330 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



of their converts to read and write. The Athabascans had formerly but a small 

 breed of dogs, now a stouter race has, in some respects, ameliorated the condi- 

 tion of the females, and the introduction of the horse, which has more recently 

 taken place, holds out prospects of a still greater improvement. The Tinne are 

 as giddy and thoughtless as children. When accompanied by a white man 

 they will perform a long journey carefully, but can not be depended upon to 

 carry letters, however high the reward may be that has been promised them on 

 reaching their destination, as the least whim suffices to make them forget their 

 commission. 



They are generally content with one wife at a time, and none but the chiefs 

 have more than two. The successful wrestler takes the wife of his weaker 

 countryman, who consoles himself foi;his loss by endeavoring to find one weaker 

 than himself. 



Tender and affectionate parents, the Tinne are totally indifferent to the sor- 

 rows of helpless age. During the stay of Sir George Back at Fort Reliance, 

 an old woman arrived there on Easter Sunday, clothed in ragged reindeer skins, 

 worn down to a skeleton, and grasping with both her hands a stick to support 

 her body, bent double by age and want. The story of the poor creature was 

 soon told. She had become a burden to her family ; her former services had 

 all been forgotten, and she had been told " that though she still seemed to live, 

 she was in reality dead, and must be abandoned to her fate. In the new fort 

 she might find assistance, for the white strangers were powerful medicine-men." 

 This had happened a month before, and all this time she had slowly crept along, 

 appeasing her hunger with the berries she found here and there on the way. 

 When she reached the fort it was too late; she died a few days after her 

 arrival. 



