emed a great delicacy, as for the musquash it is regarded as
the "Indian's turkey."

A careful examination of the relics discovered at the sites of the old
camping grounds suffices to confirm the universal testimony of early
writers regarding the nomadic habits of the Indians. They were a
restless race of people, for ever wandering from place to place as
necessity or caprice impelled them. At one time they were attracted to
the sea side where clams, fish and sea fowl abounded; at another they
preferred the charms of the inland waters. Sometimes the mere love of
change led them to forsake one camping place and remove to some other
favorite spot. When game was scarce they were compelled by sheer
necessity to seek new hunting grounds. At the proper season they made
temporary encampments for salmon fishing with torch and spear. Anon
they tilled their cornfields on the intervals and islands. They had a
saying: "When the maple leaf is as big as a squirrel's foot it is time
to plant corn." Occasionally the outbreak of some pestilence broke up
their encampments and scattered them in all directions. In time of
peace they moved leisurely, but in time of war their action was much
more vigorous and flotillas of their bark canoes skimmed swiftly over
the lakes and rivers bearing the dusky warriors against the enemies of
their race. Many a peaceful New England hamlet was startled by their
midnight war-whoop when danger was little looked for.

It is a common belief in our day that the Indians were formerly more
numerous than they now are. Exactly the same opinion seems to have
prevailed when the country was first discovered, but it is really very
doubtful whether there were ever many more Indians in the country than
there are today. In the year 1611 Biard described them as so few in
number that they might be said to roam over rather than to possess the
country. He estimated the Maliseets, or Etchemins, as less than a
thousand in number "scattered over wide spaces, as is natural for
those who live by hunting and fishing." Today the Indians of Maine and
New Brunswick living within the same area as the Etchemins of 1611,
number considerably more than a thousand souls. There are, perhaps, as
many Indians in the maritime provinces now as in the days of
Champlain. As Hannay observes, in his History of Acadia, excellent
reasons existed to prevent the Indians from ever becoming very
numerous. A wilderness country can only support a limited p