A CONFERENCE WITH THE CHIEFS 37 



ised that he was a keen judge of men and their ways, 

 and he whispered to me: "They mean to block us if 

 possible," Sousi understood French and had some 

 English, but the others professed ignorance of every- 

 thing but Chipewyan. So it was necessary to call in 

 an interpreter. How admirably he served us may be 

 judged from the following sample secured later. 



Q. Are the Buffalo near? 



A. Wah-hay-was-ki busquow Kai-ah taw nif-ee-wat- 

 chow-es-kee nee-moy-ah. Kee-as-o-mn sug-ee-meesh 

 i-mush-wa mus-tat-e-muck ne-mow-ah 'pe-muk-te-ok ne- 

 moy-ah dane-tay-tay-ah. 



Interpreter. He say "no." 



Q. How long would it take to get them? 



A. Ne-moy-ah mis-chay-to-ok Way-hay-o ay-ow-ok-i- 

 man-kah-mus-to-ok. Mis-ta-hay cha-gow-os-ki wah-hay-o 

 musk-ee-see-seepi. Mas-kootch e-goot-ah-i-ow mas-kootch 

 ne-moy-ah muk-e-boy sak-te-muk mas-kootch gahk-sin- 

 now ne-moy-ah gehk-kee-win-tay dam-foole-Inglis. 



Interpreter. He say "don't know." 



Q. Can you go with us as guide? 



A. Kee-ya-wah-lee nas-bah a-lash-tay wah-lee-lee 

 Ian-day. (Answer literally) "Yes, I could go if I 

 could leave the transport." 



Interpreter's answer, "Mebby." 



After a couple of hours of this bootless sort of thing 

 we had made no headway toward getting a guide, nor 

 could we get definite information about the Buffaloes 

 or the Wolves. Finally the meeting suffered a sort of 

 natural disintegration. 



Next day we tried again, but again there were 



