THE ABORIGINES. 85 



•were devoid of one trait which seems most conspicuous in 

 the Anglo-Saxon, namely, the passion to accumulate. 



They had scarcely more impulse to lay up possessions 

 of any sort than a respectable squirrel has. 



Just enough food or clothing to meet the season's re- 

 quirements was provided. Fish in the summer time was 

 the principal food, and some surplus was hung up inside 

 the wigwam, where it was smoked thoroughly for the 

 winter needs. 



Wild animals were hunted in the winter, and the native 

 corn, or maize, was relied upon to eke out their narrow bill 

 of fare. Houses or barns were unnecessary, for they 

 wished to lay up nothing. Roads were not made through 

 the woods, for they had nothing stored that needed a road 

 to be hauled upon. 



The total possessions of an Indian family could be car- 

 ried upon their backs in one trip, so innocent were they of 

 the passion for owning things. 



How greatly reduced are the functions of life by the lack 

 of the desire to accumulate may be readily seen. Indeed, 

 we may dare to give a narrative of the annual order of 

 events in the Cohasset Indian life that will be fairly ex- 

 haustive of it. 



Beginning with the early months of summer, the male 

 inhabitants get their canoes launched into the water from 

 their winter covering of mats and boughs. There may be 

 a dozen or more of them at the Cove and a few of them at 

 Straits Pond, If any Indian finds that his craft has been 

 stolen by some sneak when he was dwelling in his winter 

 wigwam in the woods, or if he needs a new one because 

 the season cracks are large, or because his family is grown 

 too numerous, he goes into the woods to make him a new 

 canoe. A pine tree or an oak or a chestnut of proper size, 

 free from knots, is chosen, and with his stone axe it is 

 felled and cut to the proper length. After barking it and 

 shaping it fore and aft, the long job of hollowing it out is 



