Native American, or Indian Dogs. 27 



are accused of great seventy or cruelty in the treat- 

 ment of their dogs. Mr. Lawson says, the savages 

 are the " worst dog-masters in the world, so that it 

 is an infallible cure for sore-eyes, ever to see an In- 

 dian's dog fat*." I have already made mention of this 

 respectable traveller's notion of the process by which 

 he supposed wolves are turned into dogsf. The 

 faithful Father Charlevoix says, the Indians feed their 

 dogs " but poorly, and never fondle them J." Car- 

 ver, who so frequently borrows from Charlevoix, says 

 nearly the same thingl!. It is even said, that, owing 

 to their scanty allowance of food, the Indian dogs are 

 often so weak, that they are obliged to lean against a 

 tree, or some other prop, whilst they bark. 



It is well known, how much ingenuity, eloquence, 

 and science have, within the last fifty years, been em- 

 ployed to represent the Americans as the degenerated, 

 or imperfectly organized, children of the earth. To 

 complete the large volume of calumny against these 

 poor people, even the manner in which they treat 

 their dogs is not suffered to pass unnoticed by the 

 historians of the new world. " Prior to their inter- 

 course with the people of Europe," says the eloquent 

 Dr. Robertson, " the North- Americans had somen 



* A New Voyage, &c. p. 38. 



t See page 15. 



\ A Voyage to North-America, Sec. Vol. i. p. 79. 



|| Travels, Sec. p. 416. 



If They had many tame dogs. The liberality with which the 

 Indians supplied Soto's men, and the facility with which the men 

 supplied themselves, with dogs, leave us no room to doubt, that 

 tame dogs abounded in Florida. 



