The moose
skins, though not the twentieth part of the value of the goods which
he had embezzled, were in reality more acceptable to me than the
ammunition and the other articles would have been, on account of their
great use as shoe leather, which at that time was a very scarce
article with us, whereas we had plenty of powder and shot."
During Hearne's stay at Lake Clowey a great number of Indians entered
into a combination with those of his party to travel together to the
Coppermine River, with no other intent than to murder the Eskimo who
frequented that river in considerable numbers. Before leaving Lake
Clowey all the Northern Indians who had assembled there prepared their
arms for the encounter, and did not forget to make shields before they
left the woods of Clowey. These shields were composed of thin boards
about three-quarters of an inch thick, two feet broad, and three feet
long, and were intended to ward off the arrows of the Eskimo.
When the now large expedition reached a river with the fearful name of
Congecathawhachaga, they found a portion of the tribe known as Copper
Indians,[5] and these had never before seen a white man. They gave a
very friendly reception to Hearne on account of Matonabi.
[Footnote 5: Or "Tantsawh[-u]ts". Like the "Dog-rib" Indians,
mentioned farther on, they belonged to the "Northern", Tinne,
Athabaskan type.
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