last is the more common. The name signified "people who spoke a slightly different dialect," and the Hurons were known to the Neutrals by the same name. The latter are mentioned in the Relations as one of the twelve numerous and sedentary nations who spoke a common language with the Hurons. The Oueanohronons formed "one of the nations associated with the Neutral Nation." They are afterwards called in the same Relation (1639) the Wenrohronons, and are said to have lived on the borders of the Iroquois, more than eighty leagues from the Huron country. So long as they were on friendly terms with the Neutrals they were safe from the dreaded Iroquois; but a misunderstanding having arisen between them, they were obliged to flee in order to avoid extermination by the latter. They took refuge, more than 600 in all, with the Hurons, and were received in the most friendly and hospitable manner.

The Relation of 1640 speaks of a Huron map communicated by Father Paul Ragueneau in which a large number of tribes, most of them acquainted with the Huron language, are shown, including the Iroquois, the Neutrals, the Eries, etc. The "Mission of the Apostles" was established among the Tobacco Nation by Garnier and Jogues in 1640. Nine villages visited by them were endowed by the missionaries with the names of apostles, two of which are given in Sanson's map of 1656.[3] In one "bourg" called S. Thomas, they baptized a boy five years old belonging to the Neutral Nation, who died immediately afterwards. "He saw himself straightway out of banishment and happy in his own country." The famine had driven his parents to the village of the Tobacco Nation. The devoted missionaries add that this was the first fruits of the Neutral nation.

In the fall of the same year "The Mission of the Angels" was begun among the Neutrals. The lot fell upon Jean de Brebeuf and Joseph Marie Chaumonot. The former was the pioneer of the Jesuit Mission. He had spent three years among the Hurons from 1626 to 1629, and, after the restoration of Canada to the French by Charles I., he had returned in 1634 to the scene of his earlier labors. His associate had only come from France the year before. Brebeuf was distinguished for his mastery of the native tongues, and Chaumonot had been recognized as an apt student of languages. The plan of the Jesuits was to establish in the new mission a fixed and permanent residence, which should be the "retreat" of the missionaries of the surrounding country, as Ste. Marie was of those of the Huron mission.

Lalemant from their report describes the Neutral Nation as exceedingly populous, including about forty villages ("bourgs ou bourgades.") The nearest villages were four or five days' journey or about forty leagues (100 miles) distant from the Hurons, going due south. He estimates the difference in latitude between Ste. Marie and the nearest village of the Neutrals to the south at about 1°55'. Elsewhere the distance is spoken of as about thirty leagues.

From the first "bourg," going on to the south or south-west (a mistake for south-east it would seem,) it was about four days' journey to the mouth of the Niagara River. On this side of the river, and not beyond it, as "some map" lays it down, (Champlain's, doubtless,) were most of the "bourgs" of the Neutral Nation. There were three or four on the other side towards the Eries. Lalemant claims, and there is no doubt as to the fact, that the French were the first Europeans to become acquainted with the Neutrals. The Hurons and Iroquois were sworn enemies to each other, but in a wigwam or even a camp of the Neutrals until recently each had been safe from the other's vengeance.

Latterly however the unbridled fury of the hostile nations had not respected even the neutral ground of their mutual friends. Friendly as they were to the Hurons and Iroquois, the Neutrals engaged in cruel wars with other nations to the west, particularly the Nation of Fire, as has been stated above. The previous year a hundred prisoners had been taken from the latter tribe. This year, returning with 2,000 warriors, the Neutrals had carried off more than 170. Fiercer than the Hurons, they burned their female prisoners. Their clothing and mode of living differed but little from those of the Hurons. They had Indian corn, beans and pumpkins in equal abundance. Fish were abundant, different species being met with in different places. The country was a famous hunting ground. Elk, deer, wild cats, wolves, "black beasts" (squirrels), beaver and other animals valuable for their skins and flesh; were in abundance. It was a rare thing to see more than half a foot of snow. This year there was more than three feet. The deep snow had facilitated the hunting, and, in happy contrast with the famine which had prevailed, meat was plentiful. They had also multitudes of wild turkeys which went in flocks through the fields and woods. Fruits were no more plentiful than amongst the Hurons, except that chestnuts abounded, and wild apples were a little larger.

Their manners and customs, and family and political government, were very much like those of the other Indian tribes, but they were distinguished from the Hurons by their greater dissoluteness and indecency. On the other hand they were taller, stronger and better formed.

Their burial customs were peculiar, although similar customs are reported at this day amongst some African tribes. The bodies remained in their wigwams until decomposition rendered them insupportable, when they were put outside on a scaffold. Soon afterward, the bones were removed and arranged within their houses on both sides in sight of the inmates, where they remained until the feast of the dead. Having these mournful objects before their eyes, the women habitually indulged in cries and laments, in a kind of chant.

The Neutrals were distinguished for the multitude and quality of their madmen, who were a privileged class. Hence it was common for bad Indians to assume the character of maniacs in order to perpetrate crimes without fear of punishment. The Jesuits suffered very much from their malice. Some old men told them that the Neutrals used to carry on war "towards" a certain western nation, who would seem to have lived on the Gulf of Mexico, where the "porcelain, which are the pearls of the country," was obtained from a kind of oysters. It is an undoubted fact that a traffic was carried on with tribes as far south as the Gulf of Mexico, from whom shells used for wampum were obtained by successive interchanges of commodities with intervening tribes. They had also some vague notion of alligators, which are apparently referred to by the description, "certain aquatic animals, larger and swifter than elk," against which these same people had "a kind of war," the details of which are somewhat amusing, as given by Lalemant.

The two Jesuits left Ste. Marie the 2nd November, 1640, with two French servants (probably "donnes,") and an Indian. They slept four nights in the woods. The fifth day they arrived at the first village ("bourg") of the Neutral Nation called Kandoucho, but to which they gave the name of All Saints. This is probably the same as N. D. des Anges on Sanson's map, and was not far perhaps from the site of Brantford.

Owing to the unfavorable reports which had been spread through the country about the Jesuits, the latter were anxious to explain their purposes to a council of the chiefs and old men. The head chief, "who managed the affairs of the public" was called Tsohahissen (doubtless the same as Daillon's Souharissen). His "bourg" was "in the middle of the country;" to reach it, one had to pass through several other villages ("bourgs et bourgades.") In Sanson's map, Alexis is placed almost exactly "in the middle of the country" of the Neutrals. No other village is marked on the map, to which the expression could be applied. Its situation nearly midway between the Detroit & Niagara