presence of their parents and aged people, modesty, not to interrupt conversation, and so on; hence Indians are naturally a polite people. There is really, however, on the other hand, little or no family discipline, and the children, being untaught by their parents in the way they should go, decidedly do not depart from their own devices; they are self-willed and disobedient. Yet for old age their reverence is great. None are more looked up to than the uhkewaihzees, or long-dwellers on the earth. Their counsels are listened to; they are the instructors into powwowism (or oratory), in medicine and tradition-in a word, they are the teachers and sages. No doubt we have all heard tales of the old having been abandoned by their family and tribe, but these cases are exceedingly rare. The old people will, however, often expose themselves when they get old and useless, preferring to die rather than be a burden on their friends.

Cannibalism, even in the direst necessity, is looked upon by them with the utmost abhorrence. Yet some, in accordance with a custom which we have already seen is not uncommon among savages, and even among civilised people like the Chinese (p. 124), will boil their enemies' hearts in a kettle with corn, and, in bravado, drink ladlefuls of the soup. This is called "drinking the heart's blood of the enemy." The cannibal-when such is knowneven though he may have been driven to it by dire hunger, is a Cain in the land, hunted down mercilessly until the tomahawk-blow puts an end to him.

Women are badly treated, having to do all the work; they get all the kicks, and few of the pleasures of savage life. The coarsest food, the harshest words, and blows on the slightest provocation, fall to her lot. In a word, she is treated as all savage women are—as an inferior being. Yet the wife is expected to love, honour, and obey her lord, and, strange to say, in most cases she does so, after her own slavish, unsentimental fashion. "Fire-water" is, however, undermining in them, as in every other Indian people, every small virtue which they possessed, and women have been known to sell their children for whisky, though, as a rule, they are very fond of them, and spare the rod to an extent which, if I might express an opinion on such a delicate question of aboriginal domestic affairs, is decidedly detrimental to the young Ojebways' morals. The women, I may add, are infinitely more industrious than the men, being generally busily employed in fetching meat from the woods, dressing skins, planting corn, making clothing, belts, mocassins, mats, canoes of birch bark (their only mode of travel, with the exception of dog-sledges during the winter, and their own feet), maple sugar, baskets, brooms, &c. They are shy before strangers, but have the womanly fondness for trinkets developed to an inordinate extent. The average height of the men is about. five feet ten inches, and that of the women five feet. They are well formed; yet the women, owing to their more laborious life, are more muscular and well-knit together than the men, and, on the whole, are rather better looking. The men, however, excel in running and walking, forty or fifty miles a day being thought nothing of by an Indian.† The head of the woman is also larger than that of the man; it is round, and rather broad at the top; the cheek-bones are high, and, as among all the race, the eyes and hair are black. Among the

* The word squaw, universally used all over America to an Indian woman, is a corruption of the Ojebway word equa, woman, and is looked upon by them as a term of reproach.

+ Indians have been known to walk from Niagara to Toronto, a distance of eighty miles, in one day, and that, too, when there was only a narrow trail.

Ojebways, as amongst the north-eastern Indians generally, "Roman" noses are not uncommon. The mouth and lips are large, and the teeth good. They have little or no beard, having been in the habit from time immemorial of plucking out what little makes its appearance; the result is that the appearance first produced artificially has now become hereditary. A bearded man is not looked upon as an Adonis in an Eastern tribe. Their skin is reddish-brown, and generally particularly dirty. The occupation of all the nation is hunting in the woods and fishing in the rivers and lakes; to these occupations the boys are early trained by their fathers. Any little leisure they may have is occupied in inculcating a love of war, by a relation of the exploits of their forefathers. They are also early taught

the mysteries of religion, religious songs, mysteries, and dances, the virtues of fasting, as well as the proprieties to be observed in feasting.

"They have no set time for eating, but leave it to the duration of their craving appetites. During the absence of a hunter, the portion of meat which he would have eaten is carefully saved for his return, and on it he makes a hearty repast. When he is successful he will make a feast and sing his hunting chants to his munedoo for a whole night, and by dawn of day he will be off again. If on this day, by uncommon perseverance, he has the good luck to kill a deer or a bear, it is attributed to the virtue of the songs or medicine employed for the occasion. The Indians who live within the boundary of the English settlements depend, in a great measure, for their livelihood on making baskets, brooms, wooden bowls, ladles, and scoop-shovels, which they sell to the white people in exchange for provisions."

Some of the old men still have the hair of their heads closely cut or plucked by the roots, with the exception of the "scalp lock" on the top. To this tuft is often fastened a silver or leaden tube three to four inches in length. Many of the older men also adopt the fashion of clitting their ears from top to bottom, at the same time fastening weights of lead, wampum, and other trinkets, so as to cause them to hang down in loops. In a few years these strings of ear stretch on to the shoulders, which appearance is accounted very venerable. But they rarely enjoy such dignity long, for in the first drunken brawl the loop is usually broken. They also wear shells and other "jewels," through the septum of their nostrils.

Marriages among the Ojebways are usually arranged by the parents in childhood, without the

consent or even knowledge of the young people, who are frequently betrothed before they have even seen each other. If the young man has not been provided for in this way, then he sends a friend with some present to the lady whom he fancies. If the present is accepted, then it is understood that his offer is favourably received, and after a courtship of two or three months (during which time the affianced is expected to conduct herself with the utmost modesty-even to prudishness), the husband takes her off on a hunting trip for a few days, during which time she steers the canoe. On their return the product of the chase is laid at the feet of the bride's parents, with whom the young couple reside for a time, her parents considering that they have a claim on their industry until they have a family of their own. Notwithstanding the drudgery and often ill-usage to which the wife is subjected, husband and wife seem to be very true to each other, and "get along" tolerably smoothly-the little episode of an occasional beating being excepted. If for some heinous marital offence-such as infidelity or intolerable laziness

-divorce is necessary, this is accomplished by the husband biting off the woman's nose! The children are then equally divided, and if there is an odd number the wife gets the benefit of the odd one.

Polygamy is permitted, but few have more than three wives. They generally endeavour to marry sisters, under the belief that they will live more peaceably together-a theory not always confirmed in practice.

As to religion, they all believe in one great spirit and many minor ones, or munedoos,* good and bad, who have charge of game, fish, winds, stones, and trees. To these they pray, and even offer sacrifice. This munedoo may be a pine-tree, and to it food and other articles are equally offered. An Indian on going on a canoe voyage will kill a black dog and throw it into the lake as a sacrifice to propititiate the storm or water gods, of which latter especially there are many. Sun, moon, and stars are also worshipped. On the north-east shore of Lake Huron is an island on which is a large and curiously-shaped rock, something like a large turtle, to which the Indians offer devotions and sacrifices, such as tobacco, &c., in order to propitiate and save them from disasters whilst travelling in the direction the god is supposed to overlook. The praises of the sun are chanted by the old chiefs and warriors as the sun rises, and at his setting he is thanked for the heat and light he has afforded during the day. An eclipse is the "death of the sun," and great anxiety is felt for his safety. Bits of live coal are fixed to the points of arrows, which are shot up into the air, so that the dying sun may be relighted. The children are enjoined never to point their finger at the moon, else it will be bit off. Certain animals, such as the wolf, toad, fox, and all venomous snakes, are supposed to possess supernatural powers, and places distinguished for natural scenery, waterfalls, or other peculiarities, are held in awe, and the munedoos who preside over these lonely places are propitiated by the awe-stricken traveller with tobacco or other offerings. The Falls of Niagara, before the white man frequented them, was such a sacred place, to which the Indians used to resort to offer gifts. Thunder is a god in the shape of a large eagle which feeds on serpents, which it takes from under the earth and the trunks of hollow trees. Lightning is the fiery arrows which the thunder has shot at a serpent and caught it away in a second. The thunder, they say, has its abode on the top of a high mountain in the west, and there it lays its eggs and hatches them like an eagle, and from whence it takes its flight all over the earth in search of serpents. The reader will remember that almost exactly the same idea is held on the same subject by the Indians of the northwest coast (p. 147). They are also said to make figures of their gods, to which they sometimes offer up sacrifice, but I cannot get any exact information on this subject. They believe, like the western Indians, greatly in the virtues of the medicine-bag (p. 125), and how it has made chiefs and warriors invulnerable in war. The Indian is essentially a religious man, but, like some people with paler faces, knows a great deal more than he ever attempts to practise. They place great store by feasts and sacrifices, and to these many guests are bid by a young man going to a lodge with a number of porcupine quills, which he distributes to those invited, with the general announcement, "You are bidden to a feast." These quills are of three colours, red for the aged, or medicine-men, green for the middle class, and white for the common people. They are delivered up on arriving at the festive lodge, and the guests are served in accordance

Generally written manitou.

with the rank expressed by the colour of the quill. They have no regular priests, the duties of this class being performed by the pow-wows, conjurors and gifted speakers-offices to which any ambitious Indian of good abilities can attain.

In burial the body is interred in the ground with the head towards the west, and alongside the corpse are placed his former hunting and warlike implements. The grave is covered over with a sort of penthouse of wicker-work, mats, or birch bark. Meat, soup, and other food is then offered to the dead, some being reserved for a burnt offering. The widow will jump over the grave and run behind trees, so as to avoid the spirit of her husband, who otherwise might "haunt" her. A hole is left in the end of the penthouse or wigwam over the grave through which, after dark, on the night of the burial, the men fire their muskets. Strips of folded birch bark are hung round the grave to scare off "the spirits that haunt the night;" and as a further precaution against "ghosts" the children's faces and necks are brushed with a singed deer's tail before they go to sleep. As the soul is believed to linger about the body after death, these means are also supposed to expedite its departure. Mourning is publicly denoted by blackened faces and the most ragged and filthy clothes, which they wear for a whole year. After this time the widow or widower may again marry without insulting the memory of the deceased or his or her relatives, which otherwise they undoubtedly would. During the whole of this period of mourning, at every meal a little food is offered to the dead, and the grave is often visited, when food and other articles-and particularly tobacco-are also offered. Mr. Jones informs us that it is always the custom for a widow to tie up a bundle of clothes in the form of an infant, frequently ornamented with silver brooches. This she will sleep with and carry about for twelve months, as a memorial of her departed husband. When the days of her mourning are over a feast is prepared by some of her relatives, at which she appears in her best attire. As her body has been washed for the first time for twelve months she presents an unwontedly smart appearance.

Their future place of bliss does not differ materially from that believed in by the other Indian tribes. Between this world and the next flows a deep, dark, Stygian river, over which the souls of men must pass on a pole. Good men have no trouble in this passage, but the wicked fall over and are carried by the swift current into the region of darkness. The northern Chippeways, on the other hand, have a modification of this belief. The souls of men are ferried down the dark river which divides this world from the one beyond the grave, in a stone canoe, which bears them to a lovely lake, in the midst of which is an isle of transcendent bliss, and here, in sight of it, they receive their final judgment. If their good actions predominate, they land on the island, there to enjoy a never-ending bliss of sensuous enjoyments; but if the balance is borne down by their evil deeds, then, instanter, the stone canoe sinks, and leaves them up to their chins in water, to behold, with unavailing longing and struggling to reach it, the blissful land from which they are for ever excluded. Cold is what these northern people have ever to dread, and hence, it is made a means of eternal punishment. In the warm sweltering South, heat, on the contrary, is what is to be dreaded, and it accordingly figures as the torment of the wicked. They are very liberal in their ideas of immortality, granting it also to all animals, the spirits of which have the power of punishing any one who despises or makes any unnecessary slaughter of them. Green trees are seldom cut down, under the belief that they feel pain; there are men who even declare that the tree has been heard groaning under the blows of the axe. Some of the Lake Superior