270 TRAVELS THROUGH UPPER CANABA! 
said to be. It must be understood, however, 
that I only speak now of the Indians in their 
sober state; when intoxicated with spirits, 
f* 
which is but too often the case, a very dif¬ 
ferent picture is presented to our view, and 
they appear more like devils incarnate than 
human beings; they roar, they fight, they cut 
each other, and commit every sort of outrage; 
indeed so sensible are they of their own infir¬ 
mities in this state, that when a number of 
them are about to get drunk, they give up 
their knives and tomahawks, &c. to one of the 
party, who is on honour to remain sober, and 
to prevent mischief, and who generally does 
behave according to this promise. If they hap¬ 
pen to get drunk without having taken this 
precaution, their squaws take the earliest op¬ 
portunity to deprive them of their weapons. 
The Indians prefer whiskey and rum to all 
other spirituous liquors ; but they do not seem 
eager to obtain these liquors so much for the 
pleasure of gratifying their palates as for the 
sake of intoxication. There is not one in a 
hundred that can refrain from drinking to ex¬ 
cess if he have it in his power; and the ge¬ 
nerality of them having once got a taste of 
any intoxicating liquor, will use every means 
to gain more; and to do so they at once be¬ 
come mean, servile, deceitful, and depraved, in 
every sense of the word. Nothing can make 
i 
