arity, that he here
deplored the necessity under which men laboured, thus to destroy their
_friends_. He represented, however, that the misfortune was
unavoidable, since without doing so, they could by no means subsist.
The speech ended, we all ate heartily of the bear's flesh; and even
the head itself, after remaining three days on the scaffold, was put
into the kettle. The fat of our bear was melted down, and the oil
filled six porcupine-skin bags. A part of the meat was cut into
strips, and fire-dried, after which it was put into the vessels
containing the oil, where it remained in perfect preservation, until
the middle of summer."

In the spring of 1762 Henry once more returned to Fort
Michili-Makinak, and went sugar-making with his Indian companions.
Whilst engaged in this agreeable task, a child belonging to one of the
party fell into a kettle of boiling syrup. It was instantly snatched
out, but with little hope of its recovery. So long, however, as it
lived, a continual feast was observed; and this was made "to the Great
Spirit and Master of Life", that he might be pleased to save and heal
the child. At this feast Henry was a constant guest; and often found
some difficulty in eating the large quantity of food which, on such
occasions as these, was put upon his dish.

Several sacrifices were also offered; among which were dogs, killed
and hung upon the tops of poles, with the addition of blankets and
other articles. These, also, were yielded to the Great Spirit, in the
humble hope that he would give efficacy to the medicines employed. But
the child died. To preserve the body from the wolves it was placed
upon a scaffold, and then later carried to the borders of a lake, on
the border of which was the burial ground of the family.

"On our arrival there, which happened in the beginning of April, I did
not fail to attend the funeral. The grave was made of a large size,
and the whole of the inside lined with birch bark. On the bark was
laid the body of the child, accompanied with an axe, a pair of
snowshoes, a small kettle, several pairs of common shoes, its own
strings of beads, and--because it was a girl--a carrying belt and a
paddle. The kettle was filled with meat. All this was again covered
with bark; and at about two feet nearer the surface logs were laid
across, and these again covered with bark, so that the earth might by
no means fall upon the corpse.

"The last act before the burial, performed by the mot