Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Account Of The Characters, Customs, And Manners , Of The Savages Of Cape Breton.
If these little civilities made a quick impression on the hearts of the two lovers , and the parents of the girl were satisfied , they shortened the apprenticeship of their son-in-law , and said to liim , ' Thou may ' st , whenever thou wilt , take thy share of what covers thy beloved by night . ' This speech , which the lover understands at half a word , and which he hardly gives them time to finish , is the harbinger of his happiness . Instantlhe flies from the cottage with his
y bow and arrows , and when returned home , says to his parents , ' You are to expect me no more , I am going to the woods , from whence I shall not return , till my beloved is pleased to call me back . ' As soon as he has made this declaration , he betakes himself to some nei ghbouring forest , where he exerts his whole agility and skill to procure a large quantity of the choicest game . In three days ail
the young people of the village go in triumphant procession to search for him ; and each man loads himself with provisions and furs , all which the bridegroom has purchased with great fatigue and toil , to honour the nuptial feast . In order to give him some relaxation , he is not permittted to bear the least share of the burthen . Being conducted by the juggleror one of his oldest relationshe repairs to the
, , cottage of his mistress , and immediately covers himself up with her bed-clothes . This ceremony does not hinder the young couple from listening to a long discourse on the dunes of the married state . It end with a feast , which in some measure puts the last seal to the union . The bridegroom being seated among the young men , and the
bride among the girls , each waits patiently for their respective dish of meat . This is brought to them in two ouragars of equal bigness , which are placed in the middle of the cottage . Then the president of the feast addresses himself to the bride in the following words : —• ' O thou , who art upon the point of entering into a respectable state , know that the nourishment thou art going to take , forebodes the greatest calamities to theeif thy heart should be capable of
harbour-, ing any ill design against thy husband , or against thy nation . — Shouldest thou ever be led astray by the caresses of a stranger , or betray thy husband and thy country , the nourishment contained in this ouragan , will have the-cffect of a slow poison , with which thou wilt be tainted from this very instant : but if , on the contrary , thou remainest faithful to thy husband and thy country ; if thou never
insultest the one for his defects , nor give a description of the other to the enemy , thou wilt find ihis nourishment both agreeable and wholesome / This speech being ended , the friend of the new-married woman , as if from absence of mind , takes the ouragan designed for the husband , and the husband ' s friend does the same by the bride ' s ; but immediately recovering themselvesthey cry out' This mistake
, , of ours is an evident symbol of the intimate alliance this clay contracted by the two parties . It is done ; they are man and wife , let them multiply . ' These last words , being repeated with loud acclamations by all the company , are followed by embraces , festivity , and dancing .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Account Of The Characters, Customs, And Manners , Of The Savages Of Cape Breton.
If these little civilities made a quick impression on the hearts of the two lovers , and the parents of the girl were satisfied , they shortened the apprenticeship of their son-in-law , and said to liim , ' Thou may ' st , whenever thou wilt , take thy share of what covers thy beloved by night . ' This speech , which the lover understands at half a word , and which he hardly gives them time to finish , is the harbinger of his happiness . Instantlhe flies from the cottage with his
y bow and arrows , and when returned home , says to his parents , ' You are to expect me no more , I am going to the woods , from whence I shall not return , till my beloved is pleased to call me back . ' As soon as he has made this declaration , he betakes himself to some nei ghbouring forest , where he exerts his whole agility and skill to procure a large quantity of the choicest game . In three days ail
the young people of the village go in triumphant procession to search for him ; and each man loads himself with provisions and furs , all which the bridegroom has purchased with great fatigue and toil , to honour the nuptial feast . In order to give him some relaxation , he is not permittted to bear the least share of the burthen . Being conducted by the juggleror one of his oldest relationshe repairs to the
, , cottage of his mistress , and immediately covers himself up with her bed-clothes . This ceremony does not hinder the young couple from listening to a long discourse on the dunes of the married state . It end with a feast , which in some measure puts the last seal to the union . The bridegroom being seated among the young men , and the
bride among the girls , each waits patiently for their respective dish of meat . This is brought to them in two ouragars of equal bigness , which are placed in the middle of the cottage . Then the president of the feast addresses himself to the bride in the following words : —• ' O thou , who art upon the point of entering into a respectable state , know that the nourishment thou art going to take , forebodes the greatest calamities to theeif thy heart should be capable of
harbour-, ing any ill design against thy husband , or against thy nation . — Shouldest thou ever be led astray by the caresses of a stranger , or betray thy husband and thy country , the nourishment contained in this ouragan , will have the-cffect of a slow poison , with which thou wilt be tainted from this very instant : but if , on the contrary , thou remainest faithful to thy husband and thy country ; if thou never
insultest the one for his defects , nor give a description of the other to the enemy , thou wilt find ihis nourishment both agreeable and wholesome / This speech being ended , the friend of the new-married woman , as if from absence of mind , takes the ouragan designed for the husband , and the husband ' s friend does the same by the bride ' s ; but immediately recovering themselvesthey cry out' This mistake
, , of ours is an evident symbol of the intimate alliance this clay contracted by the two parties . It is done ; they are man and wife , let them multiply . ' These last words , being repeated with loud acclamations by all the company , are followed by embraces , festivity , and dancing .