209 



b)' association with tlie wliites A very common eruptive disorder attacking 

 tlic tlu'oat, and eommonh' supposed to be from syphilis, has been recognized 

 b}' Dr. C. M. Hitolicock, lute surgeon United States Ai-mj^, as the "yaws", 

 very conmion in the West Indies, and known among the Cherokees and 

 others of the AtUmtic States. Sore eyes and blindness occur, as also par- 

 alysis. Diarrlioca is a common and often fatal disorder, particularly among 



children. 



DOMESTIC MANNERS. 



The head of the family and his principal wife occupy the first place 

 near the tire, and it is an impoliteness to pass before them. They are also 

 first served at meals. Where a man has several wives, each has her own 

 fire in the lodge, and takes care of her own children. The one with wdiom 

 the husband sleeps for the time being, though in the same house with the 

 others, provides the articles of food, which it belongs to the women to fur- 

 nish, and cooks them herself The man's business is to do the hunting 

 (of which, however, west of the Cascades, there is but little, game not being 

 abundant enough to form an item in the general economy), to catch the fish, 

 make canoes, split the planks of the lodges, and put them up or remove 

 them, lasso the horses, and in fine to attend to such things as are deemed 

 manly occupations among savage nations. That of the women is to gather 

 roots and prepare them for winter and cure the fish ; on the salt-water, to 

 dig and dry clams, load and assist in paddling the canoes; and, on the 

 prairie, to pack and unpack the horses, make the camp, cultivate the potato- 

 patch, and generally everywhere to do the drudgery. 



There does not seem to be any particular government of children, nor 

 any difficulty growing out of their origin in different mothers. Children 

 continue to suckle often three or four years, a practice which probably has 

 its effect in lessening the fecundity of the women. 



Common conversation in the lodge is, as might be supposed, on trivial 

 subjects, relating to their own concerns, dogs, horses, &c , the little occur- 

 rences of the da)^, what each has been doing, every ti-ifle being thus known 

 to all. The future is rarely a subject of attention. They are, on the other 

 hand, fond of reciting their former actions, or speaking of persons deceased, 



relating what each knows of them, as one civilized Avould discuss the char- 

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