get goose eggs and some form of maple sugar through the Indians. From
the summer to the autumn there would be an abundance of wild fruits
and nuts, but for the rest of the year it would be a diet almost
entirely of flesh or fish. As a stand-by there was probably
_pemmican_, made in times of plenty from fish, from bison meat and
fat, or from the dried flesh of deer or musk oxen; but tea, coffee,
bread, biscuits, and such like accessories were absolutely unknown to
them, in fact they lived exactly as the Amerindians did. Their
habitations, of course, were the tents or houses of the natives, or
what they made for themselves.

In order to pitch an Indian tent in winter it was first necessary to
search for a level piece of dry ground, and this could only be
ascertained by thrusting a stick through the snow, down to the ground,
all over the proposed plot. When a suitable site had been found the
snow was then cleared away down to the very moss, in the shape of a
circle. When a prolonged stay was contemplated, even the moss was cut
up and removed, as it was very liable when dry to catch fire. A
quantity of poles were then procured, proportionate in number and
length to the size of the tent cloth and the number of persons the
tent was intended to contain. Two of the longest poles were tied
together at the top and raised to an angle of about 45 degrees from
the ground, so that the lower ends extended on either side as widely
as the proposed diameter of the tent. The other poles were then
arranged on either side of the first two, so that they formed a
complete circle round the bottom, and their points were tied together
at the top. The tent cloth was usually of thin moose leather, and in
shape resembled the vane of a fan, so that the large outer curve
enclosed the bottom of the poles, and the smaller one fitted round the
apex of the poles at the top, leaving an open space which let out the
smoke and let in air and light. The fire was made on the ground in the
centre of the floor, which floor was covered all over with small
branches of firs and pines serving as seats and beds. Pine foliage and
branches were laid round the bottom of the poles on the outside, and a
quantity of snow was packed all round the exterior of the tent, thus
excluding a great part of the external air, and contributing much to
the warmth within.

For a month or more Hearne camped in this fashion by the side of a
lake, waiting till the season was sufficiently