ea of its operation on the soul, they appear so.

Of all the Indians I have seen, the Nascopies seem most averse to
locomotion; many of them grow up to man's estate without once visiting
a trading post. Previously to the establishment of this post they were
wont to assemble at a certain rendezvous in the interior, and deliver
their furs to some elderly man of the party, who proceeded with
them to the King's posts, or Esquimaux Bay, and traded them for such
articles as they required. So little intercourse have this people had
with the whites, that they may be still considered as unsophisticated
"children of nature," and possessed, of course, of all the virtues
ascribed to such; yet I must say, that my acquaintance with them
disclosed nothing that impressed me with a higher opinion of them than
of my own race, corrupted as they are by the arts of civilized life.

The Nascopie freely indulges all the grosser passions of his nature;
he has no term in his language to express the sensation of shame; the
feeling and the word are alike unknown. Many circumstances might be
adduced in proof of this, but I have no desire to disgust the reader.
Previously to our arrival here, there was not such an article of
domestic utility known among them as a spoon; the unclean hand
performed every office. They take their meals sitting in a circle
round a kettle, and commence operations by skimming off the fat with
their hands, and lapping it up like dogs; then every one helps himself
to the solids, cutting, gnawing, and tearing until the whole is
devoured, or until repletion precludes further exertions, when, like
the gorged beast of prey, they lie down to sleep.

The Nascopies practise polygamy more from motives of convenience than
any other--the more wives, the more slaves. The poor creatures, in
fact, are in a state of relentless slavery; every species of drudgery
devolves upon them. When they remove from camp to camp in winter, the
women set out first, dragging sledges loaded with their effects, and
such of the children as are incapable of walking; meantime the men
remain in the abandoned encampment smoking their pipes, until they
suppose the women are sufficiently far advanced on the route to reach
the new encampment ere they overtake them.

Arrived at the spot, the women clear the ground of snow, erect the
tents, and collect fuel; and when their arrangements are completed,
their lords step in to enjoy themselves. The sole occupation o