or pine boards of ½ an inch in thickness, made with the axe and crooked knife:– upon this they can bring good loads, as it slides pretty well over the snow. In times of scarcity they lose nothing of the animal; even the blood is brought home, and is boiled with grease. The skin they scrape, and dress into leather; they take the brains of the animal and rub it upon the skin to make it pliable and soft;– afterwards they smoke it well, and then soak it in warm water for a night in order to render it easy to work with a piece of iron made for that purpose. This laborious process is done wholly by the women; as the men would think it below their dignity to interfere in works of that kind. Upon the whole, the women of this nation are more healthy and robust than the Cree fair sex; which may be greatly assisted by their abstinence from Spirituous liquors, which the latter use to a shameful excess. One would naturally be led to believe, that the spirits of the chipwean women would be entirely broken; but so far is it ot[he]rwise, that as soon as they leave this

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