HISTOIIICAL SKETCH. 9" 



]ial)its of life -were alike in many ivsjiccts and tiny iivcil liy 

 hunting and ti.sliing. 



Among learned men who have ytudied carefully the few relics 

 which have l)een ])reserve(l, and examined the meagre and un- 

 certain vocal mlaries which contain all that remains of their 

 language, there is a difference of opinion as to Avhether they 

 were a branch of the wide-spread and warlike Algonkins who 

 once occupied nearly the whole of Canada and a larg(? portion of 

 the United States, or whether they wei'e a separate and older 

 race of Red men, who had at an unknown (hite migrated to this 

 island, where for many centuries they sustained tliemselves and 

 increased in numliers. There is a certain aniounl of evidence in 

 favour of the latter view, hut no certainty <'an now be reached. 



CONUITIOX OF THE 15KOTHIKS. 



When Cabot discovered the island, in 1497, the Beothiks were 

 a numerous and powerful race, well-<level(>[)ed jihysicallv, inge- 

 nious and of (piick intelligence, gentle in tlieir manners, tracta- 

 ble, and not indisposed to friendly intercourse witli the pale 

 faces. They had lived for unknown ages luimolested. The island 

 with its abundance of Avild creatures of all kinds, its shores and 

 countless lakes swarming with fish, was to them a very i)aradise. 

 Countless herds of the finest rein(h'er wandered over the savan- 

 nas of the interior, in their anuTial migrations. The ponds were 

 abundantly stocked with bea\er ; the lordly salmon crowded the 

 rivers ; vast flocks of i)tarmigan and other game birds Avere every- 

 where met with. Wild geese and ducks in the early sj^ring 

 arrived in myriads from tlie south. Tlie Beothiks must have 

 revelled in savage abundance, Ijeing " nmnarchs of all they sur- 

 veyed." They jiractised no agriculture ; but the wild berries, in 

 their variety and luxuriant growth, su2)plied them with abun- 

 d.ance of vegetalde food. The skins and furs of the wild animals 

 gave them abundant clothing. With their spears, clubs, bows 

 and arrows, slings, and many ingenious devices for cajituriug 

 their prey, they were rarely in \A-ant of food and clothing. New- 

 foimdlaud is still a tine sporting country, l)ut what must it have 

 been in the time of the Beothiks ! 



