family. He cut off a lock of his hair, and divided it into three parts.
One of these he fastened to the top of his wife's head, and blew on it
three times with the utmost violence, at the same time uttering certain
cabalistic words. The other two portions he fastened with the same
formalities to the heads of his two children.
Even at the last he hesitated, and was finally made to enter the canoe
more by force than by persuasion!
A few days later, and our pioneers were fairly embarked on the great
river, whose course to the mouth it was their object to explore.
The expedition was now somewhat reduced, owing to Monsieur Le Roux
having been left behind. It consisted of three canoes--the large one
with Mackenzie and five men; a small one, with English Chief and his two
wives, and Coppernose; and another small one, containing Reuben, his
son, Swiftarrow, and Darkeye. Two of the Canadians were also attended
by their wives; so that the party numbered sixteen souls, five of whom
were women. They all kept company as much as possible, but English
Chief was frequently left behind by the large canoe; while Reuben and
his friends, being the hunters as we have said, were necessarily absent
for considerable periods in search of game.
One evening as they were descending a beautiful sweep of the river under
sail in grand style, the English Chief--leaning composedly back in his
canoe, while his right hand slightly moved the steering paddle, and his
teeth grasped his beloved pipe--said quietly to Coppernose, of course in
the Indian tongue--
"A pretty guide you are, not to know something more about a river so
near to your own wigwam."
Coppernose, who was a humble-minded man, smiled slightly, and shook his
head as he said--
"All red men are not so adventurous as the English Chief. I never had
occasion to travel in this direction, and do not know the way."
"Boo!" ejaculated English Chief; meaning, no doubt, fiddlededee!
"But I know of a river," continued Coppernose, "which falls into this
one from the north, and comes from the Horn Mountain that we passed at
the end of Great Slave Lake; it is the country of the Beaver Indians.
My relations meet me frequently on that river. There are great plains
on both sides of that river, which abound in buffaloes and moose-deer."
"I don't believe it--wauch!" said English Chief. As this was a
discouraging reception of his remarks, Coppernose relapsed into silence.
Soon afterwards the large canoe was observed to make for a low grassy
point; and as it was about the usual camping time, English Chief made
for the same place. The hunters reached it about ten minutes later, and
bore into camp two reindeer, four geese, and a swan, besides a large
quantity of berries gathered by the fair (or brown) hands of Darkeye.
"There is plenty of game everywhere," said Reuben, in answer to a query
from his leader, "we might have killed much more if we'd had more time--
but enough is as good as a feast, as the sayin' goes in my country."
"In _your_ country?" said Mackenzie, with a smile.
"Ay, I claim to be a Scotchman--though I was born and raised in Canada--
my father hailed from the land o' cakes."
"Does Lawrence claim the same nationality on the same ground, Reuben?"
"He does not!" answered Lawrence for himself, while busy cleaning his
father's gun.
"The lad loves the Canadians," replied Reuben, with a chuckle; "besides,
he couldn't claim it on the same ground, seein' that I am fully half a
Scot, while he is at least three-quarters a Canadian."
"More the better luck for him," said one of the Canadians, who had
already kindled a fire, before which one of his comrades was busily
engaged setting up juicy venison steaks to roast.
"Oui," observed another; "vraiment, Canada beats Scottish land
altogeder."
"Ha! Faderland ees more best, den all ze vorld," said the German,
quaffing a can of water with as much zest as if it had been his own
native Rhine wine.
"I warrant me," said Mackenzie with a laugh, "that our trusty guide,
Coppernose, would not give the wilderness here for Canada, Scotland, and
Faderland put together. What say you, lad?"
Coppernose looked gravely at his questioner, but made no reply.
"Boo!" said English Chief; regarding his countryman with a look of
contempt; "hims no onerstan' Eengleesh."
"He understands how to eat a rumpsteak of venison, however," said
Mackenzie, with a laugh, as Coppernose at that moment coolly
appropriated a mass of half-roasted meat, and began to devour it.
"You'd better follow his example, lads."
The men were not slow to take this advice. In a short time all were
more or less busily engaged with venison steaks, marrow-bones, goose
drum-sticks, and fish; and comparative silence prevailed while the
cravings of nature were being appeased. After supper, pipes were
lighted, and conversation became animated for some time; but they were
all too much fatigued to prolong this period, interesting though it was.
One after another they spread their blankets under a convenient bush or
tree, and, ere long, the whole party was in the land of Nod.
CHAPTER FIVE.
DESCRIBES A LITERAL WILD-GOOSE CHASE AND OTHER MATTERS.
Time sped on its proverbially rapid wing; the summer advanced, and still
Mackenzie and his men continued to descend the mighty river of the far
north, encountering dangers and vicissitudes enough undoubtedly, but
happily escaping those terrified monsters of the forest and the flood,
which had been described by the Copper Indians of Great Slave Lake, and
the thought of which caused poor Coppernose himself to grow terrified
and desperate by turns. Fain would that unhappy son of the forest have
bid the party farewell, and returned to his own wigwam alone; but this
might not be, for his services were of some importance, and the leader
of the expedition kept on him constantly an eye, which excelled in
intense watchfulness the glare of the fiercest of those creatures which
filled his imagination. He submitted, therefore, with the best grace he
could assume; but, what between being watched by Mackenzie, haunted by
ghosts, and bullied by English Chief, poor Coppernose had a sad time of
it. He possessed, however, a naturally elastic and jovial spirit, which
tended greatly to ameliorate his condition; and as time passed by
without any serious mishap, or the appearance of any unusually dreadful
creature, he became gradually reconciled to his position.
One day--perhaps we should rather say one night, for it was approaching
midnight, although the sun was still above the horizon, owing to the
high northern latitude to which they had attained, rendering the whole
twenty-four hours round a continuous day--one day (or night) as the
canoes were sweeping down a reach of the broad river, they saw a few
wreaths of smoke rising above the tree-tops. The spot was very
beautiful, being thickly wooded and backed by high land, on the slopes
of which the trees and bushes hung like delicate fringes of green among
masses of silvery grey rock.
"That looks like the smoke of an Indian wigwam, Louis," said Mackenzie
to his bowman.
"No, monsieur, it is the wood burning," replied Louis, dipping his
vermilion-painted paddle with great vigour.
Louis was right, for soon afterwards they turned a point which disclosed
to their view a considerable tract of woodland which had been recently
destroyed by fire. Several tracts of this kind had been already passed,
some of which had been consumed long before, and forests of young
poplars had grown up in their places--a curious circumstance this, which
Mackenzie remarks on, namely, "That wherever land covered with spruce,
pine, and white birch had been laid waste with fire, there poplars, and
nothing else, were found to grow, even though none of that species of
tree had existed there before."
Passing this desolated tract they came to a part of the river which was
studded with several islands, on one of which reindeer were seen.
"There's your chance," said Mackenzie to his hunters, who happened to
range up alongside in their small canoe at that moment.
"We've seed 'em, monsieur," said Reuben, "but we must have some more
ammunition afore startin' after them, for the powder-horns of Lawrence
and Swiftarrow are both empty."
As soon as the horns were replenished, Reuben and his friends pushed out
into the stream and made for the island. The other canoes continued to
advance. They seldom waited for the hunters, for the latter being
comparatively light, could act as a sort of flying artillery, falling
behind, turning aside, or pushing ahead, as the case might require, in
pursuit of game, and almost always returning to the main body about the
camping hour, or soon after it. On this evening, however, the canoes
reached a snug camping-ground before the usual time; they therefore
determined to stop there and set the nets, as well as to overhaul the
canoes, which stood much in need of repair. The cold of the ice-laden
waters, through which they had recently passed, had cracked the gum off
the seams, and collisions with the ice itself had made some ugly slits
in the birch-bark of which the canoes were made.
That evening the nets, which were set in four fathoms water, produced an
abundant supply of carp, whitefish, and trout.
"Now, lads," said Mackenzie, when the canoe brought ashore the welcome
provisions, "set the women to work to make pemmican, for we must leave a
supply concealed here against our return."
Louis Blanc superintended the making of this pemmican, which consisted
of fish dried in the sun and pounded between two stones. Pemmican is
also made of meat, in which case the pounded meat is put into a bag made
of the raw hide of the animal; the bag is then filled with melted fat
and the mouth sewed up with raw sinews. This style of pemmican will
keep fresh for years.
"Where did English Chief go when we landed?" asked Mackenzie.
"Don't know, monsieur," replied Louis.
"After game, probably," observed the leader, as he sat down on the stump
of a fallen tree and began to make notes in his journal.
Some time thereafter, Reuben's canoe returned laden with two deer,
besides two swans, a number of ducks and hares, and several brace of
ptarmigan, which latter were quite grey at that season, with the
exception of one or two pure white feathers in the tail. They said that
wild-fowl were innumerable among the islands; but this, indeed, was
obvious to all, for everywhere their plaintive and peculiar cries, and
the whirring or flapping of their wings, were heard even when the leafy
screen over the encampment hid themselves from view. Darkeye also
contributed her share to the general supplies, in the shape of several
large birch-baskets full of gooseberries, cranberries, juniper-berries,
rasps, and other wild berries, which, she said, grew luxuriantly in many
places.
Meanwhile, the night (as regards _time_) advanced, although the daylight
did not disappear, or even much diminish, but English Chief, with
Coppernose and his two squaws, did not return, and their prolonged
absence became at length a cause of no little anxiety to the leader of
the expedition. The fact was that English Chief was fond of a little
fun, and despite the dignified position which he held, and the maturity
of his years, he could not resist availing himself of any little chance
that came in his way of having what is more pithily than elegantly
styled "a spree."
It happened to be the particular period at which the wild-fowl of those
regions begin to cast their feathers. Knowing this, English Chief
quietly slipped off with his canoe when Mackenzie landed, and soon found
a colony of swans afflicted with that humiliating lack of natural
clothing, which is the cause, doubtless, of their periodically betaking
themselves to the uttermost ends of the earth in order to hide in deep
solitude their poverty, and there renew their garments. Judge then,
reader, if you can, the consternation with which these once graceful
creatures discovered that their retreat had been found out by that
inquisitive biped, man--that they were actually caught in the act of
moulting!
Uttering a terrific "hoozoo!" or some such equally wild Red-Indian
hunting cry, English Chief dashed his paddle into the water; squaws and
comrade followed suit; the canoe shot in among the rushes, and the whole
party leaped on shore. Thus taken by surprise the swans bounced up,
extended their miserable wings, uttered a trumpet-blast of alarm, and
sought to fly. Of course they failed, but although they could not fly,
they fled on the wings of terror, and with straight necks, heads low,
legs doing double duty, and remnants of wings doing what they could,
they made for the interior of the island at a pace which at first defied
pursuit.
The higher part of the island was level and open, with here and there a
few stunted bushes.
Arrived here the trumpeting crew scattered, like wise troops when
pursued. English Chief set his heart and eyes on a particularly large
bird, and dashed after it with upraised paddle. The swan made a
desperate _detour_, apparently bent on gaining the water; it ran round a
bush, and was almost caught in the arms of the younger squaw, who,
leaving her senior in the canoe, had joined in the pursuit. A shriek
from the squaw sent it off at a tangent to the left, pinions aloft, and
terror depicted on its visage. English Chief also doubled, but a
crooked stump caught his foot and sent him headlong into the bush. At
that instant, Coppernose, having foiled a swan with a well-directed
sweep of his paddle, came up and gave chase. English Chief, nettled at
the interference, sprung up, followed and overtook him just as the
hard-pushed swan turned at bay. Both men came upon it at the same
moment, stumbled over it, and turned their wrath upon each other. The
swan, recovering, ran wildly and blindly back towards the young squaw,
who was so much alarmed by its look that she fairly turned and fled; but
hearing the shouts of the Indians as they struggled, she turned towards
them. Meanwhile, the elder squaw having landed, met the retreating swan
just as it gained the rushes. Stooping down she allowed it to approach
to within a yard of her--like a true heroine--and then, rising, hit it a
neat blow on the back of the head and laid it low for ever.
After this she joined her sister-wife (if we may be allowed the
expression) in trying to tear the Indians asunder. This was
accomplished after a few seconds, but the two men still glared at each
other. Fortunately they could do little more, having left their knives
in the canoe. While they were still in a state of indecision, an
unfortunate swan, which had taken refuge behind a bush, so far recovered
its breath as to think it advisable to get still further away from such
company. It was observed and followed as wildly as before by English
Chief. This time Coppernose had the sense to confine his attentions to
another part of the field, where, while prosecuting the chase, he
suddenly came upon a flock of geese in the same helpless circumstances
as the swans. Soon the swans were routed out of their places of
concealment, and the cries of men, women, and birds again resounded in
the air. The way in which those swans behaved was quite marvellous.
They dodged the blows aimed at them, and "jinked" round the bushes as if
they had been trained to such work in a regular public school for human
bipeds, and they struck out with their pinions, too, so deftly and with
such force that the pursuers had to become extremely cautious as well as
bold in their approaches.
At last, when the Indians were thoroughly exhausted, they gave up the
chase. On conveying the fruits of their exertions to the canoe, they
found that they had killed five swans and a like number of geese. With
these they returned in triumph to camp, to the great relief of
Mackenzie, who had began to fear either that an accident had befallen
them, or that they had deserted him.
At this place two bags of pemmican were concealed on an island, and here
one of their leads was lost in taking soundings. The current of the
river also was so violent that Mackenzie concluded they must be
approaching the rapids, of which some of the natives had made mention.
The strength of the current may be estimated from the fact that, when
the lead just referred to caught on the bottom and held on, they
attempted to clear it by paddling up stream; yet although they had eight
paddles, and were held by the line, the strength of which was equal to
four paddles, they were borne down with such force that the line snapped
asunder.
Here the weather became very bad. They had frequent thunderstorms
accompanied with violent rain, and, although it was at that time the
beginning of July, ice lay in great quantities all along the banks of
the river. On shore, the earth was thawed only to a depth of about
fourteen inches. Indeed, the soil of those regions _never_ thaws
completely. At the hottest season of the year, if you were to dig down
a few feet, you would come to a subsoil which is locked in the embrace
of _perpetual_ frost. Some signs of natives were discovered here, and,
from the appearance of the cut trees, it was evident that they possessed
no iron tools.
"Push forward," was Mackenzie's watchword more perhaps than it had been
of any previous discoverer in Rupert's Land. The Indians began ere long
to complain bitterly of his perseverance. They were not accustomed to
such constant and severe exertion, and it was with great difficulty that
he prevailed on them to continue the voyage.
As they advanced, fresh signs of natives were observed, and at last, one
evening, they came in sight of an encampment of them. It was at a place
where the current of the great river was so strong that it was in actual
ebullition, and produced a hissing noise like a kettle of water in a
moderate boiling state. The region was mountainous, and just before
them they perceived a high ridge covered with snow.
"They're evidently not much used to visitors," said Mackenzie, on
observing that the natives were running about in great confusion, some
making for the woods, and others hurrying to the canoes.
"They is used to be 'tacked by inimis," said English Chief, who was
rather proud of his knowledge of the English language.
"Hail them in the Chipewyan tongue," said Mackenzie, as the canoes
touched the beach. English Chief and the hunters landed first, and
addressed the few natives who had ventured to remain, but they were so
terrified as to be unable to reply. Seeing this, Mackenzie quietly
landed, and gave orders for the pitching of the tents. While this was
being done, the natives grew calm; they found that they understood
Chipewyan; a few words relieved them of their apprehensions, and soon
they not only came down to the tents, but were so gratified with their
reception that they sent for those members of their tribe who had fled.
Thus friendly relations were established.
There were five families, consisting of about thirty persons of two
different tribes--the Slave and the Dog-rib Indians.
CHAPTER SIX.
INDIANS MET WITH, AND THE MOUTH OF THE GREAT RIVER REACHED.
Heroes are not perfect. We deem it necessary to make this observation,
because many modern biographers seem to imagine that their heroes _are_
perfect, and even attempt to prove them to be so. We therefore feel it
necessary to disclaim any such imagination or intention in regard to
_our_ hero. Alexander Mackenzie was indeed a hero, and a very fine
specimen of a man--mentally as well as physically--if we are to credit
the report of those who knew him best; but he was not perfect.
For instance, he evidently acted sometimes on the fallacious notion that
whatever gave pleasure to himself must necessarily give pleasure to all
other men. Acting on this idea in the present instance, he sought to
delight the hearts of these Slave and Dog-rib Indians by presenting them
with pipes and tobacco, and inducing them to smoke. To the credit of
humanity be it recorded that they received the gift with marked dislike,
although they were too polite to absolutely refuse it. Slaves though
one section of them were in name, they were not slaves to tobacco; and
the other section being Dog-ribs, had, we presume, too little of Adam's
rib in them to find pleasure in smoke. Of course, they knew _something_
about smoke, but it was chiefly as a nuisance, which was very
troublesome to the eyes, and which usually issued from the tops of their
wigwams--not from human lips. It must also be recorded that those
estimable savages entertained a strong antipathy to grog when it was
produced. Their hearts were reached, however, and their souls
gladdened, when knives, beads, awls, firesteels, flints, and hatchets
were presented to them; and we can fancy how animated and earnest would
be their converse over the wigwam fires, for weeks and months, if not
for years, afterwards, when they brought out, for the thousandth time,
and feasted their wondering eyes on, those delightfully useful
implements, which had been left by the mysterious white beings who had
dropped upon them so suddenly, as if from the skies, and whom they felt
half inclined at first to reverence as gods.
Having won their confidence and esteem, Mackenzie proceeded to question
them as to that portion of the great river which yet lay before him.
Their account was an exaggerated echo of that previously obtained from
the Indians of Great Slave Lake. Being, therefore, of little or no
value, our hero was obliged to advance, and solve the question for
himself. As before, the effect of the Indian stories on the Indians of
his party was very marked and discouraging. With great difficulty
Mackenzie overcame their objections to proceed, and even succeeded in
persuading one of the Dog-rib Indians to accompany him by the potent
influence of a small kettle, an axe, a knife, and a few other gifts.
This man was a stout young fellow, in a very dirty deerskin coat and
leggings, with a double blue line tattooed on his cheeks from the ears
to the nose, on the bridge of which it met in a blue spot. Hence
Lawrence, following the natural bent of his mind, which he had already
displayed in naming Coppernose, immediately addressed this new recruit
as Bluenose.
These poor savages, although exemplary in the matters of grog and
tobacco, were, we are constrained to admit, a very filthy set of
creatures; very poor also, because utterly destitute of such wealth as
the fur-traders had carried to many of the less remote tribes of
Indians. Nevertheless they possessed a considerable number of
implements of their own manufacture, some of wood and others of bone,
etcetera, which proved them to be possessed of much ingenuity and taste.
The description of their weapons reminds one of those remains of
prehistoric man which we find treasured in our museums, for they had
arrows barbed with horn, flint, iron, and copper, spears shod with bone,
daggers of horn and bone, and axes made of brown or grey stone. The
latter were from six to eight inches long and two thick, having the
inside flat and the outside round, and tapering to an edge, and were
fastened by the middle to wooden handles with a cord of raw skin. They
kindled fires by striking together a piece of white or yellow pyrites
and a flint stone over a piece of touch-wood, and boiled water in
water-tight baskets, by putting a succession of red-hot stones into
them.
From these Indians the explorers learned that they had passed, on their
voyage down the river, large bodies of Indians who inhabit the
mountains.
"He'll never make up his mind to go," observed Reuben, as, when about to
set forth again, he looked at the pale countenance of the Dog-rib who
had agreed to join the party.
Mackenzie had already had a severe argument with him in order to induce
him to fulfil his engagement, and had left him under the impression that
he had been successful; but when the poor man had said farewell to the
tribe, and was on the point of entering the canoe, his courage failed,
and he drew back. Seeing this, Lawrence suddenly seized him by the nape
of the neck, and exclaiming, "Come, look sharp, Bluenose, get in with
'ee," gave him a lift that put the matter at rest by sending him
sprawling on board. Next moment they were off, and shooting down the
rapid current of the river.