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34 It is true the amount issued far exceeded that at any former time, because the annuities due for the give years past were given to them. But even with this consideration in view, the anecdote is strikingly characteristic of Indian improvidence. 3 By issuing to individuals as they arrive and as their want require, their eyes and their imaginations are not bewildered with what to them appears like an inexhaustible fund. Besides it is well known that clothing given them late in the fall and in the winter is preserved with much more care than when it is given to them in the spring or summer. In the former case their immediate wants urge them to the preservation of the property. In the latter the winter is distant and the temptation strong and the needless savage sacrifices all to his invincible propensity for drink. In the beginning of winter the greatest quantity of property are issued. Individuals can them come, but the body of the tribe collectively could not. There are various considerations connected with this subject, which I have not now time to examine. It is that in the whole circle of Indian relations, about which I have the least doubt. In fact the slightest experience in the practical part of Indian Affairs is sufficient to convince any man, that the distribution of presents to the Indians in bulk would be useless to us and injurious to them. The