48S ANNUAL REGI STER, 1816. 



whole weeks without maat^ and 

 with nothing to eat but a few fish 

 and roots. Nor can any thing 

 be imagined mare wretched tlian 

 their condition at the present 

 time, when the salmon is fast re- 

 tiring, when roots are becoming 

 scarce, and tliey have not yet ac- 

 quired strength to hazard an en- 

 counter with their enemies. So 

 insensible arc they, however, to 

 these calamities, that the Shosho- 

 nees are not only cheerful, but 

 even gay ; and their character, 

 which is more interesting than 

 that of any Indians we have seen, 

 has in it much of the dignity of 

 misfortune. In their intercourse 

 with strangers they are frank and 

 communicative, in their dealings 

 perfectly fair; nor have we had 

 (luring our stay with them, any 

 reason to suspect that the display 

 of all oiu' new and valuable wealth 

 has tempted them into a single 

 act of dishonesty. While they 

 have generally shared with us the 

 little they possess, they iiave al- 

 ways abstained from l;egging any 

 thing from us. With their live- 

 liness of temper, they are fond of 

 gaudy dresses, and of all sorts of 

 amusements, particularly of games 

 of hazard ; tind, like most Indians, 

 fond of boasting of their own war- 

 like exploits, whether real or fic- 

 titious. In their conduct towards 

 ourselves, they were kind and 

 obliging, and though on one oc- 

 casion they seemed willing to 

 neglect us, yet we scarcely knew 

 how to blame the treatment by 

 which we suffered, wh.en we re- 

 collected how few civilized chiefs 

 would have hazarded the comfoits 

 or the subsistence of their people 

 for the sake of a few strangers. 

 Tliis manliness of character may 



cause, or it may be formed by, the 

 nature of their government, 

 which is perfectly free from any 

 restraint. Each individual is his 

 own master, and the only control 

 to which his conduct is subjected, 

 is tlie advice of a chief, suppoited 

 by his intliience over the opinions 

 of the rest of the tribe. The chief 

 himself is in fact no more than 

 the most confidential person 

 among the warrioi's, a rank nei- 

 ther distinguished by any exter- 

 nal honour, nor invested by any 

 ceremony, but gradually acquired 

 from the good wishes of his com- 

 panions, and by superior merit. 

 Such an officer Iras therefore strict- 

 ly no power ; he may recommend 

 or advise or influence, but his 

 commands have no effect on those 

 who incline to disobey, and who 

 may at any time withdraw from 

 their voluntary allegiance. His 

 shadowy authority, which cannot 

 survive the confidence which sup- 

 ports it, often decays with the 

 personal vigour of the chief, or is 

 transferred to some more fortu- 

 nate or favourite liero. 



In their domestic economy, the 

 man is equally sovereign. The 

 man is the sole proprietor of his 

 wives and daughters, and can bar- 

 ter them away, or dispose of them 

 in any manner he may think pro- 

 per. The children are seldom 

 corrected ; the boys, particularly, 

 soon become their own masters ; 

 they are never whipjied, for they 

 say that it breaks their spirit, and 

 that afcer being flogged they ne- 

 ver recover their independence of 

 mind, even when they grow to 

 manhood. A plurality of wives 

 is very common ; but these are 

 not generally sisters, as among 

 the Minnetarees and Mandans, 



but 



