That such visits were very injurious to them both in a
moral and economical point of view. That they thereby neglected their
hunting and gardens, contracted diseases, and never failed to indulge in
the most immoderate use of strong drink. That to procure the latter,
they would sell their presents, pawn their ornaments, &c., and, I verily
believed, were their hands and feet _loose_, they would pawn them, so as
to be forever after incapable of doing anything towards their own
subsistence. I told him that if, under such circumstances, I should give
him, or any other Indian, provisions to carry them home, they must not
construe it into any approbation of their late conduct, but must ascribe
it wholly to feelings of pity and commiseration for their situation, &c.
Mongazid (the Loon's Foot), a noted speaker, and Jossakeed, or _Seer of
Fond du Lac_, arrived in the afternoon, attended by eleven persons. He
had scarcely exchanged salutations with me when he said that his
followers and himself were in a starving condition, having had very
little food for several days.
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