The sons, observing few in better circumstances than themselves, begin to think, especially if they have been taught a little learning by a straggling Irish schoolmaster, or by a disbanded soldier, that they should not work as their fathers have done; that " scheming," or "head-work," will answer much better; and they consequently acquire, in a short time, the vices, principles, and manners of the worst of the Americans. I quite agree with Mr. Howison, when he says, " that the ne plus ultra of impudence, rascality, and villany is comprehended in the epithet Scotch Yankee." The term frolic is peculiar, I believe, to America, in the different senses in which it is there used. If a goodwife has a quantity of wool or flax to spin, she invites as many of her neighbours as the house can well accommodate; some bring their spinningwheels, others their cards. They remain all day at work; and, after drinking abundance of tea, either go home, or remain to dance for some part of the night. This is called a " spinning frolic." They are on these occasions, as well as at other frolics, joined by the young men of the settlement, and in this way many of their love-matches are made up. When a farmer or new settler wants a piece of wood cut down, he procures a few gallons of rum to drink on the occasion, and sends for his neighbours to assist him in levelling the forests. This, again, is called a " chopping frolic." Where husking Indian corn is a matter of some moment, the young men and women assemble alternately at each farmer's house, for the purpose of performing the job. On these occasions, which they call "husking frolics," they have rare frolics indeed; tumbling and kissing each other among the corn forming a prominent share of the amusement. Horse races have long been favourite amusements in British America and the United States; and, if attended with no other good, have certainly improved the breed of horses. Driving out during winter in sledges or carioles, is much indulged in; and pic-nic parties in summer and winter are frequently made by the higher classes. Ice-boats placed on two runners, or keels, are occasionally constructed; and steered by a rudder, which cuts into the ice, when required to direct the boat's head to any point. These have been contrived to sail over rivers and lakes, not only before the wind at the rate of from twenty to thirty miles an hour, but also to beat to windward. Shooting and fishing afford abundant sport in all the colonies. Hunting deer, or deer-stalking, requires the hunter to be well acquainted with the haunts of these animals. They are shot by the deer-stalkers, who bivouac in the woods, by laying " in wait" for them, or by worrying them with dogs, until the deer take to the nearest water, when the animal is shot, drowned, or killed with a bludgeon. Abundant, however, as the opportunities of fishing and shooting are, and although there are, strictly speaking, no game-laws, yet there is no country where the people care less for wild sports than in America; and it is well known that poachers, who have settled in Canada, care even less than the other settlers for similar sports to those for which in the United Kingdom they daily incurred the risk of their lives, or of transportation. CHAP. XVII. SKETCH OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.* FEW enquiries have been attended with more perplexity than the original peopling of America; nor is it likely that human research will ever solve the question. We have no historical data to guide us. Chronology and written records are confined to the world as known to us before the fifteenth century; and all opinions respecting America before that period are speculative, and end only in conjecture. The origin of the natives, and that of the wild animals found on the smallest islands in the Pacific, are equally enveloped in mysterious darkness; and we know only the fact, that there is no part of the globe which affords sustenance for man, in which beings of the human species are not found. It is a remarkable physical characteristic, peculiar to the aborigines of America, that they are, from Hudson Bay to the extremity of Patagonia, evidently the same race; the Esquimaux, who are apparently of Laplandish or of Kamtschatkan descent, forming the only remarkable exception. Under the torrid zone, and in the north-west countries of Canada, the features, forms, and com * This sketch is abstracted from voluminous materials, collected by the author in various parts of America, which he intended to arrange for publication; but more pressing engagements have compelled him, at least for the present, to abandon this object. plexions of the aborigines are nearly the same. Their colour is a shining olive, not exactly a copper colour, as is usually stated: the stature of the men is generally not under five feet nine inches, and often six feet. Their persons are symetrically proportioned, never corpulent, and their hands and feet small and finely formed. The lower part of the face is angular: the upper part rather broad; the forehead finely shaped; the eyes deep set, black, quick, and piercing; the upper part of the cheeks prominent; the nose short, sometimes a little of the Roman; the teeth remarkably white, and scarcely ever subject to decay; the hair dark, sleek, and shining, — it never curls; they have little or no beard, or hair on any part of their body, except the head. The aspect of the Indian is stern and dignified, and his look suspicious. He is taciturn, thoughtful, and distrustful in making his replies. The women are rather of low stature, naturally of delicate forms; but, being domestic drudges, become thick and somewhat coarse as they advance in years. The condition of the Indian tribes is now very different from what it was three centuries ago, when the whole western world was theirs; and when the whole race formed patriarchal families, or tribes of hunters. Columbus, in describing them to Ferdinand and Isabella, says:- "I swear to your majesties that there is not a better people in the world than these, more affectionate, affable, or mild. They love their neighbours as themselves. Their language is the sweetest, the softest, and most cheerful; for they always speak smiling; and although they go naked, let your majesties believe me, their customs are very becoming; and their king, who is served with great majesty, has such engaging manners, that it gives great pleasure to see him; and also the great retention of memory of that people, and the desire of knowledge, which excites them to ask the causes and effects of things." This description may be too highly coloured, for it does not bring into the picture their natural passions, as displayed in war, or on occasions when their spirit of revenge exhibited its terrible ferocity. Cartier, on visiting Canada, was peaceably received by the Indians. The avarice of the fur traders afterwards supplied the natives with fatal presents, brandy and fire-arms; and, until a determination was manifested on the part of the Europeans to possess the country, the Indians did not resist the inroads of those who afterwards deprived them of the territories which they held by the free gift of Heaven. Even cursory details of these matters would be too lengthy, and I must confine this sketch to a few remarks on the condition of the remnant of the Indian tribes scattered over the Canadas, and the maritime colonies of British America. They exhibit at the present day, with few exсерtions, a state of deplorable wretchedness, which claims the consideration, not only of the government, but of every reflecting man. To say that the Indians are incapable of civilisation, would be to express the most gross absurdity ever uttered. A North American Indian, except when maddened or stupified by the intoxicating liquors introduced by Europeans, is the most dignified person in the world. He is never awkward, never abashed, never ill bred - never intrusive. The grave, |