North-West Continent of America. 



221 



carp, and jub, for which I gave her a large knife ; a pre- 

 sent that appeared to be equally unexpected and gratifying 

 to her. Another man now came towards us, from an hill, 

 talking aloud from the time he appeared till he reached 

 us. The purport of his speech was, that he threw him- 

 self upon our mercy, and we might kill him, if it was 

 our pleasure, but that from what he had heard, he looked 

 rather for our friendship than our enmity. He was an 

 elderly person, of a decent appearance, and I gave him 

 some articles to conciliate him to us. The first man now 

 followed with a lad along with him, both of whom were 

 the sons of the old man, and, on his arrival, he gave me 

 several half-dried fish, which I considered as a peace-of- 

 fering. After some conversation with these people, res- 

 pecting the country, and our future progress through it, 

 we retired to rest, with sensations very different from 

 those with which we had risen in the morning. The wea- 

 ther had been generally cloudy throughout the day, and 

 when the sun was obscured, extremely cold for the season. 

 At noon I obtained a meridian altitude, which gave 52. 

 58. 53. North latitude. I likewise took time in the after- 

 noon. 



Sunday 14. This morning we had a bright sun, with an 

 East wind. These people examined their fishing machines, 

 when they found in them a great number of small fish, and 

 we dressed as many of them as we could eat. Thus was 

 our departure retarded until seven, when we proceeded 

 on our journey, accompanied by the man and his two sons. 

 As I did not want the younger, and should be obliged to 

 feed him, I requested of his father to leave him, for the 

 purpose of fishing for the women, He replied, that they 

 were accustomed to fish for themselves, and that I need 

 not be apprehensive of their encroaching upon my provi- 

 sions, as they were used to sustain themselves in their 

 journies on herbs, and the inner tegument of the bark of 

 trees, for the stripping of which he had a thin piece of 

 bone, then hanging by his side. The latter is of a glutin- 

 ous quality, of a clammy, sweet taste, and is generally 

 considered by the more interior Indians as a delicacy, ra- 

 ther than an article of common food. Our guide informed 

 me that there is a short cut across the mountains, but as 

 there was no trace of a road, and it would shorten our 

 journey but one day, he should prefer the beaten way. 



