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Show TRAVf~LS TIIR OUGH UPPER C/\NADA: If one or more of th efe caufc operated againfl the rapid jncreafe of their numbers before th arri val of Europeans on the continent, the Cuhfcqucnt introduction of fpiritnous liquors amongfl: them, of which both men and women dri11k to the grcatefl: exccf: whenever an opportunity of1~rs, was fuflic ient in itfdf not only to retard this :flow increaft, but rvcn to o calion a diminution of tb cir nnmbers. Intcrmitt nt fevers and various other di[or crs, whether arili1 g from an altcratiotl in the climate, owing to the clearing of the wood , or fi-om the urc of the poifonous beverages introduced amongfl: them by the whites, it is lurd to ft1y, have likewifc contributed much of ]at<.: years to diminifh their numbers. The "hawnefc, one of the mofl: warlike tribes, ha be<..:n lcDt:ned nearly onl! h alf by iickncfs. Many other rcafons could be adduced for their decreafe, but it is needle£' to enumerate them. T hat their numbers have gradually 1 ·D-encd, as thofe of the whites have increafcd, for two centuries pafi, is incontrovertible; and th y arc too much attached to old l cl bits to leave any roo11 to imagine that they will vary their lwc of con duel, in any material degree, during years to come, fo that they mu 1: of coni( qu nee frill continue to dl:crcafe. In my next letter I intcud to communicate to you a few obfervations that I have made upon the charaCter, mJ.nner , cuCI:oms, and perfonal and mental qualifications, &c. of the Indians. So much has already been written on thcfe fubjcets, that I fear I {hall have litlle to offer to your perufal but what you may have read before. I am induced to think, however, that it will not be wholly unpleafing to you to hea r the obfervations of others confirmed by me, and if you Dwuld meet with any thing new in what I have to fc1y, it will have the charm of novelty at leafi: to r commend it to your notice. I am not going to g ive you aregular detail of Indian mann rs, &c.; it would be abfurd in me, who have only been with th em for a few weeks, to att mpt to do fo. If you win1 to have an account of Indian affi1irs at hrgc, you mufi read Le P. Charlevoix, Le P. Hennipin, Le Bontan, Carver, &c. &c. who have each written volumes on the fu bjeet. OBSERVATIONS ON THE INDIANS. :375 L E T T E R XXXV. A bn£:fAccount nf tl.)(• Pafons, Mannl'rs, C!Jaracll'r, .~a!iJications, mental and corporeal, of tbe llldiaw, tiztt:rfperjl!d 'lVitb 1necdotl's. M.1 ldcn. WIT AT I !hall firfr t~ke ~otice o~ in t~c pcrfons of the Indians, is the olour of th e1r ilms, wh1ch, m hct, conllitutes the 111 fl: il:ri kin o· dif1irH:l:ion bctwe n their perfons and ours. In gencr.1 their ikin is of a copper caft; but a mofi wonderful diffe rence of colour j obfer vablc atnongfl: t:hem; fomc, in who[c.; veins there is no rc.lion to think that any other than Indian blood flows, not having darker complexions than natives of the fouth of .france or of Spain, whilil: others, on the contrary, arc nearly as bl ack as negroes. M~u1y perfons, and particularly fume of the m fi rcfpeCl.able of the I• ren h miOionari s, whofc long reftdence amc,ngfl: the Indians ought to have made them competent judges of the matter, ha vc been f opinion, that their natural olour docs not vary from ours; and that the dark neG; of their complexion arifes wholly from their anointing themfc]v s fo fi-equently with unctuous fub(bnccs, and from their cxpofi ng tbemftlv s fo much to the .Gnoke of wood fires, and to the burning rays of the fun. But although it is certain that th y thin! a dark complexion very becoming; that they take great pains from their earlicfi age to acquire fuch an one; and tlut many of them do, in proce[c; of time, contrive to vary their original colour very confiderably; although it is certain likewi1e, that when firfi born their colour diftcrs but little from ours ; yet it appears evident to me, that the greater part of them arc indebted for their different hues to nature alone. I have be n induced to form this opinion from the following confidcration, nam ly; that thofc hildren which are born of parents of a dark colour are almofl: univcrfally of the f.1mc dark cafl: as thofc from whom they i})rang. Nekig, th at is, The Little Otter, an Ottaway chief of great notoriety, whofe village is on Detroit River, and with whom we have become intimately acquainted, has a complexion that differs but little from 8 tl1at |