proud of his superior civilization, might learn a
useful lesson. When he returns from hunting, worn out with, fatigue,
having tasted nothing since dawn, his wife, if she is a good wife,
will take off his moccasons and replace them with dry ones, and will
prepare his game for their repast, while his children will climb upon
him, and he will caress them, with all the tenderness of a woman; and
in the evening the Indian wigwam is the scene of the purest domestic
pleasures. The father will relate, for the amusement of the wife and
for the instruction of the children, all the events of the day's hunt,
while they will treasure up every word that falls, and thus learn
the theory of the art whose practice is to be the occupation of their
lives."

Mrs. Grant speaks thus of the position of woman amid the Mohawk
Indians:--

"Lady Mary Montague says, that the court of Vienna was the paradise of
old women, and that there is no other place in the world where a woman
past fifty excites the least interest. Had her travels extended to
the interior of North America, she would have seen another instance of
this inversion of the common mode of thinking. Here a woman never was
of consequence, till sire had a son old enough to fight the battles of
his country. From, that date she held a superior rank in society; was
allowed to live at ease, and even called to consultations on national
affairs. In savage and warlike countries, the reign of beauty is very
short, and its influence comparatively limited. The girls in childhood
had a very pleasing appearance; but excepting their fine hair,
eyes, and teeth, every external grace was soon banished by perpetual
drudgery, carrying burdens too heavy to be borne, and other slavish
employments, considered beneath the dignity of the men. These walked
before, erect and graceful, decked with ornaments which set off to
advantage the symmetry of their well-formed persons, while the poor
women followed, meanly attired, bent under the weight of the children
and the utensils, which they carried everywhere with, them, and
disfigured and degraded by ceaseless toils. They were very early
married, for a Mohawk had no other servant but his wife; and whenever
he commenced hunter, it was requisite he should have some one to carry
his load, cook his kettle, make his moccasons, and, above all, produce
the young warriors who were to succeed him in the honors of the chase
and of the tomahawk. Wherever man is a mere hunte