To spare the life of a
prisoner, or to relieve a friend from imminent peril, may give applause,
and carry a name down to posterity. But it is the constant practice of
every day virtues and duties, domestic diligence, and common sense, that
renders life comfortable, and society prosperous and happy. How much of
this everyday stamina the Indians possess, it would be presumptuous in
me, with so short an opportunity of observation, to decide. But I am
inclined to the opinion that their defect of character lies here.
Our express for Detroit, via Michilimackinack, set out at three o'clock
this morning, carrying some few short of a hundred letters. This, with
our actual numbers, is the best commentary on our insulated situation.
We divert ourselves by writing, and cling with a death-grasp, as it
were, to our friends and correspondents.
_5th. Gitche ie nay gow ge ait che gah_, "they have put the sand over
him" is a common expression among the Indians to indicate that a man is
dead and buried. Another mode, delicate and refined in its character, is
to suffix the inflection for perfect past tense, _bun_, to a man's name.
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