THE MAN OF THE FOREST. 65 



evening. There may be some arrangement 

 between the parents, but very often this is dis- 

 pensed with altogether, and the union is hardly 

 noticed. 



Having followed the Indian child to manhood, 

 we can now leave him. He has attained the 

 position for which he has been striving, and can 

 now go on with the two duties which every living 

 thing has to perform, first, to struggle for food, 

 and, second, to see that his line does not become 

 extinct. During the last century his old environ- 

 ment has been somewhat changed, so that pro- 

 gressive development is almost arrested. A great 

 factor in evolution, war, has come to an end, and 

 although he still has to hunt and fish, he no longer 

 fights with his fellow man. This condition, which, 

 at first sight, might be looked upon with com- 

 placency, is evidently unnatural, and its results are 

 shown in deterioration and gradual extermination 

 of the race. The Indian cannot hold his own in 

 presence of the white man, but retires into the 

 forest, where, having no incentive to do more than 

 work for his daily food, he dies out. Man, like other 

 animals and even plants, has to fight in some way 

 or other, it may be with the elements or it may be 

 with his fellows, and he who has had the most diffi- 

 culties is the strongest and fittest to survive. If 



5 



