nd Peruvians,
who were, to a considerable extent, civilized; the Caribs, who
inhabited the fertile soil and luxuriant clime of the West Indies; the
Esquimaux, who were then just the same people as they are now, living
in the same manner by fishing; and the Red Men, or North American
Indians.

_Austin._ Then the Esquimaux are not Red Indians.

_Hunter._ No; they are more like the people who live in Lapland, and
in the North of Asia; and for this reason, and because the distance
across Behring's Straits is so short, it is thought they came from
Asia, and are a part of the same people. The red men are, however,
different; and as we agreed that I should tell you about the present
race of them, perhaps I may as well proceed.

_Austin._ Yes. Please to tell us first of their wigwams, and their
villages, and how they live.

_Brian._ And what they eat, and what clothes they wear.

_Basil._ And how they talk to one another.

_Austin._ Yes; and all about their spears and tomahawks.

_Hunter._ The wigwams of the Indians are of different kinds: some are
extremely simple, being formed of high sticks or poles, covered with
turf or the bark of trees; while others are very handsome. The Sioux,
the Blackfeet, and the Crows, form their wigwams nearly in the same
manner; that is, by sewing together the skins of buffaloes, after
properly dressing them, and making them into the form of a tent. This
covering is then supported by poles. The tent has a hole at the top,
to let out the smoke, and to let in the light.

_Austin._ Ay, that is a better way of making a wigwam than covering
over sticks with turf.

_Hunter._ The wigwams, or lodges, of the Mandans are round. A circular
foundation is dug about two feet deep; timbers six feet high are set
up all around it, and on these are placed other long timbers, slanting
inwards, and fastened together in the middle, like a tent, leaving
space for light and for the smoke to pass. This tent-like roof is
supported by beams and upright posts, and it is covered over outwardly
by willow boughs and a thick coating of earth; then comes the last
covering of hard tough clay. The sun bakes this, and long use makes it
solid. The outside of a Mandan lodge is almost as useful as the
inside; for there the people sit, stand, walk, and take the air. These
lodges are forty, fifty, or sixty feet wide.

_Brian._ The Mandan wigwam is the best of all.

_Hunter._ Wigwams, like those of the Mandans, which are al