Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1879-07-26

Mr.. Herbert H. Smith, writing In
the July Scribner of San Indian
Village on the Amazons," thus de-
scribes very interesting phase of
tropical life:
Child.life here is an exceedingly
curious study; the quiet little crea-
lures are so different from our romp.
ing American boys and girls. They
get few caresses and give none |;
mother.love is mechanical there is
nothing of that overflow of tender
ness, that constant watchfnl care,
that sheds such halo around our
homes. The babies vegetate in
their steady brown fashion, seldom
crying or laughing, but lying all
day in their hammock cradles, and
watching everything around them
with keen eyes. As soon as the lit.
tie boys and girls can toddle about
they are left pretty much to their
own resources, tumbling up the
back stairs OF life on a diet of man
dioca meal and fish. The parents
seldom punish their children for
they are very docile; when they do
the little ones pucker up their
mouths and look sullen, but do not
cry. Pleasure is expressed by a
smile-among the little girls very
often by broad grin with an abun-
dant show Of teeth-but an articu-
late laugh is rarity.
1t is interesting to watch how the
mental traits of the race appear
even in the young babies. If a
plaything is given them they ex-
anime it gravely for little while
and then let it drop. Observe how
different this is from a white baby's
actions. A bright little six months
old at home has four distinct meth
DDS of investigation ; first, by look.
ing; second, by touching /; then by
putting the object into its mouth !;
and finally, by banging it against
the floor. The brown menino Just
looks; he does not investigate at
all. AS the children grow older
the same trait is apparent in almost
every case. An Indian is content
to see and hear thing; without
troubling himself about they why's
and wherefores even such incom-
prehensible pursuits as fossil-col-
lecting or MISUNDERSTANDING, or
sketching, provoke hardly any curl
osity. The people look on quietly,
sometimes asking question or two
but soon dismissing the subject
from their minds as something they
are incapable of understanding.
With all the crowding to see the
lady of our party, hardly a person
asked why she came. So, too, the
babies are unambitious they do
not cry after pretty colors or stretch
out their hands to a candle. And
the men have no apparent desire to
better their lot. They 60 on just as
their fathers did, submit to the i'm
position of the whites, a little sui.
lenly, but without thought of re-
bellion, unless there is q white or
a half-breed to lead them. The
children do not care much for play
things; we rarely see one with a
rag doll the little boys delight in
bows and arrows, but they take
them as a part of their training.
Sometimes the people have dances,
In imitation OF the testG sports and
We hear them humming the waltzes
and quadrilles which their quick
ears have caught from the musi-
clans. AS an Indian will paddle
steadily all day, while his wife at
home hardly ceases her monotonous
cotton beating, so the little ones
have an inexhaustible gift of pa.
tience. Where q white child would
fret and cry, the brown one 81 is all
day, perfectly still, but watching
everything around him. To see
little Indian boy in a canoe, you
would say that nothing of him was
alive but his eyes.