Moruca. 321 
accounts for all ; the girls, [ imagine, are oppressed with the idea that 
they are supposed to be a somewhat inferior being, rather meant to 
labour and take a very second place in life, for such they see is the case 
with their mothers and the Indian women generally. In my opinion, 
sp aking generally, the women are superior to the men, more unselfish, of 
more generous disposition, more dutiful. 
Just as they shrink from anything requiring labour, especially hard 
labour, so too does the Indian child shrink with extraordinary sensitive- 
ness from pain. In fact they are most cowardly in this matter and will 
ery out long before they are hurt, the boys being as bad as the girls or 
rather worse. Perhaps as a consequence of this they are not truthful, 
for it requires courage to be truthful; of course, they are timid and if 
they are startled or frightened all the horses in the world cannot drag 
a word from their lips; they will stand before you like statues. I do 
not think they possess much affection or devotedness ; at any rate they do 
not show the presence of these. In fact their little hearts seem to be as 
empty as their little heads. I speak of their affection for strangers, for 
they seem kind enough towards one another, especially kind to the little 
ones who are usually rather spoilt; on the other hand, a death in the 
family seems to cause little sorrow and seems to be forgotten soon ; I say 
seems, for these people are so self-contained that the seeming cold exterior 
may all the time cloak a deeply sorrowing heart. Once they get to know 
you they readily come to chatter or play with you, and, there is no doubt, 
they are amusing little creatures. Little they are, wonderfully small. I 
imagine their poor feeding has something to do with it. I have often 
found them going through the day with just their morning meal and that 
consisted probably of a piece of cassava, none too large, and a cup of 
water. Still they are so wonderfully bright and cheery under it all. If 
you give them anything they are delighted ; if you lo not they are not 
less content and they go off and play none the less cheerily. They are 
used to short rations ; they hardly mind it. None the less do they suffer 
from it and easily succumb to fever, and, most naturally, find any kind 
of labour hard. So used are they to little, not rarely to nothing, when 
they do get a ‘‘ feed ” it is amusing to see how little satisfies them ; their 
stomachs are so accustomed to little they cannot take much but the little 
they can take is too little for healthy bodily growth and even for 
strenethening the little bodies they have, with the result, as I have said, 
they soon succumb to sickness. A most pleasing trait in our little Indian 
children is their unselfishness when they get anything, whatever this be. 
They may eat a little there and then after leaving you but they certainly 
will not eat all ; often they will eat nothing till the food has been shared 
with their brothers and sisters or friends and they will carry it all the way 
home if these are not with them. Consideeing they are not rarely in want 
and that dainties are few and far between in their lives, this characteristic 
is remarkable. This has been a rather long digression, for we were 
just approaching the second Indian habitation on our ramble through the 
bush and from certain signs were led to suspect the inmates were none 
