This man seemed to have inherited from the white
side of his ancestry somewhat of the love of a constant habitation, for a
genuine Indian has no particular dislike to a distant journey. He takes
his habitation with him, and is at home wherever there is game and fish,
and poles with which to construct his lodge. In a further conversation
with the half-breed, he spoke of the Sault as a delightful abode, and
expatiated on the pleasures of the place.
"It is the greatest place in the world for fun," said he; "we dance all
winter; our women are all good dancers; our little girls can dance single
and double jigs as good as any body in the States. That little girl
there," pointing to a long-haired girl at the door, "will dance as good as
any body."
The fusion of the two races in this neighborhood is remarkable; the mixed
breed running by gradual shades into the aboriginal on the one hand, and
into the white on the other; children with a tinge of the copper hue in
the families of white men, and children scarcely less fair sometimes seen
in the wigwams. Some of the half-caste ladies at the Falls of St. Mary,
who have been educated in the Atlantic states, are persons of graceful and
dignified manners and agreeable conversation.
