permanent olive color. They are dressed in skins: a part only of the body
is covered. But in winter they are covered throughout, in good furs of elk,
otter, beaver, bear, seals, deer, and roe, of which they have large
quantities. In winter, when the snow is deep, they make a sort of snow-shoe
of large size, two or three times as large as that used in France, which
they attach to their feet, thus going over the snow without sinking in;
otherwise, they could not hunt or walk in many places. They have a sort of
marriage, which is as follows: When a girl is fourteen or fifteen years
old, and has several suitors, she may keep company with all she likes. At
the end of five or six years, she takes the one that pleases her for her
husband, and they live together to the end of their lives. But if, after
living some time together, they have no children, the man can disunite
himself and take another woman, alleging that his own is good for nothing.
Hence, the girls have greater freedom than the married women.

After marriage, the women are chaste, and their husbands generally
jealous. They give presents to the fathers or relatives of the girls they
have wedded. These are the ceremonies and forms observed in their
marriages. In regard to their burials: When a man or a woman dies, they dig
a pit, in which they put all their property, as kettles, furs, axes, bows,
arrows, robes, and other things. Then they place the body in the pit and
cover it with earth, putting, on top many large pieces of wood, and another
piece upright, painted red on the upper part. They believe in the
immortality of the soul, and say that they shall be happy in other lands
with their relatives and friends who are dead. In the case of captains or
others of some distinction, they celebrate a banquet three times a year
after their death, singing and dancing about the grave.

All the time they were with us, which was the most secure place for them,
they did not cease to fear their enemies to such an extent that they often