THE INDIANS 217 
Yet I do not know that we have a right to blame a practice 
in them which they have undoubtedly learned from us. 
What do they obtain from us without payment? Nothing; 
not a shot of powder, not a ball, not a flint. But whatever 
may be said of their conduct towards the whites, no people 
can exercise the laws of hospitality with greater generosity, 
or show less selfishness toward each other, than the Nascau- 
pees. The only part of an animal a hunter retains for him- 
self is the head; every other part is given up for the com- 
mon benefit. Fish, flesh, and fowl are distributed in the 
same liberal and impartial manner; and he who contributes 
most seems as contented with his share, however small 
it may be, as if he had no share in procuring it. In fact, a 
community of goods seems almost established among them. 
The few articles they purchase from us shift from hand 
to hand, and seldom remain more than two or three days in 
the hands of the original purchasers.”’ 
The Cree, which is considered the parent language of all 
the Algic dialects, is believed to have had its early home 
and centre of development not far from its present place. 
The Iroquois also are thought to have emerged from the 
same quarter,— ‘‘somewhere north of the St. Lawrence 
and east of Hudson Bay.” The development of either 
race in such a latitude would seem to be one of numbers 
rather than of racial type or language, for the last Glacial 
period there ended only a few thousand years ago, while 
the physical type of both these peoples appears to have 
been very long established; and, as well as their accessories 
of clothing and other belongings, gives a strong impression 
of development in more moderate latitudes. 
The Algonquin group of languages, to which all the dia- 
lects of the peninsula belong, are both well developed in 
method and generally agreeable in sound. Their accept- 
