254 HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



They are sound in their morals, good-natured, upright, modest, and polite 

 to every one deserving such treatment ; courteous towards each other, 

 without flattery ; and generally, also, circumspect and sedate, composed 

 and grave. An injury to their honor is followed by certain vengeance ; on 

 the other hand, fidelity and good faith are innate with them, and their pro- 

 mises are constantly and invariably kept, if performance is possible. 



In spite of the above mentioned good qualities, not proper, however, to 

 all the tribes, these unfortunates find themselves driven more and more 

 towards the west, and despoiled of their property by white settlers. Hence 

 it is not surprising that they should appear stern and gloomy in the pre- 

 sence of strangers. Among themselves, they are frequently cheerful, and 

 even frolicsome. They are witty also, and by their satirical and inge 

 nious remarks not unfrequently fixcite laughter, without giving offence, 

 however, by their observations. Their patience, long sufferance, and 

 tranquillity are great, and they will bear the most frightful tortures with 

 courage. They possess remarkable control over their passions ; those, 

 however, who have become acquainted with the white man's manners, 

 easily give themselves up to drinking, as spirituous liquors are used, partly 

 that the bodily vigor may be roused by this means, and partly that a 

 temporary oblivion of their wrongs, and of their decayed condition, may 

 thus be brought about. 



The Indians display great love and care for their children. "Wives 

 (squaws), however, are the slaves of their husbands, obliged to perform the 

 hardest and most difficult work, and but seldom receiving thanks for whai 

 they have done. The husband is occupied the entire year in hunting ; 

 whilst the labor of the field, which is left to the women, at most continues 

 but six weeks in a season. The principal duties of the squaws, besides 

 tilling the fields and taking care of the crops, are, to crush the corn, in 

 order to make of it a kind of porridge, or to bake a species of bread of the 

 meal in hot ashes. When they travel with their husbands, and the party 

 possess no horses, they serve as beasts of burden, being obliged to carry 

 the necessary baggage upon their backs. In the beginning of March, the 

 whole family set out for the places where maple sugar is boiled. The 

 women also cook the meat or dry it in the air, lay up the tallow, prepare 

 the skins, and make cords, &c., from the wild hemp gathered by themselves. 

 On the other hand, the men follow the troublesome occupation of hunting, 

 which is often attended with the greatest dangers and fatigues. Any 

 portion of their prey not needed by themselves is bartered or sold. 



Some of the dwellings of the Indians resemble the worst houses of civil- 

 ized countries ; others are similar to tents ; others again being round, and 

 according to the climate, either open, or furnished with a roof, or closed in 

 with loam, poles, or bark of trees. The houses have roofs projecting some 

 distance over the entrance, so that the occupants may sit in the shade. In 

 the establishment of a village no regard is had to regularity. A village 

 containing twenty houses is considered a large Indian town. According 

 to the necessities of the families, interiors of houses are divided into a 

 greater or less number of rooms or chambers. Tribes leading a wandering 

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