inal virtues of many herbs are known to the Knisteneaux; and
they apply the roots of plants and the bark of trees in the cure of
various diseases. But there is among them a class of men, called
conjurers, who monopolize the medical science; and who, blending mystery
with their art, do not choose to communicate their knowledge.

Like all their other solemn ceremonials, the funeral rites of the
Knisteneaux begin with smoking, and are concluded by a feast. The body
is dressed in the best habiliments of the deceased, or his relatives,
and is then deposited in a grave lined with branches: some domestic
utensils are placed on it, and a kind of canopy is erected over it.
During this ceremony, great lamentations are made; and, if the deceased
is much regretted, the near relations cut off their hair, pierce the
fleshy part of their thighs and arms with arrows, knives, &c. and
blacken their faces with charcoal. The whole property belonging to him
is destroyed, and the relations take, in exchange for the wearing
apparel, any rags that will cover their nakedness.

* * * * *

The _Chepewyans_ are a sober, timorous, and vagrant people, and of a
disposition so selfish as sometimes to have excited suspicions of their
integrity. Their complexion is swarthy; their features are coarse, and
their hair is lank, but not always of a black colour; nor have they,
universally, the piercing eye, which generally animates the Indian
countenance. The women have a more agreeable aspect than the men; but,
in consequence of their being accustomed, nine months in the year, to
travel on snow-shoes, and to drag heavy sledges, their gait is awkward.
They are very submissive to their husbands, who sometimes treat them
with great cruelty. The men, in general, extract their beards; though
some of them are seen to prefer a bushy beard to a smooth chin. They cut
their hair in various forms, or leave it in a long, natural flow,
according as caprice or fancy suggests. The women always have their
hair of great length, and some of them are very attentive to its
arrangement. Both sexes have blue or black marks, or from one to four
straight lines on their cheeks or forehead, to distinguish the tribe to
which they belong. These marks are either tatooed, or are made by
drawing a thread, dipped in colour, beneath the skin.

Few people are more attentive to the comforts of dress than these. In
winter they wear the skins of deer or fawns,