Rocky Mountains. 321 



ters, whereby the result of experience is so readily transmit- 

 ted from one person to another, so as to seem like the opera- 

 tion of some great mystic medicine. 



But they claim a superiority in natural intelligence, and 

 readily perceive that they are more active, have a greater 

 capacity for undergoing with fortitude, the many evils to 

 which they are subject in every situation, and season, such 

 as exposure to great heat and cold, hunger, thirst, and pain. 

 They appear to esteem themselves more brave, more ge- 

 nerous and hospitable to strangers than the white people ; 

 and these beneficent virtues with them, like the mental ope- 

 rations of faith, hope, and charity of the Christians, mark the 

 perfect man. 



They regard the white people, as very deficient in one of 

 these cardinal virtues. They have been told by Indians, 

 who have visted our settlements, that on entering the lodge 

 of a white man, they will be informed that he has eaten his 

 dinner, he will not, at least, set any- food before them, and 

 if they remain in the house, nothing is offered them until 

 night, and even then, probably, but a stinted portion. The 

 meanness of such demeanour they despise. 



If a white man, or any stranger, enters the habitation of 

 an Indian, he is not asked if he has dined, or if he is hungry, 

 but independently of the time of the day or night, the pot is 

 put upon the fire, and if there is but a single pound of meat 

 in the possession of the family, that pound is cooked and set 

 before him, and even if he has but just arisen from a feast, 

 he must taste of the food, or offence is given. History has 

 recorded, with high commendation, the name of a dethroned 

 Christian monarch, who shared his last loaf of bread with a 

 suppliant stranger, and surely a similar act in the Indian, 

 although it be influenced by education and custom, is entitled 

 to respect and applause. 



They look upon the traffick in the necessaries of life, such 

 as meat and maize, amongst the individuals of a nation, as 



VOL. i. 41 



