HUDSON'S BAY. 



329 



liUesa'e hi* of haokf preserved. The geese are said to be par. 

 ticnlarly useful tor thi* purpose, when properly salted , 



-~r*~ and it i* nothing uncommon for 10,000 to be killed 

 during a winter at the factories. 



'- The natives who inhabit the countries around Hud- 



son's Bay, may be distributed under these three gene- 

 ral denomination*, th? Southern Indians, the Northern 



itthern ladit***i and the Esquimaux. The Southern Indians 



bes. occupy the country lying between the south coast of 

 Hudson's Bay and the territories of Canada, and that 

 part of the western coast of the Bay which is situated 

 to the south of Churcfahill river, and extends inland to 

 the lake of Athabasca or Athapuscow. They are the 

 same as the Indian tribes who occupy the regions to 

 the north of L'pper CANADA ; and we refer to the account 

 of that country for a general description of the leading 

 atrmr The principal tribes who reside in the inte- 

 rior to the south-west of Hudson's Bay, and who used 

 formerly to repair to. the Company's forts, but now find 

 their wants supplied at the trading nouses nearer their 

 own bane*, are the Ne-heth-a-wa, and Aasinne-poetuc 

 The latter arc the same a* the Assinipoils or 



Stone Indians, originally a branch of the Naudowessies, 

 but latterly incorporated with the Knisteneaux or Kil. 

 l'iii.^. They are a numerous tribe, who extend over 

 a considerable tract of country, and bring many peltries 

 to the traders. The former, the Nahethawai, or \e- 

 beaways, are ssujuoisd to spring from the same stsek 

 a* the Chipawas or Cheprwyans. From being scat- 

 tered over an immense extent of country, they appear 

 to be las* nnmerous than they are in reality. They 

 have been longest i rip. fair rt with the fur traders, and 

 are the inott debauched aid corrupted of the southern 

 The) Southern Indians, in general, who haw* 

 kaawu to the Hudson Bay traders, are of a 

 siaa and copper complexion ; their persons ge- 

 well formed, and their feature* ragnlar and 

 Thor etjosUtutione are strong and breJUiy ; 

 and. they are iubjsrt to very few diseases. They are 

 laVsail ejected with dysentery and a violent pain in 

 the cheat, which is ascribed to the intensity of the cold, 

 but which is said rarely to prove fatal. The venereal 

 ilisrasf is also common among them, but generally mild 

 in .ts symptoms, They seldom lire to a great age; 



nerally 



Ugur. 



to *w all their faculties to the last, 

 of travelling on Coot with great ex. 

 many day* in succession, patiently 

 the utmost degree of cold, hnaa.si, and fa. 

 They excel in banting, which i* their sole 

 of subsistence ; and. though long used to fire- 

 arm*, they are still remarkably expert in the use of 

 their oriental weapon*, die bow and arrow. When 

 to procure provision* tor the factories at the 



same time, nothing can exceed their honesty and fide- 

 lity when entrusted with a charge. They are fre- 

 quently employed by the Hudson Bay traders to take 

 packages into the interior parts, and to bring down the 

 articles which are procured in return. An Indian with 

 his wife will embark in his canoe packs of 60 or 70 His. 

 each, containing articles which would enable him to 

 live in affluence for many yean, and with which it 

 woukl be easy for him to abscond, without the possibi- 

 lity of being traced. Yet this valuable property, so 

 completely in their power, they will convey hundreds 

 of miles, through unfrequented lakes and rivers, and 

 deliver at the place appointed with the utmost punc- 

 tuality, for the reward of the value of six beaver skins 

 for each pack. They are humane and charitable to the 

 widows and children of their departed relatives, and 

 are naturally mild, affable, and friendly in their man- 

 ners ; but, in their moments of intoxication, they are 

 invariably roused by the slightest provocation to the 

 fiercest quarrels, and most barbarous murders. Even 

 when the women have taken care to remove their wea- 

 pons, they rarely fail, on such occasions, to mutilate 

 one another witfi their teeth and nails. They are also 

 extremely licentious in their sexual intercourse, and 

 give themselves up without restraint to every species 

 of incestuous debauchery, with mothers, sisters, and 

 daughters. They have no manner of regular govern. 

 ment or subordination ; but choose a temporary leader 

 when they go to war, or form a petty for trade. By 

 the use of spirituous liquor*, which they drink to the 

 greatest excess, and with which they are too readily 

 the Europeans as the most alluring article 



B * y - 



tongaee*. Their. 



ampeoyea to procure provt 



rate of the value of a beaver skin for every ton gem, 

 they frequently bring in 50 or GO of these fowls a day, 

 1 shoot readily on the wing. They are ex- 

 tAU, addicted to every spade* of fraud anal 

 ready to boast of their theft, when see. 

 > m to escape detection. At the 



A 



in their minds, enervated in 

 bodies, "dejected in their spirits ; and are daily be. 

 eoMBig a more emaciated, puny, indolent, and worth. 

 leas race. 



The Northern Indiana occupy the extensive tract of 

 country which reaches from the 59th to the GHth de- Indtsaa. 

 gree of North Latitude, and which is upwards of 500 

 mile* from east to west. Their territories arc bounded 

 by the Churchhill river on the south, by the country of 

 the Athabasca Indians on the west, by Hudson's Bay 

 en the east, and by the country of the Dog-ribbed and 

 Conner leaiani t en the north. 



The Northern Indian* are generally above the middle 

 six*, robust, and well proportioned ; but have less of 

 that activity of body and liveliness of disposition, which 

 distinguish the Indian tribes of the western 

 's Bay. Their features are of a pecn. 

 "went from those of any other race in 

 Their foreheads are low, their eyes 

 k bones high, their nose* aquiline, their 

 1 their chins generally long and broad. 

 i* of a copper colour, but rather in. 



dining to a dingy brown ; and their hair, like that of 

 the other tribes, black, straight, and strong. Few of 

 the men have any appearance of a beard till they arrive 

 at middle age, and then it is very small in quantity, but 

 exceedingly bristly. They endeavour to pull out the 



U ir' r 1irTT-i ' iha* V- . * ' *j"l " *i r P' T- r. 



in one winter flo.OOO grouse tad ptarmigan*, 

 pwfer. 



tt the state leaguee*. They i 



and ta Misfir the Not iher . lodiecu wub the peeler put of Ou fan, which ihe*e Ut bring to the Com. 

 whem VisfceJ by Mr Hemine. to be a botprtmbfc ted hamJcM tribe ; 



> 



** ' " ctor * t * "* 

 when they an dMsotjr 



f ifce lse 



- to mate Uxm pay Uasst a Unusjad fstssx. jam ittsa 

 VOL. ZI. PART I. 



Md a gainful traffic might have I 



wmr broke uut between the Dog-ribbed and Capper In- 

 who found that way to the Canadian haatat timing 

 amdc. watch they M*UIJ, sad far which the Northern Jndiwi 



tt 



