170 SPOET IN NORTH AMERICA. 



and spitting as hard as tliey could, whilst a Bed 

 Skin beat the time upon a colossal bell. Captain 

 M'Lean was much less squeamish than myself, for 

 he slept like a soldier on the march. 



As soon as the first beams of morning were 

 visible, everybody rose, the women performing the 

 duties of the toilet behind a curtain. The break- 

 fast was a repetition of the supper of the previous 

 evening, and then the Indians began to pack up our 

 traps in their tohogins. The Canadian tohogin is a 

 small sleigh, made of planks scarcely thicker than 

 the bark of a tree, and shaped like the prow of a 

 vessel. They were not very heavily laden, and by 

 the aid of a leather strap they could be drawn very 

 quickly over the snow. As soon as our preparations 

 were completed we started, accompanied by the 

 five Indians and their dogs. The Red Skins were 

 Hurons, the relics of that unfortunate tribe which 

 now consists of not more than a hundred families 

 inhabitmg the little village of Loretto. During the 

 winter, the Hurons live by hunting, and b}-- serving 

 the travellers and farmers who frequent the neigh- 

 bourhood, — always making those who have recourse 

 to them pay very dearly. In the summer, they till 

 their fields, make their fishing-tackle and their 

 clothes, and also those wonderful moccasins and 

 head-dresses which no one wears, but which are freely 

 sold in other parts of the world as national Indian 

 costumes. If the truth must be spoken, these 



