tforth-West Continent of America. 



105 



age fury. All the European articles they possessed, pre- 

 vious to the year 1780, were obtamed from the Knistenaux 

 and Chepewyans, who brought them from Fort Church- 

 hill, and for which they were made to pay an extravagant 

 price. 



As late as the year 1786, when the first traders from 

 Canada arrived on the banks of this river, the natives em- 

 ployed bows and snares, but at present very little use is 

 made of the former, and the latter are no longer known. 

 They still entertain a great dread of their natural enemies, 

 but they are since become so well armed, that the others 

 now call them their allies. The men are in general of a 

 comely appearance, and fond of personal decoration. The 

 women are of a contrary disposition, and the slaves of the 

 men : in common with all the Indian tribes polygamy is 

 allowed among them. They are very subject to jealousy, 

 and fatal consequences frequently result from the indulg- 

 ence of that passion. But notwithstanding the vigilance 

 and severity which is exercised by the husband, it seldom 

 happens that a woman is without her favourite, who, in 

 the absence of the husband, exacts the same submission, 

 and practises the same tyranny. And so premature is the 

 tender passion, that it is sometimes known to invigorate 

 so early a period of life as the age of eleven or twelve 

 years. The women are not very prolific ; a circumstance 

 which may be attributed, in a great measure, to the hard- 

 ships that they suffer, for except a few small dogs, they 

 alone perform that labour which is allotted to beasts of 

 burthen in other countries. It is not uncommon, while 

 the men carry nothing but a gun, that their wives and 

 daughters follow with such weighty burdens, that if they 

 lay them down they cannot replace them, and that is a 

 kindness which the men will not deign to perform ; so that 

 during their journeys they are frequently obliged to lean 

 against a tree for a small portion of temporary relief. 

 When they arrive at the place which their tyrants have 

 chosen for their encampment, they arrange the whole in 

 a few minutes, by forming a curve of poles, meeting at 

 the top, and expanding into circles of twelve or fifteen 

 feet diameter at the bottom, covered with dressed skins 

 of the moose sewed together. During these preparations, 

 the men sit down quietly to the enjoyment of their pipes, 

 if they happen to have any tobacco. But notwithstanding 

 this abject state of slavery and submission, the wofnen 



