ON THEIR VICES AND THEIR IMPERFECTIONS. THE Savages, being filled with errors, are also haughty and proud. Humility is born of truth, vanity of error and falsehood. They are void of the knowledge of truth, and are in consequence, mainly occupied with thought of themselves. They imagine that they ought by right of birth, to enjoy the liberty of Wild ass colts, rendering no homage to any one whomsoever, except when they like. They have reproached me a hundred times because we [110] fear our Captains, while they laugh at and make sport of theirs. All the authority of their chief is in his tongue's end; for he is powerful in so far as he is eloquent; and, even if he kills himself talking and haranguing, he will not be obeyed unless he pleases the Savages. Ie ne crois pas qu'il y aye de nation sous le ciel plus mocqueuse & plus gausseuse que la nation des Montagnais, leur vie se passe à manger, à rire, & à railler les vns des autres, & de tous les peuples qu'ils cognoissent; ils n'ont rien de serieux, sinon par fois l'exterieur faisans parmy nous les graues & les retenus: mais entr'eux sont de vrais badins, de vrais enfans qui ne demandent qu'à rire. Ie les [c]achois quelquefois vn petit, notamment le Sorcier, les appellant des enfans, leurs tesmoignãs que ie ne pouuois asseoir aucun jugement asseuré sur toutes leurs responses; car si ie leur demandois d'vn, ils me disoient d'autre, pour trouuer suiet de rire & de gausser: & par consequent ie ne pouuois connoistre quand ils parloient serieusement, ou quand ils se mocquoient. La conclusion ordinaire de leurs discours & de leurs entretiens, est en verité nous nous sommes [111] bien mocquez d'vn tel. I do not believe that there is a nation under heaven more given to sneering and bantering than that of the Montagnais. Their life is passed in eating, laughing, and making sport of each other, and of all the people they know. There is nothing serious about them, except occasionally, when they make a pretense among us of being grave and dignified; but among themselves they are real buffoons and genuine children, who ask only to laugh. Sometimes I annoyed them a little, especially the Sorcerer, by calling them children, and showing them that I never could place any reliance upon all their answers; because, if I questioned them about one thing, they told me about something else, only to get something to laugh and jest about; and consequently I could not know when they were speaking seriously, or when they were jesting. The usual conclusion of their discourses and conversations is: "Really, we did make [111] a great deal of sport of such and such a one."