92 INDIAN POLITENESS. 



of their labours. Women were lighting or tend- 

 ing the fires, over which were suspended rows 

 of thinly sliced meat, — some screaming to thiev- 

 ish dogs making free with the hunt, and others 

 with still louder screams endeavouring to drown 

 the shrill cries of their children, who, swaddled, 

 and unable to stir, were half suffocated with the 

 smoke ; while, to complete the scene, eight or 

 ten boys at play were twining their copper- 

 coloured bodies over and under some white bark 

 canoes, like so many land dolphins. Poor crea- 

 tures, their happiness was at its full: at that 

 moment they were without care, enjoying them- 

 selves according to their nature and capacity. 

 Is human happiness ever much more than this? 

 A clump of trees had prevented me from 

 observing another group, consisting of La Prise 

 and his followers. He had undertaken to paddle 

 my half-sized canoe to the other end of the lake ; 

 but finding, as he said, that two persons were 

 required to keep her free from water, he had 

 wisely put on shore to repair her. After that 

 operation, twelve of them, with several dogs, 

 squeezed themselves into her, and yet managed 

 so well, that we had hard work to keep way with 

 them. On parting from the Indians, we were 

 supplied with fresh meat. One of them, to show 

 his respect, put on a surtout that he had pur- 

 chased at the Fort. The coat was unbuttoned ; 



