| OF THE INDIAN MIND. 267
down, the mats and clothing to make, fuel to bring
for the fire, and the field to till.
But all this probably made no more than her
fair proportion of toil and exposure, when we
consider the sufferings and danger and fatigue which
fell to the lot of the husband in his hunting and
fishing expeditions. The privations which the men
sometimes endured in their long tramps through
the forests, especially amid the snows and storms
and intense cold which reigned in all the northern
forests for so large a portion of the year, were
indescribably great, especially since the indomitable
pride of the hunter often prevented his returning
home, however urgent his own personal necessities
might be, without having first obtained his game.
Instances have been known of the Indians wandering
in the woods until they have become perfectly
exhausted, and of their then lying down and perishing
with hunger, rather than go home to a starving
family, without the means of supplying them with
food.
POLYGAMY.
Polygamy prevailed to some extent among the
Indian tribes. Of course, since the number of the
sexes is everywhere so nearly equal, this practice
can never be carried to any very great extent in
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