oices in harmony in praise of the Christian's God.
Upon our arrival at the village, we were ushered into Mr Evans' neat
cottage, from the windows of which is a fine view of Playgreen Lake,
studded with small islands, stretching out to the horizon on the right,
and a boundless wilderness of trees on the left. Here were collected
the ladies and gentlemen of Norway House, and a number of indescribable
personages, apparently engaged in mystic preparations for the
approaching feast. It was with something like awe that I entered the
schoolroom, and beheld two long rows of tables covered with puddings,
pies, tarts, stews, hashes, and vegetables of all shapes, sizes, and
descriptions, smoking thereon. I feared for the Indians, although they
can stand a great deal in the way of repletion; moderation being, of
course, out of the question, with such abundance of good things placed
before them. A large shell was sounded after the manner of a bugle, and
all the Indians of the village walked into the room and seated
themselves, the women on one side of the long tables, and the men on the
other. Mr Evans stood at the head, and asked a blessing; and then
commenced a work of demolition, the like of which has not been seen
since the foundation of the world! The pies had strong crusts, but the
knives were stronger; the paste was hard and the interior tough, but
Indian teeth were harder and Indian jaws tougher; the dishes were
gigantic, but the stomachs were capacious, so that ere long numerous
skeletons and empty dishes alone graced the board. One old woman, of a
dark-brown complexion, with glittering black eyes and awfully long
teeth, set up in the wholesale line, and demolished the viands so
rapidly, that those who sat beside her, fearing a dearth in the land,
began to look angry. Fortunately, however, she gave in suddenly, while
in the middle of a venison pasty, and reclining languidly backward, with
a sweetly contented expression of countenance, while her breath came
thickly through her half-opened mouth, she gently fell asleep--and
thereby, much to her chagrin, lost the tea and cakes which were served
out soon afterwards by way of dessert. When the seniors had finished,
the juveniles were admitted _en masse_, and they soon cleared away the
remnants of the dinner.
The dress of the Indians upon this occasion was generally blue cloth
capotes with hoods, scarlet or blue cloth leggins, quill-worked
moccasins, and no caps. Som
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