The Process Sometimes Fails
And Produces Only A Dirty Brown, A Circumstance Which Ought Probably To
Be Ascribed To The Use Of An Undue Quantity Of Acid.
They dye black with
an ink made of elder bark and a little bog-iron-ore, dried and pounded,
and they have various modes of producing yellow.
The deepest colour is
obtained from the dried root of a plant which from their description
appears to be cowbane (Cicuta virosa). An inferior colour is obtained
from the bruised buds of the Dutch myrtle and they have discovered
methods of dyeing with various lichens.
The quadrupeds that are hunted for food in this part of the country are
the moose and the reindeer, the former termed by the Crees mongsoa, or
moosoa, the latter attekh. The buffalo or bison (moostoosh) the red-deer
or American stag (wawaskeeshoo) the apeesee-mongsoos, or jumping deer,
the kinwaithoos, or long-tailed deer, and the apistat-chaekoos, a species
of antelope; animals that frequent the plains above the forks of the
Saskatchewan are not found in the neighbourhood of Cumberland House.
Of fur-bearing animals various kinds of foxes (makkeeshewuc) are found in
the district, distinguished by the traders under the names of black,
silver, cross, red, and blue foxes. The two former are considered by the
Indians to be the same kind, varying accidentally in the colour of the
pelt. The black foxes are very rare and fetch a high price. The cross and
red foxes differ from each other only in colour being of the same shape
and size. Their shades of colour are not disposed in any determinate
manner, some individuals approaching in that respect very nearly to the
silver fox, others exhibiting every link of the chain down to a nearly
uniform deep or orange-yellow, the distinguishing colour of a pure red
fox. It is reported both by Indians and traders that all the varieties
have been found in the same litter. The blue fox is seldom seen here and
is supposed to come from the southward. The gray wolf (mahaygan) is
common here. In the month of March the females frequently entice the
domestic dog from the forts although at other seasons a strong antipathy
seemed to subsist between them. Some black wolves are occasionally seen.
The black and red varieties of the American bear (musquah) are also found
near Cumberland House though not frequently; a black bear often has red
cubs, and vice versa. The grizzly bear, so much dreaded by the Indians
for its strength and ferocity, inhabits a track of country nearer the
Rocky Mountains. It is extraordinary that although I made inquiries
extensively amongst the Indians I met with but one who said that he had
killed a she-bear with young in the womb.
The wolverine, in Cree okeekoohawgees, or ommeethatsees, is an animal of
great strength and cunning and is much hated by the hunters on account of
the mischief it does to their marten-traps. The Canadian lynx (peeshew)
is a timid but well-armed animal which preys upon the American hare. Its
fur is esteemed. The marten (wapeestan) is one of the most common furred
animals in the country. The fisher, notwithstanding its name, is an
inhabitant of the land, living like the common marten principally on
mice. It is the otchoek of the Crees, and the pekan of the Canadians. The
mink (atjackash) has been often confounded by writers with the fisher. It
is a much smaller animal, inhabits the banks of rivers, and swims well;
its prey is fish. The otter (neekeek) is larger than the English species
and produces a much more valuable fur.
The muskrat (watsuss, or musquash) is very abundant in all the small
grassy lakes. They build small conical houses with a mixture of hay and
earth, those which build early raising their houses on the mud of the
marshes, and those which build later in the season founding their
habitations upon the surface of the ice itself. The house covers a hole
in the ice which permits them to go into the water in search of the roots
on which they feed. In severe winters when the small lakes are frozen to
the bottom and these animals cannot procure their usual food they prey
upon each other. In this way great numbers are destroyed.
The beaver (ammisk) furnish the staple fur of the country. Many
surprising stories have been told of the sagacity with which this animal
suits the form of its habitation, retreats, and dam, to local
circumstances; and I compared the account of its manners given by Cuvier
in his Regne Animal with the reports of the Indians and found them to
agree exactly. They have been often seen in the act of constructing their
houses in the moonlight nights, and the observers agree that the stones,
wood, or other materials are carried in their teeth and generally leaning
against the shoulder. When they have placed it to their mind they turn
round and give it a smart blow with their flat tail. In the act of diving
they give a similar stroke to the surface of the water. They keep their
provision of wood under water in front of the house. Their favourite food
is the bark of the aspen, birch and willow; they also eat the alder, but
seldom touch any of the pine tribe unless from necessity; they are fond
of the large roots of the Nuphar lutea, and grow fat upon it but it gives
their flesh a strong rancid taste. In the season of love their call
resembles a groan, that of the male being the hoarsest, but the voice of
the young is exactly like the cry of a child. They are very playful as
the following anecdote will show: One day a gentleman, long resident in
this country, espied five young beavers sporting in the water, leaping
upon the trunk of a tree, pushing one another off and playing a thousand
interesting tricks.
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