ish and its cousin-german, the tullabee. They are not got
freely in winter in the first lake, but are taken in large numbers
in the second, where they throng at that season. But in the fall
the take is very great in both lakes, and stages were seen in all
directions where the fish are hung up by their tails, very tempting
to the hungry dogs, but beyond their reach until the crows attack
them. The former keep a watchful eye on this process, and when the
crows have eaten off the tails, which they invariably attack first,
the dogs seize the fish as they drop. When this performance becomes
serious, however, the fish are generally removed to stores.

One night, after an excellent dinner at Mr. Weaver's, that grateful
rarity with us, we adjourned to a ball or "break-down," given in our
honour by the local community. It took place in a building put up by
a Mr. George, an English catechist of the Mission; a solid structure
of logs of some length, the roof poles being visible above the
peeled beams. On one of these five or six candles were alight,
fastened to it by simply sticking them into some melted tallow.
There were two fiddlers and a crowd of half-breeds, of elders,
youths, girls and matrons, the latter squatting on the floor with
their babes in moss-bags, dividing the delights of the evening
between nursing and dancing, both of which were conducted with the
utmost propriety. Indeed, it was interesting to see so many pretty
women and well-behaved men brought together in this out-of-the-world
place. The dances were the customary reels, and, of course, the Red
River Jig. I was sorry, however, to notice a so-called improvement
upon this historic dance; that is to say, they doubled the numbers
engaged in it, and called it "The Wahpooskow Jig." It seemed a
dangerous innovation; and the introduction later on of a cotillon
with the usual dreary and mechanical calls filled one with
additional forebodings. We almost heard "the first low wash of waves
where soon shall flow a human sea." But aside from such newfangled
features, there was nothing to criticise. The fiddling was good,
and the dancing was good, showing the usual expertness, in which
performance the women stooped their shoulders gracefully, and bent
their brows modestly upon the floor, whilst the men vied with each
other in the admirable and complicated variety of their steps. In
fact, it was an evening very agreeably spent, and not the less so
from its primitive environ