Part 8
12^h. Southward 2 Miles 14 Fathoms Grey sand with 30^m. A.M. & Westward black specks. 1.— Ditto 3 Ditto 15 Ditto Ditto 1.30 S. W. ½ W. 3 Ditto 15½ Ditto Oozy 2.— S. W. 3 Ditto 15½ Ditto Mud 2.30 Ditto 2 Ditto 16½ Ditto Ditto 3.— Ditto 2 Ditto 14½ Ditto Oozy 3.30 Ditto 2 Ditto 12 Ditto Brown sand, black specks, & broken shells. 4.— Ditto 2 Ditto 7½ Ditto Sand 4.30 Standing in for _York 7½ Ditto Ditto Flats_ 5.— Ditto 3 Ditto 7¾ Ditto Hard ground. 6.— Ditto 6 Ditto 7 Ditto Ditto 7.— Ditto 6 Ditto 8½ Ditto Ditto 8.— Ditto 7 Ditto 8½ Ditto Soft ground.
At eight in the morning, it will be observed, we were in 8½ fathoms water, on _York Flats_; and we therefore came to an anchor, with the beacon, at the mouth of _York River_, bearing S. W. by compass; the land being distant about ten miles, although it could barely be discerned in a blue line above the horizon. Thus, it may be observed, we had been sixty-three days on our voyage; and that it may be compared with other voyages to _Hudson’s Bay_, I have annexed to this Journal a Schedule[29] of those performed by the Company’s ships since the year 1788; although I have not been able to obtain the dates of their departures from the _Orkneys_.
By the Sounding Table which I have inserted, it is evident that the depth of water abreast of _York River_, and off _Cape Tottenham_, to the southward, is uncommonly regular; and it may therefore be fairly concluded, that, although the western coast of the Bay be very low land, yet there is no great danger in making it.
It is not expected that ships during their return to _Europe_ will ever meet with loose ice[30]: therefore, as soon as our ship anchored on _York Flats_, we _undid_ all the preparations which had been made for manœuvring whilst amongst the ice; such as, re-stowing our anchors, and putting below ice-ropes, ice-anchors, ice-axes, &c.; and we rejoiced in being rid of them.
The factory was about twenty miles distant from the anchorage of the ship, but not visible. At 10 A.M. I went, therefore, from the ship, to report our arrival to the Governor. We were met at some distance from the ship by a large boat from the factory. It appeared that they had noticed the arrival of the ship; and mistaking her for the _Prince of Wales_, the boat was immediately despatched for letters, parcels, news, &c. &c. Finding their mistake[31], the boat returned with us to the factory, which we reached about nine at night. On landing, we were hailed by a sentinel; and a guard of honour was drawn out to receive us, with a pair of _Highland_ bagpipes in front. The guard was composed of the traders, boatmen, and others, belonging to the factory: and through the gloom of the night I discerned the Governor and his officers, standing in a group to receive us. After the necessary business of introduction was over, we walked up to a large wooden building, surrounded by a double row of wooden palisades; and here we were regaled with venison steaks and buffalo tongue.
Sept. _1st_.—At 2 A.M. the tide answering for our return, we quitted the factory, and reached the vessel again about 8 A.M.
Whilst we were at _York Fort_, we received information that the factory at _Churchill_ had been burnt to the ground, in the month of _November_, 1813. The miseries which the people of that place suffered during the remainder of the winter were very great. As there were seventy-three chests of gunpowder in the warehouse at the time the conflagration took place, their whole attention was occupied in removing away the powder to prevent an explosion; and by the most strenuous exertions they succeeded in this undertaking; but the time lost prevented their being able to save a mouthful of provisions, or a single utensil, from the flames. An old out-house that had escaped destruction, and a few tents which they erected of rein-deer skins, served them as habitations during the remainder of the winter; and, as if Providence had taken especial care to provide for their necessities, partridges abounded to a greater degree than had been known for many years before. Of course, these birds proved a seasonable supply to the sufferers; particularly as the partridges are so very tame, that they suffer themselves to be driven into nets, by which means large quantities are taken at one time.
A family in _England_ would be justly esteemed objects of great pity, if they were burnt out of their home in the midst of winter, although many friendly habitations might be humanely opened for their reception. What then, comparatively speaking, must have been the situation of the _Churchill_ people—driven out by the flames in the middle of a _November_ night, on the shores of a frozen ocean, with the thermometer 78° below the freezing point, without any shelter save that of a decayed out-house, no bedding, no cooking utensils, no immediate nourishment, and no final prospect of relief, except from a reliance on the adventitious aid of their fowling-pieces! Such a night must surely be allowed to have had its share of horrors. But heroic strength of mind is the characteristic of the _European_ traders to _Hudson’s Bay_; and this alone enabled the people of _Churchill_ to escape all the evils attendant on such a calamity.
Towards the evening of this day, the _Prince of Wales_ came to an anchor near us.
Sept. _2d_.—In the morning we weighed anchor, and ran into the mouth of the river, otherwise called _Five-fathom Hole_. It is a very contracted anchorage, and at high water there is not more than three fathoms’ water on the bar. In running in from _York Flats_, the large beacon must be kept bearing S. W. by W. by compass. To moor the ship, one anchor must be laid up the stream, and another down it; and the width of swinging room at low water does not much exceed four times a ship’s length; having a dry muddy flat on the N. W. and a shoal to the S. E. The water is perfectly fresh, and fit for use, at the last quarter ebb, and first quarter of the flood-tide.
As we lay at this anchorage until the 28th instant, I shall not notice each day separately, but proceed to make such remarks as occurred during our stay; contenting myself with briefly stating, that the _Prince of Wales_ was employed during the time in stowing away her cargo, &c.
The whole of the north-west part of the continent of _America_ is so completely intersected with rivers and lakes, that _Mackenzie_ went the greater part of his journeys by water. _York Factory_ is situated on the bank of a river, which has sometimes been called _York River_; although it appears that the majority agree in giving it the name of _Hayes’ River_: but it undergoes many appellations in its course from the _Echemamis_ to the sea. I shall therefore endeavour to describe the river, by tracing a journey from _York Factory_ to _Lake Winnepeg_, a distance of about five hundred miles: but the fur-traders of _Hudson’s-Bay_ are so well accustomed to the route, that two men in a slight bark canoe will undertake it without the slightest hesitation.
On leaving _York Factory_, the boats proceed against the stream, without meeting any obstruction, up _Hayes’ River_, _Steel River_, and forty miles of _Hill River_; when they arrive at the first carrying-place, called _Rock Portage_. The obstructions from henceforward begin to augment; and at every portage, the boat, with her whole cargo, must be carried over land; which is rendered sometimes extremely difficult, by the ground being either rough or swampy.
After passing _Rock Portage_, the stream is contracted; and there are a number of portages intervening, before the boats can arrive at a broad part of the stream, called _Swampy Lake_, which contains a number of small islands; and it may be considered as a short half-way to _Lake Winnepeg_. Leaving _Swampy Lake_, the stream is again contracted into a narrow slip, called _Jack River_, in which are four portages. On crossing these, they enter a broader part, intersected by innumerable small islands. This space is styled the _Knee Lake_, and is sixty miles in length. One of the small islands in the centre of _Knee Lake_ contains so great a quantity of iron ore, as to cause the compass to spin round with uncommon velocity. At the upper end of the lake the stream gradually lessens into another slip, called _Trout River_, and here are four more portages: then gently extending its boundaries, the river opens on a wide expanse, called _Holey Lake_, from some deep holes in the bottom of it, and the great inequality of the soundings throughout. At the eastern extremity of this lake stands _Oxford House_, the first trading port to be met with after leaving the factory. Owing to the richness of the soil, and the geniality of the climate, this place produces a number of excellent vegetables[32].
Proceeding onwards, the boats leave the main body of _Holey Lake_ to the left hand: the stream then suddenly narrows; and after passing four more carrying-places, the last of which is called _Hill’s Portage_, there is a clear space, until a sudden serpentine bend in the river forms the _White-fall_. The current now begins to be very weak; and a little farther on, they enter a narrow part with still water. This spot is the highest part of the land between _Lake Winnepeg_ and _Hudson’s Bay_; and _Hayes’ River_ may, perhaps, be said to take its rise about seven miles to the southward of it, in a small lake called _Winnepegosis_. The boats now meet with a singular rock, which, from some curious _Indian_ paintings once found there, has since been called the _Painted Stone_. Over this rock the boat must be dragged, and again launched on the opposite side, into a long, narrow, boggy slip of water, called the _Echemamis_. After emerging from this strait, the current of the river begins to operate in favour of the boats; and this proves that the _Echemamis_ is a small river, taking its rise in the morasses about the _Painted Stone_, and having no connection with the river which leads from the _Painted Stone_ towards the sea. The _Echemamis_ is, however, lost at a short distance from its source; as after the boats pass _Hairy Lake_, the stream falls into the _Sea River_; and there is a portage at their junction, called the _Sea River_ carrying-place. The _Sea River_ is a branch of the great _Nelson River_, separated from the main stream at the _Play-green Lake_, and rejoining it by a creek that opens near _Hairy Lake_.
The boats go against the current up the _Sea River_; and passing the little _Cross Lake_ and _Pike River_, they reach _Winnepeg_, through the _Play-green Lake_. This last is a wide body of water, covered with islands; and may properly be said to be merely a part of _Nelson River_, which holds its course from the _Stony Mountains_ to _Hudson’s Bay_. The rough course from _York Factory_ to Lake _Winnepeg_ is about south-west; but the _Nelson River_ makes a great angle between _Winnepeg_ and the sea; as it first runs off N. N. E.; and then takes its course, due E. N. E. to _Hudson’s Bay_, where it empties itself by the side of _Hayes’ River_[33].
The labour of getting the boats up these rivers is amazingly great: their crews encamp on the banks every night; and they generally land also to cook their meals, except when they are compelled to subsist on _pemmican_, a sort of dried, husky compound, composed of pounded venison and deer’s fat mixed together. This species of food is extremely nutritious: it requires no cooking, and is sometimes rendered more palatable by the addition of berries.
There are many kinds of wood growing on the banks of the rivers, and indeed the whole of the interior near the sea is covered with it: but in the country about Lake _Winnepeg_ there are very few trees, and the inhabitants are therefore compelled to use the dung of the buffalo for fuel. Both buffaloes and horses abound in the open country. The woods on the coast are principally composed of dwarf poplars, larches, and all the varieties of the pine species.
Having thus described the communication by water between Lake _Winnepeg_ and _York Factory_, I shall conclude with a statement of the respective distances.
Miles
Distance from _York Factory_ to the top of _Hayes’ River_ 50 Thence to the upper end of _Steel River_ 35 To _Rock Portage_ 35 To _Swampy Lake_ 35 Length of Ditto 9 Length of _Jack River_ 9 _Knee Lake_ 60 _Trout River_ 12 _Holey Lake_ 30 To _White-fall_ 45 _Painted Stone_ 15 Along the _Echemamis_ to _Hairy Lake_ 35 Length of Ditto 4 _Play-green Lake_ 35
It must be allowed, that the above is a mere rough statement of an old trader, who had been accustomed to traversing the route for nearly twenty years.
_Nelson River_ is a much more noble stream than _Hayes’ River_, with respect to its navigation, extending about twenty miles from the sea; but from thenceforward it becomes so full of obstructions, from portages, falls, and rapids, that the Company have been compelled to establish their factory upon, and give a decided preference to, _Hayes’ River_, although they have an establishment or two for trade on the former. The _Nelson River_ takes its rise, according to _M^cKenzie_, in the _Stony Mountains_; and empties itself into _Hudson’s Bay_, at the same place as _Hayes’ River_. It is only divided from the latter, at the mouth, by a very low cape, called _Point of Marsh_, upon which an exceeding high wooden beacon has been erected by the Company, to enable their ships to distinguish the mouth of the river. The continual washing of the waters on either side of the _Point of Marsh_ has enabled the sea to encroach a great deal on the land, and thereby created many dangerous shoals in the mouths of the rivers: the navigation has, by these means, been rendered extremely contracted and difficult. The breaking up of the rivers in the spring tends also, in a great measure, to increase these evils: for, in the first place, the ice being driven towards the sea with an amazing velocity, it carries every thing forcibly away, and causes a general ruin upon the banks, by cutting down large bodies of earth, and hurling trees and rocks from their places. In the second place, it frequently happens that immense stones lying at the bottom of the rivers become fixed into the ice during the winter, and the freshes, in the spring, consequently bear them away towards the sea; but the ice not being able to sustain their ponderous weight for any length of time, it naturally occurs, that those masses become disengaged, and are deposited at the mouths of the rivers, where they not only incommode the passages, but likewise injure the ships’ cables by their friction.
On the second day after our coming, an _Indian_ Chief arrived at the factory from Lake _Winnepeg_, and some of our officers brought him on board. He staid with us two days; and as he was the Chief of one of those tribes who still maintain a great part of their primeval manners, _untainted_ by _European_ civilization, a full description of him may not be thought unentertaining.
This man had been brought from Lord _Selkirk’s_ colony, at _Red River_, to _York Factory_, by Captain _M^cDonald_, the chief of the colony. As far as I could collect, his tribe are properly called the _Sotees_, or people who go up and down the falls of rivers. But they have been styled _Bongees_ by the _British_, from their being addicted to mendacity; and as they are always crying out “_Bongee!_” which, in their tongue, signifies “a little,” perhaps, too, the colonists may have thought the appellation peculiarly adapted to the _Sotees_, as they are but a weak tribe in point of numbers.
The Chief in question was about five feet eight inches high, and, to all appearance, about thirty years of age. It seems that he had some claims to the territory on which Lord _Selkirk’s_ colony now stands; but he had sold his birth-right “for a mess of pottage.” Therefore, to keep him in good humour with the infant establishment, he had been brought down on a visit to _York Factory_, where it was intended that he should receive an accumulation of honours. A coat of coarse blue cloth, tawdrily ornamented with tarnished lace, and adorned with shoulder-knots; a round hat, with a red ostrich feather in front; a very coarse white shirt, with frill and ruffles; a pair of red stockings, yellow garters, and black shoes, were presented to him immediately upon his arrival. If we add to all this finery, his native ornaments, such as a neck-band of wampum or bead-work[34], a long string of beads suspended by his hair from each temple, and a number of large metal links of the coarsest workmanship, dangling from either ear, his appearance will naturally be imagined to have bordered upon the grotesque. His thighs were entirely naked, as he could not be prevailed upon to fetter them with breeches; and the cartilage of his nose had been perforated.
He appeared a very intelligent man, and was highly delighted with every thing he saw on board the ship. He was not particularly pleased with any of our musical instruments, except the drum. A sky-rocket struck him quite dumb with astonishment; and he afterwards observed to a person who understood his language, “That the _Water-Governors_[35] must be very powerful, who could thus force the stars to fall from the sky.” Like most _Indians_, he was a great egotist, and the general tenor of his conversation ran upon his dignity. He observed that he was a Governor, like ourselves; and when the snow became deep on the ground, his tribe were going out, under his command, to make war upon the _Swee_ Tribe; and that after quitting his own territory, he expected to meet his enemy in eight days. He exulted that he had already killed two of the _Swee_ nation with his own hand; and he gave us to understand, that his own tribe always made war on horseback. We presented him with a cutlass, at which he was delighted, waving it above his head, and boasting what wonders he should be able to perform by its assistance. Upon the whole, he was rather a swaggerer; but, perhaps, this was a little excusable; because, according to the character given of him by those _Europeans_ who had heard of his fame, he had acquired an amazing influence amongst many savage tribes, by his courage and wisdom. Indeed, his remaining two days with us, perfectly easy and contented, is a proof that he possessed a good share of the former quality; particularly as we were all utter strangers to him, and he had neither seen the sea nor a ship before in his life: nor did he appear to be at all deficient in the more tender susceptibilities of nature. He had two wives, four sons, and six daughters; and when I presented him with a few spangles and beads, he gave me to understand, that those trifles would be received with great pleasure by his children, on his return to his native country. It surprised us much to observe with what a degree of exactness he copied all our methods of eating, drinking, &c. As we desired to hear him sing, we took advantage of his imitative powers to make him comprehend our wishes: accordingly, the person who sat next to him began first, and the song went regularly round the table, until it reached the _Bongee_ Chief; when, instantly taking the hint, he rose up, and prefaced his ditty with a long speech, which we of course did not comprehend; but, by his gestures, we could perceive that it was evidently intended as an explanation of the subject on which he was about to sing. Then he suddenly struck off into an air that gave us a much higher opinion of the strength than the harmony of his voice. The subject, we could perceive, was an appeal to the Deity (_Manito_), to protect the ship from all dangers, in her voyage across the waters. We had many other songs from him during the evening: and on a special application, we were favoured with a specimen of the war-whoop, a most discordant howl, produced by striking the hand quick against the mouth, and shouting at the same time. But the most farcical scene of all was the business of getting him into a bed. The purser of the ship undertook the difficult task of chambermaid; but our _Indian_ Chief disencumbered himself of all his finery in a twinkling; and having reduced himself to a state of nature, he rolled head foremost into the bed, placing his feet upon the pillow: this produced great vexation in the mind of his _Abigail_, who the next night succeeded, with much difficulty, in causing his _Indian_ Highness to lie down like a _Christian_.
On the evening of the second day, our _Indian_ friend left us, to return back to his native country. He seemed to feel great regret at parting with the _Water-Governors_; and he gave us all to understand, that if we should hereafter visit his territories, he would insure us a hearty welcome, and a handsome bed-fellow to boot.
Captain _Stopford_ having expressed a wish to observe the manner of killing the reindeer, as practised by the _Indians_, and a party being accordingly made to ascend the river, we left the factory early in the morning, with a small boat of Captain _Stopford_’s, and a birch-bark canoe to carry the provisions, tents, &c. We continued to push along shore, against the stream, until 10 A.M. when we rested at a small creek, called _Dram-gat_, to breakfast. _Dram-gat_ is about seven miles from the factory: it abounds with wild-duck; and receives its name from an old custom of giving the people in the traders’ boats a dram at this spot, previously to proceeding farther on their journey up the river. The tide of the sea ceases to affect the current of the river entirely at the _Dram-gat_.
We landed upon the bank, kindled a fire, and roasted some venison-steaks after the _Indian_ manner, called by them _ponask_. Having cut a long skewer of wood, they scrape off the bark, and stick the meat upon its point. The other end of the skewer is then forced into the ground, close to the fire; and by turning it round occasionally, the food is soon sufficiently cooked. I never tasted any thing more savoury than a venison-steak prepared in this manner. After making a hearty meal, we embarked again; and two men taking out a line to the beach, we were thus laboriously dragged along shore. There are many islands and shoals on the south side of the river; whilst the northern shore is, generally speaking, steep. The mouth of _Hayes’ River_ is gradually verging towards the north, in consequence of the perceptible encroachments of the water upon the north bank, and the evident emerging of islands and shoals towards the south side of the river.