<Jh. iv. among the American Indians. 57 



o 



of ants, worms, lizards, serpents, and a kind of 

 unctuous earth; and, I am persuaded, he says, 

 that if in this country there were any stones, 

 they would swallow them. They preserve the 

 bones of fishes and serpents, which they grind 

 into powder, and eat. The only season when 

 they do not suffer much from famine, is when a 

 certain fruit like the opuntia, or prickly-pear, is 

 ripe ; but they are sometimes obliged to travel 

 far from their usual place of residence, in order 

 to find it. In another place, he observes that 

 they are frequently reduced to pass two or three 

 days without food.* 



Ellis, in his Voyage to Hudson's Bay, feelingly 

 describes the sufferings of the Indians in that 

 neighbourhood from extreme want. Having men- 

 tioned the severity of the climate, he says, "Great 

 " as these hardships are which result from the 

 " rigour of the cold, yet it may justly be affirmed 

 " that they are much inferior to those which they 

 " feel from the scarcity of provisions, and the 

 " difficulty they are under of procuring them. A 

 " story which is related at the factories, and 

 " known to be true, will sufficiently prove this, 

 " and give the compassionate reader a just idea 

 '■*. of the miseries to which these unhappy people 

 " are exposed." He then gives an account of a 

 poor Indian and his wife, who, on the failure of 

 game, having eaten up all the skins which they 



* Robertson, note 28 to p. 1 1 7, b. iv. 



