fëcôndi:jOùfrial, who are a tribe of the Chepewyans ; and, as • for. the.
Knifteneaux, there is no quéftiôn of their having been, and continuing to
be, in vaderS’ o f 'this eotfntry, from' the Eaftward. ' Formerly, they ftruck
r terror into all the other triées "whom they met ; - 'but- now* they - have loft
the tef^eft-that paid them ; astb®f&whom: they formerly confidered
as barbarians, are how their allies, and confequently^heg&me better: do*
qnaihted with themj and have acquired;-.the-; üfe of fifevarms. The
fdrhfef àte^ïlill; proud without îjîmthr, andaffeQ: toconfidef the others
as their inferiors w thofe confecfuetitly’are extremely jealoiis of them, and,
depending' upon ' their own fuperiority in 'numbers;: will not, Tubthit
tamejy to their infults -, fo that the confequences often provevfatal; and
the Knifteneaux are thereby-decreafing both in power arid s number/:
fpirituous liquors alfo tend to their diminution, as-they are inftigatêd
thereby to engage in quarrels which frequently have the maft difaft$L6us
termination among themfelves.
v The. Stone^Indians muft not her confidered in the. fame ap,piqtVlç^^v^e\y
refpeëïing the Knifteneaux, for they have been generally
from-various,, caufes, to » court their alliance,., They, r? 0arp
not without their - difagreements, and it is Sometimes , difficult to
compofe their differences. Thefe quarrels-voecafion^lly take<
•- with- the traders, and fometimes have a tragical..qonpJpljQny, ^bgy .geppr
râlly originate in eonfequenee o f Healing women, andyhorfes* they
have,great .numbers] of the latter throughout jheir plains,
brpught, as has | been obferved, -from the Spanilh
Mexicof and hjany of, th£m h^veybeeq feepyeve^ m^the badtj p ^ 0
this country, branded With the initials of their original owners names.
Thofe
Thofe horfes are diSinfitly employed as beafta of hurden, and to chafe
the buffalo. The former are not confidered as being of much value,
as theytnay be purchafed for a gun, which cofts na more than twenty»
one pounds ’ im Greafc-Rritaàn. Many of. the hunters, cannot b e . pur»
chafed with ten, the comparative value; which exceeds the property of
anynaitme. 1 *
O f thefe-ufeftil animate no eare whatever is taken, as when they are
nos longer empfoÿedi they are turned loofe winter and fummer to provide
forI themfelves. Here, it-is to be obferved, that the country, in
general, on the Weft and North fide of this great five*, is broken by
the lakes and. rivers with final! intervening plains, where the foil is good,
and the grafs grows to fóéae length. To thefe the male buffalos reforfc
ffer the winter, and if it be-very fevere, the-females alfo are obliged la
leave'the plains;
But-to returu to thé route by which the progrès Weft and North is
made through this continent,
We leave the Safkatchiwine * by entering the river which forms the
difcharge of the Sturgeon Lake, on whole Eaft hank is fituated Cumberland
hoafe, in ! Mtudé ^g, f ^ North, longitude io2. l ÿ The diftanee-
between the entrance of- the lake and Cumberland houle is eftimated at
twenty miles; Ifeisfvejy evident diat the mud which is'carried down by
V I t maÿ be prçrger t-c* otfove;tlHt the: bren»h had: t iw feulements,upon the Saikatchiwine, long
befo.re, and at the, cqnqueft, of Canada the firft at the Pafquia, near Carrot River, and the other at.
Nlpawij v/haertfley had ‘ agricultural : iri&iiments and wheel' carriages, marks o f both being found
abqutithofe eftablifhments, where the foil is excellent,
k the