to see each other for the first time,
and the bow is instantly transferred to the right hand, and the arrow to
the left, signifying that it is not their intention to employ them
against their friends. At a fort they use feathers instead of bows. The
dance is accompanied with a song. These people are the dancing-masters
of the country. The Copper Indians have neither dance nor music but what
they borrow from them. On our first interview with Akaitcho, at Fort
Providence, he treated us, as has already been mentioned, with a
representation of the Dog-rib dance; and Mr. Back, during his winter
journey, had an opportunity of observing it performed by the Dog-ribs
themselves.

The chief tribe of the Dog-rib nation, termed Horn Mountain Indians,
inhabit the country betwixt Great Bear Lake, and the west end of Great
Slave Lake. They muster about two hundred men and boys capable of
pursuing the chase. Small detachments of the nation frequent Marten
Lake, and hunt during the summer in the neighbourhood of Fort
Enterprise. Indeed this part of the country was formerly exclusively
theirs, and most of the lakes and remarkable hills bear the names which
they imposed upon them. As the Copper Indians generally pillage them of
their women and furs when they meet, they endeavour to avoid them, and
visit their ancient quarters on the barren grounds only by stealth.

Immediately to the northward of the Dog-ribs, on the north side of Bear
Lake River, are the _Kawcho-dinneh_, or Hare Indians, who also speak a
dialect of the Chipewyan language, and have much of the same manners
with the Dog-ribs, but are considered both by them and by the Copper
Indians, to be great conjurers. These people report that in their
hunting excursions to the northward of Great Bear Lake they meet small
parties of Esquimaux.

Immediately to the northward of the Hare Indians, on both banks of
Mackenzie's River, are the _Tykothee-dinneh_, Loucheux, Squint-Eyes, or
Quarrellers. They speak a language distinct from the Chipewyan. They war
often with the Esquimaux at the mouth of Mackenzie's River, but have
occasionally some peaceable intercourse with them, and it would appear
that they find no difficulty in understanding each other, there being
considerable similarity in their languages. Their dress also resembles
the Esquimaux, and differs from that of the other inhabitants of
Mackenzie's River. The Tykothee-dinneh trade with Fort Good-Hope,
situated a considerable d