134 A JOURNEY TO THE 



i77i.a-head with him from Theley-aza River, had only got there 



^^^' two days before us ; and, on account of the weather, had not 

 made the least progress in building the canoe, the plan of 

 which they had taken with them. The same day we got to 

 Clowey several other Indians joined us from different quarters, 

 with intent to build their canoes at the same place. Some of 

 those Indians had resided within four or five miles, to the 

 South-East of Clowey, all the Winter ; and had procured a 

 plentiful livelihood by snaring deer, in the manner which has 

 been already described. 



Immediately after our arrival at Clowey, the Indians 

 began to build their canoes, and embraced every convenient 

 opportunity for that purpose : but as warm and dry weather 

 only is fit for this business, which was by no means the case 



i8th. at present, it was the eighteenth of May before the canoes 

 belonging to my party could be completed. On the nine- 



19th. teenth we agreed to proceed on our journey ; but Matonabbee's 

 canoe meeting with some damage, which took near a whole 



20th. day to repair, we were detained till the twentieth. 



Those vessels, though made of the same materials with the 

 canoes of the Southern Indians, differ from them both in shape 

 and construction ; they are also much smaller and [97] lighter ; 

 and though very slight and simple in their construction, are 

 nevertheless the best that could possibly be contrived for the 

 use of those poor people, who are frequently obliged to carry 

 them a hundred, and sometimes a hundred and fifty miles at 

 a time, without having occasion to put them into the water. 

 Indeed, the chief use of these canoes is to ferry over un- 

 fordable rivers ; though sometimes, and at a few places, it must 

 be acknowledged, that they are of great service in killing 

 deer, as they enable the Indians to cross rivers and the narrow 

 parts of lakes ; they are also useful in killing swans, geese, 

 ducks, &c. in the moulting season. 



All the tools used by an Indian in building his canoe, as 

 well as in making his snow-shoes, and every other kind of 



