What the White Race May Learn from the IndianJames, George Wharton
Religion
What the White Race May Learn from the Indian
James, George Wharton
Indians of North America
My friend W. W. Bass, of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, with whom I have
made many trips in that Wonderland region, tells with great gusto a
true story of my riding over the desert on one occasion, clothed in one
of the old-fashioned linen dusters that reached below my knees. It was
warm weather, and dusty on the railway, hence the duster, I suppose.
But when we got fairly out on the desert it began to rain, and how
it did pour! It came down so rapidly that by and by my pockets were
full of water, and Bass says that when he overtook me, I was jogging
along, singing at the top of my voice (just as the mocking-bird did),
the water splashing out of my pockets as I bounced up and down in the
saddle. The linen duster clung to the sides and back of the horse, and
wrapped itself around my legs so that the picture was comical in the
extreme. But I was happy, and refused to feel any discomfort, and so
got joy out of the experience, as well as health and vigor. For let it
be remembered that when I came from England, twenty-five years ago, I
came as an invalid, broken down in health completely; so much so that I
was even forbidden to read a book for a whole year. Now few men are as
healthy as I. Years of association with the Indian, learning simplicity
and naturalness of him, have aided materially in making the change. I
have learned the value of putting the primary things first. I used to
be so “nice” and “finnicky” that the idea of having my clothes wet
would give me a small panic. “They would get out of shape and look
badly, and have to be pressed before I could wear them again.” But when
I came to the conclusion that I was worth more than clothes, that my
health was of more importance than a crease in my trousers, I found I
was taking hold of a principle which, while it might at times seem to
be rough on my clothing, would have a decidedly beneficial influence on
myself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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