They are tall well
made, and athletic, their complexion of a reddish copper colour, their
hair long, coarse, and jet black. Their senses are remarkably acute, and
they can see and hear with extraordinary distinctness. They will follow up
the track of a man or animal through the dense woods and across the vast
plains by trifling signs, which no European can detect. Their temperament
is cold and unimpassioned, they are capable of enduring extreme hunger and
thirst, and seem almost insensible to pain. Under certain circumstances
they are generous and hospitable, but when once roused, their vengeance is
not easily satisfied. They will pursue a real or supposed foe with a
hatred which never tires, and gratify their lust of cruelty by exposing
him, when captured, to the most horrible torments. They support themselves
by fishing and on the spoils of the chase; and though a few tribes have
become partially civilized, and devoted themselves to the peaceful
pursuits of husbandry, the majority retire further and further into the
dense forests of the west as the white man continues his advance, and
wander, like their forefathers, about the lonely shores of the great
lakes, and on the banks of the vast rolling rivers."
"Thank you, nurse; I will not forget what you have told me.
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