THE EED RIVER EXPEDITION. 231 



timber, lakes, rivers, and rocks, and to be iinin- 

 habited except by wandering tribes of Indians. The 

 waters, it was said, abounded in fish, but the woods 

 were almost destitute of game. 



The Indians are the Chippewahs, a tribe that 

 occupies the islands in Lakes Huron and Superior, 

 and is scattered along their shores. They are essen- 

 tially wood Indians, and venture but seldom on to 

 the plains, being in mortal dread of their hereditary 

 enemies the Sioux the most warlike tribe now in 

 Xorth America, As long as the rivers are free of 

 ice these Chippewahs almost live in their canoes, 

 roving about in the localities where fish is most 

 plentiful. Their canoes are small, and so light that 

 a woman can easily carry one over the longest por- 

 tage. On the shores of the great lakes, where these 

 Indians have long been in contact with the white 

 man, many of them are Christians ; but those in the 

 interior are still heathens, and will not submit to hav- 

 ing missionaries settled amongst them. In summer 

 they get blueberries, but their chief article of food is 

 fish, although, here and there on fertile spots, they 

 grow a few potatoes and a little Indian corn. They 

 are an extremely dirty race : the men are very lazy, 

 and cannot be depended upon to continue at any 

 work they may be employed upon, although they 

 are said to be truthful and honest. They are poly- 

 gamists, and the morality of their women is not of a 

 high order. They are very improvident, and cannot 



