104 THE RED MAN'S SENSE OF HONOUR. 



There can be no doubt that the degraded specimens 

 of the Indian race who hang about the settlements 

 are most of them thieves; nor can it be gainsaid that 

 the Indian in his tribal capacity mostly lives by what 

 we should call thieving ; that is to say he prides him- 

 self on his skill in plundering waggon trains, and running 

 off the horses and cattle of settlers ; but he does so in 

 his capacity of warrior, and regards the " plunder " as 

 so much contraband of war, lawfully subject to capture ; 

 in the same way that an enemy's shipping is held to 

 be a lawful prize by the navy of a civilized state. 

 Without desiring to defend these Indian forays against 

 innocent white settlers, there is still something to be 

 said in mitigation of their conduct, for it must be 

 remembered that their lands were being seized upon, 

 and their hunting grounds destroyed, by white stran- 

 gers, very often without even the semblance of com- 

 pensation. 



But when fairly treated, there is ample evidence to show 

 that Indians have a strong sense of honorable feeling, in 

 the repayment of debts, and in the fulfilment of engage- 

 ments, when they enter into them with whites whom they 

 know and regard as friends. Of this the Hudson Bay 

 Company has had ample experience, and they found 

 that when they trusted Indians with the necessary outfit 

 to carry on the business of fur-trappers they almost 

 invariable repaid the loan with strict honesty. We 

 were personally assured of this by many experienced 

 officers of the Company, who asserted that when an Indian 

 failed to perform his contract it was almost invariably 

 through misfortune, such as the loss of traps, or of 

 peltries, illness, or other unavoidable causes. 



Captain Bourke, U.S.A., makes the following ob- 



