After they had danced in this manner the rest of the day and part of the evening, they went to bed. The French remained under arms, and did so during the whole week that the Indians stayed with them. There were two more councils held to make sure of their promises, which they confirmed by strings of beads. In making an alliance, in declaring war or peace, strings of small glass beads of varied colors, called porcelaine in this province, are exchanged. These beads are three to four lignes long, pierced lengthways, rounded and string like a rosary in a single string.
Some beads are all blue, and some of two colors mixed.
The belts 7 are made of several strings, sewed together on a band, three or four inches wide and eighteen to twenty inches long. In an assembly, an orator never makes assertions, without giving illustrations by each string or belt, and sometimes both, that he presents. Their speeches are always as laconic as they are symbolic. They are often propounded in the assembly of the village or tribe. Each councillor holds a string or belt to serve as a reminder, when necessary, to the orator who is the spokesman.