OF THE POLAR SEA. 131 



are deficient in passion for the fair sex. 

 This is by no means the case with the 

 Crees; on the contrary, their practice of 

 seducing each other's wives proves the most 

 fertile source of their quarrels. When the 

 guilty pair are detected, the woman gene- 

 rally receives a severe beating, but the hus- 

 band is, for the most part, afraid to reproach 

 the male culprit until they get drunk toge- 

 ther at the fort; then the remembrance of 

 the offence is revived, a struggle ensues, 

 and the affair is terminated by the loss of a 

 few handfuls of hair. Some husbands, how- 

 ever, feel more deeply the injury done to 

 their honour, and seek revenge even in their 

 sober moments. In such cases it is not 

 uncommon for the offended party to walk 

 with great gravity up to the other, and 

 deliberately seizing his gun, or some other 

 article of value, to break it before his face. 

 The adulterer looks on in silence, afraid to 

 make any attempt to save his property. In 

 this respect, indeed, the Indian character 

 seems to differ from the European, that an 

 Indian, instead of letting his anger increase 

 k 2 



