The Western World

Preface

N the following pages I have endeavoured to give, in a series of picturesque sketches, a general view of the natural history as well as of the physical appearance of North and South America.

I have first described the features of the country ; then its vegetation ; and next the wild men and the brute creatures which inhabit it. However, I have not been bound by any strict rule in that respect, as my object has been to produce a work calculated to interest the family circle rather than one of scientific pretensions. I have endeavoured to impart, in an attractive manner, information about its physical geography, mineral riches, vegetable productions, and the appearance and customs of the human beings inhabiting it. But the chief portion of the work is devoted to accounts of the brute creation, from the huge stag and buffalo to the minute humming-bird and persevering termites, — introduced not in a formal way, but as they appear to the naturalist-explorer, to the traveller in search of adventures, or to the sportsman; with vi PREFACE.

descriptions of their mode of life, and of how they are found, hunted, or trapped. I have described in the same way some of the most remarkable trees and plants; and from the accounts I have given I trust that a knowledge may be obtained of the way they are cultivated, and how their produce is prepared and employed. Thus I hope that, with the aid of the numerous illustrations in the work, a correct idea will be gained of the wilder and more romantic portions of the great

Western World.

Contents

NORTH AMERICA

CHARTER I.

INTRODUCTORY. — PHYSICAL FEATURES OF NORTH AMERICA.

Chapter II. North America Considered As Divided Into Four Zones, With The Various

OBJECTS OF INTEREST FOUND IN EACH.

The first zone — The second zone: The Fertile Belt of Rupert's Land — Animal Life on the Fertile Belt— The third zone : The Dismal Swamp in the United States — Fossil footmarks of birds—The Big-Bone Lick — The fourth zone 38

Chapter III. The Prairies, Plains Of The West, And Passage Of The Rocky Mountains

The prairies — The barren plains in the Far West — The Rocky Mountains — Parks — The sage cock — Winter scene among the Rocky Mountains — The horned frog — Fur-trappers of the Far West — Wonders of Nature : Mammoth Cave of Kentucky — Oil springs —Mammoth trees and caverns of Calaveras 49

Chapter IV. General Survey Op The Zoology Of North America

Interesting facts — The various animals met with — The feathered tribes 76

Chapter V. Description Of Various Animals — Ruminants

The moose, or elk — The cariboo, or reindeer — The wapiti, or Canadian stag — The karjacou, vin CONTENTS.

or Virginian deer — The antelope — The bighorn, or mountain sheep — The bison, commonly called the buffalo in America. 81

Chapter VI. Rodents

The beaver — The musk-rat, or musquash — Prairie-dogs — The porcupine 128

Chapter VII. Carnivora

The black bear — The grizzly bear — Wolves—Lynxes— The wolverene, or glutton — The raccoon— The agouara, or crab-eating raccoon — The ermine — The pine-marten — The otter— The skunk — The pekan, or wood-shock — The mink— Marsupials, or pouched animals: The Virginian or common opossum 150

Chapter VIII. The Feathered Tkibes Of North America

The bald or white-headed eagle — The wild turkey — The ocellated turkey — The canvas-back duck — The summer duck — The pinnated grouse, or prairie hen — The ruffed grouse, or American pheasant— Passenger-pigeons — Humming-birds — The cow-bird — The blue-bird —The snow-bird— The Carolina parrot 189

Chapter IX. Reptiles

Tortoises: — The lettered terrapin — The chicken tortoise — The salt-water terrapin — The box tortoise — The mud tortoise — The alligator terrapin — The snapping turtle — Lizards:— The six-lined taraguina — The glass snake — The anolis — The crowned tapayaxin — Snakes : —The rattlesnake — The banded and military rattlesnakes — The corn snake — The thunder snake — The chicken snake — The milk or house snake — The black snake — The coach-whip snake — Frogs: — The bull frog — The solitary frog — The savannah cricket frog — The changeable tree frog — The spotted eft — The menoporaa— Thecongo snake — The necturus —The siren, or mud eel — Grasshoppers, or locusts 215

J^art J§>£Conb.

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA

CHAPTER L

Birds of Mexico: — The scarlet tanager — The anis, or savannah blackbird — Massina's trogon —The Mexican trogon — The resplendent trogon — Reptiles : — The rhinophryne — The axolotl 233

CHAPTER II.

CENTRAL AMERICA*

Honduras and the Mosquito Country — Fauna — The mahogany-tree — Humming-birds : — The slender shear- tail — The nifus fUme-bearer — Princess Helena's coquette— The sparkling-tail humming-bird 253

CONTEXTS. ix

CHAPTER III.

RUINS OF CENTRAL AMERICA.

Stone quarries — Palenque— Ruins of Quiche1 — XJxraal — Other ruins 273

SOUTH AMERICA

Chapter X. Humming-birds (tkochilid^) Of The Cordilleras And Western Coast

Sword-bill humming-bird — Copper-bellied puff -leg — White-booted racket-tail — Columbian thorn-bifi — Black warrior — The sickle-bill — Mars' sun-angel — Heliangeius Clarissas — Snow-cap humming-bird — Spangled coquette — Train-bearer (leobia amaryllis)— Hill star —The sappho comet — The phaon comet — Blue-tailed sylph S7G

Chapter XI. Mammalia

The savage inhabitants of the Amazonian Valley — The puma— The jaguar — ant-eaters — Myrmccophaga tamandua — Little ant-eater — The sloth — The tapir — The peccary — Hydrochterus capybara — Agouti dasyprocta — The paca (ccelogenys) — The armadillo— The opossum — The crab-eating opossum— Merian's opossum — Yapock opossum — Bats 391

Chapter XII. Quad Rum Ax A

Monkeys — Spider-monkeys — The chemeck — Macaco barrigudo — The uakari — Alouattes, or howlers — The cuxio (bearded saki) — The cacajao — Marmosets, or midas monkeys — Midas ursulus — Midas leoninas, or Jacchus Rosalia — Midas argentatus — Sai capicinus — Horned capucin — The common capucin: — Parauacu — Pithecia hirsuta — Pithecia albicans— Saimiri — Callithrix — Teetee — Collared teetee — Night apes, or douroucouli 441

Chapter XIII. Birds

Humming-birds — Topaz humming-bird — Ara humming-bird — The racket-tail humming-bird — The cayenne fairy — Cotingas — The campanero, or bell-bird — The umbrella, or fife-bird — The cock of the rocks — Golden-winged manakin — Goatsuckers — Caciques — Toucans — The realejo, or organ-bird- The curassow — Macaws — Parrots — Anaca parrot — Marianna parrot — Trogons — The resplendent trogon — Jacamars — The jacana — Frigate-bird pelicans —The horned screamer — Vultures — The black vulture— The turkey-buzzard 468

CHAPTER XIAr.

BEPTILES.

Alligators — The iguana— Geckos — The anaconda — The boa— The spotted boa — The ringed boa — The rattlesnake — The fer de lance— The bushmaster — Labarri, or Elaps lemniscatus — Whip snakes — The green snake — Frogs and toads— The Surinam toad — Tortoises — The Cheleys matamata 507

Chapter XV. Wonders Of Insect Life

Termites, or white ants — Sauba ants — The amphisbsena— Ecitona— Robber ecitons —Blind

CONTENTS. XI ants — Centipeds — Cockroaches — Fire-ants — Insects — Fire-flies — Suspended cocoons — Lantern-fly — The tanana— Wood beetles — Spiders — Bees and wasps — Butterflies .... 540

Chapter XVI. The Wonders Of The Forest

Aspects of the forest — Buttress trees — Siposorwild vines — The seringa or india-rubber tree— The cow-tree — Monkeys' drinking-cups — Brazil-nut tree— The Victoria Regia — Palms 570

Chapter XVII. The Wonders Of The Waters

The manatee, or cow-fish — Piranha — The diodon — The acara — Anableps — The parrot-fish — The gymnotus — Localization of fish— Gymnotus, or electric eel — Sting-rays — Serrosalmus piraya— The caribe — Adaptation of animals to their destined mode of existence.,., 591

Chapter XVIII. Natives Of The Valley Of The Amazon

The Mundurucus — General character of the natives — The Purupurus— The Catauixis 609

Chapter XIX, Indian Weapons And Modes Of Killing Game

The blow-pipe — Wourali poison— Timbo- — Mode of shooting and netting turtle — Another mode of catching fish — Poisoning birds — The long-bow — Stalking game — Mode of killing alligators — Turtle-catching and collecting eggs — Oil from turtles' eggs — Fishing-nets and baskets — Canoes — Musical instruments 615 yPntt JRourth,

NORTHERN REGIONS OF SOUTH AMERICA.

Chapter I. Venezuela

Humming-birds — Trees — The Llaneros G35

F

CHAPTER IT

GUIANA,

Hivers : — The Essequibo — The Berbice Eiver — The Arecuna Indians — The Corentyn River — The Demerara River — Native tribes — The Arawaks — The Guaranis — The Macusis — The Acawoios — Mounds full of human remains — Vegetable productions. . . , 654

Chapter III. Central Brazil

Serras—The Campos dos Paricis — The cerrados — Diamond-mines of Brazil - 687 xii CONTEXTS.

J^art IRiftlt.

SOUTHERN REGIONS OF SOUTH AMERICA

Chapter I. Geography And Native Tbibes

The pampero — Natives of La Plata and its tributaries — The Pampas and Patagonia — The Guaranis and their descendants — The Querandis or Pehuelches — The Payagua-s— Indians of Bolivia— Native apothecaries — Tribes of the Gran Chaco — Jesuit missions - Language < « 692

Chapter II. Paraguay

The Parana — Natives — Mountain scenery— Gregarious spiders — The chigo, or sand-flea — Fish in the Parana 707

Chapter III. The Pampas

Gauchos of the Pampas — Patagonians — Breaking-in colts — Deer of the Pampas— Nfita cattle — The biscacha — The Peruvian bizcacha and chinchilla — The tucutuco (Ctenomys Braziliensis — The rhea— Caracara poly bor us— Owls of the Pampas (Athene cunicularia)— The Pampas cuckoo (Molothrus niger, — The calandria (Mina Orpheus) — Flamingoes — Oven-birds — The little house-builder — The scissor-beak— Parrots —The boat-bill heron — Conclusion 71o

THE W ESTERN WORLD.

$Jatt Jftrst NORTH AMERICA

Chapter I

INTRODUCTORY. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF NORTH AMERICA.

HE continent of America, if the stony records of the Past are read aright, claims to be the oldest instead of the newest portion of the globe.* Bowing to this opinion of geologists till they see cause to express a different one, we will, in consequence, commence our survey of the world and its inhabitants with the Western Hemisphere. From the multitude of objects which crowd upon us, we can examine only a few of the most interesting minutely ; at others we can merely give a cursory glance ; while many we must pass by altogether, — our object being to obtain a general and retainable knowledge of the physical features of the Earth, the vegetation which clothes its surface, the races of men who

* According to some geologists, Labrador was the first part of our globe's surface to become dry land.

14 PHYSICAL FEATUKES.

inhabit it, and the tribes of the brute creation found in its forests and waters, on its plains and mountains.

As we go along, we will stop now and then to pick up scraps of information about its geology, and the architectural antiquities found on it; as the first will assist in giving us an insight into the former conditions of extinct animals, and the

*

latter may teach us something of the past history of the human tribes now wandering1 as savages in regions once

o o o

inhabited by civilized men.

Still, the study of Natural History and the geographical range of animals is the primary object we have in view.

Though the best-known portions of the Polar Regions are more nearly connected with North America than with Europe or Asia, we propose to leave them to be fully described in another work. It is impossible, in the present volume, to embrace more than the continental parts of the Western World.

Looking down on the continent of North America, which we will first visit, we observe its triangular shape : the apex, the southern end of Mexico ; the base, the Arctic shore ; the sides, especially the eastern, deeply indented, first by Hudson Bay, which pierces through more than a third of the continent, then by the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and further south by Chesapeake Bay and the Bay of Fundy. On the western coast, the Gulf of California runs 800 miles up its side, with the Rio Colorado falling into it ; and further north arc the Straits of Juan da Fuca, between Vancouver's Island and the mainland, north of which are numerous archipelagoes and inlets extending round the great peninsula of Yukon to Kotzebue Sound.

Parallel with either coast we shall see two great mountain systems — that called the Appalachian, including the chain of

NORTHERN REGION. 15

the Alleghanies, on the east, and the famed Rocky Mountains on the west — running from north to south through the continent.

We shall easily recollect the great water-system of North America if we consider it to be represented by an irregular cross, of which the Mississippi with its affluents forms the stem ; Lake Superior and the River St. Lawrence, including the intermediate lakes, the eastern arm ; the Lake of the Woods and its neighbours, Lake Winnepeg and the Saskatchewan, the western arm ; and the northern lakes of Athabasca, the Great Slave Lake, and the Mackenzie River, the upper part of the cross. If we observe also a wide level region which runs north and south between the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, bounded on either side by the two lofty mountain ranges already mentioned, we shall have a tolerably correct

notion of the chief physical features of the North American continent.

Arriving at the northern end, we shall find it reaching some four degrees north of the Polar Circle, though some of its headlands extend stilt further into the icy sea. Beyond it stretches away to an unknown distance towards the Pole a dense archipelago of large islands, the narrow channels between them bridged over in winter by massive sheets of ice, affording an easy passage to the reindeer, musk-oxen, and other animals which migrate southward during the colder portion of the Arctic winter.

NORTHERN REGION.

With that end of America will ever be associated the names of Sir John Franklin and his gallant companions, who perished in their search of the North-west Passage; as well as

16 NORTHERN REGION.

those of other more fortunate successors, especially of Captains M/Clure and Collinson of the British navy, to the first of whom is due the honour of leading an expedition from west to east along that icy shore ; while Captain Collinson took his ship, the Enterprise, up to Cambridge Bay, Victoria Land, further east than any ship had before reached from the west

F

namely, 105° west — and succeeded in extricating her from amid the ice and bringing her home in safety. Captain M'Clure, not so fortunate in one respect, was compelled to leave his ship frozen up. The two expeditions, while proving the existence of a channel, at the same time showed its uselessness as a means of passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as, except in most extraordinary seasons, it remains blocked up all the year by ice.

The northern end of the American continent is a region of mountains, lakes, and rivers. Several expeditions have been undertaken through it, — the first to ascertain the coast-line, by Mackenzie, Franklin, Richardson, Back, and others, and latterly by Dr. Rae ; and also by Sir John Richardson, who left the comforts of England to convey assistance to his long-missing former companions, though unhappily without avail. These journeys, through vast barren districts, among rugged hills, marshes, lakes, and rivers, in the severest of climates, exhibit in the explorers an amount of courage, endurance, and perseverance never surpassed. In the course of the rivers occur many dangerous falls, rapids, and cataracts, amid rocks and huge boulders, between which the voyagers' frail barks make their way, running a fearful risk every instant of being dashed to pieces. Not a tree rears its head in the wild and savage landscape, the vegetation consisting chiefly of lichens and mosses. Among the former the tripe

NORTHERN" REGION. 17

de roche is the most capable of supporting life. Here winter reigns with stern rigour for ten months in the year ; and even in summer biting blasts, h ail - storms, and rain frequently occur. Yet in this inhospitable region numerous herds of reindeer, musk-oxen, and other mammalia find subsistence during the brief summer, as do partridge and numerous birds of various species.

Here the Esquimaux lives in his skin-tent during the warmer months, and in his snow-hut in winter, existing on the seals which he catches with his harpoon, the whales occasionally cast on shore, and the bears, deer, and smaller animals he entraps.

The numerous rivers flowing from the mountain- ridges mostly make their way northward. The Mackenzie, the largest and most western, rising in the Great Slave and Great

Bear Lakes, falls, after a course of many hundred miles, into the Polar Sea. The Coppermine River, rising in Point Lake, makes its course in the same direction ; while eastward, the great Fish or Back River, flowing from the same lake as the first mentioned stream, reaches the ocean many hundred miles away from it, at the lower extremity of Bathurst Islet. It runs rapidly in a tortuous course of 530 geographical miles" through an iron-ribbed country, without a single tree on the whole line of its banks, expanding here and there into five large lakes, and broken by thirty-three falls, cascades, and rapids ere it reaches the Polar Sea. Not far from its mouth rises the barren rocky height of Cape Beaufort.

It was down this stream that Captain Back, the Arctic explorer, made his way, but was compelled to return on account of the inclemency of the weather and the difficulty of finding fuel ; the only vegetation which he could discover

18 XORTHERX REGION".

being fern and moss, which was so wet that it would not burn, while he was almost without fire, or any means of obtaining warmth, his men sinking knee-deep as they proceeded on shore in the soft slush and snow, which benumbed their limbs and dispirited them in the extreme. Through this country the unhappy remnant of the Franklin expedition, many years later, perished in their attempt to reach the Hudson Bay Company's territory. Here, in winter, the thermometer sinks 70° below zero. Even within his hut, when he had succeeded in lighting a fire, Back could not get it higher than 1 2° below zero. Ink and paint froze. The sextant cases, and boxes of seasoned wood — principally fir — all split; the skin of the hands became dried, cracked, and opened into unsightly and smarting gashes; and on one occasion, after washing his hands and face within three feet of the fire, his hair was actually clotted with ice before he had time to dry it. The hunters described the sensation of handling their guns as similar to that of touching red-hot iron; and so excessive was the pain, that they were obliged to wrap thongs of leather round the triggers to prevent their fingers coming in contact with the steel. Numbers of the Indian inhabitants of the country perish from cold and hunger every year — indeed, it seems wonderful that human beings should attempt to live in such a country ; yet much further north, the hardy Esquimaux, subsisting on whale's blubber and seal's flesh, contrives to support life in tolerable comfort.

To the south of the Arctic Circle stunted fir-trees begin to appear, and at length grow so thickly, that it is with difficulty a passage can be made amid them. Frequently the explorer has to clamber over fallen trees, through rivulets, bogs, and swamps, till often the difficulties in the way

.MOUNTAINS. 19

V appear insurmountable to all but the boldest and the most persevering.

MOUNTAINS.

On the western side of the continent rises gradually from the Polar regions the mighty chain which runs throughout its whole length — a distance of altogether 1 0, 000 miles. The northern portion, known as the Rocky Mountains, runs for 3000 miles, in two parallel chains, to the plains of Mexico, flanked by two other parallel ranges on the west, — the most northern of which are the Sea Alps of the north-west coast, and on the southern, the mountains of California. At the north-western end of the Sea Alps rises the lofty mountain of Mount Elias, 17,000 feet in height — the highest mountain in North America — not far from Behring Bay ; while another range, the Chippewayan, stretches eastward, culminating in Mount Brown, 10,000 feet in height, and gradually diminishing, till it sinks into insignificance towards the Arctic Circle. Point Barrow is the most northern point of America on the western side. It consists of a long narrow spit, composed of gravel and loose sand, which the pressure of the ice has forced up into numerous masses, having the appearance of rocks. From this point eastward to the mouth of the Mackenzie River the coast declines a little south of east. The various mountain ranges existing on the eastern side of the continent, including the chain of the Allcghanies, form what is called the Appalachian system. It consists of numerous parallel chains, some of which form detached ridges, the whole running from the north-east to the south-west, and it

extends about 1200 miles in length — from Maine to Alabama. Besides the Alleghany M ountains in the western part of Virginia and the central parts of Pennsylvania, it embraces

20 GREAT RIVERS.

the Catskill Mountains in the State of New York, the Green Mountains in the State of Vermont, the highlands eastward of the Hudson River, and the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Mount Washington, which rises to an elevation of G634 feet out of the last-named range, is the highest peak, of the whole system. To the north of the St. Lawrence the iofty range of the Wotchish Mountains extends towards the coast of Labrador; while the whole region west and north of that river and the great Canadian lakes is of considerable length, the best-known range being that which contains the Lacloche Mountains, which appear to the north of Lake Huron, and extend towards the Ottawa River. These two great ranges of mountains divide the North American continent into three portions.

GREAT RIVERS.

The rivers which rise on the eastern side of the Appalachian range run into the Atlantic ; those which rise west of the Rocky Mountains empty themselves into the Pacific ; while the mighty streams which flow between the two, pass through the great basin of the Mississippi, and swell the waters of that mother of rivers. The great valley of the Mississippi, indeed, drains a surface greater than that of any other river on the globe, with the exception perhaps of the Amazon. The Missouri, even before it reaches it, runs a

course of 1300 miles, while the Mississippi itself, before its confluence with the Missouri, has already passed over a distance of 1200 miles ; thence to its mouth its course is upwards of 1200 miles more. The Arkansas, which flows into it, is 2000 miles long, and the Red River of the south 1500 miles in length; while the Ohio, to its junction with the Mississippi, is nearly 1000 miles long.

LAKES. 21

North America may be said to contain four great valleys ■ — that of the Mississippi, running north and south ; that of the St. Lawrence, from the south-west to the north-east ; that of the Saskatchewan, extending from the Rocky Mountains below Mount Brown to Lake Superior ; that of the Mackenzie, from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. Although a large portion of the eastern side of the continent is densely wooded, there are towards the west, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, vast plains. In the south they are treeless and barren in the extreme ; while advancing northward they are covered with rich grasses, which afford support to vast herds of buffaloes, as well as deer and other animals.

LAKES.

The most remarkable feature in North 'America is its lakesystem— the largest and most important in the world. In the north-west, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, are the Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes, which discharge their waters through the Mackenzie River into the Arctic Ocean. Next wc have the Athabasca, Wollaston, and Deer Lakes. In the very centre of the continent are the two important lakes of Winnipeg and Winnipegoos, — the former 240 miles in length by 55 in width, and the latter about half the size. The large river of the Saskatchewan flows into Lake Winnipeg, and with it will, ere long, form an important means of communication between the different parts of that vast district lately opened up for colonization. At its southern end the Red River of the north flows into it, on the banks of which a British settlement has lornr' been established. Several streams, however, make their way into Hudson Bay, Be-

2 B

22 LA K KS.

tween it and Lake Superior is an elevated ridge of about To 00 feet in height; the streams on the west falling into Lake Winnipeg, while those which flow towards the oast reach Lake Superior.

We now come to the site of the five largest fresh-water lakes in the world. Lake Superior extends, from west to east, 335 miles, with an extreme breadth of 175. Its waters flow through the St. Mary's River by a rapid descent into Lake Huron, which is 240 miles long. This lake is divided by the Manitoulin islands into two portions, and is connected with Lake Michigan by a narrow channel without rapids, so that the two lakes together may be considered to form one sheet of water. On its southern extremity the waters of Lake Huron flow through another narrow channel, which expands during part of its course into- Lake St. Clair;

and they then enter Lake Erie, which has a length of 265 miles, and a breadth of 8 0 miles. It is of much less depth than the other lakes, and its surface is therefore easily broken up into dangerous billows by strong winds. Passing onward towards the north-east, the current enters the Niagara River, about half-way down which it leaps along a rocky ledge of 100 feet in height, to a lower level, forming the celebrated Falls of Niagara, and then passes on in a rapid course into Lake Ontario. The fall between the two lakes is 333 feet. Lake Ontario is 180 miles long and 65 miles wide. Out of its north-eastern end falls the broad stream which here generally takes the name of the St. Lawrence, and which proceeds onward, now widening into lake-like expanses full of islands, now compressed into a narrow channel, in a northeasterly direction. The true St. Lawrence may indeed be considered as traversing the whole system of the great lakes of m

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North America, and thus being little less than a thousand miles in direct length ; indeed, including its windings, it is fully two thousand miles loner. To the north-west of it exist countless numbers of small lakes united by a network of streams; while

SCENERY ON THK ST. LAWRENCE — LAKE OF THE THOUSAND ISLES numerous large rivers, such as the Ottawa, the St. Maurice, and the Sagueuay, flow into it, and assist to swell its current. There are numerous other small lakes to the west of the Rocky Mountains, a large number of which exist in the Province of British Columbia, and are more or less connected with the Fraser and Columbia Rivers. Further to the south

• * origin some are other lakes, many of them of volcanic

intensely salt, others formed of hot mud. Among these is the

20 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS,

Great Salt Lake, in the State of Utah. To the south of the St. Lawrence also is Lake Champlain, 105 miles long, though extremely narrow,- — being only 10 miles in its widest part, narrowing in some places to half a mile. Near it is the beautiful Lake St. George, with several other small lakes ; and lastly, in Florida, there is a chain of small lakes, terminating in Lake Okechodee — a circular sheet of water about thirty miles in diameter.

We must now proceed more particularly to examine the regions of which we have obtained the preceding cursory view, but, before we do so, we must glance at their human inhabitants.

ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS THE RED MEN OF THE WILDS.

While the white men from Europe occupy the whole

eastern coast, pressing rapidly and steadily westward, the Redskin aborigines maintain a precarious existence throughout the centre of the continent, from north to south, and are still found here and there on the western shores. On the northern ice-bound coast, the skin-clothed Esquimaux wander in small bands from Behring Strait to Baffin Bay, but never venture far inland, being kept in check by their hereditary enemies, the Athabascas, the most northern of the red-skinned nations. The Esquimaux, inhabiting the Arctic regions, may

more properly be described in the volume devoted to that nart of the u'lobc.

1 o

INDIAN WIGWAMS.

Here and there, in openings in the primeval forest, either natural or artificial, on the banks of streams and lakes, several small conical structures may be seen, composed of long" stakes, stuck in the ground in circular form, and fastened at the top.

rXDT.VN WIGWAMS.

The walls consist of large sheets of birch bark, layer above

layer, fastened to the stakes. On the lee-side is left a small opening for ingress and egress, which can he closed by a sheet of bark, or the skin of a wild animal. At the apex, also, an aperture is allowed to remain for the escape of the smoke from the fire which hums within. Lines are secured to the