128 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
it bears a very strong resemblance in its form to 
a mummy case. 
‘The sphagnum in which the child is laid, forms 
a soft elastic bed, which absorbs moisture very 
readily, and affords such a protection from the 
cold of a rigorous winter, that its place would he 
ill supplied by cloth. 
The mothers are careful to collect a sufficient 
quantity in autumn for winter use; but when 
through accident their stock fails, they have re- 
course to the soft down of the typha, or reed mace, 
the dust of rotten wood, or even feathers, although 
_ none of these articles are so cleanly, or so ee 
changed as the sphagnum. 
The above is a brief sketch of such parts of the 
manners, character, and customs of the Crees, as 
we could collect from personal observation, or from 
the information of the most intelligent half-breeds 
we met with; and we shall merely add a few re- 
marks on the’ manner in which the trade is col- 
ducted at the different inland posts of the Fur 
Companies. 
The standard of exchange in all mercantile 
transactions with the natives is a beaver skin, the 
relative value of which, as originally established 
by the traders, differs considerably from the pre- 
sent worth of the articles it represents; but the 
