214 THE ‘ TRAVAILLE.’ 
air, sounds as cheery and welcome as the song of 
the first migrant. 
Other tribes in the Saskatchewan district (the 
Prairie Crees, for instance), instead of packing 
their dogs, use the ‘ travaille,’ which is a triangle 
formed of two poles; the two smaller ends, 
fastened together, rest on the dog’s shoulders, 
being kept in place by a leather strap fastened 
round the neck; a cross pole or two at the other 
end stretches them open and serves to make fast 
the load. This strange contrivance hauled along 
is better than packing, and available in the sum- 
mer when there are not sleighs, but inferior to 
sleighing in winter, as dogs always work more 
cheerily when six or eight are harnessed together, 
than when each has its labour to perform singly. 
This ‘travaille’ is also used by the Crees for 
their horses, when moving their lodges and camp 
equipment. It often happens that an old squaw 
and two or three naked little savages are perched 
along upon the back of a horse, with its ‘ trayaille’ 
and load, like birds upon a roost, the horse 
nearly hid by the poles and savages; the load 
and animal’s head appear joined by a_ body 
composed of a clump of grotesque figures, 
their legs lost on the horse’s sides. Coming 
suddenly upon such an apparition, amidst the 
