e Algonquins, inhabiting the immense and
fertile territory extending westward to the Great Lake, from which they
take their name: they occupied themselves with a rude husbandry, which
the fertile soil of the west repaid, by affording them an abundant
subsistence; but they were more effeminate and luxurious than their
neighbors, and inferior in savage virtue and independence. The
above-named nations were those principally connected with the events of
Canadian history.

Man is less affected by climate in his bodily development than any other
animal; his frame is at the same time so hardy and flexible, that he
thrives and increases in every variety of temperature and situation,
from the tropic to the pole; nevertheless, in extremes such as these,
his complexion, size, and vigor usually undergo considerable
modifications.[229] Among the Red Men of America, however, there is a
remarkable similarity of countenance, form, manners, and habits, in
every part of the continent. No other race can show people speaking
different languages, inhabiting widely different climates, and
subsisting on different food, who are so wonderfully alike.[231] There
are, indeed, varieties of stature, strength, intellect, and self-respect
to be found among them; but the savage of the frozen north, and the
Indian of the tropics, have the same stamp of person, and the same
instincts.[232] There is a language of signs common to all, conveying
similar ideas, and providing a means of mutual intelligence to every Red
Man from north to south.

The North American Indians are generally of a fair height and
proportion. Deformities or personal defects[233] are rare among them;
and they are never seen to fall into corpulency. Their features,
naturally pleasing and regular, are often distorted by absurd attempts
to improve their beauty, or render their appearance more terrible. They
have high cheek bones, sharp and rather aquiline noses, and good teeth.
Their skin is generally described as red or copper-colored, approaching
to the tint of cinnamon bark, a complexion peculiar to the inhabitants
of the New World. The hair of the Americans, like that of their
Mongolian ancestors, is coarse, black, thin, but strong, and growing to
a great length. Many tribes of both these races remove it from every
part of the head except the crown, where a small tuft is left, and
cherished with care. It is a universal habit among the tribes of the New
World to eradicate every symp