128 LAKE SUPERIOR. 



ments'to the original lords of the soil, goes under the name of a 

 present, as if dependent on the mere good-will and pleasure of the 

 tenants. 



The Indians had been collected here a week or two before, it was 

 said, to the number of three or four thousand ; we saw the traces of 

 their encampment on the beach. In general it is only those living in 

 the neighborhood that come, since to journey hither from the more 

 distant villages would cost more than the " present" would come 

 to. 



On one occasion, the Captain saw a general collection of the tribe 

 from all quarters, as far as the Red River settlement on the one 

 hand, and Hudson's Bay on the other. There were in all about five 

 thousand six hundred persons, men, women, and children. As usual 

 they carried little or no food with them, and such a multitude soon 

 exhausted the fish and game of the neighborhood. Terrible want 

 ensued, and as the English authorities for some time refused any 

 assistance, many were near starvation. Some families, to his knowl- 

 edge, went three days without food ; others lived on small bits of 

 maple sugar, which were divided with scrupulous accuracy. At last 

 the officer in charge ordered some Indian corn and " grease" to be 

 served out to them. The Captain was standing with the officers when 

 this order was executed, and understood (though they did not,) the 

 speech the chief made to his men on the occasion. " When strangers 

 come to visit ms," said he, " we look round for the best we have, to 

 offer to them. But we must take this, or starve." 



If it be said that the strict law of nations is not applicable to deal- 

 ings with savages, any more than the municipal law to the manage- 

 ment of children, — at least they should have the benefit of the 

 principle. If we claim to stand in loco parentis with regard to them, 

 we should show some parental solicitude for their welfare. But the 

 poor savages fall between the two stools, and get neither law, equity, 

 nor loving kindness at our hands. It is difficult to see, for instance, 

 why the annual stipend should not be paid to the Indians at places 

 in a measure convenient for them to receive it, say at La Pointe, on 

 the American side, and Fort William, the Red River settlement, and 

 the like on the Canadian, instead of practically cheating them out of 

 it in this way. 



