NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.            191

WHAT STRENGTHENS AND SHAPES THE INDIANS SO
                      WELL.

  The children of the Indians when they leave the
cradle, are not co N fined in any manner; and as soon as
they can crawl upon their hands and feet, they let them
go where they will, quite naked, into the water, into the
woods, and into the snow, which makes their bodies
strong, their limbs very supple, and hardens them against
the injuries of the air; but it makes them also subject to
distempers of the stomach and lungs which destroy them
early. In summer, they run as soon as they are up to
the river, or into the lakes, and continue there a part
of the day, playing like fish when it is fine weather at
the surface of the water. It is certain that nothing is
better than this exercise to make their joints free, and to
render them nimble.


             THEIR FIRST EXERCISES.

  They put a bow and arrow into their hands betimes;
and in order to excite in them that emulation, which is
the best teacher of the arts, there is no need to set their
breakfasts on the top of a tree, as they did with the
young Lacedemonians. They are all born with that
passion for glory that has no need of a spur; and indeed
they shoot with a surprising exactness, and with a little
practice, they acquire the same dexterity in the use of
fire arms. They make them also wrestle, and they
pursue this exercise so eagerly, that they would often
kill one another, if they were not parted. Those who
are defeated, are so enraged at it, that they do not take the
least repose till they have their revenge.