lk, deer, wild cats, wolves, "black beasts"
(squirrels), beaver and other animals valuable for their skins and
flesh; were in abundance. It was a rare thing to see more than half a
foot of snow. This year there was more than three feet. The deep snow
had facilitated the hunting, and, in happy contrast with the famine
which had prevailed, meat was plentiful. They had also multitudes of
wild turkeys which went in flocks through the fields and woods. Fruits
were no more plentiful than amongst the Hurons, except that chestnuts
abounded, and wild apples were a little larger.

Their manners and customs, and family and political government, were
very much like those of the other Indian tribes, but they were
distinguished from the Hurons by their greater dissoluteness and
indecency. On the other hand they were taller, stronger and better
formed.

Their burial customs were peculiar, although similar customs are
reported at this day amongst some African tribes. The bodies remained in
their wigwams until decomposition rendered them insupportable, when they
were put outside on a scaffold. Soon afterward, the bones were removed
and arranged within their houses on both sides in sight of the inmates,
where they remained until the feast of the dead. Having these mournful
objects before their eyes, the women habitually indulged in cries and
laments, in a kind of chant.

The Neutrals were distinguished for the multitude and quality of their
madmen, who were a privileged class. Hence it was common for bad Indians
to assume the character of maniacs in order to perpetrate crimes without
fear of punishment. The Jesuits suffered very much from their malice.
Some old men told them that the Neutrals used to carry on war "towards"
a certain western nation, who would seem to have lived on the Gulf of
Mexico, where the "porcelain, which are the pearls of the country," was
obtained from a kind of oysters. It is an undoubted fact that a traffic
was carried on with tribes as far south as the Gulf of Mexico, from whom
shells used for wampum were obtained by successive interchanges of
commodities with intervening tribes. They had also some vague notion of
alligators, which are apparently referred to by the description,
"certain aquatic animals, larger and swifter than elk," against which
these same people had "a kind of war," the details of which are somewhat
amusing, as given by Lalemant.

The two Jesuits left Ste. Marie the 2nd November, 1640, wi