Page:The Columbia river , or, Scenes and adventures during a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Mountains among various tribes of Indians hitherto unknown (Volume 1).djvu/10

 of nature, in its rudest and most savage forms, he trusts his sketches of the wild and wandering tribes of Western America may not be found uninteresting.

They cannot lay claim to the beautiful colouring which the romantic pen of a Chateaubriand has imparted to his picture of Indian manners; for the Author, unfortunately, did not meet with any tribe which approached that celebrated writer's splendid description of savage life. He has seen many of them before the contamination, of white men could have deteriorated their native character; and, while he records with pleasure the virtues and bravery of some, truth compels him to give a different character to the great majority.

The press has of late years teemed with various "Recollections," "Reminiscences," &c. of travels, scenes, and adventures in well known countries, but no account has been yet published of a great portion of the remote regions alluded to in this Work. They are therefore new to the world; and, if the Author's unpretending narrative possesses no other claim to the public favor, it cannot at least be denied that of novelty.