since he was not so particular as I am, he
generally made use of the dry trunk of a tree. Work being done, we
seated ourselves in a circle, with our legs crossed like tailors,
around the immense fire, to roast our heads of maize, and to prepare
supper. I had still a flask of brandy, which served to enliven our
savages not a little. They found out that they had some bear hams, and
we began a royal feast.

The family consisted of two women, with infants at their breasts, and
three warriors; two of them might be from forty to forty-five years of
age, altho they appeared much older, and the third was a young man.

The conversation soon became general; that is to say, on my side it
consisted of broken words and many gestures--an expressive language,
which these nations understand remarkably well, and that I had learned
among them. The young man alone preserved an obstinate silence; he
kept his eyes constantly fixt on me. In spite of the black, red, and
blue stripes, cut ears, and the pearl hanging from his nose, with
which he was disfigured, it was easy to see the nobility and
sensibility which animated his countenance. How well I knew he was
inclined not to love me! It seemed to me as if he were reading in his
heart the history of all the wrongs which Europeans have inflicted on
his native country. The two children, quite naked, were asleep at our
feet before the fire; the women took them quietly into their arms and
put them to bed among the skins, with a mother's tenderness so
delightful to witness in these so-called savages: the conversation
died away by degrees, and each fell asleep in the place where he was.

I alone could not close my eyes, hearing on all sides the deep
breathing of my hosts. I raised my head, and, supporting myself on my
elbow, watched by the red light of the expiring fire the Indians
stretched around me and plunged in sleep. I confess that I could
hardly refrain from tears. Brave youth, how your peaceful sleep
affects me! You, who seemed so sensible of the woes of your native
land, you were too great, too high-minded to mistrust the foreigner!
Europeans, what a lesson for you! These same savages whom we have
pursued with fire and sword, to whom our avarice would not leave a
spadeful of earth to cover their corpses in all this world, formerly
their vast patrimony--these same savages receiving their enemy into
their hospitable hut, sharing with him their miserable meal, and,
their couch undisturbed