NORTHERN OCEAN 99 



dress them ; and so uncivil were the other Indians, that they 1770. 

 would neither exchange them for others of an inferior quality ^^'^™ "' 

 already dressed, nor permit their women to dress them for us, 

 under pretence that they were always employed in the like duty 

 for themselves and families, which was by no means the case ; 

 for many of them had sufficient time to have done every little 

 service of that kind that we could have required of them. The 

 truth was, they were too well informed of my poverty to do 

 any acts of generosity, as they well knew I had it not then in 

 my power to reward them for their trouble, I never saw a set 

 of people that possessed so little humanity, or that could view 

 the distresses of their fellow-creatures with so little feeling and 

 unconcern ; for though they seem to have a great affection for 

 their wives and children, yet they will laugh at and ridicule 

 the distress of every other person who is not immediately related 

 to them. 



This behaviour of the Indians made our situation very 

 disagreeable ; for as the fall advanced, we began to feel the 

 cold very severely for want of proper clothing. We suffered 

 also greatly from the inclemency of the weather, as we had 

 no tent to shelter us. My guide was entirely exempted from 

 all those inconveniences, having procured a good warm suit 

 of clothing ; and as one of his wives had long before 

 joined our party, he was provided with a tent, and every 

 other necessary consistent [52] with their manner of living : 15th. 

 but the old fellow was so far from interesting himself in our 

 behalf, that he had, for some time before, entirely withdrawn 

 from our company ; and though he then continued to carry 

 the greatest part of our little remains of ammunition, yet 

 he did not contribute in the smallest degree towards our 

 support. As deer, however, were in great plenty, I felt little 

 or no inconvenience from his neglect in this respect. 



Provisions still continued very plentiful ; which was a 17th. 

 singular piece of good fortune, and the only circumstance 

 which at this time could contribute to our happiness or 



