156 A JOURNEY TO THE 



1771. to continue here a few days, to kill as many deer as would be 

 sufficient for their support during [123] our absence. And not- 

 withstanding deer were so plentiful, yet our numbers were so 

 large, and our daily consumption was so great, that several 

 days elapsed before the men could provide the women with a 

 sufficient quantity ; and then they had no other way of pre- 

 serving it, than by cutting it in thin slices and drying it in the 

 Sun. Meat, v/hen thus prepared, is not only very portable, 

 but palatable ; as all the blood and juices are still remaining 

 in the meat, it is very nourishing and wholesome food ; and 

 may, with care, be kept a whole year without the least danger 

 of spoiling. It is necessary, however, to air it frequently 

 during the warm weather, otherv/ise it is liable to grow 

 mouldy : but as soon as the chill air of the fall begins, it 

 requires no farther trouble till next Summer. 



We had not been many days at Congecathawhachaga 

 before I had reason to be greatly concerned at the behaviour of 

 several of my crew to the Copper Indians. They not only 

 took many of their young women, furrs, and ready-dressed 

 skins for clothing, but also several of their bows and arrows, 

 which were the only implements they had to procure food and 

 raiment, for the future support of themselves, their wives, and 

 families. It may probably be thought, that as these weapons 

 are of so simple a form, and so easily constructed, they might 

 soon be replaced, without any other trouble or expense than a 

 little labour ; but this supposition can only hold good in 

 places where proper materials are easily procured, which was 

 not the case here : [124] if it had, they would not have been 

 an object of plunder. In the midst of a forest of trees, the 

 wood that would make a Northern Indian a bow and a few 

 arrows, or indeed a bow and arrows ready made, are not of 

 much value ; no more than the man's trouble that makes 

 them : but carry that bow and arrows several hundred miles 

 from any woods and place where those are the only weapons 

 in use, their intrinsic value will be found to increase, in 



