00-KOO-HOO'S EL DORADO 71 



water, fruit, fish, fowl, and game; and, moreover, an enchanting 

 view of the surrounding country. Furthermore, that section of 

 The Owl's game-lands had not been hunted for forty-two moons. 



Immediately after dinner the men began cutting lodge poles, 

 while the women cleared the tepee sites and levelled the ground. 

 On asking Oo-koo-hoo how many poles would be required for 

 the canvas lodge which he had kindly offered me the use of for 

 the coming winter, he replied: 



" My son, cut a pole for every moon, and cut them thirteen 

 feet in length, and the base of the tepee, too, should be thirteen 

 feet across." Then looking at me with his small, shrewd, but 

 pleasant eyes, he added: "Thirteen is our lucky number. It 

 always brings good fortune. Besides, most canoes are made of 

 thirteen pieces, and when we kill big game, we always cut the 

 carcasses into thirteen parts. My son, when I have time I shall 

 carve a different symbol upon each of the thirteen poles of your 

 lodge; they shall represent the thirteen moons of the year, and 

 thus they will enable you to keep track of the phase of the 

 season through which you are passing." 



All the poles were of green pine or spruce. The thin ends 

 of three of the stoutest were lashed together; on being erected, 

 they formed a tripod against which the other poles were leant, 

 while their butts, placed in a circle, were spread an equal distance 

 apart. Over that framework the lodge covering was spread by 

 inserting the end of a pole into the pocket of each of the two 

 windshields, and then hoisting the covering into place. Next 

 the lapping edges, brought together over the doorway, were 

 fastened securely together with wooden pins, while the bottom 

 edge was pegged down all round the lodge with wooden stakes. 

 In the centre of the floor-space six little cut logs were fastened 

 down in (he form of a hexagon, and the earth scooped from 

 within the hexagon was banked against the logs to form a 

 permanent and limited fireplace. The surrounding floor 

 space was covered with a layer of fir-brush, then a layer of 



