August 1.
The morning of our departure rose bright and beautiful, and the loading
and arranging our little boat was a scene of great animation. I thought
I had said all my adieus the night before, but at early dawn my good
Neengai came paddling across the river with various kind offerings for
her daughter Wa,sah,ge,wo,no,qua, which she thought might be pleasant or
useful, and more _last_ affectionate words from Mrs. Schoolcraft. We
then exchanged a long farewell embrace, and she turned away with tears,
got into her little canoe, which could scarcely contain two persons, and
handling her paddle with singular grace and dexterity, shot over the
blue water, without venturing once to look back! I leaned over the side
of our boat, and strained my eyes to catch a last glimpse of the white
spray of the rapids, and her little canoe skimming over the expanse
between, like a black dot: and this was the last I saw of my dear good
Chippewa mamma!
Meantime we were proceeding rapidly down the beautiful river, and
through its winding channels. Our party consisted of Mr. and Mrs.
MacMurray and their lovely boy; myself; and the two Indian girls--my
cousin Zah,gah,see,ga,qua, and Angelique, the child's attendant.
These two girls were, for Indians, singularly beautiful; they would have
been beautiful anywhere. Angelique, though of unmixed Indian blood, has
a face of the most perfect oval, a clear brown complexion, the long,
half-shaded eye, which the French call _coupe en amande_; the nose
slightly aquiline, with the proud nostril open and well defined;
dazzling teeth;--in short, her features had been faultless, but that her
mouth is a little too large--but then, to amend that, her lips are like
coral: and a more perfect figure I never beheld. Zah,gah,see,ga,qua is
on a less scale, and her features more decidedly Indian.
We had a small, but compact and well-built boat, the seats of which we
covered with mats, blankets, buffalo skins, cloaks, shawls, &c.: we had
four voyageurs, Masta, Content, Le Blanc, and Pierrot; a very different
set from those who brought me from Mackinaw: they were all Canadian
voyageurs of the true breed, that is, half-breed, showing the Indian
blood as strongly as the French. Pierrot, worthy his name, was a most
comical fellow; Masta, a great talker, amused me exceedingly; Content
was our steersman and captain; and Le Blanc, who was the best singer,
generally led the song, to which the others responded in chorus.
They had a fixed daily allowance of fat pork, Indian meal, and tobacco:
finding that the latter was not agreeable to me, though I took care not
to complain, they always contrived with genuine politeness to smoke out
of my way, and to leeward.