i8o ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS 



knife," which has a blade made from a file, a bone handle, 

 and in general appearance looks somewhat like a farrier's 

 knife. It is an implement of general utility, carried by 

 all, and exceedingly deft in the hands of some. The 

 original of the dog-whip handle illustrated, and really a 

 very creditable piece of carving, was made with just such 

 tools by William Flett, a Loucheux, and the interpreter 

 at Fort Smith. When they go after musk-ox they add a 

 huge weapon with a blade nine inches long and one-eighth 

 of an inch thick (and the best-shaped point for skinning 

 I ever used), which becomes at once hunting-knife and 

 Barren Ground axe for nothing larger for chopping is 

 taken or required. 



As the men toiled away at the pine slabs, shaving off 

 about two inches for a length of seven feet with their 

 crooked knives, and the women laced snow-shoes, I won- 

 dered if I had ever seen people do more work and accom- 

 plish less. If there is a roundabout way, these Indians 

 seek it out ; a straight line does not appeal to them in any 

 form. They always begin at the wrong end, and choose 

 the longest way. And as for pitching camp, a white man 

 of any experience who could not do better would be well 

 laughed at by his hunting companions. Between making 

 up their mind as to the precise piece of ground on which 

 to pitch it, and getting into one another's way while do- 

 ing so, the length of time they take would make any man 

 of roughing experience disgusted. How fervently I used 

 to wish for a command of their language to give a few 

 instructions, and, incidentally, my opinion of them indi- 

 vidually and collectively ! 



And all the time they keep up an incessant jabber, or 

 stop work entirely in the heat of discussion. Between 

 chattering and, in the lodge, catching vermin, with which 

 the women and children especially are literally alive, the 



