298 



ACCOUNT OP THE INDIANS. 



that of some of his near relations, or the life of 

 one of the same tribe, if he should happen to 

 be a stranger. 



When two or more persons disagree at play, 

 as is frequently the case, or contend on any 

 other account, the chief, or some respectable 

 and elderly man, will step in between the two 

 wranglers, and settle the dispute, generally with- 

 out their coming to blows. 



The people of every village have a certain 

 extent of country, which they consider their own, 

 and in which they may hunt and fish ; but they 

 may not transcend these bounds, without pur- 

 chasing the privilege of those who claim the 

 land. Mountains and rivers serve them as boun- 

 daries, and they are -not often broken over. 



The people of one village do not often visit 

 those of another, as there are generally misun- 

 derstandings existing between them, which are 

 occasioned by murders, and at times by the hunt- 

 ing of the people of one village, in a clandestine 

 manner, on the territories of their neighbours. 

 By one cause or another, they are kept in a per- 

 petual broil. They say however, that murders 

 do not occur so frequently among them as they 

 did before they were visited by the white people. 



The Carriers are the most ignorant people 

 among whom I have ever been. They appear to 



