upon the lodge of a few indians I had that day given rum to. I heard one of them harangue, & drew up cautiously to listen--He entreated the rain, snow & frost to have pity upon their young ones (that they might kill) &c. I commu- nicated this a few years after to a couple of Gentlemen--one of them longer in the country than myself denied it & enquired of his wife who had lived a long time with the indians--she corroborated his denial--I perceived the cause, & told him that it was because _they_ do not chuse that we become too well informed of all their ceremonies: it was to no effect, & I had almost a mind to credit the woman too myself, but by _insinuation_ I find I am perfectly right. Thus it (56) it happens in almost every thing else: a thing that does not meet with our approbation, or be a little beyond the Sphere of our limited information, we immediately deny or condemn; whereas by taking _proper_ measures to enquire or inform ourselves not only those things themselves but others far more interesting, & sometimes too of the greatest moment, whether to ourselves or others, are rendered probable, reasonable, certain. Hence it is also that many upon receiving a piece of informa- tion there rest themselves as upon a Rock of certainty. Now either of these I consider equally blameable as they lead to distrust, doubt, & sometimes to a complete refutation or asser- tion of facts that very oftentimes cast a stain or stigma sometimes upon a whole people. & without any other foundation than as might be said that all Powerful _Veto_.-- They have feasts for the dead, most commonly berries,--or in countries where it is made, Sugar: generally yearly a bark box of perhaps 2 or 3 Gallons is placed _in_ the grave, upon it , or well hid in some private nook, if they are afraid, or do not chuse, it be taken --I ought rather to have said these are sacrifices; but independent of these they have Feasts also, & feasts of Baptism. Feasts inshort for almost every occasion. Besides these they have _smoking_ feasts: these are to deliberate.--I shall, should it please God I live, make it a point to enquire particularly into the origin of all these.-- June 5th. These last 3 days have been busy & turbulent ones for me--it is now considerably past midnight (& of course the 6th June) but my indians are drinking & I cannot think of going to bed Till they do I shall employ my few remaining _leisure_ moments ('till next year, please god I live so long) in giving you an account of a conjuring bout I with some difficulty got an indian to make last night (June 4th).--In the evening the hut was prepared at some dis- tance from the houses on account of the stink as _the Spirits_ cannot, or will not endure any pollution--The hut consisted of 10 poles about 7 feet out of Ground, well stuck in, & somewhat better than 3 feet diameter--the Poles were secured with 2 hoops: they were covered with 2 Parchment skins