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Show TRAVELS THROUGH UPPER CANADA: they at once become mean, fervile, deceitful, and depraved, in every fenfc of the word. Nothing can make amends to thcfe unfortun::tte people for the introduCl:ion of fpirituous liquors amongfl: them. Before their acquaintance with them, they were difl:ingui(hecl beyond all other nations for their temperance in eating and drinking; for their temperance in eating, indeed, they arc fi:ill remarkable; they eflcem it indecorous in the highefl: Llegree even to :1.p1 car hungry; and on arriving at their villages, after having fafl:cd, pcrhnps, for feveral days preceding, they will fit d wn quietly, and not afk. for any food for a confi.derablc time; and having got wherewith to fatisfy their appetite, they will cat with moderation, as though the calls of hunger were not more preffing than if they had fca.fl:cd the hour before. They never cat on any occafion in a hurry. The Indians are by nature of a very hofpi table generous difpofition, where no particular circumfi:ances operate to the contrary; and, indeed, even when revenge would fain perfuade them to behave differently, yet having once profefied a friendfhip for a {l:ranger, and pledged themlclves for his fafety, nothing can induce them to d viatc from their word. Of their generaLity I had numberlefs proofs in the prc[ents which they gave me; and though it mufl: be allowed, that when they make prefents they generally expeCt others in return, yet I am convinced, from the manner in which they prefented different trifles to me, that it was not with an expeCl:ation of gaining more valuable prefents in return that they gave them to me, but merely through friendfhip. It is notorious, that towards one another they are liberal in the extreme, and for ever ready to fupply the deficiencies of their neighbours with any fuperfluities of their own. They have no idea of amaffing wealth for themlclves individually; and they wonder that perfons can be found in any fociety, [o deftitute of every generous fentiment, as to enrich themfel ves at the expence of others, and to live in eafe and affluence, regardlefs of the mifery and wretchednefs of members of the fame community to which they themfelves belong. Their dreifes, domefi:ic utenfils, and weapons, are the only articles of property to which they lay ' an exclu!ive claim; every thing elfc is the common property of the tribe, in promoting the general welfare in which every individual feels himfclf deeply 3 interefted. REMARKS ON THE INDIA rs. 40J int refl ·d . The chief.'> arc aCl:uated by the h1.me laudable fpirit, an ! inil. cad f b ' ing the richeft, are, in m::tny infb.nccs, the poordl: perfans in the community; for whilfl: others have lcilu re to hunt, &c. it frequently h::t )pens that the whole of their time is occupied in fettling the public afEtirs of the nation. The generality f th Indian nations appear to have two forts of chiefs; coun il chi fs, and war chiefs. The former arc hercdit ry, and arc employed principally in the management of their ivil afEtirs; but they may be war chiefs at the fame time: the latter arc chofcn from amono-(t b thofc who have difl:inguifhccl thcmfelves the mofl: in b::tttle, and are foldy employed in lc::tding the warriors in the .field. The chiefs have 110 power of enforcing obedience to their commands, nor do they ever attempt to give their orders in an imperious manner; they fimply advifc. Each private individual conceives that he is born in a fi:atc of perfeel: liberty, and he difdains all controul, but that which his own rcafon fubjetl him to. As they all have one interefi:, however, at heart, which is the general welfare of the nation, and as it is well knowa that the chiefs arc aCl:uatcd by no other motives, whatever meafurcs they recommend arc generally attended to, and at once adopted. Savages as they are, yet in no civilized community, I fear, on earth, lhall we find the C'lme public fpirit, the fame difi.ntercfl:ednefs, and the fame regard to order, where order is not enforced by the feverity of hws, as amongft the Indians. The Indians have the mofl: fovereign contempt for any fet of people that have tamely relinquin1ed their liberty; and they confider fuch as have loft it, even after a hard .fl:rugglc, as unworthy any rank in fociety above that of old women: to this caufc, and not to the difference that fub!iil:s between their perfons, is to be attributed, I conceive, the rooted averfion whirh the Indians univerfally have for negroes. You could not pofiibly affront an Indian more readily,· than by telling him that you think he bears feme refemblance to a negro; or that he has negro blood in his veins: they look upon them as animals inferior to the human fpecies, and will kill them with as much unconcern as a dog or a cat. 3 F 2 An |
