54 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



the Tort, and amused ourselves by visiting tlie half- 

 breeds and Indians, whose lodges were erected in con- 

 siderable numbers round the Fort. From one of 

 them we purchased a "lodge" in place of our canvass 

 tent, the former being far more comfortable during 

 the cold autumn nights, as it admits of a fire being 

 made in the centre. 



The half-breed hunters had just been driven in by 

 the Sioux, who had killed four of their party, having 

 surprised them while cutting wood away from the 

 camp. The remainder of the half-breeds came up, 

 however, and drove them off, killing one, whose bow 

 and arrow they showed us. The Indians who frequent 

 the fort are Sauteux, Assiniboines, and Crees ; and 

 the half-breeds, nearly all of whom are related to one 

 or other of these tribes, share their hostility to the 

 Sioux and Blackfeet, and occasionally join the war- 

 parties of their kinsfolk. The women were busily 

 engaged in making pemmican, which is prepared in 

 the following manner : — The meat, having been dried 

 in the sun, or over a fire in thin flakes, is placed 

 in a dressed buffalo skin, and pounded with a flail 

 until it is reduced to small fragments and powder. 

 The fat of the animal is at the same time melted 

 down. The pounded meat is then put into bags of 

 buffalo hide, and the boiling grease poured on to it. 

 The mass is well stirred and mixed together, and on 

 cooling becomes as solid as linseed cake. Although 

 we found pemmican decidedly unpalatable at first, 

 tasting remarkably hke a mixture of chips and 

 tallow, we became very partial to it after a time. 



