...begin sample page...
and the busy hum of industry was heard from morning to night. Under the direction of the Chief Woman, stores of dried
meat were laid by for Winter use, berries were gathered and prepared during the Summer season, and furs collected
and dressed for protection against the cold of the long and severe Winters.
On the other hand, the colony of men, though under the immediate care of the Old Man
himself, were by no means prosperous. They hunted with rude stone weapons, and fished with ill-contrived hooks of bone. They
devoured their food raw (for they were too improvident to keep a fire burning in the camp), and exhibited neither prudence
nor industry. Their only dwellings were rude holes scooped in the earth, and their only thought was the gratification of present
hunger or thirst.The Old Man was discouraged. His utmost efforts had failed to inspire the men with any sentiment of reverence for his
teachings or gratitude for his care. If they obeyed his directions, it was only while he was present to enforce, under the
dread of punishment, an observance of laws prescribed for their best interests. The Old Man, therefore, left the men's camp
in disgust, and journeyed northward, toward the spot where he had left the colony of women. At the first sight of the
village, the Old Man was astonished. He had dreamed of no such capacity for improvement as was there presented, and he at
once conceived a plan for ameliorating the condition of his bachelors. Lying in wait at the entrance of the park, he succeeded
in catching two of the women,