274 TRAVELS THROUGH UPPER CANADA t 
as unworthy any rank in society above that of 
old women: to this cause, and not the dif¬ 
ference that subsists between their persons, is 
to be attributed, I conceive, the rooted aver¬ 
sion which the Indians universally have for 
negroes. You could not possibly affront an 
Indian more readily, than by telling him that 
you think he bears some resemblance to a ne¬ 
gro ; or that he has negro blood in his veins: 
they look upon them as animals inferior to 
the human species, and will kill them with as 
much unconcern as a dog or a cat. 
An American officer, who, during the war 
with Great Britain, had been sent to one of 
the Indian nations resident on the western 
frontier of the States, to persuade them to re¬ 
main neuter in the contest, informed me, that 
whilst he remained amongst them some agents 
arrived in their village to negotiate, if possible, 
for the release of some negro slaves whom they 
had carried off from the American settlements. 
One of these negroes, a remarkably tall hand¬ 
some fellow, had been given to an Indian wo¬ 
man of some consequence in the nation, in the 
manner in which prisoners are usually dis¬ 
posed of amongst them. Application was 
made to her for his ransom. She listened 
quietly to what was said ; resolved at (he same 
time, however, that the fellow should not have 
his liberty, she stepped aside into her cabin. 
