The conjurer had the folly to boast that he had caused its death and the enraged father shot him dead on the spot.

It may be remarked however that both these Indians were inhabitants of the plains and had been taught, by their intercourse with the turbulent Stone Indians, to set but comparatively little value on the life of a man.
It might be thought that the Crees have benefited by their long intercourse with civilised nations.

That this is not so much the case as it ought to be is not entirely their own fault.

They are capable of being and, I believe, willing to be, taught; but no pains have hitherto been taken to inform their minds,* and their white acquaintances seem in general to find it easier to descend to the Indian customs and modes of thinking, particularly with respect to women, than to attempt to raise the Indians to theirs.

Indeed such a lamentable want of morality has been displayed by the white traders in their contests for the interests of their respective companies that it would require a long series of good conduct to efface from the minds of the native population the ideas they have formed of the white character.