Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 7).djvu/310

 in particular, is held in the utmost abhorrence, so that it rarely occurs among them. {323} The property of each individual, even of the slave, is held sacred.

They perfectly understand the nature of barter and traffic, and may be called, in their way, a commercial and trading people; but, like all Indians, they cannot resist the temptation of European articles, and will give everything they possess for the toys and trifles of the whites. They are a sedate and docile people, and very susceptible of improvement, and could, with comparatively little trouble, I am confident, be brought round to a state of civilization. Their superstitions seem to be the only barrier between them and the attainment of a more refined state.

{324} CHAPTER XXI

Calculation of time—Singular manner of naming children—Peculiar modes of address—Anecdote of an Indian chief—Indian forbearance—Conduct of the whites in Indian countries—Comparison of crime between Indians and whites—Manner of swaddling infants—Hardships during infancy—Savage customs—Indian constitution—Chief cause of scanty population—A day's journey—Calculation of distance—Rough roads—Indian ideas—Social habits—Some remarks on the system adopted for converting Indians to the Christian faith.

In calculating time the Oakinackens invariably use their fingers, and go by tens. A common mode of counting with them is by snows or winters. Ask an Indian his age, he immediately casts his eyes on his hands; calculates his age by his fingers, and answers by holding so many of them up to view, each finger standing for ten years. Some of the most intelligent among them will