Orinoco, are not to be compared for strength with those in cold countries; and
yet boats daily set out from Para, a Portuguese settlement on the River of
Amazons, to ascend that river against the rapidity of the stream, and with the
same crew they proceed to San Pablo, which is eight hundred leagues distant
No crew of white people, or even of Negroes, would be found equal to such a
task of persevering fatigue, and yet the Indians, being accustomed to this labor
from their infancy, perform it.”* From these and other facts, it is evident that
where the Indian can be stimulated by ambition or the hope of reward, his bodily
strength is equal to great and protracted exertion.
Cautiousness and cunning are among the most prominent features in the
character of these people. A studied vigilance marks every action. If an Indian
speaks, it is in a slow and studied manner, and to avoid committing himself he
often resorts to metaphorical phrases which have no precise meaning. If he seeks
an enemy, it is through unfrequented paths, in the dead of night, and with every
device for concealment and surprise. When he meets his victim; the same
instinctive feeling governs all his movements. His motive is to destroy without
being destroyed, and he avails himself of every subterfuge that can protect his
own person while he seeks the life of his antagonist. It is by a refinement of
cautious cunning that they have so often circumvented Europeans, and they
pride themselves on this faculty more than on any other. Thus ajso when
provoked they can mask their resentment under an unruffled exterior; but the
mind which thus Conceals its emotions, devises at the same moment a sleepless
and bloody revenge. Their very politeness is a part of their cautiousness; for in
conversation they seldom contradict or deny the remarks that are made to them,,
so that a stranger is unable to decide whether they are pleased or displeased,
convinced or the contrary. “ The missionaries who have attempted to convert
them to Christianity, all complain of this as one of the great difficulties of their
mission. The Indians hear with patience th e ; truths of the gospel explained to
them, and give their usual tokens of assent and approbation; but this by no
means implies conviction—it is mere civility.”t For the same reason an Indian
seldom expresses himself with surprise. If an object interests him on account of
its novelty, he shows his gratification in a few subdued remarks, or by a significant
gesture; but it is difficult to betray him into enthusiasm. That taciturnity which
is also linked with their cautiousness, is fostered by all their usages. It is seen
Robertson, Hist, of Amer. Note X LVI. t Hist, of Amer. (Anon.) p. 77.
even in the marriage ceremony, which is often joyless and even melancholy, as if
it were rather the harbinger of sorrow than of happiness. It is indeed seldom
that their pastimes excite enthusiasm or hilarity, unless the performers are
stimulated by intoxicating drinks; in which case, as among more civilised men, a
temporary madness unmasks the darkest passions, and the natural reserve of the
Indian gives place to extravagant, mirth and brutal ferocity.
This perpetual: vigilance has led some authors to charge the Indian with
cowardice; but he is taught from childhood to consider a successful stratagem
more honorable than open victory; and it has been observed by an intelligent writer,
that among the North American Indian^ generally, flight in battle is not considered
disgraceful where the number or the iresistance of an enemy is greater than had
been anticipated. Retreat under these circumstances is a principle of their tactics;
and they renew the combat without humiliation when fortune promises better
chances of success. The courage of the Indian is evident in his desperate resistance
to superior force; by his choice Of death to capitulation, even when he has
every guaranty of personal safety; and by that unshrinking firmness with which
he sees and feels the approach of death under the most cruel torments. To be
whole days and nights fastened to a stake and subjected to incessant but gradual
mutilation—to sustain this load of misery with fortitude and even with cheerfulness,
and finally to sink into death without losing for a moment this indomitable
self-possession, are surely sufficient proofs of the courage of the Indian.' The
stoicism with which he bears every variety of bodily suffering is so extraordinary,
that Ulloa and others have attempted to explain it on the ground that the Americans
have a coarser, stronger and less! sensitive organisation than any other race.
This, however, is a mere postulate which has no foundation in fact, and might be
applied with equal plausibility to the primitive martyrs: nor need we look beyond
the influence of a ruling passion for a;full explanation of the phenomenon. All
an Indian’s hope of glory, all his chance of distinction, depend on his ability to
endure privation. He goes half clothed to the chase in the depth of winter, not
because he is insensible to cold, but because he chooses to appear indifferent to it.
In like manner he sustains himself amidst the severest agonies that can be inflicted
on human nature, because to shrink frpm them would stamp him with cowardice
and infamy. With many tribes this principle is carried so* far that parents torture
their children to test their self-possession; nor are they enrolled on the list of
warriors until they can sustain the ordeal without complaint. Let it not he
thought, however, that the Indian courts privation; on the contrary no one can
dislike it more. His natural indolence is opposed to it, and he has moreover the
20