The effect of different modes of life upon the human frame and human
character is strikingly instanced in the contrast between the hunting
Indians of the prairies, and the piscatory Indians of the sea-coast. The
former, continually on horseback scouring the plains, gaining their food
by hardy exercise, and subsisting chiefly on flesh, are generally tall,
sinewy, meagre, but well formed, and of bold and fierce deportment: the
latter, lounging about the river banks, or squatting and curved up in
their canoes, are generally low in stature, ill-shaped, with crooked
legs, thick ankles, and broad flat feet. They are inferior also in
muscular power and activity, and in game qualities and appearance, to
their hard-riding brethren of the prairies.
Having premised these few particulars concerning the neighboring
Indians, we will return to the immediate concerns of the Tonquin and her
crew.
Further search was made for Mr. Fox and his party, but with no better
success, and they were at length given up as lost. In the meantime, the
captain and some of the partners explored the river for some distance in
a large boat, to select a suitable place for the trading post. Their old
jealousies and differences continued; they never could coincide in their
choice, and the captain objected altogether to any site so high up the
river.
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