THE Caraibs, a powerful and war-like people, who inhabited some of the West India Islands at the time they were discovered by Columbus, had some very singular customs respecting their dead. When one of them died, their customs required that all his relations should see him and examine the body before its burial, in order to determine by personal observation whether he had died a natural death. So rigidly was this principle carried out, that if all the relatives of the deceased, except one, were present and examined the body, and all bore testimony that he died a natural death, it would not be sufficient to convince the absent one of the fact. He would feel bound in honor to regard all the relatives as accessaries to the death of his kinsman, and would never allow himself to rest till he had killed one of the number to avenge the death of the other. Though the relations of a deceased person might live at a great distance, on another island, it was necessary to summon them to see the body before the burial, and as several months would sometimes elapse before all could arrive, the body was disposed of in the meantime in the following manner. In the first place it was painted all over with a black paint. Then a sort of grave or pit was dug in the dwelling where he died, four feet square, and six or seven feet deep. The body was put into this pit, and sand thrown around the feet till it reached the knees, and then the body was left in a sitting posture on the sand, with the elbows on the knees and the hands against the cheeks. In this condition the body would remain for months without decomposition. And thus it was kept till all the relations had an opportunity to examine it. Then the grave was filled up and the body remained at rest. This remarkable people were nearly exterminated by the French, who settled most of the islands occupied by them. A very few families yet remain on the island of Dominica. Attempts were made by the French missionaries to convert them to Chris tianity, but with very little success. Perhaps the means they used were not of the wisest or purest kind. An intelligent writer says, "they taught them the catechism, prayers, and other religious exercises, but their labors produced no fruit. They baptized many Caraibs, but they did not make one Christian. The most serious things were to them matters of indifference, and considered by them as a kind of sport; such was the fickleness, indecision and badness of their disposition. To some who earnestly demanded baptism, the fathers refused it, because they knew the object of the candidates was merely to procure the presents which were usually given by the god-fathers and god-mothers. They were always ready to return to their old mode of life, and perfectly willing to be re-baptized at any time. A Caraib would have no objection to being baptized ten times a day, provided he could get a glass of rum or brandy for each operation. In this they resembled some of the northern Indians. It has been said that a missionary among the Mohegans offered an Indian a pint of cider for every Indian or squaw he would bring to him to be baptized. The Mohegan sallied forth, and soon found an Indian dead drunk, whom he took upon his shoulders, carried to the parson to be baptized, and demanded the pint of cider." It is no matter of surprise, certainly, that the labors of that missionary were not blest with better fruits. The reward offered, a pint of cider, might well produce a drunken subject. The Senecas were the most important tribe of the celebrated confederacy of the Six Nations, and Red Jacket was the most noted and remarkable chief of the Senecas. A speech from him, therefore, on religious subjects must possess more than ordinary interest. In 1805 a council of chiefs and warriors of the Senecas was held at Buffalo, in the State of New York, at the request of Mr. Crane, a missionary from Massachusetts. The missionary first addressed the council, stating the object of his visit among them, and the reason of calling them together; that he was sent by the missionary society of Boston to teach them how to worship the Great Spirit; that there was but one religion, and unless they embraced it they could not be happy; that they had lived in error and darkness all their lives. He wished them to hear what he had to say, and then if they had any objections to his religion he wished them to state them frankly. When the missionary had done speaking, the Indians held a private consultation of about two hours. Red Jacket then came forward and replied in behalf of the council as follows. The whole speech is worth quoting as a specimen of the thought, reasoning, and eloquence of one of the most remarkable men of the times. "Friend and Brother ;-It was the will of the Great Spirit |