th that
tribe. Soon after the arrival of a trader at the Indian camp,
intoxication had taken place, and a quarrel ensued between the husband
of this woman and another of the French hunters. Their altercation
filled her with terror, and she gave way to tears and lamentations,
not doubting but that the antagonist, who was the aggressor, intended
the death of her husband, as threats among Indians are the invariable
preludes to fatal actions. When, at length, they began to struggle
with each other, without any more ado she seized a hatchet, and would
instantly have dispatched the man who fought with her husband, if she
had not been prevented by the bystanders. In another instance an
Omawhaw and his wife, on a solitary hunting expedition, were
discovered at a distance from their temporary lodge, by a Sioux
war-party. They endeavoured to escape from the enemy, but the wife was
soon overtaken, struck to the ground, and subjected to the terrible
operation of scalping. The husband, although at this time beyond the
reach of the arrows of the Sioux, seeing his wife in their hands,
immediately turned upon them, and drawing his knife, the only weapon
he had, furiously rushed among them, in order to revenge her death,
even with the inevitable sacrifice of his own life, but he was almost
immediately dispatched, without having accomplished his heroic
purpose.

When their affections have become deeply engaged, they will frequently
affect insanity with a view to melt the heart of the obdurate beloved.

"A Chippewa, named Ogemans, who resided near the Dog Lake, was married
to a woman called Demoya, but had conceived an affection for her
sister, named Okoj, who lived in the same cabin; the latter having
refused his offer to take her as a second wife, he affected insanity.
His ravings were terrible; nothing could appease him but her presence;
the moment he touched her hand or came near her, he was as gentle as
they could wish. At one time, in the middle of a winter's night, he
sprang from his couch, broke through the frail bark which formed his
cabin, and escaped into the woods, howling and screaming in the
wildest manner; his wife and her sister followed him, endeavouring to
calm him and bring him home, but he seemed to have set all their
powers at defiance. At last Okoj came near him, and the moment she
laid her hand upon him, he became quite tractable. In this manner he
continued for a long while, convincing all the Indians who saw him