The general also speaks of the “degeneracy” of the Iroquois, and of the degraded condition of most of the other tribes, with the exception of those only who had received Christian instruction. Later testimony is to the same effect. The Rev. J. Beecham, secretary to the Wesleyan Missionary Society, says he has conversed with the Chippeway chief above referred to, on the condition of the Indians on the boundary of Upper Canada. That he stated most unequivocally that previously to the introduction of Christianity they were rapidly wasting away; and he believed that if it had not been for the introduction of Christianity they would speedily have become extinct. As the causes of this waste of Indian life, he mentions the decrease of the game, the habit of intoxication, and the European diseases. The small-pox had made great ravages. He adds, “The information which I have derived from this chief has been confirmed by our missionaries stationed in Upper Canada, and who are now employed among the Indian tribes on the borders of that province. My inquiries have led me to believe, that where Christianity has not been introduced among the aboriginal inhabitants of Upper Canada, they are melting away before the advance of the white population. This remark applies to the Six Nations, as they are called, on the Great River; the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Senacas, Cayugas, and Tuscaroras, as well as to all the other tribes on the borders of the province.” Of the ulterior tribes, the account given by Mr. King, who accompanied Captain Back in his late Arctic expedition, is deplorable: he gives it as his opinion, that “the Northern Indians have decreased greatly, and decidedly from contact with the Europeans.” Thus, the Cree Indians, once a powerful tribe, “have now degenerated into a few families, congregated about the European establishments, while some few still retain their ancient rights, and have become partly allies of a tribe of Indians that were once their slaves.” He supposes their numbers to have been reduced within thirty or forty years from 8,000 or 10,000, to 200, or at most 300, and has no doubt of the remnant being extirpated in a short time, if no measures are taken to improve their morals and to cultivate habits of civilization. It should be observed that this tribe had access to posts not comprehended within the Hudson’s Bay Company’s prohibition, as to the introduction of spirituous liquors, and that they miserably show the effects of the privilege. The Copper Indians also, through ill-management, intemperance, and vice, are said to have decreased within the last five years to one-half the number of what they were. The early quarrels between the Hudson’s Bay and the North West Companies, in which the Indians were induced to take a bloody part, furnished them with a ruinous example of the savageness of Christians.[53] SOUTH AMERICA.