an animal existence. (Morgan, League of the Iroquois, 322.) There is
clear proof that the tribes of the South were equally corrupt. (See
Lawson, Carolina, 34, and other early writers.) On the other hand,
chastity in women was recognized as a virtue by many tribes. This was
peculiarly the case among the Algonquins of Gaspe, where a lapse in this
regard was counted a disgrace. (See Le Clerc, Nouvelle Relation de la
Gaspesie, 417, where a contrast is drawn between the modesty of the girls
of this region and the open prostitution practised among those of other
tribes.) Among the Sioux, adultery on the part of a woman is punished by
mutilation.

The remarkable forbearance observed by Eastern and Northern tribes
towards female captives was probably the result of a superstition.
Notwithstanding the prevailing license, the Iroquois and other tribes had
among themselves certain conventional rules which excited the admiration
of the Jesuit celibates. Some of these had a superstitious origin;
others were in accordance with the iron requirements of their savage
etiquette. To make the Indian a hero of romance is mere nonsense. ]

[ 2 "Il s'en trouue telle qui passe ainsi sa ieunesse, qui aura en plus
de vingt maris, lesquels vingt maris ne sont pas seuls en la jouyssance
de la beste, quelques mariez qu'ils soient: car la nuict venue, las
ieunes femmes courent d'une cabane en une autre, come font les ieunes
hommes de leur coste, qui en prennent par ou bon leur semble, toutesfois
sans violence aucune, et n'en recoiuent aucune infamie, ny injure,
la coustume du pays estant telle."--Champlain (1627), 90. Compare Sagard,
Voyage des Hurons, 176. Both were personal observers.

The ceremony, even of the most serious marriage, consisted merely in the
bride's bringing a dish of boiled maize to the bridegroom, together with