They are most expert archers, hitting any thing they
aim at with wonderful precision; the women also, in
some places, being excellent archers. Their other
arms are a kind of very sharp lances or pointed stakes,
and clubs, having their heads very nicely carved.
They are chiefly accustomed to make war against their
neighbours speaking a different language; and as they
give no quarter, unless to such as are reserved for
the most horrid tortures, they fight with extraordinary
fury. When they go to battle they are accompanied
by their wives, not to assist them in fighting, but
on purpose to carry their provisions and other necessaries;
and one of their women will carry a greater weight
on her back for a journey of thirty or forty leagues,
than a strong man is able to lift from the ground,
as we have often seen. They have no regular captains
or commanders in their wars; and although any one may
assume the office of leader, they always march onwards
without any order whatever. Their wars do not
originate in any desire of extending their power or
territory, neither from any inordinate lust of dominion,
but from ancient enmities, transmitted from one generation
to another; and when asked the cause of these enmities,
their only answer is that they are bound to revenge
the death of their ancestors. These people living
in perfect liberty, are not subjected to any kings
or rulers, and are chiefly excited to war when any
of their tribe happens to be slain or made prisoner.
On such occasions, the elder relations of the slain
person or of the prisoner go about among the huts
and villages, continually crying out, and urging all
the warriors of the tribe to make haste and accompany
them to war, that they may recover their friend from
captivity, or revenge his death. All being moved
to compassion and revenge by these incitements, immediately
prepare for war, and march away in haste to the assistance
of their friends.
These people have no laws, or any idea of distributive
justice, neither are malefactors ever punished among
them. Parents even neither teach nor chastise
their children. We have sometimes seen them conferring
together among themselves in a strange manner.
They seem very simple in their discourse, yet are
they very cunning and shrewd. In speaking they
are neither loud nor loquacious, using accents similar
to ours, but squeezing as it were most of their words
between the teeth and the lips. They have a great
number of dialects, as at every hundred leagues distance
we found a different language, the different tribes
not understanding each other. Their manner of
feeding is very barbarous, as they have no fixed periods
for eating, but just as inclination or opportunity
offers, whether by day or night. When taking
food they recline on the ground, using neither table-cloths
nor napkins, as they have no linen or any other kind
of cloth. Their food is put into vessels of earthen
ware, manufactured by themselves, or into half gourd
shells instead of dishes. They sleep in large