2SS TRAVELS THROUGH 10W&R CANADA t 
very early age* cannot fail-, I should imaging 
to vitiate the humours* and must have a ten¬ 
dency to occasion sterility. Added to this* 
they suckle the few children they have for se¬ 
veral years; during which time* at least amongst 
many of the tribes* they avoid all connection 
with their husbands; moreover* finding great 
inconveniency attendant upon a state of preg¬ 
nancy* when they are following their husbands* 
in the hunting season* from one camp to an¬ 
other, they have been accused of making use of 
certain herbs* the specific virtues of which 
they are well acquainted.with* in order to pro¬ 
cure abortion. 
If one or more of these causes operated 
against the rapid increase of their numbers be¬ 
fore tbe arrival of Europeans on the continent* 
the subsequent introduction of spirituous li¬ 
quors amongst them* of which both men and 
women drink to the greatest excess whenever 
an opportunity offers* was sufficient in itself not 
only to retard this slow increase* but even to 
■I 
occasion a diminution of their numbers. In¬ 
termittent fevers and various other disorders* 
whether arising from an alteration in the cli¬ 
mate* owing to the clearing of the woods* or 
from the use of the poisonous beverages in¬ 
troduced amongst them by the whites* it is 
hard to say* have likewise contributed much 
of late years* to diminish their numbers. The 
