It Was Their Custom He Said To Do So However Strange It Might Appear To Us, And He As The

Leader of his party had to beg for them all; but as he saw we had not deceived him by

Concealing any of our goods and that we really had nothing left he should ask for no more. He then told me that he would set out for the river as soon as the state of the country admitted of travelling. The snow he remarked was still too deep for sledges to the northward and the moss too wet to make fires. He was seconded in this opinion by Long-legs whom I was the more inclined to believe knowing that he was anxious to rejoin his family as soon as possible.

Akaitcho now accepted the dress he had formerly refused and next day clothed himself in another new suit which he had received from us in the autumn. Ever since his arrival at the fort he had dressed meanly and pleaded poverty but, perceiving that nothing more could be gained by such conduct, he thought proper to show some of his riches to the strangers who were daily arriving. In the afternoon however he made another though a covert attack upon us. He informed me that two old men had just arrived at the encampment with a little pounded meat which they wished to barter. It was evident his intention was merely to discover whether we had any goods remaining or not.

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