ocky Mountains. Some regard them as a
continuation of the Andes of South America; so that, if both are put
together, they will make a chain of mountains little short of nine
thousand miles long. North America, with its mighty lakes, rivers, and
mountains, its extended valleys and prairies, its bluffs, caverns, and
cataracts, and, more than all, its Indian inhabitants, beavers,
buffaloes, and bisons, will afford us something to talk of for some
time to come; but the moment you are tired of my account, we will
stop.

_Austin._ We shall never be tired; no, not if you go on telling us
something every time we come, for a whole year. But do tell us, how
did these tribes behave to you, when you were among them?

_Hunter._ I have not a word of complaint to make. The Indians have
been represented as treacherous, dishonest, reserved, and sour in
their disposition; but, instead of this, I have found them generally,
though not in all cases, frank, upright, hospitable, light-hearted,
and friendly. Those who have seen Indians smarting under wrongs, and
deprived, by deceit and force, of their lands, hunting-grounds, and
the graves of their fathers, may have found them otherwise: and no
wonder; the worm that is trodden on will writhe; and man, unrestrained
by Divine grace, when treated with injustice and cruelty, will turn on
his oppressor.

_Austin._ Say what you will, I like the Indians.

_Hunter._ That there is much of evil among Indians is certain; much of
ignorance, unrestrained passions, cruelty, and revenge: but they have
been misrepresented in many things. I had better tell you the names of
some of the chiefs of the tribes, or of some of the most remarkable
men among them.

_Austin._ Yes; you cannot do better. Tell us the names of all the
chiefs, and the warriors, and the conjurors, and all about them.

_Hunter._ The Blackfeet Indians are a very warlike people;
_Stu-mick-o-sucks_ was the name of their chief.

_Austin._ Stu-mick-o-sucks! What a name! Is there any meaning in it?

_Hunter._ O yes. It means, "the back fat of the buffalo;" and if you
had seen him and _Peh-to-pe-kiss_, "the ribs of the eagle," another
chief dressed up in their splendid mantles, buffaloes' horns, ermine
tails, and scalp-locks, you would not soon have turned your eyes from
them.

_Brian._ Who would ever be called by such a name as that? The back fat
of the buffalo!

_Hunter._ The Camanchees are famous on horseback. There is no tribe
among