CHAPTER XXXV. 



LONG LAKE INDIANS. 



The two years I passed in charge of the Hud- 

 son's Bay Post of Long Lake, situated on the 

 water-shed between Lake Superior and Hud- 

 son's Bay, was the happiest of any period of my 

 long service. 



The conclusion I have arrived at, after con- 

 siderable experience, is that Christianizing, in 

 no matter what form, has only made the Indian 

 worse. 



It is the verdict of all who have had to do 

 with the red man, that he copies all of the white 

 man's vices and very few, if any, of his virtues. 



Indians I found at Long Lake, in the mid- 

 dle seventies, were Pagans, but they were hon- 

 est, truthful and virtuous. 



We locked our tradeshop, not to prevent rob- 

 bery, simply to guard against the door being 

 blown open. Not one of these Indians would 

 have taken a pin without showing it to me first 

 and saying: "I am going to keep this," holding 

 up the pin. 



My predecessor had been stationed at that 



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