124 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
great assiduity, and in the course of the evening 
several songs were sung to the responsive sounds 
of the drum and seeseequay, their usual accom- 
paniments. 
_ The Cree drum is double-headed, but pos- 
sessing very little depth, it strongly resembles a 
tambourine in shape. Its want of depth is com- 
pensated, however, by its diameter, which fre- 
quently exceeds three feet. It is covered with 
moose skin parchment, painted with rude figures 
of men and beasts, having various fantastic ad- 
ditions, and is beat with a stick. The seeseequay 
is merely a rattle, formed by enclosing a few 
grains of shot in a piece of dried hide. These 
two instruments are used in all their religious 
ceremonies, except those which take place in a 
sweating-house. ci 
_ A Cree places great reliance on his drum, and 
I cannot adduce a stronger instance than that of 
the poor man who is mentioned in a preceding 
page, as having lost his only child by famine, 
almost within sight of the fort. Notwithstanding 
his exhausted state, he travelled with an ele 
mous drum tied to his back. 
Many of the Crees make vows to abstain from 
particular kinds of food, either for a specific time, 
or for the remainder of their life, esteeming 
