Part 11
On the nineteenth, we pursued our course in the North West quarter; and, after leaving the above-mentioned creek, traversed nothing but entire barren ground, with empty bellies, till the twenty-seventh; for though we arrived at some woods on the twenty-sixth, and saw a few deer, four of which the Indians killed, they were {68} at so great a distance from the place on which we lay, that it was the twenty-seventh before the meat was brought to the tents. Here the Indians proposed to continue one day, under pretence of repairing their sledges and snow shoes; but from the little attention they paid to those repairs, I was led to think that the want of food was the chief thing that detained them, as they never ceased eating the whole day. Indeed for many days before we had in great want, and for the last three days had not tasted a morsel of any thing, except a pipe of tobacco and a drink of snow water; and as we walked daily from morning till night, and were all heavy laden, our strength began to fail. I must confess that I never spent so dull a Christmas; and when I recollected the merry season which was then passing, and reflected on the immense quantities, and great variety of delicacies which were then expending in every part of Christendom, and that with a profusion bordering on waste, I could not refrain from wishing myself again in Europe, if it had been only to have had an opportunity of alleviating the extreme hunger which I suffered with the refuse of the table of any one of my acquaintance. My Indians, however, still kept in good spirits; and as we were then across all the barren ground, and saw a few fresh tracks of deer, they began to think that the worst of the road was over for that winter, and flattered me with the expectation of soon meeting with deer and other game in greater plenty than we had done since our departure from the Fort.
[Sidenote: 28th.]
{69} Early in the morning of the twenty-eighth, we again set out, and directed our course to the Westward, through thick shrubby woods, consisting chiefly of ill-shaped stunted pines, with small dwarf junipers, intermixed here and there, particularly round the margins of ponds and swamps, with dwarf willow bushes; and among the rocks and sides of the hills were also some small poplars.[46]
[Sidenote: 30th.]
[Sidenote: 1770. December.]
On the thirtieth, we arrived at the East side of Island Lake,[47] where the Indians killed two large buck deer; but the rutting season was so lately over, that their flesh was only eatable by those who could not procure better food. In the evening, Matonabbee was taken very ill; and from the nature of his complaint, I judged his illness to have proceeded from the enormous quantity of meat that he had eat on the twenty-seventh, as he had been indisposed ever since that time. Nothing is more common with those Indians, after they have eat as much at a sitting as would serve six moderate men, than to find themselves out of order; but not one of them can bear to hear that it is the effect of eating too much: in defence of which they say, that the meanest of the animal creation knows when hunger is satisfied, and will leave off accordingly. This, however, is a false assertion, advanced knowingly in support of an absurd argument; for it is well known by them, as well as all the Southern Indians, that the black bear, who, for size and the delicacy of its flesh, may justly be called a respectable animal, is so far from knowing {70} when its hunger is satisfied, that, in the Summer, when the berries are ripe, it will gorge to such a degree, that it frequently, and even daily, vomits up great quantities of new-swallowed fruit, before it has undergone any change in the stomach, and immediately renews its repast with as much eagerness as before.
[Sidenote: 1770. December.]
Notwithstanding the Northern Indians are at times so voracious, yet they bear hunger with a degree of fortitude which, as Mr. Ellis justly observes of the Southern Indians, "is much easier to admire than to imitate." I have more than once seen the Northern Indians, at the end of three or four days fasting, as merry and jocose on the subject, as if they had voluntarily imposed it on themselves; and would ask each other in the plainest terms, and in the merriest mood, if they had any inclination for an intrigue with a strange woman? I must acknowledge that examples of this kind were of infinite service to me, as they tended to keep up my spirits on those occasions with a degree of fortitude that would have been impossible for me to have done had the Indians behaved in a contrary manner, and expressed any apprehension of starving.
[Sidenote: 31st.]
[Sidenote: 1771. January. 1st.]
[Sidenote: 1771. January.]
Early in the morning of the thirty-first, we continued our journey, and walked about fourteen miles to the Westward on Island Lake, where we fixed our residence; but Matonabbee was at this time so ill as to be obliged to be hauled on a sledge the whole day. The {71} next morning, however, he so far recovered as to be capable of walking; when we proceeded on to the West and West by North, about sixteen miles farther on the same Lake, till we arrived at two tents, which contained the remainder of the wives and families of my guides, who had been waiting there for the return of their husbands from the Fort. Here we found only two men, though there were upward of twenty women and children; and as those two men had no gun or ammunition, they had no other method of supporting themselves and the women, but by catching fish, and snaring a few rabbits:[48] the latter were scarce, but the former were easily caught in considerable numbers either with nets or hooks. The species of fish generally caught in the nets are tittemeg, pike, and barble; and the only sorts caught with hooks are trout, pike, burbut, and a small fish, erroneously called by the English tench: the Southern Indians call it the toothed tittemeg, and the Northern Indians call it _saint eah_. They are delicate eating; being nearly as firm as a perch, and generally very fat. They seldom exceed a foot in length, and in shape much resemble a gurnard, except that of having a very long broad fin on the back, like a perch, but this fin is not armed with similar spikes. The scales are large, and of a sooty brown. They are generally most esteemed when broiled or roasted with the scales on, of course the skin is not eaten.
[Sidenote: 3d.]
{72} As the Captain [Matonabbee] and one man were indisposed, we did not move on the second of January; but early in the morning of the third set out, and walked about seven miles to the North Westward, five of which were on the above mentioned Lake; when the Indians having killed two deer, we put up for the night.
Island Lake (near the center) is in latitude 60° 45' North, and 102° 25' West longitude, from London; and is, at the part we crossed, about thirty-five miles wide: but from the North East to the South West it is much larger, and entirely full of islands, so near to each other as to make the whole Lake resemble a jumble of serpentine rivers and creeks; and it is celebrated by the natives as abounding with great plenty of fine fish during the beginning of the Winter. At different parts of this Lake most part of the wives and families of those Northern Indians who visit Prince of Wales's Fort in October and November generally reside, and wait for their return; as there is little fear of their being in want of provisions, even without the assistance of a gun and ammunition, which is a point of real consequence to them. The Lake is plentifully supplied with water from several small rivulets and creeks which run into it at the South West end; and it empties itself by means of other small rivers which run to the North East, the principal of which is Nemace-a-seepee-a-fish, or Little Fish River. Many of the islands, {73} as well as the main land round this Lake, abound with dwarf woods, chiefly pines; but in some parts intermixed with larch and small birch trees. The land, like all the rest which lies to the North of Seal River, is hilly, and full of rocks; and though none of the hills are high, yet as few of the woods grow on their summits, they in general show their snowy heads far above the woods which grow in the vallies, or those which are scattered about their sides.
[Sidenote: 1771. January.]
After leaving Island Lake, we continued our old course between the West and North West, and travelled at the easy rate of eight or nine miles a day. Provisions of all kinds were scarce till the sixteenth, when the Indians killed twelve deer. This induced us to put up, though early in the day; and finding great plenty of deer in the neighbourhood of our little encampment, it was agreed by all parties to remain a few days, in order to dry and pound some meat to make it lighter for carriage.
[Sidenote: 22d.]
[Sidenote: 1771. January.]
Having, by the twenty-second, provided a sufficient stock of provision, properly prepared, to carry with us, and repaired our sledges and snow-shoes, we again pursued our course in the North West quarter; and in the afternoon spoke with a stranger, an Indian, who had one of Matonabbee's wives under his care. He did not remain in our company above an hour, as he only smoked part of a few pipes with his friends, and returned to his tent, which could not {74} be far distant from the place where we lay that night, as the woman and her two children joined us next morning, before we had taken down our tent and made ready for moving. Those people were the first strangers whom we had met since we left the Fort, though we had travelled several hundred miles; which is a proof that this part of the country is but thinly inhabited. It is a truth well known to the natives, and doubtless founded on experience, that there are many very extensive tracts of land in those parts, which are incapable of affording support to any number of the human race even during the short time they are passing through them, in the capacity of migrants, from one place to another; much less are they capable of affording a constant support to those who might wish to make them their fixed residence at any season of the year. It is true, that few rivers or lakes in those parts are entirely destitute of fish; but the uncertainty of meeting with a sufficient supply for any considerable time together, makes the natives very cautious how they put their whole dependance on that article, as it has too frequently been the means of many hundreds being starved to death.
[Sidenote: 23d.]
By the twenty-third, deer were so plentiful that the Indians seemed to think that, unless the season, contrary to expectation and general experience, should prove unfavourable, there would be no fear of our being in want of {75} provisions during the rest of the Winter, as deer had always been known to be in great plenty in the direction which they intended to walk.
[Sidenote: February. 3d.]
On the third of February, we continued our course to the West by North and West North West,[49] and were so near the edge of the woods, that the barren ground was in sight to the Northward. As the woods trended away to the West, we were obliged to alter our course to West by South, for the sake of keeping among them, as well as the deer. In the course of this day's walk we saw several strangers, some of whom remained in our company, while others went on their respective ways.
[Sidenote: 6th.]
[Sidenote: 1771. February.]
On the sixth, we crossed the main branch of Cathawhachaga River;[50] which, at that part, is about three quarters of a mile broad; and after walking three miles farther, came to the side of Cossed Whoie,[51] or Partridge Lake; but the day being far spent, and the weather excessively cold, we put up for the night.
[Sidenote: 7th.]
Early in the morning of the seventh, the weather being serene and clear, we set out, and crossed the above mentioned Lake; which at that part is about fourteen miles wide; but from the South South West to North North East is much larger. It is impossible to describe the intenseness of the cold which we experienced this day; and the dispatch we made in crossing the lake is almost incredible, as it was {76} performed by the greatest part of my crew in less than two hours; though some of the women, who were heavy laden, took a much longer time. Several of the Indians were much frozen, but none of them more disagreeably so than one of Matonabbee's wives, whose thighs and buttocks were in a manner incrusted with frost; and when thawed, several blisters arose, nearly as large as sheeps' bladders. The pain the poor woman suffered on this occasion was greatly aggravated by the laughter and jeering of her companions, who said that she was rightly served for belting her clothes so high. I must acknowledge that I was not in the number of those who pitied her, as I thought she took too much pains to shew a clean heel and good leg; her garters being always in sight, which, though by no means considered here as bordering on indecency, is by far too airy to withstand the rigorous cold of a severe winter in a high Northern latitude. I doubt not that the laughter of her companions was excited by similar ideas.
[Sidenote: 1771. February.]
When we got on the West side of Partridge Lake we continued our course for many days toward the West by South and West South West; when deer were so plentiful, and the Indians killed such vast numbers, that notwithstanding we frequently remained three, four, or five days in a place, to eat up the spoils of our hunting, yet at our departure we frequently left great quantities of good meat behind us, which we could neither eat nor carry with us. {77} This conduct is the more excusable among people whose wandering manner of life and contracted ideas make every thing appear to them as the effect of mere chance. The great uncertainty of their ever visiting this or that part a second time, induces them to think there is nothing either wrong or improvident in living on the best the country will afford, as they are passing through it from place to place; and they seem willing that those who come after them should take their chance, as they have done.
[Sidenote: 21st.]
On the twenty-first, we crossed The-whole-kyed Whoie, or Snowbird Lake,[52] which at that part was about twelve or thirteen miles wide, though from North to South it is much larger. As deer were as plentiful as before, we expended much time in killing and eating them. This Matonabbee assured me was the best way we could employ ourselves, as the season would by no means permit us to proceed in a direct line for the Copper-mine River; but when the Spring advanced, and the deer began to draw out to the barren ground, he would then, he said, proceed in such a manner as to leave no room to doubt of our arrival at the Copper-mine River in proper time.
[Sidenote: March. 2d.]
[Sidenote: 1771. March. 3d.]
On the second of March, we lay by the side of Whooldyah'd Whoie or Pike Lake,[53] and not far from Doo-baunt Whoie River. On the next day we began to cross the above mentioned Lake, but after walking seven miles on it to the West South West, we arrived at a large tent of Northern {78} Indians, who had been living there from the beginning of the Winter, and had found a plentiful subsistence by catching deer in a pound. This kind of employment is performed in the following manner:
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
When the Indians design to impound deer, they look out for one of the paths in which a number of them have trod, and which is observed to be still frequented by them. When these paths cross a lake, a wide river, or a barren plain, they are found to be much the best for the purpose; and if the path run through a cluster of woods, capable of affording materials for building the pound, it adds considerably to the commodiousness of the situation. The pound is built by making a strong fence with brushy trees, without observing any degree of regularity, and the work is continued to any extent, according to the pleasure of the builders. I have seen some that were not less than a mile round, and am informed that there are others still more extensive. The door, or entrance of the pound, is not larger than a common gate, and the inside is so crowded with small counter-hedges as very much to resemble a maze; in every opening of which they set a snare, made with thongs of parchment deer-skins well twisted together, which are amazingly strong. One end of the snare is usually made fast to a growing pole; but if no one of a sufficient size can be found near the place where the snare is set, a loose pole is substituted in its room, which is always of such size and length that a deer cannot drag it {79} far before it gets entangled among the other woods, which are all left standing except what is found necessary for making the fence, hedges, &c.
The pound being thus prepared, a row of small brush-wood is stuck up in the snow on each side of the door or entrance; and these hedge-rows are continued along the open part of the lake, river, or plain, where neither stick nor stump besides is to be seen, which makes them the more distinctly observed. These poles, or brush-wood, are generally placed at the distance of fifteen or twenty yards from each other, and ranged in such a manner as to form two sides of a long acute angle, growing gradually wider in proportion to the distance they extend from the entrance of the pound, which sometimes is not less than two or three miles; while the deer's path is exactly along the middle, between the two rows of brush-wood.
Indians employed on this service always pitch their tent on or near to an eminence that affords a commanding prospect of the path leading to the pound; and when they see any deer going that way, men, women, and children walk along the lake or river-side under cover of the woods, till they get behind them, then step forth to open view, and proceed towards the pound in the form of a crescent. The poor timorous deer finding themselves pursued, and at the same time taking the two rows of brushy poles to be two ranks of people stationed {80} to prevent their passing on either side, run straight forward in the path till they get into the pound. The Indians then close in, and block up the entrance with some brushy trees, that have been cut down and lie at hand for that purpose. The deer being thus enclosed, the women and children walk round the pound, to prevent them from breaking or jumping over the fence, while the men are employed spearing such as are entangled in the snares, and shooting with bows and arrows those which remain loose in the pound.
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
This method of hunting, if it deserves the name, is sometimes so successful, that many families subsist by it without having occasion to move their tents above once or twice during the course of a whole winter; and when the Spring advances, both the deer and Indians draw out to the Eastward, on the ground which is entirely barren, or at least what is so called in those parts, as it neither produces trees or shrubs of any kind, so that moss and some little grass is all the herbage which is to be found on it. Such an easy way of procuring a comfortable maintenance in the Winter months, (which is by far the worst time of the year), is wonderfully well adapted to the support of the aged and infirm, but is too apt to occasion a habitual indolence in the young and active, who frequently spend a whole Winter in this indolent manner: and as those parts of the country are almost destitute of every animal of the furr kind, it cannot be {81} supposed that those who indulge themselves in this indolent method of procuring food can be masters of any thing for trade; whereas those who do not get their livelihood at so easy a rate, generally procure furrs enough during the Winter to purchase a sufficient supply of ammunition, and other European goods, to last them another year. This is nearly the language of the more industrious among them, who, of course, are of most importance and value to the Hudson's Bay Company, as it is from them the furrs are procured which compose the greatest part of Churchill trade. But in my opinion, there cannot exist a stronger proof that mankind was not created to enjoy happiness in this world, than the conduct of the miserable beings who inhabit this wretched part of it; as none but the aged and infirm, the women and children, a few of the more indolent and unambitious part of them, will submit to remain in the parts where food and clothing are procured in this easy manner, because no animals are produced there whose furrs are valuable. And what do the more industrious gain by giving themselves all this additional trouble? The real wants of these people are few, and easily supplied; a hatchet, an ice-chissel, a file, and a knife, are all that is required to enable them, with a little industry, to procure a comfortable livelihood; and those who endeavour to possess more, are always the most unhappy, and may, in fact, be said to be only slaves and carriers to the rest, whose ambition never leads them to any thing beyond the means of procuring food {82} and clothing. It is true, the carriers pride themselves much on the respect which is shewn to them at the Factory; to obtain which they frequently run great risques of being starved to death in their way thither and back; and all that they can possibly get there for the furrs they procure after a year's toil, seldom amounts to more than is sufficient to yield a bare subsistence, and a few furrs for the ensuing year's market; while those whom they call indolent and mean-spirited live generally in a state of plenty, without trouble or risque; and consequently must be the most happy, and, in truth, the most independent also. It must be allowed that they are by far the greatest philosophers, as they never give themselves the trouble to acquire what they can do well enough without. The deer they kill, furnishes them with food, and a variety of warm and comfortable clothing, either with or without the hair, according as the seasons require; and it must be very hard indeed, if they cannot get furrs enough in the course of two or three years, to purchase a hatchet, and such other edge-tools as are necessary for their purpose. Indeed, those who take no concern at all about procuring furrs, have generally an opportunity of providing themselves with all their real wants from their more industrious countrymen, in exchange for provisions, and ready-dressed skins for clothing.
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]