--_"... that an outward manifestation of surprise."_
A young friend, who was familiar with Indian character from frequent
intercourse with them in his hunting expeditions, speaking of their
apparent absence of curiosity, told me that, with a view to test it, he
wound up a musical snuff-box, and placed it on a table in a room where
several Indian hunters and their squaws were standing together, and
narrowly watched their countenances, but they evinced no sort of surprise
by look or gesture, remaining apathetically unmoved. He retired to an
adjoining room, where, unseen, he could notice what passed, and was amused
at perceiving, that the instant they imagined themselves free from his
surveillance, the whole party mustered round the mysterious toy like a
parcel of bees, and appeared to be full of conjecture and amazement, but
they did not choose to be entrapped into showing surprise. This perfect
command over the muscles of the face, and the glance of the eye, is one of
the remarkable traits in the Indian character. The expression of the
Indian face, if I may use so paradoxical a term, consists in a want of
expression--like the stillness of dark deep water, beneath which no object
is visible.
Pages:
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400