Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1852-01-13

From Sketches of Indian and Frontier Ii!e.
Life among the Oiibuas-In their mode
OF life, they were far more rude than the lro-
quois, or even the Soutbern Algonquin tribes,
The totemic system is found among them in
its most imperfect state. The original clans
have become broken into fragments, and in
defnately multiplied; and many of the an
cent customs Of the institution are but loose
ly regarded. Agriculture is little known, and
through summer and winter, they range the
wilderness with restless wauderings, now
gorgcd to repetition and now perishing with
want. In the calm days of summer. the
Ojibwa fisherman pushes out his birch canoe
upon the great inland sea of the north and,
as he gazcs down into the pellucid depths he
seems like one balanced between earth and
sky. The watchful fish hawk circles above
his head; and below, further than his line
will reach, he-sees the trout glide shadowy
and silent over the glmmering pebbles. The
little islands on the verge of the horizon seem
now starting into spires, now melting from
the sight, now shaping themselves into a
thousand fantastic forms, with the strange
mirage of the waters and be faucies that the
pent forms On those unhallowed shores
Again, be explores the watery labyrinth
where the stream sweeps among pine tufted
| isialds, or runs, black and deep, beneath the
shadows of moss. bearded frs; or he lifts his
canoe on the sandy beach, aud, while his
camp fire crackles on the grass plat, reclines
beneath the trees, and smokes and laughs
away the sultry hours, in lazy luxury Of en-
joyment.
But when winter descends upon the north,
sealing up the fountains, the streams, and
turning the green robed forest to shiycring
n lkedness, then bearing their frail dwellings
on their back, the Ojbwa family wander forth
into the wilderness, cheered only on their
dreary track, by the whistling of the north
wind, and the hungry howl of wolves. BY
the banks Of some frozen stream, women and
dogs, lie crouched together around the fire.
They spread their benumbed fingers over the
embers, while the wind shrieks through the
fir trees like the gale through the rigging of a
frigate. and the narrow concave Of the wig
wan sparkles with the frost-work Of their
congealed breath In vain they beat the
magic drum, and call upon their guardian
manitos-the wary moose keeps aloof, the
bear lies close in his hollow tree, and famine
stares them in the face And now the hun
ter can fight no more against the nipping cold
aud binding sleet Stiff and stark, with bag
gard check and shrivelled lip he lies among
the snow drifts; till, with tooth and claw,
the iamished wild cat strives in vain to pierce
the frigid marble Of his limbs. Such harsh
schooling is thrown away on the incorrigible
mind Of the northern Algonquin He lives
in misery, as his fathers lived before him.
Still in the brief hour plenty he forgets the
season Of want; and still the seet and the
snow descend upon bis houseless head.
The Canadicn Busk Ranger.-Thc fur
trade cngendered q peculiar class of men
known by the appropriate name of bush-ran-
gers, or coarear des bois. half-civilized va
grants, whose chief vocation was conducting