Austin Edwards was too ardent in his pursuits not to make the intended
visit to the cottage near the wood the continued theme of his
conversation with his brothers through the remainder of the day; and,
when he retired to rest, in his dreams he was either wandering through
the forest defenceless, having lost his tomahawk, or flying over the
prairie on the back of a buffalo, amid the yelling of a thousand
Indians.
The sun was bright in the skies when the three brothers set out on
their anticipated excursion. Austin was loud in praise of their kind
preserver, but he could not at all understand how any one, who had
been a hunter of bears and buffaloes, could quietly settle down to
lead the life of a farmer; for his part, he would have remained a
hunter for ever. Brian thought the hunter had acted a wise part in
coming away from so many dangers; and little Basil, not being quite
able to decide which of his two brothers was right, remained silent.
As the two elder brothers wished to show Basil the place where they
stood when the oak tree and the red sand-stone rock fell over the
precipice with a crash; and as Basil was equally desirous to visit the
spot, they went up to it. Austin helped his little brother over the
broken fragments which still lay scattered over the narrow path. It
was a sight that would have impressed the mind of any one; and Brian
looked up with awe to the remaining part of the rifted rock, above
which the fallen oak tree had stood. Austin was very eloquent in his
description of the sudden voice of the stranger, of the roaring wind
as it rushed through the wood, and of the crashing tree and falling
rock. Basil showed great astonishment; and they all descended from the
commanding height, full of the fearful adventure of the preceding day.
When they were come within sight of the wood, Brian cried out that he
could see the shepherd's cottage; but Austin told him that he ought
not to call the cottager a shepherd, but a hunter. It was true that he
had a flock of sheep, but he kept them more to employ his time than to
get a living by them. For many years he had lived among the Indians,
and hunted buffaloes with them; he was, therefore, to all intents and
purposes, a buffalo hunter, and ought not to be called a shepherd.
This important point being settled--Brian and Basil having agreed to
call him, in future, a hunter, and not a shepherd--they walked on
hastily to the cottage.
In five minutes after, the hunter was showing and explaining to his
delighted young visitors the Indian curiosities which hung around the
walls of his cottage, together with others which he kept with greater
care. These latter were principally calumets, or peace-pipes;
mocassins, or Indian shoes; war-eagle dresses, mantles, necklaces,
shields, belts, pouches and war-clubs of superior workmanship. There
was also an Indian cradle, and several rattles and musical
instruments: these altogether afforded the young people wondrous
entertainment. Austin wanted to know how the Indians used their
war-clubs; Brian inquired how they smoked the peace-pipe; and little
Basil was quite as anxious in his questions about a rattle, which he
had taken up and was shaking to and fro. To all these inquiries the
hunter gave satisfactory replies, with a promise to enter afterwards
on a more full explanation.
In addition to these curiosities, the young people were shown a few
specimens of different kinds of furs: as those of the beaver, ermine,
sable, martin, fiery fox, black fox, silver fox, and squirrel. Austin
wished to know all at once, where, and in what way these fur animals
were caught; and, with this end in view, he contrived to get the
hunter into conversation on the subject. "I suppose," said he, "that
you know all about beavers, and martins, and foxes, and squirrels."
_Hunter._ I ought to know something about them, having been in my time
somewhat of a _Voyageur_, a _Coureur des bois_, a _Trapper_, and a
_Freeman_; but you will hardly understand these terms without some
little explanation.
_Austin._ What is a Coureur des bois?
_Brian._ What is a Voyageur?
_Basil._ I want to know what a Trapper is.
_Hunter._ Perhaps it will be better if I give you a short account of
the way in which the furs of different animals are obtained, and then
I can explain the terms, Voyageur, Coureur des bois, Trapper, and
Freeman, as well as a few other things which you may like to know.
_Brian._ Yes, that will be the best way.
_Austin._ Please not to let it be a short account, but a long one.
Begin at the very beginning, and go on to the very end.
_Hunter._ Well, we shall see. It has pleased God, as we read in the
first chapter of the book of Genesis, to give man "dominion over the
fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth." The meaning of which is, no doubt, not that he may
cruelly abuse them, but that he may use them for his wants and
comforts, or destroy them when they annoy and injure him. The skins of
animals have been used as clothing for thousands of years; and furs
have become so general in dresses and ornaments, that, to obtain them,
a regular trade has long been carried on. In this traffic, the
uncivilized inhabitants of cold countries exchange their furs for
useful articles and comforts and luxuries, which are only to be
obtained from warmer climes and civilized people.
_Austin._ And where do furs come from?
_Hunter._ Furs are usually obtained in cold countries. The ermine and
the sable are procured in the northern parts of Europe and Asia; but
most of the furs in use come from the northern region of our own
country.
If you look at the map of North America, you will find that between
the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans the space is, in its greatest
breath, more than three thousand miles; and, from north to south, the
country stretches out, to say the least of it, a thousand miles still
further. The principal rivers of North America are the Mackenzie,
Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, and St. Lawrence. The Mississippi is
between three and four thousand miles long. Our country abounds with
lakes, too: Ontario and Winipeg are each near two hundred miles long;
Lakes Huron and Erie are between two and three hundred; Michigan is
four hundred, and Lake Superior nearly five hundred miles long.
_Brian._ What a length for a lake! nearly five hundred miles! Why, it
is more like a sea than a lake.
_Hunter._ Well, over a great part of the space that I have mentioned,
furry animals abound; and different fur companies send those in their
employ to boat up the river, to sail through the lakes, to hunt wild
animals, to trap beavers, and to trade with the various Indian tribes
which are scattered throughout this extensive territory.
_Austin._ Oh! how I should like to hunt and to trade with the Indians!
_Hunter._ Better think the matter over a little before you set off on
such an expedition. Are you ready to sail by ship, steam-boat, and
canoe, to ride on horseback, or to trudge on foot, as the case may
require; to swim across brooks and rivers; to wade through bogs, and
swamps, and quagmires; to live for weeks on flesh, without bread or
salt to it; to lie on the cold ground; to cook your own food; and to
mend your own jacket and mocassins? Are you ready to endure hunger and
thirst, heat and cold, rain and solitude? Have you patience to bear
the stings of tormenting mosquitoes; and courage to defend your life
against the grizzly bear, the buffalo, and the tomahawk of the red
man, should he turn out to be an enemy?
_Brian._ No, no, Austin. You must not think of running into such
dangers.
_Hunter._ I will now give you a short account of the fur trade. About
two hundred years ago, or more, the French made a settlement in
Canada, and they soon found such advantage in obtaining the furry
skins of the various animals wandering in the woods and plains around
them, that, after taking all they could themselves, they began to
trade with the Indians, the original inhabitants of the country, who
brought from great distances skins of various kinds. In a rude camp,
formed of the bark of trees, these red men assembled, seated
themselves in half circles, smoked their pipes, made speeches, gave
and received presents, and traded with the French people for their
skins. The articles given in exchange to the Indian hunters, were
knives, axes, arms, kettles, blankets, and cloth: the brighter the
colour of the cloth, the better the Indians were pleased.
_Austin._ I think I can see them now.
_Basil._ Did they smoke such pipes as we have been looking at?
_Hunter._ Yes; for almost all the pipes used by the red men are made
of red stone, dug out of the same quarry, called pipe-stone quarry;
about which I will tell you some other time. One bad part of this
trading system was, that the French gave the Indians but a small part
of the value of their skins; and besides this they charged their own
articles extravagantly high; and a still worse feature in the case
was, that they supplied the Indians with spirituous liquors, and thus
brought upon them all the evils and horrors of intemperance.
This system of obtaining furs was carried on for many years, when
another practice sprang up. Such white men as had accompanied the
Indians in hunting, and made themselves acquainted with the country,
would paddle up the rivers in canoes, with a few arms and provisions,
and hunt for themselves. They were absent sometimes for as much as a
year, or a year and a half, and then returned with their canoes laden
with rich furs. These white men were what I called _Coureurs des
bois_, rangers of the woods.
_Austin._ Ah! I should like to be a coureur des bois.
_Hunter._ Some of these coureurs des bois became very lawless and
depraved in their habits, so that the French government enacted a law
whereby no one, on pain of death, could trade in the interior of the
country with the Indians, without a license. Military posts were also
established, to protect the trade. In process of time, too, fur
companies were established; and men, called _Voyageurs_, or canoe men,
were employed, expressly to attend to the canoes carrying supplies up
the rivers, or bringing back cargoes of furs.
_Basil._ Now we know what a _Voyageur_ is.
_Hunter._ You would hardly know me, were you to see me dressed as a
voyageur. Just think: I should have on a striped cotton shirt, cloth
trousers, a loose coat made of a blanket, with perhaps leathern
leggins, and deer-skin mocassins; and then I must not forget my
coloured worsted belt, my knife and tobacco pouch.
_Austin._ What a figure you would cut! And yet, I dare say, such a
dress is best for a voyageur.
_Hunter._ Most of the Canadian voyageurs were good-humoured,
light-hearted men, who always sang a lively strain as they dipped
their oars into the waters of the lake or rolling river; but
steam-boats are now introduced, so that the voyageurs are but few.
_Basil._ What a pity! I like those voyageurs.
_Hunter._ The voyageurs, who were out for a long period, and navigated
the interior of the country, were called _North-men_, or _Winterers_,
while the others had the name of _Goers and Comers_. Any part of a
river where they could not row a laden canoe, on account of the rapid
stream, they called a _Decharge_; and there the goods were taken from
the boats, and carried on their shoulders, while others towed the
canoes up the stream: but a fall of water, where they were obliged not
only to carry the goods, but also to drag the canoes on land up to the
higher level, they called a _Portage_.
_Austin._ We shall not forget the North-men, and Comers and Goers, nor
the Decharges and Portages.
_Basil._ You have not told us what a Trapper is.
_Hunter._ A _Trapper_ is a beaver hunter. Those who hunt beavers and
other animals, for any of the fur companies, are called Trappers; but
such as hunt for themselves take the name of _Freemen_.
_Austin._ Yes, I shall remember. Please to tell us how they hunt the
beavers.
_Hunter._ Beavers build themselves houses on the banks of creeks or
small rivers, with mud, sticks, and stones, and afterwards cover them
over with a coat of mud, which becomes very hard. These houses are
five or six feet thick at the top; and in one house four old beavers,
and six or eight young ones, often live together. But, besides their
houses, the beavers take care to have a number of holes in the banks,
under water, called _washes_, into which they can run for shelter,
should their houses be attacked. It is the business of the trappers to
find out all these washes, or holes; and this they do in winter, by
knocking against the ice, and judging by the sound whether it is a
hole. Over every hole they cut out a piece of ice, big enough to get
at the beaver. No sooner is the beaver-house attacked, than the
animals run into their holes, the entrances of which are directly
blocked up with stakes. The trappers then either take them through the
holes with their hands, or haul them out with hooks fastened to the
end of a pole or stick.
[Illustration]
_Austin._ But why is a beaver hunter called a trapper? I cannot
understand that.
_Hunter._ Because beavers are caught in great numbers in steel traps,
which are set and baited on purpose for them.
_Brian._ Why do they not catch them in the summer?
_Hunter._ The fur of the beaver is in its prime in the winter; in the
summer, it is of inferior quality.
_Austin._ Do the trappers catch many beavers? I should think there
could not be very many of them.
_Hunter._ In one year, the Hudson's Bay Company alone sold as many as
sixty thousand beaver-skins; and it is not a very easy matter to take
them, I can assure you.
_Austin._ Sixty thousand! I did not think there were so many beavers
in the world.
_Hunter._ I will tell you an anecdote, by which you will see that
hunters and trappers have need to be men of courage and activity. A
trapper, of the name of Cannon, had just had the good fortune to kill
a buffalo; and, as he was at a considerable distance from his camp, he
cut out the tongue and some of the choice bits, made them into a
parcel, and slinging them on his shoulders by a strap passed round his
forehead, as the voyageurs carry packages of goods, set out on his way
to the camp. In passing through a narrow ravine, he heard a noise
behind him, and looking round, beheld, to his dismay, a grizzly bear
in full pursuit, apparently attracted by the scent of the meat. Cannon
had heard so much of the strength and ferocity of this fierce animal,
that he never attempted to fire, but slipping the strap from his
forehead, let go the buffalo meat, and ran for his life. The bear did
not stop to regale himself with the game, but kept on after the
hunter. He had nearly overtaken him, when Cannon reached a tree, and
throwing down his rifle, climbed up into it. The next instant Bruin
was at the foot of the tree, but as this species of bear does not
climb, he contented himself with turning the chase into a blockade.
Night came on. In the darkness, Cannon could not perceive whether or
not the enemy maintained his station; but his fears pictured him
rigorously mounting guard. He passed the night, therefore, in the
tree, a prey to dismal fancies. In the morning the bear was gone.
Cannon warily descended the tree, picked up his gun, and made the best
of his way back to the camp, without venturing to look after his
buffalo-meat.
_Austin._ Then the grizzly bear did not hurt him, after all.
_Brian._ I would not go among those grizzly bears for all in the
world.
_Austin._ Do the hunters take deer as well as other animals?
_Hunter._ Deer, though their skins are not so valuable as many furs,
are very useful to hunters and trappers; for they not only add to
their stock of peltries, but also supply them with food. When skins
have been tanned on the inside, they are called _furs_; but, before
they are tanned, they are called _peltries_. Deer are trapped much in
the same way as buffaloes are. A large circle is enclosed with twisted
trees and brushwood, with a very narrow opening, in the neighbourhood
of a well-frequented deer path. The inside of the circle is crowded
with small hedges, in the openings of which are set snares of twisted
thongs, made fast at one end to a neighbouring tree. Two lines of
small trees are set up, branching off outwardly from the narrow
entrance of the circle; so that the further the lines of trees extend
from the circle, the wider is the space between them. As soon as the
deer are seen moving in the direction of the circle, the hunters get
behind them, and urge them on by loud shouts. The deer, mistaking the
lines of trees set up for enemies, fly straight forward, till they
enter the snare prepared for them. The circle is then surrounded, to
prevent their quitting it, while some of the hunters go into it,
blocking up the entrance, and kill the deer with their bows and
arrows, and their spears.
_Basil._ I am sorry for the poor deer.
_Brian._ And so am I, Basil.
_Hunter._ Hunters are often obliged to leave food in particular
places, in case they should be destitute on their return that way.
They sometimes, too, leave property behind them, and for this purpose
they form a _cache_.
_Austin._ What is a _cache_?
_Hunter._ A _cache_ is a hole, or place of concealment; and when any
thing is put in it, great care is required to conceal it from enemies,
and indeed from wild animals, such as wolves and bears.
_Austin._ Well! but if they dig a deep hole, and put the things in it,
how could anybody find it? A wolf and a bear would never find it out.
_Hunter._ Perhaps not; unless they should smell it.
_Austin._ Ay! I forgot that. I must understand a little more of my
business before I set up for a hunter, or a trapper; but please to
tell us all about a cache.
_Hunter._ A cache is usually dug near a stream, that the earth taken
out of the hole may be thrown into the running water, otherwise it
would tell tales. Then the hunters spread blankets, or what clothes
they have, over the surrounding ground, to prevent the marks of their
feet being seen. When they have dug the hole they line it with dry
grass, and sticks, and bark, and sometimes with a dry skin. After the
things to be hidden are put in, they are covered with another dry
skin, and the hole is filled up with grass, stones, and sticks, and
trodden down hard, to prevent the top from sinking afterwards: the
place is sprinkled with water to take away the scent; and the turf,
which was first cut away, before the hole was dug, is laid down with
care, just as it was before it was touched. They then take up their
blankets and clothes, and leave the cache, putting a mark at some
distance, that when they come again they may know where to find it.
_Austin._ Capital! I could make a cache now, that neither bear, nor
wolf, nor Indian could find.
_Brian._ But if the bear did not find the cache, he might find you;
and then what would become of you?
_Austin._ Why I would climb a tree, as Cannon did.
_Hunter._ Most of the furs that are taken find their way to London;
but every year the animals which produce them become fewer. Besides
the skins of larger animals, the furs of a great number of smaller
creatures are valuable; and these, varying in their habits, require to
be taken in a different manner. The bison is found on the prairies,
or plains; the beaver, on creeks and rivers; the badger, the fox, and
the rabbit, burrow in the ground; and the bear, the deer, the mink,
the martin, the raccoon, the lynx, the hare, the musk-rat, the
squirrel, and ermine, are all to be found in the woods. In paddling up
the rivers in canoes, and in roaming through the woods and prairies,
in search of these animals, I have mingled much with Indians of
different tribes; and if you can, now and then, make a call on me, you
will perhaps be entertained in hearing what I can tell you about them.
The Indians should be regarded by us as brothers. We ought to feel
interested in their welfare here, and in their happiness hereafter.
The fact that we are living on lands once the residence of these
roaming tribes, and that they have been driven far into the wilderness
to make room for us, should lead us not only to feel sympathy for the
poor Indians, but to make decided efforts for their improvement. Our
missionary societies are aiming at this great object, but far greater
efforts are necessary. We have the word of God, and Christian
Sabbaths, and Christian ministers, and religious ordinances, in
abundance, to direct and comfort us; but they are but scantily
supplied with these advantages. Let us not forget to ask in our
prayers, that the Father of mercies may make known his mercy to them,
opening their eyes, and influencing their hearts, so that they may
become true servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The delight visible in the sparkling eyes of the young people, as
they took their leave, spoke their thanks. On their way home, they
talked of nothing else but fur companies, lakes, rivers, prairies, and
rocky mountains; buffaloes, wolves, bears, and beavers; and it was
quite as much as Brian and Basil could do, to persuade their brother
Austin from making up his mind at once to be a voyageur, a coureur des
bois, or a trapper. The more they were against it, so much the more
his heart seemed set upon the enterprise; and the wilder they made the
buffaloes that would attack him, and the bears and wolves that would
tear him to pieces, the bolder and more courageous he became. However,
though on this point they could not agree, they were all unanimous in
their determination to make another visit the first opportunity.
[Illustration: Indian Cloak.]
[Illustration: Chiefs of different Tribes.]