. Hudson's Bay, or, Every-day life in the wilds of North America, during six years' residence in the territories of the honourable Hudson's bay company . d. Here the Indian spends afew days or weeks, according to the amount of game inthe vicinity ; and then removes to some other place, car-rying with him the covering of the tent, but leaving thepoles standing, as they would be cumbrous to carry inhis small canoe, and thousands can be had at every placewhere he may wish to land. The Indian canoe is an exceedingly light and gracefullittle craft, and well adapted for travelling in through awild c
. Hudson's Bay, or, Every-day life in the wilds of North America, during six years' residence in the territories of the honourable Hudson's bay company . d. Here the Indian spends afew days or weeks, according to the amount of game inthe vicinity ; and then removes to some other place, car-rying with him the covering of the tent, but leaving thepoles standing, as they would be cumbrous to carry inhis small canoe, and thousands can be had at every placewhere he may wish to land. The Indian canoe is an exceedingly light and gracefullittle craft, and well adapted for travelling in through awild country, where the rivers are obstructed by long-rapids, waterfalls, and shallows. It is so light that oneman can easily carry it on his shoulders over the land,when a waterfall obstructs his progress; and as it only 48 HUDSONS BAY. sinks about four or six inches in the water, few placesare too shallow to float it. The birch bark of which itis made is about a quarter of an inch thick, and theinside is lined with extremely thin flakes of wood, overwhich a number of light timbers are driven, to givestrength and tightness to the machine. In this frail. bark, which generally measures about twelve or fifteenfeet long, and from two to three feet broad in the mid-dle, a whole Indian family of eight or ten souls will travelhundreds of miles over rivers and lakes innumerable;now floating swiftly down a foaming rapid, and anongliding over the surface of a quiet lake, or making aportage over-land when a rapid is too dangerous todescend; and, while the elders of the family assist incarrying the canoe, the youngsters run about pluckingberries, and the shaggy little curs (one or two of whichare possessed by every Indian family) search for food, or
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, booksubjectindians, bookyear1848
