MEETING OF THE WILD MEN 165 



others hairless moose-skin jackets trimmed with otter or beaver 

 far, others again were garbed in duffel capotes of various colours 

 with hoods and turned-back cuffs of another hue; but the 

 majority wore capotes made of Hudson's Bay blanket and 

 trimmed with slashed fringes at the shoulders and skirt; while 

 their legs were encased in trousers gartered below the knee, 

 and their feet rested comfortably in moccasins. Though, when 

 snowshoeing, all the men wore hip-high leggings of duffel or 

 blanket, the former sometimes decorated with a broad strip of 

 another colour, the latter were always befringed the whole way 

 down the outer seam; both kinds were gartered at the knee. 

 Such leggings are always removed when entering a lodge or 

 house or when resting beside a campfire — in order to free the 

 legs from the gathered snow and prevent it from thawing and 

 wetting the trousers. The children wore outer garments of 

 either blanket or rabbit skin, while the women gloried in bril- 

 liant plaid shawls of two sizes — a small one for the head and a 

 large one for the shoulders. The short cloth skirts of the 

 women and girls were made so that the fullness at the waist, 

 instead of being cut away, was merely puckered into place, and 

 beneath the lower hem of the skirt showed a pair of beaded 

 leggings and a pair of silk-worked moccasins. 



All the Indians shook hands with us, for in the Canadian 

 Government's treaty with them i+ is stipulated that: "We 

 expect you to be good friends with everyone, and shake hands 

 with all whom you meet." And I might further add that the 

 Indian — when one meets him in the winter bush — is more 

 polite than the average white man, for he always removes his 

 mitten, and offers one his bare hand. Further, if his hand 

 happens to be dirty, he will spit on it and rub it on his leggings 

 to try and cleanse it before presenting it to you. But when he 

 did that, I could never decide which was the more acceptable 

 condition — Lefore or after. 



When the Factor entered, he was greeted with a perfect gale 



