The Hawaiian gazette., 1869-01-27

BY the refuse Of their meals. Such was
the life they were obliged tc lead. and
their only anxiety was to devise the means
by which they might escape death rom
starvation.
Large game, at that season Of the year.
is very scarce. No European, nay. no
halfcasts. ever takes the large deer Of
Canada by surprise. He can be chased
with dogs only in the spring, when the
night frost, succeeding the warm day,
hardens the snow into thin, icy crust
which breaks under his weight, aud in
which he remains entangIed as in net. :
Ice and snow also afford their protect
ing mantle to the fishes, while the elder
ducks and other fowls will not return be-
fore the spring. They sent to Fort Cazle-
ton, and even to Fort Garry, for pro-
visions, and went hunting the baiialces,
with the temperature at 40 degrees below
zero, with result, however, unequal 70
their efforts. The means Of conveyance
are wanting. The snow, reduced to mi
mute dust by the cold. covers the ground
to the depth Of several feet, and carriages
and horses are perfectly useless They
resort at last to sleds drawn by dogs, but
the condition Of the unfortunate animals
is lamentable. They are the first 10 feel
the tortures of hunger; il they are not
fed, they are not able to pull, and If they
are, they soon consume all the provisions
they have been able to carry. But this is
not the only difficulty to be overcome
the way must be prepared for the sleds BY
treading down the snow. You have also
to push vigorously up the steep bills. and
to check the sled, when on descent, by
dragging your legs in the snow, and you
have also to pick up the provisions when
your sled has been overturned When
you return from a successful expeditions.
you have about as much food as when you
started: what would it have been Il you
had not met any gameG
Here we must remark that plenty Of
money, and what money can buy, has fol-
lowed our intrepid travellers in the soli-
tudes of America. They lead an Indian,
savage life in the same style as the owners
of proud castles fancy that they live a
country life. They have plenty Of blankets
and provisions they have men to shoot
for them, and women to mend their
clothes. As far as the resources Of the
country permit, they hire dogs and sleds.
and surmouut, thereby, the greatest din
Guilty in a solitude-the difficulty Of eon-
veyance. We must, therefore, judge By
what they suffered, despite oil the means
at their disposal. Of what the poor inhab-
itants Of those countries must suffer.
1t is very gratifying to read in their
book, written without any philosophical
pretensions. a favorable account Of the
character and manners Of those miserable
Indians, who have fed before the progress
of Civilization. Lord Milton and DR..
Cheade have remarked that in the dread
fol time Of famine, the men were thinner
and more attenuated than the women and
children, because the last pieces OF food
were given to the latter. In the most
bitter cold, they have seen children strip
off their blanket TO add il to that OF their
sleeping father, and resist sleep and "a
tigue, that the FIRE should not 60 ont
Never does trapper visit the snares
which he has not laid never does hunter
take the game which another has wounded
During the six months that they spent in
the log house, with no other protection
than public iaitn, no Their was committed.
They relate the instance Of an Indian
stopping in the house during their absence
a piece Of meat was on the table, and the
Indian had not eaten for three days. yet
he did not touch il. The Indians. it ap-
pears, entertain kind Of scornfui opinion
Of the Europeans. who. with legs Of the
same length as their own, make strides BY
one third shorter, and who, instead Of go
ing in a straight line in the dark. turn
round, because they incline little to the
left.
The Indian does not get intoxicated on
account Of an excessive love Of liquor, bat
to obtain a momentary foFgctfulness Of
his misery. The taste or quality Of the
drink is of no consequences with him7 be
only wants it TO contain enough q aleo-
hoI to make 1t burn, ike punch, and they
call II, for this reason. water Of 6re Il IS
difficult to indorse DR.. Cheadles opinsor.
when be assures as that the Indians owe
their powers Of endurance and patience %
the fact that, while infants, they are len
By their mothers. day after day, suspended
to a tree in q kind Of cradle made Of
branches and moss We are alp inclined
10 believe that during their winter season
in the Belle Prairie, Lord Milton and DR..
CheadIe did not come in contact with real
savages, but with Indians subject % TIE
Hudson Bag Company, tanned a1d trans
formed by perseVering policy. 0nce. i