14 CHEPEWYANS. 



shedding blood ; yet, as they do not meet their 

 foes in open warfare or man to man, their very 

 timidity impels them to treachery or a violation 

 of the laws of hospitality, when, by long-con- 

 tinued oppression and the loss of relatives, they 

 have been driven to retaliate upon the few indi- 

 viduals or families of the domineering tribe who 

 were living in confidence among them. This 

 remark applies directly to their feud with the Red- 

 knives, who for many years resorted to the hunting- 

 grounds of the Dog-ribs, tyrannised over them, 

 and carried away their women. This was long 

 borne, but at length, some lives having been lost 

 in the contests which occasionally ensued, the 

 Dog-ribs, watching their opportunity, cut off seve- 

 ral leading Red-knives and their families, who, 

 not dreading any thing at the time, were scattered 

 among the Dog-rib encampments. The details of 

 these reprisals give a curious insight into the cha- 

 racter of the people. Some of the victims, deprived 

 of the means of resistance, and aware of their 

 intended fate, travelled for a whole day with the 

 hostile party ; but the latter required to have their 

 passions roused by altercation before they acquired 

 sufficient boldness to perpetrate the deed, and 

 were finally incited to its commission by the suf- 

 ferers demanding to be killed at once if their death 

 was intended, for they would go no further. When 



