190 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



The beardless couPitenance of the Indian then^ 

 is not to be ranked anion,^ tlie curious and ex- 

 traordinary phenomena of nature, but is to be 

 placed among the customs peculiar to the In- 

 dian tribes. 



Drunkenness. Drunkenness is one of 

 those vices, which prevail among a rude and 

 unculti>^ated people. The savages of North 

 America, are universally addicted to it. Before 

 they were acquainted witli the Europeans, they 

 had discovered a composition, or liquor, of an 

 inebriating nature, made out of maize or Indian 

 corn. But the difficulty of procuring a large 

 quantity of this liquor, pre^xnted any general 

 intemperance, or excess. 



No sooner ha.d they tasted of the spirituous li- 

 quors brought by the Europeans, than they 

 contracted a nexu appetite^ Vvhich they were 

 v/holly unable to govern. The Europeans found 

 it the most lucrative branch of the Indian trade, 

 to gratify this inclination. With an avidity of 

 desire altoid-ether uncontroulable, the Indians 

 fell into the snare. The first object of inquiry 

 with them, was, v/hether the trader had brought 

 any brandy or rum ; and no considerations 

 could restrain them in tlie use of it. The old 

 and the young, the sachem, the warrior, and 

 the women, whenever they can obtain strong 

 liquors, indulge themselves w^ithout moderation, 

 and without decency, until universal drunken- 

 ness takes place. All the tribes whether placed 

 in a temperate, or in a severe climate, appear to 

 be under the dominion, and unable to govern 

 this appetite. An effect so universal and similar,- 

 must have as general 5^ universal a cause. The cause 



