ind. The men put on their
fancy silk-worked moccasins; tied silk handkerchiefs about their
necks--the reverse of cow-boy fashion--and beaded garters around their
legs; while the women placed many brass rings upon their fingers,
bright plaid shawls about their shoulders, gay silk handkerchiefs over
their heads, and beaded leggings upon their legs. How I regretted I
had not brought along my top-hat--that idiotic symbol of
civilization--for if I could have worn it on that occasion, the Indians
at Fort Consolation would have been so filled with merriment that they
would have in all probability remembered me for many a year as the one
white man with a sense of humour.

For in truth, it is just as Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman) the
full-blooded Sioux, says in his book on Indian Boyhood: "There is
scarcely anything so exasperating to me as the idea that the natives of
this country have no sense of humour and no faculty for mirth. This
phase of their character is well understood by those whose fortune or
misfortune it has been to live among them day in and day out at their
homes. I don't believe I ever heard a real hearty laugh away from the
Indians' fireside. I have often spent an entire evening in laughing
with them until I could laugh no more."

CONTEST OF WITS

When we arrived at Fort Consolation, Oo-koo-hoo and his party were
greeted by a swarm of their copper-coloured friends, among whom were
The Little Pine and his father, mother, and sister. Making his way
through the press, The Owl strode toward the trading room to shake
hands with Factor Mackenzie; but the trader, hearing of Oo-koo-hoo's
arrival, hastened from his house to welcome the famous hunter; and The
Owl greeted him with:

"_Quay, quay, Hu-ge-mow_" (good day, Master).

On their way to the Indian shop they passed the canoe shed, where
skilled hands were finishing two handsome six-fathom canoes for the use
of the Fur Brigade; and they stopped to examine them.

The building of a six-fathom or "North" canoe generally takes place
under a shed erected for the purpose, where there is a clear, level
space and plenty of working room. Two principal stakes are driven at a
distance apart of thirty-six feet, the length of the craft to be.
These are connected by two rows of smaller stakes diverging and
converging so as to form the shape of the canoe. The smaller stakes
are five feet apart at the centre. Pieces of birch bark are soaked in
water for a day and