Combined with
this disposition to intoxication, the Indian is constitutionally
indolent; and, now that he is a free man, he will rarely work, except
to obtain just as much as will afford him the means of enjoying his
greatest luxury--that of steeping his senses in oblivion. This last
tendency is much to be deplored, as, in the larger towns, we know that
every Sunday (which is the day of greatest indulgence) assassinations,
to the extent of six or eight each day, are the melancholy consequence
of its indulgence. Humboldt states that the police were in the
practice of sending tumbrels round, to collect the unhappy victims of
intoxication. The punishment was, and we believe still is, three days'
labour in the streets; but it does not seem to be very efficacious,
for generally within the week the delinquents are again in custody.
There is something characteristic in the indolence of these sombre
beings. They will travel immense distances; but to steady labour they
are, generally speaking, not prone. It is told of them, that in one of
the most fertile districts (the _Baxio_) it is not unusual for an
Indian, on receiving his wages, to get thoroughly drunk, go to sleep,
and on awakening renew his potations and repose, until the exhaustion
of his finances compels him to return to labour.
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