Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sketches Of The Manners And Customs Of The North-American Indians.
SKETCHES OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE NORTH-AMERICAN INDIANS .
£ From " A Journey to the Northern Ocean from Prince of Wales ' s Fort , in Hudson ' s Bay , in the years 1769 , 1770 , 1771 , and 1772 . " ]
TN the year 1769 , the Hudson ' s Bay Company , induced by several A specimens of copper brought by the Indians to their settlements , which were said to be found on the banks of a great river to the northward , determined to explore the country ,-with a view to ascertain whether any commercial advantages could be reaped from a more accurate knowledge of the places from which these specimens
were brought . Mr . Hearne , an enterprising and intelligent man in the company ' s service , was fixed on to conduct the expedition , and after innumerable hardships in two unsuccessful attempts , succeeded in ascertaining the position of the mouth of the great Copper Mine River , which he supposes to open itself into the Northern Oceanand is situated in about lat . 71 » . The country th h which
, roug he travelled was , before then , very little known to Europeans ; and of course his descri ptions of the manners of the different Indians are original and entertaining . In consideration of his services in these expeditions , Mr . Hearne was appointed Governor of Prince of Wales ' s Fort in 1775 , and * is may account for these travels not being published before . ¦ - . - ¦
METHOD OP SETTING A NET WHEN THE RIVERS ARE FROZEN . " To set a net under the ice , it is first necessary to ascertain its exact length , by stretching it out upon the ice near the part proposed for setting it . This being done , a number of round holes are cut in the ice , at ten or twelve feet distance from each other , and as many in number as will be sufficient to tretch the net at its full
s length . A line is then passed under the ice , by means . of a long light pole which- - firs t . introduced at one of the entl holes , and , by means of two ' * ed sticks , this pole is easily conducted , or passed from one " hole ; nother , under the ice , till it arrives at the last . The pole is theirf _„ ken out , and both ends of the line being properly secured is always ready for use . The net is made fast to one end of the line ? and hauled under
y one person , the ice by a second ; a large stone is tied to each of the lower corners , which serves to keep the net expanded , and prevents its rising from-the-bottom with every waft of the current . The Europeans settled in Hudson ' s Bay proceed much in the same manner , though they in general take much more ~ pains ; but the above method is found quite sufficient by the Indians VOL . vi . II h
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sketches Of The Manners And Customs Of The North-American Indians.
SKETCHES OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE NORTH-AMERICAN INDIANS .
£ From " A Journey to the Northern Ocean from Prince of Wales ' s Fort , in Hudson ' s Bay , in the years 1769 , 1770 , 1771 , and 1772 . " ]
TN the year 1769 , the Hudson ' s Bay Company , induced by several A specimens of copper brought by the Indians to their settlements , which were said to be found on the banks of a great river to the northward , determined to explore the country ,-with a view to ascertain whether any commercial advantages could be reaped from a more accurate knowledge of the places from which these specimens
were brought . Mr . Hearne , an enterprising and intelligent man in the company ' s service , was fixed on to conduct the expedition , and after innumerable hardships in two unsuccessful attempts , succeeded in ascertaining the position of the mouth of the great Copper Mine River , which he supposes to open itself into the Northern Oceanand is situated in about lat . 71 » . The country th h which
, roug he travelled was , before then , very little known to Europeans ; and of course his descri ptions of the manners of the different Indians are original and entertaining . In consideration of his services in these expeditions , Mr . Hearne was appointed Governor of Prince of Wales ' s Fort in 1775 , and * is may account for these travels not being published before . ¦ - . - ¦
METHOD OP SETTING A NET WHEN THE RIVERS ARE FROZEN . " To set a net under the ice , it is first necessary to ascertain its exact length , by stretching it out upon the ice near the part proposed for setting it . This being done , a number of round holes are cut in the ice , at ten or twelve feet distance from each other , and as many in number as will be sufficient to tretch the net at its full
s length . A line is then passed under the ice , by means . of a long light pole which- - firs t . introduced at one of the entl holes , and , by means of two ' * ed sticks , this pole is easily conducted , or passed from one " hole ; nother , under the ice , till it arrives at the last . The pole is theirf _„ ken out , and both ends of the line being properly secured is always ready for use . The net is made fast to one end of the line ? and hauled under
y one person , the ice by a second ; a large stone is tied to each of the lower corners , which serves to keep the net expanded , and prevents its rising from-the-bottom with every waft of the current . The Europeans settled in Hudson ' s Bay proceed much in the same manner , though they in general take much more ~ pains ; but the above method is found quite sufficient by the Indians VOL . vi . II h