rii.vp. xi. INDIAN CUSTOMS NEVER CHANGE. 171 



4 Well, here it is : 



Lo, the poor Indian ! whose untntor'd mind 



Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind ; 



****** 



But thinks, admitted to that equal sky, 

 His faithful dog shall bear him company.* 



' These customs are common, from the Pacific to the 

 Atlantic ; they differ only in minor details sometimes 

 they lay the body on a platform eight or ten feet from 

 the ground, and sometimes, where there is no soil, as on 

 those barren rocks, they pile a heap of stones over the dead, 

 as on Lake Huron. Indian customs never change ; they 

 are like the Indians themselves, they will all go unchanged 

 down- to the grave as long as they remain heathens.' 



' Well, but how did Pope know about the dogs ? ' said 

 one of the listeners. 



c I tell you the customs of Indians in a savage state 

 never change, and all the Algonkin races have the same 

 customs. The Montagnais and Nasquapees are Algonkin 

 as well as the Crees and Ojibways. Surely Pope had 

 plenty of opportunity of reading accounts of Algonkin 

 races in his time. Besides, there is not a Huron grave in 

 Upper Canada, or an Iroquois grave in the States that 

 you may chance to open, but you will find the bones of a 

 dog or some other small animal in it.' 



'Well, but the Hurons and Iroquois were not Algoukins.' 



That only shows the custom of burying the dog with 

 his master is common to different Indian families or races. 

 But here are the men coming with the other canoe, so we 

 must let Pope alone for the present. 



* Pope's ' Essay on Man.' 



