Note 2 — LETTER XXIX.

In the western parts of Lower Canada, and throughout Upper Canada, where it is customary for travellers to carry their own bedding with them, these skins are very generally made use of for the purpose of sleeping upon. For upwards of two months we scarcely ever had any other bed than one of the skins spread on the floor and a blanket to each person. The skins are dressed by the Indians with the hair on, and they are rendered by a certain process as pliable as cloth. When the buffalo is killed in the beginning of the winter, at which time he is fenced against the cold, the hair resembles very much that of a black bear; it is then long, straight, and of a blackish colour; but when the animal is killed in the summer, the hair is short and curly, and of a light brown colour, owing to its being scorched by the rays of the sun.