Four Stone Indians arrived at this time and were invited into the tent but one only accepted the invitation and partook of the fare.  When Mr. Prudens heard the others refuse he gave immediate directions that our horses should be narrowly watched as he suspected these fellows wished to carry them off.  Having learned that these Crees considered Mr. Back and myself to be war chiefs possessing great power and that they expected we should make some address to them I desired them to be kind to the traders, to be industrious in procuring them provision and furs, and to refrain from stealing their stores and horses; and I assured them that if I heard of their continuing to behave kindly I would mention their good conduct in the strongest terms to their Great Father across the sea (by which appellation they designate the King) whose favourable consideration they had been taught by the traders to value most highly.

They all promised to follow my advice and assured me it was not they but the Stone Indians who robbed and annoyed the traders.  The Stone Indian who was present heard this accusation against his tribe quite unmoved, but he probably did not understand the whole of the communication.  We left them to finish their rum and went to look round the lodges and examine the pound.

The greatest proportion of labour in savage life falls to the women; we now saw them employed in dressing skins, and conveying wood, water, and provision.  As they have often to fetch the meat from some distance they are assisted in this duty by their dogs which are not harnessed in sledges but carry their burdens in a manner peculiarly adapted to this level country.  Two long poles are fastened by a collar to the dog’s neck; their ends trail on the ground and are kept at a proper distance by a hoop which is lashed between them immediately behind the dog’s tail; the hoop is covered with network upon which the load is placed.

The boys were amusing themselves by shooting arrows at a mark and thus training to become hunters.  The Stone Indians are so expert with the bow and arrow that they can strike a very small object at a considerable distance and will shoot with sufficient force to pierce through the body of a buffalo when near.

The buffalo pound was a fenced circular space of about a hundred yards in diameter; the entrance was banked up with snow to a sufficient height to prevent the retreat of the animals that once have entered.  For about a mile on each side of the road leading to the pound stakes were driven into the ground at nearly equal distances of about twenty yards; these were intended to represent men and to deter the animals from attempting to break out on either side.  Within fifty or sixty yards from the pound branches of trees were placed between these stakes to screen the Indians who lie down behind them to await the approach of the buffalo.