CHAPTER XXII.

The character of Indians variously represented. The Hurons. The natives corrupted. Their appearance. Complexion. Seat of color. Variety on the eastern continent. Uniformity on the western. Influence of climate. The Indian temper not equable. Merry. Grave. Taciturn. Irritable. Idle. Women laborious. Dirty. Finery of men. Dress. Varnish. Modern dress. Ornaments. Military dress. Love of distinction natural and useful.

THE character of the Indians has been very differently represented. Some have painted them as the most wild and abhorrent monsters in nature, and almost unworthy of being admitted to the rank of human beings. Such are inclined to consider the minds of the whole race as being incapable of much culture, their hearts insensible of the finer emotions, and their state not susceptible of any great melioration.

Others have formed opinions highly honorary to them. Columbus himself, who knew them in a state uncorrupted by intercourse with Europeans, speaks of them as an amiable race of men, and of their customs as being very becoming. Charlevoix, father of Henepin and other French writers, M. Buffon excepted, give us the most favorable accounts of them. Voltai:e draws a captivating picture of Indian manners, of which the Hurons, on the eastern side of the great lake of the same name, are the originals. There is a great diversity of character among this people. No one can read the history of the ancient Peruvians, without having his mind struck with a thonsand amiable traits. Nor shall we often find among any people manners more simple, or affections more friendly. But the whole race does not now appear as it once did. Intercourse with the white people, many of whom were monsters in human shape, has served to corrupt them, and has increased every malignant passion. Of late, though Americans and Europeans have courted their alliance in war, yet they have been found faithless in engagement, greedy of spoil, insatiable in revenge, and dangerous in a reverse of for

tune. In human character, there is nothing perfect; and, wherever we find men, we shall perceive a mixture of the good and the bad, as we find our fields the tares and the wheat.

The appearance of the Indian is very distinguishable from that of every other people. Their faces are broad, their noses flat, their eyes black, small and active. Their hair is very long, coarse, straight and black. They permit no beard to grow, and carefully extract it by the roots, believing its growth would give them a resemblance to brute animals. Their stature is about a middling size, and some are quite gigantic. Their mode of living has no tendency to corpulence. Their bodies are strong, and features regular. Their martial habits and military passion give to their countenances, often, an appearance wild, fierce, morose. None of their bodies are deformed, or deficient in vigor. Their senses, particularly their sight and hearing, are uncommonly acute and discerning. Throughout all the tribes, there is a uniformity of appearance, which one cannot fail to notice, leaving on the mind of the spectator a conviction of the unity of the original race.

Nothing in their general appearance is more noticeable than their color. Their complexion is olive; some partaking of a darker, some of a lighter shade, and others are as fair as the Spaniards. Often, we meet with that complexion and those features which join together to produce the sensation of beauty.

The cause of the varieties in the human complexion is a very interesting subject of inquiry. The seat of color is thought to be in the rete mucosum, a mucous substance rather than of membranous structure, situated between the epidermis and cutis. The hue of this mucus, which may be disolved by being macerated in water, while the same result is sometimes effected by a local disease, gives color to animal bodies. In the African, this is perfectly black, while the true skin is of the ordinary color. No decision has yet been made, whether the state of this mucus is invariably such as nature assigned, or whether it is susceptible of the affections of climate and the changes produced by external relations.

On the eastern continent, facts seem to show the power of climate over the human complexion. The darkest people, in general, are placed beneath a burning sun; and, as you ad

vance towards the polar regions, you meet with fairer countenances. This is noticeable even in the same nation, as in that within the extensive empire of China, stretching through more than thirty degrees of latitude, with a greater diversity of temperature, where the complexion becomes lighter, in almost exact proportion as you recede from the equator. Even beasts are effected by the same law of nature, and their color approaches to white, as the severity of cold increases. Diet, mode of living and local circumstances may seem to produ e deviations from the general rule; but still the force of climate will be felt, and its effects will become apparent. Many ages have been allowed necessary to effect such a change in human complexion. White people are soon affected by a warm climate, and immediately receive a darker hue; but dark complexions do not so soon become fair in a colder region, because two operations are to be effected, one to take out an old stain, and the other to produce a new shade. The extremes of heat and cold produce, in some instances, similar effects; and hence in Monamotapa in Africa, beneath the strong heat of a vertical sun, persons are to be found with light complexions, but with the features of the black man. After all, it is more rational to conclude, that the color of the human body does not arise from any one single cause. Constitution, food, air, degree of health and cleanliness, as well as climate, may all possess an influence in producing that variety of complexion, which we observe in the human species, agreeably to that studied variety in all other things, of which nature seems not only to be fond, but utterly insatiable. Nor is color a useless provision; the white in colder regions, where it prevails, is favorable to receiving and retaining heat, while the dark in a warmer climate does not so readily admit a fluid which would only serve to oppress the body. Nature is attentive to apply remedies for the cure of evils, or to mitigate the severity of those which do exist.

A vast diversity of complexion takes place on the eastern continent, while on the western a much greater uniformity is studied. The Aborigines of America are nearly all of the same color, with very inconsiderable shades of difference, not more than we find in the coloring of the leaves of the same tree. The power of the sun does not seem here to exert the same dominion. Whether the fanning of the equatorial regions with cool breezes, or the elevated mountains at the west, or freedom from sandy deserts make the difference, it

remains to be investigated. At any rate, the fact lies not in controversy, that the man of America is every where red.

Equality is no attribute of the Indian character. They are constant in nothing but in change. Sometimes, they are the merriest creatures in nature, when things move according to all their wishes. They feel so light, as almost to mount up with the air; and their hearts are so full of satisfactions, that they seem incapable of containing their furious and extravagant joys. They dance, they sing, they feast, and their pleasures seem too great to keep the heart from bursting with the swells of raptures.

The excesses of passion cannot last long. In general, an Indian is a very grave being. It is only at times, that he forgets himself, and acts like a whirlwind with madning sportiveness in a region which is usually calm. Placed in stations of difficulty, often in the midst of perils, in dread of enemies, in fear of want, with no very fair prospects before him, he is sober, and sometimes exhibits the sad appearance of melancholy; but, in receding from such a state of mind, he flies to the other extreme of joys excessive.

The Indian is rather inclined to be taciturn. When he speaks, it is always to the purpose; seldom with a view of mere merriment. His silence accords with the gravity of this character; and he has less desire to maintain conversation himselt than to listen to it in others.

The savage is high spirited, and very irritable. From his infantile age, he knows of nothing which ought to have the name of restraint. As character depends on opinion, and as penalty consists in disgrace, the point of honor is every thing with him. Through want of parental authority and by a destitution of other restraints, all his passions are sudden, as they are violent. Neither reason nor decency moderate his feelings. The proprieties of civilized life, which restrain the excesses of passion in others, are neither known to him, nor do they command his respect. His sensibility is a flame which instantly kindles. An injury rouses all the fury of his wild mind. His whole soul is bent on one single point, that of the most fatal revenge.

Savages are always inclined to be idle. Unacquainted with what we mean by property, their inducements to industry are few and feeble. Time with them is of no value. When the mind is infuriated with passion, with the rage of war, or with thirst for revenge, no efforts are deemed too

great. When these agitations are over, their minds sink down into their accustomed state of lethargy. They waste their years in eating and drinking, inactivity and sleep. Labor is beneath the Indian's dignity, as it is among the drones of civilized life. The savage of America, however, is not like the negro of Africa, who sinks into sleep, whenever he ceases from action. His eyes, like those of Argus, see every thing, his ears hear every sound, and all his senses employed show, that his soul is as active as his body is passive. What necessity or inclination urges him to do, is done most leisurely. He will spend whole years in building his hut, making his canoe, or forming his pipe.

There must always be industry somewhere; and among the savages this falls to the lot of the women. To them and their daughters the whole business of agriculture is assigned. They hoe the corn, and secure the harvest. They bring home the fish, and take care of the game. They do the cookery, and provide the comforts of the fire side. When they have provided a repast, they are not used to eat, agreeably to the custom of Arabian wives, till their husbands have done.

Dirtiness is always an attendant on a savage state. This is a natural result of their want of industry. Their huts are the sink of impurity; and their noses must always be in a state of purgatory, but with the difference of having no hope of relief from torments. Their vessels and dishes never know what it is to be washed. Their garments are worn, till they drop from their bodies. The eye, which delights in cleanliness, would not find among the man object on which it could fix with pleasure. Every sense would be in tortures. Among those, however, who are half civilized by intercourse with the white people, you will meet with cleanly faces, neat blankets and other appendages, which once more reconcile us to view them as human beings.

As to finery, they proceed by the rule of reverse. Among the white people, the fair are loaded with ornaments, as if inanimate beauty could vie for the palm with female beauty. But with the savages, the woman is a more humble object; and man is every thing. On him ornaments are heaped, and every object, which can glitter, shines. In going to the council or his nation, or marching forth to war, it was his ambi. tion to appear with all the decorations of dress. Whatsoever