THE MAN OF THE FOREST. 59 



themselves nor any one else can find reason or 

 excuse. The fallacy, post hoc y ergo propter hoc> 

 is engrained upon their minds, and if we could 

 possibly get at the origin of most of their customs, 

 we should no doubt find that they originated in 

 something easily explainable. In the absence of 

 such evidence, however, we are entirely in the dark, 

 and it becomes useless to attempt anything like 

 explanations of the why and wherefore of 

 these things. Uncivilised races everywhere have 

 manners and customs for which they never 

 attempt to give reasons. Perhaps some plausible 

 explanation may be given to a stranger, but in 

 many cases it has never occurred to the people 

 themselves that a reason was necessary. 



Very little gossip is carried on at the Indian 

 settlements. Outside their own little community 

 they have no interests whatever, and therefore all 

 the conversation is connected with their personal 

 experiences. Women talk less than men, as they 

 have no hunting or fishing exploits to recount 

 This reminds us that the Indian female differs in 

 many other respects from her civilised sister than 

 in holding her tongue. She hardly ever wears 

 ornaments these belong to her husband. He 

 paints and decorates himself from head to foot, 

 while his wife has only her pretty bead apron. 



