And it is as such that I wish GUSTAVE AIMARD to be judged by English
readers. His eminent quality is truth. He is a man who could not set
down a falsehood, no matter what the bribe might be, he has lived
through the incidents he describes, and has brought back to Europe
the adventures of a chequered life. He does not attempt to fascinate
his readers by a complicated plot. He does not possess the marvellous
invention of a Cooper, who, after a slight acquaintance with a few
powerless Indians, wrote books which all admirers of the English
language peruse. But GUSTAVE AIMARD possesses a higher quality, in the
fact that he only notes down incidents which he has seen, or which he
has received on undoubted evidence from his companions.