sick man. He had invited two of their doctors that could cure
him--they call them simachkoes; and as soon as they came they
began to sing and to light a big fire. They closed the house most
carefully everywhere, so that the breeze could not come in, and
after that each of them wrapped a snakeskin around his head.
They washed their hands and faces, lifted the sick man from his
place, and laid him alongside the big fire. Then they took a
bucket of water, put some medicine in it, and washed in this
water a stick about half a yard long, and kept sticking it in
their throats so that no end of it was to be seen; and then they
spat on the patient's head, and over all his body; and after that
they made all sorts of farces, as shouting and raving, slapping
of the hands; so are their manners; with many demonstrations
upon one things and another till they perspired so freely that
their perspiration ran down all sides.

December 25--being Christmas. We rose early in the morning
and wanted to go to the Sinnekens; but, as it was snowing steadily,
we could not go, because nobody wanted to go with us to carry
our goods. I asked them how many chiefs there were in all, and
they told me thirty.

December 26. In the morning I was offered two pieces of bear's
bacon to take with us on the march; and we took our departure,
escorted by many of them that walked before and after us. They
kept up shouting: "Allesa rondade!" that is, to fire our pistols;
but we did not want to do so, and at last they went back. This
day we passed over many a stretch of flat land, and crossed a kill
where the water was knee-deep; and I think we kept this day mostly
the direction west and northwest. The woods that we traversed