THE MAN OF THE FOREST. 49 



man " it must be of the greatest importance to the 

 naturalist to know something of the Indian's child- 

 hood. His mother retires to the forest and brings 

 him forth without assistance, returning home to 

 her duties as if nothing particular had happened. 

 What she feels it is impossible to say, but we may 

 presume that the instinct of maternity is very strong, 

 and overcomes everything else. Child-bearing is 

 a matter of course to her, one of the peculiar 

 duties of a woman, in which she neither requires 

 help nor would accept it if offered. Her husband 

 smiles in his quiet way when he sees the little one, 

 and calmly prepares to do what he considers his 

 duty. He must not hunt, shoot, or fell trees for 

 some time, because there is an invisible connection 

 between himself and the babe, whose spirit accom- 

 panies him in all his wanderings, and might be 

 shot, chopped, or otherwise injured unwittingly. 

 He therefores retires to his hammock, some- 

 times holding the little one, and receives the 

 congratulations of his friends, as well as the 

 advice of the elder members of the com- 

 munity. If he has occasion to travel he must 

 not go very far, as the child spirit might get 

 tired, and in passing a creek must first lay 

 across it a little bridge, or bend a leaf into the 

 shape of a canoe for his companion. His 'wife 



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