66 CANADIAN WILDS. 



Mess Account. 



Men's Kations. 



Indians visiting the post. 



Dog Rations. 



Thus, at any time, the factor could tell the 

 exact number of fish consumed and number vet 

 on hand. 



Many of the posts would have an expendi- 

 ture of a thousand fish a week for all purposes, 

 which would be about thirty thousand for the 

 winter. 



In the country lying south of Lake Winnipeg 

 to Lake of the Woods and east as far as the Ot- 

 tawa River, the staple food was the harmless 

 little rabbit. It is a dispensation of Providence 

 that the rabbit is a prolific animal, for they are 

 the life not only of the people, but of martens, 

 lynx, foxes, ermine, owls, hawks and ravens. 



An ordinary family of Indians, living on 

 plain boiled or roasted rabbits, require about 

 twenty a day, and even that keeps their vitality 

 a very little above zero. There is no doubt but 

 what the food a man eats makes or lowers his 

 valor and endurance. 



No one ever heard of the fish or rabbit-eat- 

 ing Indians going on the war-path, while, on the 

 other hand, the buffalo eaters were fearless men 

 both as horsemen and fighters. 



The Labrador Peninsula, bounded by the 



