the size of a man's foot, it may be as well to state that
snow-shoes measure from _four_ to _six feet_ long, and from thirteen to
twenty inches wide. Notwithstanding their great size, the extreme
lightness of their materials prevents them being cumbrous; and, after a
little practice, a traveller forgets that he has them on, if the weather
be good for such walking. Frosty weather is the best for snow-shoe
travelling, as the snow is fine and dust-like, and falls through the
net-work. If the weather be warm, the wet snow renders the shoe heavy,
and the lines soon begin to gall the feet. On these shoes an Indian
will travel between twenty and thirty miles a day; and they often
accomplish from thirty to forty when hard pressed.

The food of the Indian varies according to circumstances. Sometimes he
luxuriates on deer, partridges, and fat beaver; whilst at others he is
obliged to live almost entirely on fish, and not unfrequently on
_tripe-de-roche_. This substance, however, does no more than retard his
ultimate destruction by starvation; and unless he meets with something
more nourishing, it cannot prevent it. When starving, the Indian will
not hesitate to appease the cravings of hunger by resorting to
cannibalism; and there were some old dames with whom I was myself
acquainted, who had at different periods eaten several of their
children. Indeed, some of them, it was said, had also eaten their
husbands!

The following anecdote, related to me by my friend Carles, who spent
many years of his life among the North American Indians, depicts one of
the worst of these cases of cannibalism.

It was in the spring of 18 hundred and something that Mr Carles stood
in the Indian Hall of one of the far-distant posts in Athabasca,
conversing with a party of Chipewyan Indians, who had just arrived with
furs from their winter hunting-grounds. The large fires of wood,
sparkling and blazing cheerfully up the wide chimney, cast a bright
light round the room, and shone upon the dusky countenances of the
Chipewyans, as they sat gravely on the floor, smoking their spwagans in
silence. A dark shade lowered upon every face, as if thoughts of an
unpleasant nature disturbed their minds; and so it was. A deed of the
most revolting description had been perpetrated by an Indian of the Cree
tribe, and they were about to relate the story to Mr Carles.

After a short silence, an old Indian removed his pipe, and, looking
round upon the other