]
"They expressed as much desire to examine me from top to toe as a
European naturalist would a nondescript animal. They, however, found
and pronounced me to be a perfect human being, except in the colour of
my hair and eyes; the former, they said, was like the stained hair of
a buffalo's tail, and the latter, being light, were like those of a
gull. The whiteness of my skin also was, in their opinion, no
ornament, as they said it resembled meat which had been sodden in
water till all the blood was extracted. On the whole I was viewed as
so great a curiosity in this part of the world that during my stay
there, whenever I combed my head, some or other of them never failed
to ask for the hairs that came off, which they carefully wrapped up,
saying: 'When I see you again, you shall again see your hair'."
The Copper Indians sent a detachment of their men in the double
capacity of guides and warriors, and the whole party now turned
towards the north-west, and after some days' walking reached the Stony
Mountains. "Surely no part of the world better deserves that name",
wrote, Hearne. They appeared to be a confused heap of stones quite
inaccessible to the foot of man. Nevertheless, with the Copper Indians
as guides, they got over this range, though not without being obliged
frequently to crawl on hands and knees. This range, however, had been
so often crossed by Indians coming to and fro that there was a very
visible path the whole way, the rocks, even in the most difficult
places, being worn quite smooth.
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