Part 17 (1/2)
They are used by all the Indian tribes of the Hudson's Bay territory; and were it not for theether, and could not follow the deer or other gaes are improvident, and none more so than the North A out to hunt, whole tribes would starve Indeed, er as it is; and the life of all these Indians is nothing h to sustain thehtering deer and buffalo by hundreds, taking out only the tongues, and recklessly leaving the flesh to the wolves! In winter the very same Indians may be seen without a pound of meat in their enca upon the success of a single day's hunt!
But let us return to the snow-shoes Let us see what they are, and learn how they are made
Any boy who has snared sparrows in snow-ti his snares upon a hoop netted across with twine or other small cord Now, if he will conceive his hoop bent into an oblong shape--soure of a boat turned on its mouth wouldto consist of thongs of twisted deer-hide woven soood idea of an Indian snow-shoe It is usually fro, by about a foot wide at the ently to a point, both at the heel and toe
The frame, as I have said, is like the hoop of a boy's bird-snare It is h wood, and, of course, carefully bent and polished with the knife The slender branches of the ”scrub-pine” are esteeht, flexible and tough in its fibres This is also a favourite tree, where it grows, to make tent-poles, canoe-timbers, and other implements required by the Indians; and these people use so much of it for their arrows, that it has received froeurs the name of _bois de fleche_ (arroood)
Well, then, the fra bent to its proper shape, two transverse bars are placed across near the middle, and several inches from each other They are for the foot to rest upon, as well as to give strength to the whole structure These beingis woven on, and extends over the whole frame, with the exception of a little space in front of the bars where the ball of the foot is to rest This space is left free of netting, in order to allow play to the toes while walking The s usually cut from the parchment-skin of a deer, and twisted So exactly resembles that seen in ”racquets” for ball play
The snow-shoe, when finished, is sis; and a pair of them thus placed, will present a surface to the snow of nearly six square feet--h to sustain the heaviest man upon the softest snow, and an Indian thus ”shod” will skim over the surface like a skater
The shoes used by all tribes of Indians are not alike in shape There are fashi+ons and fancies in this respect So the Chippewa Indians--with one side of the fraht; and these, of course, will not do for either foot, but are ”rights and lefts”
Generally, however, the shape is such that the snow-shoe will fit either foot
The snow-shoes having now beco a complete set for the whole party--that is, no less than four pairs Norman was the ”shoemaker,” and Norman kne He could splice the fra, equal to an Indian squaw Of course all the others assisted hiular strips; Basil waded off through the snow, and procured the frames from the wood of the scrub-pine trees where he had encountered the porcupine; and then he and Francois trimmed them with their knives, and sweated them in the hot ashes until they became dry, and ready for the hands of the ”shoemaker”
This work occupied them several days, and then each had a pair of shoes fitted to his size and weight
The next consideration was, to lay in a stock of h for present use, but that would not last long, as there was no bread nor anything else to eat with it Persons in their situation require a great deal of reat cities, who eat a variety of substances, and drink eur is rarely without a keen appetite; and ests, and makes way for a fresh meal; so that the ration usually allowed to the _eh to supply the table of several families For instance, in soeur is allowed eight pounds of buffalo-meat _per diem_! And yet it is all eaten by hile deer, therefore, or even a buffalo, lasts a party of voyageurs for a very short tietables, to help it out It was necessary, then, that our travellers should use all their diligence in laying up a stock of dried meat, before the winter became too cold for the They all had clothing sufficient for such weather as they had yet experienced; but that would never do for the winter of the Great Slave Lake, and they knew it Many deer must be killed, and many hides dressed, before they couldfor all, as well as a set of deer-skin blankets, which would be much needed
As soon as the snow-shoes were finished, therefore, Basil and Nor expeditions, frohtfall Soht with them a deer, of the caribou or reindeer species, and the ”woodland” variety, which were in plenty at this place They only carried to camp the best parts with the skin, as the flesh of the woodland caribou is not er than the other kind--the ”Barren Ground caribou,” weighing about one hundred and fifty pounds; but both its venison and hide are of inferior quality to those of the latter species Soa euns at all
But there was one day that rand day when they were extremely successful, and on which they killed a whole herd ofof five individuals--the old bull, a spike buck--that is, a young buck, whose horns had not yet got antlers upon them--the cow, and two calves These they had tracked and followed for a long distance, and had succeeded, at length, in running thely deep, and where the led There had been a shower of rain the day before that had ain frozen into an icy crust, upon which the deer lacerated their ankles at every plunge, leaving a track of blood behind them as they ran
Under these circumstances they were easily trailed, and Basil and Nor upon their snow-shoes, soon came up with them, and shot first one and then another, until the whole herd were stretched in the valley They then butchered theh branches, so as to secure them from wolves and wolverenes
When the job was finished, the whole place looked like a great slaughter-yard! Next day a rude sledge was constructed; and the voyageurs, returning in full force, transported the e fires were kindled outside the hut, and several days were spent in cutting up and drying the flesh Had our travellers been certain that the frost would have continued all winter, this would not have been necessary--since the meat was already frozen as hard as a brick
But they knew that a sudden thaould spoil it; and, as there was plenty of good firewood on the spot, they were not going to run the risk of losing it in that way
They had now enough provision to last theer necessary, except to obtain fresh meat--which was, of course, preferable to the dry stock Hunting, also, gave them exercise and amusement--both of which were necessary to their health; for to remain idle and inactive in a situation such as that in which they were placed is the worst possible plan, and is sure to engender both sickness and _ennui_ Indeed, the last grew upon the all the pains they took to prevent it There were days on which the cold was so extreme, that they could not put their noses out of the door without the danger of having theh each had now a co, made by Lucien, the ”tailor” of the party
Upon such days they were fain to re-fire, they passed the ti their clothes, and such-like e their dullest; for, ith the varied and scientific knowledge of Lucien, which he took pleasure in i to his companions--ith the practical experience of Noreur tales” he could tell--ith Francois merry jokes and _bon _--not the least iood _conversazione_,--our _quartette_ of young voyageurs found their indoor days anything but dull
This was all well enough for a while For a h; but the prospect of nearly six an to appal them, when they reflected upon it; and they soon found the adventures, that at other ti any excitement; and the whole routine of their employments seemed monotonous Nearly all of them were boys of an active character of h to reason about the value of ti isolation fro debarred froan to impress some of them forcibly Others, as Francois, could not be contented for a very great stretch of tih for a change
One day, while conversing upon this theme, a bold proposal was made by Basil It was, that they should ”strike camp,” and continue their journey This proposal took the others by surprise, but they were all just in the fra consultation was held upon the point Francois chimed in with the proposal at once; while Lucien, more cautious, did not exactly oppose, but rather offered the reasons that were against it, and pointed out the perils of the undertaking Nor to him as one whose advice, upon that question at least, was ers pointed out by Lucien, but believed that they ht overcome them by a proper caution On the whole, North adopted Perhaps Norman's habitual prudence was to some extent influenced on this occasion by the very natural desire he had of returning to what he considered his home