ered in the cabin with wonder at looking at me. Ignorance of their language kept me dumb, and their habit of saying nothing but the word of welcome to a stranger made them also mute; only they scanned me from head to foot, and all of them wanted to try on my shoes and my hat, each of them putting the hat on his head and the shoes on his feet. After having remunerated my host for his welcome and kind treatment with a knife and an awl, I asked him to provide me a savage to carry my sack and to conduct me to one of our residences. He brought me to the Fathers' by six in the evening. They received me with all love and affection, though my entertainment was no better than that of the savage, for the good things of life are common to us and the natives: that is, a porridge of Indian corn and water, morning and evening; for drink a draught of icy water, the savages sometimes scattering some ashes in the sagamy for seasoning, and at other times a sprinkling of water. These are like the cakes of the Provence, for grand occasions and festivals. The most thoughtful of them, after the fishing season, reserve some fish to mix with the sagamy for the rest of the year. For fourteen persons they put in about half of a large carp, and the more rotten the fish is the better it serves. As for drink, it is hardly to be named, the sagamy serving for solid and liquid, as one may be six months without drinking, except on a journey.
“The importunity of the savages who continually infest our cabin, and sometimes push open the door, throwing stones into it and hitting us, compels us to have as strict rules for our hours as in the French colleges. At four o'clock the bell rouses us; after our devotions comes the Mass, till eight o'clock, during which we have an interval of silence, reading a spiritual book and saying the Small Hours. At eight we open the door for the savages till four in the afternoon, during which time we allow them free converse, alike for their instruction and that we may learn their language. The Fathers also, during this time, go out to visit in the cabins of the settlement to baptize the sick and to instruct those who are well. For me, my occupation is the study of the language, guarding the cabin, praying for the converts and the catechumens, and keeping school for the children from noon till two o'clock. At two we are summoned to examination of conscience; then comes dinner, at which a chapter in the Bible is read, and often the Philagie of Jesus, by the Rev. Father du Barry. We have the blessing and the grace in Huron for the sake of the savages who may be present at the time. We
