WHISKY AND DETERIORATION 79 



Indians are granted a great deal of licence, and the 

 close season is not enforced. In their unsophisticated 

 primitiveness they make excellent guides, their 

 knowledge of rivers and forests being invaluable. 

 Close contact with civilization does not always 

 improve them, and under indulgence they grow 

 indolent and inefficient. Their introduction to the 

 bottle by the white man has marked a stage in 

 deterioration so distinct that it is now a penal 

 offence to give them ardent spirits. Unfortunately 

 this law is ignored by many sportsmen. On one 

 river where they act as guides I heard it said that 

 the Indian will go as far as the whisky-bottle lasts. 

 Another deduction may be drawn from a saying, 

 common in regard to them, "The Indian who can 

 speak the English language is a bad guide." You 

 are frankly told that you must have ignorance or 

 inefficiency. On the occasions when I employed 

 them, I found them both interesting and efficient, 

 and in two instances they could not speak English, 

 beyond a grunt meant for "yea" and a headshake 

 for " no." 



Ellick was a case in point. His gesticulations 

 and the emphatic use he made of one or two words, 

 were eloquence in themselves, and his quickness in 

 understanding my wishes and complying with them 

 left little to be desired. 



When one remembers the habits and customs of 

 the race from which the Indian sprang, there is little 



