put it into a wooden mortar, which they know how to hollow out by
fire, and then they have a stone pestle, which they know how to make
themselves, with which they pound it small, and sift it through a small
basket, which they understand how to weave of the rushes before
mentioned. The finest meal they mix with lukewarm water, and knead it
into dough, then they make round flat little cakes of it, of thickness
of an inch or a little more, which they bury in hot ashes, and so bake
into bread; and when these are baked they have some clean fr