to be kind to the
traders, to be industrious in procuring them provision and furs, and to
refrain from stealing their stores and horses; and I assured them that if
I heard of their continuing to behave kindly I would mention their good
conduct in the strongest terms to their Great Father across the sea (by
which appellation they designate the King) whose favourable consideration
they had been taught by the traders to value most highly.

They all promised to follow my advice and assured me it was not they but
the Stone Indians who robbed and annoyed the traders. The Stone Indian
who was present heard this accusation against his tribe quite unmoved,
but he probably did not understand the whole of the communication. We
left them to finish their rum and went to look round the lodges and
examine the pound.

The greatest proportion of labour in savage life falls to the women; we
now saw them employed in dressing skins, and conveying wood, water, and
provision. As they have often to fetch the meat from some distance they
are assisted in this duty by their dogs which are not harnessed in
sledges but carry their burdens in a manner peculiarly adapted to this
level country. Two long poles are fastened by a collar to the dog's neck;
their ends trail on the ground and are kept at a proper distance by a
hoop which is lashed between them immediately behind the dog's tail; the
hoop is covered with network upon which the load is placed.

The boys were amusing themselves by shooting arrows at a mark and thus
training to become hunters. The Stone Indians are so expert with the bow
and arrow that they can strike a very small object at a considerable
distance and will shoot with sufficient force to pierce through the body
of a buffalo when near.

The buffalo pound was a fenced circular space of about a hundred yards in
diameter; the entrance was banked up with snow to a sufficient height to
prevent the retreat of the animals that once have entered. For about a
mile on each side of the road leading to the pound stakes were driven
into the ground at nearly equal distances of about twenty yards; these
were intended to represent men and to deter the animals from attempting
to break out on either side. Within fifty or sixty yards from the pound
branches of trees were placed between these stakes to screen the Indians
who lie down behind them to await the approach of the buffalo.

The principal dexterity in this species of chase is shown by t