156 
THE CANADIAN NATUHALIST. 
rope. The Indians took hold of it^ and seemed much 
amused with the sport ; but the moment they were arranged 
in a straight line, the whites treacherously fired the cannon^ 
and killed and wounded a great number. At another time^, 
a man was chopping in the forest, and having cut a large log 
was engaged in splitting it : the wedges were riving the 
v/ood;, and it had begun to open. Just then, a party of 
Indians suddenly appeared : though they showed no hostili- 
ty, the woodman suspected their intentions, and at length 
asked them to help him in splitting the log. He told them 
to put their hands into the cleft, and pull against each other. 
As soon as they had got their fingers well in, he suddenly 
knocked out the wedges, and the Indians were all caught, 
like so many foxes in a trap. He then went for assistance, 
and secured (that is, most probably, killed) them all. They 
displayed considerable ingenuity in catching and killing 
animals : ^' they made traps by bending down young trees, 
which w^ould spring, when touched, with force sufficient to 
raise a wolf or a bear. An English horse having strayed 
away was once caught in one of these traps, and sent sprawl- 
ing and kicking, several feet into the air. The Indians, who 
had seen a horse but seldom, were afraid of his ^ iron feet.' 
They shouted to him from behind their fence, ^ what cheer, 
what cheer, Mr. Englishman's horse V but getting no answer, 
ran off and told the English they could find their horse hang- 
ing on a birch tree." 
But the Indians are passing away ; and except in the 
extreme north of our possessions, and in the southern Ame- 
rican States, few are to be found east of the Mississippi. 
Westward of that river, and especially to the west of the 
Rocky Mountains, many tribes are yet to be found in primi- 
tive wildness. These, too, will recede before the mighty 
power of civilization ; white men will ultimately reach to 
the Pacific ; and where, then, will the poor Indian dwell ? 
That it is better for the world at large, that this vast con- 
