A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean Part 7

[Sidenote: 1770. February.]

My instructions on this occasion amounted to no more than an order to proceed as fast as possible; and for my conduct during the journey, I was referred to my former instructions of November 6th, 1769.

[Sidenote: 23rd.]

Every thing being in readiness for our departure, on the twenty-third of February I began my second journey, accompanied by three Northern Indians and two of the home-guard (Southern) Indians. I took particular care, however, that Mackachy, though an excellent hunter, should not be of our party; as he had proved himself, during my former journey, to be a sly artful villain.

The snow at this time was so deep on the top of the ramparts, that few of the cannon were to be seen, {14} otherwise the Governor would have saluted me at my departure, as before; but as those honours could not possibly be of any service to my expedition, I readily relinquished everything of the kind; and in lieu of it, the Governor, officers, and people, insisted on giving me three cheers.

After leaving the Factory, we continued our course in much the same direction as in my former journey, till we arrived at Seal River; when, instead of crossing it, and walking on the barren grounds as before, we followed the course of the river, except in two particular places, where the bends tended so much to the South, that by crossing two necks of land not more than five or six miles wide, we saved the walking of near twenty miles each time, and still came to the main river again.

[Sidenote: 1770. March. 8th.]

The weather had been so remarkably boisterous and changeable, that we were frequently obliged to continue two or three nights in the same place. To make up for this inconveniency, deer were so plentiful for the first eight or ten days, that the Indians killed as many as was necessary; but we were all so heavy laden that we could not possibly take much of the meat with us. This I soon perceived to be a great evil, which exposed us to such frequent inconveniences, that in case of not killing any thing for three or four days together, we were in great want of provisions; we seldom, however, went to bed entirely supperless {15} till the eighth of March; when though we had only walked about eight miles that morning, and expended all the remainder of the day in hunting, we could not produce a single thing at night, not even a partridge! nor had we discerned the track of any thing that day, which was likely to afford us hopes of better success in the morning. This being the case, we prepared some hooks and lines ready to angle for fish, as our tent was then by the side of a lake belonging to Seal River, which seemed by its situation to afford some prospect of success.

[Sidenote: 9th.]

Early in the morning we took down our tent, and moved about five miles to the West by South, to a part of the lake that seemed more commodious for fis.h.i.+ng than that where we had been the night before. As soon as we arrived at this place, some were immediately employed cutting holes in the ice, while others pitched the tent, got fire-wood, &c.; after which, for it was early in the morning, those who pitched the tent went a hunting, and at night one of them returned with a porcupine,[28] while those who were angling caught several fine trout, which afforded us a plentiful supper, and we had some trifle left for breakfast.

Angling for fish under the ice in winter requires no other process, than cutting round holes in the ice from one to two feet diameter, and letting down a baited hook, which is always kept in motion, not only to {16} prevent the water from freezing so soon as it would do if suffered to remain quite still, but because it is found at the same time to be a great means of alluring the fish to the hole; for it is always observed that the fish in those parts will take a bait which is in motion, much sooner than one that is at rest.

[Sidenote: 19th.]

[Sidenote: 1770. March.]

[Sidenote: 20th.]

Early in the morning we again pursued our angling, and all the forenoon being expended without any success, we took down our tent and pitched it again about eight miles farther to the Westward, on the same lake, where we cut more holes in the ice for angling, and that night caught several fine pike.[29] The next day we moved about five miles to the South West, down a small river, where we pitched our tent; and having set four fis.h.i.+ng nets, in the course of the day we caught many fine fish, particularly pike, trout,[30] t.i.ttymeg, and a coa.r.s.e kind of fish known in Hudson's Bay by the name of Methy.[31][S]

To set a net under the ice, it is first necessary to ascertain its exact length, by stretching it out upon the ice near the part proposed for setting it. This being done, a number of round holes are cut in the ice, at ten or twelve feet distance from each other, and as many in number as will be sufficient to stretch the net at its full length. A line is then pa.s.sed under the ice, by means {17} of a long light pole, which is first introduced at one of the end holes, and, by means of two forked sticks, this pole is easily conducted, or pa.s.sed from one hole to another, under the ice, till it arrives at the last. The pole is then taken out, and both ends of the line being properly secured, is always ready for use.

The net is made fast to one end of the line by one person, and hauled under the ice by a second; a large stone is tied to each of the lower corners, which serves to keep the net expanded, and prevents it rising from the bottom with every waft of the current. The Europeans settled in Hudson's Bay proceed much in the same manner, though they in general take much more pains; but the above method is found quite sufficient by the Indians.

In order to search a net thus set, the two end holes only are opened; the line is veered away by one person, and the net hauled from under the ice by another; after all the fish are taken out, the net is easily hauled back to its former station, and there secured as before.

[Sidenote: 1770. March. 21st.]

As this place seemed likely to afford us a constant supply of fish, my guide proposed to stay here till the geese began to fly, which in those Northern parts is seldom before the middle of May. His reasons for so doing seemed well founded: "The weather," he said, "is at this time too cold to walk on the barren grounds, and the woods from this part lead so much {18} to the Westward, that were we to continue travelling in any tolerable shelter, our course would not be better than West South West, which would only be going out of our way; whereas, if we should remain here till the weather permit us to walk due North, over the barren grounds, we shall then in one month get farther advanced on our journey, than if we were to continue travelling all the remainder of the winter in the sweep of the woods."

These reasons appeared to me very judicious, and as the plan seemed likely to be attended with little trouble, it met with my entire approbation. That being the case, we took additional pains in building our tent, and made it as commodious as the materials and situation would admit.

[Sidenote: 1770. March.]

To pitch an Indian's tent in winter, it is first necessary to search for a level piece of dry ground; which cannot be ascertained but by thrusting a stick through the snow down to the ground, all over the proposed part. When a convenient spot is found, the snow is then cleared away in a circular form to the very moss; and when it is proposed to remain more than a night or two in one place, the moss is also cut up and removed, as it is very liable when dry to take fire, and occasion much trouble to the inhabitants. A quant.i.ty of poles are then procured, which are generally proportioned both in number and length to the {19} size of the tent cloth, and the number of persons it is intended to contain. If one of the poles should not happen to be forked, two of them are tied together near the top, then raised erect, and their buts or lower ends extended as wide as the proposed diameter of the tent; the other poles are then set round at equal distances from each other, and in such order, that their lower ends form a complete circle, which gives boundaries to the tent on all sides: the tent cloth is then fastened to a light pole, which is always raised up and put round the poles from the weather side, so that the two edges that lap over and form the door are always to the leeward. It must be understood that this method is only in use when the Indians are moving from place to place every day; for when they intend to continue any time in one place, they always make the door of their tent to face the south.

The tent cloth is usually of thin Moose leather, dressed and made by the Indians, and in shape it nearly resembles a fan-mount inverted; so that when the largest curve incloses the bottom of the poles, the smaller one is always sufficient to cover the top; except a hole, which is designedly left open to serve the double purpose of chimney and window.

The fire is always made on the ground in the center, and the remainder of the floor, or bottom of the tent, is covered all over with small branches of the pine tree, {20} which serve both for seats and beds. A quant.i.ty of pine tops and branches are laid round the bottom of the poles on the outside, over which the eaves of the tent is staked down; a quant.i.ty of snow is then packed over all, which excludes great part of the external air, and contributes greatly to the warmth within. The tent here described is such as is made use of by the Southern Indians, and the same with which I was furnished at the Factory; for that made use of by the Northern Indians is made of different materials, and is of a quite different shape, as shall be described hereafter.

[Sidenote: 1770. March.]

The situation of our tent at this time was truly pleasant,[32]

particularly for a spring residence; being on a small elevated point, which commanded an extensive prospect over a large lake, the sh.o.r.es of which abounded with wood of different kinds, such as pine, larch, birch, and poplar; and in many places was beautifully contrasted with a variety of high hills, that shewed their snowy summits above the tallest woods.

About two hundred yards from the tent was a fall, or rapid, which the swiftness of the current prevents from freezing in the coldest winters.

At the bottom of this fall, which empties itself into the above lake, was a fine sheet of open water near a mile in length, and at least half a mile in breadth; by the margin of which we had our fis.h.i.+ng nets set, all in open view from the tent.

{21} The remaining part of this month pa.s.sed on without any interruption, or material occurrence, to disturb our repose, worth relating: our fis.h.i.+ng nets provided us with daily food, and the Indians had too much philosophy about them to give themselves much additional trouble; for during the whole time not one of them offered to look for a partridge, or anything else which could yield a change of diet.

As the time may now be supposed to have lain heavy on my hands, it may not be improper to inform the reader how I employed it. In the first place, I embraced every favourable opportunity of observing the lat.i.tude of the place, the mean of which was 58 46' 30" North; and the longitude by account was 5 57' West, from Prince of Wales's Fort. I then corrected my reckoning from my last observation; brought up my journal, and filled up my chart, to the place of our residence. I built also some traps, and caught a few martins; and by way of saving my ammunition, set some snares for partridges. The former is performed by means of a few logs, so arranged that when the martin attempts to take away the bait laid for him, he with very little struggle pulls down a small post that supports the whole weight of the trap; when, if the animal be not killed by the weight of the logs, he is confined till he be frozen to death, or killed by the hunter going his rounds.

[Sidenote: 1770. April.]

{22} To snare partridges requires no other process than making a few little hedges across a creek, or a few short hedges projecting at right angles from the side of an island of willows, which those birds are found to frequent. Several openings must be left in each hedge, to admit the birds to pa.s.s through, and in each of them a snare must be set; so that when the partridges are hopping along the edge of the willows to feed, which is their usual custom, some of them soon get into the snares, where they are confined till they are taken out. I have caught from three to ten partridges in a day by this simple contrivance; which requires no further attendance than going round them night and morning.

[Sidenote: 1st.]

I have already observed that nothing material happened to disturb our repose till the first of April, when to our great surprise the fis.h.i.+ng nets did not afford us a single fish. Though some of the preceding days had been pretty successful, yet my companions, like true Indians, seldom went to sleep till they had cleared the tent of every article of provision. As nothing was to be caught in the nets, we all went out to angle; but in this we were equally unsuccessful, as we could not procure one fish the whole day. This sudden change of circ.u.mstances alarmed one of my companions so much, that he began to think of resuming the use of his gun, after having laid it by for near a month.

{23} Early in the morning we arose; when my guide Conne-e-quese went a hunting, and the rest attended the nets and hooks near home; but all with such bad success, that we could not procure enough in one day to serve two men for a supper. This, instead of awakening the rest of my companions, sent them to sleep; and scarcely any of them had the prudence to look at the fis.h.i.+ng nets, though they were not more than two or three hundred yards from the tent door.

[Sidenote: 1770. April.]

My guide, who was a steady man, and an excellent hunter, having for many years been accustomed to provide for a large family, seemed by far the most industrious of all my crew; he closely pursued his hunting for several days, and seldom returned to the tent till after dark, while those at the tent pa.s.sed most of their time in smoking and sleeping.

[Sidenote: 10th.]

Several days pa.s.sed without any signs of relief, till the 10th, when my guide continued out longer than ordinary, which made us conjecture that he had met with strangers, or seen some deer, or other game, which occasioned his delay. We all therefore lay down to sleep, having had but little refreshment for the three preceding days, except a pipe of tobacco and a draught of water; even partridges had become so scarce that not one was to be got; the heavy thaws had driven them all out towards the barren grounds. About midnight, to our {24} great joy, our hunter arrived, and brought with him the blood and fragments of two deer that he had killed. This unexpected success soon roused the sleepers, who, in an instant, were busily employed in cooking a large kettle of broth, made with the blood, and some fat and sc.r.a.ps of meat shred small, boiled in it. This might be reckoned a dainty dish at any time, but was more particularly so in our present almost famished condition.

[Sidenote: 11th.]

After partaking of this refreshment, we resumed our rest, and early in the morning set out in a body for the place where the deer were lying.

As we intended to make our stay but short, we left our tent standing, containing all our baggage. On our arrival at the place of destination, some were immediately employed in making a hut or barrocado with young pine trees; while one man skinned the deer, the remainder went a hunting, and in the afternoon returned to the hut, after having killed two deer.

Several days were now spent in feasting and gluttony; during which the Indians killed five more deer and three fine beavers; finding at last, however, that there was little prospect of procuring either more deer or beavers, we determined to return to our tent, with the remains of what we had already obtained.

[Sidenote: 1770. April. 22d.]

The flesh of these deer, though none of the largest, might with frugality have served our small number, (being {25} only six) for some time; but my companions, like other Indians, feasted day and night while it lasted; and were so indolent and unthinking, as not to attend properly to the fis.h.i.+ng nets; so that many fine fish, which had been entangled in the nets, were entirely spoiled, and in about twelve or fourteen days we were nearly in as great distress for provisions as ever.

During the course of our long inactivity, Saw-sop-o-kishac, commonly called Sossop, my princ.i.p.al Southern Indian, as he was cutting some birch for spoons, dishes, and other necessary household furniture, had the misfortune to cut his leg in such a manner as to be incapable of walking; and the other Southern Indian, though a much younger man, was so indolent as not to be of any service to me, except hauling part of our luggage, and eating up part of the provisions which had been provided by the more industrious part of my companions.

[Sidenote: 24th.]

On the twenty-fourth, early in the day, a great body of Indians was seen in the South West, on the large lake by the side of which our tent stood. On their arrival at our tent we discovered them to be the wives and families of the Northern Indian goose-hunters, who were gone to Prince of Wales's Fort to attend the season. They were bound toward the barren ground, there to wait the return of their husbands and relations from the Fort, after the termination of the goose-season.

[Sidenote: 27th.]

{26} My guide having for some days past determined to move toward the barren ground, this morning we took down our tent, packed up our luggage, and proceeded to the Eastward in the same track we came; but Sossop being so lame as to be obliged to be hauled on a sledge, I easily prevailed on two of the Indians who had joined us on the 24th, and who were pursuing the same road, to perform this service for him.