egoing remarks, that the Nascopies, like
all other erratic tribes, are subject to the vicissitudes their mode
of life necessarily involves; at one time wallowing in abundance, at
another dying of want. Fortunately for themselves, they are at present
the most independent of the whites of any other Indians on this
continent, the Esquimaux excepted. The few fur-bearing animals their
barren country affords are so highly prized, that the least exertion
enables them to procure their very limited wants; and the skin of
the rein-deer affords them the most comfortable clothing they could
possess. They have a particular art, too, of dressing this skin, so as
to render it as soft and pliable as chamois, in which state it becomes
a valuable article of trade.

As trading posts, however, are now established on their lands, I doubt
not but artificial wants will, in time, be created, that may become
as indispensable to their comfort as their present real wants. All the
arts of the trader are exercised to produce such a result, and those
arts never fail of ultimate success. Even during the last two years of
my management, the demand for certain articles of European manufacture
had greatly increased.

The winter dress of the Nascopie consists of a jacket of deer-skin,
close all round, worn with the hair next the skin, and an over-coat of
the same material reaching to his knees, the hair outside. This coat
overlaps in front, and is secured by a belt, from which depends his
knife and smoking-bag. A pair of leather breeches, and leggings,
or stockings of cloth, protect his legs, though but imperfectly,
from the cold; his hands, however, are well defended by a pair of
gauntlets that reach his elbows; and on his head he wears a cap
richly ornamented with bear's and eagle's claws. His long thick hair,
however, renders the head-gear an article of superfluity,--but it
is the fashion. The dress of the women consists of a square piece of
dressed deer-skin, girt round them by a cloth or worsted belt, and
fastened over their shoulders by leather straps; a jacket of leather,
and cloth leggings. I have also observed some of them wearing a
garment in imitation of a gown. The leather dresses, both of men and
women, are generally painted; and often display more taste than one
would be disposed to give them credit for.

The travelling equipage of the Nascopies consists of a small leather
tent, a deer-skin robe with the hair on, a leather bag with some