324 ANTHROPOLOGY. 



Red River, the trade of Fort Garry and the Selkirk settlements with St. 

 Paul, a distance of 000 miles, was carried on in these carts. It was esti- 

 mated that 3,001) of them passed through Pembina in one season going 

 south, freighted with furs, and returned loaded with various supplies. 



The carriole, or sleigh, is simply the body of a cart laid on the snow, 

 with shafts raised in front, and drawn by oxen or ponies. The dog-sled, 

 or tabawga, used for long journeys through the British Possessions, con- 

 sists csscnt ially of a broad board raised up in front, and is drawn by three 

 or four dogs harnessed in tandem fashion. The collars and traces, usually 

 of moose skin, are ornamented with brass bells, fox tails, and ribbons. 

 Three good animals can pull a load of 300 pounds, with blankets and 

 provisions, and now and then the driver, many miles a day. The tab- 

 awga, with its canine team, is independent of roads; it selects its course 

 over the boundless expanse of the great " Lone Land" as does the mariner 

 at sea. These dogs, of a breed akin to the St. Bernard's, are fed on fro- 

 zen fish or pemmican ; at night they burrow their bed in the snow. 



Before the running of the steamers on the Bed River, a daily mail 

 was received at Fort Pembina, brought from Saint Paul in dog-sleds. 



Dress. — In their dress the m6"tis show no marked peculiarities, but be- 

 tray, in a tempered way, the fondness of the Indian for finery and gaudy 

 raiment. In Manitoba the men usually wear a blue overcoat or capot with 

 conspicuous brass buttons, black or drab corduroy trowsers, a belt or 

 scarf around the waist, leggings, and moccasins, the whole variously 

 adorned with colored fringes, scallops, and beads. The legging is an im- 

 portant article of the young buck's toilet; it is usually made of blue 

 cloth, extends to the knee, below which it is tied with a gaudy garter of 

 worsted work, and has abroad stripe of heavy bead work running down 

 the outer seam. 



The women generally dress in a black gown with a black shawl thrown 

 over the head, in a manner at once comfortable and becoming. The girls 

 often wear a colored shawl about their shoulders and a showy handker- 

 chief upon the head; they like scarlet petticoats and prize gaudy ribbons 

 and cheap jewelry. 



Marriage. — The metis marry young. At twenty the young men seek 

 mates, and the girls are eligible at fifteen. The ceremony usually takes 

 placeduring the winter, which is with them a season of leisure and fes- 

 tivities. The conjugal knot is tied in the chapel of the parish by the res- 

 ident missionary, after which there is dancing and feasting for several 

 days, often to 1 he great detriment of the provisions accumulated against 

 along winter. When all the guests have dispersed, the young husband 

 takes his bride home to begin life on a capital stock of the merest neces- 

 sities of life, and they are happy. 



The metis are prolific and raise large families of healthy children, 

 seldom less than two or three, often as many as seven or eight, thus 

 controverting the statement sometimes made that hybrid races are 

 Sterile, The mothers love their children dearly, and bring them up with 



