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Show '"'()g ~~;! TRAVELS TIJROUGI1 UPPf.R CANADA3 :fircngtb, for his fwi(tncf:· in running,. for hi~ dexterous. t~1al~ ~g.emcnt ol · th · how or t11c glln, f'0 1· )11·s Cllllllitwb tn huntll1 ''" ' fur lu. s mtt epHl and t. d 1..:1 1 · tnn ton l L.l 11 W"" t· ' or the lik.e, th )' \\ illliflen to you with the gr atdl: 1,k,llt tl·c, alld readily join in prai(cs of the lKro. TlH.: Indians appear, on the firfl: view, to be of a very ~old a.nd ph 1e g ... . t'c ciif]1ofition and you mufl: know thetn for fomc t1mc before yoll J11,1 I ' . fi . 1 can be pcrii.t:JdLd to the contr.try. I( you {hew them ~ny artt ~c1a . pr~ 4 du :lioll which plcafc them, they firu ply tell you, w1th ~cct~~~n~ mLh~fL ·rcncc, " that it is pretty ;" " th 1 t they like to loo~ at 1.t; ' that 1l " is a ckver invention:" 110r do they te!lify their f.tt1sfacl:ion and pl~afttrc by emotions fcemingly much wanner in their nature, on_ behold~ng :my new or furpr.ifing fi) ect.t cle, or on hearing any h<.tppy P'~cc of mtclligencc. The performances at the amphitheatre at Phtladelph1a, though lliHJudl:ionably highly interefli.ng t them, never drew forth fi·om them, 1 obf\.:rved, more than a !mile or a gentle laugh, followed by a rcmarl· in a low voice to their friend fitting next to them. With equal incliffcr nee do they behold any thing terrible, or lifl:cn to the accounts of any dreadful cataftrophc th t lus bcftll..;n their f1n~ilics or th ir 11~1ti on . This apathy, however, is only afil.uned, and certalllly docs no.t proceed hom a r al want o[ feeling: no people on earth arc more ahve to the call- of fricndfhip; no people have a P-rcnter afrl:Cl:ion for their offspring in their tender years; no people :1rc more fcnfiblc of an injury: a word in the ilightefl: degree infultin >· will J i11dle a flame in th eir br a.fl:s, that can only be cxtingnifh d by the blood of the offl'nc.l iug party; and they will tr.tvcrfe fore!ls for hundreds f miles, expofed to the in clemency of the fcvcre£1: weather, and to the pangs·of hunge r, to gratify their revenge; they will not ccafc f<H· year:; daily to vi lit, anJ filently to mourn over the grave of a de. parted child; and they will rifk th ei r live s, and facrificc every thing they polll:h, to affi£1: a friend in ciiltn.:fs; but at the fame time, in thLir opinion, no man can be c.fl. cmed a ~ood ,.varrior or a dignified charaCter that openly betrays any extravagant emotions of fmprifc, of joy, of forrow, or of fear, on any occaflon whatfoever. The excellence of appearing thus indifferent to what would. excite the fl:rongcfl: emotions m the minds of any other people, is forcibly inculcated on 2 them REMARKS ON TilE INDIANS. 399 hem from their ~rli 0: youth; and fuch an afl:oniiliing command do thc:y acquire over the 1fdves, th t cvcll at the fiake, when fufferina tl1e .fcvcrdl: tor tures that can be inflickd on the h.uman body by the f:lamcs and the hiifc, they appear unmov..: I, and laugh, as it is well h10W11, at their tormentors. This affected apathy on tl1e part of the Indians m:1kes them appear uncommonly grav<.: anll refnvcd in the pre fence of .fl.rangers ; in their own private cir lcs, however, they freqncntly keep up gay and fprightly conver.f..1tions ; an l th y an: pof1dl(;d, it is faid, of<! lively and ready turn of wit. When at fu h a plac as Phil· delphia, notwithlhnding their appearing fo indiil~rcn t t every thing before them whillt fl:rangcr3 an..: prefent, yet, after having retired by themfclvcs to an apartment for the night, they will frcq 1cntly fit up fvr hours together, bughinO' and talking of what they h.tvc fccn in the ourfc of the clay. I have been told by perfons acq ua in teLl with tl1ei r lan guagc, that ha vc overl1c.1rd their di fcou dl: on fuch occnfions, th :J.t their remarks arc moO: pertin nt, and that they fometim s turn what has paf1~J before them into fuch ludicrous points of view, that it is fcarc<.:ly pofiible to refrain from !aught r. But though the Indians, in general, appear fo rcfc rved in the pr fence of flran gcrR, yet the firmnC'fs of their difpofitions forbids th m fi-orn ever :appearing cmbarrJikd, and they would lit down to table i 1J a p< lac·, before the fi1 11 crowned head on the face of the earth, with as much unconcern as they would fit down to a frugal meal in one of their own cabins. They !eem it highly becoming in a warrior, to accommodate his manners to hofc of the people with whom he may h npp n to be, and as they arc wonderfully obfervant, yoll will (cldom perceive any thing of awkwardn fs or vulgarity in their behaviour in the comp~tny of firangcrs. I have fecn an Indian, that had lived in the woods from hi., infancy, enter a drawin<r room in Philadelphia, full of ladies, with as much cafc and as mu ·h gentility as if he had always lived in the city, and merely from having been told, preparatory to his entering, the form ufually obfervcd on fuch occafions. But the following anecdote will put this matter in a. fl:ronger point of view. Our |
