Sintamaskin 



trail of yesterday, and our start was made 

 upon the road to Sintamaskin. 



For the first time since our arrival in camp 

 we set forth all together, George and I and 

 our two Indians, whom, since they were both 

 named Pierre, we distinguished by calling one 

 Peter and the other Pierre Joseph. They 

 were both typical members of the Abenaki 

 race. Pierre Joseph, whom we found here, is 

 a somewhat morose and taciturn creature, 

 given, say those who know him, to fits of im- 

 practicable sullenness at times, which make 

 him an undesirable partner. Hence he tends 

 his traps alone, which are scattered through 

 the woods to the west and north of us, on the 

 upper branches of the Wastaneau and the 

 waters flowing into the Vermilion ; and in 

 this vast waste he leads his solitary life, un- 

 solicitous of human companionship, making 

 day by day the round of his traps, with the 

 leathern strap across his forehead by which he 

 drags the toboggan carrying his furs and his 

 supplies. At the end of the day's journey he 

 finds shelter in one of the little round-topped 

 bark wigwams that he has built in convenient 

 places. He is universally conceded to be a 

 skilled hunter, and, despite his rather gloomy 



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