Volume 1

CHILD BURNED—MICE— BULLY BEATEN. 1 35
before he was perceived by his mother, when he was taken
out in a shocking condition. The father instantly pounded
and chewed a certain root and bark, which he sprinkled
over the burns after he had thoroughly moistened them by
taking water in his mouth and blowing it out. He then
covered the whole with a quantity of
swan's down and put
the child to rest.
We are plagued by great numbers of mice, which destroy
almost everything but metals ; our strouds and blankets are
nearly all damaged, and they even carry off our beads. At
night we see them running in droves over the floor ; they
are not shy in the least. They often awake us by scampering
over our faces and playing on our beds.
Nov. ^th. I sent two men in a small canoe up river
to hunt ducks and other wild fowl, of which there are
plenty. My hunter killed a bear, which I sent for. All
hands were out tending their traps. The two men returned
with a few wild fowl.
Nov. 6th. Two of my men had a boxing match, or rather
a rough and tumble fight. One of them had been taking
too many airs upon himself, bullying those whom he knew
were not an equal match for him, and had used some of them
very ill. This morning, when he as usual commanded one
to go for water and cook, another man, who was as strong
as himself, and with
friendly terms, got up and told him if
whom the bully had always been on
he wanted water he
should go for it in his turn ; that the young men would no
longer be his slaves ;
and, since they were not strong enough
to defend themselves, he would take their part. A challenge
was the consequence. To the joy of everybody, the
bully got a beating which made him as quiet as a child,
and the others began to crow over him. This afternoon
arrived from Riviere Voleuse the Indian I had seen there,
Le Pendu ; he informed me that some of the Red Lake
Indians had arrived there, and promised to see me in the
course of the winter. He told me no, trader had reached
Red lake when they came away and also that three Indians