*-..^' 
 
 ITTLE 
 
 
Little Folks of 
 North America 
 
From Copyrighted Stcrcograpli l^ L'u'lciwuud & UndcrwuLMl, X. V 
 
 A Little Indian Boy. 
 
Little Folks of 
 North America 
 
 STORIES ABOUT CHILDREN LIVING IN 
 
 THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF 
 
 NORTH AMERICA 
 
 BY 
 MARY HAZLETON WADE 
 
 Illustrated by reproductions from Photographs 
 
 W. A. WILDE COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON CHICAGO 
 

 Copyright, 1909 
 By W. a. Wilde Company 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 Little Folks of North America 
 
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 48144 V 
 

 
 1 
 
 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. Little Folks of Iceland 
 
 PAGE 
 
 13 
 
 II. 
 
 Little Folks of Greenland .... 
 
 26 
 
 III. 
 
 Little Folks of Alaska 
 
 55 
 
 IV. 
 
 Little Folks of Canada 
 
 80 
 
 V. 
 
 Little Folks of Labrador .... 
 
 116 
 
 VI. 
 
 Little Folks of Newfoundland . 
 
 120 
 
 VII. 
 
 Little Folks of the United States 
 
 128 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Little Folks of Mexico 
 
 . 179 
 
 IX. 
 
 Little Folks of Central America . . 
 
 206 
 
 X. 
 
 Little Folks of the West Indies . 
 
 . 214 
 
Illustrations 
 
 Page 
 A Little Indian Boy Frontispiece 
 
 An Eskimo Mother and Baby 30 
 
 An Eskimo Village in Summer 52 
 
 An Eskimo Village in Alaska 60 ' 
 
 An Alaskan Village Showing Indian Totem Poles . . 74 
 
 Little Canadian Indian Children 96 
 
 Picking Cotton on a Georgia Plantation 144 
 
 How They Harvest Wheat on the Prairies 152 
 
 Children Working in the Cotton Factory in a Big City . 174 
 
 A Mexican Village 190 
 
Foreword 
 
 YOU all know the story of Columbus — how, 
 more than four hundred years ago, he 
 sailed from Spain out into the west; and 
 also how the people, as they watched his ships 
 fading from sight, believed they would never 
 look upon the fleet again, for the brave sailors 
 who manned it were moving into an unknown 
 world whose dangers no one could measure. 
 
 You also remember what happened before 
 Columbus returned from that long voyage — that 
 a new continent was discovered where strange 
 people of a race before unheard-of were living 
 the life of savages, and that the great sailor, be- 
 lieving he had entered the waters of India, 
 named these red men, Indians. 
 
 Instead of reaching India, as he supposed, he 
 had brought to light a new and great continent 
 — so vast that it embraced all climates; rich, 
 moreover, in mines and forests, lakes and rivers, 
 high mountains, fertile plains and valleys. 
 And there were none to enjoy all these beautiful 
 
 9 
 
10 Little Folks of North America 
 
 gifts of God save tribes of red men, except in 
 the far north the Eskimos in scattered villages. 
 They, too, like the Indians, were savages who 
 knew nothing of the ways of white men. They 
 lived in small settlements along the ice-covered 
 shores of the ocean. 
 
 After Columbus had crossed the Atlantic and 
 discovered this New World, other ships soon 
 followed in the course he had marked, and the 
 people of Europe settled in one place after an- 
 other. At first they made their homes near the 
 shores of the ocean. This was partly through 
 fear of the red men who were not pleased at the 
 thought of these new neighbors, so different from 
 themselves. As years went by, however, the 
 newcomers moved farther and farther into the 
 west, driving the Indians and the wild beasts be- 
 fore them, until now the homes of the white 
 men are found throughout the land. People of 
 unlike faiths and speaking diflferent languages 
 cross the ocean in shiploads, for they feel that 
 when America is reached they will find freedom 
 and happiness. 
 
 The Indians who are still left in the country 
 are slowly learning the ways of the white men. 
 They are taught in schools by white teachers. 
 
Foreword 1 1 
 
 They live in houses instead of the wigwams 
 which were their former homes. They dress in 
 white men's clothes. They even plant gardens 
 and care for their farms in the way of civilized 
 people. 
 
 There are many Negroes in North America 
 also, but they are found mostly in the southern 
 part of the United States. They were first 
 brought as slaves from Africa, but are now free 
 and independent. Although they were once 
 savages like the Indians, they have been quick 
 to imitate and have easily fallen into the ways of 
 the white men. Thus the red and the black 
 races, the white and the yellow, can all be found 
 at home in North America, abiding together in 
 peace and comfort as the children of One Great 
 Father should do. 
 
Little Folks 
 of North America 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 Little Folks of Iceland 
 
 IN the far northeast corner of North America 
 lies the island of Iceland where little Dan- 
 ish children live far from the rest of the 
 world. It is very cold in that northern country, 
 yet the presence of volcanoes there and the lava 
 that spreads over much of the country tell the 
 story that ages ago the island was slowly built up 
 from the lava that flowed from volcanoes rising 
 up out of the bed of the ocean. 
 
 However that may be, the boys and girls of 
 Iceland are happy little people who laugh and 
 sing, dance and play as merrily as children who 
 live where the sun shines all the year round and 
 the seasons chase each other so rapidly that 
 Mother Nature is constantly preparing new de- 
 lights for them. 
 
 13 
 
14 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Away back in the ninth century a great chief 
 called Nadodd left Europe in search of adven- 
 ture. When he had sailed for a long time he 
 came in sight of a land covered with snow. It 
 seemed a cold, bleak place, but he landed, never- 
 theless, and gave the country the name of Snow- 
 land. 
 
 After Nadodd came two Norse chiefs who had 
 quarreled with their king and left Norway to 
 seek a new home. Although they found Snow- 
 land or rather Iceland, as it is now called, cold 
 and desolate as Nadodd had done, they decided 
 to settle there and other people from Norway 
 followed them and built homes for themselves 
 and their families along the coast. 
 
 These things and many more are written down 
 in a big book treasured by the Icelanders to-day, 
 — how little children were born to the settlers, 
 how they were ruled by their chiefs, and how, 
 after a while, one of their people went back to 
 Europe and listened to the teachings of the 
 Christian religion. He gave up his belief in 
 heathen gods, and when he came back to Iceland 
 he converted the settlers. From that time they, 
 too, were Christians and had Christian ministers 
 
Little Folks of Iceland 15 
 
 among them who taught and helped their little 
 ones and themselves. 
 
 As time went by Norway, and with it Iceland, 
 came under the rule of Denmark. Afterwards 
 it became separate again, but Iceland did not, 
 and is to this day looked upon as belonging to 
 the Danes. Most of the children, however, by 
 reading in the famous old book of their people, 
 can trace their families back to the two Nor- 
 wegian chiefs and their followers who were the 
 first settlers in Iceland. 
 
 The children of Iceland live so far north that 
 they know only a short summer. The days then 
 are very long and there is scarcely any night. 
 In the month of June there is really no night at 
 all and there is no way of telling, except by the 
 clock and their own sleepiness, when it is time 
 to go to bed. The winters are quite the opposite. 
 They are very long and bitter cold. Scarcely 
 any of the time does the sun shine, yet the long 
 nights are beautiful, for the moon and stars shine 
 brightly and the northern lights, or aurora bore- 
 alis, flash over the heavens in a wonderful way 
 not seen in warmer lands. 
 
 On the long winter evenings the boys and girls 
 
i6 Little Folks of North America 
 
 are never happier than when listening to the 
 stories that have been handed down from father 
 to son for hundreds of years. They call these 
 stories sagas. Some of them are legends, and 
 others tell about the lives of people who lived in 
 Iceland from the beginning of its history. 
 There are many poems, too, which the little Ice- 
 landers learn ''by heart," and which they repeat 
 in a half-singing tone, after the way of their peo- 
 ple. These were written in the long-ago by war- 
 riors called "skalds." They tell of battles and 
 brave deeds and lovely ladies, and the children of 
 to-day think them so beautiful that many of them 
 try to write little poems themselves. This 
 pleases their parents greatly and makes them feel 
 quite proud that their own little ones are follow- 
 ing in the steps of their ancestors. 
 
 Geysers and Glaciers. 
 
 Iceland is never without snow and ice. On 
 the warmest summer day the children can look 
 on glaciers, or rivers of ice, that flow so slowly 
 toward the sea from the inland country that one 
 does not see them moving at all. 
 
 These glaciers look like broad fields of broken 
 ice, piled up in strange, rough shapes. The sum- 
 
Little Folks of Iceland 17 
 
 mer sun melts the ice ever so little, and those who 
 venture near the edge find rills of v^ater flowing 
 down the sides of the great cakes and boulders. 
 As the glaciers enter the sea masses of ice some- 
 times break away, and turning over and over in 
 the deep water, right themselves at last and sail 
 out to sea as the icebergs that are often met by 
 sailors on their way across the ocean. 
 
 *'We have geysers as well as glaciers," the chil- 
 dren of Iceland will tell you, and they are glad to 
 show their knowledge of them to the travelers 
 who visit that distant land. A geyser is a boil- 
 ing spring which bursts up out of the ground like 
 a fountain, sometimes with such force that the 
 water rises into the air higher than the tallest 
 building you have ever seen. 
 
 There are other kinds of hot springs, too, in 
 the country, where the water simply bubbles up. 
 There is one large town in Iceland called Reik- 
 javik, which is the capital of the island, and 
 about a mile and a half away there is a hot spring 
 where the washing is done for the people of the 
 town. 
 
 Almost every day women go there from Reik- 
 javik with hand-carts filled with soiled cloth- 
 ing. When they reach the spring they roll up 
 
i8 Little Folks of North America 
 
 their sleeves, tuck up their skirts, and begin the 
 scrubbing and rinsing, the boiling and wringing 
 that end in making the clothes as white as snow. 
 From time to time they stop to drink coffee and 
 have a friendly chat, but all the washing is done 
 in the open air, without need of stove or fire to 
 help the workers. 
 
 Sheds have been built near the spring where 
 the ironing is afterwards done. Then the clothes 
 are neatly packed in the little carts and taken 
 back to the town to be returned to the owners. 
 
 The little Icelanders are very fond of their 
 waterfalls, some of which are very beautiful. 
 The country is so rough and rocky that the 
 streams often plunge over step lava cliffs and 
 fall with a loud roar to the depths below. 
 
 There are so few sounds to be heard, because 
 there are no railroads or large factories in the 
 whole country, that the children like to visit 
 these waterfalls and listen to the water as it 
 plunges downwards over the cliffs. Then they 
 return to the quiet farmhouses to play with their 
 lambs and dogs, and to dream of the children of 
 other lands far away where life is so different. 
 
Little Folks of Iceland 19 
 
 In the Homes. 
 
 The fathers of the little Icelanders support 
 their families by fishing, by raising cattle and 
 sheep, and by hunting the birds that make their 
 homes on the island during the summer. 
 
 Few trees grow in that cold land, so the homes 
 are generally built of turf and lava, neatly 
 painted red and thatched with sod. Small gar- 
 dens are planted as soon as the long winter is 
 over, and there the boys help in planting cab- 
 bages and lettuce, radishes and parsley, flax and 
 turnips. A few potatoes are sometimes raised, 
 too, but only those vegetables that will grow fast 
 ripen in that cold northern land. Short, thick 
 grass grows near the little homes, which are 
 usually built in the valleys protected from the 
 cold winds by the hills around them. There 
 the men tend their flocks of sheep and herds of 
 cattle which graze on the grass in summer and 
 in winter eat the hay which their masters have 
 gathered for them. 
 
 The children of Iceland are rather small, but 
 they are quite strong for their size. They have 
 yellow hair and blue eyes and are brought up 
 to be gentle and polite. On week-days they 
 
20 Little Folks of North America 
 
 go to school where they are taught very care- 
 fully, and on Sundays they go to church with 
 their fathers and mothers, where they sing 
 hymns very slowly and listen to long sermons 
 by their good pastor. Sometimes the church 
 is too far away to walk the whole distance. 
 Then the whole family ride on ponies to the 
 place of worship, and often, if they have come 
 a very long ways, they are treated to cake and 
 coffee at the minister's house before they start 
 out again for home. 
 
 The people are obliged to dress very warmly, 
 and so the women of each household are busy, 
 early and late, carding and spinning the wool 
 from the sheep and weaving it into soft, thick 
 garments for their families. 
 
 In every home you will be sure to find the 
 women's fingers moving busily at their work, 
 while the loom and spinning-wheel seems to be 
 constantly in motion. 
 
 Almost every home contains many children, 
 who eat fish and drink milk day after day, with 
 little change of food throughout the year. Only 
 the richer families can have bread, for the flour 
 out of which it is made, as well as the coffee and 
 chocolate which even the poorest people man- 
 
Little Folks of Iceland 21 
 
 age to buy, must come in ships from Europe. 
 Every one, however, can have cakes made of a 
 kind of moss, or lichen, which grows on the 
 island. Some of it is sent to other countries to 
 use in medicine, and is known as Iceland moss. 
 The children are often sent to gather it for their 
 mothers, who dry it and grind it to powder and 
 then make it into cakes which are boiled and 
 then eaten with milk. 
 
 In the summer time the boys and girls hunt 
 for birds' eggs of which they are very fond, and 
 sometimes their fathers kill a sheep or cow, 
 which furnishes fresh meat for several days. 
 
 The children love their dogs which are often 
 very pretty and are petted a good deal. They 
 help their masters care for the sheep and are 
 very faithful. Sometimes the cows wander a 
 long ways in search of grass, but with the ap- 
 proach of night they come home to be milked 
 and cared for. The ewes are milked, too, and 
 their young masters and mistresses have no idea 
 how strange this must seem to many travelers. 
 Even the little children learn to ride the stout, 
 patient ponies, and if they have an errand to do 
 for their parents they seldom think of walking, 
 but on to the ponies' backs they spring, and away 
 
22 Little Folks of North America 
 
 they go across the snow-fields and over the roads 
 till they reach the place for which they are 
 bound. 
 
 The little girls are taught to knit and spin and 
 do fine needle work. They help make the 
 clothes for the family, which are of the same 
 fashion, year after year. The mother always 
 wears a black cloth dress with white under waist 
 showing in front, a snowy apron, and on her 
 head is sure to be a black cap with long tassel 
 and a silver ornament. If it is very cold she 
 winds a shawl around her head. Her daughters 
 dress much as she does, except that they wear 
 no caps till they are thirteen or fourteen years 
 old. 
 
 The boys help in the work of the farm and go 
 hunting and fishing with their fathers. Herds 
 of reindeer wander over the island and their 
 flesh makes a pleasant change in the daily fare, 
 while the skins furnish thick, warm coats for the 
 Icelanders. There are also foxes, but they and 
 the reindeer are almost the only wild creatures, 
 with the exception of the birds, found in the 
 whole country. 
 
 There are many kinds of birds, — gulls, ptar- 
 migans, swans, and wild geese, all come to the 
 
Little Folks of Iceland 23 
 
 island to lay their eggs and raise their young, 
 but the most precious of all are the eider-ducks 
 whose bodies are covered with soft thick down. 
 The mother eider-duck lines her nest with this 
 down which she plucks out from her own breast, 
 thus making a soft and comfortable home for 
 the baby birds. After they are hatched the 
 hunters go about from nest to nest, collecting 
 the down which is taken home and spread ou' 
 in the sun to dry. Then it is tied up in bags and 
 sold in the town. Some of it is sent away to 
 other countries and made into the eider-down 
 quilts which are sold for a large price. 
 
 Getting Fish. 
 
 During the summer every village along the 
 coast is full of busy people. The men and boys 
 sail or row out to the places were cod and halibut 
 are plentiful, and there they fish from morning 
 till night, when they bring home the ''catch" 
 which they give into the care of their wives and 
 daughters. At these times the women wear 
 long waterproof aprons and thick woolen gloves. 
 They, too, are busy all day long cleaning and 
 splitting the fish at large tanks near the water's 
 edge, then salting and drying them for their 
 
24 Little Folks of North America 
 
 own use during the coming year, or to be 
 packed and sent to Reikjavik from which they 
 are shipped to other countries. The fish, to- 
 gether with butter and 'ponies, are the principal 
 things sent out from Iceland, and the ships that 
 come to receive them bring the sugar, coffee and 
 chocolate, the dishes and tools necessary to the 
 simple housekeeping of the Icelanders. 
 
 The Cave of Surtur. 
 
 There are many caves in Iceland, some of 
 which are used by the farmers for storing their 
 hay and housing their cattle. The most won- 
 derful of them all is the large cave of Surtur, 
 whose floor is carpeted with snow and ice. 
 
 The visitor enters a long hall and the dim 
 light of his torch makes him think at first that 
 he is looking at rows of statues. But they are 
 pillars of ice and snow which reach up from 
 the floor and have taken upon themselves many 
 queer forms. Farther on in the hall bars of ice 
 form a large screen before the eyes of the trav- 
 eler. On every side new wonders meet his eyes 
 as he goes farther and farther underground till 
 at last he longs for the daylight and turns back, 
 
Little Folks of Iceland 25 
 
 glad indeed when he has reached the mouth of 
 the cave once more. 
 
 Many people who have visited Iceland say 
 that the grandest sights in the whole world are 
 to be seen in that island. The hills of lava with 
 the ice-fields stretching between them, the gey- 
 sers bursting forth out of the ground with a 
 sound of thunder, the lofty volcanoes that look 
 like sleeping giants of snow and ice, the great 
 caves whose stalactites are coated with ice, all 
 these things and many more make Iceland a land 
 of wonder to those who visit that lonely island. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 Little Folks of Greenland 
 
 The Coming of Eric the Red 
 
 WEST of Ireland is the largest island in 
 the world. It is called Greenland, but 
 the boys and girls who live there have 
 little reason to know it by such a name, for it is 
 a country cf snow and ice where fierce winds are 
 blowing the greater part of the year and where 
 the frost king rules even in the summer-time. 
 Long ago there were brave sailors in northern 
 Europe called Norsemen, who ventured out into 
 the western waters farther than any other known 
 people at that time. Some of them, as you know, 
 sailed as far as Iceland where they settled and 
 made a home for themselves. 
 
 By and by one of these settlers sailed still far- 
 ther into the west- Fierce storms arose and 
 strong winds blew his ship till he came in sight 
 
 26 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 27 
 
 of a land whose shores were bound in ice. At 
 last the storm passed; then he turned his ship 
 about and sailed for home. 
 
 When he reached Iceland he told of what he 
 had seen. Among those who listened to him was 
 another daring sailor, Eric the Red. 
 
 Not long afterwards Eric the Red killed an- 
 other man in a quarrel, and on account of this 
 wrong deed he was told that he could not stay in 
 Iceland, but must leave his home for two years 
 at least. 
 
 He now thought of the story he had heard of 
 a land farther west. He said to himself, ''I will 
 seek that country and perhaps I will find a home 
 there to my liking." 
 
 He set out with a brave heart and sailed on till 
 at last he saw before him a bare and desolate 
 land. He steered his ship past great icebergs 
 and floating masses of ice and entered a harbor. 
 
 It was not a pleasant country in which to make 
 a home. There was no person to greet him ; not 
 a single tree to offer its shade. Yet he made 
 himself as comfortable as possible and built a 
 house of stone against the side of a steep cliff. 
 He fished in the icy waters and hunted over the 
 snow-covered fields; thus he and his few com- 
 
28 Little Folks of North America 
 
 panions got enough food to keep themselves from 
 starving. 
 
 Two winters passed in this new home and 
 Eric the Red, who had been used to hardship, 
 enjoyed himself because he was free to do as he 
 pleased and there were no enemies to disturb 
 him. In fact, all the time he and his followers 
 were in Greenland they met no other people, 
 and so they believed they were the only ones liv- 
 ing in that ice-bound country. In their wan- 
 derings, however, they discovered that there 
 were many high mountains, deep and narrow 
 bays, and glaciers. 
 
 The time came when Eric the Red could go 
 back to Iceland. On his return he said to him- 
 self, '^I will say that I found a pleasant home 
 in the west. I will give the place the pleasant 
 name of Greenland. Then some of the people 
 will wish to go back with me and settle there." 
 
 Eric the Red painted such a delightful pic- 
 ture of his stay in the distant land that a goodly 
 company started out with him in twenty-five 
 ships when he returned to Greenland. Some of 
 these ships were wrecked; others were driven 
 back by fierce winds. Fourteen, however, man- 
 aged to pass the dangerous icebergs and the great 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 29 
 
 masses of floating ice and entered a narrow 
 harbor. 
 
 The people landed on the desolate shore and 
 were soon busy building houses in which to live. 
 There was no lumber because there were no 
 trees, so they had to use stones. 
 
 Afterwards small gardens were dug and 
 planted. Sheds were built of stone where the 
 sheep and oxen the people had brought with 
 them could be protected from the biting cold 
 of the long winter and the fearful storms that 
 raged there. 
 
 Other settlers followed the first ones and made 
 new homes for themselves on the western coast 
 of Greenland, not far from the place chosen by 
 the first-comers. Here, in rough stone houses, 
 little children were born and grew up to be men 
 and women. 
 
 These children did not know the taste of 
 bread. They lived mostly on the meat of seals, 
 walruses, and reindeer, the berries they picked 
 in summer, and the eggs of the wild birds that 
 flew in great flocks over the country when the 
 long, cold winter was over. 
 
 They had many a good time, though. They 
 romped in the frosty air; they slid on the ice; 
 
30 Little Folks of North America 
 
 they petted their lambs and played games; and 
 then, when evening came, they gathered about 
 their fathers to listen to wonderful tales of ad- 
 ventures with wild animals and of fights for life 
 among icebergs and glaciers. Often they must 
 have held their breath, and their blood must 
 have been stirred as they thought, "Soon we will 
 grow up and we, too, will dare what our fathers 
 have dared." 
 
 The Eskimos. 
 
 More than three hundred years passed by. 
 Then the children of the settlers suddenly dis- 
 covered that they were not the only ones living 
 in Greenland. Not far to the north there were 
 other boys and girls with yellow skins, black 
 eyes, round faces and mouths ever ready to 
 stretch in smiles. Far different, indeed, they 
 looked from the Norse children with their fair 
 hair and blue eyes. 
 
 These little strangers spoke an odd-sounding 
 language and when they pointed to themselves 
 they said, "Innuits," meaning '^people." No 
 doubt they and their parents had thought them- 
 selves the only people in the world. The 
 Norsemen called them Skraellings; but long 
 
From Copyrighted Stereograph by Underwood & Underwood, N. 
 
 An Eskimo Mother and Baby, 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 31 
 
 afterwards, when other white men came to 
 Greenland and noticed the manner of living of 
 the natives, they gave them the name of Eskimos 
 which means, ^'Eaters of raw meat." To this 
 day we know them as Eskimos. 
 
 Not long after they met with the Eskimos 
 the white settlers, with their wives and children, 
 disappeared from Greenland. No one knows 
 the reason. Perhaps they all died from a ter- 
 rible sickness that visited them at that time. 
 There are some who think they were killed by 
 the natives. At any rate, there were no more 
 white people in Greenland for two hundred 
 years and the little Eskimos lived on as they 
 always had done. 
 
 The homes of these children are built to-day 
 just as they were in that far-away time when 
 the Norsemen first saw them. They spend the 
 long cold winter in stone huts. The stones are 
 packed closely together and the chinks are 
 stuffed so tightly with turf that the sharpest wind 
 can not make its way inside. A low passage 
 into the house is also built of stones, but it is 
 so low that even the little children must crawl 
 on their hands and knees when they go in and 
 out of the house. 
 
32 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Can you think of the reason for this? It is 
 because the wind must be kept out of the home 
 at all costs. 
 
 When the children have once crept inside, 
 there is not much room over their heads even 
 now, since the house-walls themselves are not 
 more than six or eight feet high. The light 
 is very dim, for the small windows are made 
 of the bowels of seals, as the Eskimos do not 
 have the glass we think so necessary; so they 
 take the best thing they can procure. 
 
 A little more light is given by queer, smoky 
 lamps which are stoves as well. Women are 
 busy tending these all the time, or they would 
 smoke so badly that even the Eskimos, who are 
 used to them, could not breathe the air without 
 choking. 
 
 Each one of these stove-lamps is made of a 
 piece of sandstone hollowed out somewhat in 
 the shape of a dustpan. Pieces of blubber are 
 placed in the bottom and strips of dried moss 
 are set up along one side for wicks. Here the 
 mothers of the Eskimo children do all their 
 cooking, and here the boys and girls must gather 
 when they wish to warm their fingers if Jack 
 Frost has pinched them. 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 33 
 
 Heavy seal or bear skins which have been 
 cured and made ready for use hang down from 
 the walls, making them doubly warm. 
 
 Along the sides of the hut are platforms where 
 the children sit with their parents and where 
 they stretch themselves among piles of furs for 
 the night's rest. These platforms are usually 
 made of wood, one of the most precious things 
 the Eskimos possess. Since no trees grow in 
 Greenland, the only wood the people had in the 
 long ago drifted to their shores. Often it came 
 from the wrecks of vessels that ventured into the 
 dangerous northern waters after whales. Now- 
 adays, however, the Eskimos get lumber from 
 white traders in exchange for oil and furs. For 
 about four months of the winter the sun does not 
 show his face at all. The children must be very 
 glad that during that period the moon shines 
 brightly one week out of every four. That is 
 the time for the best fun, — skating and coasting 
 by moonlight when the snowfields and the ice- 
 bound shores glisten like the most wonderful 
 fairyland you can possibly imagine. 
 
 Before they venture from their homes their 
 loving mothers see that they put on their bird- 
 skin shirts with the soft feathers worn next 
 
34 Little Folks of North America 
 
 the skin. Then there are stockings of hare or 
 dog skin, and high boots of sealskin. 
 
 It would be rather hard at first for you to tell 
 an Eskimo girl from a boy for all the people 
 of the snowland wear trousers which are, of 
 course, much warmer than skirts would be. 
 These trousers, like the boots, are made of heavy 
 skins with the fur on the inside. 
 
 The upper part of the body is covered with a 
 short fur blouse. A fur hood and mittens com- 
 plete the outdoor dress. No suit could be better 
 for traveling over the snow or playing on the 
 icy hillsides than the Greenland mothers make 
 ior their little ones. 
 
 Hunting for Food. 
 
 Sometimes the little Eskimos and their parents 
 feast nearly all day long. This is when their 
 fathers have been successful in the hunt and 
 there is plenty of seal and walrus meat on hand. 
 But there are other times when many hours pass 
 by without food and they do not know how much 
 longer they must wait before they can satisfy 
 their hunger. 
 
 Sometimes the men are away from home for 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 35 
 
 days together, searching the shore for the food 
 their wives and little ones need so much. When 
 at last they have been successful and returned 
 with their loads, the children run out with their 
 mothers to meet the hunters and take care of 
 the precious prize. The women are armed with 
 long knives with which they quickly cut away 
 the skins. The meat is cut up, and with shouts 
 of laughter the children crawl through the nar- 
 row passage into the hut and gather around their 
 mothers, as pieces of the meat are placed in stone 
 dishes and hung over the lamps to cook. 
 
 It may be, that while the children sit eagerly 
 watching for some seal-blood soup to be pre- 
 pared, the women throw them pieces of blubber 
 which they eat greedily. 
 
 All this time the men are stretched about on 
 the low platforms, joking and telling stories 
 while they wait for the feast to begin. As they 
 wait, some of them busy their fingers carving 
 toys out of walrus-teeth for the children, — tiny 
 reindeer, seals, sledges, birds or muskoxen. 
 
 When the dinner is ready a large dish of food 
 is placed in the middle of the floor, the big folks 
 and little sit around in a circle and help them- 
 
36 Little Folks of North America 
 
 selves with their fingers. After dinner come 
 songs and dances in which the children take their 
 part. 
 
 It is very likely that over on a low shelf a 
 mother dog is lying with her puppies, and the 
 children go to her from time to time and play 
 with their cunning little pets. The Eskimos are 
 fond of their dogs, and are very careful of the 
 puppies, which are brought up in the house with 
 their own children from the time when they 
 are born till they are big enough to take care 
 of themselves. 
 
 Eskimo Dogs. 
 
 The boys and girls of the far north would 
 be very lonely without their trusty dogs. They 
 play with the puppies during the long winter 
 days. Then, as soon as their little pets are old 
 enough, the boys begin to train them. First, 
 the animal must be taught to obey their young 
 masters. Then collars are made, and with long 
 straps of leather, these are fastened to low sledges 
 made of drift wood and walrus lines. The 
 sledge is drawn by a number of dogs, each of 
 which is fastened by a separate strap. 
 
 When the master of the pack is ready for 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 37 
 
 a ride, he throws himself upon the sledge, cracks 
 his whip, and the dogs start wildly off with 
 leaps and bounds. 
 
 On goes the sledge, now over a smooth sheet 
 of frozen snow, and again bumping up and down 
 as the dogs dash over rough hillocks of ice. It 
 is enough to take one's breath away. 
 
 An Eskimo boy is much pleased when his 
 father tells him he is getting old enough to have 
 a team of dogs for his very own. He picks out 
 the brightest and smartest one of his puppies to 
 be the leader of the new pack and trains him 
 with the greatest care. The young dog in his 
 turn seems proud of the honor paid him and 
 soon begins to rule among his fellows like a 
 king. 
 
 Poor Eskimo dogs! They have a hard lot. 
 All through the long winter they are seldom 
 fed more than three or four times a week. Only 
 the mother dogs with their puppies are allowed 
 in the house. The rest of the pack spend most 
 of the time outdoors although they are some- 
 times allowed in the passageway, or a snow hut 
 is built for them near the house of their master. 
 Their hair, however, is long and thick and warm, 
 and this protects them from the winds and storm. 
 
38 Little Folks of North America 
 
 They will stretch out on a bed of snow and 
 sleep comfortably hour after hour in the coldest 
 weather. One of their favorite resting places 
 is the top of their master's hut; but when the 
 wind blows hard they prefer to creep into their 
 snow house and stay there till the weather is 
 once more calm. 
 
 As soon as the Eskimo boy is old enough to 
 hold a tiny bow his parents put one in his chubby 
 hands. He is so pleased when he is able to set 
 an arrow and send it speeding against a mark 
 on the wall of the hut. When he strikes it for 
 the first time the place rings with his shouts of 
 delight. When he is a little older he takes les- 
 sons from his father in shaping harpoons and 
 spearheads. He is now getting ready for the 
 hunting that is to be his work in life. 
 
 While he is learning the ways of a hunter, 
 his sister also has her lessons. Her mother and 
 grandmother are busy women, tanning the skins 
 the men bring in, and making them into warm 
 garments for the family. The girls must there- 
 fore learn to sew with coarse bone needles and 
 heavy thread made from the sinews of the rein- 
 deer. They must also help in chewing skin with 
 their strong white teeth. This is to make the 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 39 
 
 skin soft and comfortable for the wearer, but it 
 is a long, hard task. Many an Eskimo woman 
 wears her teeth down to stubs by the time she 
 is an old woman. 
 
 After Seals. 
 
 When autumn sets in, the head of the family 
 watches the ice in the bay. As soon as it is 
 frozen hard enough, he will begin his hunt for 
 seals. He clothes himself in fur from head to 
 foot, takes his lance from the wall, and hangs 
 over one arm a little stool made of small pieces 
 of wood bound together with leather straps. He 
 must not forget his hunting knife, nor a fur 
 blanket which he throws over his shoulders. 
 At last he is off. He walks quickly down to the 
 edge of the bay and looks keenly about over its 
 surface. Perhaps he decides to follow the coast 
 for some distance, as farther along the ice seems 
 firmer. 
 
 On he moves till he comes to a place where 
 he can trust himself. With leaps and bounds he 
 springs from one cake of ice to another till he 
 reaches a place where the water of the outer bay 
 is frozen solid. He keeps his eyes fastened on 
 the ice. Ah! he has discovered a small hole. 
 
40 Little Folks of North America 
 
 He thinks, ''Now I have found the home of 
 a family of seals. This is certainly their breath- 
 ing place." 
 
 He spreads his fur blanket on the ice close 
 to the hole. In the middle of it he puts his 
 stool, and then, with lance in hand, he sits down 
 to watch and wait. 
 
 It may be that in a short time a seal's nose 
 will appear at this hole to get a breath of fresh 
 air, or perhaps hours will pass before this hap- 
 pens. 
 
 At last the watching hunter is rewarded. He 
 thrusts his lance suddenly down through the 
 hole, and if he has made no mistake it has pierced 
 the seal below. The lance disappears under the 
 ice, but the hunter has taken care to fasten 
 leather lines to the blunt end, and this he holds 
 tightly in his hands. 
 
 Now he must be very careful. He takes his 
 hunting knife from his sheath and carefully cuts 
 away the ice from around the breathing hole. 
 He must make a place so large that the seal's 
 body can be drawn up through, to the surface. 
 At last his prey lies before him but the animal 
 is still alive and must be killed. 
 
 As soon as this is done, the man hastens back 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 41 
 
 to the shore near his home where some of his 
 faithful dogs have been harnessed to the sledge 
 and are patiently awaiting him. 
 
 He unties the strap by which they are fastened 
 to a rock. Then, with delighted howls, the dogs 
 rush along with their master to the place where 
 the dead seal is lying. It is placed on the sledge, 
 and in a short time is in the hands of the hunter's 
 wife,, who takes off the skin and cuts up the 
 meat for the hungry family. 
 
 Nannook, the Bear. 
 
 During the long evenings the children are 
 never tired of listening to the stories of the big 
 white bear. It is Nannook who makes her win- 
 ter home against the side of a steep cliflf. Here 
 the snow drifts about her and shuts her in from 
 the outside world; at the same time the warm 
 breath from her great body melts the snow next 
 her, leaving a small empty space. Here she 
 sleeps and here her little cubs are born. 
 
 Sometimes the bear is caught by means of a 
 trap which the Eskimo hunter has built of stone 
 set up in a square. There is a small opening 
 inside of which a piece of blubber is placed. 
 When Nannook snaps at the blubber, down falls 
 
42 Little Folks of North America 
 
 a heavy stone and the animal is made a prisoner. 
 
 Sometimes the hunter comes upon the track of 
 a bear when he has no companion except his 
 trusty dogs. But he is not afraid. He urges 
 them on and the sledge dashes along with the 
 greatest speed. The master of the team hardly 
 needs to guide, for the dogs are eager to follow 
 the scent. And now the prey is in sight. Per- 
 haps it is a mother bear with two cubs. She 
 sees her enemy and turns to flee, but her little 
 ones cannot run fast and she stops again and 
 again for them. Every moment the dogs are 
 gaining upon her. At last she sees it is of no 
 use and takes her stand to meet the attack. 
 
 The team is upon her now. The hunter leaps 
 from the sledge and rushes towards the mother 
 bear with spear in hand. She rises upon her 
 hind legs and opens her mouth with an angry 
 growl. One blow of her paw would be enough 
 to kill the man if he gave her time to strike, 
 but he makes a sudden thrust into her heart with 
 his spear before she has a chance to do this. 
 
 It may be that the spear fails to reach its mark, 
 or that the bear breaks it with one angry blow. 
 She is furious now, and it would go hard with 
 the hunter if the faithful dogs were not already 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 43 
 
 springing upon the huge animal like a pack of 
 wolves. With their help she is overcome, and 
 falls at last dying to the ground. Then it is 
 an easy matter to kill the poor little cubs, which 
 all through the fight have been crying piteousely. 
 Many a time an Eskimo hunter has met his 
 death when on a bear hunt. Many a time, too, 
 he has received fearful wounds that have made 
 him a cripple for the rest of his life. Yet he 
 is a brave man and is ever ready to join a hunt 
 in search of Nannook, the big white bear. 
 
 After the Walrus. 
 
 The Eskimo boys are not only eager for bear 
 stories, but they love to hear their fathers tell 
 of the battles with the big walrus, whose home 
 is in the sea. It weighs nearly a thousand 
 pounds. It has a thick, tough skin, and long 
 tusks of ivory. When a number of walruses are 
 together they will often turn on the hunters with 
 fury. Then the men must move quickly and 
 fight bravely, or they may lose their lives. 
 
 The best time for a walrus hunt is when the 
 moon is shining brightly. The children look on 
 eagerly while the men get knives and lances 
 ready, for perhaps news has just come that wal- 
 
44 Little Folks of North America 
 
 ruses have been seen on the ice floes miles away 
 up the coast. The dogs are harnessed to the 
 sledges and the party start off. 
 
 One, two, and even three days may pass with 
 no sign of the returning hunters. At last the 
 sound of barking dogs is heard in the distance. 
 The women and children rush out of the huts, 
 and if the moon has set or the clouds have hidden 
 her light, they carry torches and hurry to meet 
 the hunters. 
 
 The news may be good and the sledges loaded 
 with ivory and walrus meat. But perhaps the 
 men have not been successful, and have only to 
 tell of a long search, with no prize gained. It 
 may be that one of the men has been wounded 
 by an enraged walrus, or has been drawn into 
 the icy water and has narrowly escaped drown- 
 ing. At any rate, there is much to tell to the 
 eager listeners. 
 
 A walrus is much larger and heavier than a 
 seal. Besides this, it has two strong tusks with 
 which to defend itself; and although it is hunted 
 in much the same way, it is far more dangerous 
 work to kill a walrus and land it safely on the 
 ice. One man seldom hunts walruses alone. 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 45 
 
 The Narwhal. 
 
 Eskimos never live far from the shore. It 
 would not be safe to do so, for most of their food 
 is obtained from the sea. Besides seals and wbI- 
 ruses, other large creatures are hunted there. 
 There are different kinds of whales; there are 
 porpoises and swordfish ; more important still is 
 the narwhal with its long ivory tusk pointing 
 straight out from its head. It is an ugly-look- 
 ing creature, but the Eskimos think only of the 
 beautiful white ivory and the oil to be obtained, 
 besides abundance of delicious meat. 
 
 As soon as November comes, the men begin 
 to look for narwhals. A party of hunters get 
 into their boats and paddle out into the deep 
 waters of the bay. As they paddle along, as soon 
 as a narwhal appears in sight they hurry toward 
 it with all the speed possible. Each one is eager 
 to be the first one to attack, for he is the one to 
 receive most honor when the fight is over and 
 the prize gained. Great care must be used as 
 the hunters draw near the narwhal for that long 
 tusk could make a hole through a boat in an in- 
 stant. 
 
46 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Springtime. 
 
 The long winter is over at last. The men 
 have hunted many of the days, but they have 
 spent much time making lines and traps for 
 the warmer days to come; also in mending 
 and sharpening their weapons. The women 
 have been busy making clothes for the family 
 and tending the lamps, while the happy, loving 
 children have helped their parents a little,- but 
 mostly they have been coasting and playing 
 games on the snowfields. They have paid visits 
 to friends in other villages ; they have had many 
 a feast ; sometimes, alas ! they have gone without 
 food for days at a time. They have sung and 
 danced, and watched the beautiful northern 
 lights flash over the sky. They have listened to 
 legends of their big brother, the moon, and his 
 sister the sun. Sometimes, too, they have heard 
 stories about the great ice-sheet that stretches all 
 over the mountains and plains of the inland 
 country. They trembled as they were told that 
 terrible beings have their home on that inland 
 ice and they are quite sure they would not ven, 
 ture there for the world. 
 
 Now that spring has come, they are ready for 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 47 
 
 a season of sunshine. They are glad, too, to 
 seek a new home and new adventures. Yes, the 
 spring has come and flocks of birds are flying 
 overhead to bring the good news. 
 
 The boys help their fathers take off the roofs 
 of the winter houses and open them up to the 
 sunshine and fresh air. All the people in the 
 village are going to move. 
 
 Skin tents are packed on the sledges, together 
 with lamps and the few stone dishes they pos- 
 sess. For four whole months the Eskimos will 
 camp out and move from place to place in 
 search of reindeer and birds on the land, or fish 
 in the waters of the bay. 
 
 Sometimes in the early spring or fall the Es- 
 kimo children live in still different homes from 
 their winter huts of stone or the summer tents. 
 These are the snow houses, which the men can 
 build very quickly. 
 
 If they are off on a long hunt, these snow 
 houses are useful, for they are warm and com- 
 fortable in the worst storm or the coldest 
 weather. Big blocks of solid snow are cut and 
 piled up in the shape of a bee-hive. A small 
 doorway is left open which can be filled with 
 another snow-block when the people wish it 
 
48 Little Folks of North America 
 
 When the house is finished loose snow is sifted 
 over it and every crack filled up so that the 
 wind cannot make its way inside. The stone 
 lamp is set up in the middle or at the side of the 
 hut. A bench is made of snow and covered 
 with furs, and the family are ready to go to 
 housekeeping. 
 
 As soon as the Eskimo children see the birds 
 flying in the springtime they begin to think of 
 the fun they will have hunting for eggs. 
 The boys get their bows and arrows ready at 
 this time, for they will shoot dozens and dozens 
 of the birds before the summer is over. 
 
 There are many kinds of these birds, most of 
 which like to build their nests on the sides of 
 steep cliffs along the shore. Best of all are the 
 eider ducks with their soft and beautiful feath- 
 ers. Shirts of eider-duck skin with the feathers 
 worn next to the body are the best and warmest 
 of all, both for the babies of the household and 
 their fathers. 
 
 An Eskimo hunter will climb up the sides of 
 the steepest cliff in his search for birds' eggs. 
 If he lose his foothold, he may fall a great dis- 
 tance and be dashed to pieces on the rocks be- 
 low. But he does not seem to think of danger. 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 49 
 
 His one idea is to get something good on which 
 his family and himself may feast. 
 
 The Skin-boat, or Kayak. 
 
 The boats of the Eskimos are called kayaks 
 and are like no others in the world. The boys 
 take many lessons before they can be trusted to 
 help in making a kayak. It is long and narrow 
 and has room for only one person. Its frame 
 is of bone or wood and it is pointed at both ends. 
 When it is finished, the boatmaker stretches over 
 it a seal skin which his wife has tanned. It is 
 an excellent covering, for the water cannot pass 
 through it. In the middle of the top the man 
 leaves an opening as large as his body is round. 
 He steps inside and sits down, stretching his legs 
 in front of him. Yes, the opening is of the 
 right size; the water of the wildest sea cannot 
 enter and sink the boat when once the Eskimo 
 has fitted the rim around the bottom of his coat 
 over the rim he has made about the opening in 
 the skin covering. With his stout paddle he 
 will dare to travel for miles over the rough sea. 
 
 The short summer-time is one long day, for 
 the sun does not set. The children go to bed 
 when they are tired and sleepy and get up when 
 
50 Little Folks of North America 
 
 they please. They feast to their hearts' content 
 during this time, for there are usually fish and 
 birds and eggs in plenty. Then, too, these chil- 
 dren of the north go berrying and bring home 
 many a dish of delicious black crow-berries. 
 
 The greatest dainty of all is the paunch of a 
 reindeer's stomach. It consists of the moss and 
 shrubs the animal has eaten, and is a little acid. 
 It is no wonder then that the Eskimos are fond 
 of it, as they have neither bread nor vegetables, 
 and no fruit except the berries they are able to 
 pick during a few weeks out of each year. 
 
 The Reindeer. 
 
 As soon as the spring opens the older boys look 
 forward to the hunt. Perhaps a herd of rein- 
 deer has been seen not far away, and the hunt- 
 ers start out over the fields still well-covered 
 with snow to look for traces of them. They 
 carry bows and arrows, also knives. They must 
 not forget to take fur soles for their feet, too. 
 As soon as they are within range of their game 
 they will bind these soles under their kamiks so 
 that the reindeer cannot hear them as they draw 
 near. 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 51 
 
 Even now the herd may take fright while the 
 hunters are still too far oflf to shoot. Then thud, 
 thud, sound their feet as they scud away over 
 the fields. But the hunters will not despair even 
 then. They will give chase for hours together 
 if it be necessary. 
 
 Sometimes the keen eyes of the Eskimos will 
 find only prints on the snow to show that a herd 
 of reindeer has been lately feeding there. 
 
 ^^We will stay here and watch for them to 
 return," they say to each other. Then they go 
 to work to make a little fort of stones, behind 
 which they sit down to watch and wait. 
 
 They may have to stay there a long time be- 
 fore the sound of reindeer hoofs is heard, but 
 they are patient. They amuse each other with 
 story-telling and the hours pass quickly. 
 
 At last a herd draws near. The antlers of 
 these Arctic reindeer are broad and branching. 
 They plant their short legs firmly on the ground 
 as, with heads bent down, they search for moss 
 beneath the snow. They seem to know just 
 where to paw away the snow to find the food 
 they love. 
 
 The right moment comes and the hunters send 
 
52 Little Folks of North America 
 
 their arrows flying into the midst of the herd. 
 One of the reindeer falls to the ground while the 
 others dash wildly away. 
 
 When a number of animals have been killed 
 in a hunt and there is too much meat to carry 
 at once, some of it is buried under a pile of 
 stones, so that the wolves and foxes cannot get 
 it. Then the hunters trudge home for the dog 
 team to help them. 
 
 New Settlers. 
 
 You remember that Eric the Red went to live 
 in Greenland before a white person had stepped 
 on the mainland of North America. You also 
 have learned that his followers lived in Green- 
 land for a long time and then disappeared 
 shortly after they met with the Eskimos. 
 
 From that time no more white people went to 
 Greenland till the year 1585, when an English- 
 man named Davis sailed for many miles along 
 its coast and visited among the Eskimos. Then 
 he went away. 
 
 After his visit, there were no settlers from 
 other lands for nearly a hundred years. Then 
 a good minister in Denmark left home with his 
 wife and children and went to a place in south- 
 
From Copyrighted Stereograph by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
 
 An Eskimo Village in Summer, 
 
Little Folks of Greenland 53 
 
 western Greenland which he called God Havn 
 or, Good Haven. Hans Egede, for this was 
 was the minister's name, wished to teach the 
 Eskimos the Christian religion. 
 
 He had hard work before him. A long time 
 passed before he could understand the strange 
 words of the Eskimo language and the only way 
 he could teach the people was by the pictures he 
 brought with him. Yet he stayed in Greenland 
 for many years and his own children grew up 
 with the little Eskimos for playmates. 
 
 Then Hans Egede's wife died and he went 
 back to Denmark. By this time, however, he 
 had a grown-up son who loved the work his 
 father had begun. He said, ''I will remain 
 here and keep on with your teaching." 
 
 So he stayed. Other people from Denmark 
 joined him, and now there are several settlements 
 of Danes in Greenland. They have brought 
 lumber with them with which to build their 
 houses, as well as furniture and dishes from 
 their old home across the sea. Even the sound 
 of the piano may be heard now in this frozen 
 land of the north. Tiny gardens have been dug 
 where a few vegetables are raised each sum- 
 mer. Best of all, churches have been built 
 
54 Little Folks of North America 
 
 where Eskimo children sit side by side with their 
 fair-haired brothers and sisters of Denmark. 
 
 Once in a while a ship draws near bringing 
 papers and letters, canned food and clothing 
 from across the sea. It is a time of great excite- 
 ment for the settlers. They have been getting 
 ready for the coming of the ship for a long time, 
 filling vessels with oil and fish, and packing the 
 furs they have got in barter from the Eskimos. 
 All these things are to be sold in other lands, 
 besides many tons of cryolite which is very use- 
 ful in making aluminum. The white settlers 
 get it from a large mine and receive a good price 
 for it, since Greenland and one other country 
 are the only places in the world where it can be 
 obtained. 
 
 Although the Eskimo children of southern 
 Greenland have white playmates among them, 
 yet above them in the north there is many a 
 little village where people from other lands have 
 never been seen or even heard of. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 Little Folks of Alaska 
 
 The Coming of Behring 
 
 CLOSE your hand together tightly, leaving 
 the forefinger pointing straight out. 
 You now have before you the general 
 shape of the peninsula of Alaska, which lies in 
 the northwestern part of North America. 
 
 The children of Alaska have a much more 
 comfortable home than the little Greenlanders. 
 Their shores, except in the far north, are not 
 bound in ice the year around; the winters are not 
 so cold and the summers are warmer; trees grow 
 in thick forests over a great part of the country, 
 and many flowers bloom there. 
 
 The reason for this is, that warm winds blow 
 over the country from the west, and these winds 
 are due to a broad stream of water flowing 
 through the Pacific ocean, called the Japanese 
 current. It makes its way from the south and 
 keeps its warmth during its long journey through 
 
 5S 
 
56 Little Folks of North America 
 
 the colder waters of the main ocean. And so 
 it is that the children of Alaska who feel the 
 warm winds blowing eastward from the Japanese 
 current, do not need the heavy furs worn by the 
 Greenlanders, neither do they require as much 
 fat meat to give heat to their bodies, nor as 
 close and stufify homes to live in. 
 
 The boys and girls of Alaska belong to several 
 different races. There are the yellow-skinned 
 Eskimos of the far north and west; there are the 
 copper-colored Indians who are found in the 
 south, and along the banks of the rivers of the 
 inland country; there are the Aleuts, who live 
 on a chain of islands stretching westward to- 
 wards Asia, and who are like Indians in some 
 ways and like the Japanese in others. No one 
 really knows what these Aleuts are, nor where 
 they came from. Perhaps in the long-ago they 
 made their way to these islands from Asia, for 
 the distance is not great, and small boats could 
 have crossed over safely in good weather. 
 Besides these Aleuts and the Indians and 
 Japanese, there are white children from the 
 United States whose fathers are busy trading 
 for furs or digging gold in the mines. 
 
 Early in the eighteenth century, a brave sea- 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 57 
 
 man named Vitus Behring was sailing under 
 the orders of Peter the Great of Russia. He 
 crossed the Pacific ocean from Asia and traveled 
 far into the north. He passed through a strait 
 and entered a sea, both of which were named 
 in his honor, Behring. Then he coasted along 
 the shores of a land whose mountains often rose 
 up out of the ocean. He was the first white 
 man to look on the peninsula of Alaska. 
 
 A dreadful storm arose during this voyage and 
 Vitus Behring and his men were wrecked on a 
 small island to which also the name of the com- 
 mander was given. Here he died, and here his 
 men built a vessel out of what they saved from 
 the wreck, and sailed away for home to tell of 
 what had been discovered. 
 
 Time went by and other Russian ships visited 
 Alaska and began to trade with the natives for 
 the furs which they got from the wild animals 
 roaming through the country. After a while 
 they built small stations here and there on the 
 coast, for the purpose of trading, and to these 
 stations ships came regularly to receive loads of 
 seal and fox, beaver and martin skins which the 
 Indians and the Eskimos were glad to trap and 
 kill, when they found they could get bright- 
 
58 Little Folks of North America 
 
 colored blankets, tobacco, and many other things 
 in exchange for them. 
 
 In this way it came about that a few Russian 
 children with blue eyes and yellow hair found 
 their way to Alaska, and lived in rough log 
 houses with wild-looking Indians and Eskimos 
 for their neighbors. About fifty years ago the 
 children of the United States began to hear many 
 stories of Alaska. Their parents told them that 
 Russian fur-traders had made fortunes there. 
 Moreover, Russia was willing to sell the country 
 for a few million dollars. 
 
 Some people said, ''Why should not Ameri- 
 cans buy it? Besides the valuable furs, there 
 are rich forests in Alaska." 
 
 At this time a statesman by the name of 
 Seward was urging the United States to purchase 
 that far-away peninsula, for he was quite sure 
 this country would be well repaid for doing so. 
 People listened to his reasons, and at last they 
 decided to follow Mr. Seward's advice, and 
 Russian America, as it had been called up to 
 that time, received its new name of Alaska, and 
 became a territory of the United States. There 
 were many, however, who thought it a most fool- 
 ish purchase and often spoke of it as "Seward's 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 59 
 
 folly." To-day everyone looks upon it, instead, 
 as ''Seward's wisdom," for it has made many an 
 American child's father rich, not only through 
 its furs, but also through the salmon caught in 
 its waters and the gold found in its mines. 
 
 The Little Eskimos. 
 
 Along the northern and western shores of 
 Alaska, in the coldest part of the country, are 
 scattered villages of the Eskimos. They are 
 much like their brothers and sisters of Green- 
 land. They dress in furs, and live chiefly on the 
 fat meat of the seal and walrus. They seldom 
 go far from the shore, because most of their 
 food is obtained from the sea. 
 
 Their winter homes are small stone huts built 
 partly underground, and with long tunnel-like 
 entrances dug out of the earth and leading down 
 into them. Turf and mud are plastered over 
 the cone-shaped roofs, while in the middle, at 
 the top of each, there is a small opening to let 
 out the smoke. Directly under this opening is 
 the family fireplace where wood is burnt ex- 
 cept in the most northern homes. There the 
 Eskimo children help their mothers tend just 
 such lamps of seal-oil as the Greenlanders use. 
 
6o Little Folks of North America 
 
 since it is too cold for trees to grow on the frozen 
 marshes that stretch along the shores of the 
 Arctic ocean. Oil is the one thing that they 
 can obtain, and of this they must make use. In 
 the short summer the little Eskimos of Alaska 
 delight in the skin tents which their mothers 
 stretch over light frames, while from time to 
 time, during the spring and fall, they camp out 
 in snow-houses. 
 
 They have their teams of dogs, which they pet 
 and train. They have their skin-covered kayaks 
 made in much the same way as those of the 
 Greenland Eskimos, although it is very probable 
 that they have never heard of their relations in 
 that distant island. Mother Nature has pro- 
 vided certain things to maintain life in the frozen 
 lands of the north, — not many to be sure; but 
 the minds of those who dwell in places far distant 
 from each other seem to have thought out much 
 the same way of using them. 
 
 In these far northern regions the little Eski- 
 mos are often treated to a most beautiful sight. 
 It is the northern lights, which flash over the 
 heavens during the long cold winter nights, and 
 are far brighter than are ever seen in Greenland 
 or Iceland. Think of the most glorious rain- 
 

 a O 
 
 -t-a 
 
 (6 "1 
 
 0-5 
 
 m 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 61 
 
 bow you can imagine, — the brilliant green, yel- 
 low, blue, and violet spreading out in great waves 
 of light over the sky. For a few moments it is 
 as light as day. Then the colors fade away and 
 all is darkness once more. It is not strange that 
 the little Eskimos who stand watching are filled 
 anew with wonder and think of it as the work 
 of great and powerful spirits. 
 
 Among the Indians. 
 
 Along the southern shores of Alaska and on 
 the banks of the rivers of the inland country 
 are many Indian villages. They belong to sev- 
 eral different tribes, but their way of living is 
 much the same. Their huts are generally built 
 of logs and bark, and they like best to dress in 
 the bright-colored blankets, with red and yellow 
 handkerchiefs on their heads, which they get in 
 barter from the white traders. The red chil- 
 dren have broad faces, black eyes, and black hair. 
 Long ago, before the white men lived among 
 them, these little Indians believed that they 
 could make themselves more beautiful by tat- 
 tooing their bodies. As these poor children 
 grew up, they suffered many an hour of pain 
 while the red or blue lines were marked on their 
 
62 Little Folks of North America 
 
 chins by threads drawn along under the skin. 
 Now, however, as the red men learn more and 
 more of the ways of the white people, this cruel 
 fashion is passing away. Many of the little 
 Indians of Alaska go to school, where they take 
 delight in learning to read and write. They 
 are rather slow, but they are very patient, and 
 proud indeed are they when they have mastered 
 a hard lesson. 
 
 Most of them, however, are still in Mother 
 Nature's school alone, but their bright eyes are 
 continually learning new things about the trees 
 and the flowers, and the wild animals that roam 
 through the forests and over the snowfields. 
 These children of the red men delight in the 
 water. The rivers of Alaska are the roadways, 
 and here as well as on the coast, the boys paddle 
 in their canoes for many a mile, hunting, fishing, 
 and racing. Many an Indian has a morning 
 bath in the ice-cold river, or in the ocean. "It 
 will make my child strong," his mother thinks, 
 and so, whether it be a bright summer day, or 
 a dark and freezing winter morning, in he goes 
 for his daily plunge. 
 
 In front of many homes of the red children 
 are tall, straight posts. Horrible-looking faces 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 63 
 
 are carved upon these posts, as well as the figures 
 of birds, fishes and* wild animals. 
 
 "It is the totem-pole," the Indian child will 
 tell you with pride. The totem is the mark of 
 his family. It is even more to him than is the 
 coat-of-arms to many an Englishman. Suppose 
 a wolf is the principal carving upon the pole. 
 The child's parents tell him it is their guardian, 
 and the child learns to look upon it with rever- 
 ence. Perhaps his grandfather or his great- 
 grandfather dreamed of the wolf while he was 
 fasting alone in the forest. He thought it was 
 a vision from heaven, and he chose it henceforth 
 to be the totem of his tribe or of his family. 
 
 Candle Fish. 
 
 Since Alaska lies so far north, the winter must 
 be long and dark. No lamps are needed to light 
 the huts, however, if the children and their 
 parents have provided themselves with enough 
 candle-fish. These fish are about ten inches 
 long, but quite thin. Strange to say, they are 
 full of oil, and after being carefully dried, they 
 will burn like torches. One of them will give 
 as much light as two or three candles. At cer- 
 tain times of the year, schools of candle-fish enter 
 
64 Little Folks of North America 
 
 the mouths of the rivers which empty into the 
 ocean. The Indian children watch for their 
 coming, and as soon as they appear, they and 
 their parents go down to the shore and rake 
 them out of the water by the bushel. 
 
 The Indian mothers not only dry the candle- 
 fish for lighting their winter homes, but they 
 also boil great numbers of them, for in this way 
 they get a supply of hardened oil that takes the 
 place of butter. The older and the more rancid 
 this oil is, the better they like it. 
 
 In the short Alaskan summer the fruits and 
 flowers grow very fast. It seems as though they 
 must make the best possible use of the sunshine. 
 In the southern part of the country the children 
 can pick the most beautiful bouquets of white 
 clover, maiden-hair ferns, and bright-colored 
 wild flowers. They go berrying to their hearts' 
 content, too. There are fields and fields filled 
 with tall blueberry bushes; there are the juicy 
 yellow salmon berries; there are cranberries, 
 blackberries, red and white currants, and bil- 
 berries, but the best of all are the sweet, wild 
 strawberries that almost melt in the mouth. 
 Certainly the children of the greater part of 
 Alaska can feast on good things in summer. 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 65 
 
 Why, the berries are so plentiful that not only 
 the boys and girls, but the birds of the country 
 get fat with the rich living. Many of the wild 
 geese, indeed, can hardly fly after the summer's 
 feast, and are then easily caught by the boys and 
 their fathers. 
 
 Even in winter there are berries to add to the 
 dinner of fish and oil, for during the summer 
 the children gather many bushels for their moth- 
 ers to dry and store away. Berries, fish and oil! 
 Surely, think the people, a person should be con- 
 tent if he has plenty of these three dainties. 
 There are deer and bears, mountain goats, wild 
 ducks and geese. All these are good for a 
 change, but they cannot compare with fish, either 
 fresh or dried, with an abundance of hardened 
 oil spread over them. 
 
 Along the coasts there are clams and oysters, 
 mussels and crabs. The natives like these, too; 
 they dry and string them on long blades of grass 
 for the winter season. Thus they have more va- 
 riety of food than the people of Greenland. 
 
 Catching Salmon. 
 
 The boys of southern Alaska spend much time 
 along the shores of the waters which teem with 
 
66 Little Folks of North America 
 
 cod and halibut, besides many smaller fish. But 
 most plentiful of all are the salmon that leave 
 the ocean as spring opens and enter the mouths 
 of the rivers. How busy the people are then! 
 The men and boys have nets all ready, and v^ith 
 these they paddle out into the water in their 
 canoes. After the season has well opened, they 
 load their boats again and again in one day, and 
 before the season is over there is many a time 
 when they simply scoop the fish on to the shore 
 with the blades of their paddles. Salmon are 
 so sweet and fat, that the Indians are very fond 
 of them. They can feast on fresh fish during 
 the summer, while the women split up great 
 numbers of them and hang them up on racks to 
 dry for the coming winter. 
 
 Many years ago the white people learned that 
 salmon are plentiful in Alaska, so that now the 
 Indians are busy, not only in getting the fish 
 for themselves, but for the factories where tin 
 boxes and casks are made by the hundreds and 
 packed with the delicious fish which are sent 
 to the people of the United States and elsewhere. 
 Sometimes the children of the white men who 
 are in the salmon business go to live in Alaska 
 and there' they see many a strange sight. They 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 67 
 
 look with wonder at the half-naked Indian boys 
 and girls, with their wild bright eyes. They 
 watch with envy as the red children glide over 
 the water in their light bark canoes, and race 
 with one another on the rivers. They shudder 
 at the hideous faces carved on the totem poles. 
 They look on with delight at the dances and 
 the odd games of their red neighbors, and they 
 laugh when they hear of Mr. Bruin and his 
 way of catching fish. They would rather not 
 be alone, however, when the bear is creeping 
 down through the woods to get his dinner. They 
 think he might possibly prefer a white child 
 to the delicate pink salmon, but in this they are 
 quite mistaken. 
 
 Bears. 
 
 The bears seem to know when the salmon ar- 
 rive as well as the human beings do. They 
 leave their homes in the woods and make their 
 way down to the quiet little coves along the 
 shore. When the fish come crowding in, out 
 go the bears' paws into the water, scooping in 
 the salmon of which they are so fond. Mr. 
 Bruin swallows one after another until he has 
 had his fill; then he creeps away as quietly as 
 
68 Little Folks of North America 
 
 he came, to seek safety once more among the 
 trees of the forest. Sometimes, alas, the white 
 hunter discovers the trail and follows ne bear 
 to the shore. Then bang! bang! sounds through 
 the air and Bruin's salmon feasts are over. 
 
 There are many bears in Alaska, — black, cin- 
 namon, and in the far north the dangerous 
 grizzly; but the red boy's father teaches him 
 that it is best not to kill these animals. He has 
 an idea that the bear's spirit will be angry and 
 harm him if he does so. The white traders, 
 however, want the skins and are willing to pay 
 a good price for them, so the Indians sometimes 
 go bear hunting, although after they meet with 
 success, they go through strange rites, hoping 
 thus to make peace with the bear's spirit. 
 
 Whales and Sea Otters. 
 
 As the children who live along the shores of 
 Alaska look out to sea, they sometimes notice 
 what appears to be a water spout, then another 
 and another far away in the distance. It is the 
 blowing of a school of whales, which have come 
 up to the surface for fresh air. They run to 
 tell the news to the older folks of the village, 
 for nothing could be more delicious than a din- 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 69 
 
 ner of whale. The men get their lances ready 
 at once and hurry down to their canoes. Then 
 away they paddle with all their might in the 
 direction in which the monsters have been seen. 
 If they succeed in coming upon the whales, 
 there is busy and dangerous work for a while. 
 The hunters must not think of fear as they draw 
 near to the huge creatures to throw their spears 
 in such a way as to inflict dangerous wounds. 
 Then away they must paddle for dear life so 
 as not to be swamped by the whales as they dive 
 below. Before the men threw their lances they 
 carefully fastened seal-skin buoys to them. As 
 the whales plunge after being wounded, these 
 buoys on the surface make it hard for them to 
 stay below and they are soon worn out. When 
 the hunters have wounded a whale as much as 
 possible, they go home and wait for the tide to 
 bring the dead animal ashore. Then there is 
 a great feast in the village and all make merry. 
 Many years ago white men fitted out big ships 
 to sail into the northern waters after whales. 
 In those days the oil was burnt in lamps; but 
 now, since kerosene is plentiful, whale-oil with 
 its unpleasant odor is little used. Whale-bone, 
 however, is still valuable, and for this reason 
 
70 Little Folks of North America 
 
 many ships are still engaged hunting these 
 monsters of the sea. 
 
 The Alaskan boys are ever on the watch for 
 sea-otters. These shy creatures never leave the 
 ocean, except when they have little ones to care 
 for. Even then, it is said, the mother sea-otter 
 sometimes chooses a bed of sea-weed out on the 
 waves and there she floats, with her babes be- 
 side her. It is a curious sight. More curious 
 still is it to see one of these huge creatures asleep 
 on her back, floating along on the surface of the 
 water, with her little ones held in her close 
 embrace. A party of Indians often go on a 
 sea-otter hunt, for the animal is covered with 
 fine black fur, through which are scattered long 
 white hairs. It is very beautiful, and the white 
 traders are always willing to pay a large sum 
 for a sea-otter skin. 
 
 The hunters must paddle quite a distance out 
 to sea before they begin to look for an otter's nose 
 to appear above the surface of the water as the 
 creature comes up to breathe. The moment it 
 IS seen, they swing their canoes around in a 
 wide circle. Then, with spears in hand, they 
 watch eagerly for the right moment to hurl 
 them. Many days sometimes pass before the 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 71 
 
 patient watchers are rewarded with even the 
 sight of the longed-for prize, and even then 
 the hunters may fail to secure it, yet it is worth 
 all the time they spend, for the fur is among 
 the richest and the rarest in the world. Indeed, 
 the sea-otter is rarely found except in the waters 
 which wash the shores of Alaska. 
 
 More than once an Indian child has tried to 
 raise a sea-otter, but he has never succeeded, for 
 he cannot make the little creature eat, and it 
 soon starves to death. 
 
 Seal-Hunting. 
 
 You remember that on the islands reaching 
 out into the west from Alaska, many children 
 are living who are neither Indians nor Eskimos. 
 They are called Aleuts. Before the coming of 
 the white people the Aleuts looked much like 
 the Japanese, but afterwards the Russians mar- 
 ried among them, so that many of their children 
 to-day have lost much of the appearance of the 
 yellow race. 
 
 Few trees grow around the homes of the 
 Aleuts but enough wood drifts over from the 
 forests of the mainland to furnish fuel for their 
 fires. They, live in. dark, damp huts built mostly 
 
72 Little Folks of North America 
 
 underground, so it is no wonder that they love 
 best to be out-of-doors when the hills and the 
 fields are covered with pretty grasses, mosses, 
 and bright flowers in the summer time. Many 
 blue foxes run wild through the islands and 
 these are hunted by the men, for the fur is very 
 valuable and the white traders are always ready 
 to buy the skins. 
 
 The little Aleuts love the sea, where they pad- 
 dle about in their light canoes, or fish in the 
 clear waters. Northward from the Aleutian 
 islands are two others called the Pribylov or 
 Seal Islands. Thick fogs shut them in during 
 the summer, while in the winter the shores are 
 surrounded with drift ice. They are very im- 
 portant, however, because they are the greatest 
 hunting grounds for seals in the whole world. 
 The Aleuts are the only people who live on 
 these islands, except for a few white men who 
 oversee the work of killing the seals. The vil- 
 lages are scattered here and there, close to the 
 sea, each with its church and its school-house, 
 and during the winter the little Aleuts pass 
 their time quietly in play and study. 
 
 But when the spring comes, they are full of 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 73 
 
 excitement, as they watch the seals, big and little, 
 old and young, gather on their shores. No one 
 knows how far these creatures have traveled, 
 nor in what distant waters they have passed the 
 winter. Come they do, however, by hundreds 
 and thousands, and on the shores of these islands 
 the baby seals are born. They are graceful little 
 creatures, and play and frolic together like kit- 
 tens. When they are born they are quite blind, 
 but they begin to see after a few days. When 
 they are about six weeks old their mother leads 
 them down to the water for their first swim. 
 At first they are afraid, but their mother coaxes 
 and urges them on, so that in a short time they 
 are able to swim about with ease. Before long 
 they enjoy this new water-life as much as their 
 fathers and mothers do, and are soon able to 
 hunt for the small fishes and kelp which are the 
 seals' principal food. The hunting season lasts 
 about six weeks, and begins early in June, soon 
 after the arrival of the seals. The men arm 
 themselves with clubs, and then drive the seals 
 up into a cleared space away from the shore, 
 where the animals are helpless, because they are 
 clumsy and move slowly when out of the water. 
 
74 Little Folks of North America 
 
 A single blow on the seal's head is enough to 
 end his life, and to give the hunter the beautiful 
 soft skin he wishes. 
 
 Year after year goes around and each summer 
 brings herds of seals to these islands, with no 
 understanding! that thousands of their number 
 are coming only to die at the hands of the 
 hunters. Sometimes the Indian boys catch baby 
 seals and keep themifor pets. They are gentle 
 little creatures, and soon learn to love their 
 young masters, and to follow them about. They 
 bark much like» puppies and are often taught 
 to do tricks. 
 
 Hunting in Alaska. 
 
 The Indian boys of Alaska could tell you 
 many stories about the wild animals they hunt 
 with their fathers. There are martens, with 
 their soft brown fur, black and silver foxes, 
 beavers, musk-rats, mountain-goats, moose, deer, 
 otter and many others which roam in great num- 
 bers over the hills and through the valleys. The 
 Yukon River, one of the largest in the world, is 
 the most important one in Alaska, and through 
 the country on either side of it the wild animals 
 are found in great numbers. The hunters get 
 
From Copyrighted Stereograph 
 
 by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
 
 An Alaskan Village Showing Indian Totem Poles. 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 75 
 
 many of them in traps. There, on the banks 
 of that great river, hundreds of canvas-back 
 ducks lay their eggs on the platforms of grass 
 and twigs which they build on the low marshes, 
 and the Indian children go in parties to hunt 
 for their eggs and the baby ducklings. 
 
 The older boys trap many a fox and musk-rat, 
 whose skins they proudly give to their fathers 
 who will sell them to the white traders, and get 
 sugar, tea, and blankets in exchange. They 
 spend hours in hunting along the banks of the 
 stream for beaver villages, and taking these little 
 creatures unawares. 
 
 The Gold Mines. 
 
 Not many years ago it was found that not 
 only furs and salmon could be obtained in 
 Alaska, but in some places the rocks were rich 
 with precious gold. The Treadmill gold-mine 
 is one of the most valuable in the world. The 
 men who work there do not have to leave the 
 sunlight and dig far down under the earth, for 
 the mine, or rather quarry, is above ground, 
 and there the workers are kept busy, breaking 
 away the masses of rock which are afterwards 
 crushed in heavy stamps, to separate the gold 
 
76 Little Folks of North America 
 
 from the quartz. When darkness falls, electric 
 lights make everything as bright as day. There 
 are more than two hundred of these stamps at 
 the Treadmill mine, so you can imagine that 
 when all are at work crushing the great masses 
 of rock, the noise is enough to deafen one's ears. 
 As the gold is separated, it is made up into 
 bricks, each one of which is worth between fif- 
 teen and eighteen thousand dollars! These 
 bricks are afterwards sent in ship loads to the 
 mint at San Francisco. 
 
 Sitka. 
 
 On an island off the southern shore of Alaska, 
 lies Sitka, the capital of the territory. It was 
 built long ago when the Russians owned the 
 country, and even now you may visit the moss- 
 grown Castle, where the governors always lived. 
 There they held many a feast and dance, to 
 which the savage Indian chiefs from the country 
 around were sometimes invited. Fine glass and 
 silver, which had come all the way from Russia, 
 sparkled at these feasts. Grand ladies in silks 
 and satins laughed and chatted beneath the soft 
 light of hundreds of candles, trying perhaps to 
 forget their longing for home. 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 77 
 
 Now that Alaska belongs to the United States, 
 many things have been done to make Sitka 
 healthful and comfortable. The new governors 
 chose Indians for policemen. Very grand they 
 must have thought themselves when they first 
 put on their blue uniforms, with gilt letters on 
 their caps and silver stars on their breasts.. 
 
 Among other wise things, the governor made 
 the law, that the children must go to school. 
 Now, there were many Indians in Sitka, and 
 they did not understand what a fine thing it is 
 to have learning. But the governor directed 
 that all the houses must be numbered. Not only 
 this, but each child of the house was given a 
 number, and this was stamped on a tiny, round 
 plate which he was obliged to wear on a string 
 tied around his neck. He had to show this num- 
 ber to the school-teacher and in this way one 
 could keep track of him. 
 
 Whenever an excursion steamer enters the 
 harbor, the people of Sitka make ready for a 
 holiday, while the Indians hasten to get out 
 their blankets to sell to the visitors. Many peo- 
 ple travel in Alaska in the summer time, on 
 purpose to see the wonderful sights there, — the 
 high mountains covered with snow, the valleys 
 
78 Little Folks of North America 
 
 filled with flowers, the wild Indians, the strange 
 huts before which the totem poles rise high in 
 the air; but most interesting of all are the gla- 
 ciers, whose beginning is far up in the snow- 
 covered mountains. Slowly but surely, they 
 make their way down to the sea, growing larger 
 as other and smaller glaciers join themselves 
 to them. There is a certain bay in Alaska 
 which the summer visitors are sure to visit if 
 they can possibly do so. It is called Glacier 
 Bay, because of an immense glacier which enters 
 it. Imagine yourself on a steamer entering this 
 bay on a bright sunshiny day of mid-summer. 
 Yet you shiver, for the air begins to grow colder 
 and colder. It is no wonder, for ice-bergs meet 
 your eyes on every side. They are clear as crys- 
 tal and are lighted with the most beautiful colors, 
 — delicate pinks and blues. As you look, you 
 fancy that they have the shapes of different ani- 
 mals or of grand castles. Some of them, indeed, 
 seem like great lonely beings. From time to 
 time flocks of birds pass overhead and light on 
 the bergs for a short rest. 
 
 Whence did these bergs come, and whither are 
 they drifting so slowly? You look ahead and 
 there before you is the Muir glacier entering 
 
Little Folks of Alaska 79 
 
 the sea. As you draw nearer it seems like a 
 mighty fortress. The captain of the steamer 
 tells you that its face is three miles wide, and 
 that all these icebergs, among which the ship has 
 to be steered so carefully, have broken away from 
 this one glacier. He does not dare to carry his 
 passengers too near, for some time, without any 
 warning, a fresh berg may break away. As it 
 plunges into the bay, with a noise like thunder, 
 it will stir the waters into an angry whirlpool. 
 
 There are many other glaciers in Alaska, but 
 this one is the largest and the most wonderful 
 of them all. Geysers and volcanos are also to 
 be found in the country. One of the mountains, 
 named Mt. McKinley, is the highest peak in 
 North America. Another, Mt. Elias, rises al- 
 most out of the ocean, and its cloak of snow and 
 ice reaches nearly to its base. When boys and 
 girls wish to travel where they can see many 
 strange and wonderful sights, they would do 
 well to take a summer's trip to Alaska, — the 
 land of gold and fur, of waterfalls, geysers and 
 glaciers. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 Little Folks of Canada 
 
 The First White Settlers 
 
 IF you look at the map of North America, 
 you will find that nearly the whole upper 
 half, with the exception of Alaska, bears 
 the name of the Dominion of Canada. Its 
 northern shores are bathed by the cold waters 
 of the Arctic Ocean. On the east is the great 
 Atlantic, and on the west is the stormy Pacific. 
 The boys and girls who live in this vast country 
 can travel for hundreds of miles along mighty 
 rivers; they can sail on lakes so great that they 
 may lose sight of land and grow sea-sick from 
 the motion of the boat as it moves through the 
 waves ; they can climb high mountains capped 
 with snow in the hottest summer weather; they 
 can wander over vast prairies for days and even 
 wxeks at a time with no view of anything as 
 far as the eye can see, save miles and miles of 
 grass; they can lose themselves in thick forests 
 
 80 
 
Little Folks of Canada 81 
 
 where only wild animals and Indian hunters 
 have ever ventured before. All these things are 
 possible for the Canadian child without moving 
 out of the land which he calls home. 
 
 Once upon a time, less than fifty years after 
 Columbus discovered the New World, a brave 
 Frenchman named Jacques Cartier left his 
 sunny home in France, and sailed into the west. 
 The king of France had heard of the wonderful 
 land which Columbus had discovered, and 
 which the Spaniards had begun to settle. He 
 wished to have some part of it for himself, so 
 he directed Cartier to go farther north than the 
 Spaniards had done. When he reached a good 
 place for a home, he was to land and set up 
 the flag of France. 
 
 Cartier, with two ships, each of which bore 
 sixty-one men, set out. They crossed the ocean 
 and arrived on the coast of a large island. Its 
 shores were still blocked with ice, although it 
 was the month of April. To-day we know this 
 island as Newfoundland or New-found-land. 
 The Frenchmen were not pleased with the coun- 
 try, for it looked bare and rocky. When they 
 landed, they were met by savages with red skins 
 and black hair tied on the top of their heads, 
 
82 Little Folks of North America 
 
 ''Like a wreath of hay," as Carter said. He 
 was quite sure that this was not a fit place for 
 a home; so the ships were turned northward. 
 They soon entered a large gulf which received 
 the name of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
 
 On the shores of this gulf the white men were 
 also met by Indians, whose homes were their 
 upturned canoes. The savages wore little or no 
 clothing; they lived on fish and flesh that was 
 scarcely cooked; they seemed poor and very 
 savage. The country, which was the mainland 
 of Canada, looked pleasant, and Carter set up 
 a tall cross and took possession of it in the name 
 of France. He induced the Indian chief to al- 
 low his two sons to go back to France with him. 
 Then he set sail for home, eager to tell his friends 
 of the land he had visited. 
 
 The next year Cartier returned to Canada 
 with a goodly company. They entered the gulf 
 of St. Lawrence, as they had done before, but 
 they sailed on until they came to the mouth of 
 a wide river. 
 
 "It flows from afar off," said the two Indians 
 who had gone to France with Cartier, and who 
 had returned with him. ''No man has ever seen 
 its beginning," they continued. 
 
Little Folks of Canada 83 
 
 "Perhaps," thought Cartier, who had no idea 
 how vast was the new land that he had dis- 
 covered, "it is not a river. It is so broad and 
 so deep, it may be an arm of the ocean, and if 
 I follow it, I may find the short way to India, 
 about which so many have dreamed." 
 
 So he and his men kept on their way up the 
 St. Lawrence River, stopping from time to time 
 to admire the beautiful country and the wonder- 
 ful sights that met them on every hand. Wild 
 grape vines hung from the trees along the banks, 
 and the delicious fruit was even now ripening. 
 Water-fowls flew over their heads, and they got 
 glimpses of wild animals such as they had never 
 seen before. Most interesting of all were the 
 little Indian villages scattered here and there 
 along the shore. 
 
 From one of the settlements Cartier was pass- 
 ing, the people came out in their canoes to get a 
 better sight of the white men, but they were 
 afraid to come close to the ships, till Cartier's 
 two young Indian friends spoke to them and 
 told them not to fear. Then they came on board 
 and listened to the story of the visit the two 
 Indian youths had made in France, and of the 
 wonderful things that had happened to them. 
 
84 Little Folks of North America 
 
 The Indians were now quite sure that the 
 strangers meant only good to them, and that 
 there was nothing to fear. 
 
 They hastened to bring presents to the visitors 
 and show friendship in every way that they 
 knew. Cartier did not stay long in the place, 
 however. He sailed on till he came to a fine 
 harbor beneath steep, high cliffs. An Indian 
 village stood here. To-day it is the site of the 
 city of Quebec. 
 
 ^'Farther on, up the river, is a still larger 
 town of our people, and it is ruled over by a 
 very powerful chief," the Indians there told 
 him. 
 
 ''But the way is long and dangerous," added 
 their own chief. "You had better not go there." 
 
 When he said this, he was thinking of the 
 store of knives, bright-colored beads, and tiny 
 looking-glasses the white men had shown him. 
 A few of these strange and beautiful things had 
 been given to him. He could not bear to think 
 of that other chief also receiving some. 
 
 But Cartier was not to be frightened. He 
 set sail once more and for thirteen days the ships 
 kept on their way up the river. From time to 
 time they stopped at Indian villages where the 
 
Little Folks of Canada 85 
 
 red children and their parents came dancing 
 about them, bringing presents of fruit and fish. 
 The savages told many stories about the country 
 beyond; gold and precious stones were to be 
 found there, and there were strange beings who 
 lived without food. Still Cartier traveled on 
 until he reached a village of at least fifty huts. 
 
 There was a three-fold wall of stakes around 
 it, and fields where leaves of corn were waving 
 in the autumn wind. Behind this village was a 
 hill which Cartier called Mount Royal. To- 
 day, in the very spot where the Indian village 
 once stood, is the large city of Montreal, the 
 most important one in the country. Cartier and 
 his men stayed in Canada for several months. 
 They built two forts on the banks of the St. 
 Lawrence ; they made gardens, and marked out 
 a road. They were of good heart until the long, 
 cold winter was upon them, longer and colder 
 than they had ever known. Many grew home- 
 sick with longirLg for sunny France; others fell 
 ill. At last they decided to give up the settle- 
 ment and to return home. 
 
 After that French ships visited Canada from 
 time to time. They stopped to get loads of furs 
 which the Indians were glad to sell, but no one 
 
86 Little Folks of North America 
 
 came to settle in the country for many years. 
 
 At last the king of France said to himself, ^'I 
 cannot hold the land on the other side of the 
 ocean, unless I send people there to settle, and 
 it is worth while to keep it because of the furs 
 we can get in trade from the Indian hunters." 
 
 He sent over a colony of settlers who came 
 sailing one bright day into the harbor of Port 
 Royal. They landed on the beautiful shore and 
 were soon busy building a chapel and a fort, as 
 well as homes for themselves. A good priest 
 came with them. He was so kind and gentle 
 that even the savages loved him, and were quite 
 willing to listen to the stories that he told them 
 of a heavenly Father, and Jesus, the Savior of 
 men. 
 
 The Explorer Champlain. 
 
 Among the settlers was the brave Champlain, 
 who advised building a fort above the steep 
 cliffs under which Cartier had anchored his 
 ships years before. Workmen were soon at 
 work on a fort, a chapel, and homes for the set- 
 tlers. It was the beginning of the strong fortress 
 and city of Quebec. 
 
 After these first settlers, came other French- 
 
Little Folks of Canada 87 
 
 men and their families, and before many years, 
 the red children and the white were playing 
 merrily together. 
 
 "You must love each other," the gentle French 
 priest had told them. "Though you are of dif- 
 ferent races, yet you are the children of the one 
 Father." 
 
 So it was that the sons and daughters of the 
 Frenchmen grew up with no fear of the little 
 savages. Why, their priests often went to live 
 in the Indian villages, that they might better 
 show their friendship. Indians were often in- 
 vited to feasts held in the white men's homes 
 and joined in their sports. Moreover, the chil- 
 dren's own relatives often chose Indian maidens 
 for their wives, and were very happy with them. 
 And because of this last, there came in time to 
 be many people in Canada who were called half- 
 breeds, as they were partly French and partly 
 Indian. 
 
 The Coming of the English. 
 
 Many years passed quietly by. The French 
 people in Canada lived peacefully with their red 
 neighbors. They built trading stations out in 
 the country, and here furs were brought in great 
 
88 Little Folks of North America 
 
 numbers by the Indian hunters. Forts were 
 also built along the banks of the St. Lawrence, 
 and still farther into the wilderness, on the 
 shores of the Five Great Lakes, which separate 
 Canada from the United States. 
 
 The French explorers and priests went even 
 farther, for they made their way from these 
 lakes down into the United States, never stop- 
 ping till they had sailed the whole length of the 
 Mississippi River. Everywhere they went they 
 planted the French flag and claimed the country 
 in the name of the king across the ocean. Now, 
 the English, who had settled on the southern side 
 of the Great Lakes, did not like the idea of the 
 French becoming so powerful in North Amer- 
 ica; thus it came about after a while that there 
 were wars between the two peoples. 
 
 The Lidians of Canada took the part of their 
 French friends. Terrible battles were fought; 
 brave soldiers were killed; cruel deeds were 
 done to women and little children by the savage 
 Indians. Years passed by and the troubles did 
 not come to an end. It seemed as though there 
 was no way of settling matters and making 
 peace. 
 
 All this time a little boy was growing up in 
 
Little Folks of Canada 89 
 
 England. His name was James Wolfe. He 
 was delicate and sickly, yet his bright, clear eyes 
 showed that he had a strong will. He longed 
 with all his heart to be a soldier. And soldier 
 he became, though it seemed as if he would 
 never be able to bear such a hard life. 
 
 When he was only sixteen he fought for his 
 country in Flanders. He soon showed how 
 brave he was, and became a high officer in the 
 army. He was sent to America to fight against 
 the French and Indians. If he could only ge 
 Quebec, he thought. It was the strongest for 
 tress of all the enemy held. But that seemed 
 impossible, for no one dreamed that an army 
 could scale the steep crags above which the for- 
 tress was built. 
 
 Yet Wolfe kept thinking, thinking. By this 
 time he was the commander of a whole fleet of 
 English ships. At last there came a day when 
 he sailed boldly up the St. Lawrence, and 
 landed his men on the shore opposite to Quebec. 
 He set up great cannons which should fire upon 
 the fortress across the river. The siege began. 
 In the midst of it heavy rain fell; Wolfe and 
 many of his men became ill. Though he was 
 burning with fever he still kept planning. One 
 
90 Little Folks of North America 
 
 day, as he looked through his telescope, he saw 
 something that he had never noticed before. It 
 was a narrow path, — O, so very narrow — that 
 wound in and out, yet ever upward, to the top 
 of the crags that guarded Quebec. 
 
 He said to himself, ^'My men and I shall 
 climb that path and take the fortress by sur- 
 prise." 
 
 Soon afterwards, on a dark night, they did 
 climb it. Wolfe himself rose from his sick bed 
 and led them. As the sun rose the next morn- 
 ing the English army appeared on the Plains of 
 Abraham, behind the fort, and one of the great 
 battles of the world was fought. Before night 
 fell, Quebec was in the hands of the English. 
 Both Wolfe, and Montcalm, the French com- 
 mander were killed. Henceforth, not only 
 Quebec, but all Canada would be ruled over 
 by the English. 
 
 Henry Hudson and the Great Lone Land. 
 
 It was in the year 1610, that a brave seaman 
 named Henry Hudson, sailed northward along 
 the shores of North America. He had already 
 discovered the Hudson River in the United 
 States, and traded with the Indians there for 
 
Little Folks of Canada 91 
 
 furs. He had tried to find a short way to India 
 but had failed. Now he hoped by going still 
 farther he might yet discover it. On and still 
 on he sailed till he entered a large bay on the 
 northern shore of Canada, which ever since has 
 been called Hudson Bay. Here, in the midst 
 of ice and snow, he and his men were obliged 
 to pass the winter. There was little to eat, and 
 it was bitter cold. 
 
 His men blamed him for bringing them to 
 such suffering, and at last rose against him. 
 They set him adrift in a small boat, with his 
 young son and a few faithful followers. Then, 
 leaving him to die of cold and hunger, they 
 sailed for home, to tell of the large bay that had 
 been discovered, and of the wild country around 
 it. As time went by other Englishmen visited 
 Hudson Bay, but they had no wish to stay long 
 in its icy waters or on its lonely shores. 
 
 At last, however, a number of English mer- 
 chants formed themselves into the Hudson Bay 
 company. 
 
 They said, ''We will send men to North Amer- 
 ica who shall build forts along the shore of Hud- 
 son Bay. They shall buy furs of the Indians, 
 and send them to us here in England. The furs 
 
92 Little Folks of North America 
 
 of the wild animals there are rich and beautiful, 
 and will bring us riches." 
 
 In this way it came about that English ships 
 brought to Canada men who at once set to work 
 building forts and trading stations in the neigh- 
 borhood of the bay discovered by Henry Hud- 
 son. They had with them knives and hatchets, 
 beads and bright colored blankets, — everything 
 that an Indian might wish in exchange for his 
 furs. They treated the red men kindly, for they 
 wanted to trade peaceably with them, but at the 
 same time they kept their guns ready in case of 
 an attack by the savages. 
 
 Alexander Mackenzie and his long Journey. 
 
 Even after the English had won the country 
 for themselves, they did not know how large it 
 was, for no one had explored the country from 
 north to south or from east to west. At last a 
 brave Scotchman named Alexander Mackenzie 
 came to settle in Canada. He was fond of ad- 
 venture and liked nothing better than roaming 
 for miles through the wilderness, hunting the 
 wild animals in the forest, and skimming over 
 the lakes and* down the streams in an Indian 
 canoe. He visited many a settlement where the 
 
Little Folks of Canada 93 
 
 red children had never before looked upon a 
 white man; he discovered rivers and lakes of 
 which the French and English knew nothing 
 before. He arrived in his wanderings on the 
 shore of the Great Slave Lake in the very heart 
 of the country. A large river flowed out of it. 
 Where did it go, and how far? The Indians 
 could not tell him. 
 
 At the beginning of the summer, he set out 
 with a small party of white men and an Indian 
 guide. At first it was very pleasant paddling 
 down the river in their canoes, but after a few 
 days they came to rapids. Then they had to take 
 to the land and carry their canoes and their sup- 
 plies on their shoulders. As they traveled on- 
 ward they came to still other rapids which 
 stopped their course again and again. 
 
 The farther north they traveled, the colder it 
 became. The days were much longer, too, for 
 it was nearing mid-summer. It seemed very 
 strange to them to have the midnight as bright 
 as day-light. The wild animals were scarce 
 now. 
 
 "Suppose," thought Mackenzie, 'Ve are un- 
 able to shoot enough for our food," but still he 
 kept on. He passed Indian villages on his way, 
 
94 Little Folks of North America 
 
 and at last met with Eskimos who were wander- 
 ing about on their summer hunt. 
 
 The wild animals were different now from 
 what the explorers had met before; they had 
 reached the home of the polar bear and the arctic 
 fox. The river was full of broken ice and there 
 were whales in the water. They were close to 
 the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and had traveled 
 a thousand miles down the great river, which 
 they named Mackenzie in honor of their brave 
 leader. The party did not remain long in the 
 bleak, northern country, but turned about and 
 journeyed homeward as quickly as possible. 
 
 Three years afterwards Mackenzie made up 
 his mind to cross Canada to the westward. 
 Slowly but surely he made his way, now gliding 
 along a stream or over a lake in his canoe ; now 
 cutting a path through a thick forest; again find- 
 ing himself stopped by high cliffs or by a rush- 
 ing torrent. But he kept on until he came to 
 the Rocky Mountains, whose snowy tops 
 reached far up towards the heavens. 
 
 " Not far beyond those mountains is the sea," 
 Mackenzie's Indian guide told him. 
 
 He still pushed on, through narrow passes, 
 between walls of rock, up steep slopes and down 
 
Little Folks of Canada 95 
 
 through deep valleys. At last he reached the 
 other side, launching his boats in a stream flow- 
 ing to the west. In a short time the Pacific 
 Ocean lay stretched before his eyes. 
 
 Among the Eskimos and Indians. 
 
 The middle of Canada is a great plain, which 
 ends in the north in frozen marshes, where the 
 homes of the little Eskimos are to be found. 
 There, in the midst of the ice and snow they work 
 and play, in much the same way as their brothers 
 and sisters in Greenland and Alaska. 
 
 Farther south, yet still where the summer is 
 short, and the winter is long and cold, Indian 
 children camp out on the prairies and on the 
 borders of the forests. Most of these red chil- 
 dren live in tents, or tepees, as they call them. 
 The winter tents are lined with heavy skins, and 
 a large fire burns in the middle, around which 
 they sleep during the cold winter nights. They 
 dress in the skins of the wild animals their fathers 
 have killed, and they wear soft moccasins on their 
 feet. They run many a mile in these moccasins 
 without getting tired or losing their breath. 
 
 Sometimes the little Indians have great feasts 
 when ducks and geese, deer and hares are to be 
 
96 Little Folks of North America 
 
 found, or when the berries and birds' ^ggs are 
 plentiful. But many a time during the long 
 winter game is scarce, and there is no food to 
 be had. Then the children must not complain, 
 though they are faint with hunger. If an In- 
 dian child hopes to grow up and be a brave man, 
 he must learn to bear many things and show no 
 one how much he is suffering. 
 
 Fearful storms rage about his home in the 
 winter. The snow falls hour after hour and the 
 fierce winds drive it in great gusts. Sometimes 
 in summer the winds blow hard too, but then 
 they are hot and dry and they scorch the faces 
 of those who are exposed to them. 
 
 The red children learn many things not to be 
 found in books. They look at the grass, — the 
 way the blades turn shows them where to look 
 for the east and west. The flight of birds warns 
 them of a coming storm and in what direction 
 to look for it. A broken twig tells them that a 
 wild animal has passed by. 
 
 They have many sports. In winter they bind 
 snow-shoes on their feet and skim over the snow- 
 fields. In summer they ride over the prairies on 
 their ponies with pads of deer skin beneath them. 
 
 Sometimes they let their ponies move along at 
 
^ifii.. 
 
 
 
 ^^^)f 
 
 From Copyrighted Stereograph 
 bv Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
 
 Little Canadian Indian Children. 
 
Little Folks of Canada 97 
 
 a slow walk; but more often they gallop wildly 
 along, with black hair waving in the air, and 
 with bright and eager eyes. Then, too, the red 
 children have canoes, in which they paddle on 
 the lakes or streams near home. 
 
 The canoe of the Canadian Indian is the best 
 possible boat for the kind of life he follows, just 
 as the Eskimo's kayak suits the icy waters of 
 the north. Everything he needs for it can be 
 found in the forest. He cuts down the cedar 
 for its ribs, he gathers birch-bark with which 
 to cover it, he gets resin from the pine to make 
 it water-tight. When the ice begins to break up 
 in the springtime and the wild swans and geese 
 fly overhead, then he takes it from its winter 
 resting place beneath the snow and launches it 
 on the lake or stream near his home. With his 
 birch canoe he can travel a long way throug the 
 wilderness, for when he has hunted or fished 
 all day long, he can bring his canoe up on the 
 shore and turn it bottom upwards. In an in- 
 stant he has a roof to shelter him while he takes 
 his night's sleep. 
 
 The Indian children are sure to have dogs 
 about their home. These are long-legged, 
 sharp-nosed creatures, and they always look lean 
 
98 Little Folks of North America 
 
 and hungry. Sometimes a puppy is cared for 
 tenderly. Then, perhaps, it grows up full of 
 love for its young master. But generally the 
 dogs are only half-fed, and they are ever ready 
 to fight with each other, and rob the stores of 
 their masters. Yet they are very helpful to the 
 Indian, as well as to many a white traveler in 
 Canada. They drag the sledges over the snow 
 in the winter and the little carts in the summer. 
 
 Many a time they stop to quarrel among them- 
 selves ; many a time the sledge is over-turned and 
 the rider is landed in a bank of snow. Many a 
 time the dogs refuse to obey the word of the 
 driver. Then the long whip flies right and left 
 among them, and with angry howls they get back 
 into order. 
 
 Wild Animals of the Forest and Prairie. 
 
 Out on the prairies and among the forests are 
 many wild animals which the Indian boy de- 
 lights to hunt. He has a bow and arrows of his 
 own, and when he his older, his father promises 
 him that he will buy him a gun from the white 
 traders. Perhaps the most clever of all the ani- 
 mals hunted in Canada is the beaver. It might 
 well be called the animal-carpenter. Its favor- 
 
Little Folks of Canada 99 
 
 ite home is a shallow lake or stream. The chil- 
 dren of the wilderness are ever on the lookout 
 for small earth mounds along the banks. When- 
 ever they find these, they also notice that trees 
 have been cut down nearby. It was certainly 
 the work of beavers. These little mounds, then, 
 are the roofs of store houses where the wise little 
 creatures have placed piles of tender wood and 
 roots, for their winter's supply. 
 
 From these store-houses, tunnels have been 
 dug out for some distance under the shallow 
 water of the pond or stream, to the very doors 
 of the beavers' homes, which have been made 
 very carefully out of twigs and brush, and plast- 
 ered with mud. The tops can generally be seen 
 above the surface of the water. Inside there 
 are beds of boughs covered with soft grass and 
 bark, and here the beavers sleep most of the hours 
 during the winter. If the hunters come upon 
 a beaver village in cold weather, there is no 
 sign that the animals are near, for the beavers 
 are all inside their homes. This is the time to 
 get them, however, for then the soft thick fur 
 is at its best. 
 
 In the autumn the men and boys generally 
 catch the animals in traps, but in the winter, 
 
100 Little Folks of North America 
 
 when the ice is frozen quite solid, the hunters 
 stop up the passage from the beaver's home to 
 his store-house on the bank. Then with their 
 axes, they break into the lodges, and dragging 
 out the fat sleepy animals, they kill them, one 
 by one. The sledges are soon packed and the 
 hunters start for home, thinking as they go, of the 
 feast of fat meat they will soon have. The beau- 
 tiful furs must be tanned and put away for the 
 traders, but the flesh of the animals they will 
 enjoy themselves. 
 
 Besides beavers, there are martens, minks and 
 fishers to be hunted and trapped, as well as musk- 
 rats and skunks. As soon as autumn comes 
 the men and boys begin to put their traps in 
 order, for with the first cold of November, they 
 will carry them out to the pine forests. The 
 Indian children would tell you that they cannot 
 imagine why the fisher is so called. They know 
 its ways and that it never goes near to the water 
 except when it has to cross over to the other side. 
 It has a long bushy tail and its fur is even richer 
 than the costly sable. 
 
 As for the mink, they have discovered it is 
 quite different from either the marten or the 
 fisher, and its fur is not as beautiful. It lives 
 
Little Folks of Canada 10 1 
 
 near the streams and feeds upon crabs and fish. 
 Many a time the young Indian has caught a mink 
 by baiting his trap with fish. 
 
 Sometimes, as the children are playing around 
 the camp in the evening, they hear a sudden 
 screech in the distance. It is the cry of a wild- 
 cat, or lynx. They would not care to have it 
 take them by surprise, for it is a fierce creature, 
 and its teeth and claws are very sharp. The 
 men, however, hunt wild-cats and get many of 
 them every year, because they are well paid for 
 the skins. 
 
 Then there are foxes, silver and black and red. 
 Many thousands of these sly creatures are shot 
 or trapped every year in Canada. Sometimes a 
 fox-cub is brought into the camp to amuse the 
 children. It is a gentle, pretty creature at first, 
 but before long it will show the ugly cunning of 
 its parents. 
 
 The boys sometimes search for musk-rats, 
 whose homes are much like those of the beavers, 
 a number of them always found together. 
 
 Off for the Hunt. 
 
 There are many half-breed children in Canada, 
 as you already know. They grow up with a love 
 
102 Little Folks of North America 
 
 of hunting like their Indian brothers. They 
 dress in Indian fashion, wearing moccasins and 
 leggings. Many of them live in rough log huts 
 and sleep on piles of brush covered w^ith fur 
 robes. When the cold weather sets in, the In- 
 dian, and the half-breed boy as well, does what 
 he can to help the men of the household get 
 ready for the busiest work of the year, as the 
 trapping and hunting season is at hand. 
 
 By the first of November the lakes and streams 
 are frozen, and the winter coats of the wild ani- 
 mals are at their best. On a bright, frosty morn- 
 ing, often with the thermometer below zero, the 
 trapper dresses himself in his thickest socks and 
 moccasins, warm leggings and cloak. He fas- 
 tens a fur cap down over his head and draws on 
 his long fur mittens which reach up to his elbows. 
 A hatchet, hunting knife, and fire-bag hang 
 from his belt. 
 
 While he is dressing, his wife is busy prepar- 
 ing his pack, for he may be gone several days. 
 The pack consists of a blanket, a kettle and cup, 
 sugar and salt, tea, of which the Indians are 
 very fond, and enough pemmican to last several 
 days. Pemmican is dried meat ground fine and 
 mixed with fat. If the trapper is not very poor 
 
Little Folks of Canada 103 
 
 he has steel traps and a gun to add to his pack. 
 When it is ready, it is bound to a hand sledge 
 which is simply a thin board curled up at one 
 end. It is easily drawn over the snow, and at 
 the end of the hunt is loaded with furs and game 
 to carry home. 
 
 Now for the snow shoes! When these have 
 been bound on his feet, the trapper can skim 
 over the snow fields with the greatest ease, draw- 
 ing his sledge behind him. He must not sing 
 nor make any noise as he moves along; nor if 
 he has any company can there be any loud talk- 
 ing. Otherwise the animals whom he seeks, 
 might take fright and flee from danger, and this 
 must not happen on any account. 
 
 Ah, how cold it is! the breath freezes as it 
 leaves the mouth and nostrils, the eye-lashes be- 
 come stiff with frost, but the hunter is too busy 
 watching for signs of the prey he seeks, to think 
 of these things. His hands and feet become 
 numb with the biting cold, but this is only 
 what he expected, and he trusts to his quick 
 movements to keep them from freezing. At 
 last the forest is reached and he turns his eyes in 
 every direction for signs that animals have been 
 near.: A white man would see nothing, where 
 
104 Little Folks of North America 
 
 an Indian or a half-breed reads whole pages in 
 Mother Nature's wonderful book. 
 
 Yes, a marten was here^only an hour or two 
 since and is still not very far away. A trap must 
 be set up in this very spot and baited with dried 
 meat, or with a tender piece of squirrel. Then 
 the hunter creeps away, to seek places where 
 there are other signs of life and to set up new 
 traps while he waits. If he is after foxes or 
 minks, he visits the' shores of the lakes and 
 swamps. He looks carefully about him now for 
 the foot-marks of the fox, or the sharp, clear 
 track of the mink. 
 
 When the evening comes the trapper looks 
 about him for some place that is sheltered from 
 the wind. There he makes a roaring fire, over 
 which he brews a pot of tea. When this is ready, 
 he enjoys his hot drink, together with a share of 
 the pemmican brought from home. Next he 
 gathers soft pine boughs for a bed, covers them 
 with a banket, and with his feet towards the fire, 
 lies down for his night's rest. Toward morn- 
 ing the fire burns low, and the cold grows so 
 bitter that the man cannot sleep. He gets up, 
 piles on more wood, and warms himself by the 
 bright flames. Once more he stretches himself 
 
Little Folks of Canada 105 
 
 on his bed of boughs, hoping to sleep until the 
 morning sunshine shall awaken him. 
 
 Winter Sports. 
 
 A great many of the white children of Canada 
 live in Quebec and Ontario. Although these 
 provinces lie in the southern part, yet the winter 
 is very cold even there. The children enjoy it, 
 however, because the air is clear and dry, and 
 there is plenty of snow on the ground. Even 
 the little folks learn how to use snow-shoes, and 
 with these on their feet, they skim over the 
 crusted snow-fields like the wind. 
 
 They have many toboggan rides, too. Noth- 
 ing could be pleasanter for a party of merry 
 children, than to spend the morning coasting 
 down the steep hillside on wooden sleds called 
 toboggans, which are shaped much like the In- 
 dian hand-sledges. They move so fast over the 
 snow, that the riders must hold on tightly lest 
 they tumble out. Sometimes there is a sudden 
 upset as the toboggan strikes a rough spot on the 
 hillside. Then there is much laughing and 
 shouting as the children pick themselves up, and 
 make ready for a fresh start. 
 
 Perhaps the greatest sport of all is a ride on 
 
lo6 Little Folks of North America 
 
 an ice-boat which is raised on large iron skates, 
 and in a good wind will sail very swiftly. When 
 the St. Lawrence River is frozen over, one can 
 see numbers of ice-boats skimming along with 
 their loads of happy passengers. 
 
 Of course the children of Canada skate and 
 play hockey. The lakes and ponds are frozen 
 over for many months, so that parties are con- 
 tinually made up for skating and games on the 
 ice. 
 
 One must certainly not forget to mention 
 sleigh-rides. There is no place in the world 
 where the people enjoy sleigh-riding more. 
 They wrap themselves up in warm furs, and 
 spring into the pretty sleighs to which gaily 
 decked horses are harnessed. Jingle, jingle, 
 sound the bells, and when the word is given, 
 away move the sleighs filled w^ith their merry 
 loads. 
 
 The Big Cities. 
 
 Although Canada has been under English rule 
 for a long time, yet many French people have 
 continued to live there. In fact, in the province 
 of Quebec there are more French than English. 
 The old part of the city of Quebec looks much 
 
Little Folks of Canada 107 
 
 to-day as it did in the long ago, when Wolfe 
 climbed the cliff and took the French army by 
 surprise. Along the narrow streets there are 
 many quaint old houses with peaked roofs, in 
 whose gardens French-Canadian children play 
 the games and sing the songs of France. Here 
 and there you will see an altar on which flowers 
 have been placed, and people bowing before the 
 image of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 If you visit Quebec, you will certainly go to 
 the citadel. Far above the water it stands, on 
 the summit of the cliff, while just below it lies 
 the old city, with its high, pointed roofs, and 
 queer gates opening into old-fashioned gardens. 
 Far, far below lies the beautiful St. Lawrence, 
 where ships of many countries lie at anchor. 
 Immense rafts of lumber come floating down 
 the river, to be sent on the waiting ships to 
 other lands. On some of these rafts are tiny 
 houses for the men who have rowed them from 
 the forests, hundreds of miles up the river. 
 
 Before you leave the city you will walk out 
 on the Plains of Abraham which stretch into 
 the country back of the citadel. There the 
 great battle was fought that gave Canada to 
 the English; and there in the summer of 1908 a 
 
io8 Little Folks of North America 
 
 great celebration was held. Three hundred 
 years ago the city of Quebec was founded, and 
 in memory of this, many thousands of people 
 gathered to see the pageants, representing the 
 great things that have happened there. The 
 city was gay with flags and bright-colored ban- 
 ners. There were concerts, balls and grand 
 dinners. The Prince of Wales himself was 
 there to take part in the good time. The pa- 
 geants were the best part of the celebration, of 
 course. They were given on the Plains of Abra- 
 ham, and hundreds of men, women and children 
 took part. Thousands of people gathered in the 
 open-air theatre to look on. 
 
 Montreal is another beautiful city. It is built 
 on an island in the St. Lawrence River. Most 
 of the children there are of French blood, but 
 there are also many boys and girls of Irish, 
 Scotch and English families. They are all 
 proud of the wonderful bridge, nearly two miles 
 long, that crosses the river at Montreal, and of 
 the beautiful cathedral that will hold ten thou- 
 sand people. They, as well as the children of 
 Quebec, see ships of many countries anchored 
 near their homes. Many of these ships have 
 
Little Folks of Canada 109 
 
 crossed the ocean to receive the lumber and furs 
 that Canada wishes to send to other lands. 
 
 The capital of Canada is Ottawa, in the 
 province of Ontario. It is also on the St. Law- 
 rence. High up above the water, on the river 
 banks, stand many beautiful buildings, where all 
 the business of the government of Canada is car- 
 ried on. Ottawa is a beautiful place for a home 
 and the children who live there should be very 
 happy. They have the winter sports of Que- 
 bec, while on the hot summer days they can 
 sail in and out among the islands of the river, 
 or picnic under the trees of the forests only a 
 short distance away. 
 
 On the Farms. 
 
 In your grandfather's time, few people ex- 
 cept the Indians and half-breeds, were living on 
 the prairies over which Mackenzie made his 
 way on his journey westward. There were no 
 roads there in those days ; no tracks over which 
 trains filled with passengers went flying by. 
 Great herds of buffaloes wandered about, feed- 
 ing on the tall prairie grass, while here and 
 there little red children ran in and out of their 
 
110 Little Folks of North America 
 
 wigwams, and danced about the camp-fires. 
 
 To-day scarcely a buffalo is left in the land, 
 the shriek of the steam engine is often heard, 
 while many comfortable farm houses can be seen. 
 In the summer time there is much to do, even 
 for the little folks. The boys help weed the 
 vegetable gardens, and care for the cows and the 
 horses, while their fathers are busy in the fields 
 of wheat and oats that stretch over many acres. 
 The girls learn to darn and sew, as well as wash 
 dishes and help their mothers make bread and 
 pies for the hungry workmen. 
 
 Sometimes the farmer raises only hay, but the 
 big crops must be cared for very carefully and 
 the boys do their share of the work. Ranches 
 where cattle and horses are raised are also found 
 on the prairies. Certainly no place could be 
 better for this work, since the broad acres of 
 tall grass make the best feeding-grounds possi- 
 ble. 
 
 When August comes, the men and boys get 
 out their guns and watch for the coming of the 
 prairie chickens. Later on, the wild ducks and 
 geese appear in large flocks. This is the time 
 for the boys to take their canoes and a few sup- 
 plies, and camp out on the shores of the lakes 
 
Little Folks of Canada ill 
 
 and ponds, for they know that the birds love 
 the water and are sure to seek it. There will 
 be feasting in the big farm-houses now, because 
 there will be plenty of tender wild ducks to 
 roast, and the cellars are full of the vegetables 
 raised in the gardens. 
 
 Besides the autumn shooting and the feasts 
 that follow, there are many other good times 
 for the young folks on the big farms. They 
 meet together for singing and dancing, they play 
 tennis, they have games of hockey, both on land 
 and ice, they have jolly sleigh rides in the frosty 
 air, they skate and they curl, and, of course, 
 the small boys and girls make snow-forts and 
 houses that will last without melting for a month 
 at a time. If you who live in warmer lands 
 should pity them for having such long, cold 
 winters and so much snow, the children would 
 laugh at the idea. They would tell you that 
 they love the winter and hate to have it come 
 to an end. They can have such jolly times out 
 of doors, and then, when they are tired of their 
 rough sports, they can gather around roaring 
 fires in the big living-rooms of the houses, and 
 listen to the stories the older folks tell them of 
 the days of long ago. 
 
112 Little Folks of North America 
 
 In a Lumber Camp. 
 
 For many years the white settlers in Canada 
 have been busy cutting down trees in the big 
 pine forests, yet they still stretch for many miles 
 through the country. When the autumn comes 
 the children of the lumber-men hear their fath- 
 ers tell of the winter's work before them. They 
 are going out into the forests to live, and will 
 not be home again for many months. A party 
 of these lumber-men start out together. They 
 carry everything they will need for their rough 
 house-keeping, — a few kettles and dishes for 
 cooking, some heavy blankets, a supply of flour 
 for bread, salt-pork, tea and molasses. 
 
 The last good-bye is said and they start out 
 on their long journey to the forests. As soon 
 as they reach the place for the winter camp 
 they set to work to build a house of logs. In 
 the middle of the roof a place is left open, to 
 let out the smoke when a fire is burning inside. 
 Around the side of the big room, the men build 
 bunks in which to sleep at night, and in the 
 middle they make a fire-place, where the blaz- 
 ing logs on winter evenings will send out such 
 
Little Folks of Canada 113 
 
 warmth and cheer, that Jack Frost will not dare 
 to venture through the cracks in the walls. 
 
 The lumber-men are happy in their work. 
 All day long the sound of their axes rings through 
 the forest, while they vie with each other in 
 cutting down the big trees. Then when night 
 comes and their supper of bread, tea and fried 
 pork is finished, they gather around the fire to 
 smoke and tell stories. The weeks pass quickly, 
 and with the coming of spring, immense 
 piles of logs are ready to go to the saw- 
 mills. 
 
 When the ice begins to break up, it is a sign 
 to the men to bind the logs into cribs. Thirty 
 or forty logs are enough for one crib. The 
 cribs are fastened together to form rafts, which 
 are set floating down the rivers. Some of the 
 men ride on the rafts and guide them by means 
 of long poles tipped with steel, to prevent them 
 from running aground. Others of the party go 
 at once to the saw-mills, to be ready to receive 
 the logs when they arrive. Buzz-z-z sounds 
 through the air, as the big wheels turn and the 
 trees of the forest are rapidly changed into strong 
 lumber. 
 
114 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Beyond the Mountains. 
 
 Let us now cross the Rocky Mountains, and 
 make a short visit in British Columbia. It is 
 the most beautiful province in Canada, with its 
 mountains covered with forests and its rivers 
 stocked with fish. The children who live near 
 the Fraser River, can tell wonderful fish stories, 
 for at a certain time of the year, millions of 
 salmon leave the ocean and make their way up 
 this river. Then big folks and little are busy 
 with nets, hauling in the fish and carrying them 
 to the canneries. 
 
 Gold is also found on the Fraser River, while 
 the mountains near-by are rich in other minerals. 
 
 The Klondike Mines. 
 
 Far up in the northwest of Canada, near the 
 borders of Alaska, are the famous Klondike 
 mines. You have probably heard of them, and 
 of the long, hard journey a person must take 
 to get there. Such wonderful stories have been 
 told of the riches one can bring away from these 
 mountains, that many a young man has left home 
 and friends to seek his fortune there. Now-a- 
 days it is easier to reach the Klondike mines 
 
Little Folks of Canada 115 
 
 than it was a few years ago, but the country 
 is cold and dreary and most of the food must 
 be brought from a distance, so that few white 
 children have found their way there. Yet as 
 they sit in their cosy homes, they are glad to 
 listen to the stories of that wild country, told to 
 them by the brave men who have been to the 
 Klondike gold regions. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Little Folks of Labrador 
 
 EAST of the large bay where Henry Hud- 
 son lost his life is the peninsula of Lab- 
 rador. Although it is farther south than 
 Greenland or Alaska, its shores are very bleak 
 and bare, because of cold winds that blow inland 
 from the ocean. You can easily guess that this 
 country is the home of Eskimos who seem the 
 best fitted of all people to live in the lands of 
 ice and snow. 
 
 Some white children are to be found there, 
 however. Their fathers are fishermen who get 
 a living for their families out of the icy waters 
 of the ocean. Sometimes, too, they hunt the deer, 
 or set traps for other wild animals. In the sum- 
 mer time the children search for birds' eggs, 
 and in the autumn the men and boys keep on 
 the lookout for eider-ducks, wild swans, ducks, 
 geese and ptarmigan. The meat of these birds 
 is sweet and tender, while the feathers make 
 warm beds, pillows and quilts. 
 
 116 
 
Little Folks of Labrador 117 
 
 The children of the fishermen paddle about 
 in the rough waters in their canoes when many 
 other children would be afraid to venture out 
 from the shore. They ride over the snow in 
 low sledges drawn by half-tamed, surly dogs. 
 They spend many a day fishing for cod and 
 salmon. They hunt for the berries, ripening in 
 the sunshine of the short summer. They play 
 with their Eskimo neighbors whom they meet 
 once a week to study their Bible lessons with 
 the kind missionaries, who have come to live 
 among them. 
 
 Each Eskimo house is entered by a long, low 
 passage, made of logs and turf. The floor of 
 the one big room is covered with boards, and 
 a long, wooden platform at one end is the sleep- 
 ing place for the whole family. On another 
 side is a fireplace lined with pebbles, where the 
 mother cooks the food for the family. There 
 is a window in the house or maybe there are 
 two, so that altogether the Eskimos of Labrador 
 can be far more comfortable than their brothers 
 and sisters of Greenland. 
 
 They live in much the same way, however. 
 They dress in furs; they fish; they kill seals; 
 they hunt the deer; they ride over the country 
 
li8 Little Folks of North America 
 
 in low sledges drawn by unruly dogs ; they make 
 kayaks, in which they paddle about among the 
 islands near to the shore. They are not obliged 
 to build snow or stone houses like their brothers 
 in Greenland. Cold as it is, forests of spruce 
 and pine grow not very far inland ; so that they 
 are able to get plenty of logs for the walls of 
 their houses. These they plaster so thickly with 
 turf, that the wind cannot make its way inside. 
 
 The Indians of Labrador. 
 
 As you leave the coast, and travel inland, you 
 will find that the air becomes warmer and that 
 there are more trees and plants. The country 
 is much pleasanter, and no doubt this is the rea- 
 son that the Indians of Labrador prefer to live 
 here in winter rather than on the coast. The 
 redmen are great hunters, too, and as there are 
 many wild animals in the forests, they spend 
 the autumn and winter trapping and shooting. 
 Here and there along the ponds and streams 
 you may see the bark wigwams of the redmen. 
 
 Children dressed in skins go skimming past 
 you over the snow fields. They wear snow-shoes 
 on their feet, so they can travel fast. When 
 they are tired of this sport, they can take a ride 
 
Little Folks of Labrador 119 
 
 on a dog-sledge, or play with their puppies. 
 The boys help their fathers set traps for martens 
 and foxes ; they go on porcupine hunts ; they 
 search for beaver villages, and sometimes they 
 come hurrying home to say that they have come 
 upon a bear or the tracks of a lynx or an otter. 
 
 The girls learn to embroider moccasins and 
 leggins with beads and porcupine quills; they 
 bring wood for the fires and drinking water 
 from the streams; they weave baskets. After a 
 deer-hunt they dry the meat and grind it to 
 make pemmican. Indeed, they learn all those 
 things that Indians think are necessary for the 
 making of good and helpful women. So the 
 days pass and the years follow each other in 
 bleak Labrador. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Little Folks of Newfoundland 
 
 YOU remember that when Cartier went to 
 Canada hoping to find a comfortable 
 place where his people could settle, he 
 stopped first at a large island ofif the eastern 
 coast, giving it the name of Newfoundland. 
 But he did not stay there. The high crags 
 reaching out into the sea and the rocky shores 
 seemed to frown upon him and he decided to 
 go farther where Mother Nature should give 
 him a more friendly welcome. At that time 
 Indians were living along the coast, getting their 
 food by catching fish and trapping wild animals. 
 No white men came to settle in Newfoundland 
 till many years after Cartier's visit, for like him, 
 they chose to make their homes in a more invit- 
 ing country. 
 
 Now, however, many rosy-cheeked boys and 
 girls live on the island. Their fathers are fish- 
 ermen who have settled there because they have 
 
 120 
 
Little Folks of Newfoundland 121 
 
 found it is one of the best fishing-grounds in 
 the world. Off the southeast coast stretches a 
 sandbank at least three hundred miles long, and 
 in the waters nearby millions of cod and haddock 
 are found every year. It is no wonder, there- 
 fore, that not only the fishermen who live in 
 Newfoundland, but people from Canada and the 
 United States, and even from countries across 
 the ocean, gather on the shores of the island 
 every year to fish. 
 
 Heavy fogs hang over these shores for a large 
 part of the year, and are caused in a curious 
 way. There is a warm current that flows north- 
 ward through the Atlantic Ocean, making the 
 western coast of Greenland so much warmer 
 than the eastern that most of the people there 
 choose to live on that side of the island. But 
 there is also a very cold Arctic current flowing 
 southward, filling the air along the eastern coast 
 of Labrador with frost. These two currents 
 meet off the Newfoundland shore, and as the 
 warm and cold come together, clouds of vapor 
 rise in the air. It is the smoke of a water 
 battle. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fogs and the dampness, 
 the children of Newfoundland love their home 
 
122 Little Folks of North America 
 
 dearly. They love the deep and narrow bays 
 that reach far into the land, and they often make 
 up sailing parties to the small islands that dot 
 the clear, deep waters. They love the blue sky 
 of the summer. They watch with delight the 
 icebergs that float by from time to time in their 
 journey from the frozen north. When winter 
 comes these children search along the shore for 
 the seals that play on the floating cakes of ice 
 and bask in the sunlight. Best of all they enjoy 
 the famous ''silver thaw" of Newfoundland, per- 
 haps the most beautiful sight in all the world. 
 
 This ''silver thaw" or ice-storm, is seen only 
 in winter. It is caused by a heavy fall of rain 
 when the air is very cold. As the rain falls, 
 it turns to ice on everything it touches. The 
 branches of the trees and the tiniest twigs upon 
 them are coated with garments of ice which 
 grow thicker and thicker as the storm continues. 
 Every bush and shrub receives the same beau- 
 tiful dress. At last the clouds pass and the sun 
 shines out in all his glory. Then the world 
 around is changed in an instant into a wonder- 
 land of beauty. It seems as though one were 
 surrounded by myriads of diamonds, each one 
 glowing with all the colors of the rainbow. The 
 
Little Folks of Newfoundland 123 
 
 riches of Aladdin seem nothing beside them. 
 
 Neither the fishermen nor the children care 
 to explore the inland country very far. There 
 are many high hills there, but they are bare 
 and rocky. Cattle could not be raised easily 
 in such places, nor could gardens be planted. 
 So the people are content to stay near the shores 
 and get a living from the waters near by. 
 
 During winter the men and boys are busy 
 mending their nets and putting their boatS: in 
 order. They also go out in the woods to cut 
 down the trees to get fuel enough for the coming 
 year. Yet they have much spare time, so there 
 is a good deal of visiting between the homes, 
 and many merry parties are held where both 
 old folks and young dance and sing and play 
 games. 
 
 As soon as the spring opens the fishing season 
 begins. The boats are brought out from win- 
 ter quarters, the sails are spread, and the har- 
 bors seem -alive once more. There is work 
 enough for everyone now. The men and boys 
 are on the water from morning till night, while 
 the women and girls are as busy as bees, curing 
 the fish after it is brought on shore. 
 
 The children of Newfoundland are taught to 
 
124 Little Folks of North America 
 
 salute the English flag because they, as well as 
 Canada, are under the rule of Great Britain. 
 Yet Newfoundland and the peninsula of Lab- 
 rador never became a part of the Dominion of 
 Canada. 
 
 The capital of Newfoundland is the city of 
 St. Johns. Its deep harbor is very beautiful. 
 High cliffs of red sandstone rise on each side 
 and protect the ships anchored in the waters 
 below from the fiercest gales. The city is built 
 on the slope of a hill on the northern side of the 
 harbor. On the summit of the hill, above the 
 rows of houses in the streets below is a beautiful 
 cathedral where many of the people go to wor- 
 ship on Sunday. In good weather the children 
 of the city, who wake early enough, can turn 
 their eyes out towards the ocean and watch the 
 lovely clouds of the sunrise, — fairy palaces of 
 crimson and gold which vanish from their sight 
 as they are looking. 
 
 After the Birds. 
 
 Great numbers of visitors come to Newfound- 
 land every year. Many of them are hunters 
 who have heard of the game to be found in 
 the forests and along the shores of the lakes and 
 
Little Folks of Newfoundland 125 
 
 ponds. The ptarmigan, the wild duck and 
 goose, the plover, the curlew, and still other 
 birds are to be found there. 
 
 The best time for bird hunting is after the 
 flies and mosquitoes have said good-by to the 
 country. Then it is that many strangers step 
 off the steamer at St. Johns. With guns and 
 game-bags they make their way towards the 
 ^'barrens" of the inland country. These barrens 
 are often stretches where there are no trees, and 
 little else grows. The wild birds flock there 
 in great: numbers, for they have found that there 
 are wild berries to be had for the picking even 
 in that barren country, and they feast and feast 
 till they are plump and fat and ready for the 
 sportsman's game-bag. 
 
 It seems so quiet and safe out on the lonely 
 barrens that the birds are not on the look-out 
 for danger, when suddenly bang, bang! sounds 
 through the air and some of the birds out of 
 a happy flock fall to the ground,, while the rest 
 fly away in great fright. 
 
 Herds of reindeer wander over the lonely 
 parts of the country in search of the moss that 
 is their favorite food. They have beautiful 
 branching horns and their short legs are very 
 
126 Little Folks of North America 
 
 strong. They have a wonderful scent, which 
 warns them of danger, and they easily take 
 fright. Often, when a hunter has crept upon 
 them ever so softly, they have discovered his 
 nearness and away they scudded over the hills 
 and rocks where he would not dare to venture, 
 and he has been obliged to give up the chase 
 for a time, at any rate. 
 
 The Indians of the island do much better 
 than the white hunters. They know how to 
 outwit the reindeer and to approach them from 
 such a direction that the wind will not carry 
 the scent. For this reason the white sportsmen 
 have learned that if they wish to be successful 
 they had best take an Indian guide with them. 
 Even then they have to be so careful that they 
 think it great sport, and are very proud when 
 they can show their friends some fine antlers 
 which they have brought home after a hunting 
 trip in Newfoundland. 
 
 The Copper Mines. 
 
 On the eastern coast of Newfoundland there 
 is a beautiful bay to which the French gave the 
 name of Notre Dame or. Our Lady. It has 
 many arms which reach far into the land; some 
 
Little Folks of Newfoundland 127 
 
 of these are so deep that they make good places 
 for ships to anchor. Others are very small and 
 the water is so smooth that little children can 
 paddle about in it without fear. 
 
 This bay of Notre Dame is now famous for 
 something besides its beauty, as copper mines 
 have been discovered on its shores. One of the 
 fichest of these is at Bett's Cove and many men 
 are now at work getting the precious ore and 
 shipping it to other lands. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Little Folks of the United States 
 
 CANADA is partly separated from the 
 country south of it by a chain of beau- 
 tiful lakes called the "Five Great 
 Lakes." They are so large that a person can 
 sail many days on them, passing from one to 
 another and sometimes losing sight of land. At 
 times the water is so rough that the traveler 
 becomes ill from the rolling of the big steamer 
 and says, 'T am seasick," although he is far 
 from the ocean. The northern waters of these 
 lakes wash the shores of Canada, while on the 
 south the children of the United States play on 
 the beaches and swim in the waves. 
 
 These children are proud of the fact that 
 they live in the United States, and call their 
 country "The land of the free and the home of 
 the brave." Their people have come from many 
 lands. French, German, Irish, Polish and 
 Jewish boys and girls, besides those of many 
 
 128 
 
Little Folks of the United States 129 
 
 other countries, sit side by side in the school- 
 rooms and play happily together with their tops 
 and dolls. 
 
 The United States of America, for that is the 
 full name of this country, reaches from the At- 
 lantic to the Pacific, and from Canada on the 
 north to Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico on 
 the south. It is a country of high mountains, 
 fertile valleys, broad plains and mighty rivers. 
 Its children know neither the terrible cold of 
 the far north nor the burning heat of the equator, 
 for they live in the temperate belt of the earth. 
 No season of the year is long enough to tire 
 them, for spring follows close upon the winter, 
 and is soon followed by the pleasant warmth of 
 summer. Then comes the autumn when the 
 leaves change their color and Mother Nature 
 makes ready for her winter's rest. At last the 
 snow falls and covers the earth with her white 
 mantle. 
 
 The Mound Builders. 
 
 In the long ago a strange people lived in the 
 United States. They left no books to tell their 
 story, but here and there through the country 
 mounds of earth which they built are still stand- 
 
130 Little Folks of North America 
 
 ing. Some of them are shaped like birds with 
 wings outspread, others have the forms of fishes, 
 snakes, and human beings. Still other mounds 
 show that they must have been used as altars 
 upon which sacrifices were burned, and others, 
 again, contain tools, dishes idols and ornaments. 
 Some of the ornaments and dishes were deco- 
 rated with the finest carvings. Heads of people, 
 frogs and birds are still to be seen on the pipes 
 that have been preserved in the mounds all these 
 years. Tools have been found to show the 
 mound-builders, as we call these people, knew 
 how to work metal, and other things tell the 
 story that the men of that long ago were wise 
 in many ways and could not have been savages. 
 There are earthworks near some of the mounds 
 that seem to have been built as forts, so they 
 probably fought in wars. Yet we can only guess 
 as to their life, for no one knows their history. 
 
 The Indians. 
 
 When the first white men visited America 
 they found Indians living throughout the coun- 
 try, along the banks of the rivers and on the 
 shores of the ocean. Their homes were for the 
 most part tents covered with bark or the skins 
 
Little Folks of the United States 131 
 
 of animals. When the boys were still tiny little 
 fellows they learned to use bows and arrows so 
 that as they grew up they would be good hunters 
 and warriors like their fathers. 
 
 In some parts of the country the girls helped 
 their mothers tend fields of maize which to this 
 day is called Indian corn. Cakes were made of 
 this and eaten with the fish and game killed by 
 the men. 
 
 In other places the women and children gath- 
 ered the wild rice that grew in the shallow 
 ponds. This, together with the berries picked 
 by the girls, the honey taken from the nests of 
 wild bees by the boys, and the sap from the 
 maple trees, added a good deal to the daily 
 fare of meat and fish. 
 
 The red children were taught to bear cold 
 and hunger without complaining. There were 
 days when they feasted and had all the good 
 things to eat they could wish for. But their 
 parents did not understand the need of looking 
 ahead. During the summer the berries and the 
 honey, the fish and the game were plentiful, 
 and the people did not seem to remember that 
 winter would soon follow when the earth's 
 mantle of snow and the ice on the rivers would 
 
132 Little Folks of North America 
 
 make it harder for them to get food. So there 
 were times when they and their little ones went 
 hungry to bed and woke up in the morning 
 with no breakfast before them. 
 
 The boys grew up with a love of war, and 
 looked admiringly at the men when they went 
 away from the village with hideous, painted 
 faces, and with tomahawks and hatchets at their 
 sides, to take other unfriendly tribes by surprise 
 and to scalp as many of their enemies as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 While the boys were busy with mock battles 
 and hunts in the forests after game with their 
 fathers, the girls worked with their mothers 
 weaving baskets and tanning the skins of the 
 wild animals brought home by the men. They 
 also got wood for the fires and helped in the 
 simple cooking. They played games with their 
 brothers, too, and both boys and girls were never 
 so happy as when sitting around the lodge fire, 
 listening to the fairy tales told by their grand- 
 mothers and to stories of war and the chase by 
 the "braves," as they called their warriors. 
 
 The parents of these red children did not need 
 to work so hard for food and clothing as did 
 the Indians of Canada, because summer in the 
 
Little Folks of the United States 133 
 
 United States is longer and warmer, and winter 
 is not so cold. 
 
 With soft moccasins on their feet the Indians 
 stole noiselessly over the forest paths, and in their 
 light birch canoes they glided along the streams, 
 with never a hat on the head and with light 
 clothing on the body. They feared nothing save 
 the war-whoop of enemies. 
 
 There came a day when a white man and 
 his followers appeared in the country. It was 
 Leif, the son of Eric the Red, who had left 
 his home in Greenland and started out in search 
 of adventure. He steered his course southward 
 and came in time to Newfoundland, but the 
 country did not please him. So he continued 
 on his way till he reached the eastern coast of 
 the United States, and there he landed. During 
 his stay Leif and his companions met no other 
 people, but to their great delight they found 
 vines from which hung large clusters of grapes, 
 and for this reason they called the place Vin- 
 land. When they were ready to leave they 
 loaded their vessel with grapes, together with 
 lumber from the forests, which was even more 
 precious to them than the grapes, because as 
 you know, there were no trees in Greenland. 
 
134 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Then they set sail for home to tell of the land 
 they had visited which had seemed so warm and 
 beautiful to them. 
 
 After Leif, other Norsemen came who settled 
 along the shore of this country and lived here 
 for a while. They met the dark-skinned natives 
 with whom they had trouble. After a while 
 they went away, never to come again. During 
 their stay here a Norse baby was born, to whom 
 the name Snorri was given, and this boy was, 
 no doubt, the first white child born in the United 
 States. 
 
 After Many Years. 
 
 More than four hundred years passed by and 
 the red men lived on in their own savage way, 
 hunting, fishing, and making war upon each 
 other. Then something happened which led in 
 time to great changes for the red children. It 
 was in the year 1492 that Columbus discovered 
 a small island of the West Indies, lying south- 
 east of the United States. The natives, who 
 were gentler and less war-like than the other 
 Indians of North America, greeted him with 
 delight and brought him presents of fruit and 
 gold. 
 
Little Folks of the United States 135 
 
 Not long after the coming of Columbus many 
 Spaniards, hearing of the rich treasures of the 
 West Indies, followed him there and settled. 
 One of them, named Ponce de Leon, stayed long 
 enough to gain great riches. But he was fast 
 growing old and all his wealth could not keep 
 him young. Then he began to listen to the sto- 
 ries the Indians told him of a land not far away, 
 in which there was such a wonderful fountain 
 that a person had but to drink of its waters to 
 live forever. They called it ''The fountain of 
 youth." 
 
 Ponce de Leon's eyes grew bright. If only 
 he could find that fountain! He set sail with 
 a few followers, and one beautiful Easter Sun- 
 day he came in sight of a land rich in flowers. 
 Such a land, he thought, must be the one to 
 contain the fountain he was seeking. 
 
 The sails were furled and the Spaniard and 
 his friends stepped on shore. "Let us call the 
 place Florida, for it is a land of flowers," he 
 said, and so this peninsula, reaching out from 
 the southeastern part of the United States, has 
 been called Florida to this day. 
 
 Ponce de Leon remained in the country for 
 some time, wandering about and drinking the 
 
136 Little Folks of North America 
 
 water of stream and lake, yet as you may believe, 
 he failed to discover the fountain he sought. 
 And, alas! instead of youth, he met death, for, 
 as he was about to leave, he was pierced by the 
 poisoned arrow of an Indian who did not trust 
 the white men like his brothers of the West 
 Indies. 
 
 Through Ponce de Leon's discovery on that 
 beautiful Easter Sunday other Spaniards fol- 
 lowed him to Florida and settled there with their 
 wives and children. 
 
 The Coming of the English. 
 
 French settlers followed the Spaniards to the 
 New World, but except in Canada, they did not 
 stay long. 
 
 Nearly a hundred years passed when at last 
 English ships began to visit the country north 
 of Florida. They carried home wonderful sto- 
 ries of necklaces set with pearls as big as peas 
 and worn commonly by the Indian maidens, of 
 countless hares and deer in the woods, of de- 
 licious grapes, cucumbers and melons that grew 
 wild on the vines, and of rich forests of oak trees 
 that grew larger and better than those of Eng- 
 land. Then, too, a strange plant grew abun- 
 
Little Folks of the United States 137 
 
 dantly in die fields. This plant the Indians put 
 in pipes and smoked. 
 
 ^'A colony should certainly be planted in that 
 beautiful country," Sir Walter Raleigh told the 
 queen. 
 
 She listened thoughtfully to what he said, and 
 not long afterwards a party of men and women 
 sailed from England and crossed the ocean to 
 live in Virginia, as the new home was called 
 in honor of the virgin queen, Elizabeth. Gov- 
 ernor Dare was the leader. 
 
 The colony settled on an island near the shore, 
 and here was born the first English white child 
 of the United States. The new baby, whose 
 grandfather was Governor Dare, was called Vir- 
 ginia like her home, but sad to say, no one knows 
 how long she lived nor what befell her, for 
 Governor Dare went back to England for a time, 
 and when he returned little Virginia and her 
 people had disappeared and there was no one 
 to tell where they had gone. Perhaps the In- 
 dians had killed them, or had made slaves of 
 them and taken them far inland. At any rate, 
 none of the neighboring red men would tell 
 what had happened to the white strangers who 
 had come to live among them. 
 
138 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Other English settlers followed soon after- 
 wards, however, and built villages among the 
 Indians; and among the oak forests of Virginia 
 little white children were born in rough log 
 houses and played on the beaches along the shore. 
 Their fathers planted fields of corn, and tobacco 
 which they had learned to smoke. They hunted 
 deer, hares, and wild turkeys in the forests. 
 
 These early English settlers built walls around 
 their villages in case of sudden attack, for they 
 could not trust their red neighbors, who were not 
 pleased to have the white strangers settling in 
 the country around them. 
 
 The little English children were generally 
 happy. The country around them was beauti- 
 ful, the birds sang sweet songs in the trees near 
 by, and there were flowers and fruits in plenty. 
 When Christmas came they watched the Yule 
 log burn in the big fireplace, and gathered 
 around tables loaded with roasted turkeys, ven- 
 ison and other good things to eat. 
 
 Years passed by, and other settlers came to 
 America. Most of them were from England, 
 but there were some from Holland and Sweden 
 and other countries of Europe. 
 
Little Folks of the United States 139 
 
 Among the new-comers were the Quakers un- 
 der William Penn, who called their new home in 
 America Pennsylvania, meaning, Penn's woods. 
 They were gentle and peaceful and had little 
 trouble with their Indian neighbors. 
 
 Then there were the Pilgrims who landed at 
 Plymouth in New England one bleak Novem- 
 ber day. They were quiet and sober-faced. 
 The) left their old home to seek one in which 
 they would be free to worship God in the way 
 they thought best. As it happened, they chose 
 for themselves the coldest corner of the United 
 States in which to settle and they had before 
 them years of struggle and hard work. 
 
 They found the winters in New England 
 colder than those they had known in England 
 and the sharp winds crept in between the cracks 
 in the walls of their rough log houses, chilling 
 their backs even when they were gathered around 
 the blazing logs in the big fireplaces. The 
 crops of corn and beans were often scanty, be- 
 cause the soil was poor, and around them not 
 far away were the Indians, some of whom 
 scowled and muttered ugly words when they 
 sooke of the white settlers who were hunting 
 
140 Little Folks of North America 
 
 the game in the forests, and planting gardens on 
 the land to which they thought they alone had 
 the right. 
 
 The children of the Pilgrims were taught to 
 be very quiet and sober in their ways. They 
 loved to listen to the squirrels chattering in the 
 trees, and to watch the rabbits scamper across 
 the paths. They gathered blueberries and black- 
 berries in summer and chestnuts and hickory 
 nuts in the autumn. The boys dragged their 
 sisters on rough sleds over the snow in winter 
 and waded with them in the brooks as the days 
 grew warmer, and at such times they laughed 
 and chattered like all happy children. But 
 when they reached home their faces became so- 
 ber and their voices low, for they were taught 
 that among older folks children should be seen 
 and not heard. 
 
 When evening came they sat in straight chairs 
 in the big kitchen which was the ^'living room" 
 as well, while the men talked over the day's 
 work, and the women knit socks for the family. 
 
 Sometimes as the little Pilgrims settled them- 
 selves for the night's sleep they were roused by 
 the howling of wolves outside. They shuddered 
 as they thought, "Suppose that had been the war 
 
Little Folks of the United States 141 
 
 whoop of the Indians coming to attack our vil- 
 lage." 
 
 On Sunday when the Pilgrims went to church 
 the men led the way armed with muskets which 
 might be needed at any moment in defending 
 their families. 
 
 After the Pilgrims, the Puritans came to New 
 England. They were even more sober and 
 strict in their ways than the Pilgrims, and they, 
 too, had trouble with their Indian neighbors. 
 
 Perhaps the joUiest people who came from 
 Europe were the Dutch, who settled on the 
 Hudson River in New York. You remember 
 poor Henry Hudson who was left to his sad fate 
 in Hudson Bay. Before he went there he dis- 
 covered the beautiful river of that name, and 
 when he went back to Europe he told the king 
 of Holland about the Indians he had met, and 
 of the loads of rich furs which they brought 
 home from their hunting trips. 
 
 His words were not forgotten, and so it came 
 to pass that the thrifty Dutchman made settle- 
 ments in that part of the New World which 
 they claimed through the discovery of Henry 
 Hudson. They were not poor, like the Pilgrims 
 east of them. They brought chests of linen and 
 
142 Little Folks of North America 
 
 silver from Holland, and they built comfort- 
 able homes for themselves on the banks of the 
 Hudson River, with porches where they sat with 
 their children on summer evenings, telling fairy 
 stories and laughing together in their own jolly 
 way. The children^^s eyes grew bright as they 
 listened to the stories, and as they looked out on 
 the woods and fields in the silvery moonlight, 
 they fancied they could see faries in gauzy green 
 robes dancing on the grass and little brown 
 gnomes stepping out from under the rocks. 
 
 The Dutch children had the grandest time at 
 Christmas. They hung up their stockings by 
 the fireplace the night before and then, as they 
 lay in their beds, too much excited to sleep, they 
 fancied they heard the reindeer of the good 
 Santa Claus pawing away the snow on the roof 
 overhead. Of course there were presents the 
 next morning and a lovely Christmas tree, fol- 
 lowed by a feast of all good things that grew 
 about the new home. Yes, Christmas was the 
 best day in all the year to the rosy-cheeked roly- 
 poly Dutch children with blue eyes and flaxen 
 hair. 
 
 While they were having such good times, their 
 fathers were trading with the Indians with whom 
 
Little Folks of the United States 143 
 
 they had less trouble than the Pilgrims and 
 Puritans. They sold the red men beads and 
 blankets, guns and trinkets, and in exchange 
 took furs of the marten and mink, the beaver 
 and otter, which the Indians shot or trapped in 
 the country around. Once in a while a big ship 
 from Holland sailed into New York Harbor, 
 bringing tea and sugar, blankets and dressgoods 
 for the Dutchmen and their families, and were 
 then reloaded with the furs obtained from the 
 Indians. 
 
 As time passed by the settlements along the 
 shores of the United States grew larger and 
 more numerous. The Indians scowled more 
 and more deeply and there were dreadful wars 
 between them and the white men. In their spare 
 time the settlers made roads through the coun- 
 try and cleared away some of the forests. In 
 the north they traded with the Indians for furs 
 and planted fields of corn and other grains and 
 vegetables. Farther south tobacco and cotton 
 were raised on the plantations. Sheep were 
 tended on the hillsides and the wives of the set- 
 tlers carded and spun the wool and wove it in 
 hand-looms into clothing for their families. 
 Cargoes of Negro slaves were brought from 
 
1/]/] Little Folks of North America 
 
 Africa to work on the plantations. The cotton 
 that was raised there was sent across the Atlantic 
 to be made into cloth in the factories of Europe. 
 
 During all these years the white men did not 
 move far inland because of the Indians, and of 
 mountains which must be crossed. At last, how- 
 ever, some brave men ventured out alone into 
 the wilderness beyond. They found there were 
 valleys between the mountains, and through 
 these they passed to the other side. They often 
 had to hide from the watchful Indians, not dar- 
 ing even to make camp-fires lest they should be 
 discovered. 
 
 These explorers found that on the other side 
 of the Appalachian Mountains, for that was 
 the name given to them, was a beautiful coun- 
 try, richer by far than that on the eastern side 
 where they had been living. There were also 
 many rivers flowing westward, making the soil 
 rich and fertile. Forests of maple and elm 
 trees, as well as pines, spruces, and oaks which 
 were abundant along the coast, were to be seen 
 there. 
 
 When the explorers returned home they told 
 such bright stories of the country to the west 
 that the families of some of them agreed to go 
 
From Copyrighted Stereograph 
 
 by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
 
 Picking Cotton on a Georgia Plantation. 
 
Little Folks of the United States 145 
 
 there and live. In those days there were no 
 trains to carry them and not a single road 
 through the mountain passes. The journey had 
 to be made on foot or on horseback, and few 
 household goods could be carried. At any mo- 
 ment the travelers might be surprised by Indians, 
 so the men were obliged to keep their muskets 
 loaded and ready to shoot every moment of the 
 way. 
 
 When the place for the new home was 
 reached the men and boys set to work to cut 
 down the trees and make a clearing, while the 
 women prepared the meals. Everyone must eat 
 and sleep out-doors while a rough log house 
 was being built. All through the night a big 
 fire was kept blazing to keep the wolves and 
 other wild animals at a distance. 
 
 The new house was easily furnished. A few 
 chairs, a rough table, and some bedsteads were 
 made from the trees that had been cut down. 
 The feather beds brought from the old home 
 were spread on the slats of the bedsteads; the 
 family Bible was laid on the table; the kettles, 
 also brought from home, were hung on cranes 
 over the fireplace, and housekeeping in the 
 wilderness began. 
 
146 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Notwithstanding the hard life, the girls and 
 their brothers grew up brave and strong and 
 ready to push still farther into the wilderness 
 than their fathers had done. West of them, — 
 far west as it seemed then — was a mighty river 
 flowing from north to south through the coun- 
 try. It was the Mississippi, or Father of 
 Waters, as the Indians well called it, because so 
 many large streams flowed into it on either side. 
 The Frenchmen from Canada had long since 
 sailed along the Great Lakes and down the whole 
 length of the Mississippi, and for this reason had 
 claimed the land on both sides and made settle- 
 ments at different places. 
 
 Now, as the English settlers moved westward, 
 they did not wish the French to own any part 
 of the country. By and by there was a great 
 war between the two peoples — the French who 
 held Canada and the Mississippi, and the Eng- 
 lish colonies who were living in the eastern 
 part of the United States. Then came the battle 
 of Quebec and the French gave up their rights 
 in North America. 
 
 But there were other troubles still, for 
 wars took place with the Indians who had be- 
 come bitter enemies, but they were beaten 
 
Little Folks of the United States 147 
 
 again and again, and driven still farther west 
 till few tribes were left east of the Mississippi. 
 
 Then there was another war — a very great 
 one this time — and with England herself. The 
 Revolution was fought through seven long years. 
 With General Washington as their leader, the 
 people fought on to victory, when they in truth 
 made their country the free and independent 
 United States of America. 
 
 After this more and more men took their wives 
 and children and traveled west in search of new 
 homes. They had found by this time that in 
 many places there were great plains where they 
 did not need to make a clearing, for the ground 
 was covered with grass for miles in every direc- 
 tion. Some of these grassy plains, or prairies, 
 were quite level. Others stretched in long, low 
 waves of earth. The soil was rich and the grass 
 grew long and thick. There could be no better 
 place in the world for raising corn, Wheat and 
 hay, or feeding cattle. 
 
 Rough roads had been built through the wil- 
 derness by this time, so the women and children, 
 together with the bedding and dishes, were 
 bundled into big clumsy wagons with rounded, 
 canvas tops called prairie-schooners. Horses or 
 
148 Little Folks of North America 
 
 oxen were harnessed to the wagons and cows 
 were hitched behind. Then away started the 
 family for the distant prairies. 
 
 All day long the people traveled, but when 
 evening came the animals were unhitched from 
 the "schooner" and allowed to feed on the grass ; 
 supper was cooked over the camp-fire, and beds 
 were made upon the bottom of the wagon, where 
 the family would sleep during the night. 
 
 Many days were often spent on the journey, 
 but like everything else, it came to an end at last. 
 Think if you can, of a sea of grass stretching 
 around you as far as the eyes can see; not a 
 building of any kind in sight; not even the smoke 
 of a passing train to remind you that there are 
 other people in the world; no sound in the air 
 except the chirping of the crickets or the howling 
 of the wolves; in summer, the blinding sun daz- 
 zling your eyes and turning the grass a withered 
 brown; in winter, a carpet of snow stretching 
 around you over the earth in every direction. 
 This was the life in store for the boys and girls 
 who went out on the prairies to seek a home in 
 the early days of this country. 
 
 To be sure a herd of bison sometimes appeared 
 near the children's home, and then the men 
 
Little Folks of the United States 149 
 
 hurried out with their guns to kill as many as 
 possible before the animals were put to flight. 
 Before the coming of the white men these bison 
 roamed together in thousands and the Indians of 
 the plains made their tents and clothing from 
 their skins and feasted on the flesh of the bison. 
 Every year since that time they have grown 
 scarcer till only a few are left in the country, 
 and these are on exhibition in the parks of the 
 west. 
 
 After the sun set in the evening sky the chil- 
 dren of the prairie did not venture far from 
 home, both on account of prowling wolves, and 
 for fear of the Indians who might be skulking 
 near by. 
 
 Lewis and Clark, and What They Saw. 
 
 Not many years after the Revolution Thomas 
 Jeflerson, the third president, did many things 
 for the good of the United States. Through his 
 advice the people purchased a great deal of land 
 in the southern part of the country from France, 
 to whom it had been given by Spain. It was 
 called the Louisiana Purchase. 
 
 Jefferson was not satisfied yet. He thought, 
 "There is a vast country beyond us of which we 
 
150 Little Folks of North America 
 
 know nothing. No one of our people has yet 
 crossed it and reached the Pacific. This should 
 certainly be done." 
 
 He knew it would be a dangerous journey, for 
 it was a wild country, roamed over by tribes of 
 fierce Indians. Two men, however, offered to 
 lead the expedition. Their names were Meri- 
 wether Lewis and William Clarke. 
 
 In the summer of 1803 they started out at the 
 head of a party of men, carrying with them pres- 
 ents for the Indians they might meet, three 
 canoes, two horses which should help them in 
 hunting game, and a few blankets and cooking 
 utensils. 
 
 During the winter they camped on the banks 
 of the Mississippi, and with the coming of spring 
 they began their journey up a broad river which 
 emptied into it and which we know now as the 
 Missouri. As the men followed the course of 
 the river they moved farther and farther into 
 the west. All summer long they slept under 
 the stars, but as the cold winter set in and deep 
 snows fell, they made rough cabins in which to 
 live, and went no farther on their journey for 
 several months. They killed bison and other 
 game which furnished them with food, but they 
 
Little Folks of the United States 151 
 
 could not keep the biting cold out of their huts, 
 and they suffered with the cold. Fierce Indian 
 tribes were around them on all sideSj friends were 
 far away, but they had no thought of turning 
 back. So, with the second spring, they pushed 
 on. 
 
 When they reached the source of the Missouri 
 there were high mountains before them, much 
 higher than the Appalachian, and with their 
 summits crowned with snow. After a long, hard 
 journey they reached the other side, and 
 launched their canoes on a small stream which 
 grew ever broader till it entered a large river. 
 This was the Columbia, along which they 
 traveled till the Pacific Ocean lay spread before 
 their eyes. They had journeyed more than four 
 thousands miles since they left the banks of the 
 Mississippi and were the first white men to cross 
 the United States. They had visited the homes 
 of Indians who had never seen a white person 
 before or even known there were such beings. 
 They had crossed broad plains where thousands 
 of bison fed on the rich grass. They had discov- 
 ered broad rivers shaded by lofty forests and 
 crossed mountains containing mines of gold and 
 silver, which before long would be opened up 
 
152 Little Folks of North America 
 
 to give their rich stores to the people of the 
 United States. They still had before them the 
 long and dangerous journey home, which they 
 reached two years and four months after they had 
 left it. 
 
 There was great rejoicing among the people 
 when the news spread of the safe return of the 
 travelers and of the wonders they had to tell. 
 From that time many boys and girls looked for- 
 ward to moving into the great, far-western 
 country with their parents. 
 
 On a Wheat Farm. 
 
 Many of the children of the prairies live on 
 farms where wheat is raised. As the sun shines 
 down on the broad fields, the tiny grains sprout 
 and grow with astonishing quickness. Then, 
 when the heavy dews fall at night and the earth 
 cools, they get new strength for the next day, 
 so that the farmers gather abundant crops- 
 
 As the summer days pass by and the wheat 
 ripens, the children in the big farm house get 
 ready for an exciting time. Their mother makes 
 dozens of pies and loaves of bread and cake. A 
 cow and perhaps a hog or two, are killed and 
 cut up, for an extra number of "hired hands" 
 
Little Folks of the United States 153 
 
 begin to arrive. The farmer himself is un- 
 usually busy. Big machines and engines are 
 brought out from the barns to be cleaned and 
 oiled, for the wheat is about to be harvested- 
 
 It is interesting to watch the work go on in 
 the fields, it is so different from that of the old 
 days before the threshing and binding machines 
 were invented. It seems almost like magic to 
 the watching children as acre after acre of wav- 
 ing grain is cut down, bound into sheaves and 
 threshed, almost in the ^'twinkling of an eye." 
 
 Then away it is whisked in big wagons to the 
 flour mills in the town near by from which it is 
 sent far and wide to be made into delicious bread 
 for hungry boys and girls. 
 
 The Cornfields. 
 
 In the northern part of the prairies wheat 
 grows best because it can bear a great deal of 
 cool weather. But corn is different; warm, 
 moist nights suit it well. So, although we can 
 see corn growing all over the eastern part of 
 the United States, it thrives best in the southern 
 part of the prairies where the weather is much 
 warmer than in the north. 
 
 Corn is very fattening, so the farmers who 
 
154 Little Folks of North America 
 
 raise this grain usually keep herds of cattle and 
 many hogs. He stores much of the harvest in 
 the barns to feed the "live stock" and raise them 
 for market. 
 
 On a Cattle Ranch. 
 
 The boys of the prairie help their fathers, not 
 only in the wheat and corn fields, but also in 
 raising herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and great 
 numbers of hogs. 
 
 Beyond the prairies, yet east of the Rocky 
 Mountains, are wide stretches of land called the 
 Western Plains. Grass grows on these plains, 
 but the soil is not so rich as on the prairies and 
 is therefore not so good for farming. 
 
 As the people moved farther west, settling on 
 the prairies, they began to think what use could 
 be made of the plains beyond. They decided 
 that cattle could be raised there. But first the 
 tribes of Indians who were roaming freely about 
 must be forced to stay in certain parts of the 
 country which the government of the United 
 States reserved for them. 
 
 Sad to say, many a little red child growing up 
 on such a reservation had hate in his heart for 
 the white men who had seized the land that was 
 
Little Folks of the United States 155 
 
 once the free hunting ground of the Indians. 
 Again and again the red children watched their 
 older brothers and fathers go out to attack the 
 men who had ventured into the ''wild west." 
 Again and again the soldiers of the United States 
 were sent against them. 
 
 It was a dangerous life for the ranchmen, so 
 that many of those who undertook to raise cattle 
 on the Western Plains, left their families behind 
 them. It was not a safe place for women and 
 little children. The ranchmen had to live in the 
 roughest manner. They had immense herds of 
 cattle which were allowed to roam for miles over 
 the grassy plains and were rounded up from time 
 to time by ''cowboys," as they are called. 
 
 These cowboys were bold and daring fellows 
 who carried pistols at their belts, rode half-wild 
 horses called mustangs, and were ever ready for 
 danger, since at any moment a stampede might 
 arise among the cattle. 
 
 Imagine a herd of untrained cattle feeding 
 together. An unusual sound is heard which 
 fills them with a sudden fright. They toss their 
 heads, kick up their heels and dash wildly away. 
 This is called a stampede. Now, if the cowboy 
 in charge is not quick to use his wits he will be 
 
156 Little Folks of North America 
 
 knocked down and trampled to death by the 
 hoofs of the fleeing cattle. 
 
 On Lake Michigan, one of the Five Great 
 Lakes, is the large city of Chicago. The chil- 
 dren who live there grow up in the midst of 
 noise and bustle, for a great deal of business is 
 going on about them all the time. Every day 
 long trains of cars come rolling into the stations 
 bringing wheat and corn, cattle and hogs. All 
 of these have been raised on the plains and 
 prairies south and west of Chicago. Many of 
 the animals are killed and dressed in the city 
 and then sent away to be sold in the eastern 
 markets. Others are loaded on big steamers 
 waiting at the wharves and sent on a long jour- 
 ney through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence 
 River and across the ocean to Europe 
 
 Down South. 
 
 The children who live in the southern part 
 of the United States have warm weather nearly 
 all the year. They need few of the woolen gar- 
 ments or the furs which feel so comfortable in 
 winter to the people north of them. Their 
 clothing is mostly of cotton or linen, and they 
 eat less meat and more fruit than their northern 
 
Little Folks of the United States 157 
 
 brothers. Their homes require little heat, and 
 even the cooking is often done in a small build- 
 ing separate from the house so that it shall not 
 be made uncomfortably warm. 
 
 Let us make a short visit to a cotton planta- 
 tion "down south." We shall be made wel- 
 come, without a doubt, because the southern 
 people are very hospitable. The planter has 
 has been told when to expect us and a low, com- 
 fortable carriage drawn by a span of beautiful 
 horses is at the station when we arrive. A black 
 coachman in livery helps us into our seats, 
 cracks his whip, and away start the horses at a 
 lively trot. We pass forests of yellow pine 
 trees, and possibly some tobacco fields. The 
 air is fragrant with the odor of flowers and we 
 listen to the songs of the blackbirds and mock- 
 ing birds. All too soon the horses are turned 
 into a driveway shaded by tall trees, at the end 
 of which is a large house with broad verandas. 
 Our host and his family are awaiting us and 
 give us a cordial greeting. 
 
 After we have rested and eaten a delicious 
 dinner, the children of the home show us over 
 the cotton fields where Negro workmen are 
 busy among the long rows of plants. The cot- 
 
158 Little Folks of North America 
 
 ton would not ripen in a short summer. It 
 must have months of heat and moisture. Then 
 the flowers will go to seed and long fibers will 
 reach out and wrap them in blankets of cotton. 
 
 The cotton is separated from the seeds by the 
 work of a machine, called the cotton gin. The 
 seeds are ground into meal which is used in 
 fattening cattle. Many herds of cattle in the 
 south are fed on cotton-seed meal which takes 
 the place of the corn given them in other parts 
 of the country. 
 
 As we walk about over the fields the children 
 of the planter tell us many stories of the Negro 
 workmen, what fun-loving creatures they are, 
 and how fond they are of good things to eat. 
 Water melons please them especially and a 
 group of ''darkies" is never so happy as when 
 they can sit around a pile of the juicy melons 
 and feast to their hearts' content. In many of 
 the Negro cabins there is sure to be some one 
 who plays the banjo, to whose music big folks 
 and little dance merrily when the day's work is 
 over. Once the Negroes were the slaves of the 
 white planters, but they are now free and sup- 
 port themselves like other workmen. 
 
 Our little southern friends ask us if we have 
 
Little Folks of the United States 159 
 
 ever seen 'possums, as the black people call the 
 animals. After everyone on the plantation has 
 gone to sleep, then the cunning opossum steals 
 from his home in the woods to pay a visit to 
 the hen-house. He springs up and seizes one 
 after another of the fowls on the roost, whose 
 blood he sucks till no more is left in their bodies. 
 
 The Negroes are very fond of a 'possum hunt. 
 Soon after dark they arm themselves with clubs 
 and axes and go into the woods with a few dogs 
 to scent the game, carrying torches to light the 
 way. The axes are used to chop down the trees 
 where the animals climb to get out of the way 
 of the hunters. 
 
 A mother opossum with her little ones is a 
 queer sight. The babies are scarcely larger 
 than mice and they hang on to their mother's 
 body by winding their own tiny tails around 
 her larger one. The Negroes go on 'coon hunts 
 too, for they can sell the skins, while the meat is 
 nearly as delicious as that of the opossum. 
 Raccoons have long bushy tails and belong to 
 the bear family, though they are much smaller. 
 They catch birds in the trees, sucking their 
 blood and eating the eggs whenever they find 
 them. They like green corn, too, which they 
 
l6o Little Folks of North America 
 
 steal at night as it is growing in the fields. 
 Our little friends go with us to the stables 
 and show us their ponies, telling us of the lovely 
 morning rides we may have through the coun- 
 try if we will stay with them for a few days. 
 But we must bid them good-by and travel to 
 the busy towns of the east where many of the 
 people work in factories and stores and have 
 little time to spend in the beautiful out-door 
 world. Before we leave the sunny south we 
 would like to take a peep at a rice plantation 
 in the low marshy country, and to watch the 
 men gathering tobacco leaves and hanging them 
 to dry in large sheds, but the northern train is 
 waiting and we cannot linger. 
 
 Among the Factories. 
 
 The children of a factory town often know 
 little of the free, happy days that a farm gives 
 to its boys and girls. Long rows of houses 
 where the workmen live, and large brick build- 
 ings where the machines are noisily running 
 from Monday morning till Saturday night — 
 these are what a person sees on every hand. 
 
 The country settled by the Pilgrims and Puri- 
 tans, and much more east of the Appalachian 
 
Little Folks of the United States 161 
 
 Mountains has such poor and stony soil that 
 it is not good for farms. In such plases we 
 find the manufacturing towns where the cotton 
 raised in the south and the wool from the sheep 
 of the western plains are made into cloth for 
 millions of people in the United States. Here 
 also are large tanneries where the hides of cattle 
 are prepared for harnesses, shoes, bags and many 
 other things for which leather is used. In New 
 England there are many factories where thou- 
 sands of boots and shoes are made for the boys 
 and girls of America. 
 
 Fishing. 
 
 Long ago, before the days of the factories, 
 many ships sailed away from New England 
 ports after whales in the Arctic waters. Now- 
 a-days whale-bone is still valuable, but the oil 
 is not needed so much as in the old times before 
 gas and electricity came into use, so that whal- 
 ing is not so common. But many men are still 
 busy fishing for herring, halibut and cod, which 
 are plentiful in the waters along the northeast 
 coast and off the Grand Banks of Newfound- 
 land. Many a boy living on the coast goes on 
 fishing trips with his father and becomes so fond 
 
i62 Little Folks of North America 
 
 of the free life of the sea that he decides to be 
 a sailor for the rest of his life. 
 
 Many lobsters and clams are also obtained 
 along the coast, and farther south are rich beds 
 of oysters. In Chesapeake Bay more than one- 
 third of all the oysters eaten in the world are 
 grown, and most of these are shipped from the 
 beautiful city of Baltimore, at the head of the 
 bay. Thousands of men and women there are 
 busy, day after day, opening the shells and tak- 
 ing out the oysters which are then put into tubs 
 and cans for shipment. 
 
 In a Lumber Camp. 
 
 When the white men first came to the United 
 States, almost all the land between the Atlantic 
 Ocean and the Mississippi River was covered 
 with forests. Most of these were cut down to 
 make clearings for the settlers' homes. Some 
 of them, fortunately, were left. Among the 
 largest forests still standing to-day are those near 
 the Great Lakes, where the lumbermen work 
 in much the same way as their Canadian broth- 
 ers. When the snow is thick over the ground, 
 they leave home with their teams of oxen and 
 
Little Folks of the United States 163 
 
 horses and go to the distant woods, where they 
 build log-houses for themselves and stables for 
 the animals. There they live during the cold 
 months of the year. Sometimes they stop long 
 enough in their work to go bear and deer hunt- 
 ing and so get fresh meat which makes a little 
 change in their daily fare of bread, beans and 
 saltpork. 
 
 The logs are carried to the nearby streams on 
 sledges which move easily over the ice and snow. 
 When spring comes they are floated along the 
 streams and lakes to the saw-mills where they are 
 made into lumber. 
 
 Getting Coal. 
 
 Many of the children living in the Appala- 
 chian Mountains to-day have their homes near 
 coal mines and their fathers are busy digging out 
 the coal that brings warmth and comfort during 
 the winter to so many people. In some places 
 the rocks have been washed away, but in others 
 the coal is still so far underground that the 
 miners have to work day after day where the 
 sunlight never shines. 
 
 Iron is also found in large quantities near the 
 
164 Little Folks of North America 
 
 coal mines, and trains of freight cars carry both 
 these minerals to cities not far away where they 
 are used together in making steel. 
 
 Among the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Great quantities of iron are found in the low 
 mountains near Lake Superior, where the miners 
 are constantly at work with the help of steam 
 engines and powerful machines. 
 
 The richest copper mines of the United 
 States are also found near the shores of Lake 
 Superior. A pig, we are told, discovered the 
 best one of all in a curious way. It had strayed 
 from home and fallen into a pit, where it 
 scratched and rooted in its struggle to get out. 
 In doing this, it laid bare some copper, which 
 was discovered by its master when he went to 
 look for the missing pig. 
 
 Hunters are fond of visiting the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, where they still find the fierce puma, or 
 mountain lion, with its sharp teeth and claws, 
 and bright eyes. Night is its favorite time to 
 roam and it is then that the mountain goat needs 
 to beware, for the cat-like puma shows no mercy. 
 Children who live in the western part of the 
 
Little Folks of the United States 165 
 
 United States have sometimes seen a grizzly 
 bear brought home by a friend after a hunting 
 trip among the Rocky Mountains. It is the 
 strongest and most dangerous of all the bear 
 family. One blow of its paw is powerful 
 enough to kill, yet if it is not disturbed a person 
 has little to fear. It does not care for the flesh 
 of other animals but is contented with a dinner 
 of berries and tender shoots like its brothers, the 
 brown and black bears. 
 
 One of the most graceful animals the children 
 of the west have ever seen is the bighorn, or 
 Rocky Mountain sheep. It browses on the grass 
 found on the steep slopes where the hunter has 
 hard work to reach it. Its ears are quick to 
 hear the slightest sound, when it will toss its head 
 and flee from possible danger with long leaps. 
 
 Among the Rocky Mountains are mines of 
 silver, gold, and copper which have brought for- 
 tunes to many people of the United States. The 
 silver mines especially are among the richest in 
 the world. The men who work in them gen- 
 erally leave their families at home, and go away 
 to "rough it" as they say, for a mining town sel- 
 dom has many comforts and the boys and girls 
 
i66 Little Folks of North America 
 
 who do go there to live miss the good schools, 
 and many other things to which they have been 
 used. 
 
 About fifty years ago gold was discovered in 
 the state of California which lies on the shores 
 of the Pacific Ocean. The news filled the coun- 
 try with excitement. As time passed by the 
 gold mines did not prove as rich as the people 
 expected, but they discovered that the country 
 was valuable in other ways. Trees grew to enor- 
 mous size there and the warm, moist climate of 
 the western coast was the best possible for rais- 
 ing fruit. To-day the children of California 
 feast on pears, plums, apricots, grapes, peaches, 
 oranges, and still other fruits which grow very 
 large and beautiful. There are many wheat 
 farms, too, in California where rich harvests re- 
 ward the men who own them. 
 
 Beyond the Rocky Mountains and lying be- 
 tween them and a lower range called the 
 Sierra Nevada, is a high plateau, where the 
 rain falls into streams which dry up or form 
 lakes before they can make their way to the sea. 
 
 The largest of these is called the Great Salt 
 Lake whose water is four times as salty as that 
 of the sea. 
 
Little Folks of the United States 167 
 
 The Colorado Canyon. 
 
 There are still other plateaus southeast of the 
 Great Basin where the streams have worn away 
 deep valleys called canyons. The largest of 
 these rivers is the Colorado, whose canyon is 
 so wonderful that travelers in the west always 
 wish to visit it. 
 
 In some parts of the canyon the steep clife 
 rise on either side for about a mile up into the 
 air. As the traveler in the valley below looks 
 up he can see the stars shining in broad daylight. 
 The rocks at the sides are of different colors — 
 gray, brown, red and purple. The best time to 
 visit the canyon is at sunrise or sunset. Then 
 the light from above falls first upon one color 
 and then upon another, making a beautiful sight 
 as the shadows change from moment to moment. 
 
 The National Park. 
 
 The United States is a great country^ as its 
 people believe, and certainly no others in the 
 world can boast of a park so large as theirs. 
 
 When Lewis and Clark had traveled a long 
 distance up the Missouri River they reached that 
 part of the country which is now called the Yel- 
 
i68 Little Folks of North America 
 
 lowstone Park. A better name would be ^Won- 
 derland" for such it is to the thousands of people 
 from all over the world who visit it every year. 
 
 This great reservation is sixty-five miles from 
 north to south and fifty-five miles from east to 
 west. It contains not one, but many charming 
 parks, lovely valleys, sparkling waterfalls, high 
 mountains, deep valleys and one beautiful lake, 
 called the Yellowstone Lake. 
 
 We can travel in a comfortable parlor car 
 to the very entrance of the Wonderland where 
 we will first visit the Mammoth Hot Springs 
 whose waters are as clear as a mirror. They 
 contain lime and iron, and for this reason many 
 people drink the water which they take as med- 
 icine. 
 
 The largest of the Hot Springs bursts out of 
 the ground near the summit of a high hill, from 
 which it pours down over the slope and as it 
 falls, makes deep basins in the earth below. 
 
 Some of these basins are tiny and others quite 
 large. They are of different colors — red, green, 
 and yellow, and the edges are worn away into 
 the prettiest sort of beadwork by Mother Nature. 
 
 Now let us leave the Hot Springs and visit 
 the geysers about fifty miles away. Each has 
 
Little Folks of the United States 169 
 
 a name of its own. There is the Giantess, which 
 from time to time throws up a great quantity 
 of water for a short distance. You must be care- 
 ful not to venture too near when the Giantess 
 wakes up, or you will be soaked with water in an 
 instant. 
 
 Another geyser is called Old Faithful, because 
 you can depend on his appearance at just such 
 a time. He shows off his accomplishments once 
 every sixty-five minutes. Old Faithful sends 
 up a few little jets of water at first but every 
 moment they become larger and stronger, till 
 suddenly, with a tremendous roar, the water 
 spouts up one hundred and thirty feet in the 
 air. By the end of five minutes the water sub- 
 sides and only a small stream rises. 
 
 Still another geyser is called the Beehive, on 
 account of the shape of its cone. The water 
 does not fall to the ground again but moves up 
 through the air as fine spray. 
 
 One of the most interesting of all the geysers 
 is the Castle. As you near it, the air around 
 may be perfectly quiet. Then, all at once, you 
 you will hear a loud rumbling noise as though 
 quantities of stones were rolling over each other, 
 and at the same time the lashing of water is 
 
lyo Little Folks of North America 
 
 heard under the earth. The noise becomes al- 
 most deafening, the earth trembles under your 
 feet, and if you are wise you will hasten to some 
 spot quite a distance away. Suddenly a column 
 of water rises straight up into the air at least 
 one hundred and fifty feet. The spray from it 
 falls over the ground around like heavy rain 
 and those who have not been wise enough to 
 flee like yourself are drenched with hot water. 
 
 We must not leave the Wonderland without 
 visiting Yellowstone Lake. It is very beautiful 
 and stretches its long arms in among the moun- 
 tains as though to embrace them. On the west- 
 ern shore of this lake you may catch trout if 
 you will. Then, if you are hungry, you may 
 take a few steps and drop the fish, still on the 
 hook, into a boiling spring. Behold! your din- 
 ner of delicious trout is ready for your eating. 
 
 Yellowstone River flows out of this wonderful 
 lake and at first moves smoothly and quietly. 
 Then, as it is about to make its way through a 
 mountain-pass, it makes leaps and bounds in the 
 form of cascades and waterfalls, wearing the 
 earth into a deep canyon, which is as full of 
 interest as that of the Colorado. 
 
 In your visit to the Rocky Mountains you 
 
Little Folks of the United States 171 
 
 will, no doubt, wish to climb Pikes Peak. It 
 is named for Major Pike, who tried to climb to 
 the summit but failed. 
 
 ^'Only a bird could succeed," he afterwards 
 said. Now-a-days, however, hundreds of trav- 
 elers go every year to the top of Pikes Peak. 
 
 Niagara Falls. 
 
 Nearly every one who travels over the United 
 States takes a trip up the beautiful Hudson 
 River, and goes to the top of Mount Washing- 
 ton in New England, by using the railroad built 
 up the side of the mountain, and over which the 
 train moves slowly with the help of a double 
 engine. 
 
 Perhaps the most wonderful and interesting 
 of all sights are the Falls of Niagara, between 
 Canada and the United States. Out of Lake 
 Erie, one of the Five Great Lakes, flows the 
 Niagara River, which soon reaches a clifif over 
 which it pours its whole body of water with a 
 sound like thunder. If you stand near the foot 
 of the falls you must wear waterproof garments, 
 or the dashing spray will drench you in a few 
 moments. The longer you look, the more won- 
 derful the sight appears and before long you 
 
172 Little Folks of North America 
 
 feel as though you would like to stay there for- 
 ever, watching those mighty waters falling, ever 
 falling, and never resting in their course for a 
 single moment. 
 
 In winter the spray covers every bush and 
 tree near the foot of the Falls and as it freezes 
 almost instantly, strange forms are built up on 
 the twigs and branches. Then in the bright sun- 
 light the world around seems like fairyland. 
 Masses of ice are carried along with the water 
 of the cataract and become piled up below, mak- 
 ing a bridge of ice across the river. 
 
 The children who visit Niagara Falls are sure 
 to wish to enter the deep cave in the clifif directly 
 under the falling waters. No matter how care- 
 fully they may enter, they will be drenched by 
 the spray unless they are clad in waterproof 
 from head to foot. They have a strange feeling 
 while they are in the cave. The loud rumbling 
 of the water and the trembling of the earth fill 
 them with a sort of fear and they are glad when 
 they are once more out in the sunlight and at 
 a safe distance from the mighty cataract. 
 
Little Folks of the United States 173 
 
 A Peep at Big Cities. 
 
 There are many large and beautiful cities in 
 the United States, each of which is particularly 
 dear to the children who live there. Sometimes 
 they think of their brothers and sisters of a hun- 
 dred years ago who warmed themselves in win- 
 ter before burning logs in big fireplaces, who 
 traveled in lumbering stage-coaches and were 
 lighted to bed by home-made candles or smoky 
 whale-oil lamps. Many of the children of to- 
 day have steam-heated houses, lighted by gas 
 or electricity; they travel short distances in elec- 
 tric cars or automobiles, and longer ones in 
 comfortable trains moved by steam-engines; or 
 perhaps they take water trips in roomy steam- 
 boats where they can move about as freely as in 
 their own homes. They talk with distant 
 friends by merely taking down the receiver of 
 a telephone. Steam, gas, electricity — all these 
 conveniences are found not only in the cities of 
 the United States, but on the distant prairies for 
 the use of farmers and their families. 
 
 Washington is the capital of the United States. 
 It is the place where the business of the country 
 is attended to and the laws are made for the 
 
174 Little Folks of North America 
 
 protection of the people. It is a wonderfully 
 clean and beautiful city, and has many grand 
 buildings which may well be called palaces. 
 The White House, the home of the president, 
 is the copy of a palace in Ireland which was 
 built for the Duke of Leinster. The National 
 Library is very large and some people think the 
 building devoted to it is the most beautiful in 
 the world. The Rogers Bronze Door which 
 opens into the Capital is a great work of art. 
 The most important things in the life of Co- 
 lumbus and the discovery of America are pic- 
 tured in the bronze. This one door cost thirty 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 There are large art galleries in Washington 
 and many other buildings where you can pass 
 day after day and constantly find new things 
 to interest you. But before you leave the city 
 you must be sure to visit the beautiful marble 
 monument built in honor of George Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 At the mouth of the Hudson River is the great 
 city of New York, next to the largest in the 
 whole world. It contains many beautiful 
 homes, fine churches, lovely parks, and business 
 buildings many stories in height which, like 
 
Little Folks of the United States 175 
 
 others in Chicago, are called "sky scrapers." 
 On an island in New York Harbor stands the 
 famous Statue of Liberty given to this country 
 by France. Persons who wish to do so may 
 climb up into the head of this statue which is in 
 the form of a beautiful woman with a torch in 
 her uplifted hand. The crown on the head is 
 composed of windows from which there is a fine 
 view of New York Harbor. 
 
 Another island in the harbor is called Ellis 
 Island, where most of the emigrants who have 
 left their homes in other countries, land when 
 they reach the United States. Irish and Poles, 
 Italians and Russians, men with children cling- 
 ing to their sides, and women with arms clasped 
 around tiny babies, all dressed in the fashion 
 of their old homes, step from the big ships and 
 take their first breath of the free air of America 
 almost under the shadow of the Statue of Lib- 
 erty. 
 
 New York is the greatest manufacturing cen- 
 tre in the United States. Clothing, books, cigars, 
 furniture, leather goods and many other things 
 are made here for the people of this and other 
 countries. 
 
 The good old city of Boston is on the eastern 
 
176 Little Folks of North America 
 
 coast of Massachusetts. It has a fine harbor 
 like its sister city in New York, and many large 
 ships from all over the world are seen at its 
 wharves. 
 
 Ten years after the Pilgrims landed at 
 Plymouth the Puritans founded Boston. It is 
 a quaint city with narrow, winding streets, much 
 unlike Chicago and New York and many other 
 cities built later on. The State House on Bea- 
 con Hill has a gilded dome which can be seen 
 in the sunlight for miles around. This is often 
 called "Boston's breastpin." There are many 
 old buildings in the city, around which are 
 woven interesting stories of the early days of 
 this country. Here stands Faneuil Hall where 
 many stirring words were spoken. For this 
 reason it is spoken of as the Cradle of Liberty. 
 Then there is the Old South Church a "meeting 
 house" of the olden times from which the Boston 
 Tea Party started out to throw the tea which 
 had come from England into Boston Harbor. 
 The cemeteries, in which some of the greatest 
 men of the early days of the country were bur- 
 ied, are still kept with the greatest care and are 
 visited by travelers throughout the year. Bos- 
 
Little Folks of the United States 177 
 
 ton is a manufacturing city and is the largest 
 market in the world for boots, shoes and leather 
 goods. 
 
 In the state of Pennsylvania, settled as you 
 know by the Quakers, is the city of Philadel- 
 phia. This name was chosen for it by Wil- 
 liam Penn because of its meaning, '^brotherly 
 love," and the peaceful spirit of that great man 
 is felt even now in the quiet streets, lined with 
 quaint old houses. 
 
 Philadelphia was once the largest city in the 
 United States. It is still a very busy one. 
 Quantities of coal from the mines not far away 
 are sent to this city and from there shipped to 
 other places. Iron and steel goods are made 
 in its factories and many of its people are busy 
 in the cotton mills. On the river front near by 
 there are large shipyards where ships have been 
 built for the United States navy. 
 
 The children of Philadelphia are especially 
 proud of Independence Hall where the famous 
 Declaration of Independence was signed and 
 the bell rang out to tell of what brave men had 
 dared to do. This ''Liberty Bell" has been care- 
 fully preserved and may be seen even now after 
 all these years. 
 
178 Little Folks of North America 
 
 There are many other large and beautiful 
 cities in the country. One of these, San Fran- 
 cisco, lies on the far western coast, on the borders 
 of the Pacific Ocean. It has a deep harbor, into 
 which come sailing many ships from China and 
 Japan, bringing cargoes of silk and tea. Many 
 Chinamen are to be seen on the streets of the 
 city, and pretty Japanese children with black 
 eyes and soft yellow skins play in the parks with 
 the little Americans. More wheat is exported 
 from the city of San Francisco than from any 
 other in the United States. 
 
 There is so much to tell of this great country 
 and of the children who live here in happy 
 homes, that it is hard to stop, but we must leave 
 it for the present and travel south to Mexico. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Little Folks of Mexico 
 
 LONG ago, when we ended our visit in 
 Canada and Newfoundland, we left be- 
 hind us the polar bears and the icebergs 
 and all those things which are to be found in the 
 cold parts of the earth. Then we traveled over 
 the United States with its temperate climate, 
 where neither heat nor cold are severe. Still 
 moving south," we come to Mexico. 
 
 At the time Columbus discovered America 
 Mexico was the home of gentle little Indian 
 children. Their skins were not as red as the 
 rest of their people in North America, but were 
 of a brownish tint. Their lips were rather 
 thick, and their voices were soft. They called 
 themselves Aztecs. 
 
 These children went to school and learned 
 lessons while the other Indians of North Amer- 
 ica were living like savages. They were taught 
 music and painting and the history of the Aztecs. 
 
 179 
 
i8o Little Folks of North America 
 
 They studied strange-looking books written in 
 pictures, each of which stood for a certain word. 
 
 As they grew up they were taught to worship 
 many gods, some of whom they believed to be 
 very cruel. They feared these gods and offered 
 sacrifices of human beings to them. It was a 
 dreadful belief indeed that could make people 
 do this. 
 
 A great king named Montezuma ruled over 
 the whole country. He lived in a magnificent 
 palace far up on a lofty plateau in the middle 
 of the country, with mountains on either hand, 
 as though to guard him. He wore rich gar- 
 ments which he changed many times a day. He 
 ate the choicest food from dishes' of silver and 
 gold. Hundreds of people waited upon him, 
 ever ready to do his bidding. 
 
 Montezuma made the city where he lived 
 very beautiful. There were gardens filled with 
 flowers, and ponds stocked with different kinds 
 of fish. There were menageries where birds of 
 brilliant plumage were cared for so tenderly 
 that they could not miss their free homes of 
 the forest, and there were wild animals of both 
 hot lands and cold. Altogether, the city was 
 the wonder of all who visited it. 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 181 
 
 There came a time, however, when all this 
 was changed. A few years after Columbus dis- 
 covered the New World a Spaniard named 
 Fernando Cortez sailed along the shores of 
 Mexico with his fleet of ships. He entered a 
 harbor and landed. The simple Indians who 
 stood watching, bent low before the strange 
 white men, for they thought them gods from 
 heaven who had come to visit them, and they 
 gladly told all they knew about the country. 
 Gold and silver? Yes, there was plenty to be 
 had in Mexico. Furthermore, they described 
 the wonderful city on the plateau above, where 
 the great Montezuma held his court. 
 
 Cortez listened with great interest. He was a 
 brave man ; he was also cruel and greedy. His 
 eyes flashed as he thought of all the riches to be 
 gained if he could conquer the natives. But 
 he used only soft words and begged to be shown 
 the way to the wonderful city among the moun- 
 tains above him. He declared that he wished 
 to pay respect to the ruler of the country. 
 
 The Indian guides led the way while Cortez 
 and his train of knights followed. 
 
 On, yet ever upwards they climbed, soon leav- 
 ing the hot, damp lowlands behind them. The 
 
i82 Little Folks of North America 
 
 air became cooler and fresher, and the fruits 
 that grow only where the heat is great, were 
 soon passed. On, yet ever upwards ! The path- 
 way now became steep and rough, but it brought 
 the Spaniards at last out upon a broad plain 
 on which stood the city described by the natives 
 of the lowlands. The king came to meet the 
 strangers in all his glory. He lavished gifts 
 upon them, too — gold and silver and precious 
 stones, — all those things which he thought val- 
 uable in the eyes of his guests. He entertained 
 them royally and gave feasts in their honor. 
 
 While the cruel Spaniard was looking at the 
 rich gifts, he was planning how to conquer Mon- 
 tezuma and his subjects and get all the wealth 
 of the country into his hands. 
 
 It was not long before this was done. Mon- 
 tezuma's reign was brought to an end; the beau- 
 tiful buildings of the city of which he was so 
 proud were destroyed, and the Indians of Mex- 
 ico became the slaves of the Spaniards. 
 
 For nearly three hundred years Spain ruled 
 over the country, during which time many boys 
 and girls crossed the ocean to make their home 
 in Mexico. 
 
 Some of the Spaniards married gentle Indian 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 183 
 
 maidens and their children were called half- 
 castes, to show that they were half-white and 
 half-Indian. For this reason there are three 
 kinds of children who call Mexico home, — 
 first, Creoles, whose people came in the begin- 
 ning from Europe; second, the Indians, and 
 third, the half-castes. Many of these last are 
 so fair in the skin that one would scarcely think 
 they could have any Indian blood whatever. 
 
 Although the white people came in the be- 
 ginning from Spain, they have lived so long in 
 Mexico that they now have a name of their 
 own. Many of their children are very beauti- 
 ful. They have soft black eyes which grow 
 sharp and piercing as they become excited. 
 They are usually very gentle, but if they are 
 crossed they show a quick, unruly temper. They 
 are not fond of work, but like to be waited on 
 by their servants. Many of them are rich and 
 live in grand houses built around courtyards 
 whose fountains play all day long. The air 
 of these courtyards is filled with the odor of 
 lovely flowers growing there. 
 
 The mothers of the little Creoles dress in 
 dainty lawns and laces, following the latest 
 fashions from Paris. They are proud of their 
 
184 Little Folks of North America 
 
 tiny hands and feet and are careful to do no 
 hard work that may spoil their shape. They 
 embroider, and do other fancywork, and they 
 sing and play. They are very loving, and bring 
 up their little ones to be polite and respectful. 
 They, as well as their husbands, are ever ready 
 to show kindness to visitors and strangers. 
 
 The Indian children of Mexico lead a very 
 different life from their Creole brothers and 
 sisters. After the Aztecs were conquered by the 
 Spaniards they lived the life of slaves for such 
 a long time that it became a habit with them 
 to look up to the white men as higher beings, 
 so that to this day they are as humble as slaves 
 although they are now free and the country is 
 a republic. 
 
 The little Indians have few clothes, but that 
 does not matter, for they do not need more in 
 the warm climate in which they live. As for 
 shoes, their people in the good old times before 
 the coming of the Spaniards wore none, so why 
 should they? Sandals are certainly far more 
 comfortable, besides being the best foot-gear pos- 
 sible for mountain climbing. 
 
 In the warm lowlands the Indians live in 
 simple huts of wood or bamboo, with thatched 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 185 
 
 roofs of palm leaves. Farther up on the table- 
 land where it is cooler the homes are still small 
 and easily made, but they are of unburnt brick, 
 called adobe. The roofs are flat and covered 
 with clay. No matter how poor the family may 
 be the home is not complete unless it has an oven 
 large enough for a person to sit in, also made 
 of adobe. Stones are piled in this oven and 
 heated. Then water is poured over them, which 
 makes a heavy steam rise, in which the people 
 take their baths. 
 
 ^'It is good," the little Indians would tell 
 you. ''So good, that as the sweat bursts out 
 over your body, it will take out all the badness, 
 and make you feel well and strong." 
 
 The poorest children need not be hungry, for 
 fruits and vegetables are cheap and plentiful. 
 Besides these, there are the tortillas the Indian 
 mothers make every day for their families. 
 
 Outside of every house there is sure to be 
 a field of maize, big enough to furnish the fam- 
 ily with all they need during the year. When 
 the maize is ripe it is gathered and put away 
 for future use. Every evening the women of 
 the household take some of it and place it in 
 jars of hot water. They add a little lime to 
 
i86 Little Folks of North America 
 
 soften it. When morning comes, they take it 
 from the jar, and spreading it on a stone bench, 
 make it into paste with a stone roller. Now 
 it is put into a dish, and enough water added 
 to make it into a batter thick enough for pan- 
 cakes. One by one these are baked before a 
 fire of charcoal. Hours are spent each day pre- 
 paring tortillas. Even the rich people of Mex- 
 ico are fond of tortillas, and hire special cooks 
 to prepare them for the table. 
 
 The Indian children are very strong. The 
 boys practice running and learn to carry heavy 
 loads on their backs with ease. Many of the 
 men are porters, or work in the silver mines 
 carrying out the ore ; some of them, however, 
 are busy on the farms. As the boys grow up, 
 they generally follow the same trade as their 
 fathers. The pay is small and the work is hard, 
 but it seems easier for the Indians to keep to 
 the same old habits that were formed under their 
 masters, the Spaniards. 
 
 Wherever you may travel in Mexico, you 
 will meet Indian porters with heavy loads on 
 their backs, moving along at a steady trot. 
 Hour after hour they will keep this up, carrying 
 seventy-five or a hundred pounds at a time. 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 187 
 
 The Indian farmers may be fifty or even a hun- 
 dred miles from a market for their goods, but 
 it does not seem to trouble them that the vege- 
 tables they wish to sell must be carried all the 
 way on their backs. 
 
 Besides the Indian and Creole children are 
 the half-castes whose skins are darker than those 
 of their white brothers and sisters, though many 
 of them have rosy cheeks. They are pleasant 
 and good-natured, but are apt to be sly and 
 lazy. 
 
 The fathers of the little half-castes are gen- 
 erally farmers or mule drivers. Their older 
 brothers and sisters are often servants in the 
 homes of the wealthy Creoles, where they learn 
 the ways and fashions of the white people and 
 try to copy them. 
 
 Most of the boys and girls of Mexico go to 
 school which they must reach by seven o'clock 
 in the morning, and where they spend about ten 
 hours of each day. The seats and desks are not 
 comfortably arranged as they are in most places 
 in the United States. Those children who can 
 have chairs are fortunate, for many of them sit 
 on benches and even on the floor. They study 
 aloud, so you can imagine what a chattering 
 
i88 Little Folks of North America 
 
 there is. It is hard to understand how they 
 manage to get their lessons. 
 
 There are many holidays in Mexico, when the 
 tiresome schools are closed and both big folks 
 and little give themselves up to feasting and 
 dancing. 
 
 One of these, Good Friday, is celebrated in 
 a curious way. All day long men go through 
 the streets carrying figures of the traitor Judas 
 hanging from long poles. They stop from time 
 to time as children come running up to them 
 to buy a Judas. Now comes the sport, for the 
 figures can be blown up. Bits of lighted punk 
 are held against the figures, when they suddenly 
 burst like fire-crackers and make noise enough 
 to deafen the ears of the passer-by. It is no 
 wonder the children save up their money for 
 Good Friday so that they can buy numbers of 
 Judases. 
 
 The evening is the best part of the whole day, 
 for then immense Judases are hung up on lines 
 across the streets and crowds of people gather 
 to watch them while they are blown up and ex- 
 ploded. At the same time the city bells ring 
 out the glad news that Judas has been de- 
 stroyed. The strangest part of all is the crack- 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 189 
 
 ling noise that now follows, representing the 
 breaking of the bones of the two thieves who 
 were crucified at the same time as Jesus. The 
 Mexicans certainly have a queer way of cele- 
 brating Good Friday. 
 
 On the Coast. 
 
 Although a part of Mexico lies in or near 
 the torrid zone, all kinds of climate are to be 
 found in the country. Let us see how this is. 
 Along the shores of the Pacific on the west, and 
 of the Gulf of Mexico on the east the land is 
 low and the air is hot and moist, and for this 
 reason there is much illness there. The chil- 
 dren of these lowlands know only two seasons, 
 the wet and the dry. Many of them live on 
 ranches where herds of cattle feed on the high, 
 coarse grass. Here and there small streams flow 
 through the land from the mountains above, and 
 there are lakes shaded by tall palm trees. These 
 are the places where the tropical fruits of Mex- 
 ico grow, — vanilla, spices, bananas, cacao, and 
 oranges. Mangoes, cocoanuts, and alligator 
 pears, besides many others seldom sent to tem- 
 perate lands, also grow here in plenty. 
 
 The lowlands are not perfectly flat, but slope 
 
igo Little Folks of North America 
 
 upwards toward high hills where the air is clear 
 and much cooler. The children here can gather 
 yellow oranges and clutches of bananas, like 
 their brothers and sisters of the lowlands, while 
 they may also pick peaches and apples in their 
 orchards. Flowers and trailing vines grow 
 everywhere about them. The palms of the hot 
 lands wave in the breeze on one side, while the 
 roses and honeysuckles of the temperate zone 
 bloom on the other. It is a strange and beauti- 
 ful country. 
 
 Slowly we bid good-by to the little homes 
 nestled among the trees, and with the help of 
 a big double-engine we climb up the steep slopes 
 to still higher lands. The trees are of a differ- 
 ent kind now, for strong pines and oaks are 
 about us everywhere. 
 
 The long climbing comes to an end at last. 
 The double-engine has done its work and is used 
 no longer, for we move out upon the plateau of 
 Mexico where cactus plants spread over many 
 acres, and wheat and barley fields greet us like 
 old friends from the United States. 
 
From Copyrighted Stereograph 
 
 by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
 
 A Mexican Village. 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 191 
 
 Vera Cruz. 
 
 When Cortez arrived on the coast of Mexico 
 his ships entered the only good harbor on the 
 eastern side of the country. He and his men 
 landed at a place to which the Spaniards gave 
 the name of Vera Cruz, or ^'True Cross." 
 Afterwards they built a city there, which to-day 
 is one of the two principal ports of Mexico. 
 Every year many ships are loaded at the 
 wharves of Vera Cruz with limes and ham- 
 mocks, silver and copper, which they carry to 
 the United States and other countries. 
 
 Vera Cruz is a beautiful city. Tall palm 
 trees shade many a lovely home, in whose gar- 
 dens children are playing throughout the year. 
 Before it stretches the Gulf of Mexico, while 
 at its back the lofty volcano Orizaba reaches 
 far up toward the sky. The people of Vera 
 Cruz work hard to make it a clean city, and 
 they are helped by the vultures — big, ugly- 
 looking birds who are ever ready to swoop down 
 into the streets and house-yards to devour any 
 decaying matter to be found. Bits of fruit and 
 vegetables, scraps of meat, and dead animals 
 whether big or little, are greedily eaten. 
 
192 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Although the city is kept clean from one end 
 to the other, it is not a healthy place for a home. 
 Fever is in hiding everywhere and visitors find 
 it wise to make only a short stay in the place. 
 
 Getting Vanilla. 
 
 Few people live in the low country around 
 Vera Cruz except Indians and half-castes. 
 Here and there on the banks of the streams you 
 may find a group of palm-thatched huts with 
 Indian children running in and out among the 
 trees. The weather is so warm here through- 
 out the year that they wear scarcely any cloth- 
 ing and many times in the day they plunge into 
 the river to cool themselves. Sometimes the 
 boys take long tramps into the forests on the 
 slopes above them in search of pods filled with 
 vanilla beans. They must seek only dark and 
 moist places, for vanilla plants do not grow well 
 in the sunlight. Swarms of mosquitoes buzz 
 about the boys' bare legs, and snakes and lizards 
 often cross their path. Many times they are 
 obliged to crawl between tangled vines and push 
 thick underbrush aside. But they care little for 
 these things. Their minds are set on finding 
 enough vanilla plants to yield them a goodly 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 193 
 
 load of pods, which they will carry home and 
 dry with the greatest care before sending them 
 to market. 
 
 Acapulco. 
 
 On the western coast of Mexico is the city of 
 Acapulco, with its deep and beautiful harbor. 
 Many large steamers are loaded with cattle and 
 hides, timber and fruit at its wharves. 
 
 The Mexican Farms. 
 
 Many of the children of Mexico have their 
 homes on tobacco and sugar plantations which 
 are found on the slopes rising from the low- 
 lands along the shore. Still other children live 
 on the plateau of Mexico on large farms which 
 stretch over miles of country and seem like small 
 towns in themselves. The men on these farms 
 are busy in various ways. Some of them have 
 the care of large fields of wheat or barley. 
 Others tend herds of cattle or flocks of sheep. 
 
 The owner of such a farm is usually a rich 
 man who lives with his family in a large stone 
 house surrounded by high walls. There is a 
 courtyard where beautiful trees and plants are 
 growing and fountains are playing. The wife 
 
194 Little Folks of North America 
 
 and children of the owner wear dainty garments 
 and are waited upon by many servants. They 
 have the choicest food, — fruits of many kinds, 
 chicken cooked in dififerent ways, tortillas of 
 course, besides all sorts of delicacies prepared 
 by excellent cooks. 
 
 The workmen have very different homes. 
 They live in small huts of one or tw^o rooms, 
 and built of mud or adobe. Inside are rough 
 stone fireplaces, and a few mats are spread on 
 the floor. Here the children and their parents 
 sit while they eat their simple meals of tortillas 
 and black beans, and here they stretch them- 
 selves at night for sleep. They are quite happy, 
 however. Outdoors are the birds, the flowers, 
 and the beautiful sunshine. They need few 
 clothes and they do not go hungry. 
 
 There are usually large dairies on these farms 
 where women are busy making the rich milk 
 into butter and cheese. Thousands of pounds 
 are often sent to market from one such farm 
 during the year. 
 
 You have probably seen century plants in the 
 hot-houses you have visited, and have been told 
 that they belong to the aloe family. When the 
 Spaniards first came to Mexico they saw the 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 195 
 
 Indians making paper from the pulp of the 
 leaves of the aloe plant and twine from its 
 fibers. The sharp thorns on the edges of the 
 leaves furnished needles for the Indian women, 
 and the sap of the aloe was made into pulque, 
 the favorite drink of the natives. They also 
 made hammocks from the fibers and thatched 
 the roofs of their huts with the big leaves, lap- 
 ping one over the other like shingles. In fact, 
 the Indians made so many uses of the aloe plant 
 that the Spaniards thought it worth while to 
 raise it in large quantities for themselves. 
 
 The aloe has thick, pointed leaves sometimes 
 ten feet long. It blossoms about once in ten 
 years, when it sends a flower stalk twenty or 
 thirty feet up into the air. At the very top an 
 immense cluster of greenish-yellow blossoms ap- 
 pears. All the strength of the plant goes into 
 these blossoms for, as they open, the leaves 
 wither and die. 
 
 The Indians have learned to tell when the 
 plant is getting ready to send up its giant flower- 
 stalk. Just before it appears they cut out the 
 heart with a sharp knife, leaving only the thick, 
 outside rind of the stem. The sweet sap that 
 should have gone to feed the flower-stalk be- 
 
196 Little Folks of North America 
 
 gins to ooze into the hollow and continues to do 
 so for several weeks. The Indians, who have 
 discovered the right time to cut into the plant 
 to prevent its flowering, have also learned that 
 the sap can be used in making the drink which 
 they call pulque. 
 
 The city of Mexico is a beautiful one, with 
 high stone walls around it, a large square in the 
 centre, and broad streets running at right angles 
 to each other. Nearly all the houses are built of 
 stone, with flat roofs on which the people sit in 
 the evening to enjoy the cool breezes and watch 
 the stars twinkling merrily in the heavens above. 
 
 The children of the big stone houses can play 
 in inner courtyards among flowering plants and 
 fountains. But when they leave their homes to 
 go out into the city they must pass through heavy 
 doors studded with nails and heavily chained. 
 The house windows that face the street have 
 iron bars across them, so that at first these houses 
 seem like fortresses. But when one passes to 
 the back part of such a building and looks out 
 through the windows there upon the pretty 
 courtyard with its fountains and flower-beds, or 
 takes a comfortable chair on one of the bal- 
 conies, with its gilded balustrades covered with 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 197 
 
 trailing vines, he begins to feel as though he 
 were in a beautiful palace. 
 
 The great square in the middle of the city is 
 beautiful with trees and flowers, statues, and 
 walks paved with snowy marble. In the long- 
 ago a temple stood here where hundreds of peo- 
 ple were sacrificed to the gods in whom the 
 Aztecs believed. On one side of the square 
 stands the house of the president, and on an- 
 other there is a grand cathedral where the Mex- 
 icans and their children go to worship. The 
 cathedral doors are always open so that any day 
 you may go inside and find people kneeling 
 there. Rich and poor, grand ladies in delicate 
 muslins and jewels, and the poorest Indians with 
 their packs of fruit or coops filled with chickens 
 still on their backs, kneel in prayer side by side. 
 
 Many of the children who have been to the 
 cathedral to worship, stop as they leave it be- 
 fore the flower-decked stands under the trees, 
 where women are busy selling cool drinks and 
 sweetmeats. Or perhaps they are more inter- 
 ested in the Indians wandering about with cages 
 of humming-birds and parrots, and they beg 
 their parents or older friends who are with them 
 to buy one of the birds to carry home. 
 
198 Little Folks of North America 
 
 As the children go on their way they pass 
 many a horseman riding through the streets with 
 broad hat shading his face, and with leggings 
 trimmed with buttons and silver braid. Silver 
 spurs shine brightly at his side in the sunlight, 
 as also do the gorgeous trappings of his horse. 
 
 There are all sorts of people to be seen on 
 the streets of Mexico. There are Indians with 
 packs of all sorts on their backs. There are 
 girls in gaily striped skirts selling fruit. There 
 are water-carriers in leather aprons with large 
 earthen jars on their backs and smaller ones 
 hanging down in front; there are bird-sellers 
 with flower-trimmed cages ; there are the In- 
 dian policeman who carry lanterns at night, 
 which they place in the middle of the street 
 while they nap in the doorways close by. These 
 naps must be very short, however, because every 
 fifteen minutes it is the business of the police- 
 men to blow shrill whistles, and at every hour 
 to call the time. 
 
 The Big Market. 
 
 The boys and girls of the city often visit the 
 big market which is only a short distance from 
 the cathedral. It is surrounded by high stone 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 199 
 
 walls and on every side there is a gateway 
 through which the people are constantly passing. 
 
 The sides of the market are lined with shops 
 where people are busy selling all sorts of goods. 
 There are the stalls of butchers where only 
 meats are to be seen. There are stands of fruit 
 that fill the air with sweet odors. There are 
 vegetables of many kinds, furniture, and dress- 
 goods of all colors. There are shops where 
 fried meats are sold to hungry people in need 
 of a lunch. There are great piles of cocoanuts 
 and bananas heaped upon the ground. There 
 are fish from both lake and ocean. Strangest 
 of all are the cakes made out of marshflies. 
 These flies are found in great numbers along 
 the muddy banks of the Mexican lakes. There 
 they lay their eggs among the flags and rushes 
 and are killed by the Indians and made into a 
 paste. 
 
 The middle of the market is filled with In- 
 dians who shade themselves and their wares 
 from the hot sun by large squares of matting 
 perched on poles. Here is one man with coops 
 filled with chickens, and another with a stack 
 of earthen dishes made at home. Just beyond 
 him is a woman with a baby on her back. She 
 
200 Little Folks of North America 
 
 is standing* by the side of a patient donkey with 
 panniers filled with melons or peaches, hanging 
 from its sides, and a happy little two-year old 
 child on its back. Some of the people who are 
 busy selling their wares have come many miles 
 and left their homes before sunrise. They have 
 brought their families along with them, so that 
 half-naked children and babies of all ages are 
 to be seen everywhere. Some of them are 
 munching fruit, others playing hide-and-seek 
 among the crowds, while many a tiny baby is 
 nodding itself to sleep on its mother's back or 
 crying with all its might for a little attention. 
 
 The Museums. 
 
 The children of the city are fond of visiting 
 the museums, for there they can see many of 
 the wonderful things made by the Aztecs in 
 the time of their great ruler, Montezuma. 
 
 First of all they stop before a large bed of 
 flowers in the court, in the center of which is 
 the "sacrificial stone" where, in the old days be- 
 fore the coming of the white men, people were 
 offered up to the gods in whom they believed. 
 Near by are the hideous statues of two of these 
 gods. They are not pleasant to look at, so the 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 201 
 
 visitors pass quickly into the building where 
 they can see Aztec vases ornamented with 
 strange carving, masks of volcanic glass, the 
 wonderful feather shields of Montezuma, books 
 filled with picture-writing, and images made of 
 wax and representing all kinds of life in Mexico. 
 There is the Indian with his pack, the charcoal- 
 seller with his 'donkey beside him laden with 
 coal, the flower-vender with bouquets of flowers 
 in her hands. 
 
 Children are never tired of looking at these 
 wax figures, but however long they may stay, 
 they do not like to leave the museum without 
 at least a peep at the feather pictures made in 
 the time of Montezuma. 
 
 These pictures are entirely of birds' delicate 
 feathers, laid over each other so carefully that 
 if you were to examine them ever so closely you 
 would not be able to tell how the work was done. 
 The pictures are as wonderful in their way as 
 fine paintings. Only few Indians know the 
 secret of making them, which is guarded care- 
 fully and handed down from father to son. 
 
202 Little Folks of North America 
 
 The Floating Gardens. 
 
 Most of the vegetables raised for the people 
 of Mexico are brought in the early morning 
 from the floating gardens a short distance from 
 the city, where there are some lakes. A kind of 
 water-plant grows in these lakes very fast and 
 mats together, making marshy beds. ' 
 
 Long ago, in the time of Montezuma, the 
 Aztec farmers learned to make gardens out of 
 these floating masses of weeds. They cut out 
 large squares which they covered with mud 
 drawn up from the bottom of the lake. The soil 
 was rich and moist so that no place in the world 
 could be better for plants. Flower and vege- 
 table seeds were sown and in a short time beau- 
 tiful gardens were growing. 
 
 From that day to this Indians have been busy 
 tending these floating gardens. They pass from 
 one to another in canoes, gathering vegetables 
 and flowers for the city market. One boat will 
 be filled with lettuce, another with luscious red 
 tomatoes, while still another will be loaded with 
 bright-colored flowers. It is a pretty sight to 
 see them as they move slowly along through the 
 Viga Canal that leads from the lakes to the city. 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 203 
 
 Again and again the Indians paddling along 
 with their loads are passed by pleasure boats 
 filled with young people, who make the air re- 
 sound with the odd sweet songs of the country. 
 
 Volcanoes. 
 
 South of the city of Mexico there is a range 
 of hills, and beyond these is a chain of volcanoes, 
 two of which bear the names of Popocatapetl 
 and Iztacsihuatl. It is much easier, however, 
 to think of them as '^Smoking Mountain" and 
 '^The Woman in White," for such are the mean- 
 ings of these long words. Both these volcanoes 
 wear garments of snow and they look so peace- 
 ful that the children of Mexico are not troubled 
 with the thought of what might happen if they 
 should awake in fiery anger some day and send 
 out streams of red-hot lava over the country be- 
 low. 
 
 The slopes of Popocatapetl are dotted with 
 the huts of Indians who earn their living by 
 getting loads of sulphur from the crater of the 
 volcano. 
 
 The highest mountain peak in Mexico is 
 Orizaba, or the ''Star of the Sea." As you sail 
 towards the eastern shore of Mexico and when 
 
204 Little Folks of North America 
 
 you are still so far away that no other part is in 
 sight, the lofty volcano Orizaba appears before 
 you with its summit in the clouds. The Indians 
 chose a fitting name for it, because it certainly 
 seems to rise out of the sea. 
 
 Among the Mines. 
 
 When the Spaniards became the rulers of 
 Mexico they found themselves the owners of the 
 richest silver mines in the world. A great part 
 of the silver used to-day came from those mines. 
 Although immense fortunes have been made in 
 the country for hundreds of years, yet the mines 
 are still rich in the precious ore. They are 
 owned by white men, but the work of getting the 
 silver is done mostly by Indians. Mules are 
 sometimes used to carry the ore from the dark 
 caverns under-ground to the bright world out- 
 side, but much of even this work is done by the 
 Indians themselves, who climb up the steep sides 
 of the mines with heavy loads on their backs day 
 after day. 
 
 When the silver is found it is generally mixed 
 with sulphur, but sometimes, a lump of the pure 
 metal is turned up. One of these lumps 
 
Little Folks of Mexico 205 
 
 weighed four hundred and twenty-five pounds, 
 and was worth eight thousand dollars. 
 
 The miners sometimes try to steal the silver 
 by hiding it in their hair, their ears, or between 
 their toes. They are carefully watched for this 
 reason, so they seldom succeed. 
 
 Copper is also found in the mines of Mexico 
 and some of it is sent to the United States. 
 
 The children of Mexico never need to leave 
 their country for the sake of a change, for by 
 traveling a few miles, they can enjoy either cold 
 weather or hot; they can see the trees and plants, 
 can hear the birds, and can pick the flowers be- 
 longing to lands that stretch from the frozen 
 north to the burning regions of the equator. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 Little Folks of Central America 
 
 NOW let us make a short visit to the chil- 
 dren of Central America. Perhaps it 
 would not be well for us to stay with 
 them long unless they live in the high valleys 
 of the mountain country along the western shore, 
 for the lowlands are hotter and even more moist 
 than those of Mexico. Fever lies in waiting for 
 strangers in the lowlands; swarms of mosquitoes 
 are ready to attack us on every hand, centipedes 
 and scorpions are hidden in the grass at our feet, 
 so that we are quite willing to hasten towards 
 the hill country as quickly as possible. Even 
 here we feel in danger, for the high valleys we 
 enter lie hidden under the very shadow of a row 
 of volcanoes that stretch from north to south 
 through the land. Many of these are quite 
 wide-awake and show this in various ways, some 
 by the clouds of smoke that rise out of their 
 
 206 
 
Little Folks of Central America 207 
 
 craters, or by the odor of sulphur that reaches 
 our noses, or perhaps by the shaking of the 
 earth beneath our feet. 
 
 One of the highest of these peaks is called 
 Agua which, from time to time, sends out jets of 
 boiling water. 
 
 The children of Central America are quite 
 used to earthquakes, which they feel many times 
 during the year. At any moment, in the midst 
 of their play, at dinner time, or during a walk 
 through the streets, the ground may suddenly 
 tremble under their feet, they become dizzy and 
 light-headed, and perhaps there is a rumbling 
 sound in the air around them. If they are away 
 from home, they hurry back to seek safety beside 
 their mothers. 
 
 A minute afterwards the danger may pass by 
 and the play or dinner or walk goes on as before. 
 Yet there are ruined cities in the country to 
 tell the story that there have been terrible earth- 
 quakes in past times when homes were destroyed, 
 and men, women and children lost their lives 
 before they had time to flee for safety. 
 
 The children of Central America are much 
 like their brothers and sisters of Mexico. There 
 are the Indians who are little troubled by the 
 
208 Little Folks of North America 
 
 heat and mosquitoes, there are the white boys 
 and girls whose people came from Spain, and 
 there are the little half-castes. 
 
 Some of these children live near dense forests 
 where their fathers, are busy cutting down valu- 
 able mahogany and logwood trees, which are 
 shipped to other lands to be made into elegant 
 furniture. It is so hot in many of these forests 
 that the men do their work at night with flaming 
 torches to give them light. 
 - It is a strange sight. All around is heavy 
 darkness except in the cleared space among the 
 trees where the torch-lights show patient oxen 
 plodding along with their heavy loads, and 
 their half-naked drivers snapping their whips 
 and calling in loud voices to the animals and 
 each other. Through it all comes the sound of 
 the whip and axe, and the snapping of the big 
 trunks as they fall to the ground. 
 
 Logwood, from which a valuable dye is ob- 
 tained, is the name of another valuable tree 
 found in the forests of Central America, as also 
 is the lignum vitae, or wood of life. From both 
 logwood and lignum vitae are extracted med- 
 icines which physicians often use. 
 
Little Folks of Central America 209 
 
 In Central America people need to be care- 
 ful when they are wandering through the thick 
 grass or along the edge of a forest, for poisonous 
 snakes lurk about and the bites of some of them 
 may cause much pain and suffering. 
 
 Sometimes the boys bring home winged squir- 
 rels which they have caught while flying from 
 tree to tree, but these little creatures do not 
 enjoy being made captive. They love their wild 
 life in the woods, where they are free to scamper 
 over the ground; or spreading their legs, to fly 
 about among the branches of the trees as they 
 will. 
 
 Along the southern coast of Central America 
 the children find beautiful mother-of-pearl 
 shells on the water's edge. As the sunlight falls 
 upon these shells the loveliest colors are seen 
 on the clear surface, — delicate pinks and blues 
 and violets. After the children are tired of 
 playing with the shells they can easily sell them, 
 for travelers are ever ready to buy them as 
 remembrances of their stay in the country. 
 
 In the forests of Central America there are 
 many rubber trees, where Indian boys help their 
 fathers gather the sap which will afterwards be 
 
210 Little Folks of North America 
 
 made into storm coats and shoes to protect the 
 children of the United States from rain and 
 snow. 
 
 In the lowlands and on the slopes there are 
 many banana orchards, which furnish all the 
 fruit the little folks and their parents wish for, 
 as well as many a shipload for the people of 
 other lands. 
 
 Some of the white children of the country live 
 on coffee plantations where Negro and Indian 
 workmen care for the trees and pick the berries 
 for market. 
 
 There are also places in Central America 
 where the indigo plant is raised on account of 
 the blue dye that is obtained from it. This, too, 
 is sent away from the country in ships, as well 
 as coffee and mahogany, bananas and rubber. 
 
 Central America is divided into several re- 
 publics, each one of which is quite independent 
 of the others. As you travel through them 
 southwards, the country becomes more and more 
 narrow till you come at last to the Isthmus of 
 Panama, which joins North and South America. 
 
 The people of the United States are now very 
 busy building a canal through this isthmus to 
 join together the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 
 
Little Folks of Central America 211 
 
 As you look at the map it seems an easy enough 
 matter. 
 
 You think, ''Why, that canal ought to be fin- 
 ished in a short time and should not cost much, 
 either, for the distance across the canal is not 
 more than twenty-six miles at the narrowest 
 part." 
 
 But you must remember in the first place that 
 the canal can not be dug in a straight line; also, 
 that it must pass through the heart of high moun- 
 tains and that solid masses of rock must be 
 broken up, bit by bit. Then again, the climate 
 of the lowlands is very unhealthy during the wet 
 season of the year and the workmen suffer from 
 fever and other kinds of sickness. Besides, it 
 has been hard to get men who understand the 
 work to go there. For these reasons and still 
 others the building of this canal is a tremendous 
 undertaking and will cost billions of dollars be- 
 fore it is finished. 
 
 The people of France began it many years 
 ago, but gave it up after two-fifths of it had 
 been dug. The people of the United States un- 
 dertook to finish it, and at present everything 
 is going on well. They paid France for what 
 she had already done on the canal and bought 
 
212 Little Folks of North America 
 
 the land through which it is to pass. Moreover, 
 they have built comfortable homes for the work- 
 men and have done many things to prevent the 
 fevers that attack persons so easily on account 
 of the damp, hot climate. 
 
 So it has come about that on the Isthmus of 
 Panama there are now many American children 
 whose fathers are busy on the canal and have 
 brought their families to live with them there. 
 Schools have been built where these children 
 study the same lessons as their playmates at home. 
 Mother Nature gives them other lessons too, for 
 they see many curious sights in the country 
 around them, different trees and plants, different 
 flowers and birds from those of their homeland. 
 If they enter the forests they can see the parrots 
 and monkeys among the tree-tops, and possibly 
 wild hogs among the underbrush. They can 
 pick flowers which are beautiful, but without 
 fragrance. They can tap milk trees and get a 
 thick, creamy liquid which will satisfy their 
 hunger. They must be watchful, however, in 
 this strange country, for immense ants are ever 
 ready to sting their tender toes, and poisonous 
 snakes lie hidden in the thick grass. 
 
 Not far from the homes of the little Amer- 
 
Little Folks of Central America 213 
 
 leans there are villages where Chinese children 
 are living with their parents, since many China- 
 men are at work on the canal. There are 
 Negroes, too, as well as the white men and the 
 native Indians. 
 
 By and by, when the great undertaking is 
 finished and big ships from all parts of the world 
 are constantly passing through the canal, it will 
 be a very lively place and many will be the vis- 
 itors to that part of North America. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 Little Folks of the West Indies 
 
 WHEN Columbus discovered the New 
 World he landed on a small island 
 southeast of North America where the 
 gentle red people greeted him as a god from 
 heaven. You probably know the story, — how 
 Columbus thought he had reached India, the 
 land of silks and spices, and how he accordingly 
 called the red men whom he met, Indians. In 
 fact India was far away, and instead of landing 
 on its shores, the great sailor had reached one 
 of a long chain of islands reaching from North 
 to South America, which we know to-day as the 
 West Indies. 
 
 The red people who greeted Columbus did 
 not live long after the coming of the Spaniards 
 who followed him. They were made to dig 
 gold in the mines for their cruel masters, and 
 to do other hard work to which they were not 
 used. They soon sickened and died under the 
 
 214 
 
Little Folks of the West Indies 215 
 
 hard treatment. Many of them, alas, were 
 killed by the white men in sport, so that before 
 long not an Indian was left in all the islands. 
 
 To-day many white children, whose people 
 came from Spain long ago, are living in happy 
 homes in the West Indies. Besides them, there 
 are hundreds of little Negroes with kinky hair 
 and rolling eyes, whose homes are tiny huts 
 thatched with palm leaves, and who wear little 
 or no clothing. They bask in the sunshine and 
 play in the clear waters along the shore and are 
 as happy as the day is long. 
 
 The beautiful islands of the West Indies lie 
 in the hot belt of the world, and the people who 
 live there know but two seasons, a wet and a 
 dry. For several months rain falls every day, 
 — not all day long, however, keeping the boys 
 and girls indoors, but there are heavy showers 
 every morning, after which the world looks love- 
 lier than ever. It is far pleasanter then than 
 in the dry season, when the trees and plants 
 lose their freshness and the dust is thick upon 
 everything around. 
 
 Although the West Indies lie in the hot belt, 
 yet cool breezes from the ocean blow over the 
 land throughout the year so that the people who 
 
2i6 Little Folks of North America 
 
 live there do not suffer from the heat. The 
 white children wear thin linen and cotton gar- 
 ments, and instead of the meat and blood soup 
 so necessary to the little Eskimo, they have cool- 
 ing drinks made with limes and lemons, and 
 they eat freely the delicious fruits that are so 
 plentiful. They are not fond of lively games 
 like football and baseball, which are such favor- 
 ites with many American children. Instead, 
 they spend many hours in hammocks among 
 groves of orange and breadfruit trees. 
 
 These children go to school for two hours of 
 the early morning and two in the late afternoon, 
 but when the sun is bright in the heavens and 
 the air is hot they stay at home to rest and sleep. 
 In many of the homes of the richer people the 
 children take their breakfast of rolls, and coffee 
 or chocolate in bed, then get up to study their 
 lessons with a governess who lives with the 
 family. 
 
 Some of the islands of the West Indies have 
 been built up, bit by bit, by the little coral insects 
 of the sea. Others are the tops of mountains 
 resting on the bed of the ocean; most of them 
 are broken up into deep valleys and high hills, 
 
Little Folks of the West Indies 217 
 
 among which are many strange plants and ani- 
 mals. 
 
 Not many years ago there was a war between 
 Spain and the United States. It lasted but a 
 short time, and when it came to an end Spain 
 agreed to give up her rights in the West Indies. 
 Porto Rico, one of the most important islands, 
 became a part of the United States, and Cuba, 
 the largest island of all, was made a republic. 
 Since that time many Americans have gone to 
 live in the West Indies to carry on business in 
 the cities, or raise sugar and coffee on the plan- 
 tations. 
 
 When the Spaniards had no more Indians to 
 work for them, they sent ships to Africa for 
 Negroes who should serve them as slaves on 
 their plantations. Now, however, the Negroes 
 have all been freed. Hayti, one of the islands, 
 is divided into two small republics of black peo- 
 ple. In the other islands most of the workmen 
 are black, for these people can bear a great deal 
 of heat and can stay all day long in the sugar 
 and tobacco fields without harm, when white 
 men would suffer from sunstroke. 
 
2i8 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Hurricanes. 
 
 There is one time of the year which the chil- 
 dren of the West Indies do not enjoy. This is 
 the season of hurricanes. It is because of these 
 that most of the houses are only one story high, 
 for the winds are so strong and terrible then 
 that the strongest buildings are in danger. 
 
 As the time draws near when hurricanes are 
 expected, boats are drawn up along the shore, 
 roofs are patched and made tight, and everyone 
 watches the sky for the dread signs. Then, as 
 the clouds gather and the birds take flight into 
 the depths of the forest, the children run home 
 to their parents for safety. If they live in the 
 country the whole family will sometimes leave 
 the house and seek safety in a stone cavern, 
 built on purpose for their protection in the hur- 
 ricane season. There the people will stay till 
 the wind has done its work and passed on. 
 When they leave their hiding-place they often 
 find that great harm has been done; noble trees 
 lie stretched on the ground, the crops have been 
 destroyed, and the glass of the house windows 
 is shattered. They look about them at the 
 world that is once more so beautiful and peace- 
 
Little Folks of the West Indies 219 
 
 ful, and take long breaths as they think, ^Ter- 
 haps there will be no more danger for us for 
 another long year and that is a long way off. 
 We will not worry." 
 
 In the Woods. 
 
 There are no large animals in the forests of 
 the West Indies to frighten the children, but 
 among the grasses and beautiful plants that grow 
 everywhere about them there are many insects 
 that might do them harm. Scorpions, which 
 belong to the spider family, may give painful 
 bites, and centipedes with their hundred legs, 
 must also be watched for. Then there are mos- 
 quitoes without number, and chigos as the chil- 
 dren call them, which creep between the tender 
 skins of the white people's toes and make poison- 
 ous sores, but seldom trouble those of the Ne- 
 groes. 
 
 ^T must not go far into the woods when I am 
 alone," think many small boys and girls, for they 
 are afraid they may meet a wild dog which they 
 are quite sure is a most fierce and dangerous ani- 
 mal. But the children have little to fear on 
 this account, for wild dogs are so scarce that 
 few people have ever met them. Long ago in 
 
220 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Mexico, in the time of the Aztecs, and in the 
 West Indies before the coming of the white men 
 there, it is said there were such creatures in the 
 forests, but now they are rare indeed. 
 
 Sometimes the children meet a strange kind 
 of army when they are walking in the woods or 
 driving along the country roads. This army is 
 composed of huge land crabs who go once a 
 year from their home on the mountain sides to 
 the sea. There are often hundreds in this army, 
 which marches slowly but steadily onward, 
 through patches of woods, across roads, and over 
 fields of tobacco. After the journey is once be- 
 gun, it is said that the crabs do not rest till the 
 ocean lies before them. 
 
 The children of the West Indies spend much 
 time training beautiful parrots caught in the 
 woods not far from their homes ; they gather 
 firebugs so brilliant that on summer evenings 
 the tiny insects light up their gardens, making 
 them appear like fairyland; they can listen to 
 the singing-tree that makes a soft cooing noise 
 when the breeze stirs its branches; they can 
 gather limes and lemons, breadfruit and oranges 
 in their own groves. 
 
Little Folks of the West Indies 221 
 
 Among the Sugar-canes. 
 
 Many children of the West Indies live on 
 large plantations where tobacco and sugar are 
 raised. As you drive along through the country 
 you will pass broad fields covered with tobacco 
 plants whose glossy leaves spread out in the sun- 
 light. Workmen are constantly busy caring for 
 the plants and watching lest troublesome insects 
 injure the leaves. 
 
 Again, you will see before you wide fields of 
 what seems at first to be. corn, but as you draw 
 nearer you discover that the stalks are much 
 taller. It is the sugar-cane which grows so high 
 that a man on horseback may hide himself in 
 its midst. A great deal of the West Indian 
 sugar is raised in Cuba where the plantations are 
 so large that they seem like small villages in 
 themselves. 
 
 Let us visit the children of a sugar planter. 
 We pass through a wide driveway of beautiful 
 trees and arrive in front of a large, one-story 
 house with wide verandas. Flowering vines 
 trail over the trellises. The door is opened by 
 a smiling Negro maid with a gaily-colored 'ker- 
 
222 Little Folks of North America 
 
 chief wound around her woolly head. She 
 shows you into the drawing-room where a dark- 
 eyed lady in white is sitting in a lounging chair. 
 It is the mother of your little Cuban friends, 
 whom you have come to visit. She speaks to 
 you in a sweet, low voice and smiles so pleasantly 
 that you feel at home at once. 
 
 A moment afterwards the children appear. 
 They are slim and dark-skinned like their 
 mother; perhaps they are bare-footed, or they 
 may have sandals on their feet. They take de- 
 light in making you welcome, and in showing 
 you over the plantation. First, they wish you 
 to see their gardens, where roses and lilies, 
 oleanders and jessamines fill the air with sweet- 
 ness. 
 
 After this, it may be, they call to a young 
 Negro not much older than themselves, who 
 leads some ponies from the stable so that you 
 may all ride over the plantation, since it stretches 
 over the country for several miles. 
 
 In a few minutes you are out in the sugar 
 fields where you are obliged to look up to see 
 the tops of the canes. They are jointed like 
 corn-stalks, and contain a sweet liquid, as you 
 find out after breaking off a young cane and 
 
Little Folks of the West Indies 223 
 
 chewing it. The white overseer is riding here 
 and there, directing the Negroes at their work, 
 for the cane is ripe and the men are busy cutting 
 it down and piling it in loads to be taken to the 
 mill. 
 
 You follow one of these loads and soon reach 
 the sugar mill where iron rollers crush the canes 
 and squeeze out the juice. In another building 
 near by there are big fires over which the sweet 
 syrup is kept boiling in copper pans until it 
 is so thick that it will form into crystals. Then 
 it is poured into wooden coolers; last of all, 
 when it is quite cold, it is placed in hogsheads 
 with holes in the bottom. There it is left for 
 several weeks while the molasses drips, drop by 
 drop, through the holes, leaving the clear sugar 
 inside. 
 
 Your little Cuban friends may tell you with 
 much pride that their island home is the largest 
 sugar market in the world and that the hogs- 
 heads of sugar you have just seen will be sent to 
 the city of Havana not far aw^ay and there be 
 loaded on ships which wil carry the sugar to 
 the United States and other countries. 
 
 No doubt the little Cubans will ask you if 
 you have seen the big fortress called Morro 
 
224 Little Folks of North America 
 
 Castle which defends the harbor of Havana. 
 It is so strong they feel quite sure that enemies 
 would be afraid to pass it. 
 
 Before you leave the plantation your friends 
 take you to visit the homes of the Negro work- 
 men, w^hich are only small huts. Many of them 
 have small gardens where melons and sweet po- 
 tatoes are sure to be found. Although the huts 
 are small, the families who live in them are 
 large, and groups of little "darkies" some of 
 whom are quite naked, are playing about and 
 smile as you pass them, showing broad rows of 
 white teeth, and rolling their eyes in such a 
 funny way that you laugh in spite of yourself. 
 
 The children of the West Indies have good 
 reasons to be happy and loving. The people do 
 not need to work hard; a little food and a few 
 clothes, a simple home and a hammock to swing 
 in, are enough to make anyone comfortable in 
 the hot lands. How different such a life is from 
 the toiling and struggle of the people of the 
 far north, who meet danger and trouble every 
 day in their search for the wild animals which 
 furnish them with all they have, — food, fuel, 
 and clothing. 
 
SEP 29 ^^^^