UNCLE MARK'S GOOD OPINION OF REUBEN--MIKE LAFFAN'S FIDDLE--THE BEAVER--
REUBEN'S DESIRE TO TURN TRAPPER--QUAMBO TAKES A PIPE--KEPENAU'S CANOE--
ASHATEA PADDLES REUBEN HOME--KEPENAU'S SAGACITY--UNCLE MARK WELCOMES
KEPENAU AND HIS DAUGHTER--THE OLD TRAPPER--REUBEN CARRIES SAMSON'S
PACK--ASHATEA IS TAUGHT ENGLISH BY LILY AND DORA--MARTIN GODFREY'S VISIT
TO THE SETTLEMENT--KEPENAU'S AND ASHATEA'S DEPARTURE--SANDY MCCOLL, THE
HALF-BREED--A VISIT TO KEPENAU--PORTAGING.
The summer had now come. The trees were all decked with their rich and
varied foliage; the notes of the feathered inhabitants were heard in the
forest; and numerous animals which had either gone south during the
winter, or had concealed themselves in sheltered places, were moving
about. There had been too much ploughing and sowing to allow of my
indulging in my favourite pursuits. All I could do was to run over and
pay my uncle and aunt a visit; but it may be that Lily was the chief
attraction.
I found her friend Dora with her one day. She was certainly a very nice
girl, although not equal to Lily by a long way, in my opinion. They
inquired whether we had seen anything of Kepenau and his daughter
Ashatea.
"They have not yet appeared," I answered; "nor have we received any
tidings of them."
"Dora wants to make the acquaintance of a real Indian girl, fit to be a
heroine," said Lily, laughing. "She has hitherto only seen the wretched
squaws who appear in the Eastern States. She can scarcely believe that
Ashatea is the interesting creature I describe her."
I said that I would try to communicate with Kepenau, if I could learn
his whereabouts from any passing Indians.
"Oh do!" said Lily; "and let him understand how glad we shall be to see
him and his daughter again."
While we were talking Reuben came in, and offered to accompany me back
to the hut. He, like me, had been very busy all the spring. He
certainly did not look well suited for hard labour; but his face was
more bronzed than heretofore, and he seemed perfectly well. Wishing the
girls good-bye, we shouldered our guns, and commenced the walk to the
hut. There was no risk of losing our way at this time, for the days
were long, and there was a bright moon that evening.
Uncle Mark welcomed Reuben, whom he liked for his straightforward
character and honesty.
"I am glad you have got such a companion as that young fellow," he said
to me. "When two harum-scarum fellows associate, they are sure to get
into trouble; but you two will help each other out of difficulties,
should you unexpectedly fall into them."
Mike amused us that evening with a tune on his fiddle; and Quambo
diverted us still more by a dance he performed to the music, which made
Reuben, who was not addicted to laughing, almost split his sides.
We agreed to have a long ramble into the forest next day, my uncle
giving me leave of absence. He could not spare Mike, but he allowed
Quambo to accompany us.
"We can cook our dinner without him," I said; "though, to be sure, we
cannot expect to dress it as well as he would."
"Ah! Massa Mark, poor black fellow do one t'ing well; you do ebery
t'ing well," observed Quambo, with a grimace, by which he intended to
show that he was paying a deserved compliment.
We carried our guns, with provisions in our knapsacks to last us for a
day, although we expected to kill more game than we should want. As we
wished to make a long excursion, we started at daybreak; that is to say,
Reuben, Quambo, and I, with the dogs. Reuben had a great desire to see
a beaver settlement which I had once visited when we first came into
that part of the country; and I thought that I could find my way to it.
Quambo amused us, as we walked along, with all sorts of tales about
beavers, raccoons, opossums, bears, and other animals, with the habits
of which he was well acquainted.
The beaver is a good-sized animal, being two and a half feet long
exclusive of the tail, which is one foot more. It is of a deep chestnut
colour; the hair very fine, smooth, and glossy. The Indians use its
incisor teeth, which are very large and hard, to cut the bone or horn
with which they tip their spears. It is a rodent, or gnawing animal.
It has a broad, horizontal, flattened tail, nearly of an oval form,
which is covered with scales. The hind feet are webbed, and, with the
aid of the tail, which acts as a rudder, enable it to swim through the
water with ease and rapidity. Except in one respect, I do not know that
it can be considered a sagacious animal; but it is a marvellous
engineer, its faculties being employed in building houses, and in
forming dams for the protection of its village.
One of its chief characteristics is the power it possesses of producing
a substance termed "castor,"--which is contained in two bags, each about
the size of a hen's egg. This castor is peculiarly attractive to
beavers. They scent it at a distance, and invariably make their way
towards it. No sooner does the beaver discover the delicious odour than
he sits upright, sniffs about in every direction, and squeals with
excitement until he can get up to it. The trapper, knowing this, always
carries a supply of castor, or bark-stone; and when he reaches a stream
or any other water near which he believes beavers may be found, he sets
his trap, about six inches under the water. He then chews the end of a
twig, dips it in the castor, and sticks it in with the scented end
uppermost, just a little above the water. The nearest beaver, on
discovering the scent, hurries up to the spot; and, if a young animal,
is nearly certain to be caught by the trap. The older beavers are more
knowing and cautious, and frequently bite off the end of the twig
without entangling themselves.
Another curious circumstance connected with this "castoreum" is, that as
soon as one beaver has deposited any of it on the ground, the beavers
from another lodge go to the spot, and after covering it with earth and
leaves, deposit their own "castoreum" on it. When they have gone away,
others in turn perform the same operation; and thus the process goes on
till a heap four or five feet in height has been raised. No one has as
yet been able to ascertain the object of this proceeding. It gives the
trapper, however, the means of catching the poor creatures--means which
they would undoubtedly withhold, if they had the power. Like human
beings, they are sufferers from their own acts.
The teeth of the beavers are sharp and powerful, and their jaws possess
an extraordinary amount of strength. This enables them to bite through
wood, tear the bark from trees, and chew vegetable substances of all
sorts. During summer they regale themselves on fruits and plants of
various descriptions; but their winter stock of food consists of the
bark of the birch, plane, and other trees--and even of the young wood
itself, which they steep in water before devouring it.
Their favourite resort is a stream or a pool near trees. Here they will
assemble to the number of some hundreds, living in communities, and
working together. They select, when they can, a stream with a current,
because it affords them the means of conveying wood and other materials
for their habitations. They choose such parts as will afford them depth
of water sufficient to resist the frost in winter, and prevent it
freezing to the bottom. When, however, they find that there is not
depth enough for this purpose, they build a dam across the stream, at a
convenient distance below their habitations. If the current is gentle,
the dam is made perfectly straight; but if rapid, it is constructed with
a considerable curve, the convex side being towards the upper part of
the stream. The materials employed are drift wood, green willows,
birch, and poplar; these are placed horizontally, and kept down by mud
and stones. So strong do these dams become, that they are capable of
resisting a considerable force both of water and ice; for generally the
wood, taking root, shoots upwards, and forms ultimately a thick hedge.
In some cases even trees sprout up, in the branches of which the birds
form their nests.
Beavers build their houses of the same materials as their dams, and of
various sizes, according to the number of the inmates. These, however,
do not often exceed four or eight old ones, and from six to fourteen
young ones. The houses are of a circular form, elevated some feet above
the surface of the water; but the entrance is always low down beneath
it. They are more rudely constructed than the dams, too. The wood is
laid nearly horizontally, and crosswise; the branches, which project
inwards, they cut off with their teeth. First there is a layer of wood,
and then one of mud and stones; and so they work on till a sufficient
height is gained, when the roof, of rough branches, is placed on the
top, and plastered down with mud and stones.
Such was the interesting account which Quambo gave us as we walked
along.
No event worthy of description occurred during our walk, though it took
us some hours to reach the spot for which I was directing our course.
I was not disappointed. As we approached it cautiously, we caught sight
of several beavers running about on the banks of the stream, some
nibbling away at the trunks of saplings and small trees which they were
engaged in felling. Had we fired, we might have killed two or three;
but the rest would have disappeared, and we should then have lost the
opportunity of observing them. We therefore crept on, concealing
ourselves among the thick underwood.
At length I was afraid, should we get closer, that we might make some
noise and alarm the animals. I therefore made a sign to my companions
to stop; and looking down, we could discern one of the dams I have
spoken of carried across the stream from one side to the other, and
apparently not quite finished. Though several beavers were running
about it, they were not at work; indeed, all their operations are
carried on during darkness. Nature, of course, has given them the
instinct to work at this time, which saves them the destruction that
would otherwise probably overtake them, both from men and beasts.
After watching them for some time, I wished to retire and let them amuse
themselves undisturbed; but Quambo took it into his head to give a loud
shout, when in an instant the startled creatures scampered off, and
dived under the water. Our chance of seeing more of them was gone; they
were evidently on the watch for us, for now and then I saw a snout
popping up above the surface, to ascertain if we had taken our
departure.
We made our way along the banks of the stream for some distance, till we
saw before us a broad expanse of water; and we discovered that it was a
shallow lake or pond, bordered by reeds, and with numerous dead trees
rising up out of the water near its shores. It struck me that this lake
had been produced by the beaver-dams; and on our proceeding downwards
towards what appeared to be its outlet, we found what had the appearance
of being a long bank, of a convex form, stretched directly across the
stream. This, on further examination, I had no doubt was the work of
beavers. Alders and willows, and other water-loving trees of
considerable size, were growing out of it; and digging down to a slight
depth, we found that it consisted of lengths of the trunks of young
trees, now rapidly decaying and turning into a vegetable mould, thus
affording nourishment to all sorts of plants.
Above the surface of the lake were numerous beaver-houses, and after we
had concealed ourselves for some time we caught sight of the inhabitants
coming forth and swimming about; while one or two knowing old fellows
climbed to the roof of their houses, to keep a look-out, as we supposed,
and give notice of approaching danger. We might have shot several, but
without the dogs we should not have been able to recover them. Indeed,
their skins would have been of much less value than those caught in
traps. After watching them for some time, then, we agreed that we ought
to be on our homeward way, or we should certainly be benighted. Though
we had found the path easily enough in daylight, it would be a hard
matter to do so in the dark.
"I should very much like to turn trapper," said Reuben to me as we
walked along. "I once heard a good deal about the lives the trappers
lead, from a fine old man who stopped at our house one night, on his way
to dispose of his packs of skins at one of the fur-traders' posts."
"I suspect that it must be a very hard life, and you would soon get
tired of it, Reuben," I answered.
"As to that, I fancy that when I got accustomed to the hardships I
should like it more and more; but I would be a trapper on my own hook--
have my own animals and traps, hunt where I chose, and sell my peltries
to whom I pleased. Our old friend had a horse and two mules. He rode
the horse, and the mules served to carry his packs. He had six traps,
which he carried in a leathern bag called his trap-sack. I was
particularly struck by his appearance as he rode up to our cottage. His
costume was a hunting-shirt of dressed buckskin, ornamented with long
fringes; pantaloons of the same material, decorated with
porcupine-quills hanging down the outside of the leg. He wore moccasins
on his feet, and a flexible felt hat upon his head. Under his right
arm, and suspended from his left shoulder, hung his powder-horn and
bullet-pouch, in which he carried balls, flint, and steel His long
knife, in a sheath of buffalo, hung from a belt round his waist--made
fast to it by a steel chain. Also, he carried a tomahawk; and slung
over his shoulder was his long heavy rifle; while from his neck hung his
pipe-holder, garnished with beads and porcupine-quills.
"He had come many hundreds of miles from the west, having trapped as far
off as the Rocky Mountains, and had met with all sorts of adventures
among the Indians, from whom he had often narrowly escaped with his
life. He said that he would take me with him, as he much wanted a
companion, and would answer for my life with his own; though I should
run no more risk than he did, if I only followed his directions. But my
father would not hear of it, and was quite angry with the old man for
putting the idea into my head; so, of course, I had to give it up.
"`Well, Reuben, my boy,' he said as he rode away, `should your father
change his mind, and you hold fast to yours, when I come back I will
take you with me.'
"But he never has come back since."
I laughed at Reuben's notion; for, knowing him as I did, I saw that he
was utterly unfit for the sort of life he proposed to lead, and would be
heartily sick of it before long. He had a fertile imagination, and had
pictured a trapper's life as something very delightful, although I was
sure he would in reality hate it. And I believe that is the case with
many other boys,--especially with those who take it into their head to
go to sea, and who have never been on board a ship, and know nothing
whatever of sea-life.
We had now performed the greater part of our journey home, and had
reached the bank of the larger river, where it extended into lake-like
dimensions, narrowing again shortly to its former width. Here several
rocks were seen rising out of it--the waters rushing between them with
great force, and forming a cataract, down which I should have thought it
impossible for the strongest boat to make its way without being dashed
to pieces.
At this point we sat down on the bank to rest and take some refreshment,
when Quambo pulled out his pipe.
"You no smoke, young gen'lemen; but ole neegur, he fond of baccy, and
you no object," said Quambo.
Quambo was always a pattern of politeness. We begged him to smoke as
much as he liked, although we had not taken to it ourselves.
When Quambo was enjoying his pipe, he was never in a hurry to move, so
we sat on longer than we should otherwise have done. I considered, at
length, that it was time to move; when, looking up the stream, across
the broad expanse I have mentioned, I caught sight of a light canoe
skimming rapidly over the surface. It was approaching us; so, prompted
by curiosity, we agreed to wait its arrival at the shore--for it did not
occur to us it could possibly descend the rapids. It kept, however, in
the middle of the current, and before we had got far from where we had
been sitting I saw that it was about to make its way amid the tumbling
waters.
"These people must be strangers, and cannot be aware of the danger they
are running," I observed. "Their canoe will be destroyed, and we must
do our best to save them."
We accordingly hurried back. As the canoe approached, I saw that there
were four people in her: one in the stern, and two in the bows paddling;
the other, who appeared to be a female, sitting near the after end, was
also dexterously using a paddle, now on one side and now on the other.
On looking again, I felt nearly sure that the Indian in the stern was
our friend Kepenau, and that the female was his daughter Ashatea.
I shouted, but it was too late to warn him to turn back; indeed, from
the calm way in which he sat, I was convinced that he well knew where he
was going: and almost before I had time to think much about the danger
my friends were running, they had passed it, and their canoe was
floating in the calm water at the foot of the rapids.
My shout attracted the notice of Kepenau, who at once recognised me, and
steered his canoe for the bank. He and Ashatea stepped on shore, and
seemed much pleased at seeing me. I introduced Reuben, who made as
polite a bow to the Indian girl as he would have done to a princess.
She put out her hand, and in her broken language inquired if he had a
sister. On his replying that such was the case, Ashatea expressed a
hope that she would become a friend to her, as Lily was.
Kepenau told me that they were on their way to visit our settlement,
according to his promise. "I thought it wisest," he said "to keep my
people at a distance, so we have fixed our camp on the banks of a stream
some miles to the westward; and as the rivers are now open, we can
easily hold communication with you. At the same time, as there are
several intervening rapids and waterfalls, the white men are not likely
to find their way often to us, or to bring the `fire water' which I so
much dread."
On hearing that we were on our way home, he offered to accompany us;
observing that Ashatea could steer the canoe as well as he could, and
though the distance by the river was greater, she would not be long
after us. "There are no more rapids or waterfalls to be passed, so that
the remainder of the voyage can be performed without danger," he
observed.
Reuben, on hearing this, asked leave to take his place, saying that he
should much like the trip by the river.
"But you cannot use a paddle," said Kepenau.
"Not very well," answered Reuben.
"Then don't make the attempt, or you may upset the canoe, or lose your
paddle. If you go, you must sit perfectly quiet," said Kepenau.
Reuben promised to obey orders. Ashatea smiled, and appeared to be
highly amused at the idea of having a white man as her passenger.
As we had no time to lose, Ashatea resumed her seat in the stern of the
canoe.
"Now, take care," she said, laughing, as she saw Reuben about to step
in, "else you will tumble over on the other side, or make a hole in the
canoe and go through it."
Reuben looked somewhat alarmed, and in his eagerness was very nearly
doing both the things against which he was being warned. Kepenau,
however taking his arm, helped him in.
"Now, don't move till you reach the end of your voyage," said the
Indian. "Perhaps we shall be there to help you out."
Ashatea gave a flourish with her paddle as a farewell signal, and
striking the water, away the canoe shot down the stream. We meanwhile
took the path homewards, and as we were anxious to arrive before the
canoe we hurried forward.
Kepenau told me that his daughter had so much wished to see Lily,--or my
sister, as he called her,--that he had consented to bring her, and to
leave her for two or three days, if my friends would allow it.