282 NEW- YORK COLONIAL MANUSCRIPTS. color, which hangs around the neck in braids, whereof they are very vain. They frequently smear their skin and hair with all sorts of grease. Almost all of them Wis th?m8dve8''of can swim ; they themselves construct the boats they use, which are of two sorts: ""' ''"'' oTtree".'' souie, of entire trees excavated with fire, axes and adzes ; the Christians call these Canoes; others, again, called also canoes, are made of bark, and in these they can move very rapidly. Traces, and nothing more, of the institution of marriage can be perceived indiam do not amoug them. The man and woman unite together without any special ceremony, except that the former, by agreement previously made with the latter, presents her with some wampum or cloth, which he frequently takes back on separating,

chaste"* and^ fr^ ^^ ^his occur any way soon. Both men and women are excessively unchaste and '''""'^' re"i?'wive3. lascivious, without the least particle of shame ; and this is the reason that the men so frequently change their wives and the women, their husbands. They have, usually, but one wife ; sometimes even two or three, but this mostly obtains among the chiefs. They have also among them different ranks of people, such as noble and ignoble. The men are generally lazy and will not work until they become old and of no consideration then they make spoons and wooden bowls, ;

traps, nets, and various other such trifles; in other respects, they do nothing but Who do the work fish, hunt and go ° to war. The women must perform the remainder of the labor, among the Indians, and how. such as planting corn, cutting and . ,,,-,• i t i