OF THE POLAR SEA. 



133 



They show great fortitude in the endu- 

 rance of hunger, and the other evils incident 

 to a hunter's life ; but any unusual accident 

 dispirits them at once, and they seldom 

 venture to meet their enemies in open war- 

 fare, or to attack them even by surprise, 

 unless with the advantage of superiority of 

 numbers. Perhaps they are much deterio- 

 rated in this respect by their intercourse 

 with Europeans. Their existence at pre- 

 sent hangs upon the supplies of ammunition 

 and clothing they receive from the traders, 

 and they deeply feel their dependant situa- 

 tion. But their character has been still 

 more debased by the passion for spirituous 

 liquors, so assiduously fostered among them. 

 To obtain the noxious beverage they descend 

 to the most humiliating entreaties, and 

 assume an abjectness of behaviour which 

 does not seem natural to them, and of which 

 not a vestige is to be seen in their inter- 

 course with each other. Their character 

 has sunk among the neighbouring nations. 

 They are no longer the warriors who drove 

 before them the inhabitants of the Saskatch- 



