tom of beard: hence the early travelers
were led to conclude that the smoothness of their faces resulted from a
natural deficiency. One reason for the adoption of this strange custom
was to enable them to paint themselves with greater ease. Among old men,
who have become indifferent to their appearance, the beard is again seen
to a small extent.[234]

On the continent, especially toward the north, the natives were of
robust and vigorous constitution. Their sole employment was the chase of
the numerous wild animals of the forest and prairies: from their
continual activity, their frame acquired firmness and strength;[235] but
in the islands, where game was rare, and the earth supplied
spontaneously an abundant subsistence, the Indians were comparatively
feeble, being neither inured to the exertions of the chase nor the
labors of cultivation. Generally, the Americans were more remarkable for
agility than strength, and are said to have been more like beasts of
prey than animals formed for labor. Toil was hateful, and even
destructive to them; they broke down and perished under tasks that would
not have wearied a European. Experience proves that the physical
strength of civilized man exceeds that of the savage.[236] Hand to hand
in war, in wrestling, leaping, and even in running for a short distance,
this superiority usually appears. In a long journey, however, the
endurance of the Indian has no parallel among Europeans. A Red Man has
been known to travel nearly eighty miles between sunrise and sunset,
without apparent fatigue. He performs a long journey, bearing a heavy
burden, and indulging in no refreshment or repose; an enemy can not
escape his persevering pursuit, even when mounted on a strong horse.

It has been already observed that the Americans are rarely or never
deformed, or defective in their senses, while in their wild state, but
in those districts where the restraints of law are felt, an
extraordinary number of blind, deaf, dwarfs, and cripples, are observed.
The terrible custom among the savage tribes of destroying those
children who do not promise a vigorous growth, accounts for this
apparent anomaly. Infancy is so long and helpless that it weighs as a
heavy burden upon a wandering people; food is scanty and uncertain of
supply, hunters and their families must range over extensive countries,
and often remove from place to place. Judging that children of feeble or
defective formation are not likely to survive