[BURPEE] YORK FACTORY TO THE BLACKFEET COUNTRY 349 
distance below us; & in the Evening smoked with me, & promised not 
to trade with the French at Basquea Settlement, but accompany me to 
York Fort. 
13. Sunday. Hunters killed 10 Buffalo, & two Black Bears. 
14 to 16. Monday to Wednesday. Busy building Canoes &c. 
17. Thursday. I killed a Mouse* with my Bow & Arrows, & the 
Natives killed a great many. 
18. Friday. Saw several Flocks of Swans flying towards the N.E. 
19. Saturday. Snow all gone: Men collecting Birch-Rind for 
Canoes. 
20. Sunday. Each tent killed two Dogs & had a Grand feast; 
T must take notice they do not skin the Animal but scrape it & Roast 
it over a fire, two Young Men keeping turning it; for no Women hath 
any concern, not even to be present:? The Old Men Conjuring &c. 
21. Monday. All hands preparing our Canoes. 
22. Tuesday. The Musquitoes are plenty and sting severely. 
23. Wednesday. Displayed my Flag in Honour of St. George; 
& the Leaders did the same, after acquainting them & explaining my 
reason: In the afternoon the ice in the River broke up: a great many 
Geese and Swans were seen flying to the Northward: In the Evening 
we had a grand feast with Dancing, Drumming, Talking &c. 
24. Thursday. Busy about Canoes: Killed a Swan with my Bow 
& Arrow; they are plenty. 
25. Friday. Ice driving down the river. Finished the Canoes & 
preparing to set out for York Fort. 
26. Saturday. Busy packing the furs in proper bundles for stow- 
ing in the Canoes. 
27. Sunday. Musketoes plenty & sting without mercy. 
28. Monday. Embarked on board my Canoe & paddled down the 
1 Moose. 
? Catlin, after describing a dog-feast at one of the Sioux villages on the 
Upper Missouri, says (N. A. Indians, I, 230-1, and Plate 96), “I have been 
honoured with numerous entertainments of the kind amongst the other tribes 
which I have visited towards the sources of the Missouri, and all conducted 
in the same solemn and impressive manner; from which I feel authorized 

to pronounced the dog-feast a truly religious ceremony, wherein ‘the poor In- 
dian sees fit to sacrifice his faithful companion to bear testimony to the 
sacredness of his vows of friendship...... The dog-feast is given, I believe, 
by all tribes in North America; and by them all, I think, this faithful animal, 
as well as the horse, is sacrificed in several different ways, to appease 
offended Spirits or Deities.” Alexander Henry, the Elder, gives instances of 
dogs being sacrificed to avert sonde threatened misfortune. 
>This point, where he takes the canoes for the long return journey, is 
about the mouth of Tail Creek. 
