Mr. Hood's journey to the Basquiau Hill--Sojourns with an Indian
Party--His Journey to Chipewyan.
1820. March.
Being desirous of obtaining a drawing of a moose-deer, and also of
making some observation on the height of the Aurora, I set out on the
23d, to pass a few days at the Basquiau Hill. Two men accompanied me,
with dogs and sledges, who were going to the hill for meat. We found the
Saskatchawan open and were obliged to follow it several miles to the
eastward. We did not, then, cross it without wading in water, which had
overflowed the ice; and our snow-shoes were encumbered with a heavy
weight for the remainder of the day. On the south bank of the
Saskatchawan were some poplars ten or twelve feet in circumference at
the root. Beyond the river, we traversed an extensive swamp, bounded by
woods. In the evening we crossed the Swan Lake, about six miles in
breadth, and eight in length, and halted on its south side for the
night, twenty-four miles S.S.W. of Cumberland House.
At four in the morning of the 24th we continued the journey, and crossed
some creeks in the woods, and another large swamp. These swamps are
covered with water in summer, to the depth of several feet, which arises
from the melted snow from the higher grounds. The tracks of foxes,
wolves, wolverenes, and martens, were very numerous. The people employed
in carrying meat, set traps on their way out, and take possession of
their captures at their return, for which they receive a sum from the
Company, proportioned to the value of the fur.
In the evening we crossed the Goose Lake, which is a little longer than
Swan Lake, and afterwards the River Sepanach, a branch of the
Saskatchawan, forming an island extending thirty miles above, and forty
below Cumberland House. We turned to the westward on the Root River,
which enters the Sepanach, and halted on its banks having made in direct
distance not more than twenty miles since the 23rd.
We passed the Shoal Lake on the 25th, and then marched twelve miles
through woods and swamps to a hunting tent of the Indians. It was
situated in a grove of large poplars, and would have been no unpleasant
residence if we could have avoided the smoke. A heavy gale from the
westward, with snow, confined us for several days to this tent. On the
30th two Indians arrived, one of whom named the Warrior, was well known
at the house. We endeavoured to prevail upon them to set out in quest of
moose, which they agreed to do on receiving some rum. Promises were of
no avail; the smallest present gratification is preferred to the
certainty of ample reward at another period; an unfailing indication of
strong animal passions, and a weak understanding. On our compliance with
their demand they departed.
The next day, I went to the Warrior's tent, distant about eleven miles.
The country was materially changed: the pine had disappeared, and gentle
slopes, with clumps of large poplars, formed some pleasing groups:
willows were scattered over the swamps. When I entered the tent, the
Indians spread a buffalo robe before the fire, and desired me to sit
down. Some were eating, others sleeping, many of them without any
covering except the breech cloth and a blanket over the shoulders; a
state in which they love to indulge themselves till hunger drives them
forth to the chase. Besides the Warrior's family, there was that of
another hunter named _Long-legs_, whose bad success in hunting had
reduced him to the necessity of feeding on moose leather for three weeks
when he was compassionately relieved by the Warrior. I was an unwilling
witness of the preparation of my dinner by the Indian women. They cut
into pieces a portion of fat meat, using for that purpose a knife and
their teeth. It was boiled in a kettle, and served in a platter made of
birch bark, from which, being dirty, they had peeled the surface.
However, the flavour of good moose meat will survive any process that it
undergoes in their hands, except smoking.
Having provided myself with some drawing materials, I amused the Indians
with a sketch of the interior of the tent and its inhabitants. An old
woman, who was relating with great volubility an account of some quarrel
with the traders at Cumberland House, broke off from her narration when
she perceived my design; supposing, perhaps, that I was employing some
charm against her; for the Indians have been taught a supernatural dread
of particular pictures. One of the young men drew, with a piece of
charcoal, a figure resembling a frog, on the side of the tent, and by
significantly pointing at me, excited peals of merriment from his
companions. The caricature was comic; but I soon fixed their attention,
by producing my pocket compass, and affecting it with a knife. They have
great curiosity, which might easily be directed to the attainment of
useful knowledge. As the dirt accumulated about these people was
visibly of a communicative nature, I removed at night into the open air,
where the thermometer fell to 15° below zero, although it was the next
day 60° above it.
In the morning the Warrior and his companion arrived; I found that,
instead of hunting, they had passed the whole time in a drunken fit, at
a short distance from the tent. In reply to our angry questions, the
Warrior held out an empty vessel, as if to demand the payment of a debt,
before he entered into any new negotiation. Not being inclined to starve
his family, we set out for another Indian tent, ten miles to the
southward, but we found only the frame, or tent poles, standing, when we
reached the spot. The men, by digging where the fire-place had been,
ascertained that the Indians had quitted it the day before; and as their
marches are short, when encumbered with the women and baggage, we sought
out their track, and followed it. At an abrupt angle of it, which was
obscured by trees, the men suddenly disappeared; and hastening forward
to discover the cause, I perceived them both still rolling at the foot
of a steep cliff, over which they had been dragged while endeavouring to
stop the descent of their sledges. The dogs were gazing silently, with
the wreck of their harness about them, and the sledges deeply buried in
the snow. The effects of this accident did not detain us long, and we
proceeded afterwards with greater caution.
The air was warm at noon, and the solitary but sweet notes of the jay,
the earliest spring bird, were in every wood. Late in the evening we
descried the ravens wheeling in circles round a small grove of poplars,
and, according to our expectations, found the Indians encamped there.
The men were absent hunting, and returned unsuccessful. They had been
several days without provisions, and thinking that I could depend upon
the continuance of their exertions, I gave them a little rum; the next
day they set out, and at midnight they swept by us with their dogs in
close pursuit.
In the morning we found that a moose had eaten the bark of a tree near
our fire. The hunters, however, again failed; and they attributed the
extreme difficulty of approaching the chase, to the calmness of the
weather, which enabled it to hear them at a great distance.
They concluded, as usual, when labouring under any affliction, that they
were tormented by the evil spirit; and assembled to beat a large
tambourine, and sing an address to the Manito, or deity, praying for
relief, according to the explanation which I received; but their prayer
consisted of only three words, constantly repeated. One of the hunters
yet remained abroad; and as the wind rose at noon, we had hopes that he
was successful. In the evening he made his appearance, and announcing
that he had killed a large moose, immediately secured the reward which
had been promised.
The tidings were received with apparent indifference, by people whose
lives are alternate changes from the extremity of want to abundance. But
as their countenances seldom betray their emotions, it cannot be
determined whether their apathy is real or affected. However, the women
prepared their sledges and dogs, with the design of dismembering, and
bringing home, the carcass: a proceeding to which, in their necessitous
condition, I could have had neither reasonable nor available objections,
without giving them a substitute. By much solicitation I obtained an
audience, and offered them our own provisions, on condition of their
suspending the work of destruction till the next day. They agreed to the
proposition, and we set out with some Indians for the place where the
animal was lying. The night advancing, we were separated by a
snow-storm, and not being skilful enough to follow tracks which were so
speedily filled up, I was bewildered for several hours in the woods,
when I met with an Indian, who led me back at such a pace that I was
always in the rear, to his infinite diversion. The Indians are vain of
their local knowledge, which is certainly very wonderful. Our companions
had taken out the entrails and young of the moose, which they buried in
the snow.
The Indians then returned to the tents, and one of my men accompanied
them; he was the person charged with the management of the trade at the
hunting tent; and he observed, that the opportunity of making a bargain
with the Indians, while they were drinking, was too advantageous to be
lost.
It remained for us to prevent the wolves from mangling the moose; for
which purpose we wrapped ourselves in blankets between its feet, and
placed the hatchets within our reach. The night was stormy, and
apprehension kept me long awake; but finding my companion in so deep a
sleep, that nothing could have roused him, except the actual gripe of a
wolf, I thought it advisable to imitate his example, as much as was in
my power, rather than bear the burthen of anxiety alone. At day-light we
shook off the snow, which was heaped upon us, and endeavoured to kindle
a fire; but the violence of the storm defeated all our attempts. At
length two Indians arrived, with whose assistance we succeeded, and they
took possession of it, to show their sense of our obligations to them.
We were ashamed of the scene before us; the entrails of the moose and
its young, which had been buried at our feet, bore testimony to the
nocturnal revel of the wolves, during the time we had slept. This was a
fresh subject of derision for the Indians, whose appetites, however,
would not suffer them to waste long upon us a time so precious. They
soon finished what the wolves had begun, and with as little aid from the
art of cookery, eating both the young moose, and the contents of the
paunch, raw.
I had scarcely secured myself by a lodge of branches from the snow, and
placed the moose in a position for my sketch, when we were stormed by a
troop of women and children, with their sledges and dogs. We obtained
another short respite from the Indians, but our blows could not drive,
nor their caresses entice, the hungry dogs from the tempting feast
before them.
I had not finished my sketch, before the impatient crowd tore the moose
to pieces, and loaded their sledges with meat. On our way to the tent, a
black wolf rushed out upon an Indian, who happened to pass near its den.
It was shot; and the Indians carried away three black whelps, to
improve the breed of their dogs. I purchased one of them, intending to
send it to England, but it perished for want of proper nourishment.
The latitude of these tents, was 53° 12' 46" N., and longitude by
chronometers 103° 13' 10" W. On the 5th of April we set out for the
hunting tent by our former track, and arrived there in the evening.
As the increasing warmth of the weather had threatened to interrupt
communication by removing the ice, orders had been sent from Cumberland
House to the people at the tent, to quit it without delay; which we did
on the 7th. Some altitudes of the Aurora were obtained.
We had a fine view, at sunrise, of the Basquiau Hill, skirting half the
horizon with its white sides, chequered by forests of pine. It is seen
from Pine Island Lake, at the distance of fifty miles; and cannot,
therefore, be less than three-fourths of a mile in perpendicular height;
probably the greatest elevation between the Atlantic Ocean, and the
Rocky Mountains.
A small stream runs near the hunting tent, strongly impregnated with
salt. There are several salt springs about it, which are not frozen
during the winter.{45}
The surface of the snow, thawing in the sun, and freezing at night, had
become a strong crust, which sometimes gave way in a circle round our
feet, immersing us in the soft snow beneath. The people were afflicted
with snow blindness; a kind of ophthalmia occasioned by the reflection
of the sun's rays in the spring.
The miseries endured during the first journey of this nature, are so
great, that nothing could induce the sufferer to undertake a second,
while under the influence of present pain. He feels his frame crushed by
unaccountable pressure, he drags a galling and stubborn weight at his
feet, and his track is marked with blood. The dazzling scene around him
affords no rest to his eye, no object to divert his attention from his
own agonizing sensations. When he arises from sleep, half his body seems
dead, till quickened into feeling by the irritation of his sores. But
fortunately for him, no evil makes an impression so evanescent as pain.
It cannot be wholly banished, nor recalled with the force of reality, by
any act of the mind, either to affect our determinations, or to
sympathize with another. The traveller soon forgets his sufferings, and
at every future journey their recurrence is attended with diminished
acuteness.
It was not before the 10th or 12th of April, that the return of the
swans, geese, and ducks, gave certain indications of the advance of
spring. The juice of the maple-tree began to flow, and the women
repaired to the woods for the purpose of collecting it. This tree which
abounds to the southward, is not, I believe found to the northward of
the Saskatchawan. The Indians obtain the sap by making incisions into
the tree. They boil it down, and evaporate the water, skimming off the
impurities. They are so fond of sweets that after this simple process,
they set an extravagant price upon it.
On the 15th fell the first shower of rain we had seen for six months,
and on the 17th the thermometer rose to 77° in the shade. The whole face
of the country was deluged by the melted snow. All the nameless heaps of
dirt, accumulated in the winter, now floated over the very thresholds,
and the long-imprisoned scents dilated into vapours so penetrating, that
no retreat was any security from them. The flood descended into the
cellar below our house, and destroyed a quantity of powder and tea; a
loss irreparable in our situation.
The noise made by the frogs which this inundation produced, is almost
incredible. There is strong reason to believe that they outlive the
severity of winter. They have often been found frozen and revived by
warmth, nor is it possible that the multitude which incessantly filled
our ears with its discordant notes could have been matured in two or
three days.
The fishermen at Beaver Lake, and the other detached parties were
ordered to return to the post. The expedients to which the poor people
were reduced, to cross a country so beset with waters, presented many
uncouth spectacles. The inexperienced were glad to compromise, with the
loss of property, for the safety of their persons, and astride upon
ill-balanced rafts with which they struggled to be uppermost, exhibited
a ludicrous picture of distress. Happy were they who could patch up an
old canoe, though obliged to bear it half the way on their shoulders,
through miry bogs and interwoven willows. But the veteran trader, wedged
in a box of skin, with his wife, children, dogs, and furs, wheeled
triumphantly through the current, and deposited his heterogeneous cargo
safely on the shore. The woods re-echoed with the return of their exiled
tenants. An hundred tribes, as gaily dressed as any burnished natives of
the south, greeted our eyes in our accustomed walks, and their voices,
though unmusical, were the sweetest that ever saluted our ears.
From the 19th to the 26th the snow once more blighted the resuscitating
verdure, but a single day was sufficient to remove it. On the 28th the
Saskatchawan swept away the ice which had adhered to its banks, and on
the morrow a boat came down from Carlton House with provisions. We
received such accounts of the state of vegetation at that place, that
Dr. Richardson determined to visit it, in order to collect botanical
specimens, as the period at which the ice was expected to admit of the
continuation of our journey was still distant. Accordingly he embarked
on the 1st of May.
In the course of the month the ice gradually wore away from the south
side of the lake, but the great mass of it still hung to the north side
with some snow visible on its surface. By the 21st the elevated grounds
were perfectly dry, and teeming with the fragrant offspring of the
season. When the snow melted, the earth was covered with the fallen
leaves of the last year, and already it was green with the strawberry
plant, and the bursting buds of the gooseberry, raspberry, and rose
bushes, soon variegated by the rose and the blossoms of the choke
cherry. The gifts of nature are disregarded and undervalued till they
are withdrawn, and in the hideous regions of the Arctic Zone, she would
make a convert of him for whom the gardens of Europe had no charms, or
the mild beauties of a southern climate had bloomed in vain.
Mr. Williams found a delightful occupation in his agricultural pursuits.
The horses were brought to the plough, and fields of wheat, barley, and
Indian corn, promised to reward his labours. His dairy furnished us with
all the luxuries of an English farm.
On the 25th the ice departed from Pine Island Lake. We were, however,
informed that Beaver Lake, which was likewise in our route, would not
afford a passage before the 4th of June. According to directions left by
Mr. Franklin, applications were made to the Chiefs of the Hudson's Bay
and North-West Companies' Posts, for two canoes, with their crews, and a
supply of stores, for the use of the Expedition. They were not in a
condition to comply with this request till the arrival of their
respective returns from Isle à la Crosse and the Saskatchawan
Departments. Of the six men whom we brought from England, the most
serviceable, John Hepburn, had accompanied Mr. Franklin, and only one
other desired to prosecute the journey with us. Mr. Franklin had made
arrangements with Mr. Williams for the employment of the remaining five
men in bringing to Cumberland House the ammunition, tobacco, &c., left
at York Fort, which stores were, if possible, to be sent after us in
the summer. On the 30th Dr. Richardson returned from Carlton House, and
on the 31st the boats arrived belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company's
Saskatchawan Department. We obtained a canoe and two more volunteers. On
the 1st of June the Saskatchawan, swelled by the melting of the snow
near the Rocky Mountains, rose twelve feet, and the current of the
little rivers bounding Pine Island ran back into the lake, which it
filled with mud.
On the 5th the North-West Company's people arrived, and Mr. Conolly{46}
furnished us with a canoe and five Canadians. They were engaged to
attend us till Mr. Franklin should think fit to discharge them, and
bound under the usual penalties in case of disobedience, or other
improper conduct. These poor people entertained such dread of a ship of
war, that they stipulated not to be embarked in Lieutenant Parry's
vessels, if we should find them on the coast; a condition with which
they would gladly have dispensed had that desirable event taken place.
As we required a Canadian foreman and steersman for the other canoe, we
were compelled to wait for the appearance of the Isle à la Crosse canoes
under Mr. Clark.
On the 8th Mr. Williams embarked for York Fort. He gave us a circular
letter addressed to the Chiefs of the Hudson's Bay Company's Posts,
directing them to afford us all possible assistance on our route, and he
promised to exert every endeavour to forward the Esquimaux interpreter,
upon whom the success of our journey so much depended. He was
accompanied by eight boats. With him we sent our collections of plants,
minerals, charts, and drawings, to be transmitted to England by the
Hudson's Bay ships. After this period, our detention, though short, cost
us more vexation than the whole time we had passed at Cumberland House,
because every hour of the short summer was invaluable to us. On the 11th
Mr. Clark arrived, and completed our crews.--He brought letters from Mr.
Franklin, dated March 28th, at Fort Chipewyan, where he was engaged
procuring hunters and interpreters. A heavy storm of wind and rain from
the north-east again delayed us till the morning of the 13th. The
account we had received at York Factory of the numerous stores at
Cumberland House proved to be very erroneous. The most material stores
we received did not amount, in addition to our own, to more than two
barrels of powder, a keg of spirits, and two pieces of tobacco, with
pemmican for sixteen days.
The crew of Dr. Richardson's canoe consisted of three Englishmen and
three Canadians, and the other carried five Canadians; both were deeply
laden and the waves ran high on the lake. No person in our party being
well acquainted with the rivers to the northward, Mr. Conolly{47} gave
us a pilot, on condition that we should exchange him when we met with
the Athabasca brigade of canoes. At four A.M. we embarked.
We soon found that birchen-bark canoes were not calculated to brave
rough weather on a large lake, for we were compelled to land on the
opposite border, to free them from the water which had already saturated
their cargoes. The wind became more moderate, and we were enabled, after
traversing a chain of smaller lakes, to enter the mouth of the Sturgeon
River, at sunset, where we encamped.
The lading of the canoes is always, if possible carried on shore at
night, and the canoes taken out of the water. The following evening we
reached Beaver Lake, and landed to repair some damages sustained by the
canoes. A round stone will displace the lading of a canoe, without doing
any injury, but a slight blow against a sharp corner penetrates the
bark. For the purpose of repairing it, a small quantity of gum or pitch,
bark and pine roots, are embarked, and the business is so expeditiously
performed, that the speed of the canoe amply compensates for every
delay. The Sturgeon River is justly called by the Canadians La
Rivière{48} Maligne, from its numerous and dangerous rapids. Against the
strength of a rapid it is impossible to effect any progress by paddling,
and the canoes are tracked, or if the bank will not admit of it,
propelled with poles, in the management of which the Canadians shew
great dexterity. Their simultaneous motions were strongly contrasted
with the awkward confusion of the inexperienced Englishmen, deafened by
the torrent, who sustained the blame of every accident which occurred.
At sunset we encamped on an island in Beaver Lake, and at four A.M., the
next morning, passed the first portage in the Ridge River. Beaver Lake
is twelve miles in length, and six in breadth. The flat limestone
country rises into bold rocks on its banks, and at the mouth of the
Ridge River, the limestone discontinues. The lake is very deep, and has
already been noticed for the number and excellence of its fish.{49} The
Ridge River is rapid and shallow. We had emerged from the muddy channels
through an alluvial soil, and the primitive rocks interrupted our way
with frequent portages, through the whole route to Isle à la Crosse
Lake. At two P.M. we passed the mouth of the Hay river, running from the
westward; and the ridge above its confluence takes the name of the Great
River, which rises at the height of land called the Frog Portage.
The thermometer was this day 100° in the sun, and the heat was extremely
oppressive, from our constant exposure to it. We crossed three portages
in the Great River, and encamped at the last; here we met the director
of the North-West Company's affairs in the north, Mr. Stuart, on his way
to Fort William, in a light canoe. He had left the Athabasca Lake only
thirteen days, and brought letters from Mr. Franklin, who desired that
we would endeavour to collect stores of every kind at Isle à la Crosse,
and added a favourable account of the country, to the northward of the
Slave Lake.
On the 16th, at three A.M., we continued our course, the river
increasing to the breadth of half a mile, with many rapids between the
rocky islands. The banks were luxuriantly clothed with pines, poplars,
and birch trees, of the largest size: but the different shades of green
were undistinguishable at a distance, and the glow of autumnal colours
was wanting to render the variety beautiful.
Having crossed two portages at the different extremities of the Island
Lake, we ran under sail through two extensive sheets of water, called
the Heron and Pelican Lakes; the former of which is fifteen miles in
length, and the latter five; but its extent to the southward has not
been explored. An intricate channel, with four small portages,
conducted us to the Woody Lake. Its borders were, indeed, walls of
pines, hiding the face of steep and high rocks; and we wandered in
search of a landing-place till ten P.M., when we were forced to take
shelter from an impending storm, on a small island where we wedged
ourselves between the trees. But though we secured the canoes, we
incurred a personal evil of much greater magnitude, in the torments
inflicted by the musquitoes, a plague which had grown upon us since our
departure from Cumberland House, and which infested us during the whole
summer; we found no relief from their attacks by exposing ourselves to
the utmost violence of the wind and rain. Our last resource was to
plunge ourselves in the water, and from this uncomfortable situation we
gladly escaped at day-light, and hoisted our sails.
The Woody Lake is thirteen miles in length, and a small grassy channel
at its north-western extremity, leads to the Frog Portage, the source of
the waters descending by Beaver Lake to the Saskatchawan. The distance
to the Missinippi, or Churchill River, is only three hundred and eighty
yards; and as its course crosses the height nearly at right angles to
the direction of the Great River, it would be superfluous to compute
the elevation at this place. The portage is in latitude 55° 26' 0" N.,
and longitude 103° 34' 50" W. Its name, according to Sir Alexander
Mackenzie, is derived from the Crees having left suspended a stretched
frog's skin, in derision of the Northern Indian mode of dressing the
beaver.
The part of the Missinippi, in which we embarked, we should have
mistaken for a lake, had it not been for the rapidity of the current
against which we made our way. At four P.M. we passed a long portage
occasioned by a ledge of rocks, three hundred yards in length, over
which the river falls seven or eight feet. After crossing another
portage we encamped.
On the 18th we had rain, wind, and thunder, the whole day; but this
weather was much preferable to the heat we had borne hitherto. We passed
three portages, and, at six P.M., encamped on the north bank. Below the
third portage is the mouth of the Rapid River, flowing from a large lake
to the southward, on which a post was formerly maintained by the
North-West Company. Next morning we found ourselves involved in a
confused mass of islands, through the openings of which we could not
discern the shore. The guide's knowledge of the river did not extend
beyond the last portage, and our perplexity continued, till we observed
some foam floating on the water, and took the direction from which it
came. The noise of a heavy fall, at the Mountain Portage, reached our
ears, at the distance of four miles, and we arrived there at eight A.M.
The portage was a difficult ascent over a rocky island, between which
and the main shore were two cataracts and a third in sight above them,
making another portage. We surprised a large brown bear which
immediately retreated into the woods. To the northward of the second
portage we again found the channels intricate, but the shores being
sometimes visible, we ventured to proceed. The character of the country
was new and more interesting than before. The mountainous and strong
elevations receded from the banks, and the woods crept through their
openings to the valleys behind; the adventurous pine alone ascending
their bases, and braving storms unfelt below.
At noon we landed at the Otter Portage, where the river ran with great
velocity for half a mile, among large stones. Having carried across the
principal part of the cargo, the people attempted to track the canoes
along the edge of the rapid. With the first they succeeded, but the
other, in which were the foreman and steersman, was overset and swept
away by the current. An account of this misfortune was speedily
conveyed to the upper end of the portage, and the men launched the
remaining canoe into the rapid, though wholly unacquainted with the
dangers of it. The descent was quickly accomplished, and they perceived
the bottom of the lost canoe above water in a little bay, whither it had
been whirled by the eddy. One man had reached the bank, but no traces
could be found of the foreman, Louis Saint Jean. We saved the canoe, out
of which two guns and a case of preserved meats had been thrown into the
rapid[17]. So early a disaster deeply affected the spirits of the
Canadians, and their natural vivacity gave way to melancholy
forebodings, while they erected a wooden cross in the rocks near the
spot where their companion perished.
[17] Mr. Hood himself was the first to leap into the canoe and incite
the men to follow him, and shoot the rapid to save the lives of
their companions.--DR. RICHARDSON'S _Journal_.
The loss of this man's services, and the necessity of procuring a guide,
determined us to wait for the arrival of the North-West Company's people
from Fort Chipewyan, and we encamped accordingly. The canoe was much
shattered, but as the gunwales were not broken, we easily repaired it.
In the evening a N.W. canoe arrived, with two of the partners. They gave
us an account of Mr. Franklin's proceedings and referred us to the
brigade following them for a guide.
During the 20th it rained heavily, and we passed the day in anxious
suspense confined to our tents. A black bear came to the bank on the
opposite side of the river, and on seeing us glided behind the trees.
Late on the 21st, Mr. Robertson, of the Hudson's Bay Company arrived,
and furnished us with a guide, but desired that he might be exchanged
when we met the northern canoes. We took advantage of the remainder of
the day, to cross the next portage, which was three-fourths of a mile in
length.
On the 22nd we crossed three small portages, and encamped at the fourth.
At one of them we passed some of the Hudson's Bay Company's canoes, and
our application to them was unsuccessful. We began to suspect that Isle
à la Crosse was the nearest place at which we might hope for assistance.
However, on the morning of the 23rd, as we were about to embark, we
encountered the last brigades of canoes belonging to both the Companies,
and obtained a guide and foreman from them. Thus completely equipped, we
entered the Black Bear Island Lake, the navigation of which requires a
very experienced pilot. Its length is twenty-two miles, and its breadth
varies from three to five, yet it is so choked with islands, that no
channel is to be found through it, exceeding a mile in breadth. At
sunset we landed, and encamped on an island, and at six A.M. on the
24th, left the lake and crossed three portages into another, which has,
probably, several communications with the last, as that by which we
passed is too narrow to convey the whole body of the Missinippi. At one
of these portages called the Pin Portage is a rapid, about ten yards in
length, with a descent of ten or twelve feet, and beset with rocks.
Light canoes sometimes venture down this fatal gulf, to avoid the
portage, unappalled by the warning crosses which overhang the brink, the
mournful records of former failures.
The Hudson's Bay Company's people whom we passed on the 23rd, going to
the rock house with their furs, were badly provided with food, of which
we saw distressing proofs at every portage behind them. They had
stripped the birch trees of their rind to procure the soft pulpy vessels
in contact with the wood, which are sweet, but very insufficient to
satisfy a craving appetite.
The lake to the westward of the Pin Portage, is called Sandfly Lake; it
is seven miles long; and a wide channel connects it with the Serpent
Lake, the extent of which to the southward we could not discern. There
is nothing remarkable in this chain of lakes, except their shapes, being
rocky basins filled by the waters of the Missinippi, insulating the
massy eminences, and meandering with almost imperceptible current
between them. From the Serpent to the Sandy Lake, it is again confined
in a narrow space by the approach of its winding banks, and on the 26th
we were some hours employed in traversing a series of shallow rapids,
where it was necessary to lighten the canoes. Having missed the path
through the woods, we walked two miles in the water upon sharp stones,
from which some of us were incessantly slipping into deep holes, and
floundering in vain for footing at the bottom; a scene highly diverting,
notwithstanding our fatigue. We were detained in Sandy Lake, till one
P.M., by a strong gale, when the wind becoming moderate we crossed five
miles to the mouth of the river, and at four P.M. left the main branch
of it, and entered a little rivulet called the Grassy River, running
through an extensive reedy swamp. It is the nest of innumerable ducks,
which rear their young, among the long rushes, in security from beasts
of prey. At sunset we encamped on the banks of the main branch.
At three A.M. June 28th, we embarked in a thick fog occasioned by a fall
of the temperature of the air ten degrees below that of the water.
Having crossed Knee Lake, which is nine miles in length, and a portage
at its western extremity, we entered Primeau Lake, with a strong and
favourable wind, by the aid of which we ran nineteen miles through it,
and encamped at the river's mouth. It is shaped like the barb of an
arrow, with the point towards the north, and its greatest breadth is
about four miles.
During the night, a torrent of rain washed us from our beds, accompanied
with the loudest thunder I ever heard. This weather continued during the
29th, and often compelled us to land, and turn the canoes up, to prevent
them from filling. We passed one portage, and the confluence of a river,
said to afford, by other rivers beyond a height of land, a shorter but
more difficult route to the Athabasca Lake than that which is generally
pursued.
On the 28th we crossed the last portage, and at ten A.M. entered the
Isle à la Crosse Lake. Its long succession of woody points, both banks
stretching towards the south, till their forms were lost in the haze of
the horizon, was a grateful prospect to us, after our bewildered and
interrupted voyage in the Missinippi. The gale wafted us with unusual
speed, and as the lake increased in breadth, the waves swelled to a
dangerous height. A canoe running before the wind is very liable to
burst asunder, when on the top of a wave, so that part of the bottom is
out of the water; for there is nothing to support the weight of its
heavy cargo but the bark, and the slight gunwales attached to it.
On making known our exigencies to the gentlemen in charge of the
Hudson's Bay and North-West Companies' Forts, they made up an assortment
of stores, amounting to five bales; for four of which we were indebted
to Mr. Mac Leod of the North West Company, who shared with us the
ammunition absolutely required for the support of his post; receiving in
exchange an order for the same quantity upon the cargo which we expected
to follow us from York Factory. We had heard from Mr. Stuart that Fort
Chipewyan was too much impoverished to supply the wants of the
Expedition, and we found Isle à la Crosse in the same condition; which,
indeed, we might have foreseen, from the exhausted state of Cumberland
House, but could not have provided against. We never had heard before
our departure from York, that the posts in the interior only received
annually the stores necessary for the consumption of a single year. It
was fortunate for us that Mr. Franklin had desired ten bags of pemmican
to be sent from the Saskatchawan across the plains to Isle à la Crosse
for our use. This resource was untouched, but we could not embark more
than five pieces in our own canoes. However, Mr. Mac Leod agreed to send
a canoe after us to the Methye Portage, with the pemmican, and we
calculated that the diminution of our provision would there enable us to
receive it.
The Beaver River enters this lake on the S.E. side, and another river
which has not been named, on the S.W. Both these rivers are branches of
the Missinippi, as it is the only outlet from the lake. The banks
appeared to be rocky, and the beach in many places sandy, but its waters
are yellow and muddy. It produces a variety of fish, among which its
white-fish are esteemed the best in the country. The only birds visible
at this season, are common to every part of the Missinippi; gulls,
ducks, pigeons, goatsuckers, and the raven; and geese and swans pay a
momentary visit in passing to the north and returning.
There was little in the forts differing from the establishments that we
had before seen. The ground on which they are erected is sandy, and
favourable to cultivation. Curiosity, however, was satisfied by the
first experiment, and utility alone has been unable to extend it. Isle
à la Crosse is frequented by the Crees and the Chipewyans. It is not the
dread of the Indians, but of one another, that has brought the rival
Companies so close together at every trading post; each party seeking to
prevent the other from engaging the affections of the natives, and
monopolizing the trade. Whenever a settlement is made by the one, the
other immediately follows, without considering the eligibility of the
place; for it may injure its opponent, though it cannot benefit itself,
and that advantage which is the first object of all other commercial
bodies, becomes but the second with the fur traders.
On the evening of the 30th we embarked, and entered a wide channel to
the northward of the forts, and extending towards the north-west. It
gradually decreased in breadth till it became a river, which is the
third fork of the Missinippi, and its current being almost insensible,
we entered the Clear Lake at ten A.M. on the 1st of July. Of this lake,
which is very large, no part is known except the south border, but its
extent would lead us to conclude, that its evaporation must be supplied
by another river to the northward, especially as the small channel that
communicates with Buffalo Lake is motionless. The existence of such a
river is asserted by the Indians, and a shorter passage might be found
by it across the height of land to Clear Water River, than the portage
from the Methye Lake.
In Buffalo Lake, the wind was too strong for us to proceed, and we
therefore encamped upon a gravel beach thrown up by the waves. We
embarked at three A.M. July 2d, and at four P.M. entered the mouth of
the Methye River. The lake is thirty-four miles in length, and fourteen
in breadth. It is probably very deep, for we saw no islands on this wide
expanse, except at the borders. On the south-west side were two forts,
belonging to the Companies, and near them a solitary hill seven or eight
hundred feet high. At eight P.M. we encamped in the Methye River, at the
confluence of the river Pembina. A route has been explored by it to the
Red Willow River, across the height of land, but the difficulties of it
were so great, that the ordinary route is preferred.
On the 3d we passed through the Methye River, and encamped on the
borders of the Methye Lake. The soil from Isle à la Crosse to this place
is sandy, with some portion of clay, and the trees numerous; but the
Methye River is stony, and so shallow, that to lighten the canoes, we
made two portages of five and two miles. The paths were overflowed with
cold spring water, and barricadoed by fallen trees; we should have been
contented to immerse ourselves wholly had the puddle been sufficiently
deep, for the musquitoes devoured every part that was exposed to them.
On the 4th we crossed the Methye Lake, and landed at the portage on the
north-west side, in one of the sources of the Missinippi. The lake is
seventeen miles in length, with a large island in the middle. We
proceeded to the north side of the portage with two men, carrying a tent
and some instruments, leaving the canoes and cargoes to be transported
by daily journeys of two or three miles. The distance is fourteen
statute miles, and there are two small lakes about five miles from the
north side. Several species of fish were found in them, though they have
no known communication with any other body of water, being situated on
the elevation of the height. The road was a gentle ascent, miry from the
late rainy weather, and shaded by pines, poplars, birches, and
cypresses, which terminated our view. On the north side we discovered
through an opening in the trees, that we were on a hill eight or nine
hundred feet high, and at the edge of a steep descent. We were prepared
to expect an extensive prospect, but the magnificent scene before us was
so superior to what the nature of the country had promised, that it
banished even our sense of suffering from the musquitoes, which hovered
in clouds about our heads. Two parallel chains of hills extended towards
the setting sun, their various projecting outlines exhibiting the
several gradations of distance, and the opposite bases closing at the
horizon. On the nearest eminence, the objects were clearly defined by
their dark shadows; the yellow rays blended their softening hues with
brilliant green on the next, and beyond it all distinction melted into
gray and purple. In the long valley between, the smooth and colourless
Clear Water River wound its spiral course, broken and shattered by
encroaching woods. An exuberance of rich herbage covered the soil, and
lofty trees climbed the precipice at our feet, hiding its brink with
their summits. Impatient as we were, and blinded with pain, we paid a
tribute of admiration, which this beautiful landscape is capable of
exciting, unaided by the borrowed charms of a calm atmosphere, glowing
with the vivid tints of evening.
We descended to the banks of the Clear Water River, and having encamped,
the two men returned to assist their companions. We had sometimes before
procured a little rest, by closing the tent, and burning wood, or
flashing gunpowder within, the smoke driving the musquitoes into the
crannies of the ground. But this remedy was now ineffectual, though we
employed it so perseveringly, as to hazard suffocation: they swarmed
under our blankets, goring us with their envenomed trunks, and steeping
our clothes in blood. We rose at daylight in a fever, and our misery was
unmitigated during our whole stay.
The musquitoes of America resemble, in shape, those of Africa and
Europe, but differ essentially in size and other particulars. There are
two distinct species, the largest of which is brown, and the smallest
black. Where they are bred cannot easily be determined, for they are
numerous in every soil. They make their first appearance in May, and the
cold destroys them in September; in July they are most voracious; and
fortunately for the traders, the journeys from the trading posts to the
factories are generally concluded at that period. The food of the
musquito is blood, which it can extract by penetrating the hide of a
buffalo; and if it is not disturbed, it gorges itself so as to swell its
body into a transparent globe. The wound does not swell, like that of
the African musquito, but it is infinitely more painful; and when
multiplied an hundred fold, and continued for so many successive days,
it becomes an evil of such magnitude, that cold, famine, and every
other concomitant of an inhospitable climate, must yield the
pre-eminence to it. It chases the buffalo to the plains, irritating him
to madness; and the rein-deer to the sea-shore, from which they do not
return till the scourge has ceased.
On the 6th the thermometer was 106° in the sun, and on the 7th 110°. The
musquitoes sought the shade in the heat of the day. It was some
satisfaction to us to see the havoc made among them by a large and
beautiful species of dragon-fly, called the musquito hawk, which wheeled
through their retreats, swallowing its prey without a momentary
diminution of its speed. But the temporary relief that we had hoped for
was only an exchange of tormentors: our new assailant, the horse-fly, or
bull-dog, ranged in the hottest glare of the sun, and carried off a
portion of flesh at each attack. Another noxious insect, the smallest,
but not the least formidable, was the sand-fly known in Canada by the
name of the _brulot_. To such annoyance all travellers must submit, and
it would be unworthy to complain of that grievance in the pursuit of
knowledge, which is endured for the sake of profit. This detail of it
has only been as an excuse for the scantiness of our observations on
the most interesting part of the country through which we passed.
The north side of the Methye Portage is in latitude 56° 41' 40" N. and
longitude 109° 52' 0" W. It is, by our course, one hundred and
twenty-four miles from Isle à la Crosse, and considered as a branch of
the Missinippi, five hundred and ninety-two miles from the Frog Portage.
The Clear Water River passing through the valley, described above,
evidently rises not far to the eastward. The height, computed by the
same mode as that of the Echiamamis{50}, by allowing a foot for each
mile of distance, and six feet on an average, for each fall and rapid,
is two thousand four hundred and sixty-seven feet above the level of the
sea, admitting it to be nine hundred feet above the Clear Water River.
The country, in a line between it and the mouth of Mackenzie's River, is
a continual descent, although to the eastward of that line, there may be
several heights between it and the Arctic Sea. To the eastward, the
lands descend to Hudson's Bay; and to the westward also, till the
Athabasca River cuts through it, from whence it ascends to the Rocky
Mountains. Daring was the spirit of enterprise that first led Commerce,
with her cumbrous train, from the waters of Hudson's Bay to those of the
Arctic Sea, across an obstacle to navigation so stupendous as this; and
persevering has been the industry which drew riches from a source so
remote.
On the 8th two men arrived, and informed us, that they had brought us
our ten bags of pemmican, from Isle à la Crosse, but that they were
found to be rotten. Thus were we unexpectedly deprived of the most
essential of our stores, for we knew Fort Chipewyan to be destitute of
provisions, and that Mr. Franklin depended upon us for a supply,
whereas, enough did not remain for our own use. On the 9th, the canoes
and cargoes reached the north side of the portage. Our people had
selected two bags of pemmican less mouldy than the rest, which they left
on the beach. Its decay was caused by some defect in the mode of mixing
it.
On the 10th, we embarked in the Clear Water River, and proceeded down
the current. The hills, the banks, and bed of the river, were composed
of fine yellow sand, with some limestone rocks. The surface soil was
alluvial. At eight A.M. we passed a portage on which the limestone rocks
were singularly scattered through the woods, bearing the appearance of
houses and turrets overgrown with moss. The earth emitted a hollow
sound, and the river was divided by rocks, into narrow crooked
channels, every object indicating that some convulsion had disturbed the
general order of nature at this place. We had passed a portage above it,
and after two long portages below it we encamped. Near the last was a
small stream so strongly impregnated with sulphur, as to taint the air
to a great distance around it. We saw two brown bears on the hills in
the course of the day.
At daylight, on the 11th, we embarked. The hills continued on both sides
to the mouth of the river, varying from eight hundred to one thousand
feet in height. They declined to the banks in long green slopes,
diversified by woody mounds and copses. The pines were not here in thick
impenetrable masses, but perched aloft in single groups on the heights,
or shrouded by the livelier hues of the poplar and willow.
We passed the mouth of the Red Willow River on the south bank, flowing
through a deep ravine. It is the continuation of the route by the
Pembina, before mentioned. At noon we entered the majestic Athabasca or
Elk River. Its junction with the Clear Water River is called the Forks.
Its banks were in accessible cliffs, apparently of clay and stones,
about two hundred feet high, and its windings in the south were
encircled by high mountains. Its breadth exceeded half a mile and was
swelled to a mile in many places by long muddy islands in the middle
covered with trees. No more portages interrupted our course, but a swift
current hurried us towards the quarter in which our anticipated
discoveries were to commence. The passing cliffs returned a loud
confusion of echoes to the sprightly canoe song, and the dashing
paddles; and the eagles, watching with half-closed eyes on the
pine-tops, started from their airy rest, and prepared their drowsy
pinions for the flight.
About twenty miles from the Forks are some salt pits and plains, said to
be very extensive. The height of the banks was reduced to twenty or
thirty feet, and the hills ranged themselves at an increased distance
from the banks in the same variety as those of the Clear Water River. At
sunset we encamped on a small sandy island, but the next morning made a
speedy retreat to the canoes, the water having nearly overflown our
encampment. We passed two deserted settlements of the fur traders on
opposite banks, at a place called Pierre au Calumet. Beyond it the hills
disappeared, and the banks were no longer visible above the trees. The
river carries away yearly large portions of soil, which increases its
breadth, and diminishes its depth, rendering the water so muddy as to be
scarcely drinkable. Whole forests of timber are drifted down the
stream, and choke up the channels between the islands at its mouth. We
observed the traces of herds of buffaloes, where they had crossed the
river, the trees being trodden down and strewed, as if by a whirlwind.
At four P.M. we left the main branch of the Athabasca, entering a small
river, called the Embarras. It is narrow and muddy, with pines of an
enormous size on its banks. Some of them are two hundred feet high, and
three or four feet in diameter. At nine P.M. we landed and encamped; but
finding ourselves in a nest of musquitoes, we continued our journey
before day-break; and at eight A.M., emerged into the Athabasca Lake. A
strong wind agitated this sea of fresh water, which, however, we crossed
without any accident, and landed on the north side of it, at Fort
Chipewyan; where we had the satisfaction of finding our companions in
good health, and of experiencing that sympathy in our anxiety on the
state of affairs, which was only to be expected from those who were to
share our future fortunes.