THE PNIESE, OR INDIAN WARRIOR. 359 XXIII. great spacious house, wherein only some few (that CHAP. are, as we may term them, priests) come. Thither, at certain known times, resort all their people, and offer 1623. almost all the riches they have to their gods, as kettles, skins, hatchets, beads, knives, &c., all which are cast by the priests into a great fire that they make in the midst of the house, and there consumed to ashes. To this offering every man bringeth freely; and the more he is known to bring, hath the better esteem of all This the other Indians about us approve of as good, and wish their sachims would appoint the like; and because the plague1 hath not reigned at Nanohigganset as at other places about them, they attribute to this custom there used. men. The pnieses are men of great courage and wisdom, and to those also the devil appeareth more familiarly than to others, and as we conceive, maketh covenant with them to preserve them from death by wounds with arrows, knives, hatchets, &c. or at least both themselves and especially the people think themselves to be freed from the same. And though, against their battles, all of them by painting disfigure themselves, yet they are known by their courage and boldness, by reason whereof one of them will chase almost an hundred men; for they account it death for whomsoever stand in their way. These are highly esteemed of all sorts of people, and are of the sachim's council, without whom they will not war, or undertake any weighty business. In war their sachims, for their more safety, go in the midst of them. They are commonly men of the greatest stature and strength, and such as will endure most hardness, and yet are more discreet, courSee pages 288 and 323. 'See pages 183 and 206. 360 THE SACHIM, OR INDIAN CHIEF. CHAP. teous and humane in their carriages than any amongst them, scorning theft, lying, and the like base dealings, 1623. and stand as much upon their reputation as any men. And to the end they may have store of these, they train up the most forward and likeliest boys, from their childhood, in great hardness, and make them abstain from dainty meat, observing divers orders prescribed, to the end that when they are of age, the devil may appear to them; causing to drink the juice of sentry' and other bitter herbs, till they cast, which they must disgorge into the platter, and drink again and again, till at length through extraordinary oppressing of nature, it will seem to be all blood; and this the boys will do with eagerness at the first, and so continue till by reason of faintness, they can scarce stand on their legs, and then must go forth into the cold. Also they beat their shins with sticks, and cause them to run through bushes, stumps and brambles, to make them hardy and acceptable to the devil, that in time he may appear unto them. Their sachims cannot be all called kings, but only some few of them, to whom the rest resort for protection, and pay homage unto tliem; neither may they - 1 Or centaury "The greater centaury is that cured at what time as having entertained Hercules in his cabin, he would needs be handling and tampering with the weapons of his said guest so long until one of the arrows light upon his foot and wounded him dangerously." Holland's Pliny, b. xxv. ch. 6. Their government is generally monarchical, their chief sagamore or sachem's will being their law; but yet the sachem hath some chief men that he consults with as his special counsellors. Among some of the Indians their government is mixed, partly monarchical THE SACHIM'S FAMILY AND GOVERNMENT. 361 XXIII war without their knowledge and approbation; yet to CHAP. be commanded by the greater, as occasion serveth. Of this sort is Massassowat, our friend, and Conanacus, 1623. of Nanohigganset, our supposed enemy. Every sachim taketh care for the widow and fatherless, also for such as are aged and any way maimed, if their friends be dead, or not able to provide for them. A sachim will not take any to wife, but such an one as is equal to him in birth; otherwise, they say, their seed would in time become ignoble; and though they have many other wives, yet are they no other than concubines or servants, and yield a kind of obedience to the principal, who ordercth the family and them in it. The like their men observe also, and will adhere to the first during their lives; but put away the other at their pleasure. This government is successive, and not by choice. If the father die before the son or daughter be of age, then the child is committed to the protection and tuition of some one amongst them, who ruleth in his stead till he be of age; but when that is, I know not. Every sachim knoweth how far the bounds and limits of his own country extendeth; and that is his own proper inheritance. Out of that, if any of his men desire land to set their corn, he giveth them as much as they can use, and sets them their bounds. In this circuit whosoever hunteth, if they kill any venison, bring and partly aristocratical; their sagamore doing not any weighty matter without the consent of his great men or petty sagamores. Their sachems have not their men in such subjection but that very frequently their men will leave them upon distaste or harsh dealing, and go and live under other sachems that can protect them; so 362 SICKNESS AND DEATH. XXIII. CHAP. him his fee; which is the fore parts of the same, if it be killed on the land, but if in the water, then the skin 1623. thereof. The great sachims or kings know their own bounds or limits of land, as well as the rest. All travellers or strangers for the most part lodge at the sachim's. When they come, they tell them how long they will stay, and to what place they go; during which time they receive entertainment, according to their persons, but want not. Once a year the pnieses use to provoke the people to bestow much corn on the sachim. To that end, they appoint a certain time and place, near the sachim's dwelling, where the people bring many baskets of corn, and make a great stack thereof. There the pnieses stand ready to give thanks to the people, on the sachim's behalf; and after acquaint the sachim therewith, who fetcheth the same, and is no less thankful, bestowing many gifts on them. When any are visited with sickness, their friends resort unto them for their comfort, and continue with them ofttimes till their death or recovery.' If they die, they stay a certain time to mourn for them. Night and morning they perform this duty, many days after the burial, in a most doleful manner, insomuch as though it be ordinary and the note musical, which they take one from another and all together, yet it will draw tears from their eyes, and almost from ours also. But See page 313. "Upon the death of the sick, the father, or husband, and all his neighbours wear black faces, and lay on soot very thick, which I have often seen clotted with their tears. This blacking and lament ing they observe in most doleful manner divers weeks and months, yea a year, if the person be great and public. When they come to the grave, they lay the dead by the grave's mouth, and then all sit down, and lament, that I have seen tears run down the cheeks of stoutest captains in abundance; and after the dead is laid in the grave, they have then a second lamentation." Roger Williams's Key, ch. xxxii. EMPLOYMENTS OF THE MEN. 363 XXIII. if they recover, then because their sickness was charge- CHAP. able, they send corn and other gifts unto them, at a certain appointed time, whereat they feast and dance, 1623. which they call commoco. When they bury the dead, they sow up the corpse in a mat, and so put it in the earth. If the party be a sachim, they cover him with many curious mats, and bury all his riches with him, and enclose the grave with a pale.' If it be a child, the father will also put his own most special jewels and ornaments in the earth with it; also will cut his hair, and disfigure himself very much, in token of sorrow. If it be the man or woman of the house, they will pull down the mats, and leave the frame standing, and bury them in or near the same, and either remove their dwelling or give over house-keeping. 3 The men employ themselves wholly in hunting, and other exercises of the bow, except at some times they take some pains in fishing. The women live a most slavish life; they carry all their burdens, set and dress their corn, gather it in, seek out for much of their food, beat and make ready the corn to eat, and have all household care lying upon them. The younger sort reverence the elder, and do all mean offices, whilst they are together, although they be strangers. Boys and girls may not wear their hair like men and women, but are distinguished thereby. A man is not accounted a man till he do some notable act, or show forth such courage and resolution as becometh his place. The men take much tobacco; but for boys so to do, they account it odious. All their names are significant and variable; for 4 1 See pages 142, 143 and 154. See pages 154 and 227. • See note on page 305. |