r other, and on it they
entirely subsist. The skins of the animals are worn by the Indians
instead of blankets; their skins, when tanned, are used as coverings for
their lodges and for their beds; undressed, they are used for
constructing canoes, for saddles, for bridles, l'arrets, lasos, and
thongs. The horns are shaped into ladles and spoons; the brains are used
for dressing the skins; their bones are used for saddle-trees, for
war-clubs, and scrapers for graining the robes; and others are broken up
for the marrow fat which is contained in them. The sinews are used for
strings and backs to their bows, for thread to string their beads and
sew their dresses. The feet of the animals are boiled, with their hoofs,
for the glue they contain, for fastening their arrow points, and many
other uses. The hair from the head and shoulders, which is long, is
twisted and braided into halters, and the tail is used for a fly-brush."

Again (vol. ii, p. 138), he says, "I have introduced the skin canoes of
the Mandans (of the Upper Missouri), which are made almost round like a
tub, by straining a buffalo's skin over a frame of wicker-work, made of
willow or other boughs. The woman, in paddling these awkward tubs,
stands in the bow, and makes the stroke with the paddle, by reaching it
forward in the water, and drawing it to her, by which means she pulls
the canoe along with considerable speed. These very curious and
rudely-constructed canoes are made in the form of the Welsh coracle;
and, if I mistake not, propelled in the same manner, which is a very
curious circumstance; inasmuch as they are found in the heart of the
great wilderness of America, where all the surrounding tribes construct
their canoes in decidedly different forms, and of different materials."

[Illustration: Skin Canoes of the Mandan Indians.]

It is generally agreed by travellers, that the flesh of the Bison is
little inferior to the beef of our domestic oxen. The tongue is
considered a delicacy, and the hump is much esteemed. A kind of
potted-beef, called _pemmican_, is made of the flesh of the Bison, in
the following manner:--The flesh is spread on a skin, dried in the sun,
and pounded with stones; then all the hair is carefully sifted out of
it, and melted fat kneeded into it. This, when properly made and kept
dry, will keep good for twelve months. The tallow of the Bison forms an
important article of commerce; one fat bull yielding sometimes as much
as 150 pounds