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96    Juvenile Letters. [[Italicized]]

"is evident, as she had a small stock of provi-
"sions by her when she was discovered; and
"was in good health and condition, and I think
"one of the finest women, of a real Indian, that
"I have seen in any part of North America.
   "The methods practised by this poor crea-
"ture to procure a livelihood were truly ad-
"mirable, and are great proofs that necessity
"is the real mother of invention. When the
"few dear sinews, that she had an opportuni-
"ty of taking with her, were all expended in
"making snares, and sewing her clothing, she
"had nothing to supply their place but the
"sinews of the rabbits' legs and feet. These
"she twisted together for that purpose with
"great dexterity and success.  The rabbits,
"&c. which she caught in those snares, not
"only furnished her with a comfortable sub-
"sistence ; but of the skins she made a suit of
"neat and warm clothing for the Winter. It
"is scarcely possible to conceive that a person
"in her forlorn situation could be so composed
"as to be capable of contriving or executing
"any thing that was not absolutely necessary
"to

Juvenile Letters. [[Italicized]]     97

"to her existence; but there was sufficient
"proofs that she had extended her care much
"farther, as all her clothing, beside being cal-
"culated for real service, showed great taste,
"and exhibited no little variety of ornament.
"The materials, though rude, were very curious-
"ly wrought, and so judiciously placed, as
"to make the whole of her garb have a very
"pleasing, though rather romantic appearance.
     "Her leisure hours from hunting had been
"employed in twisting the inner rind or bark
"of willows into small lines like net twine;
"of which she had some hundred fathoms by
"her. With this she intended to make a fish-
"ing-net as soon as the Spring advanced.
     "Five or fix inches of an iron hoop, made 
"into a knife, and the shank of an arrow-head
"of iron, which served her as an awl, were
"all the metals this poor woman had with her
"when she eloped; and with these implements
"she had made herself complete snow-shoes,
"and several other useful articles.
     "Her method of making a fire was equally
singular and curious, having no other materi-
"als

Transcription Notes:
long s (f) and double s (fs) have been replaced with their correct modern equivalent "s." ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-05 16:01:50