A
the door of the cabin in which we were to be received was an
old man, who awaited us in a rather surprising
attitude, which constitutes
a part of the ceremonial that they observe when they receive strangers.
This man stood erect, and stark naked, with his hands extended and
lifted toward the sun, as if he wished to protect himself from its
rays, which nevertheless shone upon his face through his fingers.
When we came near him, he paid us this compliment: "How beautiful
the sun is, O Frenchman, when thou comest to visit us! All our village
awaits thee, and thou shalt enter our cabins in peace." Having
said this, he made us enter his own, in which were a crowd of people:
they devoured us with their eyes, but, nevertheless, observed profound
silence. We could, however, hear these words, which were addressed
to us from time to time in a low voice: "How good it is, my
brothers, that you should visit us."
After we had taken our places, the usual civility of the country
was paid to us, which consisted in offering us the calumet. This
must not be refused, unless one wishes to be considered an enemy,
or at least uncivil; it suffices that one make a pretense of smoking.
While all the elders smoked after us, in order to do us honor, we
received an invitation on behalf of the great captain of all the
Ilinois to proceed to his village where he wished to hold a council
with us. We went thither in a large company, for all these people
who had never seen any Frenchmen among them, could not cease looking
at us. They lay on the grass along the road; they preceded us, and
then retraced their steps to come and see us again. All this was
done noiselessly, and with marks of great respect for us.
When we reached the village of the great captain, we saw him at
the entrance of his cabin, between two old men, all three erect
and naked,
and holding their calumet turned toward the sun. I to harangued us
in a few words, congratulating us upon our arrival. He afterward
offered us his calumet, and made us smoke while we entered his cabin,
where we received all their usual kind attentions.
Seeing all assembled and silent, 1 spoke to them by four presents
that I gave them. By the first, 1 told them that we were journeying
peacefully to visit the nations dwelling on the river as far as the
sea. By the second, I announced to them that God, who had created
them, had pity on them, inasmuch as, after they had so long been
ignorant of Him, He wished to make himself known to all the peoples;
that I was sent by Him for that purpose; and that it was for them
to acknowledge and obey Him. By the third, 1 said that the great
captain of the French informed them that he it was who restored peace
everywhere; and that he had subdued the Iroquois. Finally, by the
fourth, we begged them to give us all the information that they had
about the sea, and about the nations through whom we must pass to
reach it.
When 1 had finished my speech, the captain arose, and, resting his
hand upon the head of a little slave whom he wished to give us, he
spoke thus: "I thank thee, Black Gown, and thee, O Frenchman,"addressing
himself to Monsieur Jollyet, "for having taken so much trouble
to come to visit us. Never has the earth been so beautiful, or the
sun so bright, as today; never has our river been so calm, or so
clear of rocks, which your canoes have removed in passing; never
has our tobacco tasted so good, or our corn appeared so fine, as
we now see them. Here is my son, whom I give thee to show thee my
heart. I beg thee to have pity on me, and on all my nation. It is
thou who knowest the Great Spirit who has made us all. It is thou
who speakest to Him, and who hearest His word. Beg Him to give me
life and health, and to come and dwell with us, in order to make
us know Him." Staving said this, he placed the little slave
near us, and gave us a second present, consisting of an altogether
mysterious calumet, upon which they place more value than upon a
slave. By this gift, he expressed to us the esteem that he had for
Monsieur Our Governor, from the account which we had given of him;
and, by a third, he begged us on behalf of all his nation not to
go farther, on account of the great dangers to which we exposed ourselves
I replied that 1 feared not death, and that I regarded no happiness
as greater than that of losing my life for the glory of Him who has
made all. This is what these poor people cannot understand.
The council was followed by a great feast, consisting of four
dishes, which had to be partaken of in accordance with all
their fashions.
The first course was a great wooden platter full of sagamiti, that
is to say, meal of Indian corn boiled in water, and seasoned with
fat. The master of ceremonies filled a spoon with sagamite three
or four times, and put it to my mouth as if I were a little child.
Ile did the same to Monsieur Jollyet. As a second course, he caused
a second platter to be brought, on which were three fish. He took
some pieces of them, removed the bones therefrom, and, after blowing
upon them to cool them he put them in our mouths as one would give
food to a bird. For the third course, they brought a large dog,
that had just been killed; but, when they teamed that we did
not eat this
meat, they removed it from before us. Finally, the 4th course was
a piece of wild ox, the fattest morsels of which were placed in
our mouths.
After this feast, we had to go to visit the whole village, which
consists of fully 300 cabins. While we walked through the streets,
an orator continually harangued to oblige all the people to come
to see us without annoying us. Everywhere we were presented with
belts, garters, and other articles made of the hair of bears and
cattle, dyed red, yellow, and gray. These are all the rarities
they possess. As they are of no great value, we did not burden
ourselves
with them.
We slept in the captain's cabin, and on the following day we
took leave of him promising to pass again by his village, within
four
moons. He conducted us to our canoes, with nearly 600 persons who
witnessed our embarkation, giving us every possible manifestation
of the joy that our visit had caused them. For my own part, I promised,
on bidding them adieu, that I would come the following year, and
reside with them to instruct them. But, before quitting the Ilinois
country, it is proper that 1 should relate what 1 observed of their
customs and usages.
|
