156 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 



rope. The Indians took hold of it, and seemed much 

 amused with the sport ; but the moment they were an'anged 

 in a straight line, the whites treacherously fired the cannon, 

 and killed and wounded a great number. At another time, 

 a man was chopping in the forest, and having cut a large log 

 was engaged in splitting it : the wedges were riving the 

 wood, and it had begun to open. Just then, a party of 

 Indians suddenly appeared : though they showed no hostili- 

 ty, the woodman suspected their intentions, and at length 

 asked them to help him in splitting the log. He told them 

 to put their hands into the cleft, and pull against each other. 

 As soon as they had got their fingers well in, he suddenly 

 knocked out the wedges, and the Indians were all caught, 

 like so many foxes in a trap. He then went for assistance, 

 and secured (that is, most probably, killed) them all. They 

 displayed considerable ingenuity in catching and killing 

 animals : "■ they made traps by bending down young trees, 

 which would spring, when touched, with force sufficient to 

 raise a wolf or a bear. An English horse having strayed 

 away was once caught in one of these traps, and sent sprawl- 

 ing and kicking, several feet into the air. The Indians, who 

 had seen a horse but seldom, were afraid of his ' iron feet.' 

 They shouted to him from behind their fence, ' what cheer, 

 what cheer, Mr. Englishman's horse V but getting no answer, 

 ran off and told the English they could find their horse hang- 

 ing on a birch tree." 



But the Indians are passing away; and except in the 

 extreme north of our possessions, and in the southern Ame- 

 rican States, few are to be found east of the Mississippi. 

 Westward of that river, and especially to the west of the 

 Rocky Mountains, many tribes are yet to be found in primi- 

 tive wildness. These, too, will recede before the mighty 

 power of civilization ; white men will ultimately reach to 

 the Pacific ; and where, then, will the poor Indian dwell ? 

 That it is better for the world at large, that this vast con- 



