The letter _r,_ it will be seen, is not a consonant. In fact, it is never heard as such in the modern Onondaga dialect. As used by La Fort, its office is either to give to the preceding vowel _a_ the sound which it has in _father,_ or by itself to represent that sound. The _a,_ when not followed by _r,_ is usually sounded like _a_ in _fate_, but sometimes keeps the sound of _a_ in _far._ The _e_ usually represents the English _e_ in _be,_ or, when followed by _n,_ the _e_ in _pen._ The _i_ and _y_ are commonly sounded as in the word _city._ The _g_ is always hard, and is interchangeable with _k._ The _t_ and _d_ are also interchangeable. While the syllables in the original are written separately, the words are not always distinguished; and it is doubtful if, in printing, they have in all cases been properly divided. The translation of the interpreter, though tolerably exact, was not always literal; and in the brief time at our command the precise meaning of some of the words was not ascertained. No attempt, therefore, has been made to form a glossary of this portion of the text. In the original the addresses of the "younger brothers" are divided into sections, which are numbered from one to seven, and each of which, in the ceremony, is called to mind by its special wampum-string, which is produced when the section is recited. As the first of these sections is of much greater length than the others, it has been divided in this work, for the purpose of ready reference, into sub-sections, which are numbered 1_a_, 1_b_, and so on. 1 _b_. _Nenthaotagenhetak_, "by the ashes," or "near the hearth." The root-word is here _agenhe_, the Onondaga form of the Canienga word _akenra_, ashes, which is comprised in the compound form, _jiudakenrokde_, in Section 27 of the Canienga book. It will be seen that the spokesman of the younger nations is here complying strictly with the law laid down in that section. He "stands by the hearth and speaks a few words to comfort those who are mourning." 1 _c_. "_It was valued at twenty._" The interpreters explained that by "twenty" was understood the whole of their wampum, which constituted all their treasure. A human life was worth the whole of this, and they freely gave it, merely to recall the memory of the chief who was gone. Among the Hurons, when a man had been killed, and his kindred were willing to renounce their claim to vengeance on receiving due satisfaction, the number of presents of wampum and other valuables which were to be given was rigidly prescribed by their customary law. [Footnote: _Relation_ of 1648, p. 80.] From this custom would easily follow the usage of making similar gifts, in token of sympathy, to all persons who were mourning the loss of a near relative,