84 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



shelves, making candlesticks and chairs, &c., and 

 arranging our goods and chattels in their places ; whilst 

 Brunean erected a platform outside, raised on high posts, 

 on which to store our meat secure from wolves and dogs. 



Our Indian friends paid us visits occasionally, but 

 were exceedingly w^ell-behaved, and we felt quite at 

 ease, having safely cached the spirit cask some distance 

 from the hut, and it was now completely hidden by 

 the accumulating snow. 



The Wood Crees are of different habits and dis- 

 position to their relatives, the Crees of the Plains — a 

 race of solitary trappers and hunters on foot, con- 

 trasted with a race of gregarious horsemen. They 

 are very peaceable, and pride themselves upon an 

 honesty unlvnown amongst their lawless brethren of 

 the prairies. During the six months we spent amongst 

 the Crees of the Woods, we had not occasion to com- 

 plain of a single theft. Three months of this time we 

 lived amongst them entirely alone, and, although they 

 often importuned us to give them different things to 

 which they took a fancy, they never offered to dispute 

 our right of ownership. 



They are most expert trappers and hunters of 

 moose, and occasionally seek buffalo when they enter 

 the skirts of the woods in severe winters. They are 

 far better clothed and equipped than the Plain Indians, 

 being able to obtain what they may require at the 

 trading posts in exchange for furs. But they often 

 suffer severely from starvation, as moose are now be- 

 coming scarce ; while the Plain Crees, following the 

 buffalo, seldom lack food, although they possess little 



