Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819-20-21-22, Volume 2
by John Franklin · English · Gutenberg #18985 · 536,658 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819-20-21-22, Volume 2
Author: John Franklin
Release date: August 3, 2006 [eBook #18985]
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES OF THE POLAR SEA, IN THE YEARS 1819-20-21-22, VOLUME 2 ***
Produced by Robert Cicconetti, gvb and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions
(www.canadiana.org))
Transcriber's notes:
There are several inconsistencies in spelling and punctuation in the
original. Some corrections have been made for obvious typographical
errors; they have been noted individually in the text. All changes made
by the transcriber are enumerated in braces, for example {1}; details of
corrections and comments are listed at the end of the text. Note that
many of the errors were introduced in the third edition, as
cross-referencing the second edition has shown.
In the original, the "Mc" in Scottish names is given as "M" followed by
what looks like a left single quotation mark (Unicode 2018). This has
been changed to "Mc" throughout the text.
Specific spellings that differ from their modern versions and have been
retained in this text are "Saskatchawan" (modern "Saskatchewan"),
"Esquimaux" (modern "Eskimo") and "musquito" (modern "mosquito").
Text in italics in the original is shown between _underlines_. For this
text version, the oe-ligature (Unicode 0153) has been rendered as "oe".
Footnote 3 in chapter VIII contains several instances of [·0] as a
transliteration of the symbol for "Sun" (Unicode 2609).
* * * * *
NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY
TO THE SHORES OF THE
POLAR SEA,
IN
THE YEARS 1819-20-21-22.
BY
JOHN FRANKLIN, Capt. R.N., F.R.S., M.W.S.,
AND COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION.
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL BATHURST.
THIRD EDITION.
TWO VOLS.--VOL. II.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
MDCCCXXIV.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES,
Northumberland-Court.
CONTENTS
OF
THE SECOND VOLUME.
CHAPTER VIII.
Page
Transactions at Fort Enterprise--Mr. Back's Narrative of his
Journey to Chipewyan, and Return 1
CHAPTER IX.
Continuation of Proceedings at Fort Enterprise--Some Account
of the Copper Indians--Preparations for the Journey to the
Northward 76
CHAPTER X.
Departure from Fort Enterprise--Navigation of the Copper-Mine
River--Visit to the Copper Mountain--Interview with the
Esquimaux--Departure of the Indian Hunters--Arrangements made
with them for our Return 122
CHAPTER XI.
Navigation of the Polar Sea, in two Canoes, as far as Cape
Turnagain, to the Eastward, a distance exceeding Five Hundred
and Fifty Miles--Observations on the probability of a
North-West Passage 193
CHAPTER XII.
Journey across the barren grounds--Difficulty and delay in
crossing Copper-Mine River--Melancholy and fatal Results
thereof--Extreme Misery of the whole Party--Murder of Mr.
Hood--Death of several of the Canadians--Desolate State of
Fort Enterprise--Distress suffered at that Place--Dr.
Richardson's Narrative--Mr. Back's Narrative--Conclusion 237
JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
OF
THE POLAR SEA.
* * * * *
CHAPTER VIII.
Transactions at Fort Enterprise--Mr. Back's Narrative of his
Journey to Chipewyan and Return.
1820. September.
During our little expedition to the Copper-Mine River, Mr. Wentzel had
made great progress in the erection of our winter-house, having nearly
roofed it in. But before proceeding to give an account of a ten months'
residence at this place, henceforth designated Fort Enterprise, I may
premise, that I shall omit many of the ordinary occurrences of a North
American winter, as they have been already detailed in so able and
interesting a manner by Ellis[1], and confine myself principally to the
circumstances which had an influence on our progress in the ensuing
summer. The observations on the magnetic needle, the temperature of the
atmosphere, the Aurora Borealis, and other meteorological phenomena,
together with the mineralogical and botanical notices, being less
interesting to the general reader, are omitted in this edition.
[1] Voyage to Hudson's Bay in the Dobbs and California.
The men continued to work diligently at the house, and by the 30th of
September had nearly completed it for our reception, when a heavy fall
of rain washed the greater part of the mud off the roof. This rain was
remarked by the Indians as unusual, after what they had deemed so
decided a commencement of winter in the early part of the month. The
mean temperature for the month was 33-3/4°, but the thermometer had sunk
as low as 16°, and on one occasion rose to 53°.
Besides the party constantly employed at the house, two men were
appointed to fish, and others were occasionally sent for meat, as the
hunters procured it. This latter employment, although extremely
laborious, was always relished by the Canadians, as they never failed to
use a prescriptive right of helping themselves to the fattest and most
delicate parts of the deer. Towards the end of the month, the rein-deer
began to quit the barren grounds, and came into the vicinity of the
house, on their way to the woods; and the success of the hunters being
consequently great, the necessity of sending for the meat considerably
retarded the building of the house. In the mean time we resided in our
canvas tents, which proved very cold habitations, although we maintained
a fire in front of them, and also endeavoured to protect ourselves from
the piercing winds by a barricade of pine branches.
On the 6th of October, the house being completed, we struck our tents,
and removed into it. It was merely a log-building, fifty feet long, and
twenty-four wide, divided into a hall, three bed rooms and a kitchen.
The walls and roof were plastered with clay, the floors laid with planks
rudely squared with the hatchet, and the windows closed with parchment
of deer-skin. The clay, which from the coldness of the weather, required
to be tempered before the fire with hot water, froze as it was daubed
on, and afterwards cracked in such a manner as to admit the wind from
every quarter; yet, compared with the tents, our new habitation appeared
comfortable; and having filled our capacious clay-built chimney with
fagots, we spent a cheerful evening before the invigorating blaze. The
change was peculiarly beneficial to Dr. Richardson, who, having, in one
of his excursions, incautiously laid down on the frozen side of a hill
when heated with walking, had caught a severe inflammatory sore throat,
which became daily worse whilst we remained in the tents, but began to
mend soon after he was enabled to confine himself to the more equable
warmth of the house. We took up our abode at first on the floor, but our
working party, who had shown such skill as house carpenters, soon proved
themselves to be, with the same tools, (the hatchet and crooked knife,)
excellent cabinet makers, and daily added a table, chair, or bedstead,
to the comforts of our establishment. The crooked knife generally made
of an old file, bent and tempered by heat, serves an Indian or Canadian
voyager for plane, chisel, and auger. With it the snow-shoe and
canoe-timbers are fashioned, the deals of their sledges reduced to the
requisite thinness and polish, and their wooden bowls and spoons
hollowed out. Indeed, though not quite so requisite for existence as the
hatchet, yet without its aid there would be little comfort in these
wilds.
On the 7th we were gratified by a sight of the sun, after it had been
obscured for twelve days. On this and several following days the
meridian sun melted the light covering of snow or hoar frost on the
lichens, which clothe the barren grounds, and rendered them so tender as
to attract great herds of rein-deer to our neighbourhood. On the
morning of the 10th I estimated the numbers I saw during a short walk,
at upwards of two thousand. They form into herds of different sizes,
from ten to a hundred, according as their fears or accident induce them
to unite or separate.
The females being at this time more lean and active, usually lead the
van. The haunches of the males are now covered to the depth of two
inches or more with fat, which is beginning to get red and high
flavoured, and is considered a sure indication of the commencement of
the rutting season. Their horns, which in the middle of August were yet
tender, have now attained their proper size, and are beginning to lose
their hairy covering which hangs from them in ragged filaments. The
horns of the rein-deer vary, not only with its sex and age, but are
otherwise so uncertain in their growth, that they are never alike in any
two individuals. The old males shed their's about the end of December;
the females retain them until the disappearance of the snow enables them
to frequent the barren grounds, which may be stated to be about the
middle or end of May, soon after which period they proceed towards the
sea-coast and drop their young. The young males lose their horns about
the same time with the females or a little earlier, some of them as
early as April. The hair of the rein-deer falls in July, and is
succeeded by a short thick coat of mingled clove, deep reddish, and
yellowish browns; the belly and under parts of the neck, _&c._,
remaining white. As the winter approaches the hair becomes longer, and
lighter in its colours, and it begins to loosen in May, being then much
worn on the sides, from the animal rubbing itself against trees and
stones. It becomes grayish and almost white, before it is completely
shed. The Indians form their robes of the skins procured in autumn, when
the hair is short. Towards the spring the larvæ of the oestrus attaining
a large size, produce so many perforations in the skins, that they are
good for nothing. The cicatrices only of these holes are to be seen in
August, but a fresh set of _ova_ have in the mean time been
deposited[2].
[2] "It is worthy of remark, that in the month of May a very great
number of large larvæ exist under the mucous membrane at the root
of the tongue, and posterior part of the nares and pharynx. The
Indians consider them to belong to the same species with the
oestrus, that deposits its ova under the skin: to us the larvæ of
the former appeared more flattened than those of the latter.
Specimens of both kinds, preserved in spirits, were destroyed by
the frequent falls they received on the portages."--DR.
RICHARDSON'S _Journal_.
The rein-deer retire from the sea-coast in July and August, rut in
October on the verge of the barren grounds, and shelter themselves in
the woods during the winter. They are often induced by a few fine days
in winter, to pay a transitory visit to their favourite pastures in the
barren country, but their principal movement to the northward commences
generally in the end of April, when the snow first begins to melt on the
sides of the hills, and early in May, when large patches of the ground
are visible, they are on the banks of the Copper-Mine River. The females
take the lead in this spring migration, and bring forth their young on
the sea-coast about the end of May or beginning of June. There are
certain spots or passes well known to the Indians, through which the
deer invariably pass in their migrations to and from the coast, and it
has been observed that they always travel against the wind. The
principal food of the rein-deer in the barren grounds, consists of the
_cetraria nivalis_ and _cucullata_, _cenomyce rangiferina_,
_cornicularia ochrileuca_, and other lichens, and they also eat the hay
or dry grass which is found in the swamps in autumn. In the woods they
feed on the different lichens which hang from the trees. They are
accustomed to gnaw their fallen antlers, and are said also to devour
mice.
The weight of a full grown barren-ground deer, exclusive of the offal,
varies from ninety to one hundred and thirty pounds. There is, however,
a much larger kind found in the woody parts of the country, whose
carcase weighs from two hundred to two hundred and forty pounds. This
kind never leaves the woods, but its skin is as much perforated by the
gad-fly as that of the others; a presumptive proof that the smaller
species are not driven to the sea-coast solely by the attacks of that
insect. There are a few rein-deer occasionally killed in the spring,
whose skins are entire, and these are always fat, whereas the others are
lean at that season. This insect likewise infests the red-deer
(_wawaskeesh_,) but its ova are not found in the skin of the moose, or
buffalo, nor, as we have been informed, of the sheep and goat that
inhabit the Rocky Mountains, although the rein-deer found in those
parts, (which are of an unusually large kind,) are as much tormented by
them as the barren-ground variety.
The herds of rein-deer are attended in their migrations by bands of
wolves, which destroy a great many of them. The Copper Indians kill the
rein-deer in the summer with the gun, or taking advantage of a
favourable disposition of the ground, they enclose a herd upon a neck of
land, and drive them into a lake, where they fall an easy prey; but in
the rutting season and in the spring, when they are numerous on the
skirts of the woods, they catch them in snares. The snares are simple
nooses, formed in a rope made of twisted sinew, which are placed in the
aperture of a slight hedge, constructed of the branches of trees. This
hedge is so disposed as to form several winding compartments, and
although it is by no means strong, yet the deer seldom attempt to break
through it. The herd is led into the labyrinth by two converging rows of
poles, and one is generally caught at each of the openings by the noose
placed there. The hunter, too, lying in ambush, stabs some of them with
his bayonet as they pass by, and the whole herd frequently becomes his
prey. Where wood is scarce, a piece of turf turned up answers the
purpose of a pole to conduct them towards the snares.
The rein-deer has a quick eye, but the hunter by keeping to leeward and
using a little caution, may approach very near; their apprehensions
being much more easily roused by the smell than the sight of any unusual
object. Indeed their curiosity often causes them to come close up and
wheel around the hunter; thus affording him a good opportunity of
singling out the fattest of the herd, and upon these occasions they
often become so confused by the shouts and gestures of their enemy, that
they run backwards and forwards with great rapidity, but without the
power of making their escape.
The Copper Indians find by experience that a white dress attracts them
most readily, and they often succeed in bringing them within shot, by
kneeling and vibrating the gun from side to side, in imitation of the
motion of a deer's horns when he is in the act of rubbing his head
against a stone.
The Dog-Rib Indians have a mode of killing these animals, which though
simple, is very successful. It was thus described by Mr. Wentzel, who
resided long amongst that people. The hunters go in pairs, the foremost
man carrying in one hand the horns and part of the skin of the head of a
deer, and in the other a small bundle of twigs, against which he, from
time to time, rubs the horns, imitating the gestures peculiar to the
animal. His comrade follows treading exactly in his footsteps, and
holding the guns of both in a horizontal position, so that the muzzles
project under the arms of him who carries the head. Both hunters have a
fillet of white skin round their foreheads, and the foremost has a strip
of the same kind round his wrists. They approach the herd by degrees,
raising their legs very slowly, but setting them down somewhat suddenly,
after the manner of a deer, and always taking care to lift their right
or left feet simultaneously. If any of the herd leave off feeding to
gaze upon this extraordinary phenomenon, it instantly stops, and the
head begins to play its part by licking its shoulders, and performing
other necessary movements. In this way the hunters attain the very
centre of the herd without exciting suspicion, and have leisure to
single out the fattest. The hindmost man then pushes forward his
comrade's gun, the head is dropt, and they both fire nearly at the same
instant. The herd scampers off, the hunters trot after them; in a short
time the poor animals halt to ascertain the cause of their terror, their
foes stop at the same instant, and having loaded as they ran, greet the
gazers with a second fatal discharge. The consternation of the deer
increases, they run to and fro in the utmost confusion, and sometimes a
great part of the herd is destroyed within the space of a few hundred
yards.
A party who had been sent to Akaitcho returned, bringing three hundred
and seventy pounds of dried meat, and two hundred and twenty pounds of
suet, together with the unpleasant information, that a still larger
quantity of the latter article had been found and carried off, as he
supposed, by some Dog-ribs, who had passed that way.
The weather becoming daily colder, all the lakes in the neighbourhood of
the house were completely, and the river partially, frozen over by the
middle of the month. The rein-deer now began to quit us for more
southerly and better-sheltered pastures. Indeed, their longer residence
in our neighbourhood would have been of little service to us, for our
ammunition was almost completely expended, though we had dealt it of
late with a very sparing hand to the Indians. We had, however, already
secured in the store-house the carcases of one hundred deer, together
with one thousand pounds of suet, and some dried meat; and had,
moreover, eighty deer stowed up at various distances from the house. The
necessity of employing the men to build a house for themselves, before
the weather became too severe, obliged us to put the latter _en cache_,
as the voyagers term it, instead of adopting the more safe plan of
bringing them to the house. Putting a deer _en cache_, means merely
protecting it against the wolves, and still more destructive wolverenes,
by heavy loads of wood or stones; the latter animal, however, sometimes
digs underneath the pile, and renders the precaution abortive.
On the 18th, Mr. Back and Mr. Wentzel set out for Fort Providence,
accompanied by Beauparlant, Belanger, and two Indians, Akaiyazza and
Thoolezzeh, with their wives, the Little Forehead, and the Smiling
Marten. Mr. Back had volunteered to go and make the necessary
arrangements for transporting the stores we expected from Cumberland
House, and to endeavour to obtain some additional supplies from the
establishments at Slave Lake. If any accident should have prevented the
arrival of our stores, and the establishments at Moose-Deer Island
should be unable to supply the deficiency, he was, if he found himself
equal to the task, to proceed to Chipewyan. Ammunition was essential to
our existence, and a considerable supply of tobacco was also requisite,
not only for the comfort of the Canadians, who use it largely, and had
stipulated for it in their engagements, but also as a means of
preserving the friendship of the Indians. Blankets, cloth, and
iron-work, were scarcely less indispensible to equip our men for the
advance next season.
Mr. Wentzel accompanied Mr. Back, to assist him in obtaining from the
traders, on the score of old friendship, that which they might be
inclined to deny to our necessities. I forwarded by them letters to the
Colonial Office and Admiralty, detailing the proceedings of the
Expedition up to this period.
On the 22d we were surprised by a visit from a dog; the poor animal was
in low condition, and much fatigued. Our Indians discovered, by marks on
his ears, that he belonged to the Dog-ribs. This tribe, unlike the
Chipewyans and Copper Indians, had preserved that useful associate of
man, although from their frequent intercourse with the latter people,
they were not ignorant of the prediction alluded to in a former page.
One of our interpreters was immediately despatched, with an Indian, to
endeavour to trace out the Dog-ribs, whom he supposed might be concealed
in the neighbourhood from their dread of the Copper Indians; although we
had no doubt of their coming to us, were they aware of our being here.
The interpreter, however, returned without having discovered any traces
of strange Indians; a circumstance which led us to conclude, that the
dog had strayed from his masters a considerable time before.
Towards the end of the month the men completed their house, and took up
their abode in it. It was thirty-four feet long and eighteen feet wide;
was divided into two apartments, and was placed at right angles to the
officers' dwelling, and facing the store-house: the three buildings
forming three sides of a quadrangle.
On the 26th Akaitcho and his party arrived, the hunting in this
neighbourhood being terminated for the season, by the deer having
retired southward to the shelter of the woods.
The arrival of this large party was a serious inconvenience to us, from
our being compelled to issue them daily rates of provision from the
store. The want of ammunition prevented us from equipping and sending
them to the woods to hunt; and although they are accustomed to subsist
themselves for a considerable part of the year by fishing, or snaring
the deer, without having recourse to fire-arms, yet, on the present
occasion, they felt little inclined to do so, and gave scope to their
natural love of ease, as long as our store-house seemed to be well
stocked. Nevertheless, as they were conscious of impairing our future
resources, they did not fail, occasionally, to remind us that it was not
their fault, to express an ardent desire to go hunting, and to request a
supply of ammunition, although they knew that it was not in our power to
give it.
The summer birds by this time had entirely deserted us, leaving, for our
winter companions, the raven, cinereous crow, ptarmigan, and snow-bird.
The last of the water-fowl that quitted us was a species of diver, of
the same size with the _colymbus arcticus_, but differing from it in the
arrangement of the white spots on its plumage, and in having a yellowish
white bill. This bird was occasionally caught in our fishing nets.
The thermometer during the month of October, at Fort Enterprise, never
rose above 37°, or fell below 5°; the mean temperature for the month
was 23°.
In the beginning of October a party had been sent to the westward to
search for birch to make snow-shoe frames, and the Indian women were
afterwards employed in netting the shoes and preparing leather for
winter-clothing to the men. Robes of rein-deer skins were also obtained
from the Indians, and issued to the men who were to travel, as they are
not only a great deal lighter than blankets, but also much warmer, and
altogether better adapted for a winter in this climate. They are,
however, unfit for summer use, as the least moisture causes the skin to
spoil, and lose its hair. It requires the skins of seven deer to make
one robe. The finest are made of the skins of young fawns.
The fishing, having failed as the weather became more severe, was given
up on the 5th. It had procured us about one thousand two hundred _white
fish_, from two to three pounds each. There are two other species of
_Coregoni_ in Winter Lake, _Back's grayling_ and the _round fish_; and a
few _trout_, _pike_, _methye_, and _red carp_, were also occasionally
obtained from the nets. It may be worthy of notice here, that the fish
froze as they were taken out of the nets, in a short time became a solid
mass of ice, and by a blow or two of the hatchet were easily split
open, when the intestines might be removed in one lump. If in this
completely frozen state they were thawed before the fire, they recovered
their animation. This was particularly the case with the carp, and we
had occasion to observe it repeatedly, as Dr. Richardson occupied
himself in examining the structure of the different species of fish, and
was, always in the winter, under the necessity of thawing them before he
could cut them. We have seen a carp recover so far as to leap about with
much vigour, after it had been frozen for thirty-six hours.
From the 12th to the 16th we had fine, and for the season, warm weather;
and the deer, which had not been seen since the 26th of October,
reappeared in the neighbourhood of the house, to the surprise of the
Indians, who attributed their return to the barren grounds to the
unusual mildness of the season. On this occasion, by melting some of our
pewter cups, we managed to furnish five balls to each of the hunters,
but they were all expended unsuccessfully, except by Akaitcho, who
killed two deer.
By the middle of the month Winter River was firmly frozen over, except
the small rapid at its commencement, which remained open all the winter.
The ice on the lake was now nearly two feet thick. After the 16th we
had a succession of cold, snowy, and windy weather. We had become
anxious to hear of the arrival of Mr. Back and his party at Fort
Providence. The Indians, who had calculated the period at which a
messenger ought to have returned from thence to be already passed,
became impatient when it had elapsed, and with their usual love of evil
augury tormented us by their melancholy forebodings. At one time they
conjectured that the whole party had fallen through{1} the ice; at
another, that they had been way-laid and cut off by the Dog-ribs. In
vain did we urge the improbability of the former accident, or the
peaceable character of the Dog-ribs, so little in conformity with the
latter. "The ice at this season was deceitful," they said, "and the
Dog-ribs, though unwarlike, were treacherous." These assertions, so
often repeated, had some effect upon the spirits of our Canadian
voyagers, who seldom weigh any opinion they adopt; but we persisted in
treating their fears as chimerical, for had we seemed to listen to them
for a moment, it is more than probable that the whole of our Indians
would have gone to Fort Providence in search of supplies, and we should
have found it extremely difficult to have recovered them.
The matter was put to rest by the appearance of Belanger on the morning
of the 23d, and the Indians, now running into the opposite extreme, were
disposed to give us more credit for our judgment than we deserved. They
had had a tedious and fatiguing journey to Fort Providence, and for some
days were destitute of provisions.
Belanger arrived alone; he had walked constantly for the last
six-and-thirty hours, leaving his Indian companions encamped at the last
woods, they being unwilling to accompany him across the barren grounds
during the storm that had prevailed for several days, and blew with
unusual violence on the morning of his arrival. His locks were matted
with snow, and he was incrusted with ice from head to foot, so that we
scarcely recognised him when he burst in upon us. We welcomed him with
the usual shake of the hand, but were unable to give him the glass of
rum which every voyager receives on his arrival at a trading post.
As soon as his packet was thawed, we eagerly opened it to obtain our
English letters. The latest were dated on the preceding April. They came
by way of Canada, and were brought up in September to Slave Lake by the
North-West Company's canoes.
We were not so fortunate with regard to our stores; of ten pieces, or
bales of 90lbs. weight, which had been sent from York Factory by
Governor Williams, five of the most essential had been left at the Grand
Rapid on the Saskatchawan, owing, as far as we could judge from the
accounts that reached us, to the misconduct of the officer to whom they
were intrusted, and who was ordered to convey them to Cumberland-House.
Being overtaken by some of the North-West Company's canoes, he had
insisted on their taking half of his charge as it was intended for the
service of Government. The North-West gentlemen objected, that their
canoes had already got a cargo in, and that they had been requested to
convey our stores from Cumberland House only, where they had a canoe
waiting for the purpose. The Hudson's-Bay officer upon this deposited
our ammunition and tobacco upon the beach, and departed without any
regard to the serious consequences that might result to us from the want
of them. The Indians, who assembled at the opening of the packet, and
sat in silence watching our countenances, were necessarily made
acquainted with the non-arrival of our stores, and bore the intelligence
with unexpected tranquillity. We took care, however, in our
communications with them to dwell upon the more agreeable parts of our
intelligence, and they seemed to receive particular pleasure on being
informed of the arrival of two Esquimaux interpreters at Slave Lake, on
their way to join the party. The circumstance not only quieted their
fears of opposition from the Esquimaux on our descent to the sea next
season, but also afforded a substantial proof of our influence in being
able to bring two people of that nation from such a distance.
Akaitcho, who is a man of great penetration and shrewdness, duly
appreciated these circumstances; indeed he has often surprised us by his
correct judgment of the character of individuals amongst the traders or
of our own party, although his knowledge of their opinions was, in most
instances, obtained through the imperfect medium of interpretation. He
was an attentive observer, however, of every action, and steadily
compared their conduct with their pretensions.
By the newspapers we learned the demise of our revered and lamented
sovereign George III., and the proclamation of George IV. We concealed
this intelligence from the Indians, lest the death of their Great Father
might lead them to suppose that we should be unable to fulfil our
promises to them.
The Indians who had left Fort Providence with Belanger arrived the day
after him, and, amongst other intelligence, informed Akaitcho of some
reports they had heard to our disadvantage. They stated that Mr. Weeks,
the gentleman in charge of Fort Providence, had told them, that so far
from our being what we represented ourselves to be, the officers of a
great King, we were merely a set of dependant wretches, whose only aim
was to obtain subsistence for a season in the plentiful country of the
Copper Indians; that, out of charity we had been supplied with a portion
of goods by the trading Companies, but that there was not the smallest
probability of our being able to reward the Indians when their term of
service was completed. Akaitcho, with great good sense, instantly came
to have the matter explained, stating at the same time, that he could
not credit it. I then pointed out to him that Mr. Wentzel, with whom
they had long been accustomed to trade, had pledged the credit of his
Company for the stipulated rewards to the party that accompanied us, and
that the trading debts due by Akaitcho, and his party had already been
remitted, which was of itself a sufficient proof of our influence with
the North-West Company. I also reminded Akaitcho, that our having caused
the Esquimaux to be brought up at a great expense, was evidence of our
future intentions, and informed him that I should write to Mr. Smith,
the senior trader in the department, on the subject, when I had no
doubt that a satisfactory explanation would be given. The Indians
retired from the conference apparently satisfied, but this business was
in the end productive of much inconvenience to us, and proved very
detrimental to the progress of the Expedition. In conjunction also with
other intelligence conveyed in Mr. Back's letters respecting the
disposition of the traders towards us, particularly a statement of Mr.
Weeks, that he had been desired not to assist us with supplies from his
post, it was productive of much present uneasiness to me.
On the 28th St. Germain, the interpreter, set out with eight Canadian
voyagers and four Indian hunters to bring up our stores from Fort
Providence. I wrote by him to Mr. Smith, at Moose-Deer Island, and Mr.
Keith, at Chipewyan, both of the North-West Company, urging them in the
strongest manner to comply with the requisition for stores, which Mr.
Back would present. I also informed Mr. Simpson, principal agent in the
Athabasca for the Hudson's Bay Company, who had proffered every
assistance in his power, that we should gladly avail ourselves of the
kind intentions expressed in a letter which I had received from him.
We also sent a number of broken axes to Slave Lake to be repaired. The
dog that came to us on the 22d of October, and had become very familiar,
followed the party. We were in hopes that it might prove of some use in
dragging their loads, but we afterwards learned, that on the evening
after their departure from the house, they had the cruelty to kill and
eat it, although they had no reason to apprehend a scarcity of
provision. A dog is considered to be delicate eating by the voyagers.
The mean temperature of the air for November was -0°.7. The greatest
heat observed was 25° above, and the least 31° below, zero.
On the 1st of December the sky was clear, a slight appearance of stratus
only being visible near the horizon; but a kind of snow fell at
intervals in the forenoon, its particles so minute as to be observed
only in the sunshine. Towards noon the snow became more apparent, and
the two limbs of a prismatic arch were visible, one on each side of the
sun near its place in the heavens, the centre being deficient. We have
frequently observed this descent of minute icy spiculæ when the sky
appears perfectly clear, and could even perceive that its silent but
continued action, added to the snowy covering of the ground.
Having received one hundred balls from Fort Providence by Belanger, we
distributed them amongst the Indians, informing the leader at the same
time, that the residence of so large a party as his at the house,
amounting, with women and children, to forty souls, was producing a
serious reduction in our stock of provision. He acknowledged the justice
of the statement, and promised to remove as soon as his party had
prepared snow-shoes and sledges for themselves. Under one pretext or
other, however, their departure was delayed until the 10th of the month,
when they left us, having previously received one of our fishing-nets,
and all the ammunition we possessed. The leader left his aged mother and
two female attendants to our care, requesting that if she died during
his absence, she might be buried at a distance from the fort, that he
might not be reminded of his loss when he visited us.
Keskarrah, the guide, also remained behind, with his wife and daughter.
The old man has become too feeble to hunt, and his time is almost
entirely occupied in attendance upon his wife, who has been long
affected with an ulcer on the face, which has nearly destroyed her nose.
Lately he made an offering to the water spirits, whose wrath he
apprehended to be the cause of her malady. It consisted of a knife, a
piece of tobacco, and some other trifling articles, which were tied up
in a small bundle, and committed to the rapid with a long prayer. He
does not trust entirely, however, to the relenting of the spirits for
his wife's cure, but comes daily to Dr. Richardson for medicine.
Upon one occasion he received the medicine from the Doctor with such
formality, and wrapped it up in his rein-deer robe with such
extraordinary carefulness, that it excited the involuntary laughter of
Mr. Hood and myself. The old man smiled in his turn, and as he always
seemed proud of the familiar way in which we were accustomed to joke
with him, we thought no more upon the subject. But he unfortunately
mentioned the circumstance to his wife, who imagined in consequence,
that the drug was not productive of its usual good effects, and they
immediately came to the conclusion that some bad medicine had been
intentionally given to them. The distress produced by this idea, was in
proportion to their former faith in the potency of the remedy, and the
night was spent in singing and groaning. Next morning the whole family
were crying in concert, and it was not until the evening of the second
day that we succeeded in pacifying them. The old woman began to feel
better, and her faith in the medicine was renewed.
While speaking of this family, I may remark that the daughter, whom we
designated Green-stockings from her dress, is considered by her tribe to
be a great beauty. Mr. Hood drew an accurate portrait of her, although
her mother was averse to her sitting for it. She was afraid, she said,
that her daughter's likeness would induce the Great Chief who resided in
England to send for the original. The young lady, however, was
undeterred by any such fear. She has already been an object of contest
between her countrymen, and although under sixteen years of age, has
belonged successively to two husbands, and would probably have been the
wife of many more, if her mother had not required her services as a
nurse.
The weather during this month, was the coldest we experienced during our
residence in America. The thermometer sunk on one occasion to 57° below
zero, and never rose beyond 6° above it; the mean for the month
was -29°.7. During these intense colds, however, the atmosphere was
generally calm, and the wood-cutters and others went about their
ordinary occupations without using any extraordinary precautions, yet
without feeling any bad effects. They had their rein-deer shirts on,
leathern mittens lined with blankets, and furred caps; but none of them
used any defence for the face, or needed any. Indeed we have already
mentioned that the heat is abstracted most rapidly from the body during
strong breezes, and most of those who have perished from cold in this
country, have fallen a sacrifice to their being overtaken on a lake or
other unsheltered place, by a storm of wind. The intense colds, were,
however, detrimental to us in another way. The trees froze to their very
centres and became as hard as stones, and more difficult to cut. Some of
the axes were broken daily, and by the end of the month we had only one
left that was fit for felling trees. By intrusting it only to one of the
party who had been bred a carpenter, and who could use it with
dexterity, it was fortunately preserved until the arrival of our men
with others from Fort Providence.
A thermometer, hung in our bed-room at the distance of sixteen feet from
the fire, but exposed to its direct radiation, stood even in the
day-time occasionally at 15° below zero, and was observed more than once
previous to the kindling of the fire in the morning, to be as low as 40°
below zero. On two of these occasions the chronometers 2149 and 2151,
which during the night lay under Mr. Hood's and Dr. Richardson's
pillows, stopped while they were dressing themselves.
The rapid at the commencement of the river remained open in the
severest weather, although it was somewhat contracted in width. Its
temperature was 32°, as was the surface of the river opposite the house,
about a quarter of a mile lower down, tried at a hole in the ice,
through which water was drawn for domestic purposes. The river here was
two fathoms and a half deep, and the temperature at its bottom was at
least 42° above zero. This fact was ascertained by a spirit thermometer;
in which, probably, from some irregularity in the tube, a small portion
of the coloured liquor usually remained at 42° when the column was made
to descend rapidly. In the present instance the thermometer standing at
47° below zero, with no portion of the fluid in the upper part of the
tube, was let down slowly into the water, but drawn cautiously and
rapidly up again, when a red drop at +42° indicated that the fluid had
risen to that point or above it. At this period the daily visits of the
sun were very short, and owing to the obliquity of his rays, afforded us
little warmth or light. It is half past eleven before he peeps over a
small ridge of hills opposite to the house, and he sinks in the horizon
at half past two. On the 28th Mr. Hood, in order to attain an
approximation to the quantity of terrestrial refraction, observed the
sun's meridian altitude when the thermometer stood at 46° below zero,
at the imminent hazard of having his fingers frozen.
He found the sextant had changed its error considerably, and that the
glasses had lost their parallelism from the contraction of the brass. In
measuring the error he perceived that the diameter of the sun's image
was considerably short of twice the semi-diameter; a proof of the
uncertainty of celestial observations made during these intense frosts.
The results of this and another similar observation are given at the
bottom of the page[3].
[3] "The observed meridian altitude of [·0] upper limb was 2° 52' 51".
Temperature of the air -45° 5'{2}. By comparing this altitude,
corrected by the mean refraction and parallax, with that deduced
from the latitude which was observed in autumn, the increase of
refraction is found to be 6' 50", the whole refraction, therefore,
for the altitude 2° 52' 51" is 21' 49". Admitting that the
refraction increases in the same ratio as that of the atmosphere
at a mean state of temperature, the horizontal refraction will be
47' 22". But the diameter of the sun measured immediately after
the observation, was only 27' 7", which shews an increase of
refraction at the lower limb of 3' 29". The horizontal refraction
calculated with this difference, and the above-mentioned ratio, is
56' 3", at the temperature -45° 5'. So that in the parallel 68°
42', where if there was no refraction, the sun would be invisible
for thirty-four days, his upper limb, with the refraction 56' 3",
is, in fact, above the horizon at every noon.
The wind was from the westward a moderate breeze, and the air
perfectly clear. January 1st, 1821. Observed meridian altitude of
[·0] lower limb 2° 35' 20". [·0] apparent diameter 29° 20'. For
apparent altitude 2° 35' 20", the mean refraction is 16' 5"
(Mackay's Tables), and the true, found as detailed above, is 20'
8": which increasing in the same ratio as that of the atmosphere,
at a mean state of temperature, is 41' 19" at the horizon. But the
difference of refraction at the upper and lower limbs, increasing
also in that ratio, gives 55' 16" for the horizontal refraction.
Temperature of the air -41°. Wind north, a light breeze, a large
halo visible about the sun. January 15th, 1821.--Observed an
apparent meridian altitude [·0] lower limb 4° 24' 57". [·0]
apparent diameter 31' 5". For apparent altitude 4° 24' 57", the
mean refraction is 10' 58" (Mackay's Tables), and the true, found
as detailed above, is 14' 39", which, increasing in the same ratio
as that of the atmosphere at a mean state of temperature, is 43'
57" at the horizon. But the difference of refraction between the
upper and lower limbs increasing also in that ratio, gives 48' 30"
for the horizontal refraction.
Temperature of the air -35°, a light air from the westward, very
clear.
The extreme coldness of the weather rendered these operations
difficult and dangerous; yet I think the observations may be
depended upon within 30", as will appear by their approximate
results in calculating the horizontal refraction; for it must be
considered that an error of 30", in the refraction in altitude,
would make a difference of several minutes in the horizontal
refraction."--MR. HOOD'S _Journal_.
The aurora appeared with more or less brilliancy on twenty-eight nights
in this month, and we were also gratified by the resplendent beauty of
the moon, which for many days together performed its circle round the
heavens, shining with undiminished lustre, and scarcely disappearing
below the horizon during the twenty-four hours.
During many nights there was a halo round the moon, although the stars
shone brightly, and the atmosphere appeared otherwise clear. The same
phenomenon{3} was observed round the candles, even in our bed-rooms; the
diameter of the halo increasing as the observer receded from the light.
These halos, both round the moon and candles, occasionally exhibited
faintly some of the prismatic colours.
As it may be interesting to the reader to know how we passed our time at
this season of the year, I shall mention briefly, that a considerable
portion of it was occupied in writing up our journals. Some newspapers
and magazines, that we had received from England with our letters, were
read again and again, and commented upon, at our meals; and we often
exercised ourselves with conjecturing the changes that might take place
in the world before we could hear from it again. The probability of our
receiving letters, and the period of their arrival, were calculated to a
nicety. We occasionally paid the woodmen a visit, or took a walk for a
mile or two on the river.
In the evenings we joined the men in the hall, and took a part in their
games, which generally continued to a late hour; in short, we never
found the time to hang heavy upon our hands; and the peculiar
occupations of each of the officers afforded them more employment than
might at first be supposed. I re-calculated the observations made on our
route; Mr. Hood protracted the charts, and made those drawings of birds,
plants, and fishes, which cannot appear in this work, but which have
been the admiration of every one who has seen them. Each of the party
sedulously and separately recorded their observations on the aurora; and
Dr. Richardson contrived to obtain from under the snow, specimens of
most of the lichens in the neighbourhood, and to make himself acquainted
with the mineralogy of the surrounding country.
The Sabbath was always a day of rest with us; the woodmen were required
to provide for the exigencies of that day on Saturday, and the party
were dressed in their best attire. Divine service was regularly
performed, and the Canadians attended, and behaved with great decorum,
although they were all Roman Catholics, and but little acquainted with
the language in which the prayers were read. I regretted much that we
had not a French Prayer-Book, but the Lord's Prayer and Creed were
always read to them in their own language.
Our diet consisted almost entirely of rein-deer meat, varied twice a
week by fish, and occasionally by a little flour, but we had no
vegetables of any description. On the Sunday mornings we drank a cup of
chocolate, but our greatest luxury was tea (without sugar,) of which we
regularly partook twice a-day. With rein-deer's fat, and strips of
cotton shirts, we formed candles; and Hepburn acquired considerable
skill in the manufacture of soap, from the wood-ashes, fat, and salt.
The formation of soap was considered as rather a mysterious operation by
our Canadians, and, in their hands, was always supposed to fail if a
woman approached the kettle in which the ley{4} was boiling. Such are
our simple domestic details.
On the 30th, two hunters came from the leader, to convey ammunition to
him, as soon as our men should bring it from Fort Providence.
The men, at this time, coated the walls of the house on the outside,
with a thin mixture of clay and water, which formed a crust of ice,
that, for some days, proved impervious to the air; the dryness of the
atmosphere, however, was such, that the ice in a short time evaporated,
and gave admission to the wind as before. It is a general custom at the
forts to give this sort of coating to the walls at Christmas time. When
it was gone, we attempted to remedy its defect, by heaping up snow
against the walls.
1821, January 1.
This morning our men assembled, and greeted us with the customary
salutation on the commencement of the new year. That they might enjoy a
holiday{5}, they had yesterday collected double the usual quantity of
fire-wood, and we anxiously expected the return of the men from Fort
Providence, with some additions to their comforts. We had stronger hope
of their arrival before the evening, as we knew that every voyager uses
his utmost endeavour to reach a post upon, or previous to, the _jour de
l'an_, that he may partake of the wonted festivities. It forms, as
Christmas is said to have done among our forefathers, the theme of their
conversation for months before and after the period of its arrival. On
the present occasion we could only treat them with a little flour and
fat; these were both considered as great luxuries, but still the feast
was defective from the want of rum, although we promised them a little
when it should arrive.
The early part of January proved mild, the thermometer rose to 20° above
zero, and we were surprised by the appearance of a kind of damp fog
approaching very nearly to rain. The Indians expressed their
astonishment at this circumstance, and declared the present to be one of
the warmest winters they had ever experienced. Some of them reported
that it had actually rained in the woody parts of the country. In the
latter part of the month, however, the thermometer again descended
to -49°, and the mean temperature for the month proved to be -15°.6.
Owing to the fogs that obscured the sky the aurora was visible only upon
eighteen nights in the month.
On the 15th seven of our men arrived from Fort Providence with two kegs
of rum, one barrel of powder, sixty pounds of ball, two rolls of
tobacco, and some clothing. They had been twenty-one days on their march
from Slave Lake, and the labour they underwent was sufficiently evinced
by their sledge-collars having worn out the shoulders of their coats.
Their loads weighed from sixty to ninety pounds each, exclusive of their
bedding and provisions, which at starting must have been at least as
much more. We were much rejoiced at their arrival, and proceeded
forthwith to pierce the spirit cask, and issue to each of the household
the portion of rum which had been promised on the first day of the year.
The spirits, which were proof, were frozen, but after standing at the
fire for some time they flowed out of the consistency of honey. The
temperature of the liquid, even in this state, was so low as instantly
to convert into ice the moisture which condensed on the surface of the
dram-glass. The fingers also adhered to the glass, and would, doubtless,
have been speedily frozen had they been kept in contact with it; yet
each of the voyagers swallowed his dram without experiencing the
slightest inconvenience, or complaining of tooth-ache.
After the men had retired, an Indian, who had accompanied them from
Fort Providence, informed me that they had broached the cask on their
way up and spent two days in drinking. This instance of breach of trust
was excessively distressing to me; I felt for their privations and
fatigues, and was disposed to seize every opportunity of alleviating
them, but this, combined with many instances of petty dishonesty with
regard to meat, shewed how little confidence could be put in a Canadian
voyager when food or spirits were in question. We had been indeed made
acquainted with their character on these points by the traders; but we
thought that when they saw their officers living under equal if not
greater privations than themselves, they would have been prompted by
some degree of generous feeling to abstain from those depredations
which, under ordinary circumstances, they would scarcely have blushed to
be detected in.
As they were pretty well aware that such a circumstance could not long
be concealed from us, one of them came the next morning with an artful
apology for their conduct. He stated, that as they knew it was my
intention to treat them with a dram on the commencement of the new year,
they had helped themselves to a small quantity on that day, trusting to
my goodness for forgiveness; and being unwilling to act harshly at this
period, I did forgive them, after admonishing them to be very
circumspect in their future conduct.
The ammunition, and a small present of rum, were sent to Akaitcho.
On the 18th Vaillant, the woodman, had the misfortune to break his axe.
This would have been a serious evil a few weeks sooner, but we had just
received some others from Slave Lake.
On the 27th Mr. Wentzel and St. Germain arrived with the two Esquimaux,
Tattannoeuck and Hoeootoerock, (the belly and the ear.) The English
names, which were bestowed upon them at Fort Churchill in commemoration
of the months of their arrival there, are Augustus and Junius. The
former speaks English.
We now learned that Mr. Back proceeded with Beauparlant to Fort
Chipewyan, on the 24th of December, to procure stores, having previously
discharged J. Belleau from our service at his own request, and according
to my directions. I was the more induced to comply with this man's
desire of leaving us, as he proved to be too weak to perform the duty of
bowman which he had undertaken.
Four dogs were brought up by this party, and proved a great relief to
our wood-haulers during the remainder of the season.
By the arrival of Mr. Wentzel, who is an excellent musician, and
assisted us (_con amore_) in our attempts to amuse the men, we were
enabled to gratify the whole establishment with an occasional dance. Of
this amusement the voyagers were very fond, and not the less so, as it
was now and then accompanied by a dram as long as our rum lasted.
On the 5th of February, two Canadians came from Akaitcho for fresh
supplies of ammunition. We were mortified to learn that he had received
some further unpleasant reports concerning us from Fort Providence, and
that his faith in our good intentions was somewhat shaken. He expressed
himself dissatisfied with the quantity of ammunition we had sent him,
accused us of an intention of endeavouring to degrade him in the eyes of
his tribe, and informed us that Mr. Weeks had refused to pay some notes
for trifling quantities of goods and ammunition that had been given to
the hunters who accompanied our men to Slave Lake.
Some powder and shot, and a keg of diluted spirits were sent to him with
the strongest assurances of our regard.
On the 12th, another party of six men was sent to Fort Providence, to
bring up the remaining stores. St. Germain went to Akaitcho for the
purpose of sending two of his hunters to join this party on its route.
On comparing the language of our two Esquimaux with a copy of St. John's
Gospel, printed for the use of the Moravian Missionary Settlements on
the Labrador coast, it appeared that the Esquimaux who resort to
Churchill speak a language essentially the same with those who frequent
the Labrador coast. The Red Knives, too, recognise the expression
_Teyma_, used by the Esquimaux when they accost strangers in a friendly
manner, as similarly pronounced by Augustus, and those of his race who
frequent the mouth of the Copper-Mine River.
The tribe to which Augustus belongs resides generally a little to the
northward of Churchill. In the spring, before the ice quits the shores,
they kill seal, but during winter they frequent the borders of the large
lakes near the coast, where they obtain fish, rein-deer, and musk-oxen.
There are eighty-four grown men in the tribe, only seven of whom are
aged. Six Chiefs have each two wives; the rest of the men have only one,
so that the number of married people may amount to one hundred and
seventy. He could give me no certain data whereby I might estimate the
number of children.
Two great Chiefs, or _Ackhaiyoot_, have complete authority in directing
the movements of the party, and in distributing provisions. The
_Attoogawnoeuck_, or lesser Chiefs, are respected principally as senior
men. The tribe seldom suffers from want of food, if the Chief moves to
the different stations at the proper season. They seem to follow the
eastern custom respecting marriage. As soon as a girl is born, the young
lad who wishes to have her for a wife goes to her father's tent, and
proffers himself. If accepted, a promise is given which is considered
binding, and the girl is delivered to her betrothed husband at the
proper age.
They consider their progenitors to have come from the moon. Augustus has
no other idea of a Deity than some confused notions which he has
obtained at Churchill.
When any of the tribe are dangerously ill, a conjurer is sent for, and
the bearer of the message carries a suitable present to induce his
attendance. Upon his arrival he encloses himself in the tent with the
sick man, and sings over him for days together without tasting food; but
Augustus, as well as the rest of the uninitiated, are ignorant of the
purport of his songs, and of the nature of the Being to whom they are
addressed. The conjurers practise a good deal of jugglery in swallowing
knives, firing bullets through their bodies, _&c._, but they are at
these times generally secluded from view, and the bystanders believe
their assertions, without requiring to be eye-witnesses of the fact.
Sixteen men and three women amongst Augustus' tribe are acquainted with
the mysteries of the art. The skill of the latter is exerted only on
their own sex.
Upon the map being spread before Augustus, he soon comprehended it, and
recognised Chesterfield Inlet to be "the opening into which salt waters
enter at spring tides, and which receives a river at its upper end." He
termed it _Kannoeuck Kleenoeuck_. He has never been farther north
himself than Marble Island, which he distinguishes as being the spot
where the large ships were wrecked, alluding to the disastrous
termination of Barlow and Knight's Voyage of Discovery[4]. He says,
however, that Esquimaux of three different tribes have traded with his
countrymen, and that they described themselves as having come across
land from a northern sea. One tribe, who named themselves
_Ahwhacknanhelett_, he supposes may come from Repulse Bay; another,
designated _Ootkooseek-kalingmoeoot_, or Stone-Kettle Esquimaux, reside
more to the westward; and the third, the _Kang-orr-moeoot_, or White
Goose Esquimaux, describe themselves as coming from a great distance,
and mentioned that a party of Indians had killed several of their tribe
on the summer preceding their visit. Upon comparing the dates of this
murder with that of the last massacre which the Copper Indians have
perpetrated on these harmless and defenceless people, they appear to
differ two years; but the lapse of time is so inaccurately recorded,
that this difference in their accounts is not sufficient to destroy
their identity; besides the Chipewyans, the only other Indians who could
possibly have committed the deed, have long since ceased to go to war.
If this massacre should be the one mentioned by the Copper Indians, the
Kang-orr-moeoot must reside near the mouth of the Anatessy, or River of
Strangers.
[4] See Introduction to HEARNE'S _Journey_, page xxiv.
The winter habitations of the Esquimaux, who visit Churchill are built
of snow, and judging from one constructed by Augustus to-day, they are
very comfortable dwellings. Having selected a spot on the river, where
the snow was about two feet deep, and sufficiently compact, he commenced
by tracing out a circle twelve feet in diameter. The snow in the
interior of the circle was next divided with a broad knife, having a
long handle, into slabs three feet long, six inches thick, and two feet
deep, being the thickness of the layer of snow. These slabs were
tenacious enough to admit of being moved about without breaking, or even
losing the sharpness of their angles, and they had a slight degree of
curvature, corresponding with that of the circle from which they were
cut. They were piled upon each other exactly like courses of hewn stone
around the circle which was traced out, and care was taken to smooth the
beds of the different courses with the knife, and to cut them so as to
give the wall a slight inclination inwards, by which contrivance the
building acquired the properties of a dome. The dome was closed somewhat
suddenly and flatly by cutting the upper slabs in a wedge-form, instead
of the more rectangular shape of those below. The roof was about eight
feet high, and the last aperture was shut up by a small conical piece.
The whole was built from within, and each slab was cut so that it
retained its position without requiring support until another was placed
beside it, the lightness of the slabs greatly facilitating the
operation. When the building was covered in, a little loose snow was
thrown over it, to close up every chink, and a low door was cut through
the walls with a knife. A bed-place was next formed and neatly faced up
with slabs of snow, which was then covered with a thin layer of pine
branches, to prevent them from melting by the heat of the body. At each
end of the bed a pillar of snow was erected to place a lamp upon, and
lastly, a porch was built before the door, and a piece of clear ice was
placed in an aperture cut in the wall for a window.
The purity of the material of which the house was framed, the elegance
of its construction, and the translucency of its walls, which
transmitted a very pleasant light, gave it an appearance far superior to
a marble building, and one might survey it with feelings somewhat akin
to those produced by the contemplation of a Grecian temple, reared by
Phidias; both are triumphs of art, inimitable in their kinds.
Annexed there is a plan of a complete Esquimaux snow-house and kitchen
and other apartments, copied from a sketch made by Augustus, with the
names of the different places affixed. The only fire-place is in the
kitchen, the heat of the lamps sufficing to keep the other apartments
warm:--
[Illustration]
REFERENCES TO THE PLAN.
A. _Ablokeyt_, steps.
B. _Pahloeuk_, porch.
C. _Wadl-leek_, passage.
D. _Haddnoeweek_, for the reception of the sweepings of the house.
E. G. _Tokheuook_, antechamber, or passage.
F. _Annarroeartoweek._
H. _Eegah_, cooking-house.
I. _Eegah-natkah_, passage.
K. _Keidgewack_, for piling wood upon.
L. _Keek kloweyt_, cooking side.
M. _Keek loot_, fire-place built of stone.{6}
N. _Eegloo_, house.
O. _Kattack_, door.
P. _Nattoeuck_, clear space in the apartment.
a. d. _Eekput_, a kind of shelf where the candle stands; and
b. c. a pit where they throw their bones, and other offal of their
provision.
Q. _Eegl-luck_, bed-place.
R. _Eegleeteoet_, bed-side or sitting-place.
S. bed-place, as on the other side.{7}
T. _Kietgn-nok_, small pantry.
U. _Hoergloack_, store-house{8} for provisions.
Several deer were killed near the house, and we received some supplies
from Akaitcho. Parties were also employed in bringing in the meat that
was placed _en cache_ in the early part of the winter. More than one
half of these _caches_, however, had been destroyed by the wolves and
wolverenes; a circumstance which, in conjunction with the empty state of
our store-house, led us to fear that we should be much straitened for
provisions before the arrival of any considerable number of rein-deer in
this neighbourhood.
A good many ptarmigan were seen at this time, and the women caught some
in snares, but not in sufficient quantity to make any further alteration
in the rations of deers' meat that were daily issued. They had already
been reduced from eight, to the short allowance of five pounds.
Many wolves prowled nightly about the house, and even ventured upon the
roof of the kitchen, which is a low building, in search of food;
Keskarrah shot a very large white one, of which a beautiful and correct
drawing was made by Mr. Hood.
The temperature in February was considerably lower than in the preceding
month, although not so low as in December, the mean being -25°.3. The
greatest temperature was 1° above zero, and the lowest 51° below.
On the 5th of March the people returned from Slave Lake, bringing the
remainder of our stores, consisting of a cask of flour, thirty-six
pounds of sugar, a roll of tobacco, and forty pounds of powder. I
received a letter from Mr. Weeks, wherein he denied that he had ever
circulated any reports to our disadvantage; and stated that he had done
every thing in his power to assist us, and even discouraged Akaitcho
from leaving us, when he had sent him a message, saying, that he wished
to do so, if he was sure of being well received at Fort Providence.
We mentioned the contents of the letter to the Indians, who were at the
house at the time, when one of the hunters, who had attended the men on
their journey, stated, that he had heard many of the reports against us
from Mr. Weeks himself, and expressed his surprise that he should
venture to deny them. St. Germain soon afterwards arrived from Akaitcho,
and informed us, that he left him in good humour, and, apparently, not
harbouring the slightest idea of quitting us.
On the 12th, we sent four men to Fort Providence; and, on the 17th Mr.
Back arrived from Fort Chipewyan, having performed, since he left us, a
journey of more than one thousand miles on foot. I had every reason to
be much pleased with his conduct on this arduous undertaking; but his
exertions may be best estimated by the perusal of the following
narrative.
"On quitting Fort Enterprise, with Mr. Wentzel and two Canadians,
accompanied by two hunters and their wives, our route lay across the
barren hills. We saw, during the day, a number of deer, and,
occasionally, a solitary white wolf; and in the evening halted near a
small knot of pines. Owing to the slow progress made by the wives of the
hunters, we only travelled the first day a distance of seven miles and a
half. During the night we had a glimpse of the fantastic beauties of the
Aurora Borealis, and were somewhat annoyed by the wolves, whose nightly
howling interrupted our repose. Early the next morning we continued our
march, sometimes crossing small lakes (which were just frozen enough to
bear us,) and at other times going large circuits, in order to avoid
those which were open. The walking was extremely bad throughout the day;
for independent of the general unevenness of the ground, and the
numberless large stones which lay scattered in every direction, the
unusual warmth of the weather had dissolved the snow, which not only
kept us constantly wet, but deprived us of a firm footing, so that the
men, with their heavy burdens, were in momentary apprehension of
falling. In the afternoon a fine herd of deer was descried, and the
Indians, who are always anxious for the chase, and can hardly be
restrained from pursuing every animal they see, set out immediately. It
was late when they returned, having had good success, and bringing with
them five tongues, and the shoulder of a deer. We made about twelve
miles this day. The night was fine, and the Aurora Borealis so vivid,
that we imagined, more than once, that we heard a rustling noise like
that of autumnal leaves stirred by the wind; but after two hours of
attentive listening, we were not entirely convinced of the fact. The
coruscations were not so bright, nor the transition from one shape and
colour to another so rapid, as they sometimes are; otherwise, I have no
doubt, from the midnight silence which prevailed, that we should have
ascertained this yet undecided point.
"The morning of the 20th was so extremely hazy that we could not see ten
yards before us; it was, therefore, late when we started, and during our
journey the hunters complained of the weather, and feared they should
lose the track of our route. Towards the evening it became so thick that
we could not proceed; consequently, we halted in a small wood, situated
in a valley, having only completed a distance of six miles.
"The scenery consisted of high hills, which were almost destitute of
trees, and lakes appeared in the valleys. The cracking of the ice was so
loud during the night as to resemble thunder, and the wolves howled
around us. We were now at the commencement of the woods, and at an early
hour, on the 21st, continued our journey over high hills for three
miles, when the appearance of some deer caused us to halt, and nearly
the remainder of the day was passed in hunting them. In the evening we
stopped within sight of Prospect Hill, having killed and concealed six
deer. A considerable quantity of snow fell during the night.
"The surrounding country was extremely rugged; the hills divided by deep
ravines, and the valleys covered with broken masses of rocks and stones;
yet the deer fly (as it were,) over these impediments with apparent
ease, seldom making a false step, and springing from crag to crag with
all the confidence of the mountain goat. After passing Rein-Deer Lake,
(where the ice was so thin as to bend at every step for nine miles,) we
halted, perfectly satisfied with our escape from sinking into the water.
While some of the party were forming the encampment one of the hunters
killed a deer, a part of which was concealed to be ready for use on our
return. This evening we halted in a wood near the canoe track, after
having travelled a distance of nine miles. The wind was S.E. and the
night cloudy, with wind and rain.
"On the 24th and 25th we underwent some fatigue from being obliged to go
round the lakes, which lay across our route, and were not sufficiently
frozen to bear us. Several rivulets appeared to empty themselves into
the lakes, no animals were killed, and few tracks seen. The scenery
consisted of barren rocks and high hills, covered with lofty pine,
birch, and larch trees.
"_October 26_.--We continued our journey, sometimes on frozen lakes, and
at other times on high craggy rocks. When we were on the lakes we were
much impeded in our journey by different parts which were unfrozen.
There was a visible increase of wood, consisting of birch and larch, as
we inclined to the southward. About ten A.M. we passed Icy Portage,
where we saw various tracks of the moose, bear, and otter; and after a
most harassing march through thick woods and over fallen trees, we
halted a mile to the westward of Fishing Lake; our provisions were now
almost expended; the weather was cloudy with snow.
"On the 27th we crossed two lakes, and performed a circuitous route,
frequently crossing high hills to avoid those lakes which were not
frozen; during the day one of the women made a hole through the ice, and
caught a fine pike, which she gave to us; the Indians would not partake
of it, from the idea (as we afterwards learnt,) that we should not have
sufficient for ourselves: 'We are accustomed to starvation,' said they,
'but you are not.' In the evening, we halted near Rocky Lake. I
accompanied one of the Indians to the summit of a hill, where he shewed
me a dark horizontal cloud, extending to a considerable distance along
the mountains in the perspective, which he said was occasioned by the
Great Slave Lake, and was considered as a good guide to all the hunters
in the vicinity. On our return we saw two untenanted bears' dens.
"The night was cloudy with heavy snow, yet the following morning we
continued our tedious march; many of the lakes remained still open, and
the rocks were high and covered with snow, which continued to fall all
day, consequently we effected but a trifling distance, and that too with
much difficulty. In the evening we halted; having only performed about
seven miles. One of the Indians gave us a fish which he had caught,
though he had nothing for himself; and it was with much trouble that he
could be prevailed upon to partake of it. The night was again cloudy
with snow. On the 29th we set out through deep snow and thick woods; and
after crossing two small lakes stopped to breakfast, sending the women
on before, as they had already complained of lameness, and could not
keep pace with the party. It was not long before we overtook them on the
banks of a small lake, which though infinitely less in magnitude than
many we had passed, yet had not a particle of ice on its surface. It was
shoal, had no visible current, and was surrounded by hills. We had
nothing to eat, and were not very near an establishment where food could
be procured; however, as we proceeded, the lakes were frozen, and we
quickened our pace stopping but twice for the hunters to smoke.
Nevertheless the distance we completed was but trifling, and at night we
halted near a lake, the men being tired, and much bruised from
constantly falling amongst thick broken wood and loose stones concealed
under the snow. The night was blowing and hazy with snow.
"On the 30th we set out with the expectation of gaining the Slave Lake
in the evening; but our progress was again impeded by the same causes as
before, so that the whole day was spent in forcing our way through thick
woods and over snow-covered swamps. We had to walk over pointed and
loose rocks, which sliding from under our feet, made our path dangerous,
and often threw us down several feet on sharp-edged stones lying beneath
the snow. Once we had to climb a towering, and almost perpendicular,
rock, which not only detained us, but was the cause of great anxiety for
the safety of the women who being heavily laden with furs, and one of
them with a child at her back, could not exert themselves with the
activity which such a task required. Fortunately nothing serious
occurred, though one of them once fell with considerable violence.
During the day one of the hunters broke through the ice, but was soon
extricated; when it became dark we halted near the Bow String Portage,
greatly disappointed at not having reached the lake. The weather was
cloudy, accompanied with thick mist and snow. The Indians expected to
have found here a bear in its den, and to have made a hearty meal of its
flesh: indeed it had been the subject of conversation all day, and they
had even gone so far as to divide it, frequently asking me what part I
preferred; but when we came to the spot--oh! lamentable! it had already
fallen a prey to the devouring appetites of some more fortunate hunters,
who had only left sufficient evidence that such a thing had once
existed, and we had merely the consolation of realizing an old proverb.
One of our men, however, caught a fish which with the assistance of some
weed scraped from the rocks, (_tripe de roche_,) which forms a glutinous
substance, made us a tolerable supper; it was not of the most choice
kind, yet good enough for hungry men. While we were eating it I
perceived one of the women busily employed scraping an old skin, the
contents of which her husband presented us with. They consisted of
pounded meat, fat, and a greater proportion of Indians' and deers' hair
than either; and though such a mixture may not appear very alluring to
an English stomach, it was thought a great luxury after three days'
privation in these cheerless regions of America. Indeed had it not been
for the precaution and generosity of the Indians, we must have gone
without sustenance until we reached the Fort.
"On the 1st of November our men began to make a raft to enable us to
cross a river which was not even frozen at the edges. It was soon
finished, and three of us embarked, being seated up to the ankles in
water. We each took a pine branch for a paddle, and made an effort to
gain the opposite shore, in which, after some time, (and not without
strong apprehensions of drifting into the Slave Lake,) we succeeded. In
two hours the whole party was over, with a comfortable addition to it in
the shape of some fine fish, which the Indians had caught: of course we
did not forget to take these friends with us, and after passing several
lakes, to one of which we saw no termination, we halted within eight
miles to the fort. The Great Slave Lake was not frozen.
"In crossing a narrow branch of the lake I fell through the ice, but
received no injury; and at noon we arrived at Fort Providence, and were
received by Mr. Weeks, a clerk of the North-West Company, in charge of
the establishment. I found several packets of letters for the officers,
which I was desirous of sending to them immediately; but as the Indians
and their wives complained of illness and inability to return without
rest, a flagon of mixed spirits was given them, and their sorrows were
soon forgotten. In a quarter of an hour they pronounced themselves
excellent hunters, and capable of going any where; however, their
boasting ceased with the last drop of the bottle, when a crying scene
took place, which would have continued half the night, had not the magic
of an additional quantity of spirits dried their tears, and once more
turned their mourning into joy. It was a satisfaction to me to behold
these poor creatures enjoying themselves, for they had behaved in the
most exemplary and active manner towards the party, and with a
generosity and sympathy seldom found even in the more civilized parts of
the world: and the attention and affection which they manifested towards
their wives, evinced a benevolence of disposition and goodness of nature
which could not fail to secure the approbation of the most indifferent
observer.
"The accounts I here received of our goods were of so unsatisfactory a
nature, that I determined to proceed, as soon as the lake was frozen, to
Moose-Deer Island, or if necessary to the Athabasca Lake; both to
inform myself of the grounds of the unceremonious and negligent manner
in which the Expedition had been treated, and to obtain a sufficient
supply of ammunition and other stores, to enable it to leave its present
situation, and proceed for the attainment of its ultimate object.
"_November 9_.--I despatched to Fort Enterprise one of the men, with the
letters and a hundred musquet-balls, which Mr. Weeks lent me on
condition that they should be returned the first opportunity. An Indian
and his wife accompanied the messenger. Lieutenant Franklin was made
acquainted with the exact state of things; and I awaited with much
impatience the freezing of the lake.
"_November 16_.--A band of Slave Indians came to the fort with a few
furs and some bear's grease. Though we had not seen any of them, it
appeared that they had received information of our being in the country,
and knew the precise situation of our house, which they would have
visited long ago, but from the fear of being pillaged by the Copper
Indians. I questioned the chief about the Great Bear and Marten Lakes,
their distance from Fort Enterprise, &c.; but his answers were so vague
and unsatisfactory that they were not worth attention; his description
of Bouleau's Route, (which he said was the shortest and best, and
abundant in animals,) was very defective, though the relative points
were sufficiently characteristic, had we not possessed a better route.
He had never been at the sea; and knew nothing about the mouth of the
Copper-Mine River. In the evening he made his young men dance, and
sometimes accompanied them himself. They had four feathers in each hand.
One commenced moving in a circular form, lifting both feet at the same
time, similar to jumping sideways. After a short time a second and a
third joined, and afterwards the whole band was dancing, some in a state
of nudity, others half dressed, singing an unmusical wild air with (I
suppose,) appropriate words; the particular sounds of which were, ha!
ha! ha! uttered vociferously, and with great distortion of countenance,
and peculiar attitude of body, the feathers being always kept in a
tremulous motion. The ensuing day I made the chief acquainted with the
object of our mission, and recommended him to keep at peace with his
neighbouring tribes, and to conduct himself with attention and
friendship towards the whites. I then gave him a medal, telling him it
was the picture of the King, whom they emphatically term 'their Great
Father.'
"_November 18_.--We observed two mock moons at equal distances from the
central one; and the whole were encircled by a halo: the colour of the
inner edge of the large circle was a light red, inclining to a faint
purple.
"_November 20_.--Two parhelia were observable with a halo; the colours
of the inner edge of the circle were a bright carmine and red lake,
intermingled with a rich yellow, forming a purplish orange; the outer
edge was pale gamboge.
"_December 5_.--A man was sent some distance on the lake, to see if it
was sufficiently frozen for us to cross. I need scarcely mention my
satisfaction, when he returned with the pleasing information that it
was.
"_December 7_.--I quitted Fort Providence, being accompanied by Mr.
Wentzel, Beauparlant, and two other Canadians, provided with dogs and
sledges. We proceeded along the borders of the lake, occasionally
crossing deep bays; and at dusk encamped at the _Gros Cap_, having
proceeded twenty-five miles.
"_December 8_.--We set out on the lake with an excessively cold
north-west wind, and were frequently interrupted by large pieces of ice
which had been thrown up by the violence of the waves during the
progress of congelation, and at dusk we encamped on the Rein-Deer
Islands.
"The night was fine, with a faint Aurora Borealis. Next day the wind
was so keen, that the men proposed conveying me in a sledge that I might
be the less exposed, to which, after some hesitation, I consented.
Accordingly a rein-deer skin and a blanket were laid along the sledge,
and in these I was wrapped tight up to the chin, and lashed to the
vehicle, just leaving sufficient play for my head to perceive when I was
about to be upset on some rough projecting piece of ice. Thus equipped,
we set off before the wind (a favourable circumstance on a lake), and
went on very well until noon; when the ice being driven up in ridges, in
such a manner as to obstruct us very much, I was released; and I confess
not unwillingly, though I had to walk the remainder of the day.
"There are large openings in many parts where the ice had separated; and
in attempting to cross one of them, the dogs fell into the water, and
were saved with difficulty. The poor animals suffered dreadfully from
the cold, and narrowly escaped being frozen to death. We had quickened
our pace towards the close of the day, but could not get sight of the
land; and it was not till the sun had set that we perceived it about
four miles to our left, which obliged us to turn back, and head the
wind. It was then so cold, that two of the party were frozen almost
immediately about the face and ears. I escaped, from having the good
fortune to possess a pair of gloves made of rabbits' skin, with which I
kept constantly chafing the places which began to be affected. At six
P.M. we arrived at the fishing-huts near Stony Island, and remained the
night there. The Canadians were not a little surprised at seeing us whom
they had already given up for lost--nor less so at the manner by which
we had come--for they all affirmed, that the lake near them was quite
free from ice the day before.
"_December 10_.--At{9} an early hour we quitted the huts, lashed on
sledges as before, with some little addition to our party; and at three
hours thirty minutes P.M. arrived at the North-West Fort on Moose-Deer
Island, where I was received by Mr. Smith, with whom I had been
acquainted at the Athabasca. He said he partly expected me. The same
evening I visited Messrs. McVicar and McAuley{10} at Hudson's Bay Fort,
when I found the reports concerning our goods were but too true, there
being in reality but five packages for us. I also was informed that two
Esquimaux, Augustus the chief, and Junius his servant, who had been sent
from Fort Churchill by Governor Williams, to serve in the capacity of
interpreters to the Expedition, were at the Fort. These men were short
of stature but muscular, apparently good-natured, and perfectly
acquainted with the purpose for which they were intended. They had built
themselves a snow-house on an adjacent island, where they used
frequently to sleep. The following day I examined the pieces, and to my
great disappointment found them to consist of three kegs of spirits,
already adulterated by the voyagers who had brought them; a keg of
flour, and thirty-five pounds of sugar, instead of sixty. The ammunition
and tobacco,{11} the two greatest requisites, were left behind.
"I lost no time in making a demand from both parties; and though their
united list did not furnish the half of what was required, yet it is
possible that every thing was given by them which could be spared
consistently with their separate interests, particularly by Mr. McVicar,
who in many articles gave me the whole he had in his possession. These
things were sent away immediately for Fort Enterprise, when an
interpreter arrived with letters from Lieutenant Franklin, which
referred to a series of injurious reports said to have been propagated
against us by some one at Fort Providence.
"Finding a sufficiency of goods could not be provided at Moose-Deer
Island, I determined{12} to proceed to the Athabasca Lake, and ascertain
the inclinations of the gentlemen there. With this view I communicated
my intentions to both parties; but could only get dogs enough from the
North-West Company to carry the necessary provisions for the journey.
Indeed Mr. Smith informed me plainly he was of opinion that nothing
could be spared at Fort Chipewyan; that goods had never been transported
so long a journey in the winter season, and that the same dogs could not
possibly go and return; besides, it was very doubtful if I could be
provided with dogs there; and finally, that the distance was great, and
would take sixteen days to perform it. He added that the provisions
would be mouldy and bad, and that from having to walk constantly on
snow-shoes, I should suffer a great deal of misery and fatigue.
Notwithstanding these assertions, on the 23d of December I left the
Fort, with Beauparlant and a Bois-brulé, each having a sledge drawn by
dogs, laden with pemmican. We crossed an arm of the lake, and entered
the Little Buffalo River, which is connected with the Salt River, and is
about fifty yards wide at its junction with the lake--the water is
brackish. This route is usually taken in the winter, as it cuts off a
large angle in going to the Great Slave River. In the afternoon we
passed two empty fishing-huts, and in the evening encamped amongst some
high pines on the banks of the river, having had several snow-showers
during the day, which considerably{13} impeded the dogs, so that we had
not proceeded more than fifteen miles.
"_December 24_ and _25_.--We continued along the river, frequently
making small portages to avoid going round the points, and passed some
small canoes, which the Indians had left for the winter. The snow was so
deep that the dogs were obliged to stop every ten minutes to rest; and
the cold so excessive, that both the men were badly frozen on both sides
of the face and chin. At length, having come to a long meadow, which the
dogs could not cross that night, we halted in an adjoining wood, and
were presently joined by a Canadian, who was on his return to the fort,
and who treated us with some fresh meat in exchange for pemmican. During
the latter part of the day we had seen numerous tracks of the moose,
buffalo, and marten.
"_December 26_.--The weather was so cold that we were compelled to run
to prevent ourselves from freezing; our route lay across some large
meadows which appeared to abound in animals, though the Indians around
Slave Lake are in a state of great want. About noon we passed a
sulphur-stream, which ran into the river; it appeared to come from a
plain about fifty yards distant. There were no rocks near it, and the
soil through which it took its course was composed of a reddish clay. I
was much galled by the strings of the snow-shoes during the day, and
once got a severe fall, occasioned by the dogs running over one of my
feet, and dragging me some distance, my snow-shoe having become
entangled with the sledge. In the evening we lost our way, from the
great similarity of appearance in the country, and it was dark before we
found it again, when we halted in a thick wood, after having come about
sixteen miles from the last encampment. Much snow fell during the night.
"At an early hour on the 27th of December, we continued our journey over
the surface of a long but narrow lake, and then through a wood, which
brought us to the _grand detour_ on the Slave River. The weather was
extremely cloudy, with occasional falls of snow, which tended greatly to
impede our progress, from its gathering in lumps between the dogs' toes;
and though they did not go very fast, yet my left knee pained me so
much, that I found it difficult to keep up with them. At three P.M. we
halted within nine miles of the Salt River, and made a hearty meal of
mouldy pemmican.
"_December 28_ and _29_.--We had much difficulty in proceeding, owing to
the poor dogs being quite worn out, and their feet perfectly raw. We
endeavoured to tie shoes on them, to afford them some little relief,
but they continually came off when amongst deep snow, so that it
occupied one person entirely to look after them. In this state they were
hardly of any use among the steep ascents of the portages, when we were
obliged to drag the sledges ourselves. We found a few of the rapids
entirely frozen. Those that were not had holes and large spaces about
them, from whence issued a thick vapour, and in passing this we found it
particularly cold; but what appeared most curious was the number of
small fountains which rose through the ice, and often rendered it
doubtful which way we should take. I was much disappointed at finding
several falls (which I had intended to sketch) frozen almost even with
the upper and lower parts of the stream; the ice was connected by a thin
arch, and the rushing of the water underneath might be heard at a
considerable distance. On the banks of these rapids there was a constant
overflowing of the water, but in such small quantities as to freeze
before it had reached the surface of the central ice, so that we passed
between two ridges of icicles, the transparency of which was beautifully
contrasted by the flakes of snow and the dark green branches of the
over-hanging pine.
"Beauparlant complained bitterly of the cold whilst among the rapids,
but no sooner had he reached the upper part of the river than he found
the change of the temperature so great, that he vented his indignation
against the heat.--"Mais c'est terrible," said he, to be frozen and
sun-burnt in the same day. The poor fellow, who had been a long time in
the country, regarded it as the most severe punishment that could have
been inflicted on him, and would willingly have given a part of his
wages rather than this disgrace had happened; for there is a pride
amongst "Old Voyagers," which makes them consider the state of being
frost-bitten as effeminate, and only excusable in a "Pork-eater," or one
newly come into the country. I was greatly fatigued, and suffered acute
pains in the knees and legs, both of which were much swollen when we
halted a little above the Dog River.
"_December 30_ and _31_.--Our journey these days was by far the most
annoying we had yet experienced; but, independent of the vast masses of
ice that were piled on one another, as well as the numerous open places
about the rapids (and they did not a little impede us,) there was a
strong gale from the north-west, and so dreadfully keen, that our time
was occupied in rubbing the frozen parts of the face, and in attempting
to warm the hands, in order to be prepared for the next operation.
Scarcely was one place cured by constant friction than another was
frozen; and though there was nothing pleasant about it, yet it was
laughable enough to observe the dexterity which was used in changing the
position of the hand from the face to the mitten, and _vice versâ_. One
of the men was severely affected, the whole side of his face being
nearly raw. Towards sunset I suffered so much in my knee and ankle, from
a recent sprain, that it was with difficulty I could proceed with
snow-shoes to the encampment on the Stony Islands. But in this point I
was not singular: for Beauparlant was almost as bad, and without the
same cause.
1821. January 1.
"We set out with a quick step, the wind still blowing fresh from the
north-west, which seemed in some measure to invigorate the dogs; for
towards sunset they left me considerably behind. Indeed my legs and
ankles were now so swelled, that it was excessive pain to drag the
snow-shoes after me. At night we halted on the banks of Stony River,
when I gave the men a glass of grog, to commemorate the new year; and
the next day, January 2, we arrived at Fort Chipewyan, after a journey
of ten days and four hours--the shortest time in which the distance had
been performed at the same season. I found Messrs. G. Keith and S.
McGillivray in charge of the fort, who were not a little surprised to
see me. The commencement of the new year is the rejoicing season of the
Canadians, when they are generally intoxicated for some days. I
postponed making any demand till this time of festivity should cease;
but on the same day I went over to the Hudson's Bay Fort, and delivered
Lieutenant Franklin's letters to Mr. Simpson. If they were astonished on
one side to see me, the amazement was still greater on the other; for
reports were so far in advance, that we were said to have already fallen
by the spears of the Esquimaux.
"_January 3_.--I made a demand from both parties for supplies; such as
ammunition, gun-flints, axes, files, clothing, tobacco, and spirits. I
stated to them our extreme necessity, and that without their assistance
the Expedition must be arrested in its progress. The answer from the
North-West gentlemen was satisfactory enough; but on the Hudson's Bay
side I was told, "that any farther assistance this season entirely
depended on the arrival of supplies expected in a few weeks from a
distant establishment." I remained at Fort Chipewyan five weeks, during
which time some laden sledges did arrive, but I could not obtain any
addition to the few articles I had procured at first. A packet of
letters for us, from England, having arrived, I made preparations for
my return, but not before I had requested both Companies to send next
year, from the depôts, a quantity of goods for our use, specified in
lists furnished to them.
"The weather, during my abode at Chipewyan, was generally mild, with
occasional heavy storms, most of which were anticipated by the activity
of the Aurora Borealis; and this I observed had been the case between
Fort Providence and the Athabasca in December and January, though not
invariably so in other parts of the country. One of the partners of the
North-West Company related to me the following singular story:--'He was
travelling in a canoe in the English River, and had landed near the
Kettle Fall, when the coruscations of the Aurora Borealis were so vivid
and low, that the Canadians fell on their faces, and began praying and
crying, fearing they should be killed; he himself threw away his gun and
knife, that they might not attract the flashes, for they were within two
feet from the earth, flitting along with incredible swiftness, and
moving parallel to its surface. They continued for upwards of five
minutes, as near as he could judge, and made a loud rustling noise, like
the waving of a flag in a strong breeze. After they had ceased, the sky
became clear, with little wind.'
"_February 9_.--Having got every thing arranged, and had a hearty
breakfast with a _coupe de l'eau de vie_, (a custom amongst the
traders,) I took my departure, or rather attempted to do so, for on
going to the gate there was a long range of women, who came to bid me
farewell. They were all dressed (after the manner of the country) in
blue or green cloth, with their hair fresh greased, separated before,
and falling down behind, not in careless tresses, but in a good sound
tail, fastened with black tape or riband. This was considered a great
compliment, and the ceremony consisted in embracing the whole party.
"I had with me four sledges, laden with goods for the Expedition, and a
fifth belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company. We returned exactly by the
same route, suffering no other inconvenience but that arising from the
chafing of the snow-shoe, and bad weather. Some Indians, whom we met on
the banks of the Little Buffalo River, were rather surprised at seeing
us, for they had heard that we were on an island, which was surrounded
by Esquimaux. The dogs were almost worn out, and their feet raw, when,
on February the 20th, we arrived at Moose-Deer Island with our goods all
in good order. Towards the end of the month two of our men arrived with
letters from Lieutenant Franklin, containing some fresh demands, the
major part of which I was fortunate enough to procure without the least
trouble. Having arranged the accounts and receipts between the Companies
and the Expedition, and sent every thing before me to Fort Providence, I
prepared for my departure; and it is but justice to the gentlemen of
both parties at Moose-Deer Island to remark, that they afforded the
means of forwarding our stores in the most cheerful and pleasant manner.
"_March 5_.--I took leave of the gentlemen at the forts, and, in the
afternoon, got to the fisheries near Stony Island, where I found Mr.
McVicar, who was kind enough to have a house ready for my reception; and
I was not a little gratified at perceiving a pleasant-looking girl
employed in roasting a fine joint, and afterwards arranging the table
with all the dexterity of an accomplished servant.
"_March 6_.--We set out at daylight, and breakfasted at the Rein-Deer
Islands. As the day advanced, the heat became so oppressive, that each
pulled off his coat and ran till sunset, when we halted with two men,
who were on their return to Moose-Deer Island. There was a beautiful
Aurora Borealis in the night; it rose about N.b.W., and divided into
three bars, diverging at equal distances as far as the zenith, and then
converging until they met in the opposite horizon; there were some
flashes at right angles to the bars.
"_March 7_.--We arrived at Fort Providence, and found our stores safe
and in good order. There being no certainty when the Indian, who was to
accompany me to our house, would arrive, and my impatience to join my
companions increasing as I approached it, after making the necessary
arrangements with Mr. Weeks respecting our stores, on March the 10th I
quitted the fort, with two of our men, who had each a couple of dogs and
a sledge laden with provision. On the 13th we met the Indian, near Icy
Portage, who was sent to guide me back. On the 14th we killed a deer,
and gave the dogs a good feed; and on the 17th, at an early hour, we
arrived at Fort Enterprise, having travelled about eighteen miles a-day.
I had the pleasure of meeting my friends all in good health, after an
absence of nearly five months, during which time I had travelled one
thousand one hundred and four miles, on snow-shoes, and had no other
covering at night, in the woods, than a blanket and deer-skin, with the
thermometer frequently at -40°, and once at -57°; and sometimes passing
two or three days without tasting food."
CHAPTER IX.
Continuation of Proceedings at Fort Enterprise--Some Account of the
Copper Indians--Preparations for the Journey to the Northward.
1821. March 18.
I shall now give a brief account of the Copper Indians, termed by the
Chipewyans, Tantsawhot-dinneh, or Birch-rind Indians. They were
originally a tribe of the Chipewyans, and, according to their own
account, inhabited the south side of Great Slave Lake, at no very
distant period. Their language, traditions, and customs, are essentially
the same with those of the Chipewyans, but in personal character they
have greatly the advantage of that people; owing, probably, to local
causes, or perhaps to their procuring their food more easily and in
greater abundance. They hold women in the same low estimation as the
Chipewyans do, looking upon them as a kind of property, which the
stronger may take from the weaker, whenever there is just reason for
quarrelling, if the parties are of their own nation, or whenever they
meet, if the weaker party are Dog-ribs or other strangers. They suffer,
however, the kinder affections to shew themselves occasionally; they,
in general, live happily with their wives, the women are contented with
their lot, and we witnessed several instances of strong attachment. Of
their kindness to strangers we are fully qualified to speak; their love
of property, attention to their interests, and fears for the future,
made them occasionally clamorous and unsteady; but their delicate and
humane attention to us, in a season of great distress, at a future
period, are indelibly engraven on our memories. Of their notions of a
Deity, or future state, we never could obtain any satisfactory account;
they were unwilling, perhaps, to expose their opinions to the chance of
ridicule. Akaitcho generally evaded our questions on these points, but
expressed a desire to learn from us, and regularly attended Divine
Service during his residence at the fort, behaving with the utmost
decorum.
This leader, indeed, and many others of his tribe, possess a laudable
curiosity, which might easily be directed to the most important ends;
and I believe, that a well-conducted Christian mission to this quarter
would not fail of producing the happiest effect. Old Keskarrah alone
used boldly to express his disbelief of a Supreme Deity, and state that
he could not credit the existence of a Being, whose power was said to
extend every where, but whom he had not yet seen, although he was now an
old man. The aged sceptic is not a little conceited, as the following
exordium to one of his speeches evinces: "It is very strange that I
never meet with any one who is equal in sense to myself." The same old
man, in one of his communicative moods, related to us the following
tradition. The earth had been formed, but continued enveloped in total
darkness, when a bear and a squirrel met on the shores of a lake; a
dispute arose as to their respective powers, which they agreed to settle
by running in opposite directions round the lake, and whichever arrived
first at the starting point, was to evince his superiority by some
signal act of power. The squirrel beat, ran up a tree, and loudly
demanded light, which instantly beaming forth, discovered a bird
dispelling the gloom with its wings; the bird was afterwards recognised
to be a crow. The squirrel next broke a piece of bark from the tree,
endowed it with the power of floating, and said, "Behold the material
which shall afford the future inhabitants of the earth the means of
traversing the waters."
The Indians are not the first people who have ascribed the origin of
nautics to the ingenuity of the squirrel. The Copper Indians consider
the bear, otter, and other animals of prey, or rather some kind of
spirits which assume the forms of these creatures, as their constant
enemies, and the cause of every misfortune they endure; and in seasons
of difficulty or sickness they alternately deprecate and abuse them.
Few of this nation have more than one wife at a time, and none but the
leaders have more than two. Akaitcho has three, and the mother of his
only son is the favourite. They frequently marry two sisters, and there
is no prohibition to the intermarriage of cousins, but a man is
restricted from marrying his niece.
The last war excursion they made against the Esquimaux was ten years
ago, when they destroyed about thirty persons, at the mouth of what they
term Stony-Point River, not far from the mouth of the Copper-Mine River.
They now seem desirous of being on friendly terms with that persecuted
nation, and hope, through our means, to establish a lucrative commerce
with them. Indeed, the Copper Indians are sensible of the advantages
that would accrue to them, were they made the carriers of goods between
the traders and Esquimaux.
At the time of Hearne's visit, the Copper Indians being unsupplied with
fire-arms, were oppressed by the Chipewyans; but even that traveller had
occasion to praise their kindness of heart. Since they have received
arms from the traders, the Chipewyans are fearful of venturing upon
their lands; and all of that nation, who frequent the shores of Great
Slave Lake, hold the name of Akaitcho in great respect. The Chipewyans
have no leader of equal authority amongst themselves.
The number of the Copper Indians may be one hundred and ninety souls,
_viz._, eighty men and boys, and one hundred and ten women and young
children. There are forty-five hunters in the tribe. The adherents of
Akaitcho amount to about forty men and boys; the rest follow a number of
minor chiefs.
For the following notices of the nations on Mackenzie's River, we are
principally indebted to Mr. Wentzel, who resided for many years in that
quarter.
The _Thlingcha-dinneh_, or Dog-ribs, or, as they are sometimes termed
after the Crees, who formerly warred against them, _Slaves_, inhabit the
country to the westward of the Copper Indians, as far as Mackenzie's
River. They are of a mild, hospitable, but rather indolent, disposition;
spend much of their time in amusements, and are fond of singing and
dancing. In this respect, and in another, they differ very widely from
most of the other Aborigines of North America. I allude to their kind
treatment of the women. The men do the laborious work, whilst their
wives employ themselves in ornamenting their dresses with quill-work,
and in other occupations suited to their sex. Mr. Wentzel has often
known the young married men to bring specimens of their wives'
needle-work to the forts, and exhibit them with much pride. Kind
treatment of the fair sex being usually considered as an indication of
considerable progress in civilization, it might be worth while to
inquire how it happens, that this tribe has stept so far beyond its
neighbours. It has had, undoubtedly, the same common origin with the
Chipewyans, for their languages differ only in accent, and their mode of
life is essentially the same. We have not sufficient data to prosecute
the inquiry with any hope of success, but we may recall to the reader's
memory what was formerly mentioned, that the Dog-ribs say they came from
the westward, whilst the Chipewyans say that they migrated from the
eastward.
When bands of Dog-ribs meet each other after a long absence, they
perform a kind of dance. A piece of ground is cleared for the purpose,
if in winter of the snow, or if in summer of the bushes; and the dance
frequently lasts for two or three days, the parties relieving each other
as they get tired. The two bands commence the dance with their backs
turned to each other, the individuals following one another in Indian
file, and holding the bow in the left hand, and an arrow in the right.
They approach obliquely, after many turns, and when the two lines are
closely back to back, they feign to see each other for the first time,
and the bow is instantly transferred to the right hand, and the arrow to
the left, signifying that it is not their intention to employ them
against their friends. At a fort they use feathers instead of bows. The
dance is accompanied with a song. These people are the dancing-masters
of the country. The Copper Indians have neither dance nor music but what
they borrow from them. On our first interview with Akaitcho, at Fort
Providence, he treated us, as has already been mentioned, with a
representation of the Dog-rib dance; and Mr. Back, during his winter
journey, had an opportunity of observing it performed by the Dog-ribs
themselves.
The chief tribe of the Dog-rib nation, termed Horn Mountain Indians,
inhabit the country betwixt Great Bear Lake, and the west end of Great
Slave Lake. They muster about two hundred men and boys capable of
pursuing the chase. Small detachments of the nation frequent Marten
Lake, and hunt during the summer in the neighbourhood of Fort
Enterprise. Indeed this part of the country was formerly exclusively
theirs, and most of the lakes and remarkable hills bear the names which
they imposed upon them. As the Copper Indians generally pillage them of
their women and furs when they meet, they endeavour to avoid them, and
visit their ancient quarters on the barren grounds only by stealth.
Immediately to the northward of the Dog-ribs, on the north side of Bear
Lake River, are the _Kawcho-dinneh_, or Hare Indians, who also speak a
dialect of the Chipewyan language, and have much of the same manners
with the Dog-ribs, but are considered both by them and by the Copper
Indians, to be great conjurers. These people report that in their
hunting excursions to the northward of Great Bear Lake they meet small
parties of Esquimaux.
Immediately to the northward of the Hare Indians, on both banks of
Mackenzie's River, are the _Tykothee-dinneh_, Loucheux, Squint-Eyes, or
Quarrellers. They speak a language distinct from the Chipewyan. They war
often with the Esquimaux at the mouth of Mackenzie's River, but have
occasionally some peaceable intercourse with them, and it would appear
that they find no difficulty in understanding each other, there being
considerable similarity in their languages. Their dress also resembles
the Esquimaux, and differs from that of the other inhabitants of
Mackenzie's River. The Tykothee-dinneh trade with Fort Good-Hope,
situated a considerable distance below the confluence of Bear Lake River
with Mackenzie's River, and as the traders suppose, within three days'
march of the Arctic Sea. It is the most northern establishment of the
North-West Company, and some small pieces of Russian copper coin once
made their way thither across the continent from the westward. Blue or
white beads are almost the only articles of European manufacture coveted
by the Loucheux. They perforate the septum of the nose, and insert in
the opening three small shells, which they procure at a high price from
the Esquimaux.
On the west bank of Mackenzie's River there are several tribes who speak
dialects of the Chipewyan language, that have not hitherto been
mentioned. The first met with, on tracing the river to the southward
from Fort Good-Hope, are the _Ambawtawhoot-dinneh_, or Sheep Indians.
They inhabit the Rocky Mountains near the sources of the Dawhoot-dinneh
River which flows into Mackenzie's, and are but little known to the
traders. Some of them have visited Fort Good-Hope. A report of their
being cannibals may have originated in an imperfect knowledge of them.
Some distance to the southward of this people are the Rocky Mountain
Indians, a small tribe which musters about forty men and boys capable of
pursuing the chase. They differ but little from the next we are about to
mention, the _Edchawtawhoot-dinneh_, Strong-bow, Beaver, or Thick-wood
Indians, who frequent the _Rivière aux Liards_, or south branch of
Mackenzie's River. The Strong-bows resemble the Dog-ribs somewhat in
their disposition; but when they meet they assume a considerable degree
of superiority over the latter, who meekly submit to the haughtiness of
their neighbours. Until the year 1813, when a small party of them, from
some unfortunate provocation, destroyed Fort Nelson on the _Rivière aux
Liards_, and murdered its inmates, the Strong-bows were considered to be
a friendly and quiet tribe, and esteemed as excellent hunters. They take
their names, in the first instance, from their dogs. A young man is the
father of a certain dog, but when he is married, and has a son, he
styles himself the father of the boy. The women have a habit of
reproving the dogs very tenderly when they observe them fighting.--"Are
you not ashamed," say they, "are you not ashamed to quarrel with your
little brother?" The dogs appear to understand the reproof, and sneak
off.
The Strong-bows, and Rocky-Mountain Indians, have a tradition in common
with the Dog-ribs, that they came originally from the westward, from a
level country, where there was no winter, which produced trees, and
large fruits, now unknown to them. It was inhabited also by many strange
animals, amongst which there was a small one whose visage bore a
striking resemblance to the human countenance. During their residence in
this land, their ancestors were visited by a man who healed the sick,
raised the dead, and performed many other miracles, enjoining them at
the same time to lead good lives, and not to eat of the entrails of
animals, nor to use the brains for dressing skins until after the third
day; and never to leave the skulls of deer upon the ground within the
reach of dogs and wolves, but to hang them carefully upon trees. No one
knew from whence this good man came, or whither he went. They were
driven from that land by the rising of the waters, and following the
tracks of animals on the sea-shore, they directed their course to the
northward. At length they came to a strait, which they crossed upon a
raft, but the sea has since frozen, and they have never been able to
return. These traditions are unknown to the Chipewyans.
The number of men and boys of the Strong-bow nation who are capable of
hunting, may amount to seventy.
There are some other tribes who also speak dialects of the Chipewyan,
upon the upper branches of the Rivière aux Liards, such as the
_Nohhannies_ and the _Tsillawdawhoot-dinneh_, or Brushwood Indians. They
are but little known, but the latter are supposed occasionally to visit
some of the establishments on Peace River.
Having now communicated as briefly as I could the principal facts that
came to our knowledge regarding the Indians in this quarter, I shall
resume the narrative of events at Fort Enterprise.--The month of March
proved fine. The thermometer rose once to 24° above zero, and fell upon
another day 49° below zero, but the mean was -11-1/2°.
On the 23d the last of our winter's stock of deer's meat was expended,
and we were compelled to issue a little pounded meat which we had
reserved for making pemmican for summer use. Our nets, which were set
under the ice on the 15th, produced only two or three small fish daily.
Amongst these was the round fish, a species of Coregonus, which we had
not previously seen.
On the following day two Indians came with a message from the Hook, the
chief next to Akaitcho in authority amongst the Copper Indians. His band
was between West Marten and Great Bear Lakes, and he offered to provide
a quantity of dried meat for us on the banks of the Copper-Mine River in
the beginning of summer, provided we sent him goods and ammunition. It
was in his power to do this without inconvenience, as he generally
spends the summer months on the banks of the river, near the Copper
Mountain; but we had no goods to spare, and I could not venture to send
any part of our small stock of ammunition until I saw what the
necessities of our own party required. I told them, however, that I
would gladly receive either provisions or leather when we met, and would
pay for them by notes on the North-West Company's post; but to prevent
any misunderstanding with Mr. Weeks, I requested them to take their
winter's collection of furs to Fort Providence before they went to the
Copper-Mine River. They assured me that the Hook would watch anxiously
for our passing, as he was unwell, and wished to consult the doctor.
Several circumstances having come lately to my knowledge that led me to
suspect the fidelity of our interpreters, they were examined upon this
subject. It appeared that in their intercourse with the Indians they had
contracted very fearful ideas of the danger of our enterprise, which
augmented as the time of our departure drew near, and had not hesitated
to express their dislike to the journey in strong terms amongst the
Canadians, who are accustomed to pay much deference to the opinions of
an interpreter. But this was not all; I had reason to suspect they had
endeavoured to damp the exertions of the Indians, with the hope that the
want of provision in the spring would put an end to our progress at
once. St. Germain, in particular, had behaved in a very equivocal way,
since his journey to Slave Lake. He denied the principal parts of the
charge in a very dogged manner, but acknowledged he had told the leader
that we had not paid him the attention which a chief like him ought to
have received; and that we had put a great affront on him in sending him
only a small quantity of rum. An artful man like St. Germain, possessing
a flow of language, and capable of saying even what he confessed, had
the means of poisoning the minds of the Indians without committing
himself by any direct assertion; and it is to be remarked, that unless
Mr. Wentzel had possessed a knowledge of the Copper Indian language, we
should not have learned what we did.
Although perfectly convinced of his baseness, I could not dispense with
his services; and had no other resource but to give him a serious
admonition, and desire him to return to his duty; after endeavouring to
work upon his fears by an assurance, that I would certainly convey him
to England for trial, if the Expedition should be stopped through his
fault. He replied, "It is immaterial to me where I lose my life, whether
in England, or in accompanying you to the sea, for the whole party will
perish." After this discussion, however, he was more circumspect in his
conduct.
On the 28th we received a small supply of meat from the Indian lodges.
They had now moved into a lake, about twelve miles from us, in
expectation of the deer coming soon to the northward.
On the 29th Akaitcho arrived at the house, having been sent for to make
some arrangements respecting the procuring of provision, and that we
might learn what his sentiments were with regard to accompanying us on
our future journey. Next morning we had a conference, which I commenced
by shewing him the charts and drawings that were prepared to be sent to
England, and explaining fully our future intentions. He appeared much
pleased at this mark of attention, and, when his curiosity was
satisfied, began his speech by saying, that "although a vast number of
idle rumours had been floating about the barren grounds during the
winter," he was convinced that the representations made to him at Fort
Providence regarding the purport of the Expedition were perfectly
correct. I next pointed out to him the necessity of our proceeding with
as little delay as possible during the short period of the year that was
fit for our operations, and that to do so it was requisite we should
have a large supply of provisions at starting. He instantly admitted the
force of these observations, and promised that he and his young men
should do their utmost to comply with our desires: and afterwards, in
answer to my questions, informed us that he would accompany the
Expedition to the mouth of the Copper-Mine River, or, if we did not meet
with Esquimaux there, for some distance along the coast; he was anxious,
he said, to have an amicable interview with that people; and he further
requested, that, in the event of our meeting with Dog-ribs on the
Copper-Mine River, we should use our influence to persuade them to live
on friendly terms with his tribe. We were highly pleased to find his
sentiments so favourable to our views, and, after making some minor
arrangements, we parted, mutually content. He left us on the morning of
the 31st, accompanied by Augustus, who, at his request, went to reside
for a few days at his lodge.
On the 4th of April our men arrived with the last supply of goods from
Fort Providence, the fruits of Mr. Back's arduous journey to the
Athabasca Lake; and on the 17th Belanger _le gros_ and Belanger _le
rouge_, for so our men discriminated them, set out for Slave Lake, with
a box containing the journals of the officers, charts, drawings,
observations, and letters addressed to the Secretary of State for
Colonial Affairs. They also conveyed a letter for Governor Williams, in
which I requested that he would, if possible, send a schooner to Wager
Bay with provisions and clothing to meet the exigencies of the party,
should they succeed in reaching that part of the coast.
Connoyer, who was much tormented with biliary calculi, and had done
little or no duty all the winter, was discharged at the same time, and
sent down in company with an Indian named the Belly.
The commencement of April was fine, and for several days a considerable
thaw took place in the heat of the sun, which laying bare some of the
lichens on the sides of the hills, produced a consequent movement of the
rein-deer to the northward, and induced the Indians to believe that the
spring was already commencing. Many of them, therefore, quitted the
woods, and set their snares on the barren grounds near Fort Enterprise.
Two or three days of cold weather, however, towards the middle of the
month, damped their hopes, and they began to say that another moon must
elapse before the arrival of the wished-for season. In the mean time
their premature departure from the woods, caused them to suffer from
want of food, and we were in some degree involved in their distress. We
received no supplies from the hunters, our nets produced but very few
fish, and the pounded meat which we had intended to keep for summer use
was nearly expended. Our meals at this period were always scanty, and we
were occasionally restricted to one in the day.
The Indian families about the house, consisting principally of women and
children, suffered most. I had often requested them to move to
Akaitcho's lodge, where they were more certain of receiving supplies;
but as most of them were sick or infirm, they did not like to quit the
house, where they daily received medicines from Dr. Richardson, to
encounter the fatigue of following the movements of a hunting camp. They
cleared away the snow on the site of the autumn encampments to look for
bones, deer's feet, bits of hide, and other offal. When we beheld them
gnawing the pieces of hide, and pounding the bones, for the purpose of
extracting some nourishment from them by boiling, we regretted our
inability to relieve them, but little thought that we should ourselves
be afterwards driven to the necessity of eagerly collecting these same
bones a second time from the dunghill.
At this time, to divert the attention of the men from their wants, we
encouraged the practice of sliding down the steep bank of the river upon
sledges. These vehicles descended the snowy bank with much velocity, and
ran a great distance upon the ice. The officers joined in the sport, and
the numerous overturns we experienced formed no small share of the
amusement of the party; but on one occasion, when I had been thrown from
my seat and almost buried in the snow, a fat Indian woman drove her
sledge over me, and sprained my knee severely.
On the 18th at eight in the evening a beautiful halo appeared round the
sun when it was about 8° high. The colours were prismatic, and very
bright, the red next the sun.
On the 21st the ice in the river was measured and found to be five feet
thick, and in setting the nets in Round Rock Lake, it was there
ascertained to be six feet and a half thick, the water being six fathoms
deep. The stomachs of some fish were at this time opened by Dr.
Richardson, and found filled with insects which appear to exist in
abundance under the ice during the winter.
On the 22nd a moose-deer was killed at the distance of forty-five miles;
St. Germain went for it with a dog-sledge, and returned with unusual
expedition on the morning of the third day. This supply was soon
exhausted, and we passed the 27th without eating, with the prospect of
fasting a day or two longer, when old Keskarrah entered with the
unexpected intelligence of having killed a deer. It was divided betwixt
our own family and the Indians, and during the night a seasonable supply
arrived from Akaitcho. Augustus returned with the men who brought it,
much pleased with the attention he had received from the Indians during
his visit to Akaitcho.
Next day Mr. Wentzel set out with every man that we could spare from
the fort, for the purpose of bringing meat from the Indians as fast as
it could be procured. Dr. Richardson followed them two days afterwards,
to collect specimens of the rocks in that part of the country. On the
same day the two Belangers arrived from Fort Providence, having been
only five days on the march from thence.
The highest temperature in April was +40°, the lowest -32°, the mean
+4°.6. The temperature of the rapid, examined on the 30th by Messrs.
Back and Hood, was 32° at the surface, 33° at the bottom.
On the 7th of May, Dr. Richardson returned. He informed me that the
rein-deer were again advancing to the northward, but that the leader had
been joined by several families of old people, and that the daily
consumption of provision at the Indian tents was consequently great.
This information excited apprehensions of being very scantily provided
when the period of our departure should arrive.
The weather in the beginning of May was fine and warm. On the 2nd some
patches of sandy ground near the house were cleared of snow. On the 7th
the sides of the hills began to appear bare, and on the 8th a large
house-fly was seen. This interesting event spread cheerfulness through
our residence and formed a topic of conversation for the rest of the
day.
On the 9th the approach of spring was still more agreeably confirmed by
the appearance of a merganser and two gulls, and some loons, or arctic
divers, at the rapid. This day, to reduce the labour of dragging meat to
the house, the women and children and all the men, except four, were
sent to live at the Indian tents.
The blue-berries, crow-berries, eye-berries, and cran-berries, which had
been covered, and protected by the snow during the winter, might at this
time be gathered in abundance, and proved indeed a valuable resource.
The ground continued frozen, but the heat of the sun had a visible
effect on vegetation; the sap thawed in the pine-trees, and Dr.
Richardson informed me that the mosses were beginning to shoot, and the
calyptræ of some of the jungermanniæ already visible.
On the 11th Mr. Wentzel returned from the Indian lodges, having made the
necessary arrangements with Akaitcho for the drying of meat for summer
use, the bringing fresh meat to the fort and the procuring a sufficient
quantity of the resin of the spruce fir, or as it is termed by the
voyagers _gum_, for repairing the canoes previous to starting, and
during the voyage. By my desire, he had promised payment to the Indian
women who should bring in any of the latter article, and had sent
several of our own men to the woods to search for it. At this time I
communicated to Mr. Wentzel the mode in which I meant to conduct the
journey of the approaching summer. Upon our arrival at the sea, I
proposed to reduce the party to what would be sufficient to man two
canoes, in order to lessen the consumption of provisions during our
voyage, or journey along the coast; and as Mr. Wentzel had expressed a
desire of proceeding no farther than the mouth of the Copper-Mine River,
which was seconded by the Indians, who wished him to return with them, I
readily relieved his anxiety on this subject; the more so as I thought
he might render greater service to us by making deposits of provision at
certain points, than by accompanying us through a country which was
unknown to him, and amongst a people with whom he was totally
unacquainted. My intentions were explained to him in detail, but they
were of course to be modified by circumstances.
On the 14th a robin (_turdus migratorius_) appeared; this bird is hailed
by the natives as the infallible precursor of warm weather. Ducks and
geese were also seen in numbers, and the rein-deer advanced to the
northward. The merganser, (_mergus serrator_,) which preys upon small
fish, was the first of the duck tribe that appeared; next came the teal,
(_anas crecca_,) which lives upon small insects that abound in the
waters at this season; and lastly the goose, which feeds upon berries
and herbage. Geese appear at Cumberland House, in latitude 54°, usually
about the 12th of April; at Fort Chipewyan, in latitude 59°, on the 25th
of April; at Slave Lake, in latitude 61°, on the 1st of May; and at Fort
Enterprise, in latitude 64° 28', on the 12th or 14th of the same month.
On the 16th a minor chief amongst the Copper Indians, attended by his
son, arrived from Fort Providence to consult Dr. Richardson. He was
affected with snow-blindness, which was soon relieved by the dropping of
a little laudanum into his eyes twice a day. Most of our own men had
been lately troubled with this complaint, but it always yielded in
twenty or thirty hours to the same remedy.
On the 21st all our men returned from the Indians, and Akaitcho was on
his way to the fort. In the afternoon two of his young men arrived to
announce his visit, and to request that he might be received with a
salute and other marks of respect that he had been accustomed to on
visiting Fort Providence in the spring. I complied with his desire
although I regretted the expenditure of ammunition, and sent the young
men away with the customary present of powder to enable him to return
the salute, some tobacco, vermilion to paint their faces, a comb and a
looking-glass.
At eleven Akaitcho arrived; at the first notice of his appearance the
flag was hoisted at the fort, and upon his nearer approach, a number of
muskets were fired by a party of our people, and returned by his young
men. Akaitcho, preceded by his standard-bearer, led the party, and
advanced with a slow and stately step to the door where Mr. Wentzel and
I received him. The faces of the party were daubed with vermilion, the
old men having a spot on the right cheek, the young ones on the left.
Akaitcho himself was not painted. On entering he sat down on a chest,
the rest placed themselves in a circle on the floor. The pipe was passed
once or twice round, and in the mean time a bowl of spirits and water,
and a present considerable for our circumstances of cloth, blankets,
capots, shirts, _&c._, was placed on the floor for the chief's
acceptance, and distribution amongst his people. Akaitcho then commenced
his speech, but I regret to say, that it was very discouraging, and
indicated that he had parted with his good humour, at least since his
March visit. He first inquired, whether, in the event of a passage by
sea being discovered, we should come to his lands in any ship that
might be sent? And being answered, that it was probable but not quite
certain, that some one amongst us might come; he expressed a hope that
some suitable present should be forwarded to himself and nation; "for,"
said he, "the great Chief who commands where all the goods come from,
must see from the drawings and descriptions of us and our country that
we are a miserable people." I assured him that he would be remembered,
provided he faithfully fulfilled his engagement with us.
He next complained of the non-payment of my notes by Mr. Weeks, from
which he apprehended that his own reward would be withheld. "If," said
he, "your notes to such a trifling amount are not accepted, whilst you
are within such a short distance, and can hold communication with the
fort, it is not probable that the large reward which has been promised
to myself and party, will be paid when you are far distant, on your way
to your own country. It really appears to me," he continued, "as if both
the Companies consider your party as a third company, hostile to their
interests, and that neither of them will pay the notes you give to the
Indians."
Afterwards, in the course of a long conference, he enumerated many other
grounds of dissatisfaction; the principal of which were our want of
attention to him as chief, the weakness of the rum formerly sent to him,
the smallness of the present now offered, and the want of the chief's
clothing, which he had been accustomed to receive at Fort Providence
every spring. He concluded, by refusing to receive the goods now laid
before him.
In reply to these complaints it was stated that Mr. Weeks's conduct
could not be properly discussed at such a distance from his fort; that
no dependence ought to be placed on the vague reports that floated
through the Indian territory; that, for our part, although we had heard
many stories to his (Akaitcho's) disadvantage, we discredited them all;
that the rum we had sent him, being what the great men in England were
accustomed to drink, was of a milder kind, but, in fact, stronger than
what he had been accustomed to receive; and that the distance we had
come, and the speed with which we travelled, precluded us from bringing
large quantities of goods like the traders; that this had been fully
explained to him when he agreed to accompany us; and that, in
consideration of his not receiving his usual spring outfit, his debts to
the Company had been cancelled, and a present, much greater than any he
had ever received before, ordered to be got ready for his return. He
was further informed, that we were much disappointed in not receiving
any dried meat from him, an article indispensable for our summer voyage,
and which, he had led us to believe there was no difficulty in
procuring; and that, in fact, his complaints were so groundless, in
comparison with the real injury we sustained from the want of supplies,
that we were led to believe they were preferred solely for the purpose
of cloaking his own want of attention to the terms of his engagement. He
then shifted his ground, and stated, that if we endeavoured to make a
voyage along the sea-coast we should inevitably perish; and he advised
us strongly against persisting in the attempt. This part of his harangue
being an exact transcript of the sentiments formerly expressed by our
interpreters, induced us to conclude that they had prompted his present
line of conduct, by telling him, that we had goods or rum concealed. He
afterwards received a portion of our dinner, in the manner he had been
accustomed to do, and seemed inclined to make up matters with us in the
course of the evening, provided we added to the present offered to
him.{14} Being told, however, that this was impossible,{15} since we had
already offered him all the rum we had, and every article of goods we
could spare from our own equipment, his obstinacy was a little shaken,
and he made some concessions, but deferred giving a final answer, until
the arrival of Humpy, his elder brother. The young men, however, did not
choose to wait so long, and at night came for the rum, which we judged
to be a great step towards a reconciliation.
St. Germain, the most intelligent of our two interpreters, and the one
who had most influence with the Indians, being informed that their
defection was, in a great measure, attributed to the unguarded
conversations he had held with them, and which he had in part
acknowledged, exerted himself much, on the following day, in bringing
about a change in their sentiments, and with some success. The young
men, though they declined hunting, conducted themselves with the same
good humour and freedom as formerly. Akaitcho being, as he said, ashamed
to shew himself, kept close in his tent all day.
On the 24th, one of the women who accompanied us from Athabasca, was
sent down to Fort Providence, under charge of the old chief, who came
some days before for medicine for his eyes. Angelique and Roulante, the
other two women, having families, preferred accompanying the Indians
during their summer hunt. On the 25th, clothing, and other necessary
articles, were issued to the Canadians as their equipment for the
ensuing voyage. Two or three blankets, some cloth, iron work, and
trinkets were reserved for distribution amongst the Esquimaux on the
sea-coast. Laced dresses were given to Augustus and Junius. It is
impossible to describe the joy that took possession of the latter on the
receipt of this present. The happy little fellow burst into extatic
laughter, as he surveyed the different articles of his gay
habiliments[5].
[5] These men kept their dresses, and delighted in them. An Indian
Chief, on the other hand, only appears once before the donor in
the dress of ceremony which he receives, and then transfers it to
some favourite in the tribe whom he desires to reward by this
"robe of honour."
In the afternoon Humpy, the leader's elder brother; Annoethai-yazzeh,
another of his brothers; and one of our guides, arrived with the
remainder of Akaitcho's band; as also Long-legs, brother to the Hook,
with three of his band. There were now in the encampment, thirty
hunters, thirty-one women, and sixty children, in all one hundred and
twenty-one of the Copper-Indian or Red-Knife tribe. The rest of the
nation were with the Hook on the lower part of the Copper-Mine River.
Annoethai-yazzeh is remarkable amongst the Indians for the number of his
descendants; he has eighteen children living by two wives, of whom
sixteen were at the fort at this time.
In the evening we had another formidable conference. The former
complaints were reiterated, and we parted about midnight, without any
satisfactory answer to my questions, as to when Akaitcho would proceed
towards the River, and where he meant to make provision for our march. I
was somewhat pleased, however, to find, that Humpy and Annoethai-yazzeh
censured their brother's conduct, and accused him of avarice.
On the 26th the canoes were removed from the places where they had been
deposited, as we judged that the heat of the atmosphere was now so
great, as to admit of their being repaired, without risk of cracking the
bark. We were rejoiced to find that two of them had suffered little
injury from the frost during the winter. The bark of the third was
considerably rent, but it was still capable of repair.
The Indians sat in conference in their tents all the morning; and in the
afternoon, came into the house charged with fresh matter for discussion.
Soon after they had seated themselves, and the room was filled with the
customary volume of smoke from their calumets, the goods which had been
laid aside, were again presented to the leader; but he at once refused
to distribute so small a quantity amongst his men, and complained that
there were neither blankets, kettles, nor daggers, amongst them; and in
the warmth of his anger, he charged Mr. Wentzel with having advised the
distribution of all our goods to the Canadians, and thus defrauding the
Indians of what was intended for them. Mr. Wentzel, of course,
immediately repelled this injurious accusation, and reminded Akaitcho
again, that he had been told, on engaging to accompany us, that he was
not to expect any goods until his return. This he denied with an
effrontery that surprised us all, when Humpy, who was present at our
first interview at Fort Providence, declared that he heard us say, that
no goods could be taken for the supply of the Indians on the voyage; and
the first guide added, "I do not expect any thing here, I have promised
to accompany the white people to the sea, and I will, therefore, go,
confidently relying upon receiving the stipulated reward on my return."
Akaitcho did not seem prepared to hear such declarations from his
brothers, and instantly changing the subject, began to descant upon the
treatment he had received from the traders in his concerns with them,
with an asperity of language that bore more the appearance of menace
than complaint. I immediately refused to discuss this topic, as foreign
to our present business, and desired Akaitcho to recall to memory, that
he had told me on our first meeting, that he considered me the father of
every person attached to the Expedition, in which character it was
surely my duty to provide for the comfort and safety of the Canadians as
well as the Indians. The voyagers, he knew, had a long journey to
perform, and would in all probability, be exposed to much suffering from
cold on a coast destitute of wood; and, therefore, required a greater
provision of clothing than was necessary for the Indians, who, by
returning immediately from the mouth of the river, would reach Fort
Providence in August, and obtain their promised rewards. Most of the
Indians appeared to assent to this argument, but Akaitcho said, "I
perceive the traders have deceived you; you should have brought more
goods, but I do not blame you." I then told him, that I had brought from
England only ammunition, tobacco, and spirits; and that being ignorant
what other articles the Indians required, we were dependent on the
traders for supplies; but he must be aware, that every endeavour had
been used on our parts to procure them, as was evinced by Mr. Back's
journey to Fort Chipewyan. With respect to the ammunition and tobacco,
we had been as much disappointed as themselves in not receiving them,
but this was to be attributed to the neglect of those to whom they had
been intrusted. This explanation seemed to satisfy him. After some
minutes of reflection, his countenance became more cheerful, and he made
inquiry, whether his party might go to either of the trading posts they
chose on their return, and whether the Hudson's Bay Company were rich,
for they had been represented to him as a poor people? I answered him,
that we really knew nothing about the wealth of either Company, having
never concerned ourselves with trade, but that all the traders appeared
to us to be respectable. Our thoughts, I added, are fixed solely on the
accomplishment of the objects for which we came to the country. Our
success depends much on your furnishing us with provision speedily, that
we may have all the summer to work; and if we succeed a ship will soon
bring goods in abundance to the mouth of the Copper-Mine River. The
Indians talked together for a short time after this conversation, and
then the leader made an application for two or three kettles and some
blankets, to be added to the present to his young men; we were unable to
spare him any kettles, but the officers promised to give a blanket each
from their own beds.
Dinner was now brought in, and relieved us for a time from their
importunity. The leading men, as usual, received each a portion from the
table. When the conversation was resumed, the chief renewed his
solicitations for goods, but it was now too palpable to be mistaken,
that he aimed at getting every thing he possibly could, and leaving us
without the means of making any presents to the Esquimaux, or other
Indians we might meet. I resolved, therefore, on steadily refusing every
request; and when he perceived that he could extort nothing more, he
rose in an angry manner, and addressing his young men, said: "There are
too few goods for me to distribute; those that mean to follow the white
people to the sea may take them."
This was an incautious speech, as it rendered it necessary for his party
to display their sentiments. The guides, and most of the hunters,
declared their readiness to go, and came forward to receive a portion of
the present, which was no inconsiderable assortment. This relieved a
weight of anxiety from my mind, and I did not much regard the leader's
retiring in a very dissatisfied mood.
The hunters then applied to Mr. Wentzel for ammunition, that they might
hunt in the morning, and it was cheerfully given to them.
The officers and men amused themselves at prison-bars, and other
Canadian games till two o'clock in the morning, and we were happy to
observe the Indians sitting in groups enjoying the sport. We were
desirous of filling up the leisure moments of the Canadians with
amusements, not only for the purpose of enlivening their spirits, but
also to prevent them from conversing upon our differences with the
Indians, which they must have observed. The exercise was also in a
peculiar manner serviceable to Mr. Hood. Ever ardent in his pursuits, he
had, through close attention to his drawings and other avocations,
confined himself too much to the house in winter, and his health was
impaired by his sedentary habits. I could only take the part of a
spectator in these amusements, being still lame from the hurt formerly
alluded to.
The sun now sank for so short a time below the horizon, that there was
more light at midnight, than we enjoyed on some days at noon in the
winter-time.
On the 27th the hunters brought in two rein-deer. Many of the Indians
attended divine service this day, and were attentive spectators of our
addresses to the Almighty.
On the 28th I had a conversation with Long-legs, whose arrival two days
before has been mentioned. I acquainted him with the objects of our
expedition, and our desire of promoting peace between his nation and the
Esquimaux, and learned from him, that his brother the Hook was by this
time on the Copper-Mine River with his party; and that, although he had
little ammunition, yet it was possible he might have some provision
collected before our arrival at his tents. I then decorated him with
a{16} medal similar to those given to the other chiefs. He was highly
pleased with this mark of our regard, and promised to do every thing for
us in his power. Akaitcho came in during the latter part of our
conversation, with a very cheerful countenance. Jealousy of the Hook,
and a knowledge that the sentiments of the young men differed from his
own, with respect to the recent discussions, had combined to produce
this change in his conduct, and next morning he took an opportunity of
telling me that I must not think the worse of him for his importunities.
It was their custom, he said, to do so, however strange it might appear
to us, and he, as the leader of his party, had to beg for them all; but
as he saw we had not deceived him by concealing any of our goods, and
that we really had nothing left, he should ask for no more. He then told
me that he would set out for the river as soon as the state of the
country admitted of travelling. The snow, he remarked, was still too
deep for sledges to the northward, and the moss too wet to make fires.
He was seconded in this opinion by Long-legs, whom I was the more
inclined to believe, knowing that he was anxious to rejoin his family as
soon as possible.
Akaitcho now accepted the dress he had formerly refused, and next day
clothed himself in another new suit, which he had received from us in
the autumn. Ever since his arrival at the fort, he had dressed meanly,
and pleaded poverty; but, perceiving that nothing more could be gained
by such conduct, he thought proper to shew some of his riches to the
strangers who were daily arriving. In the afternoon, however, he made
another, though a covert, attack upon us. He informed me that two old
men had just arrived at the encampment with a little pounded meat which
they wished to barter. It was evident that his intention was merely to
discover whether we had any goods remaining or not. I told him that we
had nothing at present to give for meat, however much we stood in need
of it, but that we would pay for it by notes on the North-West Company,
in any kind of goods they pleased. After much artful circumlocution, and
repeated assurances of the necessities of the men who owned the meat, he
introduced them, and they readily agreed to give us the provision on our
own terms.
I have deemed it my duty to give the details of these tedious
conversations, to point out to future travellers, the art with which
these Indians pursue their objects, their avaricious nature, and the
little reliance that can be placed upon them when their interests jar
with their promises. In these respects they agree with other tribes of
northern Indians; but as has been already mentioned, their dispositions
are not cruel, and their hearts are readily moved by the cry of
distress.
The average temperature for May was nearly 32°, the greatest heat was
68°, the lowest 8°.
We had constant daylight at the end of the month, and geese and ducks
were abundant, indeed rather too much so, for our hunters were apt to
waste upon them the ammunition that was given to them for killing deer.
Uncertain as to the length of time that it might be required to last, we
did not deem a goose of equal value with the charge it cost to procure
it.
Dr. Richardson and Mr. Back having visited the country to the northward
of the Slave Rock, and reported that they thought we might travel over
it, I signified my intention of sending the first party off on Monday
the 4th of June. I was anxious to get the Indians to move on before, but
they lingered about the house, evidently with the intention of picking
up such articles as we might deem unnecessary to take. When Akaitcho
was made acquainted with my purpose of sending away a party of men, he
came to inform me that he would appoint two hunters to accompany them,
and at the same time requested that Dr. Richardson, or as he called him,
the Medicine Chief, might be sent with his own band. These Indians set a
great value upon medicine, and made many demands upon Dr. Richardson on
the prospect of his departure. He had to make up little packets, of the
different articles in his chest, not only for the leader, but for each
of the minor chiefs, who carefully placed them in their medicine bags,
noting in their memories the directions he gave for their use. The
readiness with which their requests for medical assistance were complied
with, was considered by them as a strong mark of our good intentions
towards them; and the leader often remarked, that they owed much to our
kindness in that respect; that formerly numbers had died every year, but
that not a life had been lost since our arrival amongst them. In the
present instance, however, the leader's request could not be complied
with. Dr. Richardson had volunteered to conduct the first party to the
Copper-Mine River, whilst the rest of the officers remained with me to
the last moment, to complete our astronomical observations at the
house. He, therefore, informed the leader that he would remain
stationary at Point Lake until the arrival of the whole party, where he
might be easily consulted if any of his people fell sick, as it was in
the neighbourhood of their hunting-grounds.
On the 2nd the stores were packed up in proper-sized bales for the
journey. I had intended to send the canoes by the first party, but they
were not yet repaired, the weather not being sufficiently warm for the
men to work constantly at them, without the hazard of breaking the bark.
This day one of the new trading guns, which we had recently received
from Fort Chipewyan, burst in the hands of a young Indian; fortunately,
however, without doing him any material injury. This was the sixth
accident of the kind which had occurred since our departure from Slave
Lake. Surely this deficiency in the quality of the guns, which hazards
the lives of so many poor Indians, requires the serious consideration of
the principals of the trading Companies.
On the 4th, at three in the morning, the party under the charge of Dr.
Richardson started. It consisted of fifteen voyagers, three of them
conducting dog sledges, Baldhead and Basil, two Indian hunters with
their wives, Akaiyazzeh{17} a sick Indian and his wife, together with
Angelique and Roulante; so that the party amounted to twenty-three
exclusive of children.
The burdens of the men were about eighty pounds each, exclusive of their
personal baggage, which amounted to nearly as much more. Most of them
dragged their loads upon sledges, but a few preferred carrying them on
their backs. They set off in high spirits.
After breakfast the Indians struck their tents, and the women, the boys,
and the old men who had to drag sledges, took their departure. It was
three P.M., however, before Akaitcho and the hunters left us. We issued
thirty balls to the leader, and twenty to each of the hunters and
guides, with a proportionate quantity of powder, and gave them
directions to make all the provision they could on their way to Point
Lake. I then desired Mr. Wentzel to inform Akaitcho, in the presence of
the other Indians, that I wished a deposit of provision to be made at
this place previous to next September, as a resource should we return
this way. He and the guides not only promised to see this done, but
suggested that it would be more secure if placed in the cellar, or in
Mr. Wentzel's room. The Dog-ribs, they said, would respect any thing
that was in the house, as knowing it to belong to the white people. At
the close of this conversation Akaitcho exclaimed with a smile, "I see
now that you have really no goods left, (the rooms and stores being
completely stripped,) and therefore I shall not trouble you any more,
but use my best endeavours to prepare provision for you, and I think if
the animals are tolerably numerous, we may get plenty before you can
embark on the river."
Whilst the Indians were packing up this morning, one of the women
absconded. She belongs to the Dog-rib tribe, and had been taken by force
from her relations by her present husband, who treated her very harshly.
The fellow was in my room when his mother announced the departure of his
wife, and received the intelligence with great composure, as well as the
seasonable reproof of Akaitcho. "You are rightly served," said the chief
to him, "and will now have to carry all your things yourself, instead of
having a wife to drag them." One hunter remained after the departure of
the other Indians.
On the 5th the Dog-rib woman presented herself on a hill at some
distance from the house, but was afraid to approach us, until the
interpreter went and told her that neither we nor the Indian who
remained with us, would prevent her from going where she pleased. Upon
this she came to solicit a fire-steel and kettle. She was at first
low-spirited, from the non-arrival of a country-woman who had promised
to elope with her, but had probably been too narrowly watched. The
Indian hunter, however, having given her some directions as to the
proper mode of joining her own tribe, she became more composed, and
ultimately agreed to adopt his advice of proceeding at once to Fort
Providence, instead of wandering about the country all summer in search
of them, at the imminent hazard of being starved.
On the 7th the wind, shifting to the southward, dispersed the clouds
which had obscured the sky for several days, and produced a change of
temperature under which the snow rapidly disappeared. The thermometer
rose to 73°, many flies came forth, musquitoes shewed themselves for the
first time, and one swallow made its appearance. We were the more
gratified with these indications of summer, that St. Germain was enabled
to commence the repair of the canoes, and before night had completed the
two which had received the least injury. Augustus killed two deer
to-day.
On the 10th the dip of the magnetic needle being observed, shewed a
decrease of 22' 44" since last autumn. The repairs of the third canoe
were finished this evening.
The snow was now confined to the bases of the hills, and our Indian
hunter told us the season was early. The operations of nature, however,
seemed to us very tardy. We were eager to be gone, and dreaded the lapse
of summer, before the Indians would allow it had begun.
On the 11th the geese and ducks had left the vicinity of Fort
Enterprise, and proceeded to the northward. Some young ravens and
whiskey-johns made their appearance at this time.
On the 12th Winter River was nearly cleared of ice, and on the 13th the
men returned, having left Dr. Richardson on the borders of Point Lake.
Dr. Richardson informed me by letter that the snow was deeper in many
parts near his encampment than it had been at any time last winter near
Fort Enterprise, and that the ice on Point Lake had scarcely begun to
decay. Although the voyagers were much fatigued on their arrival, and
had eaten nothing for the last twenty-four hours, they were very
cheerful, and expressed a desire to start with the remainder of the
stores next morning. The Dog-rib woman, who had lingered about the house
since the 6th of June, took alarm at the approach of our men, thinking,
perhaps, that they were accompanied by Indians, and ran off. She was now
provided with a hatchet, kettle, and fire-steel, and would probably go
at once to Fort Providence, in the expectation of meeting with some of
her countrymen before the end of summer.
CHAPTER X[6].
[6] It will be seen hereafter that I had the misfortune to lose my
portfolio containing my journals from Fort Enterprise to the 14th
of September. But the loss has been amply redeemed by my brother
officers' journals, from which the narrative up to that period has
been chiefly compiled.
Departure from Fort Enterprise--Navigation of the Copper-Mine
River--Visit to the Copper Mountain--Interview with the
Esquimaux--Departure of the Indian Hunters--Arrangements made with
them for our return.
1821. June 14.
The trains for the canoes having been finished during the night, the
party attached to them commenced their journey at ten this morning. Each
canoe was dragged by four men assisted by two dogs. They took the route
of Winter Lake, with the intention of following, although more
circuitous, the water-course as far as practicable, it being safer for
the canoes than travelling over land. After their departure, the
remaining stores, the instruments, and our small stock of dried meat,
amounting only to eighty pounds, were distributed equally among Hepburn,
three Canadians, and the two Esquimaux; with this party and two Indian
hunters, we quitted Fort Enterprise, most sincerely rejoicing that the
long-wished-for day had arrived, when we were to proceed towards the
final object of the Expedition.
We left in one of the rooms a box, containing a journal of the
occurrences up to this date, the charts and some drawings, which was to
be conveyed to Fort Chipewyan by Mr. Wentzel, on his return from the
sea, and thence to be sent to England. The room was blocked up, and, by
the advice of Mr. Wentzel, a drawing representing a man holding a dagger
in a threatening attitude, was affixed to the door, to deter any Indians
from breaking it open. We directed our course towards the Dog-rib Rock,
but as our companions were loaded with the weight of near one hundred
and eighty pounds each, we of necessity proceeded at a slow pace. The
day was extremely warm, and the musquitoes, whose attacks had hitherto
been feeble, issued forth in swarms from the marshes, and were very
tormenting. Having walked five miles we encamped near a small cluster of
pines about two miles from the Dog-rib Rock. The canoe party had not
been seen since they set out. Our hunters went forward to Marten Lake,
intending to wait for us at a place where two deer were deposited. At
nine P.M. the temperature of the air was 63°.
We resumed our march at an early hour, and crossed several lakes which
lay in our course, as the ice enabled the men to drag their burdens on
trains formed of sticks and deers' horns, with more ease than they could
carry them on their backs. We were kept constantly wet by this
operation, as the ice had broken near the shores of the lakes, but this
was little regarded as the day was unusually warm: the temperature at
two P.M. being at 82-1/2°. At Marten Lake we joined the canoe party, and
encamped with them. We had the mortification of learning from our
hunters that the meat they had put _en cache_ here, had been destroyed
by the wolverenes, and we had in consequence, to furnish the supper from
our scanty stock of dried meat. The wind changed from S.E. to N.E. in
the evening, and the weather became very cold, the thermometer being at
43° at nine P.M. The few dwarf birches we could collect afforded fire
insufficient to keep us warm, and we retired under the covering of our
blankets as soon as the supper was despatched. The N.E. breeze rendered
the night so extremely cold, that we procured but little sleep, having
neither fire nor shelter; for though we carried our tents, we had been
forced to leave the tent-poles which we could not now replace; we
therefore gladly recommenced the journey at five in the morning, and
travelled through the remaining part of the lake on the ice. Its surface
being quite smooth, the canoes were dragged along expeditiously by the
dogs, and the rest of the party had to walk very quick to keep pace with
them, which occasioned many severe falls. By the time we had reached the
end of the lake, the wind had increased to a perfect gale, and the
atmosphere was so cold that we could not proceed further with the canoes
without the risk of breaking the bark, and seriously injuring them: we
therefore crossed Winter River in them, and put up in a well-sheltered
place on a ridge of sand hills; but as the stock of provision was
scanty, we determined on proceeding as quick as possible, and leaving
the canoe-party under the charge of Mr. Wentzel. We parted from them in
the afternoon, and first directed our course towards a range of hills,
where we expected to find Antonio Fontano, who had separated from us in
the morning. In crossing towards these hills I fell through the ice into
the lake, with my bundle on my shoulders, but was soon extricated
without any injury; and Mr. Back, who left us to go in search of the
straggler, met with a similar accident in the evening. We put up on a
ridge of sand hills, where we found some pines, and made a large fire
to apprize Mr. Back and Fontano of our position. St. Germain having
killed a deer in the afternoon, we received an acceptable supply of
meat. The night was stormy and very cold.
At five the next morning, our men were sent in different directions
after our absent companions; but as the weather was foggy, we despaired
of finding them, unless they should chance to hear the muskets our
people were desired to fire. They returned, however, at ten, bringing
intelligence of them. I went immediately with Hepburn to join Mr. Back,
and directed Mr. Hood to proceed with the Canadians, and halt with them
at the spot where the hunters had killed a deer. Though Mr. Back was
much fatigued he set off with me immediately, and in the evening we
rejoined our friends on the borders of the Big Lake. The Indians
informed us that Fontano only remained a few hours with them, and then
continued his journey. We had to oppose a violent gale and frequent
snow-storms through the day, which unseasonable weather caused the
temperature to descend below the freezing point this evening. The
situation of our encampment being bleak, and our fuel stunted green
willows, we passed a very cold and uncomfortable night.
_June 18_.--Though the breeze was moderate this morning, the air was
piercingly keen. When on the point of starting, we perceived Mr.
Wentzel's party coming, and awaited his arrival to learn whether the
canoes had received any injury during the severe weather of yesterday.
Finding they had not, we proceeded to get upon the ice on the lake,
which could not be effected without walking up to the waist in water,
for some distance from its borders. We had not the command of our feet
in this situation, and the men fell often; poor Junius broke through the
ice with his heavy burden on his back, but fortunately was not hurt.
This lake is extensive, and large arms branch from its main course in
different directions. At these parts we crossed the projecting points of
land, and on each occasion had to wade as before, which so wearied every
one, that we rejoiced when we reached its north side and encamped,
though our resting-place was a bare rock. We had the happiness of
finding Fontano at this place. The poor fellow had passed the three
preceding days without tasting food, and was exhausted by anxiety and
hunger. His sufferings were considered to have been a sufficient
punishment for his imprudent conduct in separating from us, and I only
admonished him to be more cautious in future.
Having received information that the hunters had killed a deer, we sent
three men to fetch the meat, which was distributed between our party and
the canoe-men who had been encamped near to us. The thermometer at three
P.M. was 46°, at nine 34°.
We commenced the following day by crossing a lake about four miles in
length, and then passed over a succession of rugged hills for nearly the
same distance. The men being anxious to reach some pine-trees, which
they had seen on their former journey, walked a quick pace, though they
were suffering from swelled legs and rheumatic pains; we could not,
however, attain the desired point, and therefore encamped on the
declivity of a hill, which sheltered us from the wind; and used the
rein-deer moss for fuel, which afforded us more warmth than we expected.
Several patches of snow were yet remaining on the surrounding hills. The
thermometer varied to-day between 55° and 45°.
On the 20th of June we began our march by crossing a small lake, not
without much risk, as the surface of the ice was covered with water to
the depth of two feet, and there were many holes into which we slipped,
in spite of our efforts to avoid them. A few of the men, being fearful
of attempting the traverse with their heavy loads, walked round the
eastern end of the lake. The parties met on the sandy ridge, which
separates the streams that fall into Winter Lake from those that flow to
the northward; and here we killed three deer. Near the base of this
ridge we crossed a small but rapid stream, in which there is a
remarkable cascade of about fifty feet. Some Indians joined us here, and
gave information respecting the situation of Dr. Richardson's tent,
which our hunters considered was sufficient for our guidance, and
therefore proceeded as quickly as they could. We marched a few miles
farther in the evening, and encamped among some pines; but the comfort
of a good fire did not compensate for the torment we suffered from the
host of musquitoes at this spot. The temperature was 52°.
We set off next morning at a very early hour. The men took the course of
Point Lake, that they might use their sledges, but the officers pursued
the nearest route by land to Dr. Richardson's tent, which we reached at
eleven A.M. It was on the western side of an arm of the lake and near
the part through which the Copper-Mine River runs. Our men arrived soon
after us, and in the evening Mr. Wentzel and his party, with the canoes
in excellent condition. They were much jaded by their fatiguing journey
and several were lame from swellings of the lower extremities. The ice
on the lake was still six or seven feet thick, and there was no
appearance of its decay except near the edges; and as it was evident
that, by remaining here until it should be removed, we might lose every
prospect of success in our undertaking, I determined on dragging our
stores along its surface, until we should come to a part of the river
where we could embark; and directions were given this evening for each
man to prepare a train for the conveyance of his portion of the stores.
I may remark here, as a proof of the strong effect of radiation from the
earth in melting the ice, that the largest holes in the ice were always
formed at the base of the high and steep cliffs, which abound on the
borders of this lake.
We found Akaitcho and the hunters encamped here, but their families, and
the rest of the tribe, had gone off two days before to the Beth-see-to,
a large lake to the northward, where they intended passing the summer.
Long-legs and Keskarrah had departed, to desire the Hook to collect as
much meat as he could against our arrival at his lodge. We were
extremely distressed to learn from Dr. Richardson, that Akaitcho and his
party had expended all the ammunition they had received at Fort
Enterprise, without having contributed any supply of provision. The
Doctor had, however, through the assistance of two hunters he kept with
him, prepared two hundred pounds of dried meat, which was now our sole
dependance for the journey. On the following morning I represented to
Akaitcho that we had been greatly disappointed by his conduct, which was
so opposite to the promise of exertion he had made, on quitting Fort
Enterprise. He offered many excuses, but finding they were not
satisfactory, admitted that the greater part of the ammunition had been
given to those who accompanied the women to the Beth-see-to, and
promised to behave better in future. I then told him, that I intended in
future to give them ammunition only in proportion to the meat which was
brought in, and that we should commence upon that plan, by supplying him
with fifteen balls, and each of the hunters with ten.
The number of our hunters was now reduced to five, as two of the most
active declined going any further, their father, who thought himself
dying, having solicited them to remain and close his eyes. These five
were furnished with ammunition, and sent forward to hunt on the south
border of the lake, with directions to place any meat they might
procure near the edge of the lake, and set up marks to guide us to the
spots. Akaitcho, his brother, the guide, and three other men, remained
to accompany us. We were much surprised to perceive an extraordinary
difference in climate in so short an advance to the northward as fifty
miles. The snow here was lying in large patches on the hills. The
dwarf-birch and willows were only just beginning to open their buds,
which had burst forth at Fort Enterprise many days before our departure.
Vegetation seemed to be three weeks or a month later here than at that
place. We had heavy showers of rain through the night of the 22d, which
melted the snow, and visibly wasted the ice.
On the 23d, the men were busily employed in making their trains, and in
pounding the meat for pemmican. The situation of the encampment was
ascertained, latitude 65° 12' 40" N., longitude 113° 8' 25" W., and the
variation 43° 4' 20" E. The arrangements being completed, we purposed
commencing our journey next morning, but the weather was too stormy to
venture upon the lake with the canoes. In the afternoon a heavy fall of
snow took place, succeeded by sleet and rain. The north-east gale
continued, but the thermometer rose to 39°.
_June 25_.--The wind having abated in the night, we prepared for
starting at an early hour. The three canoes were mounted on sledges, and
nine men were appointed to conduct them, having the assistance of two
dogs to each canoe. The stores and provisions were distributed equally
among the rest of our men, except a few small articles which the Indians
carried. The provision consisted of only two bags of pemmican, two of
pounded meat, five of suet, and two small bundles of dried provision,
together with fresh meat sufficient for our supper at night. It was
gratifying to witness the readiness with which the men prepared for and
commenced a journey, which threatened to be so very laborious, as each
of them had to drag upwards of one hundred and eighty pounds on his
sledge.
Our course led down the main channel of the lake, which varied in
breadth from half a mile to three miles; but we proceeded at a slow
pace, as the snow, which fell last night, and still lay on the ice, very
much impeded the sledges. Many extensive arms branched off on the north
side of this channel, and it was bounded on the south by a chain of
lofty islands. The hills on both sides rose to six or seven hundred
feet, and high steep cliffs were numerous. Clusters of pines were
occasionally seen in the valleys. We put up, at eight P.M., in a spot
which afforded us but a few twigs for fuel. The party was much fatigued,
and several of the men were affected by an inflammation on the inside of
the thigh attended with hardness and swelling. The distance made to-day
was six miles.
We started at ten next morning. The day was extremely hot, and the men
were soon jaded; their lameness increased very much, and some not
previously affected began to complain. The dogs too shewed symptoms of
great weakness, and one of them stretched himself obstinately on the
ice, and was obliged to be released from the harness. We were,
therefore, compelled to encamp at an early hour, having come only four
miles. The sufferings of the people in this early stage of our journey
were truly discouraging to them, and very distressing to us, whose
situation was comparatively easy. I, therefore, determined on leaving
the third canoe, which had been principally carried to provide against
any accident to the others. We should thus gain three men, to lighten
the loads of those who were most lame, and an additional dog for each of
the other canoes. It was accordingly properly secured on a stage erected
for the purpose near the encampment. Dried meat was issued for supper,
but in the course of the evening the Indians killed two deer, for which
we immediately sent.
The channel of the lake through which we had passed to-day was bounded
on both sides by islands of considerable height, presenting bold and
rugged scenery. We were informed by our guide, that a large body of the
lake lies to the northward of a long island which we passed.
Another deer was killed next morning, but as the men breakfasted off it
before they started, the additional weight was not materially felt. The
burdens of the men being considerably lightened by the arrangements of
last evening, the party walked at the rate of one mile and three
quarters an hour until the afternoon, when our pace was slackened, as
the ice was more rough, and our lame companions felt their sores very
galling. At noon we passed a deep bay on the south side, which is said
to receive a river. Throughout the day's march the hills on each side of
the lake bore a strong resemblance, in height and form, to those about
Fort Enterprise. We encamped on the north main shore, among some spruce
trees, having walked eight miles and a half. Three or four fish were
caught with lines through holes, which the water had worn in the ice. We
perceived a light westerly current at these places.
It rained heavily during the night, and this was succeeded by a dense
fog on the morning of the 28th. Being short of provisions we commenced
our journey, though the points of land were not discernible beyond a
short distance. The surface of the ice, being honeycombed by the recent
rains, presented innumerable sharp points, which tore our shoes and
lacerated the feet at every step. The poor dogs, too, marked their path
with their blood.
In the evening the atmosphere became clear, and, at five P.M., we
reached the rapid by which Point Lake communicates with Red-Rock Lake.
This rapid is only one hundred yards wide, and we were much disappointed
at finding the Copper-Mine River such an inconsiderable stream. The
canoes descended the rapid, but the cargoes were carried across the
peninsula, and placed again on the sledges, as the next lake was still
frozen. We passed an extensive arm, branching to the eastward, and
encamped just below it, on the western bank, among spruce pines, having
walked six miles of direct distance. The rolled stones on the beach are
principally red clay slate, hence its Indian appellation, which we have
retained.
We continued our journey at the usual hour next morning. At noon the
variation was observed to be 47° east. Our attention was afterwards
directed to some pine branches, scattered on the ice, which proved to be
marks placed by our hunters, to guide us to the spot where they had
deposited the carcasses of two small deer. This supply was very
seasonable, and the men cheerfully dragged the additional weight.
Akaitcho, judging from the appearance of the meat, thought it had been
placed here three days ago, and that the hunters were considerably in
advance. We put up at six P.M., near the end of the lake, having come
twelve miles and three quarters, and found the channel open by which it
is connected with the Rock-nest Lake. A river was pointed out, bearing
south from our encampment, which is said to rise near Great Marten Lake.
Red-Rock Lake is in general narrow, its shelving banks are well clothed
with wood, and even the hills, which attain an elevation of four hundred
or five hundred feet, are ornamented half way up, with stunted pines.
On June 30, the men having gummed the canoes, embarked with their
burdens to descend the river; but we accompanied the Indians about five
miles across a neck of land, when we also embarked. The river was about
two hundred yards wide, and its course being uninterrupted, we cherished
a sanguine hope of now getting on more speedily, until we perceived that
the waters of Rock-nest Lake were still bound by ice, and that recourse
must again be had to the sledges. The ice was much decayed, and the
party were exposed to great risk of breaking through in making the
traverse. In one part we had to cross an open channel in the canoes, and
in another were compelled to quit the Lake, and make a portage along the
land. When the party had got upon the ice again, our guide evinced much
uncertainty as to the route. He first directed us towards the west end
of the lake; but when we had nearly gained that point, he discovered a
remarkable rock to the north-east, named by the Indians the Rock-nest,
and then recollected that the river ran at its base. Our course was
immediately changed to that direction, but the traverse we had then to
make was more dangerous than the former one. The ice cracked under us at
every step, and the party were obliged to separate widely to prevent
accidents. We landed at the first point we could approach, but having
found an open channel close to the shore, were obliged to ferry the
goods across on pieces of ice. The fresh meat being expended we had to
make another inroad on our pounded meat. The evening was very warm, and
the musquitoes numerous. A large fire was made to apprize the hunters of
our advance. The scenery of Rock-nest Lake is picturesque, its shores
are rather low, except at the Rock's nest, and two or three eminences on
the eastern side. The only wood is the pine, which is twenty or thirty
feet high, and about one foot in diameter. Our distance to-day was six
miles.
_July 1_.--Our guide directed us to proceed towards a deep bay on the
north side of the lake, where he supposed we should find the river. In
consequence of the bad state of the ice, we employed all the different
modes of travelling we had previously followed in attaining this place;
and, in crossing a point of land, had the misfortune to lose one of the
dogs, which set off in pursuit of some rein-deer. Arriving at the bay,
we only found a stream that fell into it from the north-east, and looked
in vain for the Copper-Mine River. This circumstance confused the guide,
and he confessed that he was now doubtful of the proper route; we,
therefore, halted, and despatched him, with two men, to look for the
river from the top of the high hills near the Rock-nest. During this
delay a slight injury was repaired, which one of the canoes had
received. We were here amused by the sight of a wolf chasing two
rein-deer on the ice. The pursuer being alarmed at the sight of our men,
gave up the chase when near to the hindmost, much to our regret, for we
were calculating upon the chance of sharing in his capture.
At four P.M. our men returned, with the agreeable information that they
had seen the river flowing at the base of the Rock-nest. The canoes and
stores were immediately placed on the ice, and dragged thither; we then
embarked, but soon had to cut through a barrier of drift ice that
blocked up the way. We afterwards descended two strong rapids, and
encamped near the discharge of a small stream which flows from an
adjoining lake. The Copper-Mine River, at this point, is about two
hundred yards wide, and ten feet deep, and flows very rapidly over a
rocky bottom. The scenery of its banks is picturesque, the hills shelve
to the water-side, and are well covered with wood, and the surface of
the rocks is richly ornamented with lichens. The Indians say that the
same kind of country prevails as far as Mackenzie's River in this
parallel; but that the land to the eastward is perfectly barren.
Akaitcho and one of the Indians killed two deer, which were immediately
sent for. Two of the hunters arrived in the night, and we learned that
their companions, instead of being in advance, as we supposed, were
staying at the place where we first found the river open. They had only
seen our fires last evening, and had sent to examine who we were. The
circumstance of having passed them was very vexatious, as they had three
deer _en cache_, at their encampment. However, an Indian was sent to
desire those who remained to join us, and bring the meat.
We embarked at nine A.M. on July 2nd, and descended a succession of
strong rapids for three miles. We were carried along with extraordinary
rapidity, shooting over large stones, upon which a single stroke would
have been destructive to the canoes; and we were also in danger of
breaking them, from the want of the long poles which lie along their
bottoms and equalize their cargoes, as they plunged very much, and on
one occasion the first canoe was almost filled with the waves. But there
was no receding after we had once launched into the stream, and our
safety depended on the skill and dexterity of the bowmen and steersmen.
The banks of the river here are rocky, and the scenery beautiful;
consisting of gentle elevations and dales wooded to the edge of the
stream, and flanked on both sides at the distance of three or four miles
by a range of round-backed barren hills, upwards of six hundred feet
high. At the foot of the rapids the high lands recede to a greater
distance, and the river flows with a more gentle current, in a wider
channel, through a level and open country consisting of alluvial sand.
In one place the passage was blocked up by drift ice, still deeply
covered with snow. A channel for the canoes was made for some distance
with the hatchets and poles; but on reaching the more compact part, we
were under the necessity of transporting the canoes and cargoes across
it; an operation of much hazard, as the snow concealed the numerous
holes which the water had made in the ice. This expansion of the river
being mistaken by the guide for a lake, which he spoke of as the last on
our route to the sea, we supposed that we should have no more ice to
cross, and therefore encamped after passing through it, to fit the
canoes properly for the voyage, and to provide poles, which are not only
necessary to strengthen them when placed in the bottom, but essentially
requisite for the safe management of them in dangerous rapids. The guide
began afterwards to doubt whether the lake he meant was not further on,
and he was sent with two men to examine into the fact, who returned in
the evening with the information of its being below us, but that there
was an open channel through it. This day was very sultry, and several
plants appeared in flower.
The men were employed in repairing their canoes to a late hour, and
commenced very early next morning, as we were desirous of availing
ourselves of every part of this favourable weather. The hunters arrived
in the course of the night. It appeared that the dog which escaped from
us two days ago came into the vicinity of their encampment, howling
piteously; seeing him without his harness, they came to the hasty
conclusion that our whole party had perished in a rapid; and throwing
away part of their baggage, and leaving the meat behind them, they set
off with the utmost haste to join Long-legs. Our messenger met them in
their flight, but too far advanced to admit of their returning for the
meat. Akaitcho scolded them heartily for their thoughtlessness in
leaving the meat, which we so much wanted. They expressed their regret,
and being ashamed of their panic, proposed to remedy the evil as much as
possible by going forward, without stopping, until they came to a
favourable spot for hunting, which they expected to do about thirty or
forty miles below our present encampment. Akaitcho accompanied them, but
previous to setting off he renewed his charge that we should be on our
guard against the bears, which was occasioned by the hunters having
fired at one this morning as they were descending a rapid in their
canoe. As their small canoes would only carry five persons, two of the
hunters had to walk in turns along the banks.
In our rambles round the encampment, we witnessed with pleasure the
progress which vegetation had made within the few last warm days; most
of the trees had put forth their leaves, and several flowers ornamented
the moss-covered ground; many of the smaller summer birds were observed
in the woods, and a variety of ducks, gulls, and plovers, sported on the
banks of the river. It is about three hundred yards wide at this part,
is deep and flows over a bed of alluvial sand. We caught some trout of
considerable size with our lines, and a few white fish in the nets,
which maintained us, with a little assistance from the pemmican. The
repair of our canoes was completed this evening. Before embarking I
issued an order that no rapid should in future be descended until the
bowman had examined it, and decided upon its being safe to run. Wherever
the least danger was to be apprehended, or the crew had to disembark for
the purpose of lightening the canoe, the ammunition, guns and
instruments, were always to be put out and carried along the bank, that
we might be provided with the means of subsisting ourselves, in case of
any accident befalling the canoes.
The situation of our encampment was ascertained to be 65° 43' 28" N.,
longitude 114° 26' 45" W., and the variation 42° 17' 22" E.
At four in the morning of July 4th we embarked and descended a
succession of very agitated rapids, but took the precaution of landing
the articles mentioned yesterday, wherever there appeared any hazard;
notwithstanding all our precautions the leading canoe struck with great
force against a stone, and the bark was split, but this injury was
easily repaired, and we regretted only the loss of time. At eleven we
came to an expansion of the river where the current ran with less force,
and an accumulation of drift ice had, in consequence, barred the
channel; over this the canoes and cargoes were carried. The ice in many
places adhered to the banks, and projected in wide ledges several feet
thick over the stream, which had hollowed them out beneath. On one
occasion as the people were embarking from one of these ledges, it
suddenly gave way, and three men were precipitated into the water, but
were rescued without further damage than a sound ducking, and the canoe
fortunately (and narrowly) escaped being crushed. Perceiving one of the
Indians sitting on the east bank of the river, we landed, and having
learned from him that Akaitcho and the hunters had gone in pursuit of a
herd of musk oxen, we encamped, having come twenty-four miles and a
half.
In the afternoon they brought us the agreeable intelligence of having
killed eight cows, of which four were full grown. All the party were
immediately despatched to bring in this seasonable supply. A young cow,
irritated by the firing of the hunters, ran down to the river, and
passed close to me when walking at a short distance from the tents. I
fired and wounded it, when the animal instantly turned, and ran at me,
but I avoided its fury by jumping aside and getting upon an elevated
piece of ground. In the mean time some people came from the tents, and
it took to flight.
The musk oxen, like the buffalo, herd together in bands, and generally
frequent the barren grounds during the summer months, keeping near the
rivers, but retire to the woods in winter. They seem to be less watchful
than most other wild animals, and when grazing are not difficult to
approach, provided the hunters go against the wind; when two or three
men get so near a herd as to fire at them from different points, these
animals instead of separating or running away, huddle closer together,
and several are generally killed; but if the wound is not mortal they
become enraged and dart in the most furious manner at the hunters, who
must be very dextrous to evade them. They can defend themselves by their
powerful horns against the wolves and bears, which, as the Indians say,
they not unfrequently kill.
The musk oxen feed on the same substances with the rein-deer, and the
prints of the feet of these two animals are so much alike, that it
requires the eye of an experienced hunter to distinguish them. The
largest killed by us did not exceed in weight three hundred pounds. The
flesh has a musky disagreeable flavour, particularly when the animal is
lean, which unfortunately for us was the case with all that we now
killed.
During this day's march the river varied in breadth from one hundred to
two hundred feet, and except in two open spaces, a very strong current
marked a deep descent the whole way. It flows over a bed of gravel, of
which also its immediate banks are composed. Near to our encampment it
is bounded by cliffs of fine sand from one hundred to two hundred feet
high. Sandy plains extend on a level with the summit of these cliffs,
and at the distance of six or seven miles are terminated by ranges of
hills eight hundred or one thousand feet high. The grass on these plains
affords excellent pasturage for the musk oxen, and they generally
abound here. The hunters added two more to our stock in the course of
the night. As we had now more meat than the party could consume fresh,
we delayed our voyage next day to dry it. The hunters were supplied with
more ammunition, and sent forward; but Akaitcho, his brother, and
another Indian, remained with us.
It may here be proper to mention, that the officers had treated Akaitcho
more distantly since our departure from Point Lake, to mark their
opinion of his misconduct. The diligence in hunting, however, which he
had evinced at this place, induced us to receive him more familiarly
when he came to the tent this evening. During our conversation he
endeavoured to excite suspicions in our minds against the Hook, by
saying, "I am aware that you consider me the worst man of my nation; but
I know the Hook to be a great rogue, and, I think he will disappoint
you."
On the morning of the 6th we embarked, and descended a series of rapids,
having twice unloaded the canoes where the water was shallow. After
passing the mouth of the Fairy[7] Lake River the rapids ceased. The
main stream was then about three hundred yards wide, and generally deep,
though, in one part, the channel was interrupted by several sandy banks,
and low alluvial islands covered with willows. It flows between banks of
sand thinly wooded, and as we advanced the barren hills approached the
water's edge.
[7] This is an Indian name. The Northern Indian fairies are six inches
high, lead a life similar to the Indians, and are excellent
hunters. Those who have had the good fortune to fall in with their
tiny encampments have been kindly treated, and regaled on venison.
We did not learn with certainty whether the existence of these
delightful creatures is known from Indian tradition, or whether
the Indians owe their knowledge of them to their intercourse with
the traders, but think the former probable.
At ten we rejoined our hunters, who had killed a deer, and halted to
breakfast. We sent them forward; one of them, who was walking along the
shore afterwards, fired upon two brown bears, and wounded one of them,
which instantly turned and pursued him. His companions in the canoes put
ashore to his assistance, but did not succeed in killing the bears,
which fled upon the reinforcement coming up. During the delay thus
occasioned we overtook them, and they continued with us the rest of the
day.
We encamped at the foot of a lofty range of mountains, which appear to
be from twelve to fifteen hundred feet high; they are in general round
backed, but the outline is not even, being interrupted by craggy conical
eminences. This is the first ridge of hills we have seen in this
country, that deserves the appellation of a mountain range; it is
probably a continuation of the Stony Mountains crossed by Hearne. Many
plants appeared in full flower near the tents, and Dr. Richardson
gathered some high up on the hills. The distance we made to-day was
fifty miles.
There was a hoar frost in the night, and the temperature, at four next
morning, was 40°: embarking at that hour, we glided quickly down the
stream, and by seven arrived at the Hook's encampment, which was placed
on the summit of a lofty sand cliff, whose base was washed by the river.
This chief had with him only three hunters, and a few old men and their
families, the rest of his band having remained at their snares in Bear
Lake. His brother, Long-legs, and our guide, Keskarrah, who had joined
him three days before, had communicated to him our want of provision,
and we were happy to find that, departing from the general practice of
Indian chiefs, he entered at once upon the business, without making a
long speech. As an introductory mark of our regard, I decorated him with
a medal similar to those which had been given to the other leaders. The
Hook began by stating, "that he was aware of our being destitute of
provision, and of the great need we had of an ample stock, to enable us
to execute our undertaking; and his regret, that the unusual scarcity of
animals this season, together with the circumstance of his having only
just received a supply of ammunition from Fort Providence, had prevented
him from collecting the quantity of meat he had wished to do for our
use. The amount, indeed," he said, "is very small, but I will cheerfully
give you what I have: we are too much indebted to the white people, to
allow them to want food on our lands, whilst we have any to give them.
Our families can live on fish until we can procure more meat, but the
season is too short to allow of your delaying, to gain subsistence in
that manner." He immediately desired, aloud, that the women should bring
all the meat they had to us; and we soon collected sufficient to make
three bags and a half of pemmican, besides some dried meat and tongues.
We were truly delighted by this prompt and cheerful behaviour, and would
gladly have rewarded the kindness of himself and his companions by some
substantial present, but we were limited by the scantiness of our store
to a small donation of fifteen charges of ammunition to each of the
chiefs. In return for the provision they accepted notes on the
North-West Company, to be paid at Fort Providence; and to these was
subjoined an order for a few articles of clothing, as an additional
present. I then endeavoured to prevail upon the Hook to remain in this
vicinity with his hunters until the autumn, and to make deposits of
provision in different parts of the course to the sea, as a resource for
our party, in the event of our being compelled to return by this route.
He required time, however, to consider this matter, and promised to give
me an answer next day. I was rejoiced to find him then prepared to meet
my wish, and the following plan was agreed upon:--As the animals abound,
at all times, on the borders of Bear Lake, he promised to remain on the
east side of it until the month of November, at that spot which is
nearest to the Copper-Mine River, from whence there is a communication
by a chain of lakes and portages. There the principal deposit of
provision was to be made; but during the summer the hunters were to be
employed in putting up supplies of dried meat at convenient distances,
not only along the communication from this river, but also upon its
banks, as far down as the Copper Mountain. They were also to place
particular marks to guide our course to their lodges. We contracted to
pay them liberally, whether we returned by this way or not; if we did,
they were to accompany us to Fort Providence to receive the reward;
and, at any rate, I promised to send the necessary documents by Mr.
Wentzel, from the sea-coast, to ensure them an ample remuneration. With
this arrangement they were perfectly satisfied, and we could not be less
so, knowing they had every motive for fulfilling their promises, as the
place they had chosen to remain at is their usual hunting-ground. The
uncommon anxiety these chiefs expressed for our safety, appeared to us
likely to prompt them to every care and attention, and I record their
expressions with gratitude. After representing the numerous hardships we
should have to encounter in the strongest manner, though in language
similar to what we had often heard from our friend Akaitcho, they
earnestly entreated we would be constantly on our guard against the
treachery of the Esquimaux; and no less forcibly desired we would not
proceed far along the coast, as they dreaded the consequences of our
being exposed to a tempestuous sea in canoes, and having to endure the
cold of the autumn on a shore destitute of fuel. The Hook, having been
an invalid for several years, rejoiced at the opportunity of consulting
Dr. Richardson, who immediately gave him advice, and supplied him with
medicine.
The pounded meat and fat were converted into pemmican, preparatory to
our voyage.
The result of our observations at the Hook's encampment was, latitude
66° 45' 11" N., longitude 115° 42' 23" W., variation of the compass 46°
7' 30" E.
We embarked at eleven to proceed on our journey. Akaitcho and his
brother, the guide, being in the first canoe, and old Keskarrah in the
other. We wished to dispense with the further attendance of two guides,
and made a proposition that either of them might remain here, but
neither would relinquish the honour of escorting the Expedition to the
sea. One of our hunters, however, was less eager for this distinction,
and preferred remaining with Green Stockings, Keskarrah's fascinating
daughter. The other four, with the Little Singer, accompanied us, two of
them conducting their small canoes in turns, and the rest walking along
the beach.
The river flows over a bed of sand, and winds in an uninterrupted
channel of from three quarters to a mile broad, between two ranges of
hills, which are pretty even in their outline, and round backed, but
having rather steep acclivities. The immediate borders of the stream
consist eith
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