76 Thirty Years 



soon afterwards came to some Indian tents, containing 

 five families, belonging to the Chipewyan tribe. We 

 smoked the calumet in the Chief's tent, whose name was 

 the Thumb, and distributed some tobacco and a weak 

 mixture of spirits and water among the men. The}' 

 received this civility with much less grace than the 

 Crees, and seemed to consider it a matter of course. 

 There was an utter neglect of cleanliness, and a total 

 want of comfort in their tents ; and the poor creatures 

 were miserably clothed. Mr. Frazer, who accompanied 

 us from the Methye Lake, accounted for their being 

 in this forlorn condition by explaining, that this band 

 of Indians had recently destroyed every thing they 

 possessed, as a token of their great grief for the loss of 

 their relatives in the prevailing sickness. It appears 

 that no article is spared by these unhappy men when 

 a near relative dies ; their clothes and tents are cut to 

 pieces, their guns broken, and every other weapon 

 rendered useless, if some person do not remove these ar- 

 ticles from their sight, which is seldom done. Mr. Back 

 sketched one of the children. This delighted the 

 father very much, who charged the boy to be very 

 good now, since his picture had been drawn by a great 

 Ohief. We learned that they prize pictures very 

 highly, and esteem any they can get, however badly 



executed, ;is ellirjent cliarillS. Tliey Were Ult;ible to 



give ns au\ information respecting the country beyond 



