The husband in the mean time warily moves to some rock, over which he can peep
into unruffled water to look for fish.
For this purpose he always chooses
a weather shore, and the various windings of the numerous creeks and indents
always afford one. Silent and watchful, he chews a cockle and spits it
into the water. Allured by the bait, the fish appear from beneath the rock.
He prepares his fish-gig, and pointing it downward, moves it gently
towards the object, always trying to approach it as near as possible
to the fish before the stroke be given. At last he deems himself
sufficiently advanced and plunges it at his prey. If he has hit his mark,
he continues his efforts and endeavours to transpierce it or so to entangle
the barbs in the flesh as to prevent its escape. When he finds it secure
he drops the instrument, and the fish, fastened on the prongs,
rises to the surface, floated by the buoyancy of the staff. Nothing now
remains to be done but to haul it to him, with either a long stick
or another fish-gig (for an Indian, if he can help it, never goes into the
water on these occasions) to disengage it, and to look out for fresh sport.
But sometimes the fish have either deserted the rocks for deeper water,
or are too shy to suffer approach. He then launches his canoe, and leaving
the shore behind, watches the rise of prey out of the water, and darts
his gig at them to the distance of many yards. Large fish he seldom procures
by this method; but among shoals of mullets, which are either pursued
by enemies, or leap at objects on the surface, he is often successful.
Baneelon has been seen to kill more than twenty fish by this method
in an afternoon. The women sometimes use the gig, and always carry one
in each canoe to strike large fish which may be hooked and thereby facilitate
the capture. But generally speaking, this instrument is appropriate
to the men, who are never seen fishing with the line, and would indeed
consider it as a degradation of their pre-eminence.
When prevented by tempestuous weather or any other cause, from fishing,
these people suffer severely. They have then no resource but to pick up
shellfish, which may happen to cling to the rocks, and be cast on the beach,
to hunt particular reptiles and small animals, which are scarce, to dig
fern root in the swamps or to gather a few berries, destitute of flavour
and nutrition, which the woods afford. To alleviate the sensation of hunger,
they tie a ligature tightly around the belly, as I have often seen
our soldiers do from the same cause.
Let us, however, suppose them successful in procuring fish. The wife returns
to land with her booty, and the husband quitting the rock joins his stock
to hers; and they repair either to some neighbouring cavern or to their hut.
This last is composed of pieces of bark, very rudely piled together,
in shape as like a soldier's tent as any known image to which I can compare it:
too low to admit the lord of it to stand upright, but long and wide enough
to admit three or four persons to lie under it. "Here shelters himself
a being, born with all those powers which education expands, and all those
sensations which culture refines." With a lighted stick brought from
the canoe they now kindle a small fire at the mouth of the hut and prepare
to dress their meal. They begin by throwing the fish exactly in the state
in which it came from the water, on the fire. When it has become
a little warmed they take it off, rub away the scales, and then peal off
with their teeth the surface, which they find done and eat. Now,
and not before, they gut it; but if the fish be a mullet or any other
which has a fatty substance about the intestines, they carefully guard
that part and esteem it a delicacy. The cooking is now completed
by the remaining part being laid on the fire until it be sufficiently done.
A bird, a lizard, a rat, or any other animal, they treat in the same manner.
The feathers of the one and the fur of the other, they thus get rid of.*
[*They broil indiscriminately all substances which they eat. Though they boil
water in small quantities in oyster shells for particular purposes,
they never conceived it possible until shown by us, to dress meat
by this method, having no vessel capable of containing a fish or a bird
which would stand fire. Two of them once stole twelve pounds of rice
and carried it off. They knew how we cooked it, and by way of putting it
in practice they spread the rice on the ground before a fire,
and as it grew hot continued to throw water on it. Their ingenuity was
however very ill rewarded, for the rice became so mingled with the dirt
and sand on which it was laid, that even they could not eat it,
and the whole was spoiled.]
Unless summoned away by irresistable necessity, sleep always follows the
repast. They would gladly prolong it until the following day; but the
canoe wants repair, the fish-gig must be barbed afresh, new lines must be
twisted, and new hooks chopped out. They depart to their respective
tasks, which end only with the light.
Such is the general life of an Indian. But even he has his hours of
relaxation, in seasons of success, when fish abounds. Wanton with plenty,
he now meditates an attack upon the chastity of some neighbouring fair
one; and watching his opportunity he seizes her and drags her away
to complete his purpose. The signal of war is lighted; her lover,
her father, her brothers, her tribe, assemble, and vow revenge on the
spoiler.
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