As to their food, it is very little, if any, cleaner than the swill given to animals, and not always even as clean. I say nothing in exaggeration, as I have tasted it and lived upon it for almost six months. We had three persons in our Cabin afflicted with scrofula,--the son of the Sorcerer, whose ear was very disgusting and horrid from this disease; his nephew, who had it in his neck; and a daughter, who had it under one arm. I do not know whether this is the real scrofula; whatever it is, this sore is full of pus, and covered with a horrible-looking crust. They are nearly all attacked by this disease, when young, both on account of their filthy habits, and because they eat and drink indiscriminately with the sick. I have seen them a hundred times paddle about in the kettle containing our common drink; wash their hands in it; drink from it, thrusting in their heads, like the animals; and throw into it their leavings; for this is the custom of the Savages, to thrust sticks into it that are half-burned and covered with ashes; to dip therein [126] their bark plates covered with grease, the fur of the Moose, and hair; and to dip water therefrom with kettles as black as the chimney; and after that, we all drank from this black broth, as if it were ambrosia. This is not all; they throw therein the bones that they have gnawed, then put water or snow in the kettle, let it boil, and behold their hippocras. One day some shoes, which had just been taken off, fell into our drink; they soaked there as long as they pleased, and were withdrawn without exciting any special attention, and then the water was drunk as if nothing whatever had happened. I am not very fastidious, but I was not very thirsty as long as this malmsey lasted. Iamais ils ne lauent leurs mains exprés pour manger, encore moins leur chaudiere, & point du tout la viande qu'ils fõt cuire, quoy que le plus souuent (ie le dis comme ie l'ay veu cent & cent fois) elle soit toute couuerte de poil de bestes, & de cheueux de leurs testes: Ie n'ay iamais beu aucun boüillon parmy eux, qu'il ne m'aye fallu jetter quãtité de ces poils & de ces cheueux, & bien d'autres ordures; comme des charbons, des petits [127] morceaux de bois, & mesme du baston dont ils attisent le feu, & remuent bien souuent ce qui est dans la chaudiere: ie les ay veu par fois prẽdre vn tison ardẽt, le mettre dãs la cendre pour l'esteindre: puis quasi sans le secoüer, le tremper dãs la chaudiere ou trempoit nostre disner.