tbO EXPEDITION TO THE 



the body of their revered chief; whenever there is occasion 

 for it they renew its shroud. As a mark of respect to the 

 deceased, who was very friendly to white men, the com- 

 pany have planted a British flag over his remains, which 

 attention was extremely gratifying to the Indians. 



The Chippewas obtain the wild rice, upon which they 

 chiefly subsist, by going in canoes, (two men in each ca- 

 noe,) into the rivers or lakes in which it grows. Both men 

 are armed with long poles. When they have reached a 

 field of rice, one of the men with his pole turns down into 

 the canoe the plant from one side, and the other thrashes 

 it until all the grain is separated from the stem. The same 

 operation is performed with that on the other side ; after 

 which they move their canoe to another place, and conti- 

 nue until they have obtained a sufficient supply. They can, 

 in this manner, often collect with ease from twenty to thirty 

 bushels per day. The grain is subsequently dried over a 

 small fire by placing it in a fine sieve made of reeds, se- 

 cured in a square frame. It is then collected into a small 

 hole, and trampled under feet in order to separate the hull 

 without crushing the grain, which is afterwards separated 

 from the chafi" by stirring it in wooden platters, exposed 

 to a gentle wind. 



Although the fields of this plant appear to be inexhausti- 

 ble, yet from improvidence, or othei'wise, the inhabitants 

 are frequently in great want. We have already illustrated, 

 by one instance, the cruel necessity to which they are fre- 

 quently reduced. We might have obtained a number of 

 well authenticated stories on this subject. Bruce knew a 

 man, who in a journey with his wife and two children, 

 aged six and eight years, from the Manitoba Lake to Fort 

 Douglas, had been induced by famine to kill his children ; 

 both he and his wife supported themselves upon this food. 



