266 CAMP-FIRES OF A NATURALIST. 



ers and hung to a tree, he received the usual shrug 

 of the shoulders and the reply that it was " Indian." 



The party spent a week in this locality, hut it was 

 so bitter cold that little game was found. The ther- 

 mometer marked twenty-eight degrees below zero 

 nearly the whole time that they were in the woods. 

 Many small fur-bearing animals, such as martens and 

 foxes, were killed, and the Indians appeared fond of the 

 flesh of the former, but Dyche found that it was very 

 tough and tasted like an old rabbit. In addition to his 

 other apparel, each Indian had a robe made from the 

 skins of the white snow-shoe rabbits which were found 

 in great numbers in the woods. The skins were cut 

 into strips about an inch wide, the strip being cut 

 continuously around the skin, making one string. 

 These strings are then made into a triple pleat, or 

 braid, and these braids are sewed together as thrifty 

 housewives sew carpet-rags into rugs. This is done 

 until the robe is as large as an ordinary blanket, and 

 the Indians then have a warm robe in which they 

 wrap themselves at night. 



The evenings of Indian hunters are spent much 

 after the manner of white hunters ; stories are told 

 and jokes passed, while laughter is frequent and pro- 

 longed. All the while the moose-meat is not neg- 

 lected, and every man in the party helps himself to 

 delicacies. From an Indian point of view the finest 

 tidbit of the moose is a piece of intestine, nicely 

 cooked by boiling. The intestines are stripped and 

 placed in a pot, where they are boiled until they as- 

 sume the appearance of huge wrinkled snakes. The 

 chief then passes the dish around, apportioning a 



