DISPOSITIONS. 13 



pressing their thoughts on the matter with much 

 earnestness and volubility. 



Few traces of the stoicism popularly attributed 

 to the red races exist among . the Dog-ribs : they 

 shrink from pain, show little daring, express their 

 fears without disguise on all occasions, imaginary 

 or real, shed tears readily, and live in constant 

 dread of enemies, bodied and disembodied. Yet 

 all, young and old, enjoy a joke heartily. They 

 are not a morose people, but, on the contrary, 

 when young and in a situation of security, they 

 are remarkably lively and cheerful. The infirmities 

 of age, which press heavily on the savage, render 

 them querulous. They are fond of dancing, but 

 their dance, which is performed in a circle, is with- 

 out the least pretensions to grace, and is carried 

 on laboriously with the knees and body half bent 

 and a heavy stamping, having the effect of causing 

 the dancers to appear as if they were desirous of 

 sinking into the ground. It is accompanied by a 

 song resembling a chorus of groans, or pretty 

 nearly the deep sigh of a pavier as he brings his 

 rammer down upon the pavement. They are 

 great mimics, and readily ape the peculiarities of 

 any white man ; and many of the young men 

 have caught the tunes of the Canadian voyagers, 

 and hum them correctly. 



They are an unwarlike people, and averse to 



