Samuel Hearne
The first noteworthy explorer of the far north was SAMUEL HEARNE,[1]
who had been mate of a vessel in the employ of the whale fishery of
Hudson Bay. He entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company about
1765, and was selected four years afterwards by the Governor of Prince
of Wales's Fort (a certain Moses Norton, a half-breed) to lead an
expedition of discovery in search of a mighty river flowing
northwards, which was rumoured to exist by the Eskimo. This
"Coppermine" River was said to flow through a region rich in deposits
of copper. From this district the northern tribes of Indians derived
their copper ornaments and axeheads.
[Footnote 1: Hearne was born in London in 1745. He entered the Royal
Navy as a midshipman at the tender age of eleven, and remained in the
Navy till about 1765, when he went out to Hudson Bay with the rank of
quartermaster. He must have acquired a considerable education, even in
botany and zoology. He not only wrote well, and was a good surveyor
for rough map making, but he had a considerable talent as a
draughtsman.]
Samuel Hearne started on the 6th of November, 1769, from Prince of
Wales's Fort at the mouth of the Churchill River, on the north-west
coast of Hudson Bay. Presumably he and the two "common white men" who
were with him travelled on snowshoes and hauled small sledges after
them. Travelling westward they passed over bleak hills with very
little vegetation--"the barren grounds, where, in general, we thought
ourselves well off if we could scrape together as many shrubs as would
make a fire; but it was scarcely ever in our power to make any other
defence against the weather than by digging a hole in the snow down to
the moss, wrapping ourselves up in our clothing, and lying down in it,
with our sledges set up edgeways to windward". But the principal
Indian guide that he engaged was so obviously determined to make the
expedition a failure that Hearne returned to his base, Prince of
Wales's Fort, and made a second start on the 23rd of February, 1770,
this time taking care not to be accompanied by any other white men,
and insisting that the Indians who accompanied him should be more
carefully chosen.
It must be remembered that in all these early expeditions, French and
English, the explorers relied for their food almost entirely on what
could be obtained as they went along, in the way of venison, grouse,
geese, fish, and wild fruits. In the springtime they would probably
get goose eggs and some form of maple sugar through the Indians. From
the summer to the autumn there would be an abundance of wild fruits
and nuts, but for the rest of the year it would be a diet almost
entirely of flesh or fish. As a stand-by there was probably
_pemmican_, made in times of plenty from fish, from bison meat and
fat, or from the dried flesh of deer or musk oxen; but tea, coffee,
bread, biscuits, and such like accessories were absolutely unknown to
them, in fact they lived exactly as the Amerindians did. Their
habitations, of course, were the tents or houses of the natives, or
what they made for themselves.
In order to pitch an Indian tent in winter it was first necessary to
search for a level piece of dry ground, and this could only be
ascertained by thrusting a stick through the snow, down to the ground,
all over the proposed plot. When a suitable site had been found the
snow was then cleared away down to the very moss, in the shape of a
circle. When a prolonged stay was contemplated, even the moss was cut
up and removed, as it was very liable when dry to catch fire. A
quantity of poles were then procured, proportionate in number and
length to the size of the tent cloth and the number of persons the
tent was intended to contain. Two of the longest poles were tied
together at the top and raised to an angle of about 45 degrees from
the ground, so that the lower ends extended on either side as widely
as the proposed diameter of the tent. The other poles were then
arranged on either side of the first two, so that they formed a
complete circle round the bottom, and their points were tied together
at the top. The tent cloth was usually of thin moose leather, and in
shape resembled the vane of a fan, so that the large outer curve
enclosed the bottom of the poles, and the smaller one fitted round the
apex of the poles at the top, leaving an open space which let out the
smoke and let in air and light. The fire was made on the ground in the
centre of the floor, which floor was covered all over with small
branches of firs and pines serving as seats and beds. Pine foliage and
branches were laid round the bottom of the poles on the outside, and a
quantity of snow was packed all round the exterior of the tent, thus
excluding a great part of the external air, and contributing much to
the warmth within.
For a month or more Hearne camped in this fashion by the side of a
lake, waiting till the season was sufficiently open for him to
continue his journey by water. He and his party of Indians lived
mainly on fish, but when these became scarce they attempted to snare
grouse or kill deer. In the intervals of rare meals all the party
smoked or slept, unless they were obliged to go out to hunt and fish.
They would delight, after killing deer, in securing as much as
possible of the blood and turning it into broth by boiling it in a
kettle with fat and scraps of meat. This was reckoned a dainty dish.
Their spoons, dishes, and other necessary household furniture were cut
out of birch bark.
[Illustration: LAKE LOUISE, THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS]
By the 19th of May, geese, swans, ducks, gulls, and other birds of
passage were so plentiful, flying from south to north, and halting to
rest at the lake, that Hearne felt the time had come to resume his
journey, provisions being now very plentiful and the worst of the thaw
over. The weather was remarkably fine and pleasant as the party
travelled northwards.
There must have been good patent medicines even in those days. Of
these Hearne possessed "Turlington's Drops" and "Yellow Basilicon",
and with these he not only healed the terrible wounds of a valuable
Indian who had cut his leg most severely (when making birch-bark
dishes, spoons, &c), but also the hand of another Indian, which was
shattered with the bursting of a gun. These medicines soon restored
the use of his hand, so that in a short time he was out of danger,
while the carver of birch-bark spoons was able to walk. Nevertheless,
although they were to the south of the 60th degree of latitude, the
snow was not completely melted until the end of June.
All at once the weather became exceedingly hot, the sledges had to be
thrown away, and each man had to carry on his back a heavy load. For
instance, Hearne was obliged to carry his quadrant for taking
astronomical observations, and its stand; a trunk containing books and
papers, &c.; a large compass; and a bag containing all his wearing
apparel; also a hatchet, a number of knives, files, &c., and several
small articles intended for presents to the natives--in short, a
weight of _sixty pounds_. Moreover, the barren ground was quite
unsuited to the pitching of the southern type of tent, the poles of
which obviously could not be driven into the bare rock, so that Hearne
was obliged to sleep in the open air in all weathers. Very often he
was unable to make a fire, and was constantly reduced to eating his
meat quite raw. "Notwithstanding these accumulated and complicated
hardships, we continued in perfect health and good spirits." The
average day's walk was twenty miles, sometimes without any other
subsistence than a pipe of tobacco and a drink of water.
At last they saw three musk oxen grazing by the side of a small lake.
This seemed a splendid piece of fortune, but, to their mortification,
before they could get one of them skinned, a tremendous downpour of
rain ensued, so as to make it out of their power to have a fire, for
their only form of fuel was moss. And the flesh of the musk ox eaten
raw was disgusting; it was coarse and tough, and tasted so strongly of
musk that Hearne could hardly swallow it. "None of our natural wants,"
he writes, "except thirst, are so distressing or hard to endure as
hunger.... For want of action, the stomach so far loses its digestive
powers that, after long fasting, it resumes its office with pain and
reluctance." After these prolonged fasts, his stomach was scarcely
able to contain two or three ounces of food without producing the most
agonizing pain. "We fasted many times two whole days and nights, and
twice for three days; once for nearly seven days, during which we
tasted not a mouthful of anything, except a few cranberries, water,
scraps of old leather, and burnt bones."
At a place 63° north latitude he bought a canoe for a single knife
"the full value of which did not exceed one penny", having been told
that they would soon reach rivers through which they could not wade.
And, moreover, they found an Indian who was willing to carry it. In
July his guide persuaded him to join an encampment of natives--about
six hundred persons living in seventy tents--asserting that, as it was
no use proceeding much farther north in their search for the
Coppermine River that season, it would be well to winter to the west,
and resume their northern journey in the spring. The country, though
quite devoid of trees, and mostly barren rock, was covered with a herb
or shrub called by the Indian name of Wishakapakka,[2] from which the
European servants of the Hudson's Bay Company had long been used to
prepare a kind of tea by steeping it in boiling water. Here there were
multitudes of reindeer feeding on the _Cladina_ lichen and the Indians
with Hearne killed large numbers for the food of the party, and also
for their skins and the marrow in their bones.
[Footnote 2: This word is said to be a corruption or altered form of
_Wishakagami[¯u]_, a liquid or broth (Kri language). The drink made
from this shrub or herb (_Ledum palustre_) is now known as Labrador
tea. It is a bitter aromatic infusion.]
The Indian who had volunteered to carry the canoe proved unequal to
his task. But Hearne found another of his carriers who was willing to
take the burden. In order, therefore, to be readier with his gun to
shoot deer, he transferred a portion of his own load to the ex-canoe
carrier. This portion consisted of the invaluable quadrant and its
stand, and a bag of gunpowder. The gunpowder was of such importance to
Hearne and his party that one wonders he made this exchange; for if he
lost this powder he had no means of killing game, and was entirely
dependent for food on the troop of Indians with whom he was
travelling, and whom he knew to be most niggardly and inhospitable.
Judge, therefore, of his horror when, at the end of a day's march,
this weakly Indian porter was missing with his load. All night Hearne
was unable to sleep with anxiety, and the whole of the next day he
spent searching the rocky ground for miles to discover some sign of
the missing man. At that season of the year it was like looking for a
needle in a pottle of hay, for there was no snow, and equally no
herbage, on which a man's foot could leave traces. However, at last,
by some miracle, they discovered the load by the banks of a little
river where a party of Indians had crossed.
Shortly afterwards, leaving his quadrant on its stand for a few
minutes, whilst he went to eat his dinner, a violent wind arose and
blew the whole thing on to the rocks, so that the quadrant was
smashed and rendered useless. On this account he determined once more
to return to Fort Prince of Wales. The Northern Indians[3] with whom
Hearne travelled backwards towards the fort were most inhospitable,
not to say dangerous. They robbed him of most of his goods, and
refused to allow their women to assist his people to dress the
reindeer skins out of which it would be necessary shortly to make
coverings to protect them from the severe cold of the autumn. In fact
Hearne was in rather a desperate condition by September, 1770, when he
was joined by a party of Indians under a famous leader, whom he calls
Matonabi.
[Footnote 3: The Indians of the Athapaskan or Déné group were usually
called the _Northern Indians_ by the Hudson Bay people, in comparison
to all the other tribes of the more temperate regions farther south,
who were known as the _Southern Indians_ (Algonkins, &c.).]
Matonabi, though of Athapaskan stock, had, when a boy, resided several
years at Prince of Wales's Fort, and learnt a little English, and,
above all, was a master of several Algonkin dialects or languages, so
that he could discourse with the Southern Indians. As soon as he heard
of Hearne's distress he furnished him with a good, warm suit of skins,
and had the reindeer skins dressed for the Indian carriers who
accompanied Hearne. In journeying together, Matonabi invited him to
return once more, with himself as guide, to discover the copper mines.
"He attributed all our misfortunes to the misconduct of my guides, and
the very plan we pursued, by the desire of the Governor, in not taking
any women with us on this journey, was, he said, the principal thing
that occasioned all our wants. 'For,' said he, 'when all the men are
heavy laden, they can neither hunt nor travel to any considerable
distance; and in case they meet with success in hunting, who is to
carry the produce of their labour?' 'Women,' added he, 'were made for
labour; one of them can carry, or haul, as much as two men can do.
They also pitch our tents, make and mend our clothing, keep us warm at
night; and, in fact, there is no such thing as travelling any
considerable distance, or for any length of time, in this country,
without their assistance.' 'Women,' said he again, 'though they do
everything, are maintained at a trifling expense; for as they always
stand cook, the very licking of their fingers in scarce times is
sufficient for their subsistence.'
"This," added Hearne, "however odd it may appear, is but too true a
description of the situation of women in this country: it is at least
so in appearance; for the women always carry the provisions, though it
is more than probable they help themselves when the men are not
present."
On the 7th of December, 1770, Samuel Hearne started again
from Prince of Wales's Fort, Hudsons Bay, but under very much happier
circumstances, Matonabi being practically in charge of the expedition.
Unfortunately, on reaching the Egg River, where Matonabi's people had
made a _cache_ or hiding place in which they had stored a quantity of
provisions and implements, they found that other Indians had
discovered this hiding place and robbed it of nearly every article.
This was a great disappointment to Matonabi's people; but Hearne
remarks the fortitude with which they bore this, nor did one of them
ever speak of revenge. But the expedition's scarcity of food obliged
them to push on from morning till night, day after day; yet the road
being very bad, and their sledges heavy, they were seldom able to do
more than eighteen miles a day. Hearne himself writes that he never
spent so dull a Christmas. For the last three days he had not tasted a
morsel of anything, except a pipe of tobacco and a drink of snow
water, yet he had to walk daily from morning till night heavily laden.
However, at the end of December they reached Island Lake, where they
entered a camp of Matonabi's people, and here they found a little
food in the way of fish and dried venison. From Island Lake they made
their way in a zigzag fashion, stopping often to drive reindeer into
pounds to secure large supplies of venison and of skins, till, in the
month of April, 1771, they reached a small lake with an almost
unpronounceable name, which meant "Little Fish Hill", from a high hill
which stood at the west end of this sheet of water.
On an island in this lake they pitched their tents, as deer were very
numerous. During this time also they were busily employed in preparing
staves of birch wood, about seven or eight feet long, to serve as tent
poles in the summer, and in the winter to be converted into snowshoe
frames. Here also Chief Matonabi purchased another wife. He had now
with him no less than seven, most of whom would for size have made
good grenadiers. He prided himself much on the height and strength of
his wives, and would frequently say few women could carry off heavier
loads. In fact in this country wives were very seldom selected for
their beauty, but rather for their strength.
"Ask a Northern Indian," wrote Hearne, "'What is beauty?' He will
answer: 'A broad, flat face, small eyes, high cheekbones, three or
four broad black lines across each cheek, a low forehead, a broad
chin, a clumsy hook nose, and a tawny hide.'"
But the model woman amongst these Indians was one who was capable of
dressing all kinds of skins and making them into clothing, and who was
strong enough to carry a load of about a hundred pounds in weight in
summer, and to haul perhaps double that weight on a sledge in winter.
"As to their temper, it is of little consequence; for the men have a
wonderful facility in making the most stubborn comply with as much
alacrity as could possibly be expected." When the men kill any large
beast the women are always sent to bring it to the tent. When it is
brought there, every operation it undergoes, such as splitting,
drying, pounding, is performed by the women. When anything is prepared
for eating it is the women who cook it; and when it is done, not even
the wives and daughters of the greatest chiefs in the country are
served until all the males--even the male slaves--have eaten what they
think proper. In times of scarcity it was frequently the lot of the
women to be left without a single mouthful; though, no doubt, they
took good care to help themselves in secret.
[Illustration: SAMUEL HEARNE; ALEXANDER MACKENZIE]
Hearne mentions that in this country among the Northern Indians the
names of the boys were various and generally derived from some place,
or season of the year, or animal; whilst the names of the girls were
chiefly taken from some part or property of a marten,[4] such as the
white marten, the black marten, the summer marten, the marten's head,
foot, heart, or tail.
[Footnote 4: A fur-bearing animal (_Mustela americana_), very like the
British pine marten.]
From the Lake of Little Fish Hill the party moved on to Lake Clowey,
and here the Northern Indians set to work to build their canoes in the
warm and dry weather, which was about to come in at the end of May.
These canoes were very slight and simple in construction and
wonderfully light, which was necessary, for some of the northern
portages might be a hundred to one hundred and fifty miles in length,
over which the canoes would have to be carried by the Indians. All the
tools employed in those days, in building such canoes and making
snowshoes and all the other furniture and utensils of Indian life,
consisted of a _hatchet_, a _knife_, a _file_, and an _awl_ obtained
from the stores of the Hudson's Bay Company. In the use of these tools
they were so dexterous that everything they manufactured was done with
a neatness which could not be excelled by the most expert mechanic.
These northern canoes were flat-bottomed, with straight, upright
sides, and sharp prow and peak. The stern part of the canoe was wider
than the rest in order to receive the baggage. The average length of
the canoe would be from twelve to thirteen feet, and the breadth in
the widest part about two feet. Generally but a single paddle was
used, and that rather attenuated. When transporting the canoes from
one river to another, a strong band of bark or fibre would be fastened
round the thwarts of the canoe, and then slung over the breast and
shoulders of the Indian that was carrying it.
From Lake Clowey the northern progress was made on foot, steady and
fatiguing walking over the barren grounds. The wooded region had been
left behind to the south; but for a distance of about twenty miles
outside the living woods there was a belt of dry stumps more or less
ancient. According to Hearne, these vestiges of trees to the north of
the present forest limit were an indication that the climate had grown
colder during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, because,
according to the traditions of the Indians and the remembrances of
their old people, the forest had formerly extended much farther to the
north.
Whilst they were staying for the canoe building at Lake Clowey, Hearne
was a great deal bothered by the domestic troubles of his Indian
friend Matonabi. This man had been constantly trying to add to his
stock of wives as he passed up country, and at Clowey he had met the
former husband of one of these women whom he had carried off by force.
The man ventured to reproach him, whereupon Matonabi went into his
tent, opened one of his wives' bundles, and with the greatest
composure took out a new, long, box-handled knife; then proceeded to
the tent of the man who had complained, and without any parley
whatever took him by the collar and attempted to stab him to death.
The man had already received three bad knife wounds in the back before
other people, rushing in to his assistance, prevented Matonabi from
finishing him. After this, Matonabi returned to his tent as though
nothing had happened, called for water, washed the blood off his hands
and knife, and smoked his pipe as usual, asking Hearne if he did not
think he had done quite right!
"It has ever been the custom among those people for the men to wrestle
for any woman to whom they are attached; and of course the strongest
party always carries off the prize. A weak man, unless he be a good
hunter and well beloved, is seldom permitted to keep a wife that a
stronger man thinks worth his notice; for at any time when the wives
of those strong wrestlers are heavy laden either with furs or
provisions, they make no scruple of tearing any other man's wife from
his bosom and making her bear a part of his luggage. This custom
prevails throughout all their tribes, and causes a great spirit of
emulation among their youth, who are upon all occasions, from their
childhood, trying their strength and skill in wrestling. This enables
them to protect their property, and particularly their wives, from the
hands of those powerful ravishers, some of whom make almost a
livelihood by taking what they please from the weaker parties without
making them any return. Indeed it is represented as an act of great
generosity if they condescend to make an unequal exchange, as, in
general, abuse and insult are the only return for the loss which is
sustained.
"The way in which they tear the women and other property from one
another, though it has the appearance of the greatest brutality, can
scarcely be called fighting. I never knew any of them receive the
least hurt in these _rencontres_; the whole business consists in
hauling each other about by the hair of the head; they are seldom
known either to strike or kick one another. It is not uncommon for one
of them to cut off his hair and to grease his ears immediately before
the contest begins. This, however, is done privately; and it is
sometimes truly laughable to see one of the parties strutting about
with an air of great importance, and calling out: 'Where is he? Why
does he not come out?' when the other will bolt out with a clean-shorn
head and greased ears, rush on his antagonist, seize him by the hair,
and, though perhaps a much weaker man, soon drag him to the ground,
while the stronger is not able to lay hold of him. It is very frequent
on those occasions for each party to have spies, to watch the other's
motions, which puts them more on a footing of equality. For want of
hair to pull, they seize each other about the waist, with legs wide
extended, and try their strength by endeavouring to vie who can first
throw the other down."
"Early in the morning of the twenty-ninth 'Captain' Keelshies (an
Indian) joined us. He delivered to me a packet of letters and a
two-quart keg of French brandy, but assured me that the powder, shot,
tobacco, knives, &c, which he received at the fort for me, were all
expended. He endeavoured to make some apology for this by saying that
some of his relations died in the winter, and that he had, according
to native custom, thrown all his own things away; after which he was
obliged to have recourse to my ammunition and other goods to support
himself and a numerous family. The very affecting manner in which he
related this story, often crying like a child, was a great proof of
his extreme sorrow, which he wished to persuade me arose from the
recollection of his having embezzled so much of my property; but I was
of a different opinion, and attributed his grief to arise from the
remembrance of his deceased relations. However, as a small recompense
for my loss, he presented me with four ready-dressed moose skins,
which was, he said, the only retribution he could then make. The moose
skins, though not the twentieth part of the value of the goods which
he had embezzled, were in reality more acceptable to me than the
ammunition and the other articles would have been, on account of their
great use as shoe leather, which at that time was a very scarce
article with us, whereas we had plenty of powder and shot."
During Hearne's stay at Lake Clowey a great number of Indians entered
into a combination with those of his party to travel together to the
Coppermine River, with no other intent than to murder the Eskimo who
frequented that river in considerable numbers. Before leaving Lake
Clowey all the Northern Indians who had assembled there prepared their
arms for the encounter, and did not forget to make shields before they
left the woods of Clowey. These shields were composed of thin boards
about three-quarters of an inch thick, two feet broad, and three feet
long, and were intended to ward off the arrows of the Eskimo.
When the now large expedition reached a river with the fearful name of
Congecathawhachaga, they found a portion of the tribe known as Copper
Indians,[5] and these had never before seen a white man. They gave a
very friendly reception to Hearne on account of Matonabi.
[Footnote 5: Or "Tantsawh[¯u]ts". Like the "Dog-rib" Indians,
mentioned farther on, they belonged to the "Northern", Tinné,
Athabaskan type.]
"They expressed as much desire to examine me from top to toe as a
European naturalist would a nondescript animal. They, however, found
and pronounced me to be a perfect human being, except in the colour of
my hair and eyes; the former, they said, was like the stained hair of
a buffalo's tail, and the latter, being light, were like those of a
gull. The whiteness of my skin also was, in their opinion, no
ornament, as they said it resembled meat which had been sodden in
water till all the blood was extracted. On the whole I was viewed as
so great a curiosity in this part of the world that during my stay
there, whenever I combed my head, some or other of them never failed
to ask for the hairs that came off, which they carefully wrapped up,
saying: 'When I see you again, you shall again see your hair'."
The Copper Indians sent a detachment of their men in the double
capacity of guides and warriors, and the whole party now turned
towards the north-west, and after some days' walking reached the Stony
Mountains. "Surely no part of the world better deserves that name",
wrote, Hearne. They appeared to be a confused heap of stones quite
inaccessible to the foot of man. Nevertheless, with the Copper Indians
as guides, they got over this range, though not without being obliged
frequently to crawl on hands and knees. This range, however, had been
so often crossed by Indians coming to and fro that there was a very
visible path the whole way, the rocks, even in the most difficult
places, being worn quite smooth. By the side of the path there were
several large, flat stones covered with thousands of small pebbles.
These marks had been gradually built up by passengers going to and fro
from the copper mines in the far north. The weather all this time,
although the month was July, was very bad--constant snow, sleet, and
rain. Hearne seldom had a dry garment of any kind, and in the caves
where they lodged at night the water was constantly dropping from the
roof. Their food all this time was raw venison. One snowstorm which
fell on them was heavier than was customary even in the winter, but at
last the weather cleared up and sunshine made the journey far more
tolerable.
As they descended the northern side of the Stony Mountains they
crossed a large lake, passing over its unmelted ice, and called it
Musk-ox Lake, from the number of these creatures which they found
grazing on the margin of it.
This was not the first time that Hearne had seen the musk ox. These
animals were wont to come down as far south as the shores of Hudson
Bay.
On the northern side of the Stony Mountains Hearne was taken by the
Indians to see a place which he called Grizzly-bear Hill, which took
its name from the numbers of those animals (presumably what we call
grizzly bears) which resorted here for the purpose of bringing forth
their young in a cave in this hill. On the east side of the adjoining
marsh Hearne was amazed at the sight of the many hills and dry ridges,
which were turned over like ploughed land by the long claws of these
bears in searching for the ground squirrels and mice which constitute
a favourite part of their food. It was surprising to see the enormous
stones rolled out of their beds by the bears on these occasions.
As they neared the Coppermine River the weather became very warm, and
the country had a good supply of firewood. Reindeer were abundant,
and, the Indians having killed some of these, Hearne sat down to the
most comfortable meal he had had for some months.
It was a kind of haggis, called by the Amerindians "biati", made with
the blood of the reindeer, a good quantity of fat shredded small, some
of the tenderest of the flesh, together with the heart and lungs, cut,
or more commonly torn, into small slivers--all which would be put into
the stomach, and roasted by being suspended before the fire by a
string. Care had to be taken that it did not get too much heat at
first, as the bag would thereby be liable to be burnt and the contents
be let out. When it was sufficiently done it emitted steam, "which",
writes Hearne, "is as much as to say: 'Come, eat me now'; and if it be
taken in time, before the blood and other contents are too much done,
it is certainly a most delicious morsel, even without pepper, salt, or
any other seasoning."
It was now almost impossible to sleep at night for the mosquitoes,
which swarmed in myriads as soon as the warmth of the sun melted the
ice and snow. When Hearne actually reached the banks of the Coppermine
River he was a little disappointed at its appearance, as it seemed to
be only one hundred and eighty yards wide, shallow, and full of
shoals. The Chipewayan Amerindians with him now sent out their spies
to try and locate the Eskimo. Presently they found that there were
five tents of them on the west side of the river.
"When the Indians received this intelligence no further attendance or
attention was paid to my survey, but their whole thoughts were
immediately engaged in planning the best method of attack, and how
they might steal on the poor Eskimo the ensuing night and kill them
all when asleep. To accomplish this bloody design more effectually the
Indians thought it necessary to cross the river as soon as possible;
and, by the account of the spies, it appeared that no part was more
convenient for the purpose than that where we had met them, it being
there very smooth, and at a considerable distance from any fall.
Accordingly, after the Indians had put all their guns, spears,
shields, &c, in good order, we crossed the river....
"When we arrived on the west side of the river, each painted the front
of his shield; some with the figure of the sun, others with that of
the moon, several with different kinds of birds and beasts of prey,
and many with the images of imaginary beings, which, according to
their silly notions, are the inhabitants of the different elements,
Earth, Sea, Air, &c. On enquiring the reason of their doing so, I
learned that each man painted his shield with the image of that being
on which he relied most for success in the intended engagement. Some
were content with a single representation; while others, doubtful, as
I suppose, of the quality and power of any single being, had their
shields covered to the very margin with a group of hieroglyphics quite
unintelligible to everyone except the painter. Indeed, from the hurry
in which this business was necessarily done, the want of every colour
but red and black, and the deficiency of skill in the artist, most of
those paintings had more the appearance of a number of accidental
blotches, than 'of anything that is on the earth, or in the water
under the earth'....
"After this piece of superstition was completed, we began to advance
towards the Eskimo tents; but were very careful to avoid crossing any
hills, or talking loud, for fear of being seen or overheard by the
inhabitants."
When the attacking party was within two hundred yards of the Eskimo
tents, they lay in ambush for some time, watching the motions of their
intended victims; and here the Indians wanted Hearne (for whom they
had a sincere affection) to stay till the fight was over; but to this
he would not consent, lest, when the Eskimo came to be surprised, they
should try every way to escape, and, finding him alone, kill him in
their desperation.
While they lay in ambush the Northern Indians performed the last
ceremonies which were thought necessary before the engagement. These
chiefly consisted in painting their faces: some all black, some all
red, and others with a mixture of the two; and to prevent their hair
from blowing into their eyes, it was either tied before or behind, and
on both sides, or else cut short all round. The next thing they
considered was to make themselves as light as possible for running,
which they did by pulling off their stockings, and either cutting off
the sleeves of their jackets, or rolling them up close to their
armpits; and though the mosquitoes at that time "were so numerous as
to surpass all credibility", yet some of the Indians actually pulled
off their jackets and entered the lists nearly or quite naked. Hearne,
fearing he might have occasion to run with the rest, thought it also
advisable to pull off his stockings and cap, and to tie his hair as
close up as possible.
By the time the Indians had made themselves thus "completely
frightful", it was nearly one in the morning. Then, finding all the
Eskimo quiet in their tents, they rushed forth from their ambuscade,
and fell on the poor, unsuspecting creatures, unperceived till they
were close to the very eaves of the tents. A horrible massacre
forthwith took place, while Hearne stood neutral in the rear.
"The scene was shocking beyond description. The poor unhappy victims
were surprised in the midst of their sleep, and had neither time nor
power to make any resistance; men, women, and children, in all upward
of twenty, ran out of their tents stark naked, and endeavoured to make
their escape; but the Indians having possession of all the landside,
to no place could they fly for shelter. One alternative only remained,
that of jumping into the river; but, as none of them attempted it,
they all fell a sacrifice to Indian barbarity!
"The shrieks and groans of the poor expiring wretches were truly
dreadful; and my horror was much increased at seeing a young girl,
seemingly about eighteen years of age, killed so near me, that when
the first spear was stuck into her side she fell down at my feet, and
twisted round my legs, so that it was with difficulty that I could
disengage myself from her dying grasp. As two Indian men pursued this
unfortunate victim, I solicited very hard for her life; but the
murderers made no reply till they had stuck both their spears through
her body, and transfixed her to the ground. They then looked me
sternly in the face, and began to ridicule me by asking if I wanted an
Eskimo wife; and paid not the smallest regard to the shrieks and agony
of the poor wretch, who was twining round their spears like an eel!"
On his requesting that they would at least put the woman out of her
misery, one of the Indians hastily drew his spear from the place where
it was first lodged, and pierced it through her breast near the heart.
The love of life, however, even in this most miserable state, was so
predominant, that "though this might justly be called the most
merciful act that could be done for the poor creature, it seemed to be
unwelcome, for, though much exhausted by pain and loss of blood, she
made several efforts to ward off the friendly blow."... "My own
situation and the terror of my mind at beholding this butchery,
cannot easily be conceived, much less described; though I summed up
all the fortitude I was master of on the occasion, it was with
difficulty that I could refrain from tears; and I am confident that my
features must have feelingly expressed how sincerely I was affected at
the barbarous scene I then witnessed; even at this hour I cannot
reflect on the transactions of that horrid day without shedding
tears."
There were other Eskimo on the opposite shore of the river. Though
they took up their arms to defend themselves, they did not attempt to
abandon their tents, for they were utterly unacquainted with the
nature of firearms; so much so that when the bullets struck the
ground, they ran in crowds to see what was sent them, and seemed
anxious to examine all the pieces of lead which they found flattened
against the rocks. At length one of the Eskimo men was shot in the
calf of his leg, which put them in great confusion. They all
immediately embarked in their little canoes, and paddled to a shoal in
the middle of the river, which being somewhat more than a gunshot from
any part of the shore, put them out of the reach of our barbarians.
"When the savages discovered that the surviving Eskimo had gained the
shore above-mentioned, the Northern Indians began to plunder the
tents of the deceased of all the copper utensils they could find; such
as hatchets, bayonets, knives, &c, after which they assembled on the
top of an adjacent hill, and, standing all in a cluster, so as to form
a solid circle, with their spears erect in the air, gave many shouts
of victory, constantly clashing their spears against each other, and
frequently calling out _tima! tima!_[6] by way of derision to the poor
surviving Eskimo, who were standing on the shoal almost knee deep in
water."
[Footnote 6: "_Tima_ in the Eskimo language is a friendly word similar
to _what cheer_?"--Hearne.]
"It ought to have been mentioned in its proper place," writes Hearne,
after describing further atrocities, "that in making our retreat up
the river, after killing the Eskimo on the west side, we saw an old
woman sitting by the side of the water killing salmon, which lay at
the foot of the fall as thick as a shoal of herrings. Whether from the
noise of the fall, or a natural defect in the old woman's hearing, it
is hard to determine, but certain it is, she had no knowledge of the
tragical scene which had been so lately transacted at the tents,
though she was not more than two hundred yards from the place. When we
first perceived her she seemed perfectly at ease, and was entirely
surrounded with the produce of her labour. From her manner of
behaviour, and the appearance of her eyes, which were as red as blood,
it is more than probable that her sight was not very good; for she
scarcely discerned that the Indians were enemies, till they were
within twice the length of their spears of her. It was in vain that
she attempted to fly, for the wretches of my crew transfixed her to
the ground in a few seconds, and butchered her in the most savage
manner. There was scarcely a man among them who had not a thrust at
her with his spear; and many in doing this aimed at torture rather
than immediate death, as they not only poked out her eyes, but stabbed
her in many parts very remote from those which are vital.
"It may appear strange that a person supposed to be almost blind
should be employed in the business of fishing, and particularly with
any degree of success; but when the multitude of the fish is taken
into the account, the wonder will cease. Indeed they were so numerous
at the foot of the fall, that when a light pole, armed with a few
spikes, which was the instrument the old woman used, was put under
water, and hauled up with a jerk, it was scarcely possible to miss
them. Some of my Indians tried the method, for curiosity, with the old
woman's staff, and seldom got less than two at a jerk, sometimes
three or four. Those fish, though very fine, and beautifully red, are
but small, seldom weighing more (as near as I could judge) than six or
seven pounds, and in general much less. Their numbers at this place
were almost incredible, perhaps equal to anything that is related of
the salmon in Kamschatka, or any other part of the world."
Hearne seems to have been so intent on geographical discovery that he
did not allow his feelings to influence him very long against the
society of his Amerindian companions, who apparently sat down and ate
a dish of salmon with him an hour or so after they had killed this
last old woman! The Indians now told him that they were ready again to
assist him in making an end of his survey, and apparently on foot, for
the Coppermine River was not navigable here, even for a boat.
Thus, first of all white men coming overland, he reached the sea coast
of the Arctic Ocean. The tide was then out, and a good deal of the sea
surface was covered with ice, on which he observed many seals lying
about. Along the sea coast and river banks were many birds; gulls,
divers or loons, golden plovers, green plovers, curlews, geese, and
swans. The country a little way inland was obviously inhabited by
numbers of musk oxen, reindeer, bears, wolves, gluttons, foxes, polar
hares, snowy owls, ravens, ptarmigans, gopher ground-squirrels, stoats
(ermines), and mice. In this region also he saw a bird which the
Copper Indians called the Alarm Bird. He tells us that in size and
colour it resembles a "Cobadekoock"; but as none of us know what that
is, we can only go on to imagine that the Alarm Bird was a kind of
owl, as Hearne says it was "of the owl genus". When it perceived
people or beasts it directed its way towards them immediately, and,
after hovering over them for some time, flew over them in circles or
went away with them in the same direction as they walked. All this
time the bird made a loud screaming noise like the cry of a child.
These owls were sometimes accustomed to follow the Indians for a whole
day, and the Copper Indians believed that they would in some way
conduct them to herds of deer and musk oxen, which without the birds'
assistance might never be found. They also warned Indians of the
arrival of strangers. The Eskimo, according to Hearne, paid no heed to
these birds, and it was thus that they allowed themselves to be
surprised and massacred, for if they had looked out from the direction
in which the Chipewayans were lying in ambush, they would have seen a
large flock of these owls continually flying about and making
sufficient noise to awaken any man out of the soundest sleep.
The country on either side of the estuary of the Coppermine River was
not without vegetation. There were stunted pines and tufts of dwarf
willows, and the ground was covered with a lichen or herb, which the
English of the Hudson's Bay Company knew by the name of
Wishakapaka,[7] and which they dried and used instead of tea. There
were also cranberry and heathberry bushes, but without fruit. The
scrub grew gradually thinner and smaller as one approached the sea,
and at the mouth of the river there was nothing but barren hills and
marsh.
[Footnote 7: _Ledum palustre_.]
The unfortunate Eskimo of this region, judging by the examples seen by
Hearne, were of low stature, with broad thickset bodies. Their
complexion was a dirty copper colour, but some of the women were
almost fair and ruddy. Their dress, their arms and fishing tackle were
precisely similar to those of the Greenland Eskimo. Their tents were
made of deerskins, and were pitched in a circular form. But these were
only their summer habitations, those for the winter being partly
underground, with a roof framework of poles, over which skins were
stretched; and of course Nature did the rest, covering the roof with
several feet of snow. Owing to being almost entirely surrounded by
snow, these winter houses were very warm. Their household furniture
consisted of stone kettles and wooden troughs of various sizes, also
dishes, scoops, and spoons made of musk-ox horns. The stone kettles
(which some people think they borrowed from the Norse discoverers of
America in the eleventh century) were as large as to be capable of
containing five or six gallons. They were, of course, carved out of
solid blocks of stone, every one of them being ornamented with neat
moulding round the rims, and some of the large ones with fluted work
at each corner. In shape they were oblong, wider at the top than the
bottom, and strong handles of solid stone were left at each end to
lift them up.
The Eskimo hatchets were made of a thick lump of copper about five or
six inches long, and one and a half to two inches broad. They were
bevelled away at one end like a chisel. This piece of copper was
lashed into the end of a piece of wood about twelve or fourteen inches
long. The men's daggers and the women's knives were also made of
copper. The former were in shape like the ace of spades, and the
handle was made of reindeer antler.
With the Eskimo was a fine breed of dogs, with erect ears, sharp
noses, bushy tails. They were all tethered to stones to prevent them
from eating the flesh that was spread all over the rocks to dry.
Apparently, these beautiful dogs were left behind still tethered by
the wicked Amerindians, after the massacre of their owners. Hearne,
however, noticed with these Coppermine River Eskimo that the men were
entirely bald, having all their head hair pulled out by the roots. The
women wore their hair at the usual length.
Before leaving this region to return southwards, Hearne was led by the
Indians to one of the copper mines about thirty miles south-east of
the river mouth. It was no more than a jumble of rocks and gravel,
which had been rent in many ways, apparently by an earthquake shock.
This mine was at the time of Hearne's visit very poor in copper, much
of the metal having already been removed.
The Copper Indians set a great value on this native metal even at the
present day, and prefer it to iron for almost every use except that of
a hatchet, a knife, and an awl. "For these three necessary
implements", writes Hearne, "copper makes but a very poor substitute."
On the return journey, in the course of which the Great Slave
Lake--which Hearne calls "Lake Athapuscow"--was discovered and crossed
on the ice, the party travelled so hard and stayed so seldom to rest
that Hearne suffered terribly with his legs and feet. "I had 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 honeycombed by the dirt
and gravel eating into the raw flesh."
"Among the various superstitious customs of those people, it is worth
remarking, and ought to have been mentioned in its proper place, that
immediately after my companions had killed the Eskimo at the Copper
River, they considered themselves in a state of uncleanness, which
induced them to practise some very curious unusual ceremonies. In the
first place, all who were absolutely concerned in the murder were
prohibited from cooking any kind of victuals, either for themselves or
others. As luckily there were two in company who had not shed blood,
they were employed always as cooks till we joined the women. This
circumstance was exceedingly favourable on my side; for had there been
no persons of the above description in company, that task, I was told,
would have fallen on me; which would have been no less fatiguing and
troublesome, than humiliating and vexatious.
"When the victuals were cooked, all the murderers took a kind of red
earth, or ochre, and painted all the space between the nose and chin,
as well as the greater part of their cheeks, almost to the ears,
before they would taste a bit, and would not drink out of any other
dish, or smoke out of any other pipe, but their own; and none of the
others seemed willing to drink or smoke out of theirs."
He goes on to relate that they practised the custom of painting the
mouth and part of the cheeks before each meal, and drinking and
smoking out of their own utensils, till the winter began to set in,
and during the whole of that time they would never kiss any of their
wives or children. They refrained also from eating many parts of the
deer and other animals, particularly the head, entrails, and blood;
and during their "uncleanness" their food was never cooked in water,
but dried in the sun, eaten quite raw, or broiled. When the time
arrived that was to put an end to these ceremonies, the men, without a
female being present, made a fire at some distance from the tents,
into which they threw all their ornaments, pipe stems, and dishes,
which were soon consumed to ashes; after which a feast was prepared,
consisting of such articles as they had long been prohibited from
eating, and when all was over each man was at liberty to eat, drink,
and smoke as he pleased, "and also to kiss his wives and children at
discretion, which they seemed to do with more raptures than I had ever
known them to do it either before or since".
On the 11th of January, as some of Hearne's companions were hunting,
they saw the track of a strange snowshoe, which they followed, and at
a considerable distance came to a little hut, where they discovered a
young woman sitting alone. As they found that she understood their
language, they brought her with them to the tents. On examination she
proved to be one of the Western Dog-rib Indians, who had been taken
prisoner by the Athapaska Indians in the summer of 1770. From these,
in the following summer, she had escaped, with the intention of
returning to her own country, but the distance being so great, and the
way being unknown to her, she forgot the track, so she built the hut
in which they found her, to protect her from the weather during the
winter, and here she had resided from the first setting in of the cold
weather. For seven months she had seen no human face. During all this
time she had supported herself in comparative comfort by snaring
grouse, rabbits, and squirrels; she had also killed two or three
beaver, and some porcupines. That she did not seem to have been in
want was evident, as she had a small stock of provisions by her when
she was discovered, and was in good health and condition; and Hearne
thought her "one of the finest women", of the real Indian type, that
he had seen in any part of North America.
"The methods practised by this poor creature to procure a livelihood
were truly admirable, and are great proofs that necessity is the real
mother of invention. When the few deer sinews that she had an
opportunity of taking with her were all expended in making snares and
sewing her clothing, she had nothing to supply their place but the
sinews of the rabbits' [he means hares'] legs and feet; these she
twisted together for that purpose with great dexterity and success.
The rabbits, &c, which she caught in those snares, not only furnished
her with a comfortable subsistence, but of the skins she made a suit
of neat and warm clothing for the winter. It is scarcely possible to
conceive that a person in her forlorn situation could be so composed
as to be capable of contriving or executing anything that was not
absolutely necessary to her existence; but there were sufficient
proofs that she had extended her care much farther, as all her
clothing, beside being calculated for real service, showed great taste
and exhibited no little variety of ornament. The materials, though
rude, were very curiously wrought and so judiciously placed as to make
the whole of her garb have a very pleasing, though rather romantic,
appearance.
"Her leisure hours from hunting had been employed in twisting the
inner rind or bark of willows into small lines, like net twine, of
which she had some hundred fathoms by her; with this she intended to
make a fishing net as soon as the spring advanced. It is of the inner
bark of willows, twisted in this manner, that the Dog-rib Indians make
their fishing nets, and they are much preferable to those made by the
Northern Indians.
"Five or six inches of an iron hoop, made into a knife, and the shank
of an arrowhead of iron, which served her as an awl, were all the
metals this poor woman had with her when she eloped, and with these
implements she had made herself complete snowshoes, and several other
useful articles.
"Her method of making a fire was equally singular and curious, having
no other materials for that purpose than two hard sulphurous stones.
These, by long friction and hard knocking, produced a few sparks,
which at length communicated to some touchwood (a species of fungus
which grew on decayed poplars); but as this method was attended with
great trouble, and not always with success, she did not suffer her
fire to go out all the winter...."
Hearne regained Prince of Wales's Fort on Hudson Bay in June, 1772.
Subsequently he was dispatched, in the year 1774, to found the first
great inland trading station and fort of the Hudson's Bay Company
which was established at any considerable distance westward of Hudson
Bay--the first step, in fact, which led to this chartered company
becoming in time the ruler and colonizing agent of Alberta and British
Columbia. Hearne chose for his station of "Cumberland House" a site at
the entrance to Pine Island Lake on the lower Saskatchewan River.
In 1775 he became Governor of his old starting-point on Hudson
Bay--Fort Prince of Wales. During the American war with France, the
French admiral, La Pérouse, made a daring excursion into Hudson Bay
(1782), and summoned Hearne to surrender his fort. This he felt
obliged to do, not deeming his small garrison strong enough to resist
the French force.
Samuel Hearne returned to England in 1787, and died (probably in
London) in 1792.