Five young men were selected to fetch the boys one after another and run them down the lane between the two files of men. The men attempted in this gauntlet to beat the boys as they ran, but the escorts protected the boys with their own bodies receiving the blows for them. A fter the boys had run the gauntlet the men tore down the tree under which they had been gathered, made wreaths from it for their heads and stuck leaves in their hair. A pparently the English were told that the boys were taken to some valley and thrown in a pile dead to be eaten by the people later. The rest of the boys were kept in the woods for nine months, guarded by the young men, and could not communicate with anyone.
Candidates are boys with special qualities.
Candidates are ritually beaten. Candidates are isolated from the rest of society in the woods. Candidates become important members of community. O ne other probable similarity is the notion of the boys being sacrificed. Winslow in his narrative makes a singular statement without further commentary, Many sacrifices the Indians use, and in some cases kill children.