A universal cure, however, for all fevers and mild ailments was sweating.

Sweating huts were built in nearly every settlement.

They were covered over in a way to exclude air as much as possible.

The inside was heated with red-hot stones and glowing embers, on to which from time to time water was poured to fill the place with steam.

The Amerindians not only went through these Turkish baths to cure small ailments but also with the idea of clearing the intelligence and as a fitting preliminary to negotiations--for peace, or alliance, or even for courtship.