168 EXPEDITION TO THE 



quacious; in conversation the Chippeuas use but little ac- 

 tion ; their features seldom indicate the emotions which 

 agitate their breasts ; but their eyes are very expressive. 

 Smoking is their favourite pursuit, and the pipe is the first 

 object offered to a stranger. The Chippewas are consider- 

 ed to be very ambitious of the situation of chiefs ; the in- 

 trigues in which they will engage to obtain this post arc 

 sometimes very unjustifiable. Their envy of each other's 

 acquisitions is very great, and would probably rise into 

 party spirit if they were not so much dispersed. A few of 

 them are addicted to lying and thieving ; these are, how- 

 ever, held in disrepute. The Chippewas cannot be consi- 

 dered as of a very irascible temperament ; but when once 

 injured they never forget or neglect to avenge the insult 

 offered them. They are great boasters, and have a high 

 opinion of themselves. Some Indians are represented as 

 supposing themselves to hold a rank in creation inferior to 

 that of the white man, but this is certainly not the case 

 with the Chippewas, who have a common expression whicli 

 they use when any thing awkward or foolish is done, 

 AVametegogin* gegakepiitese, which signifies " as stupid as 

 a white man." They consider themselves as created for the 

 noblest purposes. The Great Spirit made them that they 

 should live, hunt, and prepare medicines and charms, in 

 which they fancy that they excel. White men, on the 

 other hand, were doomed to the drudgeries of manufac- 

 turing cloths, guns, &c. for the use of the Indians. 



We found much difficulty in ascertaining the division of 

 time among the Chippewas. Our interpreter at first assert- 

 ed that there were thirteen moons, then made out but 



• Wametegogin does not properly mean a white man, but one who 

 suspends logs in the air, probably from the beams or eaves used in the 

 construction of white men's cabins. 



