No. 3.] G. M. DAWSON — INDIANS OF CANADA. 137 



laws of the raost civilized nation of Europe. The regions thus 

 occupied by savage tribes are annually coasted by richly laden 

 merchant fleets of Britain ; and the ocean steamers have now 

 brought within a few day's sail of Europe the outcast descen- 

 dants of the aboriginal owners of the soil. But they experience 

 no benefit from the change. The Mistassins and Naskapecs 

 exhibit all the characteristics and some of the most forbidding: 

 traits of the Indian savage. They are clothed in furs and deer- 

 skins ; their only weapons are the bow and arrow, and they 

 depend wholly on the bow and drill for procuring fire." 



With by far the greater part of the Indian population, however, 

 this state has long been of the past. In all the provinces, save 

 Prince Edward Island, the Indians hold reserves from the Crown. 

 On the Island, the lands they inhabit were obtained for them by 

 the Aborigines Protection Society and the liberality of private 

 individuals. The Indians are considered wards of the Crown, 

 and are in a state of pupilage, not possessing the right to dispose 

 of or in any way alienate their lands, which are administered for 

 them by a department of the Government. The funds available 

 for Indian purposes, schools, missions, annuities, etc., are partly 

 tribal, being derived from the sale or lease of Indian lands, 

 partly general, by direct grant, or interest on the Indian fund 

 held in trust by the Government. This fund, in the provinces 

 of Ontario and Quebec, in 1877, amounted to over $2,900,000; 

 tbo total revenue available for distribution being over $240,000. 

 The sources of tribal funds are more fully specified as follows: 

 Collections on account of lands sold, timber dues, stone dues ; 

 bonuses paid for the privilege of working timber limits on Indian 

 reserves ; rents collected from occupiers of Indian lands under 

 lease ; and smaller sums from licence fees, trespass dues, and a 

 moiety of fines collected from persons convicted of having sold 

 liquor to Indians. 



In these older provinces, most of the Indians have made con- 

 siderable material progress, and in some cases show a satisfactory 

 desire to accumulate property and cultivate the land. By the 

 last report of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, we learn that 

 the total number of Indians settled on reserves is 22,809. The 

 total number of acres under cultivation is 60,501 ; houses owned, 

 4,347, besides barns and stables ; horses, 2,741 ; cows, 2,360, 

 besides other animals, ploughs, harrows, waggons, fanning mills 

 and many other agricultural implements. It is, however, un- 



