ed struggle for food enough to sustain them. In summer they are
often in the midst of plenty; slaughtering deer and buffalo by hundreds,
taking out only the tongues, and recklessly leaving the flesh to the
wolves! In winter the very same Indians may be seen without a pound of
meat in their encampment--the lives of themselves and their families
depending upon the success of a single day's hunt!

But let us return to the snow-shoes. Let us see what they are, and learn
how they are made.

Any boy who has snared sparrows in snow-time, has, no doubt, done so by
tying his snares upon a hoop netted across with twine or other small
cord. Now, if he will conceive his hoop bent into an oblong
shape--something like what the figure of a boat turned on its mouth
would make in snow--and if he will also fancy the netting to consist of
thongs of twisted deer-hide woven somewhat closely together, he will get
a very good idea of an Indian snow-shoe. It is usually from three to
four feet long, by about a foot wide at the middle part, from which it
tapers gently to a point, both at the heel and toe.

The frame, as I have said, is like the hoop of a boy's bird-snare. It is
made of light, tough wood, and, of course, carefully bent and polished
with the knife. The slender branches of the "scrub-pine" are esteemed
excellent for this purpose, as their wood is light, flexible and tough
in its fibres. This is also a favourite tree, where it grows, to make
tent-poles, canoe-timbers, and other implements required by the Indians;
and these people use so much of it for their arrows, that it has
received from the Canadian voyageurs the name of _bois de fleche_
(arrow-wood).

Well, then, the frame of the snow-shoes being bent to its proper shape,
two transverse bars are placed across near the middle, and several
inches from each other. They are for the foot to rest upon, as well as
to give strength to the whole structure. These being made fast, the
netting is woven on, and extends over the whole frame, with the
exception of a little space in front of the bars where the ball of the
foot is to rest. This space is left free of netting, in order to allow
play to the toes while walking. The mesh-work is made of thongs usually
cut from the parchment-skin of a deer, and twisted. Sometimes twisted
intestines are used, and the netting exactly resembles that seen in
"racquets" for ball play.

The snow-shoe, when finished, is simply fastened upon the foot by