II.  A young Canadian had secured the favor of a half-breed girl who had been brought up among the Chippewas and spoke only their language.  Her name was Nisette, and she was the daughter of a converted squaw who, being very pious, induced the young couple to go to an Algonquin village and get regularly married by a clergyman.  Meanwhile the Canadian’s love cooled away, and by the time they reached the village he cared no more for the poor girl.  Soon thereafter she became the subject of fits and was finally considered to be quite insane.  The only lucid intervals she had were in the presence of her inconstant husband.  Whenever he came near her, her reason would return, and she would appear the same as before her illness.  Flattered by what he deemed so strong an evidence of his influence over her, the Canadian felt a return of kindness toward her, and was finally induced to renew his attentions, which, being well received, they were soon united by a clergyman.  Her reason appeared to be restored, and her improving health showed that her happiness was complete.

FEMININE IDEALS SUPERIOR TO MASCULINE

Keating’s guide was convinced that in both these cases the insanity was feigned for the selfish purpose of working upon the feelings of the unwilling party.  Even apart from that, there is no trace of evidence in either story that the feelings of the lovers rose above sensual attachment, though the girl, being half white, might have been capable of an approximation to a higher feeling.  Indeed it is among women that such approximations to a higher type of attachment must be sought; for the uncivilized woman’s basis of individual preference, while apt to be utilitarian, is less sensual than the man’s.  She is influenced by his manly qualities of courage, valor, aggressiveness, because those are of value to her, while he chooses her for her physical charms and has little or no appreciation of the higher feminine qualities.  Schoolcraft (V., 612) cites the following as an Indian girl’s ideal: 

“My love is tall and graceful as the young pine waving on the hill—–­and as swift in his course as the stately deer.  His hair is flowing, and dark as the blackbird that floats through the air, and his eyes, like the eagle’s, both piercing and bright.  His heart, it is fearless and great—­and his arm it is strong in the fight.”

Now it is true that Schoolcraft is a very unreliable witness in such matters, as we shall see in the chapter on Indians.  He had a way of taking coarse Indian tales, dressing them up in a fine romantic garb and presenting them as the aboriginal article.  An Indian girl would not be likely to compare a man’s hair to a blackbird’s feathers, and she certainly would never dream of speaking of a “tall and graceful pine waving on the hill.”  She might, however, compare his swiftness to a deer’s, and she might admire his sharp sight, his fearlessness, his strong arm in a fight; and that is enough to illustrate what I have just said—­that her preference, though utilitarian, is less sensual than the man’s.  It includes mental elements, and as moreover her duties as mother teach her sympathy and devotion, it is not to be wondered at that the earliest approximations to a higher type of love are on the part of women.