ands upon the heads of my little boys,
admired their light hair, said their skins were very white; and,
although I could not then understand their language, they told me many
things, accompanied with earnest gesticulation. They brought their wives
and young children to see me. I had been told that Indian women gossiped
and stole; that they were filthy and troublesome. Yet I could not
despise them: they were wives and mothers--God had implanted the same
feelings in their hearts as in mine.

Some Indians visited us every day, and we frequently saw them at their
villages. Captain E. spoke their language well; and without taking any
pains to acquire it, I soon understood it so as to talk with them. The
sufferings of the women and children, especially during the winter
season, appealed to my heart. Their humility in asking for assistance
contrasted strongly with the pompous begging of the men. Late in a
winter's afternoon, Wenona, wife of a chief named the "Star," came to my
room. Undoing a bundle that she took from under her blanket, she
approached and showed it to me. It was an infant three days old,
closely strapped to an Indian cradle. The wretched babe was shrivelled
and already looking old from hunger. She warmed it by the fire,
attempting to still its feeble cries.

"Do you nurse your baby well, Wenona?" I asked; "it looks so thin and
small."

"How can I," was the reply, "when I have not eaten since it was born?"

Frequently we have heard of whole families perishing during severely
cold weather. The father absent on a winter's hunt, the mother could not
leave her children to apply to the fort for assistance, even had she
strength left to reach there. The frozen bodies would be found in the
lodges. The improvident character of the Indian is well known. Their
annuities are soon spent; supplies received from government are used in
feasting; and no provision is made for winters that are always long and
severe. Though they receive frequent assistance from the public at the
fort, the wants of all cannot be supplied. The captain of the post was
generous towards them, as was always my friend Mrs. F., whom they highly
esteemed. Yet some hearts are closed against appeals daily made to their
humanity. An Indian woman may suffer from hunger or sickness, because
her looks are repulsive and her garments unwashed: some will say they
can bear the want of warm clothing, because they have been used to
privation.

The women of the