Indians to visit the Company's Fort at Churchill River, and for that
purpose many presents have been sent, but they never were attended with
any success. And though several of the Copper Indians have visited
Churchill, in the capacity of servants to the Northern Indians, and were
generally sent back loaded with presents for their countrymen, yet the
Northern Indians always plundered them of the whole soon after they left
the Fort. This kind of treatment, added to the many inconveniences that
attend so long a journey, are great obstacles in their way; otherwise it
would be as possible for them to bring their own goods to market, as for
the Northern Indians to go so far to purchase them on their own account,
{180} and have the same distance to bring them as the first proprietors
would have had. But it is a political scheme of our Northern traders to
prevent such an intercourse, as it would greatly lessen their
consequence and emolument. Superstition, indeed, will, in all
probability, be a lasting barrier against those people ever having a
settled communication with our Factory; as few of them chuse to travel
in countries so remote from their own, under a pretence that the change
of air and provisions (though exactly the same to which they are
accustomed) are highly prejudicial to their health; and that not one out
of three of those who have undertaken the journey, have ever lived to
return. The first of these reasons is evidently no more than gross
superstition; and though the latter is but too true, it has always been
owing to the treachery and cruelty of the Northern Indians, who took
them under their protection.
It is but a few years since, that Captain Keelshies, who is frequently
mentioned in this Journal, took twelve of these people under his charge,
all heavy laden with the most valuable furrs; and long before they
arrived at the Fort, he and the rest of his crew had got all the furrs
from them, in payment for provisions for their support, and obliged them
to carry the furrs on their account.
On their arrival at Prince of Wales's Fort, Keelshies laid claim to
great merit for having brought those strangers, {181} so richly laden,
to the Factory, and assured the Governor that he might, in future,
expect a great increase in trade from that quarter, through his interest
and assiduity. One of the strangers was dubbed with the name of Captain,
and treated accordingly, while at the Fort; that is, he was dressed out
in the best manner; and at his departure, both himself and all his
countrymen were loaded with presents, in hopes that they would not only
repeat the visit themselves, but by displaying so much generosity, many
of their countrymen would be induced to accompany them.
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
There seems to be great propriety in the conduct of the Governor[AU] on
this occasion; but however well-intended, it had quite the contrary
effect, for Keelshies and the rest of his execrable gang, not content
with sharing all the furrs those poor people had carried to the Fort,
determined to get also all the European goods that had been given to
them by the Governor. As neither Keelshies nor any of his gang had the
courage to kill the Copper Indians, they concerted a deep-laid scheme
for their destruction; which was to leave them on an island. With this
view, when they got to the proposed spot, the Northern Indians took care
to have all the baggage belonging to the Copper Indians ferried across
to the main, and having stripped them of such parts of their clothing as
they {182} thought worthy their notice, went off with all the canoes,
leaving them all behind on the island, where they perished for want.
When I was on my journey to the Fort in June one thousand seven hundred
and seventy two, I saw the bones of those poor people, and had the
foregoing account from my guide Matonabbee; but it was not made known to
the Governor for some years afterward, for fear of prejudicing him
against Keelshies.
A similar circumstance had nearly happened to a Copper Indian who
accompanied me to the Fort in one thousand seven hundred and
seventy-two: after we were all ferried across Seal River, and the poor
man's bundle of furrs on the South-side, he was left alone on the
opposite shore; and no one except Matonabbee would go over for him. The
wind at that time blew so hard, that Matonabbee stripped himself quite
naked, to be ready for swimming in case the canoe should overset; but he
soon brought the Copper Indian safe over, to the no small mortification
of the wretch who had the charge of him, and who would gladly have
possessed the bundle of furrs at the expence of the poor man's life.
When the Northern Indians returned from the Factory that year, the above
Copper Indian put himself under the protection of Matonabbee, who
accompanied him as far North, as the latitude 64°, where they saw some
Copper Indians, among whom was the young man's father, into {183} whose
hands Matonabbee delivered him in good health, with all his goods safe,
and in good order.
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
Soon after we had left the Coppermine, there came on a thick fog with
rain, and at intervals heavy showers of snow. This kind of weather
continued for some days; and at times it was so thick, that we were
obliged to stop for several hours together, as we were unable to see our
way, and the road was remarkably rocky and intricate.
[Sidenote: 22d.]
At three o'clock in the morning of the twenty-second, Matonabbee's
brother and one of the Copper Indians, who had been first dispatched
a-head from Congecathawhachaga, overtook us. During their absence they
had not discovered any Indians who could have been serviceable to my
expedition. They had, however, been at the Copper River, and seeing some
marks set up there to direct them to return, they had made the best of
their way, and had not slept from the time they left the river till they
joined us, though the distance was not less than a hundred miles. When
they arrived we were asleep, but we soon awakened, and began to proceed
on our journey. That day we walked forty-two miles; and in our way
passed Buffalo Lake: at night, we put up about the middle of the Stony
Mountains. The weather was excessively hot and sultry.
[Sidenote: 23d.]
{184} On the twenty-third, the weather continued much the same as on the
preceding day. Early in the morning we set out, and walked forty-five
miles the first day, during which the Indians killed several fine fat
buck deer.
[Sidenote: 24th.]
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
About one o'clock in the morning of the twenty-fourth, we stopped and
took a little refreshment, as we had also done about noon the preceding
day; but the Indians had been so long from their wives and families,
that they promised not to sleep till they saw them, especially as we
were then in sight of the hills of Congecathawhachaga,[83] where we had
left the last of them. After resting about an hour, we proceeded on our
way, and at six in the morning arrived at Congecathawhachaga; when, to
our great disappointment, we found that all our women had got set across
the river before the Copper Indians left that part; so that when we
arrived, not an Indian was to be found, except an old man and his
family, who had arrived in our absence, and was waiting at the
crossing-place with some furrs for Matonabbee, who was so nearly related
to the old man as to be his son-in-law, having one of his daughters for
a wife. The old man had another with him, who was also offered to the
great man, but not accepted.
Our stay at this place may be said to have been of very short duration;
for on seeing a large smoke to the Southward, we immediately crossed the
river, and walked towards it, {185} when we found that the women had
indeed been there some days before, but were gone; and at their
departure had set the moss on fire, which was then burning, and
occasioned the smoke we had seen. By this time the afternoon was far
advanced; we pursued, however, our course in the direction which the
women took, for their track we could easily discover in the moss. We had
not gone far, before we saw another smoke at a great distance, for which
we shaped our course; and, notwithstanding we redoubled our pace, it was
eleven o'clock at night before we reached it; when, to our great
mortification, we found it to be the place where the women had slept the
night before; having in the morning, at their departure, set fire to the
moss which was then burning.
[Sidenote: 25th.]
The Indians, finding that their wives were so near as to be within one
of their ordinary day's walk, which seldom exceeded ten or twelve miles,
determined not to rest till they had joined them. Accordingly we pursued
our course, and about two o'clock in the morning of the twenty-fifth,
came up with some of the women, who had then pitched their tents by the
side of Cogead Lake.[84]
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
From our leaving the Copper-mine River to this time we had travelled so
hard, and taken so little rest by the way, that my feet and legs had
swelled considerably, and I had become quite stiff at the ankles. In
this situation I had {186} so little power to direct my feet when
walking, that I frequently knocked them against the stones with such
force, as not only to jar and disorder them, but my legs also; and the
nails of my toes were bruised to such a degree, that several of them
festered and dropped off. To add to this mishap, the skin was entirely
chafed off from the tops of both my feet, and between every toe; so that
the sand and gravel, which I could by no means exclude, irritated the
raw parts so much, that for a whole day before we arrived at the women's
tents, I left the print of my feet in blood almost at every step I took.
Several of the Indians began to complain that their feet also were sore;
but, on examination, not one of them was the twentieth part in so bad a
state as mine.
This being the first time I had been in such a situation, or seen
anybody foot-foundered, I was much alarmed, and under great
apprehensions for the consequences. Though I was but little fatigued in
body, yet the excruciating pain I suffered when walking, had such an
effect on my spirits, that if the Indians had continued to travel two or
three days longer at that unmerciful rate, I must unavoidably have been
left behind; for my feet were in many places quite honey-combed, by the
dirt and gravel eating into the raw flesh.
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
As soon as we arrived at the women's tents, the first thing I did, was
to wash and clean my feet in {187} warm water; then I bathed the swelled
parts with spirits of wine, and dressed those that were raw with
Turner's cerate; soon after which I betook myself to rest. As we did not
move on the following day, I perceived that the swelling abated, and the
raw parts of my feet were not quite so much inflamed. This change for
the better gave me the strongest assurance that rest was the principal
thing wanted to effect a speedy and complete cure of my painful, though
in reality very simple disorder, (foot-foundering,) which I had before
considered to be an affair of the greatest consequence.
[Sidenote: 27th.]
Rest, however, though essential to my speedy recovery, could not at this
time be procured; for as the Indians were desirous of joining the
remainder of their wives and families as soon as possible, they would
not stop even a single day; so that on the twenty-seventh we again began
to move; and though they moved at the rate of eight or nine miles a day,
it was with the utmost difficulty that I could follow them. Indeed the
weather proved remarkably fine and pleasant, and the ground was in
general pretty dry, and free from stones; which contributed greatly to
my ease in walking, and enabled me to keep up with the natives.
[Sidenote: 31st.]
[Sidenote: August. 1st.]
[Sidenote: 5th.]
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
On the thirty-first of July, we arrived at the place[85] where the wives
and families of my companions had been ordered to wait our return from
the Copper-mine River. Here we found several tents of Indians; but those
{188} belonging to Matonabbee, and some others of my crew, had not
arrived. We saw, however, a large smoke to the Eastward, which we
supposed had been made by them, as no other Indians were expected from
that quarter. Accordingly, the next morning, Matonabbee sent some of his
young men in quest of them, and on the fifth, they all joined us; when,
contrary to expectation, a great number of other Indians were with them;
in all, to the amount of more than forty tents. Among those Indians, was
the man who Matonabbee stabbed when we were at Clowey. With the greatest
submission he led his wife to Matonabbee's tent, set her down by his
side, and retired, without saying a word. Matonabbee took no notice of
her, though she was bathed in tears; and by degrees, after reclining
herself on her elbow for some time, she lay down, and, sobbing, said,
_see'd dinne_, _see'd dinne!_ which is, My husband, my husband! On which
Matonabbee told her, that if she had respected him as such, she would
not have run away from him; and that she was at liberty to go where she
pleased. On which she got up, with seeming reluctance, though most
assuredly with a light heart, and returned to her former husband's tent.
FOOTNOTES:
[AM] _Tima_ in the Esquimaux language is a friendly word similar to
_what cheer?_
[AN] When the fifteen Indians turned back at the Stony Mountains, they
took two or three canoes with them; some of our crew that were sent
a-head as messengers had not yet returned, which occasioned the number
of our canoes to be so small.
[71] Probably some form of the wide-ranging _Salmo alpinus_.--E. A. P.
[AO] When the Esquimaux who reside near Churchill River travel in
Winter, it is always from lake to lake, or from river to river, where
they have formed magazines of provisions, and heaps of moss for firing.
As some of those places are at a considerable distance from each other,
and some of the lakes of considerable width, they frequently pitch their
tents on the ice, and instead of having a fire, which the severity of
the climate so much requires, they cut holes in the ice within their
tents, and there sit and angle for fish; if they meet with any success,
the fish are eaten alive out of the water; and when they are thirsty,
water, their usual beverage, is at hand.
When I first entered into the employment of the Hudson's Bay Company, it
was as Mate of one of their sloops which was employed in trading with
the Esquimaux: I had therefore frequent opportunities of observing the
miserable manner in which those people live. In the course of our trade
with them we frequently purchased several seal-skin bags, which we
supposed were full of oil; but on opening them have sometimes found
great quantities of venison, seals, and sea-horse paws, as well as
salmon: and as these were of no use to us, we always returned them to
the Indians, who eagerly devoured them, though some of the articles had
been perhaps a whole year in that state; and they seemed to exult
greatly in having so over-reached us in the way of trade, as to have
sometimes one third of their bargain returned.
This method of preserving their food, though it effectually guards it
from the external air, and from the flies, does not prevent putrefaction
entirely, though it renders its progress very slow. Pure train oil is of
such a quality that it never freezes solid in the coldest Winters; a
happy circumstance for those people, who are condemned to live in the
most rigorous climate without the assistance of fire. While these
magazines last, they have nothing more to do when hunger assails them,
but to open one of the bags, take out a side of venison, a few seals,
sea-horse paws, or some half-rotten salmon, and without any preparation,
sit down and make a meal; and the lake or river by which they pitch
their tent, affords them water, which is their constant drink. Besides
the extraordinary food already mentioned, they have several other dishes
equally disgusting to an European palate; I will only mention one, as it
was more frequently part of their repast when I visited their tents,
than any other, except fish. The dish I allude to, is made of the raw
liver of a deer, cut in small pieces of about an inch square, and mixed
up with the contents of the stomach of the same animal; and the farther
digestion has taken place, the better it is suited to their taste. It is
impossible to describe or conceive the pleasure they seem to enjoy when
eating such unaccountable food: nay, I have even seen them eat whole
handfuls of maggots that were produced in meat by fly-blows; and it is
their constant custom, when their noses bleed by any accident, to lick
their blood into their mouths, and swallow it. Indeed, if we consider
the inhospitable part of the globe they are destined to inhabit, and the
great distresses to which they are frequently driven by hunger in
consequence of it, we shall no longer be surprized at finding they can
relish any thing in common with the meanest of the animal creation, but
rather admire the wisdom and kindness of Providence in forming the
palates and powers of all creatures in such a manner as is best adapted
to the food, climate, and every other circumstance which may be incident
to their respective situations.
It is no less true, that these people, when I first knew them, would not
eat any of our provisions, sugar, raisins, figs, or even bread; for
though some of them would put a bit of it into their mouths, they soon
spit it out again with evident marks of dislike; so that they had no
greater relish for our food than we had for theirs. At present, however,
they will eat any part of our provisions, either fresh or salted; and
some of them will drink a draft of porter, or a little brandy and water;
and they are now so far civilized, and attached to the English, that I
am persuaded any of the Company's servants who could habituate
themselves to their diet and manner of life, might now live as secure
under their protection, as under that of any of the tribes of Indians
who border on Hudson's Bay.
They live in a state of perfect freedom; no one apparently claiming the
superiority over, or acknowledging the least subordination to another,
except what is due from children to their parents, or such of their kin
as take care of them when they are young and incapable of providing for
themselves. There is, however, reason to think that, when grown up to
manhood, they pay some attention to the advice of the old men, on
account of their experience.
[72] Several species inhabit the region; the commonest is the ringed or
fetid seal (_Phoca hispida_).--E. A. P.
[73] In the summer of 1821, fifty years after Hearne's visit, Sir John
Franklin, accompanied by Sir John Richardson and Sir George Back,
descended and surveyed the Coppermine River from Point Lake to the sea.
He was at the Bloody Falls from the 15th to the 18th of July, exactly
fifty years after Hearne, and found the latitude to be 67° 42' 35" N. He
speaks of it as follows:
"Several human skulls which bore the marks of violence, and many bones
were strewed about the ground near the encampment, and as the spot
exactly answers the description, given by Mr. Hearne, of the place where
the Chipewyans who accompanied him perpetrated the dreadful massacre on
the Esquimaux, we had no doubt of this being the place. This rapid is a
sort of shelving cascade, about three hundred yards in length, having a
descent of from ten to fifteen feet. It is bounded on each side by high
walls of red sandstone, upon which rests a series of lofty green hills.
The surrounding scenery was accurately delineated in a sketch taken by
Mr. Hood" ("First Journey," pp. 349-350).
In 1838 Thomas Simpson determined the latitude of Bloody Falls as 67°
42' 52" ("Narrative of Discoveries," Thomas Simpson, p. 261).
Sir John Richardson revisited the lower part of the Coppermine River in
1826, and again in 1848, and he knew it better than any other white man.
Speaking of Hearne, he says: "His description of the lower part of the
Coppermine River is evidently that of one who has been on the spot."
"He appears to have fallen on the Coppermine River first at the
Sandstone rapids of Franklin, and to have traced it to Bloody Falls; but
as, contrary to his usual practice, he under-rates the distance from
thence to the coast, we are led to conclude that he did not actually go
down to the sea, but was content to view it from the top of the hill
which overhangs the falls; and, indeed, it is not very probable that he
could have induced the Indians, over whom he had little influence, to
accompany him on his survey, after they had completed the massacre which
was the object of their long and laborious journey; nor, had he gone
actually to the mouth of the river, would he have mentioned marks of a
tide fourteen feet high" (Back, pp. 147-151).
Hearne's description of the occurrence of the timber on the banks of the
river, is particularly accurate, and I am inclined to give him credit
for having been at or near the mouth of the river, even though his
statement in regard to the rise and fall of the tide is inaccurate.
[74] Wishacumpuckey is one of the species of _Ledum_; jackasheypuck =
_Arctostaphylos uvaursi_ Spreng.; cranberry = _Vaccinium vitisidæa_
Linn.; heathberry probably = _Empetrum nigrum_ Linn.--E. A. P.
[AP] See Hist. of Greenland, vol. i. pp. 132-156.
[75] Gull = _Larus_; blackhead = _Sterna paradisæa_ Brünn; loon =
_Gavia_; old-wife = _Harelda hyemalis_ Linn.; ha-ha-wie = _Harelda
hyemalis_ Linn.; hawks-eye = _Charadrius dominicus_ Müll.; yellow-legs =
_Totanus flavipes_ Gmel.--E. A. P.
[76] For descriptions of these mammals see Chapter X.
[77] _Lepus arcticus canus_ Preble.
[78] _Lagopus lagopus_ (Linn.)
[79] The Alarm bird is probably the Short-eared Owl, _Asio flammeus_
(Pontoppidan), a common summer inhabitant of the Barren Grounds. The
Cobadekoock is the Hawk Owl, which seldom goes north of the woods.--E.
A. P.
[80] The exact locality here described does not appear to have been
visited by any white man since 1771, but Sir John Richardson visited the
Copper Mountains in 1821, and the following description by him will give
some idea of their character:
"The Copper Mountains appear to form a range running S.E. and N.W. The
great mass of rock in the mountains seems to consist of felspar in
various conditions; sometimes in the form of felspar rock or claystone,
sometimes coloured by hornblende, and approaching to greenstone, but
most generally in the form of dark reddish-brown amygdaloid. The
amygdaloidal masses, contained in the amygdaloid, are either entirely
pistacite, or pistacite enclosing calc-spar. Scales of native copper are
very generally disseminated through this rock, through a species of trap
tuff which nearly resembled it, and also through a reddish sandstone on
which it appears to rest. When the felspar assumed the appearance of a
slaty claystone, which it did towards the base of the mountains on the
banks of the river, we observed no copper in it. The rough and in
general rounded and more elevated parts of the mountain, are composed of
the amygdaloid; but between the eminences there occur many narrow and
deep valleys, which are bounded by perpendicular mural precipices of
greenstone. It is in these valleys, amongst the loose soil, that the
Indians search for copper. Amongst the specimens we picked up in these
valleys, were plates of native copper; masses of pistacite containing
native copper; of trap rock with associated native copper, green
malachite, copper glance or variegated copper ore and iron-shot copper
green; and of greenish-grey prehnite in trap (the trap is felspar,
deeply coloured with hornblende), with disseminated native copper; the
copper, in some specimens, was crystallized in rhomboidal dodecahedrons.
We also found some large tabular fragments, evidently portions of a vein
consisting of prehnite, associated with calcareous spar, and native
copper. The Indians dig wherever they observe the prehnite lying on the
soil, experience having taught them that the largest pieces of copper
are found associated with it. We did not observe the vein in its
original repository, nor does it appear that the Indians have found it,
but judging from the specimens just mentioned, it most probably
traverses felspathose trap. We also picked up some fragments of a
greenish-grey coloured rock, apparently sandstone, with disseminated
variegated copper ore and copper glance; likewise rhomboidal fragments
of white calcareous spar, and some rock crystals. The Indians report
that they have found copper in every part of this range, which they have
examined for thirty or forty miles to the N.W., and that the Esquimaux
come hither to search for that metal. We afterwards found some
ice-chisels in possession of the latter people twelve or fourteen inches
long, and half-an-inch in diameter, formed of pure copper.
"To the northward of the Copper Mountains, at the distance of ten miles,
in a direct line, a similar range of trap hills occurs, having, however,
less altitude. The intermediate country is uneven, but not hilly, and
consists of a deep sandy soil, which, when cut through by the rivulets,
discloses extensive beds of light-brownish red sandstone, which appears
to belong to the new red sandstone formation. The same rock having a
thin slaty structure, and dipping to the northward, forms perpendicular
walls to the river, whose bed lies a hundred and fifty feet below the
level of the plain. The eminences in the plain are well clothed with
grass, and free from the large loose stones so common on the Barren
Grounds, but the ridges of trap are nearly destitute of vegetation.