Untitled - Libr@rsi

1661-52] RELATION OF ibso-si 49
either of good or of evil, according as you have served
God or obeyed the Devil."
The devotion that they have for the souls of the
departed is another proof
of their faith. Not far
from the place where this gathering is held, there is
a Cemetery, in the middle of which stands a fine
Cross. There are the sepulchres, four or five feet
wide, and six or seven feet long, raised about four
feet above the ; ground a fine large piece of bark
covers the ; grave at the head and at the feet of the
deceased are two crosses ; and on one side is a sword,
if the deceased were a man, or some household imple-
if a woman. When I arrived I was asked to
ment,
pray to God for the souls of those whose bodies lay
in that place. A good Christian woman [io6] brought
me a robe of Beaver fur by the hands of her daughter,
aged about seven years; and said, when her
daughter presented it to me: " My Father, this
present is to ask thee to pray to God for the soul of
her sister, and for her grandmother." Many others
preferred similar requests to me. I promised to do
what they wished, but told them that I would not
accept their gifts.
Some time ago, when the Christians of this place
died, their rosaries were buried with them. Last
year, this custom was changed into a still more holy
one, on the occasion of the death of a good Christian
woman who, in dying, gave her rosary to another,
begging her to keep it and to say it for her, at least
on holy days. This act of charity was promised to
her; and that custom has been [107] introduced since
that time,— so that, when any one dies, his rosary is
presented, with some little gift, to some person
selected among the company, who undertakes to