Of the bodily constitution of the North American Indians, and of the measure of their intellectual faculties¹.

Robertson, in his graphic² representations of Indian character, affirms or rather insinuates³, that the constitution of the American Indian labours under some physical defect. But that this defect is an accident arising from the influence of peculiar⁵ institutions, and the mode of training prevalent among the Indian tribes, is evidenced by the facts which that historian himself relates. The American Indian may be indolent during a season of peace. Extreme lassitude and an apparent want of physical energy may form the more prominent traits in his character. But when war demands his exertions⁸ in the field, or when pressed by the necessities of nature to go in quest of food, he displays a courage, an address, and an amount of bodily energy which prove him to be possessed⁹ of physical strength equal to that which the natives of more polished and civilized¹⁰ climes exhibit. It is during a season of hunting or of war that the most strenuous¹¹ exertions of courage, force, and activity are called forth¹². The savage¹³ of America, at such a time, appears to shake off the native indolence of his disposition¹⁴. He becomes patient, active, courageous¹⁵ and

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