INDIAN LANDS, 257 
spirituous liquors, with which they were fre- 
quently provided by both native and white 
peddlers and traders, before any measures, effi- 
cient enough to check the evil, were taken 
either by themselves or by the general gov- 
ernment. But, although the latter cause still 
prevails to some degree, I have little doubt 
that the average mortality among the frontier 
tribes, at present, is less than it was before 
their removal. 
To each tribe has generally been granted a 
greater number of acres, with definite metes 
and boundaries, than had been ceded by them 
east of the Mississippi.. It is deemed unne- 
cessary, however, to swell this brief notice 
with a statement of the several amounts of 
land given to each tribe, and their localities, 
as these may be seen with sufficient accuracy 
and definiteness by consulting the map which 
accompanies this work. 
The lands of each tribe are the property of 
the Indian commonwealth; and, therefore, 
even among the most civilized of them, the 
settler has a title only in his improvement, 
which he holds by occupancy, and can sell 
at pleasure. To prevent collisions in improve- 
ments, the first occupant is entitled to a cer- 
tain distance in every direction. Among the 
Cherokees, no one can build within a quarter 
of a mile of the house or field of another: so, 
to extend their possessions, the more wealthy 
sometimes make several isolated improve- 
ments, scattered in different directions, within 
half a mile of each other. 
22* 
