The
ill-usage they have been subjected to by the Americans, may, however,
account for this in a great measure. They were described to me by one of
the residents as a dissipated set of fellows, who squandered all they
got in "fire-water," as they term ardent spirits, and when inebriated
are so quarrelsome that it is dangerous in the highest degree to
irritate them.
Not very long after I arrived, a circumstance occurred that threatened
most fearful consequences. The Indians whom I have before referred to
were in the frequent habit, when they came to the city, to dispose of
their produce (for many of them followed husbandry) of getting so tipsy,
that there was continual danger of bloodshed; their natural animosity on
such occasions being roused with fearful vehemence, so that the
authorities were compelled to adopt some steps to remedy the evil. It
was no uncommon occurrence to see an Indian waggon by the road-side,
with its pair of horses _sans_ driver, who might have been found either
drunk or quarreling at the other end of the city.
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