indifferent to what would excite the strongest emotions in the minds of any other people, is forcibly inculcated on them from their earliest youth; and such an astonishing command do they acquire over themselves, that even at the stake, when suffering the severest tortures that can be inflicted on the human body by the flames and the knife, they appear unmoved, and laugh, as it is well known, at their tormentors. This affected apathy on the part of the Indians makes them appear uncommonly grave and reserved in the presence of strangers; in their own private circles, however, they frequently keep up gay and sprightly conversations; and they are possessed, it is said, of a lively and ready turn of wit. When at such a place as Philadelphia, notwithstanding their appearing so indifferent to every thing before them whilst strangers are present, yet, after having retired by themselves to an apartment for the night, they will frequently lit up for hours together, laughing and talking of what they have seen in the course of the day. I have been told by persons acquainted with their language, that have overheard their discourse on such occasions, that their remarks are most pertinent, and that they sometimes turn what has passed before them into such ludicrous points of view, that it is scarcely possible to refrain from laughter. But though the Indians, in general, appear so reserved in the presence of strangers, yet the firmness of their dispositions forbids them from ever appearing embarrassed, and they would sit down to table in a palace, before the first crowned head on the face of the earth, with as much unconcern as they would sit down to a frugal meal in one of their own cabins. They deem it highly becoming in a warrior, to accommodate his manners to those of the people with whom he may happen to be, and as they are wonderfully observant, you will seldom perceive any thing of awkwardness or vulgarity in their behaviour in the company of strangers. I have seen an Indian, that had lived in the woods from his infancy, enter a drawing room in Philadelphia, full of ladies, with as much ease and as much gentility as if he had always lived in the city, and merely from having been told, preparatory to his entering, the form usually observed on such occasions. But the following anecdote will put this matter in a stronger point of view. [Sidenote: ANECDOTE.]