434 KXPEDITION TO THE 



feast of dog meat is the greatest distinction that can be of- 

 fered to a stranger by any of the Indian nations east of the 

 Rocky Mountains. That this is not the case among some 

 of the nations west of those mountains, appears from the 

 fact that Lewis and Clarke were called, in derision, by the 

 Indians of the Columbia, Dog Eaters. 



In the Dacota's treatment of his dogs, during life and 

 after death, we observe one of those strange inconsisten- 

 cies which so frequently prevail in the character of man, 

 whether civilized or savage. While living, the dog is a 

 beast of burden, and as such exposed to undergo much fa- 

 tigue and ill-treatment; it is at the same time a most va- 

 luable animal. The traders, who have imitated the Indians 

 in their use of the dog, speak of it as almost indispensable 

 to them. Mr. Jeffries, one of the partners of the Colum- 

 bia Fur Company, informed us, that he had the preceding 

 winter transported in a log cart one thousand pounds 

 weight of goods, with the assistance of six, and rarely eight, 

 dogs, and that he travelled from Lake Travers to the Man- 

 dan villages in eleven days. On a long journey, the allow- 

 ance of load is one hundred pounds per dog. For winter 

 travelling, in a country so frequently covered with snow, 

 the dog is the most convenient beast of burden, as it may 

 be fed either on dried meat, or on the fresh meat which is 

 occasionally procured. In travelling on the snow with dog 

 trains, it is usual for a man to walk ahead of the dogs, with 

 snow shoes, in order to trample down the snow, in which 

 otherwise they would sink. We learn from Mr. Back's 

 notes,* that the feet of the dogs are sometimes very much 

 injured, and that in one instance, where they were perfect- 

 ly raw, he attempted to tie shoes on them, which did not 



• Franklin's Journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, ut sup. p. 251. 



