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NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY
TO THE SHORES OF
THE POLAR SEA,
1819, 20, 21, ann 22. BY
Gi | JOHN FRANKLIN, Caprain R.N., F.R.S.,
’ AND COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION.
| WITH AN APPENDIX ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS RELATING TO i _ SCIENCE AND NATURAL HISTORY.
a ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS PLATES AND MAPS.
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL BATHURST.
Oa
o LONDON: | JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
MDCCCXXIL.
Te ak * a
TO | THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
THE EARL BATHURST, K.G.
ONE OF HIS MAJESTY’S PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES : -OF STATE,
(ores OMS OE THE FOLLOWING
NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY TO THE NORTHERN COAST OF AMERICA,
UNDERTAKEN BY ORDER AND UNDER THE AUSPICES OF | HIS LORDSHIP, —
IS, BY PERMISSION, INSCRIBED, w WITH GREAT RESPECT AND GRATITUDE,
BY
THE AUTHOR.
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ANAAMADT,
PARDO UIA '
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Departure from England—Transactions at Stromness—Enter Davis’ Straits— Perilous Situation on the Shore of Resolution Island—Land on the Coast of Labrador—Esquimaux of Savage Islands—Y ork Factory—Preparations for the Journey into the Interior
CHAPTER II.
Passage up Hayes’, Steel, and Hill Rivers—Cross Swampy Lake—Jack River— Knee Lake, and Magnetic Islet-—Trout River—Holey Lake—Weepinapannis River— Windy Lake—White-Fall Lake and River—Echemamis and Sea Rivers —Play-Green Lake—Lake Winipeg—River sO i daiiate Cedar and Pine-Island Lakes Cumberland-House ( :
CHAPTER ITI.
Dr. Richardson’s Residence at Cumnbartnd- Boise Fis Account of the Cree
Indians CHAPTER IV..
Leave Cumberland-House—Mode of Travelling in Winter—Arrival at Carlton House—Stone Indians—Visit to a Buffalo Pound—Goitres—Departure from Carlton-House—Isle 4 la Crosse—Arrival at Fort Chipewyan
CHAPTER Iv*.
Transactions at Fort Chipewyan—Arrival of Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood—Pre-
parations for our Journey to the Northward : : : CHAPTER V.
Mr. Hood's Journey to the Basquian Hills—Sojourns with an Indian Party—His Journey to Chipewyan 3 : : : .
27
59
94
142
167
Vill CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
Departure from Chipewyan—Difliculties of the various Navigations of the Rivers,
and Lakes, and of the Portages—Slave Lake and Fort Providence—Scarcity of |
Provisions, and discontent of the Canadian Voyagers—Difficulties with regard to the Indian Guides—Refusal to proceed—Visit of Observation to the Upper
part of Copper-Mine River—Return to the Winter-Quarters of Fort En- terprise |
CHAPTER VII. Transactions at Fort Enterprise—Mr. Back’s Narrative of his J ourney to Chipewyan and Return - | CHAPTER VIII. Continuation of Proceedings at Fort Enterprise—Some Account of Copper Indians—Preparations for the J ourney to the Northward CHAPTER IX.
Departure from Fort Enterprise—Navigation of the Copper-Mine River—Visit to the Copper Mountain—Interview with the Esquimaux—Departure of the In- dian Hunters—Arrangements made with them for our return
_ CHAPTER X.
Navigation of the Polar Sea, in two Canoes, as far as Cape Turnagain, to the East- ward, a distance exceeding Five Hundred and Fifty Miles—Observations on the probability of a North-West Passage
CHAPTER XI.
Jourmey 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. |
3 Uk9S
238
287
316
362
391
No. No.
No.
No. No.
Ill.
IV. V.
CONTENTS,
APPENDIX.
Geognostical Observations, by Dr. Richardson
General Remarks on the Aurora Borealis
On the Aurora Borealis at Cumberland-House, by Lianne Hood
Observations on the Magnetic Needle at Cumberland-House; by Lieu- tenant Hood
Observations on the Aurora at Fort Enterprise, by Captain Prankliin
Notices of the Appearances of the Aurora at Fort Enterprise, 2 :
Captain Franklin. Observations on the Deviations of ais Meagmictic N eedle On the Aurora Borealis at Fort Enterprise, by Lieutenant Hood Remarks on the Aurora Borealis, by Dr. Richardson
Remarks and Tables connected with Astronomical Observations . Zoological Appendix, by Joseph Sabine, Esq., F.R.S.
No. VI. Notices of the Fishes, by Dr. Richardson VII. Botanical Appendix, by Dr. Richardson
No.
. 647
Page
497
539 541
547 549
554
. 50 . 580 . 596
629
705 729
LAST OF, PILATES:
Page View from Morgan’s Rocks of the Hill in Hill River . : ‘ . To face 33 / The Trout Fall : , i : x Be 2) Manner of making a Resting ane ona Winter s Night . , : He 9% 8
/ Portrait of a Stone Indian : : : A : des 3 ; 104 +
2. A Buffalo Pound ! , A , : : : , 1s Jd)
3 Interior of a Cree Indian Tent , : ) i . : : 169 & Expedition crossing Lake Prosperous . ey Be : ; : of ON By,
4. Portrait of Akaitcho and his Son : ‘ a : F F , 203. = Marten Lake ~ . . AY, a : 2, of 235 G Expedition discovering the Odpper Mine River : A ; . 43 237 /0 Winter View of Fort Enterprise ; j na % A6 //
S » Keskarrah a Copper Indian Guide and his sph tiehd — Stockings : o 254 12
G Portraits of two Esquimaux Interpreters ©. ; ; ) f i 262 /% Winter travelling on Great Slave Lake . . 4 : j 4 af 277 14 A Winter Wolf, and a View of the Dog-rib Rock " 2! . ‘ <s 312; ¢ o~ Expedition passing through Point-Lake, on the Ice ie : oh ei a! 323 : SG The Bloody Fall ; . + Jat 350 («> A view of the Arctic Sea, from the Mouth of ae Copper-Ming Ries at midnight F 365, 7 & Expedition doubling Cape Barrow ; : ; : ' ; 3 367__ 19 Expedition encamped at Point Turnagain § i : : . iy 387 2b Canoe broaching too in a Gale of Wind at Sunrise r ; 5 5 » 894 4/ Expedition landing in a Storm : : , ; : é P 395 22
Bek fea The Falls of Wilberforce : ; é c $s 397 2% Jamie aja. Preparing an Encampment on Barren Gea bnae for the gathering Tripe de Roche &c. 412 24 if Plate 25 : * E : : «a “ 4 707 435° Plate 26, Back’s Nereus 8 : : : 711 26 The As pele of Plants at the end of the aay gains and ‘mmediatol cre the Maps. 7: 22
Maps at the end of the book in 2 the following order.
Route from York Factory to Isle 4 la Crosse. From Isle 4 la Crosse to Slave Lake.
From Slave Lake to the Arctic Sea.
General chart of the Arctic Sea.
INTRODUCTION.
His Majesty’s Government having determined upon sending an Expedition from the Shores of Hudson's Bay by land, to explore the Northern Coast of America, from the Mouth of the Copper- Mine River to the eastward, I had the honour to be appointed to- this service by Earl Bathurst, on the recommendation of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty; who, at the same time, nominated Doctor John Richardson, a Surgeon in the Royal Navy, Mr. George Back, and Mr. Robert Hood, two Admiralty Midshipmen, to be joined with me in the Expedition. My instructions in substance _ informed me, that the main object of the Expedition was that of determining the latitudes and longitudes of the Northern Coast of North America, and the trending of that Coast from the Mouth of the Copper-Mine River to the eastern extremity of that Con- tinent; that it was left for me to determine, according to circum- stances, whether it might be most advisable to proceed, at once, directly to the northward till I arrived at the sea-coast, ‘and proceed westerly towards the Copper-Mine River ; or advance, in the first instance, by the usual route to’ the Mouth of the Copper-Mine River, and from thence easterly till I should arrive at the eastern be
X1i INTRODUCTION.
extremity of that Continent; that, in the adoption of either of these plans, I was to be- guided by the advice and information which I should receive from the wintering servants of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who would be instructed by their employers to co-ope- rate cordially in the prosecution of the objects of the Expedition, and who would provide me with the necessary escort of Indians to act as guides, interpreters, game-killers, g-c.; and also with such articles of clothing, ammunition, snow-shoes, presents, fc., as should be deemed expedient for me .to take. That as another principal object of the Expedition was to amend the very defective geo- graphy of the northern part of North America, I was to be very careful to ascertain correctly the latitude and longitude of. every remarkable . spot upon. our route, and of all the bays, harbours, rivers, headlands, gc. that might occur along the Northern Shore of North America.’ That, in proceeding along the coast, I should erect conspicuous marks at places where ships might enter, or to which a boat could be sent; and to deposit information as to the nature of the coast for the use of Lieutenant Parry. That, in the Journal of our route, I should register the temperature of . the air, at least three times in every twenty-four hours ; together with the state of the wind and weather, and any. other: meteorological phenomenon. That I should not neglect any opportunity of observing and noting down the dip and variation of the magnetic needle, and the intensity of the magnetic force ; and should take particular
notice whether any, and what kind or degree of, influence the
Aurora Borealis might appear to exert on the magnetic needle ; and .
to notice whether that phenomenon was attended with any noise;
INTRODUCTION. xiii
and to make any other observations that might be likely to tend to the further developement of its cause, and the laws by which it is governed.
Mr. Back and Mr. Hood were to assist me in all the obser- vations above-mentioned, and to make drawings of the land, of the natives, and of the various objects of natural history; and_parti- cularly of such as Dr. Richardson, who, to his professional duties was to add that of naturalist, might consider to be most curious and interesting. |
I was instructed, on my arrivai at, or near, the Mouth of the Copper-Mine River, to make every inquiry as to the situation of the spot from whence native copper had been brought down by the Indians to the Hudson’s Bay establishment, and to visit and explore the place in question; in order that Dr. Richardson might be enabled to make such observations as might be useful in a com- mercial point of view, or interesting to the science of mineralogy.
From Joseph Berens, Esq., the Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the Gentlemen of the Committee, I received all kinds of assistance and information, communicated in the most friendly manner previous to my leaving England; and I had the gratification of perusing the orders to their agents and servants in North America, containing the fullest directions to promote, by
: every means, the: progress of the Expedition; and I most cheer-
fully avail myself:of this opportunity of expressing my gratitude to these Gentlemen: for their personal kindness to myself and the other officers, as well as for the benefits rendered by them to the
Expedition ; and the same sentiment is due towards the Gentlemen
xiv INFRODUCTION.
ef the North-West, Company, both in England: and América, miore particularly to, Simon M‘Gillivray;, Esq., of London, from whom. I received much useful information, and cordial letters of recom: mendation to the partners. and agents) of that Company, resident on our line of route.
A. short. time, before: I left. London, I had: the pleasure and: ad= vantage of an. interview, with: the late Sir Alexander: Mackenzie, who. was one of the two,persons. who had visited the coast. we were to explore. He afforded me, in the most open and kind manner. much, valuable information. and. advice.
The. provisions, instruments and. other articles. of which I had furnished. a, list; by. direction- of the Lords Commissioners: of: the Admiralty, were embarked. on. board. the Hudson’s Bay Company’s ship Prince of. Wales, appointed. by the Committee to convey the . Expedition to York, Factory, their. a establishment in Hudson's Bay.
It will be seen, in. the course of the Narrative as well as in the Appendix, how much. reason. I. had to be. satisfied with, and how great my obligations are.to,, all the Gentlemen who were associated with me in the Expedition, whose kindness, good. conduct,': and cordial co-operation, have. made an, impression: which can«never be effaced from,my mind:, The unfortunate» death of~Mr. Hood’ is. the, only. drawback , which. I | feel from.the- otherwise’ unalloyed» pleasure: I. derived from. reflecting: on ‘that cordial unanimity which’ at all times. prevailed.among usin the days of sunshine; and*in' those of “ sickness and sorrow.”
To Doctor Richardson,.in particular, the--exchusive: merit ‘is -dué:
INTRODUCTION. vY
of whatever collections and observations have been made in the department of Natural History; and I am indebted to hint in no small degree for his friendly advice and assistance in the prepa- ration of the present Narrative. The Appendix is mostly his own.
The charts and drawings were made by Lieutenant Back, and the late Lieutenant Hood. Both these gentlemen cheerfully and ably assisted me in making the observations and in the daily conduct of the Expedition. The paper in the Appendix by Mr. Hood, on the various phenomena presented by the Aurora Borealis, will, it is presumed, present to the reader some new facts connected with this meteor. Mr. Back was mostly prevented from turning his attention to objects of science by the many severe duties which were required of him, and which obliged him to travel almost constantly every winter that we passed in America; to his personal exertions indeed, is mainly to be attributed our final safety. And here I must be permitted to pay the tribute, which is due to the fidelity, exertion, and uniform good conduct in the most trying situations, of John Hepburn, an English seaman, and our only attendant, to whom in the latter part of our journey we owe, under Divine Providence, the preservation of the lives of some of the party.
I ought, perhaps, to crave the reader’s indulgence towards the defective style of this work, which I trust will not be refused when it is considered that mine has been a life of constant employment
in my profession from a very early age. I have been prompted
XV1 NER OPE
to venture upon the task solely by an mca sense of duty, when called upon to undertake it. } ob
I am indebted to Joseph Sabine, Esq., F.R:S., for the very butler account of Quadrupeds and Birds contained in the Appendix.
A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES OF
THE POLAR SEA.
CHAPTER TI.
Departure from England—Transactions at Stromness—Enter Davis’ Straits—Perilous Situation on the Shore of Resolution Island—Land on the Coast of Labrador—Eskimaux of Savage Islands—York Factory—Preparations for the Journey into the Interior.
May. On Sunday, the 23d of May, the whole of our party em-
barked at Gravesend on board the ship Prince of Wales, belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company, just as she was in the act of getting under weigh, with her consorts the Eddystone and Wear. The wind bemg unfavourable, and on the ebb tide being finished, the vessels were again anchored ; but they weighed in the night, and beat down as far as the Warp, where they were detained two days by a strong easterly wind. |
Having learned from some of the passengers, who were the trading Officers of the Company, that the arrival of the ships at either of the establishments in Hudson’s Bay, gives full occupation to all the boatmen in their service, who are required to convey the necessary stores to the different posts in the interior; that it was very pro- bable a sufficient number of men might not be procured from this indispensable duty ; and, considering that any delay at York Factory would materially retard our future operations, I wrote to the Under
B
2 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
Secretary of State, requesting his permission to provide a few well qualified steersmen and bowmen at Stromness, to assist our pro- ceedings in the former part of our journey into the interior.
May 30.—The easterly wind which had retarded the ship’s progress so much, that we had only reached Hollesly Bay after a week’s beating about, changed to W.S.W. soon after that anchorage had been gained. The vessels instantly weighed, and by carrying all sail, arrived in Yarmouth roads at seven P.M.; the pilots were landed, and our course was continued through the anchorage. At midnight, the wind became light and variable, and gradually drew round to the N.W.; and as the sky indicated unsettled weather, and the wind blew from an unfavourable quarter for ships upon that coast, the commander bore up again for Yarmouth, and anchored at eight A.M. |
This return afforded us, at least, the opportunity of comparing the longitude of Yarmouth church, as shewn by our chronome- ters, with its position as laid down by the Ordnance trigonometrical survey; and. it was satisfactory to find, from the small difference in their results, that the chronometers had not experienced any alteration in their rates, in consequence of their being changed from an horizontal position in a room, to that of being carried in the pocket.
An untoward circumstance, while at this anchorage, cast a damp on our party at this early period of the voyage. Emboldened by the decided appearance of the N.W. sky, several of our officers and pas- sengers ventured on shore for a few hours; but we had not been long in the town before the wind changed suddenly to 8.E., which caused instant motion in the large fleet collected at this anchorage. The commander of our ship intimated his intention of proceeding to sea by firing guns; and the passengers hastened to embark. Mr. Back, however, had unfortunately gone upon some business to a house two or three miles distant from Yarmouth, along the line of the coast;
———
—.
OF THE POLAR SEA. ‘3
from whence he expected to be able to observe the first symptom of moving, which the vessels might make. By some accident, however, he did not make his appearance before the captain was obliged to make sail, that he might get the ships through the intricate passage of the Cockle Gat before it was dark. Fortunately, through the kindness of Lieut. Hewit of the Protector, I was enabled to convey a note to our missing companion, desiring him to proceed immediately by the coach to the Pentland Firth, and from thence across the passage to Stromness, which appeared to be the only way of proceed- ing by which he could rejoin the party.
June 3.—The wind continuing favourable after leaving Yarmouth, about nine this morning we passed the rugged and bold projecting rock termed Johnny Groat’s house, and soon afterwards Duncansby Head, and then entered the Pentland Firth. A pilot came from the main shore of Scotland, and steered the ship in safety between the different islands, to the outer anchorage at Stromness, though the atmosphere was too dense for distinguishing any of the objects on the land: Almost immediately after the ship had anchored, the wind changed to N.W., the rain ceased, and a sight was then first obtained of the neighbouring islands, and of the town of Stromness, the latter of which, from this point of view, and at this distance, presented a pleasing appearance.
Mr. Geddes, the agent of the Hudson’s Bay Company at this place, undertook to communicate my wish for volunteer boatmen to the dif- ferent parishes, by a notice on the church-door, which he said was the surest and most direct channel for the conveyance of information to the lower classes in these islands, as they invariably attend divine ser- vice there every Sunday. He informed me that the kind of men we were in want of would be difficult to procure, on account of the very imereased demand for boatmen for the herring fishery, which has recently been established on the shores of these islands: that last year, sixty boats and four hundred men only were employed in this service,
B 2
4 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
whereas now there were three hundred boats and twelve hundred men engaged: and that owing to this unexpected addition to the fishery, he had been unable to provide the number of persons required for the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company. This was unpleasant in- formation, as it increased the apprehension of our being detained at York Factory the whole winter, if boatmen were not taken from hence. I could not therefore hesitate in requesting Mr. Geddes to engage eight or ten men well adapted for our service, on such terms as he could procure them, though the Secretary of State’s permission had not yet reached me.
Next to a supply of boatmen, our attention was directed towards the procuring of a house conveniently situated for trying the instru- ments, and examining the rates of the chronometers. Mr. Geddes kindly offered one of his, which, though in an unfinished state, was readily accepted, being well situated for our purpose, as it was placed on an eminence, had a southern aspect, and was at a sufficient dis- tance from the town to secure us from frequent interruption. Ano- ther advantage was its proximity to the Manse, the residence of the worthy and highly respected minister of Stromness: whose kind hos- pitality and polite attention of his family, the party eel ga al- most daily during their stay.
For three days the weather was unsettled, and few observations could be made, except for the dip of the needle, which was ascertained to be 74° 37° 48", on which occasion a difference of eight degrees and a half was perceived between the observations, when the face of the instrument was changed from the east to the west, the amount being the greatest when it was placed with the face to the west. But on the 8th, a westerly wind caused a cloudless sky, which enabled us to place the transit instrument in the meridian, and to ascertain the variation of the compass, to be 27° 50’ west. The sky becoming cloudy in the afternoon, prevented our obtaining the corresponding observations to those gained in the morning; and the next day an
OF THE POLAR SEA. 5
impervious fog obscured the sky until noon. On the evening of this day, we had the gratification of welcoming our absent companion, Mr. Back. His return to our society was hailed with sincere pleasure by every one, and removed a weight of anxiety from my mind. It appears that he had come down to the beach at Caistor, just as the ships. were passing by, and had applied to some boatmen to convey him on board, which might have been soon accomplished, but they, discovering the emergency of his case, demanded an exorbitant re- ward which he was not at the instant prepared to satisfy; and in con- sequence they positively refused to assist him. Though he had travelled nine successive days, almost without rest, he could not be prevailed upon to withdraw from the agreeable scene of a ball-room, in which he joined us, until a late hour.
On the 10th, the rain having ceased, the observations for ascer- taining the dip of the needle were repeated ; and the results, com- pared with the former ones, gave a mean of 74° 33' 20". Nearly the same differences were remarked in reversing the face of the in- strument.as before. An attempt was also made to ascertain the magnetic force, but the wind blew too strong for procuring the observation to any degree of accuracy.
The fineness of the following day induced us to set up the different instruments for examination, and to try how nearly the observations made by each of them would agree; but a squall passed over just before noon, accompanied by heavy rain, and the hoped-for favour- able opportunity was entirely lost. In the intervals between the observations, and at every opportunity, my companions were occupied in those pursuits to which their attention had been more particularly directed in my instructions. Whilst Dr. Richardson was collecting and examining the various specimens of marine plants, of which these islands furnish an abundant and diversified supply, Mr. Back and Mr. Hood took views and sketches of the surrounding scenery, which is extremely picturesque in many parts, and wants only the
6 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
addition of trees to make it beautiful. The hills present the bold character of rugged sterility, whilst the valleys, at this season, are clothed with luxuriant verdure. |
_It.was not till the 14th, that, by appointment, the boatmen were to assemble at the house of Mr. Geddes, to engage to accompany the expedition. Several persons collected, but to my great mortifi- cation, I found they were all so strongly possessed with the fearful apprehension, either that great danger would attend the service, or that we should carry them further than they would agree to go, that not a single man would engage with us; some of them, how- ever, said they would consider the subject, and give me an answer on the following day. This indecisive conduct was extremely annoying to me, especially as the next evening was fixed for the departure of the ships. |
At the appointed time on the following morning four men only presented themselves, and these, after much hesitation, engaged to accompany the expedition to Fort Chepewyan, if they should be required so far. ‘The bowmen and steersmen were to receive forty pounds wages annually, and the middle men thirty-five pounds. They stipulated to be sent back to the Orkney Islands, free of expense, and to receive their pay until the time of arrival. Only these few men could be procured, although our requisition had been sent to almost every island, even as far as the northernmost point of Ronaldsha. I was much amused with the extreme caution these men used before they would sign the agreement; they minutely scanned all our intentions, weighed every circumstance, looked nar- rowly into the plan of our route, and still more circumspectly to the prospect of return. Such caution on the part of the northern mariners forms a singular contrast with the ready and thoughtless manner in which an English seaman enters upon any enterprise, however hazardous, without inquiring, or desirmg to know, where he is going, or what he 1s going about.
OF THE POLAR SEA. 7
_ The brig Harmony, belonging to the Moravian Missionary Society,
and bound to their settlement at Nain, on the coast of Labrador,
was lying at anchor. With the view of collecting some Esquimaux words and sentences, or gaining any information respecting the manners and habits of that people, Doctor Richardson and myself paid her a visit. We found the passengers, who were going out as Missionaries, extremely disposed to communicate; but as they only spoke the German and Esquimaux languages, of which we were ignorant, our conversation was necessarily much confined: by the aid, however, of an Esquimaux and German Dictionary, some few words were collected, which we considered might be useful. There were on board a very interesting girl, and a young man, who were natives of Disco, in Old Greenland; both of them had fair com- plexions, rather handsome features, and a lively manner; the former was going to be married to a resident Missionary, and the latter to officiate in that character. The commander of the vessel gave me a translation of the Gospel of St. John in the Esquimaux language, printed by the Moravian Society in London.
June 16.—The wind being unfavourable for sailing, I went on shore with Dr. Richardson, and took several lunar observations at the place of our former residence. The result obtained was, latitude 58° 56’ 56" N., longitude 3° 28’ 28" W., variation 27° 50’ W.; dip of the magnetic needle, 74° 33' 20’. In the afternoon the wind changed in a squall some points towards the north, and the Prince of Wales made the preparatory signal for sea. At three P.M. the ships weighed, an hour too early for the tide; as soon as this served we entered into the passage between Hoy and Pomona, and had to beat through against a very heavy swell, which the meeting of a weather tide and a strong breeze had oceasioned.
Some dangerous rocks lie near the Pomona shore, and on this side also the tide appeared to run with the greatest strength. On clearing
3: A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
the outward projecting points of Hoy and Pomona, we entered at once into the Atlantic, and commenced our voyage to Hudson’s Bay— having the Eddystone, Wear, and Harmony Missionary brig in company.
The comparisons of the chronometers this day indicated that Arnold’s Nos. 2148 and 2147, had slightly changed their rates since they had been brought on board ; fortunately the rate of the former seems to have increased nearly in the same ratio as the other has lost, and the mean longitude will not be materially. affected.
Being now fairly launched into the Atlantic, I issued a general memorandum for the guidance of the officers, during the prosecution of the service on which we were engaged, and communicated to them the several points of information that were expected from us by my instructions. I also furnished them with copies of the signals, which had been agreed upon between Lieutenant Parry and myself, to be used in the event of our reaching the northern coast of i and falling in with each other.
At the end of the month of June, our progress was found to have been extremely slow, owing to a determined N.W. wind and much sea. We had numerous birds hovering round the ship; principally fulmars (procellaria glacialis,) and shearwaters, (procellaria puffinus, ) and not unfrequently saw shoals of grampusses sporting about, which the Greenland seamen term finners from their large dorsal fin. Some porpoises occasionally appeared, and whenever they did, the crew were sanguine in their expectation of having a speedy change in the wind, which had been so vexatiously contrary, but they were disap- pointed in every instance. |
Thursday, July 1.—The month of July set in more Pavourallife f and, aided by fresh breezes, we advanced rapidly to the westward, attended daily by numerous fulmars and shearwaters. The Mis- sionary brig had parted company on the 22d of June. We passed directly over that part of the ocean where the “Sunken Land of
OF THE POLAR SEA. 9
Buss” is laid down in the old, and continued in the Admiralty charts. Mr. Bell, the commander of the Eddystone, informed me, that the pilot, who brought his ship down the Thames, told him that he had gained soundings in twelve feet somewhere hereabout ; and iI am rather inclined to attribute the very unusual and cross sea we had in this neighbourhood, to the existence of a bank, than to the effect of a gale of wind which we had just before experienced ; and I cannot but regret that the commander of the ship did not try for soundings at frequent intervals. |
By the 25th July we had opened the entrance of Davis’ Straits, and in the afternoon we spoke the Andrew Marvel, bound to England with a cargo of fourteen fish. The master informed us that the ice had been heavier this season in Davis Straits than he had ever recol- lected, and that it lay particularly close to the westward, being con- nected with the shore to the northward of Resolution Island, and extending from thence within a short distance of the Greenland coast; that whales had been abundant, but the ice so extremely cross, that few could be killed. His ship, as well as'several others, had suffered material injury, and two vessels had been entirely crushed between vast masses of ice in latitude 74° 40 N., but the crews were saved. We inquired anxiously, but in vain, for intelligence respecting Lieutenant Parry, and the ships under his command; but ‘as hé mentioned that the wind had been blowing strong from the northward for some time, which would, probably, have cleared Baffin’s Bay of ice, we were disposed to hope favourably of his progress. _ The clouds assumed so much the appearance of icebergs this evening as to deceive most of the passengers and crew; but their imaginations had been excited by the intelligence we had received from the Andrew Marvel, that she had only parted from a cluster of them two days previous to our meeting. On the 27th, being in latitude 57° 44°21" N., longitude 47° 31’ 14 W., and the weather calm, we tried for soundings but did not reach
c
10 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
the bottom. The register thermometer was attached to the line just above the lead, and is supposed to have descended six hundred.
and fifty fathoms. A well-corked bottle was also fastened to the line,
two hundred fathoms above the lead, and went down four hundred and fifty fathoms. The change in temperature, shewn by the register thermometer during the descent, was from 52° to 40.5’; and it stood at the latter point, when taken out of the tin case. The tem- perature of the water brought up in the bottle was 41°, being half a degree higher at four hundred and fifty than at six hundred and fifty
fathoms, and four degrees colder than the water at the surface which
was then at 45°, whilst that of the air was 46°. This experiment, in shewing the water to be colder at a great depth than at the surface, and in proportion to the increase of the descent, coincides with the observations of Captain Ross and Lieutenant Parry, on their late voyage to these seas, but is contrary to the results obtained by Captain Buchan and myself; on our recent voyage to the north, between Spitzbergen and Greenland, in which sea we invariably found the water brought from mul great depth to be warmer than that at the surface.
On the 28th we tacked to ahoitl an extensive stream of sailing ice. The temperature of the water fell to 39.5°, when we were near it, but was at 41°, when at the distance of half a mile. The thermo- meter in the air remained steadily at 40°. Thus the proximity of this ice was not so decidedly indicated by the decrease of the tem- perature of either the air or water, as I have before witnessed, which _ was probably owing to the recent arrival of the stream at this point, and its passing at too quick a rate for the effectual diffusion of its chilling influence beyond a short distance. Still the decrease in both cases was sufficient to have given timely warning for a ship’s per- forming any evolution that would have prevented the coming in contact with it, had the thickness of the weather panda’ a distant view of the danger. ,
OF THE POLAR SEA. Il
The approach to ice would be more evidently pointed out. in the Atlantic, or wherever the surface is not so continually chilled by the passing and the melting of ice as in this sea; and: I should. strongly recommend a strict hourly attention to the thermometrical, state. of the water at the surface, in all parts where ships are exposed to the dangerous concussion of sailing icebergs, as a principal means of security.
The following day our ship came near another stream of ice, and the approach to it was indicated by a decrease of the temperature of the water at the surface from 44° to 42°. -A- small pine-tree was picked up much shattered by the ice. In the afternoon of the 30th, a very dense fog came on; and, about six P.M., when sailing before a fresh breeze, we were suddenly involved in a heavy stream of ice. Considerable difficulty was experienced in steering through the narrow channels between the different masses in this foggy weather, and the ship received several severe blows.
The water, as usual in the centre of the stream, was quite smooth, but we heard the waves beating violently against the outer edge of the ice. There was some earthy matter on several of the pieces, and the whole body bore the appearance of recent separation from the land. In the space of two hours we again got into the open sea, but had left our two consorts far behind; but they followed our track by the guns we discharged. The temperature of the surface water was 35° when amongst the ice, 38° when just clear of it, and 41.5° at two miles distant.
On the 3d of August, when in latitude 59° 58’ N., longitude 59° 53’ W., we first fellin with large icebergs ; and in the evening were encompassed by several of considerable magnitude, which obliged us to tack the ship in order to prevent our getting entangled amongst them. The estimated distance from the nearest part of the Labrador coast was then eighty-eight miles ; here we tried for sound- ings, without gaining the bottom. The ship passed through some
c 2
12 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
strong riplings, which evidently indicated a current, but its direction was not ascertained. We found, however, by the recent observa- tions, that the ship had been set daily to the southward, since we had opened Davis’ Straits. The variation of the compass was ob- served to be 52° 41° W. |
At nine P.M., brilliant coruscations of the Aurora Borealis ap- peared, of a pale ochre colour, with a slight tinge of red, in an arched form, crossing the zenith from N.W. to 8.E., but afterwards they assumed various shapes, and had a rapid motion.
On the 5th of August, a party of the officers endeavoured to get on one of the larger icebergs, but ineffectually, owing to the steepness and smoothness of its sides, and the swell produced by its undu- lating motion. This was one of the largest we saw, and Mr. Hood ascertained its height to be one hundred and forty-nine feet; but these masses of ice are frequently magnified to an immense size, through the illusive medium of a hazy atmosphere, and on this ac- count their dimensions have often been exaggerated by voyagers.
~In the morning of the 7th, the Island of Resolution was indis- tinctly seen through the haze, but was soon afterwards entirely hidden by a very dense fog. The favourable breeze subsided into a perfect calm, and left the ship surrounded by loose ice. At this time the Eddystone was perceived to be driving with rapidity towards some of the larger masses; the stern boats of this ship and of the Wear were despatched to assist in towing her clear of them. At ten, a momentary clearness presented the land distinctly at the distance of two miles; the ship was quite unmanageable, and under the sole governance of the currents, which ran in strong eddies between the masses of ice. Our consorts were also seen, the Wear being within hail, and the Eddystone at a short distance from us. ‘Two attempts were ineffectually made to gain soundings, and the extreme density of the fog precluded us from any other means of ascertaining the direc- tion in which we were driving until half past twelve, when we had the
OF THE POLAR SEA. 13
alarming view of a barren rugged shore within a few yards, towering over the mast-heads. Almost instantly afterwards the ship struck violently on a point of rocks, projecting from the island; and the ship’s side was brought so near to the shore, that poles were pre- pared to push her off. This blow displaced the rudder, and raised it several inches, but it fortunately had been previously confined by tackles. A gentle swell freed the ship from this perilous situation, but the current hurried us along in contact with the rocky shore, and the prospect was most alarming. On the outward bow was perceived a rugged and precipitous cliff whose summit was hid in the fog, and the vessel’s head was pointed towards the bottom of a small bay, into which we were rapidly driving. There now seemed to be no probability of escaping shipwreck, being without wind, and having the rudder in its present useless state; the only assist- ance was that of a boat employed in towing, which had been placed in the water between the ship and the shore, at the imminent risk of its being crushed. The ship again struck in passing over a ledge of rocks, and happily the blow replaced the rudder, which enabled us to take advantage of a light breeze, and to direct the ship’s head without the projecting cliff But the breeze was only momentary, and the ship was a third time driven on shore on the rocky termina- tion of the cliff Here we remained stationary for some seconds, and with little prospect of being removed from this perilous situa- tion; but we were once more extricated by the swell from this ledge also, and carried still farther along the shore. The coast became now more rugged, and our view of it was terminated by another high projecting point on the starboard bow. Happily, before we had reached it, a light breeze enabled us to turn the ship’s head to seaward, and we had the gratification to find, when the sails were trimmed, that she drew off the shore. We had made but little progress, however, when she was violently forced by the current against a large iceberg lying aground,
14 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
' - Our prospect was now more alarming than at any preceding period; and it would be difficult, for me to portray the anxiety and dismay depicted on the countenances of the female passengers and children, who were rushing on deck in spite of the endeavours of the officers to keep them below, out of the danger which was apprehended if the masts should be carried away. After the first concussion the ship was driven along the steep and rugged side of this iceberg, with such amazing rapidity, that the destruction of the masts seemed. inevi- table, and every one expected we should again be forced on the rocks in the most. disabled state; but we providentially escaped this pe- rilous result, which must have been. decisive. |
The dense fog now cleared away for-a short time, and we disco- vered: the Eddystone close to some rocks, having three boats em- ployed in towing; but the Wear was not visible.
Our ship received water very fast; the pumps were instantly manned and kept in continual use, and signals of distress were made to the Eddystone, whose commander promptly came on board, and then ordered to our assistance his carpenter and all the men he could. spare, together with the carpenter and boat’s crew of the Wear, who had. gone on board the Eddystone in the morning, and were prevented from returning to their own vessel by the fog. As the wind was in- creasing, and the sky appeared very unsettled, it was determined the Eddystone should take the ship in tow, that the undivided attention of the passengers and crew might be directed to pumping, and clear- ing the holds to examine whether there was a possibility of stopping the leak. We soon had reason to suppose the principal injury had been received from a blow near the stern-post, and, after cutting away part of the ceiling, the carpenters endeavoured to stop the rushing in of the water, by forcing oakum between the timbers ; but this had not the desired effect, and the leak, in spite of all our efforts at the pumps, increased so much, that parties of the officers and passengers were sta- tioned to bail out the water in buckets at different parts of the hold.
OF THE’ POLAR SEA. —
A heavy gale came on, blowing from the land, as the night advanced ; the sails were split, the ship was encompassed by heavy ice, and, in forcing through a closely-connected stream, the tow-rope broke, and obliged us to take a portion of the seamen from the pumps, and ap- point them to the management of the ship.
Fatigue, indeed, had caused us to relax in our exertions at the pumps during a part of the night of the 8th, and on the following morning upwards of five feet water was found in the well. Renewed exertions were now put forth by every person, and before eight A.M. the water was so much reduced as to enable the carpenters to get at other defective places: but the remedies they could apply were in- sufficient to repress the water from rushing in, and our labours could but just keep the ship in the same state throughout the day, until six P.M.; when the strength of every one began to fail, the expe- dient of thrusting in felt, as well as oakum, was resorted to, and a plank nailed over all. After this operation a perceptible diminution in the water was made, and being encouraged by the change, we put forth our utmost exertion in bailing and pumping, and before night, to our infinite joy, the leak was so overpowered that the pumps were only required to be used at intervals of ten minutes. A sail, covered with every substance that could be carried into the leaks by the pressure of the water, was drawn under the quarter of the ship, and secured by ropes on each side.
As a matter of precaution in the event of having to abandon the ship, which was for some time doubtful, the elderly women and children were removed to the Eddystone when the wind was mode- rate this afternoon, but the young women remained to assist at the pumps, and their services were highly valuable, both for their per- ‘sonal labour, and for the phtaumasemes their example and perse- verance gave to the men.
_At day-light, on the 9th, every eye was anxiously cast around the horizon in search of the Wear, but in vain; and the recollection of
16 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
our own recent peril caused us to entertain considerable apprehensions for her safety. This anxiety quickened our efforts to exchange our shattered sails for new ones, that the ship might be got, as speedily as possible, near to the land, which was but just in sight, and a care- ful search be made for her along the coast. We were rejoiced to find that our leak did not increase by carrying sail, and we ventured in the evening to remove the sail which had been placed under the part where the injury had been received, as it greatly impeded our advance.
We passed many icebergs on the 10th, and in the evening we tacked from a level field of ice, which extended northward as far as the eye could reach. Our leak remained in the same state; the pumps discharged in three minutes the quantity of water which had been received in fifteen.
The ship could not be got near to the land before the afternoon of the 11th. At four P.M. we hove to, opposite to, and about five miles distant from, the spot on which we had first struck on Saturday. Every glass was directed along the shore (as they had been throughout the day), to discover any trace of our absent consort; but, as none was seen, our solicitude respecting her was much increased, and we feared the crew might be wrecked on this inhospitable shore. Guns were fre- quently fired to apprize any who might be near of our approach ; but, as no one appeared, and no signal was returned, and the loose ice was setting down towards the ship, we bore up to proceed to the next ap- pointed rendezvous. At eight P.M. we were abreast of the S.W. end of the island called Cape Resolution, which is a low point, but indicated at a distance by a lofty round backed hill that rises above it. We entered Hudson’s Straits soon afterwards.
The coast of Resolution Island should be approached with caution, as the tides appear to be strong and uncertain in their course. Some dangerous rocks lie above and below the water’s edge, at the distance of five or six miles from East Bluff, bearing §. 32° E.
OF THE POLAR SEA. —
_ August 12.—Having had afresh gale through the night, we reached Saddleback Island by noon—the place. of rendezvous; and looked anxiously but in vain for the Wear. Several guns were fired, supposing she might be hid from our view by the land; but, as she did. not ap- pear, Captain Davidson, having remained two hours, deemed further delay inexpedient, and bore up to keep the advantage of the fair wind. ‘The outline of this island is rugged; the hummock on its northern extremity appeared to me to resemble a decayed martello tower more than a saddle.
Azimuths were obtained this evening that gave the variation 58° 45’ W., which is greater than is laid down in the charts, or than the officers of the Hudson’s Bay ships have been accustomed to’allow. We arrived abreast of the Upper Savage Island early in the morning, and as the breeze was moderate, the ship was steered as near to the shore as the wind would permit, to give the Esquimaux inhabitants an opportunity of coming off to barter, which they soon embraced.
Their shouts at a distance intimated’ their approach: some time
before we descried the canoes paddling towards us; the headmost’ of
them reached us at. eleven; these were quickly followed by others, and before noon about forty canoes, each holding one man, were assembled around the two ships. In the afternoon, when we ap- proached nearer to the shore, five or six larger Guess containing the women and children, came up. |
The Esquimaux immediately evinced their desire to barter, and dis- played no small cunning in making their bargains, taking care not to exhibit too many articles at first. Their principal commodities were, oil, sea-horse teeth, whalebone, seal-skin dresses, caps and boots, deer- skins and horns, and models of their canoes; and they received in ex- change small saws, knives, nails, tin-kettles, and needles, It was pleas- ing to behold the exultation, and to hear the shouts of the whole party, when an acquisition was made by any one; and not a little ludicrous to behold the eagerness with which the fortunate person licked éach
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18 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
article with his tongue, on receiving it, as a finish to the bargain, and an act of appropriation. ‘They in no instance omitted this strange practice, however small the article; the needles even passed indi- vidually through the ceremony. The women brought imitations of men, women, animals, and birds, carved with labour and ingenuity out of sea-horse teeth. The dresses, and the figures of the animals, were not badly executed, but there was no attempt at the delinea- tion of the countenances; and most of the figures were without eyes, ears, and fingers, the execution of which would, perhaps, have required more delicate instruments than they possess. The men set most value on saws; kuttee-swa-bak, the name by which they distinguish them, was a constant cry. Knives were held next in estimation. An old sword was bartered from the Eddystone, and { shall long remember the universal burst of joy on the happy man’s receiving it. It was delightful to witness the general interest ex- cited by individual acquisitions. ‘There was no desire shewn by any one to over-reach his neighbour, or to press towards any part of the ship where a bargain was making, until the person in possession of the place had completed his exchange and removed; and, if any ar- ticle happened to be demanded from the outer canoes, the men nearest assisted willingly in passing the thing across. Supposing the party to belong to one tribe, the total number of the tribe must exceed two hundred persons, as there were, probably, one hundred and fifty around the ships, and few of these were elderly persons or male children.
Their faces were broad and flat, the eyes were small. The men were in general stout. Some of the younger women and the children had rather pleasing countenances, but the difference between these and the more aged of that sex, bore strong testimony to the effects which a few years produce in this ungenial climate. Most of the party had sore eyes, all of them appeared of a plethoric habit of body; several were observed bleeding at the nose during their stay
OF THE POLAR SEA. 19
near the ship. ‘The men’s dresses consisted of a jacket of seal-skin, the trowsers of bear-skin, and several had caps of the white fox-skin. The female dresses were made of the same materials, but differently shaped, having a hood in which the infants were carried. . We thought their manner very lively and agreeable. They were fond of mimicking our speech and gestures; but nothing afforded them greater amusement than when we attempted to retaliate by pro- nouncing any of their words.
The canoes were of seal-skin, and similar in every respect to those used by the Esquimaux in Greenland; they were generally new and very complete in their appointments. Those appropriated to the women are of ruder construction, and only calculated for fine wea- ther; they are, however, useful vessels, being capable of containing twenty persons with their luggage. An elderly man officiates as steersman, and the women paddle, but they have also a mast which carries a sail, made of dressed whale-gut.
When the women had disposed of all their articles of trade they resorted to entreaty; and the putting in practice of many enticing gestures was managed with so much address, as to procure them pre- sents of a variety of beads, needles, and other articles in great demand among females.
It is probable these Esquimaux go from this shore to some part of Labrador to pass the winter, as parties of them have been frequently seen by the homeward-bound .Hudson’s Bay ships in the act of crossing the Strait.
They appear to speak the same language as the tribe of Waal maux, who reside near to the Moravian settlements in Labrador ; for we perceived they used several of the words which had been given to us by the Missionaries at Stromness.
Towards evening, the Captain, being desirous to get rid of his visitors, took an effectual method by tacking from the shore; our friends then departed apparently in high glee at the harvest they had
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20 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
reaped. They paddled away very swiftly, and would, doubtless, soon reach the shore though it was distant ten or twelve miles.
Not having encountered any of the ice, which usually arrests the progress of ships in their outward passage through the Straits, and being consequently deprived of the usual means of replenishing our stock of water, which had become short, the Captain resolved on going to the coast of Labrador for a supply. Dr. Richardson and I gladly embraced this opportunity to land, and examine this part of the coast. [ was also desirous to observe the variation on shore, as the azimuths which had been taken on board both ships since our en- trance into the Straits, had shewn a greater amount than we had been led to expect; but, unluckily, the sun became obscured. The beach consisted of large rolled stones of gneiss and sienite, amongst which many pieces of ice had grounded, and it was with difficulty that we effected a landing in a small cove under a steep cliff. These stones were worn perfectly smooth; neither in the interstices, nor at the bottom of the water, which was very clear, were there any vestiges of sea-weed. |
The cliff was from forty to fifty feet high and quite perpendicular, and had at its base a small slip of soil formed of the debris of a bed of clay-slate. From this narrow spot Dr. Richardson collected spe- cimens of thirty different species of plants; and we were about to scramble up a shelving part of the rock, and go into the interior, when we perceived the signal of recal, which the master had caused to be made, in consequence of a sudden change in the appearance of the weather. | | - On the evening of the 19th, we passed Digges’ Islands, the termi- nation of Hudson’s Strait. Here the Eddystone parted company, being bound to Moose Factory, at the bottom of the Bay. A strong north wind came on, which prevented our getting round the north end of Mansfield ; and, as it continued to blow with equal strength for the next five days, we were most vexatiously detained in beating
OF THE POLAR SEA. Al
along the Labrador coast, and near the dangerous chain of islands, the Sleepers, which are said to extend from the latitude of 60° 10’ to 57° 00 N. The press of sail, which of necessity we carried, caused the leak to increase, and the pumps were kept in constant use.
A. favouring wind at length enabled us, on the 25th, to shape our course across Hudson’s Bay. Nothing worthy of remark occurred during this passage, except the rapid decrease in the variation of the magnetic needle, which will be seen in a subsequent table, together with the positions of the different points in Hudson’s Straits; near to which we had the opportunity of getting observations. The few remarks respecting the appearance of the land, which we were able to make in our quick passage through these Straits, were transmitted ‘to the Admiralty; but, as they will not be interesting to the general reader, and may not be sufficiently accurate for the guidance of the Navigator, they are omitted in this narrative.
On the 28th we discovered the land to the southward of Cape Tat- ‘nam, which is so extremely low, that the tops of the trees were first discerned ; the soundings at the time were seventeen fathoms, which gradually decreased to five as the shore was approached. Cape Tatnam is not otherwise remarkable than as being the point from which the coast inclines rather more to the westward towards York Factory.
The opening of the morning of the 30th presented’ to our view the anchorage at York Flats, and the gratifying sight of a vessel at anchor, which we recognised, after an anxious examination, to be the Wear. A strong breeze blowing from the direction of the Flats, caused the water to be more shallow than usual on the sandy bar, which lies on the seaward side of the anchorage, and we could not get over it before two P.M., when the tide was nearly at its height.
Immediately after our arrival Mr. Williams, the Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s posts, came on board, accompanied by the
22 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
Commander of the Wear. The pleasure we felt in welcoming the latter gentleman can easily be imagined, when it is considered what reason we had for the apprehension that he and his crew had been numbered with the dead. We learnt that one of the larger masses of ice had providentially drifted between the vessel’s side and the rocks just at the time he expected to strike, to which he secured her until a breeze sprang up, and enabled him to pursue his voyage.
The Governor acquainted me that he had received information from the Committee of the Hudson’s Bay Company of the equip- ment of the Expedition, and that the officers would come out in the first ship. In the evening Dr. Richardson, Mr. Hood, and I, aceom- panied the Governor to York Factory, which we reached after dark ; it is distant from the Flats seven miles. arly next morning the Governor conferred the honour of a salute on the members of the Expedition.
Having communicated to the Governor the objects of the Expe dition, and that I had been directed to consult with him and the senior servants of the Company as to the best mode of proceeding towards the execution of the service, I was gratified by his assurance that his instructions from the Committee directed that every possible assistance should be given to forward our progress, and that he should feel peculiar pleasure in performing this part of his duty. He intro- duced me at once to Messrs. Charles, Swaine, and Snodie, masters of districts, who, from long residence in the country, were per- fectly acquainted with the different modes of travelling, and the ob- structions which might be anticipated. At the desire of these gentle- men, I drew up a series of questions on the points on which we re- quired information ; to which they had the kindness to return very explicit and satisfactory answers two days afterwards; and on re- ceiving them I requested the Governor to favour me with his senti- ments on the same subject in writing, which he delivered to me on the following day. |
OF THE POLAR SEA. 93
Having learned that Messrs. Shaw, M‘Tavish, and several other partners of the N.W. Company. were under detention at this place, we took the earliest opportunity of visiting them ; when, having pre- sented the general circular, and other introductory letters, with which I had been furnished by their agent Mr. Simon M‘Gillivray,
we received from them the most friendly and full assurance of the
cordial endeavours of the wintering partners of their Company to pro- mote the interests of the Expedition, The knowledge we had now gained of the state of the violent commercial opposition existing in the country, rendered this assurance highly gratifying; and these gentlemen added to the obligation by freely communicating the in- formation respecting the interior of the country, which their intelli- gence and long residence so fully qualified them to give.
I deemed it expedient to issue a memorandum to the officers of the Expedition, strictly prohibiting any interference whatever in the existing quarrels, or any that might arise, between the two Com- panies; and on presenting it to the principals of both the parties, they expressed their satisfaction at the step I had taken.
The opinions of all the gentlemen were so decidedly in favour of the route by Cumberland House, and through the chain of posts to the Great Slave Lake, that I determined on pursuing it, and imme- diately communicated my intention to the Governor, with a request that he would furnish me with the means of conveyance for the party as speedily as possible. ;
It was suggested in my instructions, that we might probably procure a schooner at this place, to proceed north as far as Wager Bay; but the vessel alluded to was lymg at Moose Factory, com- pletely out of repair ; independently of which, the route directly to the northward, was rendered. impracticable by the impossibility of procuring hunters and guides upon the coast.
_ I found that as the Esquimaux inhabitants had left Churchill a month previous to our arrival, no interpreter from: that quarter
QA, A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
could be procured before their return in the following spring. The Governor, however, undertook to forward to us. next season the only one amongst them who understood English, if he could be induced to go.
The Governor selected one of the largest of the Company’s boats for our use on the journey, and directed the carpenters to commence refitting it immediately ; but he was only able to furnish us with a steersman ; and we were obliged to make up the rest of the crew with the boatmen brought from Stromness, and our two attendants.
York Factory, the principal depét of the Hudson’s Bay Company, stands on the west bank of Hayes River, about five miles above its mouth, on the marshy peninsula which separates the Hayes and Nelson rivers. The surrounding country is flat and swampy, and covered with willows, poplars, larch, spruce, and birch trees, but the requisition for fuel has expended all the wood in the vicinity of the fort, and the residents have now to send a considerable distance for this necessary material. The soil is alluvial clay and contains im- bedded rolled stones. Though the bank of the river is elevated about twenty feet, it is frequently overflown by the spring floods, and large portions of it are annually carried away by the disruption of the ice; by these portions grounding in the stream, several muddy islands have been formed. These interruptions, together with the _various collections of stones that are hid at high water render the navigation of the river difficult ; but vessels of two hundred tons burthen may be brought through the proper channels as high as the Factory. |
The principal buildings are placed in the form of a square, having an octagonal court in the centre; they are two stories in height, and have flat roofs covered with lead. The officers dwell in one portion of this square, and in the other parts the articles of merchandise are kept: the workshops, storehouses for the furs, and the servants’ houses, are ranged on the outside of the square, and the whole is
OF THE POLAR SEA. 25
surrounded by a stockade twenty feet high. A. platform is laid from the house to the pier on the bank for the convenience of transporting the stones and. furs, which is the only promenade the residents have on this-marshy spot during the summer season. The few Indians, who now frequent this éStablishment, belong to the Swampy Crees. There were several of them encamped on the outside of the stockade. Their tents were rudely constructed by tying twenty or thirty poles together at the top, and spreading them out at the base so as to form a cone; these were covered with dressed moose-skins. The fire is placed in the centre, and a hole is left for the escape of the smoke. The inmates had a squalid look, and were suffering under the com- bined afflictions of hooping-cough and measles; but even these mi- series did not keep them from an excessive indulgence in the use of spirits, which they unhappily can procure from the traders with too much facility; and they nightly serenaded us with their monotonous drunken songs. Their sickness, at this time, was particularly felt by the traders, this being the season of the year when the exertion of every hunter is required to procure their winter's stock of geese, which resort in immense flocks to the extensive flats in this neigh- bourhood. These birds, during the summer, retire far to the north, and breed in security ; but, when the approach of winter compels them to seek a more southern climate, they generally alight on the marshes of this bay, and fatten there for three weeks or a month, before they take their final departure from the country. They also make a short halt at the same spots in their progress northwards in the spring. Their arrival is welcomed with joy, and the period of the goose hunt is one of the most plentiful seasons of the year. The ducks frequent the swamps all the summer.
The weather was extremely unfavourable for celestial observations during our stay, and it was only by watching the momentary appear- ances of the sun, that we were enabled to obtain fresh rates for the chronometers, and allow for their errors from Greenwich time. The
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26 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
dip of the needle was observed to be 79° 29’ 07’, and the difference produced by reversing the face of the instrument was 11°3 40". A succession of fresh breezes prevented our ascertaining the intensity of the magnetic force. The position of York Factory, by our ob- servations, is in latitude 57° 00’ 03’ N., longitude 92° 26 W. The variation of the compass 6° 00' 21" E.
”
OF THE POLAR SEA. Q7
CHAPTER IL.
Passage up Hayes’, Steel, and Hill Rivers—Cross Swampy Lake—Jack River—Knee Lake and Magnetic Islet-—Trout River—Holey Lake—Weepinapannis River—Windy Lake— White-Fall Lake and River—Echemamis and Lea Rivers—Play-Green Lakes—Lake Wi- nipeg—River Saskatchawan—Cross, Cedar, and Pine-Island Lakes—Cumberland House.
1819.
September. On the 9th of September, our boat: being completed, arrangements were made for our departure as soon as the tide, should serve. But, when the stores were brought down to the beach it was found that the boat would not contain them all. ~The whole, therefore, of the bacon, and part of the flour, rice, tobacco, and ammuni- tion, were returned into the store. ‘The bacon was too bulky an article to be forwarded under any circumstances ; but the Governor under- took to forward the rest next season. In making the selection of ar- ticles to carry with us, I was guided by the judgment of Governor Wil- liams, who assured me that tobacco, ammunition, and spirits, could be procured in the interior, otherwise I should have been very unwilling to have left these essential articles behind. We embarked at noon, and were honoured with a salute of eight guns and three cheers from the Governor and all the inmates of the fort, assembled to witness our departure. We gratefully returned their cheers, and then made sail, much delighted at having now commenced our voyage into the interior of America. The wind and tide failing us at the distance of six miles above the Factory, and the current bemg too rapid for using oars to advantage, the crew had to commence tracking, or dragging the boat
by a line, to which they were harnessed. This‘operation is extremely
laborious in these rivers. Our men were obliged to walk along the steep declivity of a high bank, rendered at this season. soft and. slip-
E 2
28 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
pery by frequent rains, and their progress was often further impeded by fallen trees which, having slipped from the verge of the thick wood above, hung on the face of the bank in a great variety of directions. Notwithstanding these obstacles, however, we advanced at the rate of two miles an hour, one-half of the crew relieving the other at in- tervals of an hour and a half. The banks of the river, and its islands, composed of alluvial soil, are well covered with pines, larches, pop- lars, and willows. The breadth of the stream some distance above the Factory is about half a mile, and its depth during this day’s voyage varied from three to nine feet.
At sunset we landed, and pitched the tent for the night, having made a progress of twelve miles. A large fire was quickly kindled, supper speedily prepared, and as readily despatched, when we retired with our buffalo robes on, and enjoyed a night of sound repose.
It may here be stated that the survey of the river was made by taking the bearings of every point with a pocket compass, estimating the distances, and making a connected eye-sketch of the whole. This part of the survey was allotted to Messrs. Back and Hood con- jointly : Mr. Hood also protracted the route every evening on a ruled map, after the courses and distances had been corrected by observa- tions for latitude and longitude, taken by myself as often as the wea- ther would allow. The extraordinary talent of this young officer in this line of service proved of the greatest advantage to the Expe- dition, and he continued to perform that duty until his lamented death, with a degree of zeal and accuracy that characterized all his pursuits.
The next morning our camp was in motion at five A.M., and we soon afterwards embarked with the flattering accompaniment of a fair wind: it proved, however, too light to enable us to stem the stream, and we were obliged to resume the fatiguing operation of tracking, sometimes under cliffs so steep that the men could scarcely find a footing, and not unfrequently over spots rendered so miry, by
OF THE POLAR SEA. 29
the small streams that trickled from above, as to be almost impass- able. In the course of the day we passed the scene of a very me- lancholy accident. Some years ago, two families of Indians, induced by the flatness of a small beach, which lay betwixt the cliff and the river, chose it as the site of their encampment. They retired quietly to rest, not aware that the precipice, detached from the bank, and urged by an accumulation of water in the crevice behind, was tottering to its base. It fell during the night, and the whole party was buried under its ruins.
The length of our voyage to-day was, in a direct line, sixteen miles and a quarter, on a S.S.W. course. We encamped soon after sunset, and the tent was scarcely pitched when it began to rain heavily, and continued to do so all night.
Sixteen miles on the 11th, and five on the following morning, brought us to the commencement of Hayes’ River, which is formed by the confluence of the Shamattawa and Steel Rivers. Our observations place this spot in latitude 56° 22' 32" N., longitude 93° 137° W. It is forty-eight miles and a half from York Factory, including the windings of the river. Steel River, through which our course lay, is about three hundred yards wide at its mouth; its banks have more elevation than those of Hayes’ River, but they shelve more gradually down to the stream, and afford a tolerably good towing path, which compensates, in some degree, for the rapids and frequent shoals that impede its navigation. We suc- ceeded in getting about ten miles above the mouth of the river, before the close of day compelled us to disembark.
We made an effort, on the morning of the 13th, to stem the cur- rent under sail, but as the course of the river was very serpentine, we found that greater progress could be made by tracking. Steel River presents much beautiful scenery ; it winds through a narrow, but well-wooded, valley, which at every turn disclosed to us an agreeable variety of prospect, rendered more picturesque by the
310 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
effect of the season on the foliage, now ready to drop from the trees. The light yellow of the fading poplars formed a fine contrast to the dark evergreen of the spruce, whilst the willows, of an inter- mediate hue, served to shade the two principal masses of colour into each other. The scene was occasionally enlivened by the bright purple tints of the dogwood, blended with the browner shades of the dwarf birch, and frequently intermixed with the gay yellow flowers of the shrubby cinquefoil: \ With all these charms, the scene appeared desolate from the want of the human species. The still- ness was so great, that even the twittering of the whiskey-johneesh, or cinereous crow, caused us to start. Our voyage to-day was sixteen miles on a S: W. course.
Sept. 19.—We had much rain during the night, and also in the morning, which detained us in our encampment later than usual. We set out as soon as the weather cleared up, and in a short time arrived at the head of Steel River, where it is formed by the junction of Fox and Hill Rivers. These two rivers are nearly of equal width, but the latter is the most rapid. Mr. M‘Donald, on his way to Red River, ina small canoe, manned by two Indians, overtook us at this place. It may be mentioned as a proof of the dexterity of the Indians, and the skill with which they steal upon their game, that they had on the preceding day, with no other arms than a hatchet, killed two deer, a hawk, a curlew, and a sturgeon. Three of the Company’s boats joined us in the course of the morning, and we pursued our course up Hill Riverin company. The water in this river was so low, and the rapids so bad, that we were obliged several times, in the course of the day, to jump into the water, and. assist in lifting the boat over the large stones which impeded the naviga- tion. ‘The length of our voyage to-day was only six miles and three quarters. |
The four boats commenced operations together at five o'clock the following morning; but our boat being overladen, we soon found that
OF THE POLAR SEA. 3]
we were unable to keep pace with the others ; and therefore proposed to the gentlemen in charge of the Company’s boats, that they should relieve us of part of our cargo. This they declined doing, under the plea of not having received orders to that. effect, notwithstanding that the circular, with which I was furnished by Governor Williams, strictly enjoined all the Company’s servants to afford us every assist- ance. In consequence of this refusal we dropt. behind, and our steersman, who was inexperienced, being thus deprived of the advan- tage of observing the route followed by the guide, who was in the foremost boat, frequently took a wrong channel. The tow-line broke twice, and the boat was. only prevented from going broadside down the stream, and breaking to pieces against the stones, by the officers and men leaping into the water, and holding her head to the current until the line could be carried again to the shore. It is but justice to say, that in these trying situations we received much assistance from Mr. Thomas Swayne, who with great kindness waited for us with the boat under his charge, at such places as he apprehended would be most difficult. to pass. We encamped. at sunset, completely jaded with toil. Our distance made good this day was twelve miles and a quarter.
The labours of the 16th:commenced at half past five, and for some time the difficulty of getting the boats over the rapids was equal to what we experienced yesterday. Having passed a small brook, how- ever, termed Half-way Creek, the river became deeper, and although rapid, it was smooth enough to be named by our Orkney boatmen Siill-water. We were further relieved by the Company’s clerks con- senting to take a few boxes of our stores into their boats. Still we made only eleven miles in the course of the day.
The banks of Hill River are higher, and have a more broken out- line, than those of Steel or Hayes’ Rivers. _ The cliffs of alluvial clay rose in some places to the height of eighty or ninety feet above the stream, and were surmounted by hills about two hundred feet high,
32 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
but the thickness. of. the wood. prevented. us from seeing far beyond the mere banks’ of. the river. ~ ‘h September 17. — About. half past five in ie: morning we commenced tracking, and ‘soon. came to a ridge of rock which extended across the stream... From’ this’ place the boat was ‘dragged. up several. narrow rocky channels, until we came'to the Rock-Portage, where the stream, pent. in by a range. of small islands, forms several cascades. In as- cending the river, ‘the boats*with their cargoes are carried over one of the islands, but ‘in the descent they are shot down the most shelving of the cascades. Having performed the operations of car- rying, launching, and re- -stowing the cargo, we plied the oars for a short: distance and landed ata depét called Rock-House. Here we were informed that the rapids in the upper parts of Hill River were much worse and more numerous than those we had passed, particu- larly in the present season owing to the unusual lowness of the water. This intelligence was very mortifying, especially as the gentlemen in charge of the Company’s boats declared that they were unable to carry any part of our stores beyond this place; and the traders, guides, and most experienced of the boatmen, were of opinion, that unless our boat was still further lightened, the winter would put a stop to our progress before we could reach Cumberland House, or any eligible post. Sixteen pieces were therefore necessarily left with Mr. Bunn, the gentleman in charge of the post, to be forwarded by the Athabasca canoes next season, this being their place of rendezvous. After this we recommenced our voyage, and having pulled nearly a mile, arrived at Borrowick’s Fall, where the boat was dragged up with a line, after part of the cargo had been carried over a small portage. From this place'to the Mud Portage, a distance of a mile and, three quarters, the boats.were pushed on with poles against a very rapid stream. Here we encamped, having come seven miles during the day on a S.W. course. We had several snow showers in the course of the day, and the thermometer at bed-time stood at 30°.
Drawn tay lism, Hood, RAY
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OF THE POLAR SEA. 33
On the morning of the 18th, the country was clothed in the livery of winter, a heavy fall of snow having taken place during the night. We embarked at the usual hour, and, in the course of the day, crossed the Point of Rocks and Brassa Portages, and dragged. the boats through several minor rapids. -In: this tedious way we only made good about nine miles,
On Sunday the 19th we hauled the boats up several short rapids, or, as the boatmen term them, expressively enough, spouts, and carried them over the Portages of Lower Burntwood and Morgan’s Rocks ; on the latter of which we encamped, having puogeeded, during the whole day, only one mile and three quarters.
The upper part of Hill River swells out considerably, and at Morgan's Rocks, where it is three quarters of a mile wide, we were gratified with a more extensive prospect of the country than any we had enjoyed since leaving York Factory. The banks of the river here, consisting of low flat rocks with intermediate swamps, per- mitted us to obtain views of the interior, the surface of which is broken into a multitude of cone-shaped hills. The highest of these hills, which gives a name to the river, has an elevation not exceeding six hundred feet. From its summit, thirty-six lakes are said to be visible. The beauty of the scenery, dressed in the tints of autumn, called forth our admiration, and was the subject of Mr. Hood’s ac- | curate pencil. On the 20th we passed Upper Burntwood and Rocky Ledge Portages, besides several strong spouts; and in the evening arrived at Smooth Rock Portage, where we encamped, having come three miles and a half. It is not easy for any but an eye-witness to form an adequate idea of the exertions of the Orkney boatmen in the navigation of this river. The necessity they are under of frequently jumping into the water to lift the boats over the rocks, compels them to remain the whole day in wet clothes, at a season when the temperature is far below the freezing point. The immense loads too, which they carry over the portages, is not more a matter of
F
34 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
surprise than the alacrity with which they perform these laborious duties. |
_ At:six on the morning of the 21st, we left our encampment, and soon after arrived at the Mossy Portage, where the cargoes were catried through a deep bog for a quarter of amile. The river swells out, above this portage, to the breadth of several miles, and as the islands are numerous there are a great variety of channels. Night overtook us before we arrived at the Second Portage, so named from its being the second in the passage down the river. Our whole distance this day was one mile and a quarter.
On the 22d our route led us amongst many wooded islands, which lying in long vistas, produced scenes of much beauty. Inthe course of the day we crossed the Upper Portage, surmounted the Devil’s Landing Place, and urged the boat with poles through Groundwater Creek. At the upper end of this creek, our bowman having given the boat too broad a sheer, to avoid the rock, it was caught on the broadside by the current, and, in defiance of our utmost exertions, hurried down the rapid. Fortunately, however, it grounded against a rock high enough to prevent the current from oversetting it, and the crews of the other boats having come to our assistance, we suc- ceeded, after several trials, in throwing a rope to them, with which they dragged our almost sinking vessel stern foremost up the stream, and rescued us‘from our perilous situation. We encamped in the dusk of the evening amidst a heavy thunder-storm, having advanced two miles and three quarters.
‘About ten in the morning of the 23d we arrived at the Dram- stone, which is hailed with pleasure by the boats’ crews, as marking the termination of the laborious ascent of Hill River. We complied with the custom from whence it derives its name, and soon after land- ing upon Sail Island prepared breakfast. In the mean time our boat- men cut down and rigged a new mast, the old one having been thrown overboard at the mouth of Steel River, where it ceased to be
OF THE POLAR SEA. 35
useful. We left Sail Island with a fair wind, and soon afterwards arrived at a depét situated on Swampy Lake, where we received a supply of mouldy pemmican*. Mr. Calder and his attendant were the only tenants of this cheerless abode, .and their only food was the wretched stuff with which they supplied us, the lake not yielding fish at this season. After a short delay at this post, we sailed through the remainder of Swampy Lake, and slept at the Lower Portage in Jack River; the distance sailed to-day being sixteen miles and a half.
Jack River is only eight miles long ; but being full of bad rapids, it detained us considerably. At seven in the morning of the 24th, we crossed the Long Portage, where the woods, having caught fire in the summer, were still smoking. This is a common accident, owing to the neglect of the Indians and voyagers in not putting out their fires, and in a dry season the woods may be seen blazing to the extent of many miles. We afterwards crossed the Second, or Swampy Portage, and in the evening encamped on the Upper Port- age, where we were overtaken by an Indian bringing an answer from Governor Williams to a letter I had written to him on the 15th, in which he renewed his injunctions to the gentlemen of the boats ac- companying us, to afford us every assistance in their power. The Aurora Borealis appeared this evening in form of a bright arch, ex- tending across the zenith in a N.W. and S.E. direction. The extent of our voyage to-day was two miles.
About noon on the 25th we entered Knee Lake, which has a very irregular form, and near its middle takes a sudden turn, from whence it derives its name. Jt is thickly studded with islands, and its shores are low and well-wooded. The surrounding country, as far as we could see, is flat, being destitute even of the moderate elevations which occur near the upper part of Hill River. The weather was remarkably fine, and the setting sun threw the richest tints over the scene that I remember ever to have witnessed.
* Buffalo meat, dried and pounded, and mixed with melted fat. F 2
36 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
_ About half a mile from the bend or knee of the lake, there is a small. rocky islet, composed of magnetic iron ore, which affects’ the mag- netic needle ata shiksitdokble distance. Having received previous information respecting this circumstance, we watched our compasses carefully, and perceived that they were affected at the distance of three hundred yards, both on the approach to and departure from the rock : on decreasing the distance, they became gradually more and more unsteady, and on landing they were rendered quite useless ; and “it was evident that the general magnetic influence was totally over- powered by the local attraction of the ore. When Kater’s compass was held near to the ground’ on the N.W. side of the island, the needle dipped so much that the card could not be made to traverse by any adjustment of the hand; but on moving the same compass about thirty yards to the west part of the islet, the needle became horizontal, traversed freely, and pointed to the magnetic north. The dipping needle being landed on the S.W. point of the islet, was
adjusted as nearly as possible on the magnetic meridian by the sun’s
NS bearings, and found to vibrate freely, when the face of the instru-
ment was directed to ‘the east or west: The mean dip it gave was
80° 37 50’. When ‘the instrument was removed from the N.W. to
the 8.E. point, about twenty yards distant, and placed on the meri-
dian, the needle ceased to traverse, but remained steady at an angle
of 60°. On changing the face of the instrument, so as to give a S.E.
“and N.W. direction-to the needle, it hung vertically. The position
“of the slaty strata of the magnetic ore is also vertical. Their direc-
tion is extremely irregular, being much contorted.
“Knee Lake towards its upper end becomes narrower, and its rocky ‘shores are broken into conical and rounded eminences, destitute of soil,” and of course devoid of trees. We slept at the western extre- ~ mity of the lake, having come pares the day nineteen miles and a ‘ uae on a S.W. course. | ; We began the ascent of Trout River early in the morning of the
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OF THE POLAR SEA. 37
27th, and in the course of the day passed. three portages and several rapids. At the first of these portages the river falls between two rocks about sixteen feet, and it 1s necessary to launch the boat over a precipitous rocky bank. ‘This cascade is named the Trout-Fall, and the beauty of the scenery afforded a subject for Mr. Hood’s pen- eil. The rocks which form the bed of this river are slaty, and pre- sent sharp fragments, by which the feet of the boatmen are much lacerated. The Second Portage, in particular, obtains the expressive name of Knife Portage. The length of our voyage to-day was three miles.
On the 28th we passed through the remainder of Trout River ; and, at noon, arrived at Oxford House, on Holey Lake. This was formerly a post of some consequence to the Hudson’s Bay Com- pany, but at present it exhibits unequivocal signs of decay. The Indians have of late years been gradually deserting the low or swampy country, and ascending the Saskatchawan, where animals are more abundant. A few Crees were at this time encamped in front of the fort.. They were suffering under the combined maladies of hooping-cough and measles, and looked miserably dejected. We endeavoured in vain to prevail on one of them to accompany us for the purpose of killing ducks, which were numerous, but too shy for our sportsmen. We had the satisfaction, however, of exchanging the mouldy pemmican, obtained at Swampy Lake, for a better kind, and received, moreover, a small, but very acceptable, supply of fish. Holey Lake, viewed from an eminence behind Oxford House, exhibits a pleasing prospect; and its numerous islands, varying much in shape and elevation, contribute to break that uniformity of scenery which proves so palling to a traveller in this country. Trout of a great. size, frequently exceeding forty pounds weight, abound in this lake. We left Oxford House in the afternoon, and encamped on an island about eight miles distant, having come, during the day, nine miles and a quarter.
38 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
At noon, on the 29th, after passing through the remainder of Holey Lake, we entered the Weepinapannis, a narrow grassy river, which runs parallel to the lake for a considerable distance, and forms its south bank into a narrow peninsula. In the morning we arrived at the Swampy Portage, where two of the boats were broken against the rocks. The length of the day’s voyage was nineteen miles and a half. 7
In consequence of the accident yesterday evening, we were de- tained a considerable time this morning, until the boats were re- paired, when we set out, and, after ascending a strong rapid, arrived at the Portage by John Moore’s Island. Here the river rushes with irresistible force through the channels formed by two rocky islands ; and we learnt, that last year a poor man, in hauling a boat up.one of these channels, was, by the breaking of the line, precipitated. into the stream and hurried down the cascade with such rapidity, that all efforts to save him were ineffectual. His body was afterwards found and interred near the spot.
The Weepinapannis is composed of several branches which separate and unite, again and again, intersecting the country ina great variety of directions. We pursued the principal channel, and having passed the Crooked Spout, with several inferior rapids, and erossed.a small piece of water, named Windy Lake, we entered a smooth deep stream about three hundred yards wide, which has got the absurd appellation of the Rabbit Ground. The marshy banks of this river are skirted by low barren rocks, behind which there are some groups of stunted trees, As we advanced, the country becoming flatter, gradually opened to our ‘view, and we at length arrived at a shallow, reedy lake, the direct course through which leads to the Hull Portage. This route thas, however, of late years been disused, and we therefore turned towards the north, and crossing a small arm of the lake, ar- rived at Hill Gates by sunset ; having come this day eleven miles.
October 1.—Hill Gates isthe name imposed on a romantic defile,
OF THE POLAR SEA. 39
whose rocky walls rising perpendicularly to the height of sixty or eighty feet, hem in the stream for three quarters of a mile, in many places so narrowly, that there is a want of room to ply the oars. In passing through this chasm we were naturally led to contemplate the inighty but, probably, slow and gradual effects of the water in wearing down ‘such vast ‘masses of rock ; but in the midst of our speculations, the attention was excited anew to a grand and picturesque rapid, which, surrounded by the most wild and majestic scenery, terminated the defile. The brown fishing-eagle had built its nest on one of the projecting cliffs. In the course of the day we surmounted this and another dangerous portage, called the Upper and Lower Hull Gate Portages, ‘crossed ‘a small sheet of water, termed the White-Fall Lake, and entering the river of the same name, arrived at the White Fall about an hour after sunset, have come fourteen miles on a 5. W. course. |
The whole of the 2d of October was spent in carrying the cargoes over a portage of thirteen hundred yards im length, and in launching the empty boats over three several ridges of rock which obstruct the channel and ‘produce as many cascades. I shall long remember the rude and characteristic ‘wildness of the scenery which surrounded these falls; rocks piled on rocks hung in rude and shapeless masses over the agitated torrents which swept their bases, whilst the bright and variegated tints of the mosses and lichens, that covered the face of the cliffs, contrasting with the dark green of the pines, which crowned their summits, added both beauty and grandeur to the ge- neral effect of the scene. Our two companions, Back and Heod, made accurate sketches of these falls. At this place we observed a conspicuous lop-stick, a kind of land-mark, which I have not hitherto noticed, notwithstanding its ereat use in pointing out the frequented routes. It is a pine-tree divested of its lower branches, and having only a small tuft at the top remaining. This operation is usually performed at the instance of some individual emulous of fame. He
AQ A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
treats his companions with rum, and they in return, strip ae tree of its branches, and ever after designate it by his name. |
In.the afternoon, whilst on my way to superintend the operations of the men, a stratum of loose moss gave way under my feet, and I had the misfortune to slip from the summit of a rock into the river, betwixt two of the falls. My attempts to regain the bank were, for a time, ineffectual, owing to the rocks within my reach having been worn smooth by the action of the water, but after I had been carried a considerable distance down the stream, I caught hold of a willow, by which I held until two gentlemen of the Hudson’s Bay Company came in a boat to my assistance. The only bad consequence of this accident was an injury sustained by a very valuable chronometer, (No. 1733,) belonging to Daniel Moore, Esq., of Lincoln’s Inn. One of the gentlemen, to whom I delivered it immediately on landing, in his agitation let it fall, whereby the minute-hand was broken, but the works were not in the smallest degree injured, and the loss of the hand was afterwards supplied.
During the night the frost was severe, and at sun-rise, on the 3d, the thermometer stood at 25°. After leaving our encampment at the White Fall, we passed through several small lakes connected with each other by narrow, deep, grassy streams, and at noon arrived at the Painted Stone. Numbers of musk-rats frequent these streams, and we observed, in the course of the morning, many of their mud- houses rising in a conical form to the height of two or three feet above the grass of the swamps in which they are built. |
The Painted Stone is a low rock, ten or twelve yards across, re- markable for the marshy streams which arise on each side of it, taking different courses. On ¢he one side, the water-course which we had navigated from York Factory commences. ‘This spot may therefore be considered as one of the smaller sources of Hayes’ River. On the other side of the stone the Echemamis arises, and taking a westerly direction falls into Nelson River. It is said that there was formerly
OF THE-POLAR SEA. Al
a stone placed near the centre of this portage on which figures were
annually traced, and offerings deposited, by the Indians ; but the stone has been removed many years, and the spot has ceased to be held in veneration. . Here we were overtaken by Governor Williams, who left York Factory on the 20th of last month in an Indian canoe. He expressed much regret at our having been obliged to leave part’ of our stores at the Rock depét, and would have brought them up with him had he been able to procure and man a boat, or a canoe of suf- ficient size.
Having launched the boats. over the rock, we commenced the descent of the Echemamis. This small stream has its course through a’morass, and in dry seasons its channel contains, instead of water, merely a foot or two of thin mud. On these occasions it is customary to build dams, that it may be rendered navigable by the accumulation
' of its waters. As the beavers perform this operation very effectually,
endeavours have been made to encourage them to breed in this place, but it has not hitherto been possible to restrain the Indians from’ killing that useful animal whenever they discover its retreats). On the present occasion there was no want of water, the principal im- pediment we experienced being from the narrowness of the channel, which permitted the willows of éach bank to’ meet over our heads, and obstruct the men at the oars. After proceeding down the stream for some-time, we came to a recently constructed beaver-dam through | which an opening was made sufficient to admit the boat to’ pass. We were assured that the breach would be closed by the industrious - creature ina single night. We encamped about eight miles from the source of the river, having come during the day seventeen’ miles:and — a half. ou - On the 4th we embarked amidst a heavy rain,and pursued: our route down the Echemamis. In many parts the morass, by which : the river is nourished, and through which it flows, is intersected by ridges of rock which cross the channel, and’ require the boat tobe 2
49 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
lifted over them. . In the afternoon we passed through a shallow piece of water overgrown with bulrushes, and hence named Hairy Lake; and, in the evening, encamped on the banks of Blackwater- Creek, by which this lake empties itself into Sea River; having come during the day twenty miles and three quarters.
On the morning of the 5th, we entered Sea River, one of the many branches of Nelson River. It is about four hundred yards wide, and its waters are of a muddy white colour. After ascending the stream for an hour or two, and passing through Carpenter’s Lake, which is merely an expansion of the river to about a mile in breadth, we came to the Sea River. Portage, where the boat was launched across a smooth rock, to avoid a fall of four or five feet. Re-em- barking at the upper end of the portage, we ran before a fresh gale through. the remainder of Sea River, the lower part of Play Green Lake, and. entering Little Jack River, landed and pitched our tents. Here. there is a small log-hut, the residence of a fisherman, who supplies Norway House with trout and sturgeon. He gave us a few of these. fish, which afforded an acceptable supper. The length of our voyage this day was thirty-four miles.
October 6.—Little- Jack: River is the name given to a channel that winds among several large islands which separate Upper and Lower Play Green, Lakes. At the lower end of this channel, Big Jack River, a stream of considerable magnitude, falls into the lake. Play Green is a translation of the appellation given to that lake by two bands of Indians,.who met and held a festival on an island situated near its centre. After leaving our encampment we sailed through Upper Play Green Lake, and. arrived at Norway Point in the fore- noon. |
The waters of Lake Winipeg, and of the rivers that run into it, the Saskatchawan. in particular, are rendered turbid by the suspen- sion of a,large quantity of white clay... Play Green Lake and Nelson River, being. the-discharges, of the Winipeg, are equally opaque, a
OF THE POLAR SEA. 43
circumstance that renders the sunken rocks, so frequent in these waters, very dangerous to boats in a fresh breeze. Owing to this, one of the boats that accompanied us, sailing at the rate of seven miles an hour, struck wpon one of these rocks. \ Its mast was carried away by the shock, but fortunately no other damage sustained. The In- dians ascribe the muddiness of these lakes to an adventure of one of their deities, a mischievous fellow, a sort of Robin Puck, whom they hold in very little esteem. This deity, who is named Weesak- ootchaht, possesses considerable power, but'makes a capricious use of it, and delights in tormenting the poor Indians: He is not, however, invincible, and was foiled in one of his attempts by the artifice of an old woman, who succeeded in taking him captive. She called in all the women of the tribe to aid in his punishment, and he escaped from their hands in a condition so filthy that it required all the waters of the Great Lake to wash him clean; and ever since that period it has been entitled to the appellation of Winipeg, or Muddy Water. Norway Point forms the extremity of a narrow-‘peninsula which separates Play Green and Winipeg Lakes. «Buildings were: first erected here by a party of Norwegians, who were driven away from the colony at Red River by the commotions which took place some time ago. It is nowa trading post belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Com- pany. On landing at Norway House we met: with Lord Selkirk’s colonists, who had started from York Factory the day before us.— These poor people were exceedingly pleased at meeting with us again in this wild country ; having accompanied them across the: Atlantic, they viewed us in the light of old acquaintances. This post: was under the charge of Mr. James Sutherland, to whom Iam indebted for rez placing a minute-hand on the chronometer, which was broken at the White Fall, and I had afterwards the satisfaction of finding that it
went with extraordinary regularity. The morning of the 7th October was beautifully clear, and the ob- ‘servations we obtained place Norway House in latitude 53° 41' 38’ N.,
G2
AA A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
and longitude 98° 1 24" W.; the variation of the magnetic needle 14° 12°41" E., and its dip 83° 40 10°. The dip, it will be perceived, has gradually increased, though our route from York Factory has rather inclined to the 8.W. The difference produced by reversing the face of the instrument was 7° 39. There was too much wind to admit of our observing, with any degree of accuracy, the quantity of the magnetic force.
We left Norway House soon after noon, and the wind being favourable, sailed along the northern shore of Lake Winipeg the whole of the ensuing night; and on the morning of the 8th landed on a narrow ridge of sand, which, running out twenty miles to the westward, separates Limestone Bay from the body of the Lake. When the wind blows hard from the southward, it is customary to carry boats across this isthmus, and to pull wp under its lee. From Nor- wegian Point to Limestone Bay the shore consists of high clay cliffs, against which the waves beat with much violence during strong southerly winds. When the wind blows from the land, and the waters of the lake are low, a narrow sandy beach is uncovered, and affords a landing-place for boats. ‘The shores of Limestone Bay are covered with small fragments of calcareous stones. During the night the Aurora Borealis was quick in its motions, and various and vivid in its colours. After breakfasting we re-embarked, and continued our voyage until three P.M., when a strong westerly wind arising, we were obliged to shelter ourselves on a small island, which les near the extremity of the above-mentioned peninsula. This island is formed of a collection of small rolled pieces of limestone, and was remembered by some of our boatmen to have been formerly covered with water. For the last ten or twelve years the waters of the lake have been low, but our information did not enable us to judge whe- ther the decrease was merely casual, or going on continually, or pe- riodical. The distance of this island from Norway House is thirty- eight miles and a half. _
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The westerly winds detained us all the morning of the 9th, but, at two P.M., the wind chopped round to the eastward; we imme- diately embarked, and the breeze afterwards freshening, we reached the mouth of the Saskatchawan at midnight, having run thirty-two miles.
Sunday, October 10.—The whole of this day was occupied in getting the boats from the mouth of the river to the foot of the grand rapid, a distance of two miles. There are ‘several rapids in this short distance, during which the river varies its breadth from five hundred yards to half a mile. Its channel is stony. At the grand rapid, the Saskatchawan forms a sudden bend, from south to east, and works its way through a narrow channel, deeply worn into the limestone strata. The stream, rushing with impetuous force over a rocky and uneven hottom, presents a sheet of foam, and seems to bear with impatience the straitened confinement of its lofty banks. A ‘flock of pelicans, and two or three brown fishing eagles, were fishing in its agitated waters, seemingly with great success. ‘There is a good sturgeon fishery at the foot of the rapid. Several golden plovers, Canadian gros-beaks, cross-bills, wood- peckers, and pin-tailed grouse, were shot to-day; and Mr. Back killed a small striped marmot. This beautiful little animal was busily employed in carrying in its distended pouches the seeds of the American vetch to its winter hoards.
The portage is eighteen hundred yards long, and its western extre- mity was found to be in 53° 08 25" North latitude, and 99° 28’ 02” West longitude. The route from Canada to the Athabasca joins that from York Factory at the mouth of the Saskatchawan, and we saw traces of a recent encampment of the Canadian voyagers: Our companions in the Hudson’s Bay boats, dreading an attack from their rivals in trade, were on the alert at this place. They examined minutely the spot of encampment, to form a judgment of the num- ber of canoes that had preceded them; and they’ advanced, armed,
46 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
and with great caution, through the woods. Their fears, however, were fortunately, ou this occasion, groundless.
By noon, on the 12th, the boats and their cargoes having been conveyed across the portage, we embarked, and pursued our course. The Saskatchawan becomes wider above the Grand Rapid, and the scenery improves. The banks are high, composed of white clay and limestone, and their summits are richly clothed with a variety of firs, poplars, birches; and willows. The current runs with great rapidity, and the channel is, in many places, intricate and dangerous, from broken ridges of rock jutting into the stream. We pitched our tents at the entrance of Cross Lake, having advanced only five miles and a half:
Cross Lake is extensive, running towards the N.E., it is said, for forty miles. We crossed it at a narrow part, and pulling through several winding channels, formed by a group of islands; entered Cedar Lake, which, next to Lake Winipeg, is the largest sheet of fresh water we had hitherto seen. Ducks and geese resort hither in immense flocks in the spring and autumn. These birds are now beginning to go off, owing to its muddy shores having become quite hard through the nightly frosts. At this place the Aurora Borealis was extremely brilliant in the night, its coruscations darting, at times, over the whole sky, and assuming various prismatic tints, of which the violet and yellow were predominant.
After pulling, on the 14th, seven miles and a quarter on the lake, a violent wind drove us for shelter to a small island, or rather a ridge of rolled stones, thrown up by the frequent storms which agi- tate this lake.. The weather did not moderate the whole day, and we were obliged to pass the night on this exposed spot. The delay, however, enabled us to obtain some lunar observations. The wind having subsided, we left our resting-place the following morning, crossed. the remainder of the lake; and, in the afternoon, arrived at Muddy Lake, which is very appropriately named, as it consists
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merely of a few channels, winding amongst extensive mud_ banks, which are overflowed during the spring floods. We landed at an Indian tent, which contained two numerous families, amounting to thirty souls. These poor creatures were badly clothed, and reduced to a miserable condition by the ravages of the hooping-cough and measles. At the time of our arrival they were busy in preparing a sweating-house for the sick. This is a remedy, which they consider, with the addition of singing and drumming, to be the grand specific for all diseases. Our companions having obtained some geese, in exchange for rum and tobacco, we proceeded afew more miles, and encamped on Devil’s Drum Island, having come, during the day, twenty miles and a half. A second party of Indians were encamped on an adjoining island, a situation chosen for the purpose of killing geese and ducks. | _ On the 16th we proceeded eighteen miles up the Saskatchawan. Its banks are low, covered with willows, and lined with drift timber. The surrounding country is swampy, and intersected by the nume- rous arms of the river. After passing for twenty or thirty yards through the willow thicket on the banks of the stream, we entered upon, an extensive marsh, varied only by a distant line of willows, which marks the course of a creek or branch of the river. The branch. we navigated. to-day is almost. five hundred yards wide. The exhalations from the marshy soil produced a low fog, although the sky above was perfectly clear. In the course of the day we passed an Indian encampment of three tents, whose inmates appeared. to be in, a still more miserable condition than those we saw yesterday. They had just: finished the ceremony of conjuration over some of their sick companions; and a dog, which was recently killed as a sacrifice to some deity, was hanging to a tree, where it would be left (Z was told) when they moved: their encampment.
We continued. our voyage up the river to the 20th with little va- nlation of scenery or incident, travelling in that time about thirty
48 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
miles. The near approach of winter was. marked by severe frosts. which continued all day unless when the sun chanced to be unusually bright, and the geese and ducks were observed to take a southerly course.in large flocks. On the. morning of the 20th we came. to a party of Indians, encamped behind the bank of the river on the borders of a small marshy lake, for the purpose of killing water-fowl. Here we were gratified with the view of a very large tent. Its length was about forty feet, its breadth eighteen, and its covering was moose deer leather, with apertures for the escape of the smoke from the. fires which were placed at each end; a ledge of wood was placed on the ground on both sides the whole length of the tent, within which were the. sleeping places, arranged. probably according to families ; and the drums and other instruments of enchantment were piled up in the centre. Amongst the Indians there were a great many half- breeds, who led an Indian life. Governor Williams gave a dram:and a piece of tobacco to each of the males of the party. |
On the morning of the 21st a heavy fall of snow. took place, which lasted until two in the afternoon. In the evening we left the Sas- katchawan, and entered the Little River, one of the two streams by which Pine Island Lake discharges its waters. We advanced.to-day fourteen miles and a quarter. On the 22d the weather was extremely cold and stormy, and we had to contend. against a strong head wind.. The spray froze as it fell, and the oars were so loaded with ice as to be almost unmanageable. The length of our voyage this day. was’ eleven miles. |
The following morning was very cold; we embarked at. day-light, and pulled across a part of Pine Island Lake, about three miles and a half to Cumberland House. The margin of the lake was so encrusted with ice, that we had to break through a considerable space of it to approach the landing place. When we considered that. this was the effect of only.a few days’ frost at the commencement of winter, we were convinced of the impracticability of advancing further by water:
a,
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this season, and therefore resolved on accepting Governor Williams’s kind invitation to remain with him at this post. We immediately visited Mr. Connolly, the resident partner of the North-West Com- pany, and presented to him Mr. Mac Gillivray’s circular letter... He assured us that he should be most desirous to forward our progress by every means in his power, and we subsequently had ample proofs of his sincerity and kindness. The unexpected addition of our party to the winter residents at this post, rendered an increase of apart- ments necessary ; and our men were immediately appointed to com- plete and arrange an, unfinished building as speedily as possible. November 8.—Some mild weather succeeded to the severe frosts we had at our arrival; and the lake had not been entirely frozen before the Oth; but this morning the ice was sufficiently firm to admit of sledges crossing it. The dogs were harnessed at a very early hour, and the winter operations commenced by sending for a supply of fish from Swampy River, where men had been stationed to collect it, just before the frost set in. Both men and dogs appeared to enjoy the change ; they started in full glee, and drove rapidly along. An Indian, who had come to the house on the preceding evening to request some provision for his family, whom he represented to be in a state of starvation, accompanied them. His party had been suffering greatly under the epidemic diseases of the hooping-cough and measles; and the hunters were still in too debilitated a state to go out and provide them with meat. <A supply was given to him, and the men were di- rected to bring his father, an old and faithful hunter, to the house, that he might have the comforts of nourishment and warmth. He was brought accordingly, but these attentions were unavailing as he died a few days afterwards. Two days before his death I was sur- prised to observe him sitting for near three hours, in a piercingly sharp day, in the saw-pit, employed in gathering the dust, and throwing it by handfuls over his body, which was naked to the waist. As the man was in possession of his mental faculties, I conceived he was per-— H
50 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
forming some devotional act preparatory to his departure, which he felt approaching; and, induced by the novelty of the incident, I went twice to observe him more closely ; but when he perceived that he was noticed, he immediately ceased his operation, hung down his head, and by his demeanour, intimated that he considered my ap- pearance an intrusion. The residents at the fort could give me no information on the subject, and I could not learn that the Indians in general observe any particular ceremony on the approach of death.
November 15.—The sky had been overcast during the last week; the sun shone forth once only, and then not sufficiently for the pur- pose of obtaining observations. Faint coruscations of the Aurora Borealis appeared one evening, but their presence did not in the least affect the electrometer nor the compass. The ice daily became thicker in the lake, and the frost had now nearly overpowered the rapid current of the Saskatchawan River; indeed, parties of men who were sent from both the forts to search for the Indians, and procure whatever skins and provisions they might have collected, crossed that stream this day on the ice; the white partridges made their first appearance near to the house. These birds are considered as the infallible harbingers of severe weather.
Monday, November 22.—The Saskatchawan, and every other river, were now completely covered with ice, except a small stream near to the fort through which the current ran very powerfully. In the course of the week we removed into the house our men had been preparing for us since our arrival. We found it at first extremely cold notwithstanding a good fire was kept in each aparment, and we frequently experienced the extremes of heat and cold on opposite sides of the body.
November 24.—We this day obtained observations for the dip of the needle and intensity of the magnetic force in a spare room. The dip was 83° 9’ 45°, and the difference produced by reversing the face of the instrument 13° 3’ 6". When the needle was faced to the west
OF THE POLAR SEA. 51
it hung nearly perpendicular. The Aurora Borealis was faintly visible for a short time last evening. Some Indians arrived in search of provision, having been totally incapacitated from hunting by sick- ness; the poor creatures looked miserably ill, and they represented their distress to have been extreme. Few recitals are more affecting than those of their sufferings durmg unfavourable seasons, and in bad situations for hunting and fishing. Many assurances have been given me that men and women are yet living who have been reduced to feed upon the bodies of their own family, to prevent actual starva- tion ; and a shocking case was cited to us of a woman who had been principal agent in the destruction of several persons, and amongst the number her husband and nearest relatives, in order to support life. ;
November 28.—The atmosphere had been clear every day during the last week, about the end of which snow fell, when the thermo- meter rose from 20° below to 16° above zero. The Aurora Borealis was twice visible, but faint on both occasions. Its appearance did not affect the electrometer, nor could we perceive the compass to be disturbed.
The men brought supplies of moose meat from the hunter’s tent, which is pitched near the Basquiau Hill, at the distance of forty or fifty miles from the house, and from whence the greatest part of the meat is procured. The residents have to send nearly the same dis- tance for their fish, and on this service horse-sledges are used. Nets are daily set in Pine Island Lake which occasionally procure some fine sturgeon, tittameg and trout, but not more than sufficient to supply the officers’ table.
December 1.—This day was so remarkably fine, that we procured another set of observations for the dip of the needle in the open air; the instrument being placed firmly on a rock, the results gave 83° 14° 22". The change produced by reversing the face of the in- strument was 12° 50’ 55”.
32 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
There was a determined thaw during the last three days, which caused the Saskatchawan River, and some parts of the lake, to break up, and rendered the travelling across either of them dangerous. On this account the absence of Wilks, one of our men, caused no small anxiety. He had incautiously undertaken the charge of conducting a sledge and dogs, in company with a person, going to Swampy River for fish. On their return, being unaccustomed to driving, he became fatigued, and seated himself on his sledge, in which situation his companion left him, presuming that he would soon rise and hasten to follow his track. He however returned safe in the morning, and reported that, foreseeing night would set.in before he could get across the lake, he prudently retired into the woods before dark, where he remained until daylight; when the men, who had been despatched to look for him, met him returning to the house, shivering with cold, he having been unprovided with the materials for lighting a fire; which an experienced voyager never neglects to carry.
We had mild weather until the 20th of December. On the 13th there had been a decided thaw, which caused the Saskatchawan, which had again frozen, to re-open, and the passage across it was inter- rupted for two days. We now received more agreeable accounts from the Indians, who are recovering strength, and beginning to hunt a little; but it is generally feared that their spirits have been so much depressed by the loss of their children and relatives, that the season will be far advanced before they can be roused to any exertion in searching for animals beyond what may be necessary for their own support. It is much to be regretted that these poor men, during their long intercourse with Europeans, have not been taught how pernicious is the grief which produces total inactivity, and that they have not been furnished with any of the consolations which the Christian religion never fails to afford. This, however, could hardly have been expected from persons who have permitted their own off- spring, the half-casts, to remain in lamentable ignorance on a subject
OF THE POLAR SEA. O38
of such vital importance. . It is probable, however, that an improve- ment will soon take place among the latter class, as Governor Williams proposes to make the children attend a Sunday school, and has already begun to have divine service performed at his post.
. The conversations which I have had with the gentlemen in charge of these posts, convinced me of the necessity of proceeding during the winter into the Athabasca department, the residents of which are best acquainted with the nature and resources of the country lying to the north of the Great Slave Lake ; and from whence only guides, hunters, and interpreters can be procured. I had pre- viously written to the partners of the North West Company in that quarter, requesting their assistance in forwarding the Expedition, and stating what we should require of them; but, on reviewing the matter, and reflecting upon the accidents that might delay these letters on the road, TI determined on proceeding to the Athabasca. as soon asl possibly could, and communicated my intention to Gover- nor Williams and Mr. Connolly, with a request that I might be fur- nished, by the middle of January, with the means of conveyance for three persons, intending that Mr. Back and Hepburn should accompany me, whilst Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood remained till the spring at Cumberland House.
After the 20th December the weather became cold, the thermometer constantly below zero. Christmas-day was particularly stormy ; but the gale did not prevent the full enjoyment of the festivities which are annually given at Cumberland House on this day. All the men who had been despatched to different parts in search of provision or furs returned to the fort on the occasion, and were regaled with a sar stantial dinner and a dance in the evening.
1820. The new year was ushered in by repeated discharges of January 1. musketry ; a ceremony which has been observed by the men of both the trading Companies for many years. Our party dined with Mr. Connolly, and were regaled with a beaver, which we found
54 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
extremely delicate. In the evening his men were entertained with a dance, in which the Canadians exhibited some grace and much agility; and they contrived to infuse some portion of their activity and spirits into the steps of their female companions. The half- breed women are passionately fond of this amusement, but a stranger would imagine the contrary on witnessing their apparent want of animation. On such occasions they affect a sobriety of demeanour which I understand to be the very opposite to their general cha- racter.
January 10.—This day I wrote to Governor Williams and Mr. Con- nolly, requesting them to prepare two canoes, with crews and ap- pointments, for the conveyance of Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood with the stores to Chipewyan as soon as the navigation should open, and had the satisfaction of receiving from both these gentlemen renewed assurances of their desire to promote the objects of the Expedition. I conceived it to be necessary, previous to my departure, to make some arrangement respecting the men who were engaged at Strom- ness. Only one of them was disposed to extend his engagement, and proceed beyond the Athabasca Lake; and, as I found there was much uncertainty whether the remaiming three could get from the Athabasca to York Factory sufficiently early to secure them a passage in the next Hudson’s Bay ship, I resolved not to take them forward, unless Dr. ‘Richardson and Mr. Hood should fail in procuring other men from these establishments next spring, but to despatch them down to York to bring up our stores to this place: after which they might return to the coast in time to secure their passage in the first ship.
I delivered to Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood a memorandum, containing the arrangements which had been made with the two Companies, respecting their being forwarded in the spring, and some other points of instruction for their guidance in my absence ; to- gether with directions to forward the map of our route, which had
OF THE POLAR SEA. 55
been finished, since our arrival, by Mr. Hood, the drawings and the collections of natural history, by the first opportunity to York Factory, for conveyance to England *.
The houses of the two Companies, at this post, are situated close to each other, at the upper extremity of a narrow island, which separates Pine Island Lake from the Saskatchawan River, and are about two miles and three quarters distant from the latter, in a northern direction. They are log-houses, built without much atten- tion to comfort, surrounded by lofty stockades, and flanked with wooden bastions. The difficulty of conveying glass into the interior has precluded the use of that material in the construction of the windows, and its place is poorly supplied by parchment, imperfectly made by the native women from the skin of the rein-deer. Should this post, however, continue to be the residence of Governor Wil- liams, it will be much improved in a few years, as he is devoting his attention to that poimt. The land around Cumberland House is low, but the soil, from having a considerable intermixture of limestone, is good, and capable of producing abundance of corn, and vegetables of every description. Many kinds of pot-herbs have already been brought to some perfection, and the potatoes bid fair to equal those of England. ‘The spontaneous productions of nature would afford ample nourishment for all the European animals. Horses feed ex- tremely well even during the winter, and so would oxen, if provided with hay, which may be easily done}. Pigs also improve, but require
* As Samuel Wilks, who had accompanied the Expedition from England, proved to be quite unequal to the fatigue of the journey, I directed him to be discharged in the spring, and sent to England by the next ship.
+ “The wild buffalo scrapes away the snow with its feet to get at the herbage beneath, and the horse, which was introduced by the Spanish mvaders of Mexico, and may be said to have become naturalized, does the same; but it is worthy of remark, that the ox, more lately brought from Europe, has not yet acquired an art so necessary for procurme its food.”—(Extract from Dr. Richardson’s Journal.)
s
56 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
to be kept warm in the winter. Hence it appears, that the residents might,. with. common attention, render themselves far. less: de- pendant on the Indians for support, and be relieved from the great anxiety which they too often suffer when the hunters are unsuccess- ful. The neighbourhood of the houses has been much cleared of wood, from the great demand for fuel; there is, therefore, little to admire in the surrounding. scenery, especially in its winter garb ; few animated. objects occur to enliven the scene ;.an occasional fox, marten, rabbit, or wolf, and.a few birds, contribute the only variety. The birds which remained, were ravens, magpies, partridges, cross- bills, and woodpeckers. In this universal stillness, the residents at a post feel little disposed to wander abroad, except when called forth by their occupations; and as ours were of a kind best per- formed in a warm» room, we imperceptibly acquired a_ sedentary habit. In going out, however, we never suffered the slightest in- convenience from the change of temperature, though the ther- ‘mometer, in the open air, stood occasionally thirty degrees below Zero. | |
The tribe of Indians who reside in the vicinity, and frequent these establishments, is that of the Crees, or Knisteneaux. They were formerly a powerful and numerous nation, which ranged. over a very extensive country, and were most successful in their. predatory excur- sions against their neighbours, particularly the northern Indians, and some tribes on the Saskatchawan and Beaver Rivers;: but they have long ceased to be held in any fear, and are now, perhaps, the most harmless and inoffensive of the whole Indian race. This change is entirely to be attributed to their intercourse with Europeans; and the vast reduction in their numbers occasioned, I fear, in a consider- able degree, by the injudicious introduction amongst them of ardent spirits. They are so passionately fond of this poison, that they will make any sacrifice to obtain it. They are esteemed good hunters,
va
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and are generally assiduous in the occupation. Having laid the bow and arrow altogether aside, and the use of snares, except for rabbits and partridges, they depend entirely on the Europeans for the means of gaining their subsistence, as they require guns, and a constant supply of powder and shot; so that these Indians are probably more completely under the power of the trader than any of the other tribes. As I only saw a few straggling parties of them during short intervals, and under unfavourable circumstances of sickness and famine, I am unable to give, from personal ob- servation, any account of their manners and customs; I must refer the reader, therefore, to Dr. Richardson’s account of them, which will be found in the following chapter. That gentleman, during his longer residence at the post, had many opportunities of seeing the natives, and made considerable progress in their lan- guage.
January 17.—This morning the sporting part of our society had rather a novel diversion: intelligence having been brought that a wolf had borne away a steel trap, in which he had been caught, a party went in search of the marauder, and took two English bull- dogs and a terrier, which had been brought into the country this season. On the first sight of the animal the dogs became alarmed, and stood barking at a distance, and probably would not have ven- tured to advance, had they not seen the wolf fall by a shot from one of the gentlemen; they then, however, went up, and behaved‘ courageously, and were enraged by the bites they received. The wolf soon died of its wounds, and the body was brought to the house, where a drawing of it was taken by Mr. Hood, and the skin preserved by Dr. Richardson. Its general features bore a strong resemblance to many of the dogs about the fort, but it was larger, and had a more ferocious aspect. Mr. Back and I were too much occupied in preparing for our departure on the following day to join this excursion. 7
I
58 | A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
‘The position of Cumberland House, by our observations, is, lati- tude 53° 56 40° N., longitude 102° 16° 41° W., by the chronome- ters; variation 17° 17' 20" E., dip of the needle, 83° 12’ 50°. The whole of the travelling settee between York Factory and Cunis berland House is about six hundred and ninety miles.
{ 4 : : I i !
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CHAPTER III.
Dr. BRichardson’s Residence at Cumberland House—His Account of the Cree Indians.
1820
Janay 19. LH ROM the departure of Messrs. Franklin and Back, on the 19th of January for Chepewyan, until the opening of the navigation in the spring, the occurrences connected with the Expedition were so much in the ordinary routine of a winter’s resi- dence at Fort Cumberland, that they may be, perhaps, appropriately blended with the following general but brief account of that district and its inhabitants.
' Cumberland House was originally built by Hearne, a year or two after his return from the Coppermine River, and has ever since been considered by the Hudson’s Bay Company as a post of considerable importance. Previous to that time, the natives carried their furs down to the shores of Hudson’s Bay, or disposed of them nearer home to the French Canadian traders, who visited this aa of the country as early as the year 1697.
The Cumberland House district, extending about one hundred and fifty miles from east to west along the banks of the Saskatchawan, and about as far from north to south, comprehends, on a rough cal- culation, upwards of twenty thousand square miles, and is frequented at present by about one hundred and twenty Indian hunters. Of these a few have several wives, but the majority have only one, and as some are unmarried, we shall not err greatly in considering the number of married women as only slightly exceeding that of the
I 2
60 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
hunters. The women marry very young, have a custom of suckling their children for several years, and are besides exposed constantly to fatigue and often to famine ; hence they are not prolific, bearing upon an average not more than four children, of whom two may attain the age of puberty. Upon these data, the amount of each family may be stated at five, and the whole Indian population in the dis- trict at five hundred.
This is but a small population for such an extent of country, yet their mode of life occasionally subjects them to great privations. The winter of our residence at Cumberland House proved extremely severe to the Indians. The hooping-cough made its appearance amongst them in the autumn, and was followed by the. measles, which, in the course of the winter spread through the tribe. -. Many died, and most of the survivors were so enfeebled as to .be un- able to pursue the necessary avocations of hunting and fishing. Even those who experienced only a slight attack, or escaped the sick- ness altogether, dispirited by the scenes of misery which environed them, were rendered incapable of affording relief to their distressed relations, and spent their time in conjuring and drumming to avert the pestilence. Those who were able came to the fort and received relief, but many who had retired with their families to distant corners, to pursue their winter hunts, experienced all the horrors of famine. Oneevening, early in the month of January, a poor Indian entered the North-West Company’s House, carrying his only child in his arms, and followed by his starving wife. They had been hunting apart from the other bands, had been unsuccessful, and whilst in want were seized with the epidemical disease. An Indian is accustomed. to starve, and it is not easy to.elicit from him an account of his sufferings. This poor man’s story was very brief; as soon as the fever abated, he set out with his wife for Cumberland House, having been previously reduced to feed on the bits of skin and offal, which remained about their encampment. Even this
OF THE POLAR SEA. | 61
miserable fare was exhausted, and they walked several days without eating, yet exerting themselves far beyond their strength that they might save the life of the infant. It died almost within sight of the house. Mr. Connolly, who was then in charge of the post, received them with the utmost humanity, and instantly placed food before them; but no language can describe the manner in which the miser- able father dashed the morsel from his lips and deplored the loss of his child. Misery may harden a disposition scsi bad, but it never fails to soften the heart of a good man.
The origin of the Crees, to which nation the Cumberland House Indians belong, is, like that of the other Aborigines of America, in- volved in obscurity. Perhaps the researches, now making into the nature and affinities of the languages spoken by the different Indian tribes, may eventually throw some light on the subject. Indeed the American philologists seem to have succeeded already in classing the known dialects into three languages:—Ist. The Floridean, spoken by the Creeks, Chickesaws, Choctaws, Cherokees, Pascagoulas, and some other tribes, who inhabit the southern parts of the United States. 2d. The Iroquois, spoken by the Mengwe, or Six Nations, the Wyandots, the Nadowessies, and Asseeneepoytuck. 3d. The Lenni-lenapé, spoken by a great family more widely spread than the other two, and from which, together with a vast number of other tribes, are sprung our Crees. Mr. Heckewelder, a Missionary, who resided long amongst these people, and from whose paper, (published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society,) the above clas- sification is taken, states that the Lenape have a tradition amongst them, of their ancestors having come from the westward, and taking possession of the whole country from the Missouri to the Atlantic, after driving:away or destroying the original inhabitants of the land, whom they termed Alligewi. In this migration and contest, which endured for a series of years, the Mengwe, or Iroquois, kept pace with them, moving in a parallel but more northerly line, and finally
62 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
settling on the banks of the St. Lawrence, and the great lakes from. whence it flows. ‘The Lenapé, being more numerous, peopled not only the greater part of the country at present occupied by the Wnited States, but also sent detachments to the northward as far as the banks of the River Mississippi and. the shores of Hudson’s Bay. The prin- cipal of their northern tribes are now known under the names of Saulteurs or Chippeways, and Crees; the former inhabiting the country betwixt. Lakes Winipeg and Superior, the latter frequenting the shores of Hudson’s Bay, from Moose to Churchill, and the country from thence as far to the westward as the plains which lie betwixt the forks of the Saskatchawan.
These Crees, formerly known by the French Canadian traders under the appellation of Knisteneaux, generally designate themselves as Kithinyoowue (men), or, when they wish to discriminate them- selves from the other Indian nations, as Nathehwywithinyoowuc (Southern-men)*.
* Much confusion has arisen from the great variety of names, applied without discrimi- nation to the various tribes of Saulteurs and Crees. Heckewelder considers the Crees of Moose Factory to be a branch of that tribe of the Lenapé, which is named Minsi, or Wolf Tribe. He has been led to form this opinion, from the similarity of the name given to these people by Monsieur Jeremie, namely, Monsonies; but the truth is, that their real name is Mongsoa-eythinyoowuc, or Moose-deer Indians; hence the name of the factory and river on which it is built. The name Knisteneaux, Kristeneaux, or Killisteneaux, was anciently applied to a tribe of Crees, now termed Maskegons, who inhabit the river Wi- nipeg. This small tribe still retains the peculiarities of customs and dress, for which it was remarkable many years ago, as mentioned by Mr. Henry, in the interesting account of his journeys in these countries. They are said to be great rascals. The great body of the Crees were at that time named Opimmitish Ininiwuc, or Men of the Woods. It would, how- ever, be an endless task to attempt to determine the precise people designated by the early French writers. Every small band, naming itself from its hunting grounds, was described as a different nation. The Chippeways who frequented the Lake of the Woods were named from a particular act of pillage—Puliers, or Robbers: and the name Saulteurs, ap- plied to a principal band that frequented the Sault St. Marie, has been by degrees extended. to the whole tribe. It is frequently pronounced and written Sotoos.
OF THE POLAR SEA. | 63
The original character of the Crees must have been much modified by their long intercourse with Europeans; hence it is to be under- stood, that we confine ourselves in the following sketch to their pre- sent condition, and more particularly to the Crees of Cumberland House. The moral character of a hunter is acted upon by the nature of the land he inhabits, the abundance or scarcity of food, and we may add, in the present case, his means of access to spi- rituous liquors. In a country so various in these respects as that inhabited by the Crees, the causes alluded to must operate strongly in producing a considerable difference of character amongst the va- rious hordes. It may be proper to bear in mind also, that we are about to draw the character of a people whose only rule of conduct is public opinion, and to try them by a morality founded on divine revelation ; as we are not aware that it is in the power of any one, who has been educated in a land to which the blessings of the Gos- pel have extended, to use any other standard.
Bearing these considerations in mind then, we may state the Crees to be a vain, fickle, improvident, and indolent race, and not very strict in their adherence to truth, being great boasters; but, on the other hand, they strictly regard the rights of property, are susceptible of the kinder affections, capable of friendship, very hospitable, tolerably kind to their women, and withal inclined to peace.
Much of the faulty part of their character, no doubt, originates”
in their mode of life: accustomed as a hunter to depend greatly on chance for his subsistence, the Cree takes little thought of to-morrow ; and the most offensive part of his behaviour—the habit of boasting— has been probably assumed as a necessary part of his armour, which operates upon the fears of his enemies. They are countenanced, however, in this failing by the practice of the ancient Greeks, and perhaps by that of every other nation in its ruder state. Every Cree fears the medical or conjuring powers of his neighbour; but at the same time exalts his own attainments to the skies. “I am God-like”
64, A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES ©
Is a common expression amongst them, and they prove their divinity- ship by eating live coals, and by various tricks of a similar nature. A medicine bag is an indispensable part of a hunter’s equipment. It is generally furnished with a little bit of indigo, blue vitriol, ver- milion, or some other showy article; and is, when in the hands of a noted conjuror, such an object of terror to the rest of the tribe, that its possessor is enabled to fatten at his ease upon the labours of his deluded countrymen. |
A fellow of this description came to Cumberland House in the winter of 1819. Notwithstanding the then miserable state of the Indians, the rapacity of this wretch had been preying upon their necessities, and a poor hunter was actually at the moment pining away under the influence of his threats. The mighty conjuror, im- mediately on his arrival at the house, began to trumpet forth his powers, boasting, among other things, that although his hands and feet were tied as securely as possible, yet, when placed in a con- juring-house, he would speedily disengage himself by the aid of two or three familiar spirits, who were attendant on his call. He was instantly taken at his word, and that his exertions might not be without an aim, a capot or great coat was promised as the reward of his success. A conjuring-house having been erected in the usual form, that is, by sticking four willows in the ground and tying their tops to a hoop at the height of six or eight feet, he was fettered com- pletely by winding several fathoms of rope round his body and ex- tremities, and placed in its narrow apartment, not exceeding two feet in diameter. A moose skin being then thrown over the frame, secluded him from our view. He forthwith began to chant a kind of hymn in a very monotonous tone. The rest of the Indians, who seemed in some doubt respecting the powers of a devil when put in competition with those of a white man, ranged themselves around, and watched the result with anxiety. Nothing remarkable occurred for along time. The conjuror continued his song at intervals, and it
ile
6
OF THE POLAR SEA. 65
was occasionally taken up by those without. In this manner an hour
=
and a half elapsed; but at length our attention, which had begun to flag, was roused by the violent shaking of the conjuring-house. It was instantly whispered round the circle, that at least one devil had crept. under the moose-skin. But it proved to be only the “ God- like man” trembling with cold. He had entered the lists, stript to the skin, and the thermometer stood very low that evening. His attempts were continued, however, with considerable resolution for half an hour longer, when he reluctantly gave in. He had found no diffi- culty in slipping through the noose when it was formed by his coun- trymen ; but, in the present instance, the knot was tied by Governor Williams, who is an expert sailor. After this unsuccessful exhibition his credit sunk amazingly, and he took the earliest opportunity of sneaking away from the fort. _ About two years ago a conjuror paid more dearly for his: a 2
das a quarrel with an Indian he threw out some. obscure threats of
vengeance, which passed unnoticed at the time, but were afterwards remembered. ‘They met in the spring at Carlton House, after passing
the winter in different parts of the country, during which the In-
dian’s child died. The conjuror had the folly to boast that: he had
caused its death, and the enraged father shot him dead on the spot.
-It.may be remarked, however, that both these Indians were inha-
bitants of the plains, and had been taught, by their intercourse with the turbulent Stone Indians, to set but comparatively little value on the life of a.man.
It might.be thought seat the Crees have benefited by élyeie lhe intercourse with civilized. nations.. That this is not so much the case as it ought to be, 1s not entirely. their own fault. They are capable of being,. and I believe. willing to be, taught; but no pains -have
hitherto been taken, to inform their minds, and their white acquaint- ances seem in general to find it easier to descend to the Indian cus-
toms, and modes of thinking, particularly with respect to women,
K
66 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
than to attempt to raise the Indians to theirs. Indeed, such a lamentable want of morality has been ‘displayed by the white tradérs in their contests for the interests of their respective companies, that it would require a long series of good conduct to efface from the minds of the native population the ideas they have formed of the white character. Notwithstanding the frequent violations of the rights of property they have witnessed, and but too often expe- rienced, in their own persons, these savages, as they are termed, remain strictly honest. During their visits to a post, they are suf- fered to enter every apartment in the house, without the least restraint, and although articles of value to them are scattered about, nothing is ever missed. They even scrupulously avoid moving any thing from its place, although they are often prompted by curiosity to examine it. In some cases, indeed, they carry this principle to‘a degree of self-denial which would hardly be expected. It often hap- pens that meat, which has been paid for, Gf the poisonous draught it procures them can be considered as payment,) is left at their lodges until a convenient opportunity occurs of carrying it away. They will rather pass several days without eating than touch the meat thus intrusted to their charge, even when there exists a prospect of replacing it.
The hospitality of the Crees is unbounded. They afford a certain asylum to the half-breed children when deserted by their unnatural white fathers; and the infirm, and indeed every individual in ‘an encampment, share the provisions of a successful hunter as long as they last. Fond too as’a Cree is of spirituous liquors, he is not happy unless all his neighbours partake with him. It 1s not easy, however, to say what share ostentation may have in the ‘apparent munificence in the latter article; for when an Indian, by a good hunt, is enabled to treat the others with a keg of rum, he becomes the chief of a night, assumes no little stateliness of manner, ‘and is tréated with deference by those who regale at his expense. Prompted
OF THE POLAR SEA, 67
also by the desire of gaining a name, .they lavish away the articles they purchase at the trading posts, and are well satisfied if repaid in praise. |
Gaming is not.uncommon ,amongst the Crees of all the different districts, but it is pursued to greater lengths by those bands who fre- quent the plains, and who, fromthe ease with which they obtain food, have abundant leisure. ‘The.game most in.use amongst them, termed puckesann, is played with the.stones of a species of prunus which, from this cireumstance, they term puckesann-meena. ‘The difficulty lies in guessing the number of stones which are tossed out of a small wooden dish, and the hunters will spend whole nights at the destructive sport, staking their most valuable articles, powder and shot.
It has been remarked by some writers that the aboriginal inhabi- tants of America are deficient in.passion for the fair sex. This is by no means the case with the Crees; on the contrary, their practice of seducing each: other’s wives, proves the most fertile source of their quarrels. ‘When the guilty pair are detected, the woman generally receives a severe beating, but the husband is, for the most part, afraid to reproach the male culprit until they get drunk together at the fort; then the remembrance of the offence is revived, a struggle
ensues, and the affair is terminated by the loss of afew handfuls of
hair. Some husbands, however, feel more deeply the injury done to their honour, and seek revenge even in their sober moments. In such cases it is not uncommon. for the offended party to walk with great gravity up to the other, and deliberately seizing,his gun, or some other article.of value, to break it before his face. The adul- terer looks on in silence, afraid to make any attempt to save his pro- perty. In this respect, indeed, the Indian character seems to differ from the European, that an Indian, instead of letting his anger in- crease with that of his antagonist, assumes the utmost coolness, lest he should push him to. extremities. 3 Although adultery is sometimes punished amongst the Crees in the K 2
68 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
manner above described, yet it is no crime, provided the husband receives a valuable consideration for his wife’s prostitution. In this ease she is only lent to a friend. Neither is chastity considered as a virtue in a female before marriage, that is, before she becomes the exclusive property of one hunter.
- The Cree women are not in general treated harshly fig their husbands, and possess considerable influence over them. They often eat, and even get drunk, in consort with the men; a considerable portion of the labour, however, falls to the lot of the wife. She makes the hut, cooks, dresses the skins, and, for the most. part, carries the heaviest load; but, when she is unable to perform her task, the husband does not consider it beneath his dignity to assist her. In illustration of this remark, I may quote the case of an Indian who visited the fort in winter. This poor man’s wife had lost her feet by the frost, and he was compelled, not only to hunt, and do all the menial offices himself, but in winter to drag his wife with their stock of furniture from one encampment to another. In the performance of this duty, as he could not keep pace with the rest. of the tribe in their movements, he, more than once, nearly perished of hunger.
These Indians, however, capable as they are of behaving thus kindly, affect in their discourse to despise the softer sex, and on solemn occasions, will not suffer them to eat before them or even come into their presence.- In this they are countenanced by the
white residents, most of whom have Indian or half-breed wives, but ‘seem afraid- of treating them with the tenderness or attention —
due to every female, lest they should themselves be despised by the
Indians. At least, this is the only reason they assign for their
neglect of those whom <Hey make partners of their beds and mothers
‘of their children. -
Both sexes are fond of, and excessively ere to, their children. The father never punishes them, and if the mother, more hasty in
OF THE POLAR SEA. 69
her temper, sometimes bestows a blow or two on a troublesome child, her heart is instantly softened by the roar which follows, and she mingles her tears with those that streak the smoky face of her darling. It may be fairly said, then, that restraint or punishment forms no part of the education of an Indian child, nor are they early trained to that command over their temper which they exhibit in after years. | |
The discourse of the parents is never restrained by the presence of their children, every transaction between the sexes being openly talked of before them. This is done from principle, that a child may not grow up ignorant of what they consider as necessary to be known; accordingly a boy is, from his infancy, acquainted with all the mysteries of the sex, and the mother takes care that the girls shall not fall short of their brothers in their education.
The Crees having early obtained arms from the European traders, were enabled to make harassing inroads on the lands of their neigh- bours, and are known to have made war excursions as far to the westward as the Rocky Mountains, and to the northward as far as M‘Kenzie’s River; but their enemies being now as well armed as themselves, the case is much altered.
- They shew great fortitude in the endurance of hunger, and the other evils incident to a hunter’s life: but any unusual accident dis- pizits them at once, and they seldom venture to meet their enemies im open warfare, or to attack them even by surprise, unless with the advantage of superiority of numbers. Perhaps they are much dete- riorated in this respect by their intercourse with Europeans. Their existence at present hangs upon the supplies of ammunition and clothing they receive from the traders, and they deeply feel their dependant situation. But their character has been. still more debased by the passion for spirituous liquors, so assiduously fostered among them. . To obtain the noxious beverage, they descend to the most humiliating entreaties, and assume an abjectness of behaviour which
70 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
does not seem natural to them, and of which not a vestige is to be seen in their: mtercourse with each other. Their character has sunk among the neighbouring nations. They are no longer the warriors who drove ‘before them the inhabitants of the Saskatchawan and Missinippi. ‘The Cumberland House Crees in particular, have been long disused to war. Betwixt them and their ancient enemies, the Slave nations, lie the extensive plains of the Saskatchawan, inhabited by the powerful Asseeneepoytuck, or Stone Indians, who having, whilst yet a small tribe, entered the country under the patronage of the Crees, now render back the protection they received. The manners and customs of the Crees have, probably, since their ac- quaintance with Europeans, undergone a change, at least, equal to that which has taken place in their moral character; and, al- though we heard of many practices peculiar to them, yet they ap- peared to be nearly as much honoured in the breach as the obser- vance. We shall, however, briefly notice a few of the most remark- able customs.
When a hunter marries his first wife, he usually takes up his abode in the tent of his father-in-law, and of course hunts for the family ; but when he becomes a father, the families are at liberty to separate, or remain together, as their inclinations prompt them. His second wife is for the most part the sister of the first, but not necessarily so, for an Indian of another family often presses -his daughter wpon a hunter whom he knows to be capable of maintaining her well. The first wife always remains the mistress of the tent, and assumes an authority over the others, which is not in every case quietly submitted to. It may be remarked, that whilst an Indian resides with his wife’s family, itis extremely improper for his mother- in-law to speak, or even look at him; and when she has a communi- cation to make, it is the etiquette that she should turn her back upon him, and address him only through the medium of a third person. This singular custom is not very creditable to the Indians, if it really
OF THE POLAR SEA. 71
had its origin in the cause which they at present assign for it, namely, thatia woman's speaking to her son-in-law is a sure indication of her having conceived..a criminal affection for him.
It appears also to have been an ancient practice for an Indian to avoid eating or sitting down in the presence of the father-in-law. We received no;account of the origin of this custom, and it is now almost obsolete amongst the Cumberland House Crees, though still partially observed by those who frequent. Carlton.
Tattooing is almost universal with the Crees. ‘The women are in general content with having one or two lines,drawn from the corners of the mouth towards the,angles of the lower jaw; but.some of the men have their bodies covered with a great variety of lines and figures. It seems to be considered by most rather as a proof of courage than an ornament, the operation being very painful, and, if the figures are numerous and intricate, lasting several,days. The lines on the face are formed by dexterously running an awl under the cuticle, and then drawing a: cord, dipt in charcoal and. water, through the canal thus:formed. The punctures on the body are formed by needles of various sizes set in a frame. A number of hawk bells attached to this frame serve by their noise to cover the suppressed groans of the sufferer, and, probably for the same reason, the pro- cess is accompanied with singing. An indelible stain is produced by
rubbing a little finely-powdered willow-charcoal into the punctures.
A half-breed, whose arm I amputated, declared, that tattooing was not only the most painful operation of the two, but rendered infinitely more. difficult to bear by its tediousness, haying lasted in his case three. days. |
A. Cree woman, when visited by the periodical disorder incident to the sex, is laid under considerable -restraint. They are far, how- ever, from carrying matters to the extremities mentioned by Hearne in his description of the Chepewyans, or Northern Indians. She hives apart from her husband also for two months if she has borne a
12 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
boy, and for three if she has given birth to’a girl. Some mothers preserve a piece of the navel-string, sew it up in a bag neatly.orna- mented, and suspend it as an amulet to Pag outer garment of the child. | :
Many of the Cree hunters are careful to prevent a woman from partaking of the head of a moose-deer, lest it should spoil their future hunts; and for the same reason they avoid bringing it to a fort, fear- ing lest the white people should give the bones to the dogs.
The games or sports of the Crees are various. One, termed the game of the Mitten, is played with four balls, three of which are plain, and one marked. These being hid under as many mittens, the opposite party is required to fix on that which is marked. He gives or receives a feather according as he guesses right or wrong. ‘When-the feathers, which are ten in number, have all passed into one hand, a new division is made; but when one of the parties obtains possession of them thrice, he seizes on the stakes. i sit
The game of Platter is more intricate, and is played with the claws of a bear, or some other animal, marked with various lines and characters. These dice, which are eight in number, and cut flat at their large end, are shook together in a wooden dish, tossed into the air and caught again. ‘The lines, traced on such claws as’ happen to alight on the platter in an erect position, indicate what number of counters the caster is to receive from his opponent. |
‘They have, however, a much more manly amusement sraksehta the Cross, although they do not engage even in it without depositing considerable stakes. An extensive meadow is chosen for this sport, and the articles staked are tied to a post, or deposited’in the custody of two old men. ‘The combatants being stript and. pamted, and each provided with a kind of battledore or racket, in shape resembling the letter P, with a handle about two feet long, and a-head loosely wrought with net-work, so as to form a shallow ‘bag, range them- selves on different sides. A ball being now tossed up in the middle,
OF THE POLAR SEA. 73
each party endeavours to drive it to their respective goals, and much dexterity and agility is displayed in the contest. When a nimble runner gets the ball in his cross, he sets off towards the goal with the utmost speed, and is followed by the rest, who endeavour to jostle him and shake it out; but, if hard pressed, he discharges it with a jerk, to be forwarded by his own party, or bandied back by their opponents, until the victory is decided by its passing the goal.
Of the religious opinions of the Crees, it is difficult to give a cor- rect account, not only because they shew a disinclination to enter upon the subject, but because their ancient traditions are mingled with the information they have more recently obtained, by their intercourse with Europeans.
None of them ventured to describe the original formation of the world, but they all spoke of an universal deluge, caused by an at- tempt of the fish to drown Weesack-ootchacht, a kind of demi- god, with whom they had quarrelled. Having constructed a raft, he embarked with his family, and all kinds of birds and beasts. After the flood had continued for some time, he ordered several water-fowl to dive to the bottom; they were all drowned: but a musk-rat having been despatched on the same errand, was more successful, and _re- turned with a mouthful of mud, out of which Weesack-ootchacht, imitating the mode in which the rats construct their houses, formed anew earth. First, a small conical hill of mud appeared above the water ;_ by-and-by, its base gradually spreading out, it became an ex- tensive bank, which the rays of the sun at length hardened into firm land. Notwithstanding the power that Wesack-ootchacht here displayed, his person is held in very little reverence by the Indians ; and, in return, he seizes every opportunity of tormenting them. His conduct is far from being moral, and his amours, and the dis- guises he assumes in the prosecution of them, are more various and extraordinary than those of the Grecian Jupiter himself: but as his adventures are more remarkable for their eccentricity than their
L
74, A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
delicacy, it is better to pass them over in silence. Before we quit him, however, we may remark, that he converses with all kinds of birds and beasts in their own languages, constantly addressing them by the title of brother, but through an inherent suspicion of his intentions, they are seldom willing to admit of his claims of rela- tionship. ‘The Indians make no sacrifices to him, not even to avert his wrath. They pay a kind of worship, however, and make offer- ings to a being, whom they term Kepoochikawn.
This deity is represented sometimes by rude images of the human figure, but more commonly merely by tying the tops of a few willow bushes together; and the offerings to him consist of every thing that is valuable to an Indian; yet they treat him with considerable familiarity, interlarding their most solemn speeches with expostula- tions and threats of neglect, if he fails in complying with their re- quests. As most of their petitions are for plenty of food, they do not trust entirely to the favour of Kepoochikawn, but endeavour, at the same time, to propitiate the animal, an imaginary representa- tive of the whole race of larger quadrupeds that are objects of the chase. :
In the month of May, whilst I was at Carlton House, the Cree hunter, engaged to attend that post, resolved upon dedicating several articles to Kepoochikawn, and as I had made some inquiries of him respecting their modes of worship, he gave me an invitation to be present. The ceremony took place in a sweating-house, or as it may be designated from its more important use, a temple, which was erected for the occasion by the worshipper’s two wives. It was framed of arched willows, interlaced so as to form a vault capable of containing ten or- twelve men, ranged closely side by side, and high enough to admit of their sitting erect. It was very similar in shape to an oven, or the kraal of a Hottentot, and was closely covered with moose skins, except at the east end, which was left open for a'door. Near the centre of the building there was a hole
OF THE POLAR SEA. 5
in the ground, which contained ten or twelve red-hot stones, having a few leaves of the taccohaymenan, a species of prunus, strewed around them. When the women had completed the prepa- rations, the hunter made his appearance, perfectly naked, carrying in his hand an image of Kepoochikawn, rudely carved, and about two feet long. He placed his god at the upper end of the sweating- house, with his face towards the door, and proceeded to tie round its neck his offerings, consisting of a cotton handkerchief, a looking- glass, a tin pan, a piece of riband, and a bit of tobacco, which he had procured the same day, at the expense of fifteen or twenty skins. Whilst he was thus occupied, several other Crees, who were encamped in the neighbourhood, having been informed of what was going on, arrived, and stripping at the door of the temple, entered, and ranged themselves on each side; the hunter himself squatted down at the right hand of Kepoochikawn. The atmosphere of the temple having become so hot that none but zealous worship- pers would venture in, the interpreter and myself sat down on the threshold, and the two women remained on the outside as at- tendants. :
The hunter, who throughout officiated as high priest, commenced by making a speech to Kepoochikawn, in which he requested him to be propitious, told him of the value of the things now presented, and cautioned him against ingratitude. This oration was delivered in a monotonous tone, and with great rapidity of utterance, and the speaker retained his squatting posture, but turned his face to his god. At its conclusion the priest began a hymn, of which the burthen was, “ I will walk with God, I will go with the animal;” and, at the end of each stanza, the rest joined im an insignificant chorus. He next took up a calumet, filled with a mixture of to- bacco, and bear-berry leaves, and holding its stem by the middle, in a horizontal position, over the hot stones, turned it slowly in a. cir- cular manner, following the course of the sun. Its mouth-piece
L2
"6 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES.
being then, with much formality, held for a few seconds to the face of Kepoochikawn, it was next presented to the earth, having been pre- viously turned a second time over the hot stones; and afterwards, with equal ceremony, pointed in succession to the four quarters of the sky; then drawing a few whiffs from the calumet himself, he handed it to his left-hand neighbour, by whom it was gravely passed round the circle; the interpreter and myself, who were seated at the door, were asked to partake in our turn, but requested to keep the head of the calumet within the threshold of the sweating-house. When the tobacco was exhausted by passing several times round, the hunter made another speech, similar to the former; but was, if pos- sible, still more urgent in his requests.. A second hymn followed, and a quantity of water being sprinkled on the hot stones, the at- tendants were ordered to close the temple, which they did, by very carefully covering it wp with moose skins. We had no means of ascer- taining the temperature of the sweating-house; but before it was closed, not only those within, but also the spectators without, were perspiring freely. They continued in the vapour bath for thirty- five minutes, during which time a third speech was made, and a hymn was sung, and water occasionally sprinkled on the stones, which still retained much heat, as was evident from the hissing noise they made. The coverings were then thrown off, and the poor half-stewed worshippers exposed freely to the air; but they kept their squatting postures until a fourth speech was made, in which the deity was strongly reminded of the value of the gifts, and ex- horted to take an early opportunity of shewing his gratitude. The ceremony concluded by the sweaters scampering down to the river, and plunging into the stream. It may be remarked, that the door of the temple, and, of course, the face of the god, was turned to the rising sun; and the spectators were desired not to block up entirely the front of the building, but to leave a lane for the en- trance or exit of some influence of which they could: not. give me a
QF THE POLAR SEA. . (7
correct description. _ Several Indians, who lay on the outside of the sweating-house as spectators, seemed to regard the proceedings with very little awe, and were extremely free in the remarks and jokes they passed. upon the condition of the sweaters, and even of Kepoo- chikawn himself. One of them made a remark, that the shawl would have been much better bestowed upon himself than upon Kepoochikawn, but the same fellow afterwards stripped and joined in the ceremony.
I did not learn that the Indians worship any other god by a specific name. They often refer, however, to the Keetchee-Maneeto, or Great Master of Life; and to an evil spirit, or Maatche-Maneeto. They also speak of Weettako, a kind of vampyre or devil, into which those who have fed on human flesh are transformed:
Whilst at Carlton, I took an opportunity of asking a communi- cative old Indian, of the Blackfoot nation, his opinion of a future state; he replied, that they had heard from their: fathers, that the souls of the departed have to scramble with great labour up the sides of a steep mountain, upon attaining the summit of which they are rewarded with the prospect of an extensive plain, interspersed here and there with new tents, pitched in agreeable situations, and abounding in all sorts of game. Whilst they are absorbed in the contemplation of this delightful scene, they are descried by the in- habitants of the happy land, who, clothed in new skins, approach and welcome with every demonstration of kindness those Indians who have led good lives; but the bad Indians, who have imbrued their hands in the blood of their countrymen, are told to return from whence they came, and without more ceremony precipitated down the steep sides of the mountain.
Women, who have been guilty of infanticide, never reach the mountain at all, but are compelled to hover round the seats of their crimes, with branches of trees tied to their legs. The melancholy sounds, which are heard: in the still summer evenings, and which:
78 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
the ignorance of the white people considers as the screams of the goat-sucker, are really, according to my: informant, the moanings of these unhappy beings. . :
The Crees have somewhat similar notions, but as they inhabit a country widely different from the mountainous lands of the Black- foot Indians, the difficulty of their journey lies in walking along a slender and slippery tree, laid as a bridge across a rapid stream of stinking and muddy water. The night owl is regarded by the Crees with the same dread that it has been viewed by other nations. One small species, which is known to them by its melancholy nocturnal hootings, (for'as it never appears in the day, few even of the hun- ters have ever seen it) is particularly ominous. They call it the cheepat-peethees, or death bird, and never fail to whistle when they hear its note. If it does not reply to the whistle uy its hootings, the speedy death of the inquirer is augured.
When a Cree dies, that part of his property, which he has not given away before his death, is burned with him, and his relations take care to place near the grave little heaps of fire-wood, food: pieces of tobacco, and such things as he is likely to need in his journey. Similar offerings are made when they revisit the grave: and as kettles, and other articles of value, are sometimes offered, they are frequently carried off by passengers, yet the relations are not displeased, provided sufficient respect has been shewn to the dead, by putting some other article, although of inferior value, in the place of that which has been taken away.
The Crees are wont to celebrate the returns of the seasons by religious festivals, but we are unable to describe the ceremonial in use on these joyous occasions from personal observation. The fol- lowing brief notice of a feast, which was given by an old Cree chief, according to his annual custom, on the first croaking of the frogs, is drawn up from the information of one of the guests. A large oblong tent, or lodge, was prepared for the important occasion, by
OF THE POLAR SEA. 79
the men of the party, none of the women being suffered to inter- fere. It faced the setting sun, and great care was taken that every thing about it should be as neat and clean as possible. Three fire- places were raised within it, at equal distances, and little holes were dug in the corners to contain the ashes of their pipes. In a recess, at its upper end, one large image of Kepoochikawn, and many smaller ones, were ranged with their faces towards the door. The food was prepared by the chief’s wife, and consisted of .marrow-pem- mican, berries boiled with fat, and various other delicacies that had been preserved for the occasion.
The preparations being completed, and a slave, whom the chief had taken in war, having warned the guests to the feast by the mys- terious word peenasheway, they came, dressed out in their best gar- ments, and ranged themselves according to their seniority, the elders seating themselves next the chief at the upper end, and the young men near the door.
The chief commenced by addressing his deities in an appropriate speech, in which he told them, that he had hastened as soon as summer was indicated by the croaking of the frogs, to solicit their favour for himself and his young men, and hoped that they would send him a pleasant and plentiful season. His oration was con- cluded by an invocation to all the animals in the land, and a signal being given to the slave at the door, he invited them severally by their names to come and partake of the feast.
The Cree chief having by this very general invitation displayed his unbounded hospitality, next ordered one of the young men to distribute a mess to each of the guests. This was done in new dishes of birch bark, and the utmost diligence was displayed in emptying them, it being considered extremely improper in a man to leave any part of that which is placed before him on such occasions. It is not inconsistent with good manners however, but rather considered as a piece of politeness, that a guest who has been too liberally sup-
30 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
plied, should hand the surplus to his neighbour. When the viandg had disappeared, each filled his calumet and began to smoke with great assiduity, and in the course of the evening several songs were sung to the responsive sounds of the drum and seeseequay, their usual accompaniments,
The Cree drum is double-headed, but possessing very little depth, it strongly resembles a tambourine in shape. Its want of depth is compensated, however, by its diameter, which frequently exceeds three feet. It is covered with moose skin parchment, painted with rude figures of men and beasts, having various fantastic additions, and is beat with a stick. The seeseequay is merely a rattle, formed by enclosing a few grains of shot in a piece of dried hide. These two instruments are used in all their religious ceremonies, except those which take place in a sweating-house.
A. Cree places great reliance on his drum, and I cannot adduce a stronger instance than that of the poor man who is mentioned in a preceding page, as having lost his only child by famine, almost within sight of the fort. Notwithstanding his exhausted state, he travelled with an enormous drum tied to his back.
Many of the Crees make vows to abstain from particular kinds of food, either for a specific time, or for the remainder of their life, esteeming such abstinence to be a certain.means of acquiring some supernatural powers, or at least of entailing upon themselyes a succession of good fortune.
One of the wives of the Carlton hunter, of vaio we have already spoken as the worshipper of Kepoochikawn, made a determination not to eat of the flesh of the Wawaskeesh, or American stag; but during our abode at that place, she was induced to feed heartily upon it, through the intentional deceit of her husband, who told her that it was buffalo meat. When she had finished her meal, her hus- band told her of the trick, and seemed to enjoy the terror with which she contemplated the consequences of the involuntary breach of her
OF THE POLAR SEA. 8]
vow... Vows of this nature are often made by a Cree before he joins a war party, and they sometimes, like the eastern bonzes, walk for a certain number of days on all fours, or impose upon themselves some other penance, equally ridiculous. By such means the Cree warrior becomes godlike; but unless he kills an enemy before his return, his newly-acquired powers are esteemed to be productive in future of some direful consequence to himself.
_ As we did not witness any of the Cree dances ourselves, we shall merely mention, that like the other North American nations, they are accustomed to practise that amusement on meeting with strange tribes, before going to war, and on other solemn occasions.
The ‘habitual intoxication of the Cumberland House Crees has induced such a disregard of personal appearance, that they are squalid and dirty in the extreme; hence a minute description of their clothing would be by no means interesting. We shall, therefore, only remark in a general manner, that the dress of the males consists of a blanket thrown over the shoulders, a leathern shirt or jacket, and a piece of cloth tied round the middle. The women have in ‘addition a long petticoat; and both sexes wear a kind of wide hose, which reaching from the ancle to the middle of the thigh, are suspended by strings to the girdle. These hose, or as they are termed, Indian stockings, are commonly ornamented with beads or ribands, and from their convenience, have been universally adopted by the white resi- dents, as an essential part of their winter clothing. Their shoes, or rather short boots, for they tie round the ancle, are made of soft dressed moose skins, and during the winter they wrap several pieces of blanket round their feet. ,
_ They are fond of European articles of dress, considering it as mean
_ to be dressed entirely in leather, and the hunters are generally fur- nished annually with a capot or great coat, and the women: with shawls, printed calicoes, and other things very unsuitable to their mode’ of life, but which they wear in imitation of the wives of the — M
99 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
traders; all these articles, however showy they maybe at first, are soon reduced to a very filthy condition by the Indian custom of greasing the face and hair with soft fat or marrow, instead of washing them with water. This practice they say preserves the skin soft, and protects it from cold in the winter, and the moschetoes in summer, but it renders their presence. disagreeable to the olfactory organs of an European, particularly when they are seated in a close tent and near a hot fire.
The only peculiarity which we observed, in their mode of rearing children ‘consists in the use of a sort of cradle, extremely well adapted to their mode of life. The infant is placed) in the bag having its lower extremities wrapt up in. soft sphagnum or bog-moss, and may be hung up.in the tent, or to the branch of a tree, without the least danger of tumbling out; or ina journey suspended on the mother’s back, by a band which crosses the forehead, so as to leave her hands perfectly free. It is one of the neatest articles of furniture they possess, being generally ornamented with beads, and bits of scarlet cloth, but it bears a very strong resemblance in its form to a mummy case. |
The:sphagnum in which the child is laid, forms a soft elastic bed, which absorbs moisture very readily, and affords such a protection from the cold of a rigorous winter, that its place would be ill sup- plied by cloth.
~The mothers are careful to collect a sufficient quantity in autumn for winter use; but when through accident their stock fails, they have recourse to the soft down of the typha, or reed mace, the dust of rotten wood, or even feathers, although none of these articles are so cleanly, or so easily changed, as the sphagnum.
‘The above is a brief sketch of such parts of the manners, cha- racter, and. customs of the Crees, as: wecould collect from personal observation, or from the: information of the most intelligent half- breeds we met with ; and: we-shall merely add a few remarks on
OF THE POLAR SEA. 83
the manner in which the trade is conducted at the different inland posts of the fur Companies. —
The standard of exchange in all mercantile transactions with the natives is a beaver skin, the relative value of which, as originally established by the traders, differs considerably from the present worth of the articles it represents ; but the Indians are averse to change. Three martin, eight musk-rat, or a single lynx, or wol- verene skin, are equivalent to one beaver ; a silver fox, white fox, or otter, are reckoned two beavers, and a black fox, or large black bear, are equal to four; a mode of reckoning which has very little con- nexion with the real value of these different furs in the European market. Neither has any attention been paid to the original: cost of European articles, in fixing the tarif by which they are sold to the Indians. A coarse butcher’s knife is one skin, a woollen blanket or a fathom of coarse cloth, eight, and a fowling-piece fifteen. The Indians receive their principal. outfit of clothing and ammunition on credit in the autumn, to be repaid by their winter hunts; the amount intrusted to each of the hunters, varying with their reputations for industry and skill, from twenty to one hundred and fifty skins. The Indians are generally anxious to pay off the debt thus incurred, but their good intentions are often frustrated by the arts of the rival traders. Each of the Companies keeps men constantly employed travelling over the country during the winter, to collect the furs from the different bands of hunters as fast as they are procured. The poor Indian endeavours to behave honestly, and when he has gathered a few skins:sends notice to the post from whence he pro- cured. his supphes, but if discovered in the mean time by the op- posite party, he is seldom proof against the temptation to which he is exposed. However firm he may be in his denials at first, his resolutions are enfeebled by the sight of a little rum, and when he has tasted the intoxicating beverage, they vanish. like. smoke, and he brings forth his store of. furs, which he has carefully concealed
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84: A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
from the scrutinizing eyes of his visitors. This mode of carrying on the trade not only causes the amount of furs, collected by either-of the two Companies, to depend more upon the activity of their agents, the knowledge they possess of ‘the motions of the Indians, and the quantity of rum they carry, than upon the liberality of the credits they give, but is also productive of an increasing deterioration’ of the character of the Indians, and will, probably, ultimately prove destructive to the fur trade itself. Indeed the evil has already, in part, recoiled upon the traders; for the Indians, long deceived, have become deceivers in their turn, and not unfrequently after having incurred a heavy debt at one post, move off to another, to play the same game. In some cases the rival posts have entered. into a mutual agreement, to trade only with the Indians they have re- spectively fitted out; but such treaties, being seldom rigidly adhered to, prove a fertile subject for disputes, and the differences have been more than once. decided by force of arms. To carry on the contest, the two Companies are obliged to employ a great many servants, whom they maintain often with much difficulty, and always at a considerable expense.
‘There are thirty men belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Fort at Cumberland, and nearly as many women.and children.
The inhabitants of the North West Company’s house are still more numerous. These large families are fed during the greatest part of the year on fish, which are principally procured at Beaver Lake, about fifty miles distant. The fishery commencing with the first frosts in autumn, continues abundant till January, and the produce is dragged over the snow on sledges, each drawn by three dogs, and carrying about two hundred and fifty pounds. The journey to and from the lake occupies five days, and every sledge requires a driver. About three thousand fish, averaging three pounds: a piece, were caught by the Hudson’s Bay fishermen last season ; in ad- dition to which a few sturgeon were occasionally caught in Pine
OF THE POLAR SEA. 85
Island Lake; and towards the spring a considerable quantity of “moose meat was procured from the Basquian Hill, sixty or seventy miles distant.. The rest of our winter’s provision consisted of geese, salted in the autumn, and of dried meats and pemmican, obtained from the’ provision posts on the plains of the Saskatchawan. A good many potatoes are also raised at this post, and a small supply of tea and sugar is brought, from the depét at York Factory. The provi- sions obtained from these various sources were amply sufficient in the winter of 1819-20; but through improvidence ly post has in former seasons been reduced to great straits.
Many of. the labourers, and a great majority of the agents and clerks employed by the two Companies, have Indian or half-breed wives, and the mixed offspring thus Sona: has become extremely numerous.
These métifs, or as the @antiilites term them, dois-brulés, are upon the whole a good looking people, and where the experiment has been made, have shewn much aptness in learning, and willing- ness to be taught ; they have, however, been sadly neglected. The example of their fathers has released them from the restraint im- posed by the Indian opinions of good and bad behaviour; and, generally speaking, no pains have been taken to fill the void with better principles. Hence it is not surprising that the males, trained up in a high opinion of the authority and rights of the Company to which: their fathers belonged, and unacquainted with the laws of the civilized world, should be ready to engage in any. measure what- ever, that they are prompted to believe will forward the interests of the cause they espouse. Nor that the girls, taught a certain degree of refinement by the acquisition of an European language, sheuld be inflamed by the unrestrained discourse of their Indian relations, and very early give up all pretensions to chastity. It is, however, but justice to remark, that there is a very decided dif. ference 1 in the conduct of the children of the Orkney men employed
86 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
by the Hudson’s Bay Company and those of the Canadian voyagers. Some trouble is occasionally bestowed in teaching the former, and it is not thrown away ; but all the good that can be said of the latter is, that they are not quite so licentious as their fathers are.
Many of the half-breeds, both male and female, are brought up amongst, and intermarry with, the Indians ; and there are few tents wherein the paler children of such marriages are not to be seen. It has been remarked, I do not know with what truth, that half-breeds shew more personal courage than the pure Crees. |
A. singular change takes place in the physical constitution of the Indian females who become inmates ofa fort ; namely, they bear children more frequently and longer, but, at the same time, are rendered liable to indurations of the mammz and. prolapsus of the uterus; evils from which they are, in a great measure, exempt whilst they lead a wandering and laborious life.
The girls at the forts, particularly the daughters of Canadians, are given in marriage very young; they are very frequently wives at twelve years of age, and mothers at fourteen. Nay, more than one instance came under our observation, of the master of a post hav- ing permitted a voyager to take to wife a poor child that had scarcely attained the age of ten years. The masters and wintering partners of the Companies deemed this criminal indulgence to the vices of their servants, necessary to stimulate them to exertion: for the interest of their respective concerns. Another practice may also be noticed, as shewing the state of moral feeling on these sub- jects amongst the white residents of the fur countries. It was. not very uncommon, amongst.the Canadian voyagers, for one woman to be common to, and maintained at the joint expense of, two men; nor for a voyager to sell his wife, either for a season, or altogether, for a sum of money, proportioned to her beauty and good qualities, but always inferior to the price of a team of dogs.
The country around Cumberland House is flat and swampy, and
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is much intersected by small lakes. A very new magnesian lime- stone 1s found every where under a thin stratum of soil, and it not un- frequently shows itself above the surface. It lies in strata generally horizontal, but in one spot near the fort, dipping to the northward at an angle of 40°... Some portions of this rock contain very perfect shells. With respect to the vegetable productions of the district, the populus. trepida, or aspen, which thrives in moist situations, is, perhaps, the most. abundant tree on the banks of the Saskatchawan, and is much prized as fire-wood, burning well when cut green. The populus balsamifera, called by the Crees matheh metoos, or ugly pop- lar, in allusion to its rough bark and naked. stem, crowned, in an aged state, with a few. distorted branches, is scarcely less plentiful. It is an inferior fire-wood, and does not burn well, unless when cut in the spring, and: dried during the summer ; but it affords a great quantity of potash. » A decoction of its resinous buds has been sometimes used by the Indians with success in cases of snow-blind- ness, but its application to the inflamed eye produces much pain. Of pines, the white spruce is the most common here; the red and black spruce,’ the balsam: of Gilead. fir, and Jersey pine, also occur frequently. The larch is found only in swampy spots, and is stunted and unhealthy. ‘The canoe birch attains a considerable size in this latitude, but from the great demand for its wood to make sledges, it has become rare... The alder abounds on the margin of the little grassy lakes, so common in the neighbourhood. A decoction of its inner bark is used as an emetic by the Indians, who also extract from it a yellow dye. A great variety of willows occur:on the banks of the streams; andthe hazel is met with sparingly in the woods, The sugar maple; elm, ash, and the arbor vite, termed by the Ca- nadian voyagers: cedar, grow on various parts of the Saskatchawan ; but that river seems to form their northern boundary... Two kinds of prunus also grow: here, one of which, a handsome. small. tree, produces a black fruit, having a very. astringent taste, whence the
88 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
term choke-cherry applied to it. The Crees call it tasquoy-meena, and esteem it to be, when dried and bruised, a good addition to pemmican. The other species is a less elegant shrub, but is said to bear a bright red’ cherry, of a pleasant sweet taste. Its Cree name is passee-awey-meenan, and it is known to occur as far north as Great Slave Lake. Horney wal kiout
The most esteemed fruit of the country, however, is the produce of the aronia ovalis. Under the name of meesasscootoomeena it is a favourite dish at most of the Indian feasts, and mixed with pem- mican, it renders that greasy food actually palatable. A great variety of currants and gooseberries: are also mentioned by the na- tives, under the name of sappoom-meena, but we only found three species in the neighbourhood of Cumberland House. The straw- berry, called by the Crees otei-meena, or heart-berry, is found in abundance, and rasps are common on the sandy banks of the rivers. The fruits hitherto mentioned fall in the autumn, but the following berries remained hanging on the bushes in the spring, and are con- sidered as much mellowed by exposure to the colds of winter. The red whortleberry (arbutus vitis idea) is found every where, but-is most abundant in rocky places. It is aptly termed by the Crees weesawgum-meena, sour-berry. The common cranberry (emycoccos palustris,) is distinguished from the preceding by its growing on moist sphagnous spots, and is hence called maskego-meena, swamp- berry. ‘The American guelder rose, whose fruits so strongly resem- bles the cranberry, is also common.’ There are two kinds of it, (viburnum oxycoccos, and. edule,) one termed by the natives peepoon- meena, winter-berry, and the other mon@soa-meena, moose-berry. There is also a berry of a bluish white colour, the produce of the white cornel tree, which is named -musqua-meena, bear-berry, because these animals are said to fatten on it. ‘The dwarf Canadian cornel, bears a corymb of red berries, which are. highly - ornamental to the woods throughout the country, but are not otherwise worthy
OF THE POLAR SEA. 89
of notice, for they have an insipid farinaceous taste, and are seldom gathered. The Crees extract some beautiful colours from several of their native vegetables. They dye their porcupine quills a beautiful scarlet, with the roots of two species of bed-straw, (galium tinc- torium, and boreale) which they indiscriminately term sawoyan. The roots, after being carefully washed, are boiled gently in a clean copper kettle, and a quantity of the juice of the moose berry, straw- berry, cranberry, or arctic raspberry, is added together with a few red tufts of pistils of the larch. The porcupine quills are plunged into the liquor before it. becomes quite cold, and are soon tinged of a beautiful scarlet. The process sometimes fails, and produces only a dirty brown, a circumstance which ought: probably to be ascribed to the use of an undue quantity of acid. They dye black with an ink made of elder bark, anda little bog-iron-ore, dried and pounded, and they have various modes of producing yellow. The deepest colour is obtained from the dried root of a plant, which from their description appears to be the cow-bane (cicuta virosa..) An inferior colour is obtained from the bruised buds of the Dutch myrtle, and they have discovered methods of dyeing with various lichens.
The quadrupeds that are hunted for food in this part of the country, are the moose and the rein-deer, the former termed by the Crees, mongsoa or moosoa, the latter atiekh. The buffalo or bison, (moostocosh,) the red-deer or American-stag, (2wamwaskeeshoo,) and the apistatchekoos, a species of antelope, animals that frequent the plains above the forks of the Saskatchawan, are not found in the neighbourhood of Cumberland House. i
Of fur-bearing animals, various kinds of foxes ( ahaha are found in the district, distinguished by the traders under the names of black, silver, cross, red, and blue foxes. The two former are considered by the Indians to be the same kind, varying acci- — dentally m the colour of the pelt. The black foxes are. very rare, and fetch a high price. The cross and red foxes differ from each
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90 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
other only in colour, being of the same shape and size. Their shades
‘of colour are not disposed in any determinate manner, some imdi-
viduals approaching in that respect very nearly to the silver fox, others exhibiting every link of the chain down to a nearly uniform deep or orange-yellow, the distinguishing colour of a pure red fox. Tt is reported both by Indians and traders, that all the varieties have been found in the same litter. The blue fox is seldom seen here, and is supposed to come from the southward. The gray wolf (mahaygan,.) is common here. In the month of March the females frequently entice the domestic dog from the forts, although at other seasons a strong antipathy seemed to subsist between them. ‘Some black wolves are océasionally seen. The black and red varieties of the American bear (musquah) are also found near Cumberland House, though not frequently ; a black bear often has red cubs, and vice versd. The grizzly bear, so much dreaded by the Indians for its strength and ferocity, inhabits a tract of country nearer the Rocky Mountains. It is extraordinary that although I made inquiries ex- tensively amongst the Indians, I met with but one who said that he. had killed a she-bear with young in the womb.
The wolverene, in cree okeckoohawgees, or ommecthatsees, is an animal of great strength and cunning, and is much hated by the hunters, on account of the mischief it does to their marten-traps. The Canadian lynx (peeshew ) is a timid but well-armed animal, which preys upon the American hare. Itsfur is esteemed. The marten (wapeestan, ) is one of the most common furred animals in the country. The fisher, notwithstanding its name, is an inhabitant of the land, living like the common marten principally on mice. It is the oichek of the Crees, and the pekan of the Canadians. The mink, (atjackash, ) has been often confounded by writers with the fisher. It is a much smaller animal, inhabits the banks of rivers, and swims well; its prey is fish. The otter; (neekcek,) is larger than the English species, and produces a much more valuable fur. |
OF THE POLAR SEA. 91
The musk rat (watsuss, or musquash,) is very abundant in all the small grassy lakes. They build small conical houses with a mixture of hay and earth; those which build early raising. their houses on the mud of the marshes, and those which build later in the season founding their habitations uponthe surface of the ice itself The house covers a hole in the ice, which permits’ them to go into the water in search of the roots on which they feed. In severe winters when the small lakes are frozen to the bottom, and these animals cannot procure their usual food, they prey upon each other. In this way great numbers are destroyed.
The beaver (ammisk) furnishes the staple fur of the country. Many surprising stories have been told of the sagacity with which this animal suits the form of its habitation, retreats, and dam, to local circumstances; and I compared the account of its manners. given by Cuvier, in his Régne Animal, with the reports of the In- dians, and found them to.agree exactly. They have been often seen in the act of constructing their houses in the moon-light nights, and the observers agree, that the stones, wood, or other materials, are carried in their teeth, and generally leaning against the shoulder. When they have placed it.to their mind, they turn round and give it.a smart blow with their flat tail. In the act. of diving they give a similar stroke to the surface of the water. They keep their pro- vision of wood under,