MY COMPANIONS 11 



but an Indian does not like to be questioned on such 

 matters. 



Within four or five miles of our camp there were 

 several collections of Indian lodges, mostly belonging to 

 members of the Seauteaux tribe, but with a few Crees 

 among them. There was also an Englishman living 

 about two miles from Wolf Pond, having adopted the 

 habits of the Indians ; but he was a man with whom I 

 could not associate, though he sometimes wandered over 

 to my hut to make himself objectionable. He was 

 not liked by the Indians amongst whom he lived ; and I 

 wondered that they did not expel him, as, indeed, they 

 ultimately did; but the Crees are a quiet and amicable 

 people. 



The Seauteaux differ but little from the Crees. Both 

 tribes are very peaceably inclined, and are not such 

 physically fine men as the Indians farther south, in the 

 States. They are of medium height, few of them ex- 

 ceeding five feet six, and are sparely built, though lithe 

 and strong. They are nearly all hunters and trappers, 

 and though possessing some villages, do not congregate 

 in large assemblages, and spend most of their time 

 wandering over wide tracts of the country in search of 

 game. They are affable to strangers, and hospitable ; 

 but this is a common trait of all Red Men. Those in 

 my neighbourhood had a curious custom of threading 

 beads on their hair ; but, like other Indians, they wore 

 no other headdress than an ornamental one of feathers. 

 Their dress consisted sometimes of a striped jersey, and 

 sometimes of a kind of frock and trousers of baize or 

 coarse flannel. To this was often added a red or a green 

 blanket, worn cloakwise. They all possessed firearms of 

 common quality, with butcher's long knives and toma- 

 hawks or hatchets. Besides the very little cultivation 

 of the ground performed by the squaws, their sole means 

 of subsistence depended on the success of the hunters 

 and an annual allowance of flour, blankets, &c., from the 



