1892 



(il-KAMNCS IN HlOE 1'lM/n.TRE. 



'.I'.) 



Notes of Travel 



FROM A. I. ROOT. 



I.KTTKK TO IirHKIt. 



Wfll. my boy. if yon wcri' will, |in|i;i ihis 

 nioniiiigk lu' oouUi show you ;i Im ol runny 

 things. Right in front of the window wiiciv 1 

 vfvite is a pnMty dooryard full of tioos. losc- 

 hvishfS. oto. A i)ath runs down to tlic fiatc: 

 and you would cxpfcl. oulsidc ihc fjatc a wau;- 

 on-i'oad. of I'onrsc. Well, now . tluMc isn't any 

 waiion-road outside tlu'fjatt' at all. Conic down 

 witli mo and sc(>. It is just a iin-at lake of n alcr; 

 and wliiMi till' tide is liisili. tiu' water comes al- 

 most up to tlie jjate. Tliis water is the" wagon- 

 road " tiiey liave otT iiere. Do you want to see 

 tlie" wagons'.'"" Well, lH>re is one in full sail. It 

 is a very pretty boat, piovided l)otli with oars 

 and a sail. ".\1 "" and 1 w(>nt over to tlie post- 



it up near enough to i be siiore for me to get in. 

 ^'ou see. the bottom of the boat sti'uck tlie 

 gravel, and 1 conldii"! wade in the walei- as Al 

 did. because I ha<i lieen sicl<. So I went out on 

 tin' railroad l)iidge. and Al rowed tlie boat uj) 

 against one of the lung piles, or timbers, that 

 bold up till' liridge. and then you ought, to have 

 seen nie ■■ shin down" the post into the boat. 

 The lo^ was so big I could baldly reacli 

 around it. 



There ai'c lots of Indians around here: and 

 as I was very anxious t,o .see them. .Mr. March 

 told me Christmas morning there was a tribe of 

 tluMii camiiing out right neai' our liouse. The 

 ground was frozen, and cov(ired with a thin 

 coating of snow and ic(^: but w(^ found them 

 camping right on the frozen ground. The wind 

 was blowing such a gale I could hardly stand 

 it with my overcoat and all my flannels; but 

 one of the Indian women was. sitting on the 

 ground, bareh(>aded and Irdvvfooted, nursing her 



H. A. MAKCH S YACHT. 



office in the boat. Al is Mr. March's oldest boy. 

 He is 18 years old. He put up the sail, and I 

 sat in the stern to steer. It is real fun to steer 

 a boat when the wind just makes it plow 

 through the water. The wild ducks and wild 

 geese were just a gabbling and diving all 

 around us. Al shot some snipes, and they flew 

 out into the water: but the dog that was with 

 us. he just plunged into the salt water and 

 swam out after them, and brought in every last 

 snipe. Al killed I'.i at two shots. When we 

 went around the point. Al told me several times 

 to steer pretty well out, as a bar of gravel ran 

 out into the sea. I told him I would be sure 

 and keep out in deep water; but, what do you 

 think? All at once the boat struck bottom and 

 plowed away up into the gravel, and we were 

 •• stuck " sure. Al took a pole, however, and 

 finally pushed us out into the water again. 



We went up to the depot and got our freight, 

 and, after it was put into the boat, it made it 

 sink in the water .so much that Al couldn't get 



baby with perfect unconcern. The baby turned 

 to look at me, but the wind blew his straight 

 black hair all over his eyes so he could hardly 

 see. Several other women were going aljout 

 ban^footed, often stepping into wau^r with ice 

 in it, with perfect unconcern. Mr. March says 

 they go barefoot all winter long, but never take 

 cold. They have mats made of a kind of cat- 

 tail, that they sit on and sleep on. These mats 

 are also used for shelter, making a kind of wig- 

 wam. Oh! I forgot to say the men all wear 

 rubber boots, while the women go barefoot. As 

 we started to go away, tb(! old chief motioned 

 to us and pointed to "their boat. This was the 

 boat that brought them th(>re, and Mr. March 

 said th(>y wanted us to look at it and see what 

 a nice one it was. I went down, and was very 

 much surprised to lind a boat large enough to 

 lake (juite a tribe of Indians. It was made, or, 

 rather, cut out. of a single log of wood. It was 

 beautifully light and gracefully fashioned, and 

 all done by the Indians themselves. It takes 



