320 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



Their former conquerors now partly migrated to the south, and leaving the 

 forest region, where they had hunted the reindeer and the elk, spread over the 

 prairies of the Saskatchewan, where they now pursued the herds of bison, 

 sometimes driving them over a precipice, or chasing them on foot through the 

 snow. But in their new abodes they became engaged in constant feuds with 

 their new neighbors the Assiniboins and Blackfeet, who of course resented 

 their intrusion. 



The romance in which the manners and character of the Indians are por- 

 trayed might lead us to attribute to these people a loftiness of soul for which 

 it would be vain to look in the present day, and which without much skepticism 

 we may assert they never really possessed. Actions prompted only by the ca- 

 price of a barbarous people have been considered as the results of refined sen- 

 timent; and savage cunning, seen through the false medium of prejudice, as- 

 sumed the nobler proportions of a far-sighted policy. But though the history 

 of the wars of the Indians among themselves and with the Europeans affords 

 but few instances of heroism, it abounds in traits of revolting cruelty, and in 

 pictures of indescribable wretchedness. 



A large party of Blackfeet once made a successful foray in the territory of 

 the Crees. But meanwhile the latter surprised the camp where the aggressors 

 had left their wives and children ; and thus, when the Blackfeet returned to 

 their tents, they found desolation and death where they looked for a joyful wel- 

 come. In their despair they cast away their arms and their booty, and retired 

 to the mountains, where for three days and nights they wailed and mourned. 



A HEKD OF BISON. 



