They All Promised To Follow My Advice And Assured Me It Was Not They But
The Stone Indians Who Robbed And Annoyed The Traders.
The Stone Indian
who was present heard this accusation against his tribe quite unmoved,
but he probably did not understand the whole of the communication.
We
left them to finish their rum and went to look round the lodges and
examine the pound.
The greatest proportion of labour in savage life falls to the women; we
now saw them employed in dressing skins, and conveying wood, water, and
provision. As they have often to fetch the meat from some distance they
are assisted in this duty by their dogs which are not harnessed in
sledges but carry their burdens in a manner peculiarly adapted to this
level country. Two long poles are fastened by a collar to the dog's neck;
their ends trail on the ground and are kept at a proper distance by a
hoop which is lashed between them immediately behind the dog's tail; the
hoop is covered with network upon which the load is placed.
The boys were amusing themselves by shooting arrows at a mark and thus
training to become hunters. The Stone Indians are so expert with the bow
and arrow that they can strike a very small object at a considerable
distance and will shoot with sufficient force to pierce through the body
of a buffalo when near.
The buffalo pound was a fenced circular space of about a hundred yards in
diameter; the entrance was banked up with snow to a sufficient height to
prevent the retreat of the animals that once have entered.
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