gether, the head
of the family, the elder, the young men, the boys, everyone gives a hand
to the best of his capacity. When they have finished, the oldest of the
company lie down to doze and chew tobacco or sirih, the other men squat
themselves about to chat and prepare poisons or make blow-pipes and
arrows, whilst the children play and the women busy themselves over the
cooking.

The terms of indolent and lazy as erroneously applied to these savages
might be used with the same force in speaking of many who live in the
vortex of civilized society.

We frequently see, amongst us, inexhaustible treasures of energy
displayed when ambition or pure need demands it but when one or the
other has been satisfied, or the necessity for such continual effort no
longer seems imperative, or either the desired point has been attained
or the future has been fully assured, then little by little energy gives
place to a longing for repose.

As I have before said, the Sakai never provides for the morrow. His work
begins and finishes with the day. Give him some tobacco and in his
happiness he will stay awake all the night to smoke or chew it.

He works only in proportion to the urgency of the moment and then throws
himself down to rest upon the ground, because beds and chairs are
unknown to him, and it is not always that dried leaves and grasses are
used as a substitute for the former.

The evolution of our society has brought us on the contrary to this
curious condition: he who does not work at all and consequently has no
honest fatigue to rest from, lies upon a soft feather bed, there to
restore his strength wasted in fast living and dissipation, whilst....
But I had better stop or I may be mistaken for a dangerous class
agitator!

I will only say this: that could the Sakai look into some of our houses
and palaces he would make haste to return to his own forest and if he
were obliged or knew how to write his impressions he would certainly
commence: "The men of the West are effeminate, lazy and indolent".

But he would do wrong to generalize for they are Western men who have
conquered his forest.

I will conclude this chapter by confessing a remorse. Out of pity for
these poor creatures sleeping on the cold ground, huddled together to
keep each other warm, I, one day, gave a hair mattress to a Sakai
family.

All of them took their places on it and slept soundly, but in the
morning their bones ached so much that they gave me bac