38 JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE THROUGH THE
f | § . magans, or dobs. The bows are about five otAx -feet“ lih ler^th, and
-V— ' the firings are of fi hews or raw (kins,/. The arrows are two feet and
an half long, inqlnding- the barbs which b1 t^riorfy forrhed of bone,
bom, flint, iron, *» popper, andare winged with throe .feathers. The
•pole o f the fpears is about fix few an length, and pointed with a barbed
bone of ten inches. With this weapon ithey flrike the rfei^deCTr|m-|he
water. The daggers are flat and fharp-pointed^ aboijt twelve inclfes'
long, and made of hornier bone. .ThepogaTnagonisimadejof the born
o f the rein-deer, the branches being all cut off, excdpt that which forms the
extremity, This inflrument it about two feet an length, and is employ*
ed to difpatch their enemies in battle, and fuch animals as they batch in
fnares placed for that purpofeT Thefe are about three fathom long, and
are made of the green fldn o f the rein or m©ofe^er, but in fuch final!
firips, that it requires from ten to thirty flrands to' rafts. this * ©ord*,
•which is not thicker than a cotHine^ -and flrong enough to refift
any animal that can be entangled in it. Snares or noofes are . alfo
made of iinews to take leffer animals, fuch as hares and white partridges,
which are very numerous. Their axes are maribfaflured o f a piece of
brown or grey flone from fix to eight inches long, and two inches thick.
The infide is flat, and the outfide round and tapering to -an edge, an
inch wide. They are fattened by the middle with tfee flat fide inwards
to an handle two feet long, with a cord of green fkin. This is the tool
with which they fplk their wood, and we believe, the only one of its -kind
among them. They kindle fire, by ftriking together a piece o f white or
yellow pyrites and a flint flone, over a piece of touchwood. They are
univerfally provided with a fmall bag containing thefe materials, fo that
they are in a continual flate o f preparation to produce fire. From the adjoining
,*r*r
iWbiljUhe Rfdlltaives and Cbepewyahs, they procure, in barter
for marten %iqs and a few'Keafer, fmall pieces of irdn, of which they
manufafture knives, by fixing them at the end of a fhort flick, and with
^ thepi and the beayér’? teeth, they finifh all th,eir work. Thfey keep them
in a fheath hanging1*© their/necl^'which alfo contains their awls both o f
iron and born.
Their- canoes are fmall, pointed at both ends, flat-bottomed and covered
r^ b 6!#1"? part. They am made of the bark of the birch-tree and«
ffo-wood, hot q ffo flight aIconllfo&ion, that the man whom one of: thefe-
l i g h t j i l t f water,Acan,. in retmo, earry it iaver Iandwith-
Qnt any difhctffly. It is tfery feldqm that more than.one peribn embarks,*
in thjtp, nor are they, capable ; of receiving: more than, two-. Thtf
padfl# are fix feet long, one half of. which is oeeupiediby a, blade,,
bf ’ fltekt-S Witte. Thefe* people* informed: us, that we*
bftd Pftfled Itugp bodte# o f Indians, who inhabit: the mountains , on the*
Eafl Gderffthe^veiV:.. */-
At four o’clock in
Jj PfP^lfoittój remain' on thebank iffvflie riyèr till the fall, in,
cafewe'fhould 'rêtum.. ©ur courfè was Weft-^th-Weft, and we foon.
Pftfffd theGreat Bear, Lake Rivhfi which is o f a dönfiderablè depth, and.
^P.hPPfl’cflyardsw'ide;:. its. water is .clear, and has .the greenifbhiie of the •
foa- We had*net-proceeded.more than.fix.miles-.wh.en.we were obliged:
to land for- ihsmigjjpskJp. confeq.uen.ee of. an heavy gull o f wind, accom--
panted with rain. We .encamped beneath a rocky hill, on the top of,
whicbj according to the. information of our guide, it blew aflorm.every.
day,*