long acquaintance with this people, that an outward
manifestation of surprise _[FN: See Appendix L.]_ is considered a
want of etiquette and good breeding, or rather a proof of weakness and
childishness. The women, like other females, are certainly less disposed
to repress this feeling of inquisitiveness than the men, and one of
their great sources of amusement, when Catharine was among them, was
examining the difference of texture and colour of her skin and hair,
and holding long consultations over them. The young girl and her mother,
those who had paddled the canoe the day she was carried away to the
island, showed her much kindness in a quiet way. The young squaw
was granddaughter to the old chief, and seemed to be regarded with
considerable respect by the rest of the women; she was a gay lively
creature, often laughing, and seemed to enjoy an inexhaustible fund
of good humour. She was inclined to extend her patronage to the young
stranger, making her eat out of her own bark dish, and sit beside her on
her own mat. She wove a chain of the sweet-scented grass with which
the Indians delight in adorning themselves, likewise in perfuming their
lodges with bunches or strewings upon the floor. She took great pains
in teaching her how to acquire the proper attitude of sitting, after the
fashion of the Eastern nations, which position the Indian women assume
when at rest in their wigwams. The Indian name of this little damsel
signified the Snow-bird. She was, like that lively restless bird, always
flitting to and fro from tent to tent, as garrulous and as cheerful too
as that merry little herald of the spring.

Once she seemed particularly attracted by Catharine's dress, which she
examined with critical minuteness, evincing great surprise at the cut
fringes of dressed doeskin with which Indiana had ornamented the border
of the short jacket which she had manufactured for Catharine. These
fringes she pointed out to the notice of the women, and even the old
chief was called in to examine the dress; nor did the leggings and
mocassins escape their observation. There was something mysterious about
her garments. Catharine was at a loss to imagine what caused those deep
guttural exclamations, somewhat between a grunt and a groan, that burst
from the lips of the Indians, as they one by one examined them with
deep attention. These people had recognised in these things the peculiar
fashion and handiwork of the young Mohawk girl whom they