foot of a rocky hill, on the top of which their new guide said that it
blew a gale every day of the year! Here the Dog-rib became very
unhappy, and pretended to be ill, but a strict watch was kept on him so
that he could not escape. The country around them was very wild and
rugged, and they were informed by their guide that great numbers of
bears and small white buffaloes (musk-oxen?) frequented the mountains;
also some tribes of Indians. Here some of the party attempted to ascend
a steep hill, but were almost suffocated and fairly driven back by
clouds of mosquitoes.
Natives were sometimes seen and spoken with, although their first
impulse on beholding the voyagers was almost invariably to flee. On one
occasion a whole tribe fled save one old man, who came boldly forward
and said that he was too old to run or to care much about the short time
that yet remained to him of this life. At the same time he pulled out
his grey hair by handfuls, and distributed them among the party,
imploring their favour for himself and his relations. His mind was
quickly relieved by Swiftarrow, who seemed to have a special desire, as
well as talent, for comforting aged persons of both sexes.
Some of these tribes were named the Hare Indians--hares and fish being
their principal means of support. While spending a night with these
people a storm of thunder and rain came on, in the midst of which the
Dog-rib, Bluenose, managed to make his escape. As it was important to
have a guide, Mackenzie compelled a Hare Indian to fill his place; and,
after carrying him off, took great pains to conciliate him--in which
efforts he was happily successful.
Next day they observed natives on the east shore of the river, and
directed their course towards them. Their new guide began to call to
them in an incomprehensible manner, and said that the natives did not
belong to his tribe, but were a very wicked people, who would beat them
cruelly, and pull out their hair, and maltreat them in various ways.
Despite this warning Mackenzie advanced, and soon found them to be quite
as willing to accept of gifts as other tribes. He found that they
understood their guide, and that English Chief clearly comprehended one
of themselves, although he could not make himself understood. Here the
joyful information was obtained that in three days more they should meet
with the Esquimaux, and in ten days at furthest reach the great salt
lake--or the sea.
These natives were very superior to those whom the travellers had last
met with, and one of them was engaged to take the place of Bluenose.
This man, who was clad in a shirt made of the skins of the musk-rat,
after which he was named, was a very lively individual. He sang the
songs not only of his own tribe, but also those of the Esquimaux, with
whom his tribe had been formerly at war, but were now at peace. He also
undertook to perform an Esquimaux dance in Mackenzie's canoe, and would
infallibly have upset that conveyance had he not been violently
restrained. He commented on the tribe to which Bluenose belonged with
great contempt, calling them by the strong names of cowards and liars.
During these brief visits to the natives our discoverer was not only
troubled by the thievish propensities of the natives, but had to guard
against the same tendencies in his own men, some of whom were much
confused as to the true course of rectitude in regard to "mine and
thine"; in addition to which he had to contend with a general propensity
on the part of his men to quarrel not only with each other, but with the
weather, the journey, and the decrees of fate generally. By a judicious
mixture, however, of firmness and suavity, severity and kindness, he
managed to keep the several parts of his discordant band together; and,
in so doing, proved himself an able general for the highest generalship
consists in making the most of existing circumstances and materials.
The river here ran through various channels formed by islands, some of
which were without a tree, while others were covered with spruce, fir,
and other trees. The banks, which were about six feet above the surface
of the river, displayed a face of solid ice intermixed with veins of
black earth, and as the heat of the sun melted the ice, the trees
frequently fell into the river. The variety of channels in the river
rendered it difficult to decide which should be followed. Muskrat, the
new guide, recommended that which ran to the east; but his leader, not
feeling sure of his wisdom or knowledge, preferred the middle channel.
Here Mackenzie put ashore and proceeded to engage in some cabalistic
pursuits which utterly confounded Muskrat.
"What is he doing?" asked the savage of English Chief.
"Taking the sun," replied the interpreter, with immense pomposity.
"What does that mean?" asked the savage.
English Chief tried to explain, but failed for this good reason--that he
himself was totally ignorant of the subject beyond the phrase, which he
had picked up after the manner of a parrot.
It was found that the latitude was 67 degrees 47 minutes north. This
was further north than Mackenzie had expected to make it, but the
difference was owing to the variation of the compass. From this it
became evident that the river emptied itself into the Polar Sea. Not
satisfied, however, with the apparent certainty of this, our pioneer
resolved to have ocular demonstration--to push on to the mouth of the
river, even although, by so doing, he should risk not being able to
return to Fort Chipewyan for want of provisions.
But now his men became so much discouraged that they did their utmost to
induce him to turn back, and he felt convinced that if they had had it
in their power, some of them would have left him to his fate. As
Columbus did of old, in somewhat similar circumstances, he assured them
that he would now advance only a specified number of days--seven, adding
that if he did not then reach the sea he would return. Indeed the low
state of their provisions alone formed a sufficient security for the
maintenance of his engagement.
That evening (the 11th July) they pitched their tents near to a spot
where there had been three encampments of the Esquimaux, and here
Mackenzie sat up all night to observe the sun, being now in that realm
of bright unchanging day, which in winter becomes a region of continuous
night.
At half-past twelve he called up Reuben Guff and his son and Swiftarrow,
who were the most intelligent members of his party, to view a spectacle
which they had never before seen. They thought, on observing the sun so
high, that it was the signal to embark, and were about to rouse their
comrades, when Mackenzie checked them, and it was with difficulty he
persuaded them that the sun had not descended nearer to the horizon, and
that it was then but a short time past midnight!
It is but justice to Reuben and his party to say that they offered no
opposition to their leader during the whole voyage. In regard to this,
one speech made by Reuben will suffice to describe the spirit that
animated him.
"It don't do, Lawrence," said he, "to go for to interfere wi' them as
leads. Be they wise or be they foolish it on'y makes matters wus to
interfere wi' leaders, my lad; therefore it's best _always_ to hold your
tongue an' do yer dooty. What Monsieur Mackenzie is, it ain't for the
likes of you and me to pretend for to judge. He _seems_ to me an able,
brave, and wise man, so my colours is nailed to the mast, d'ye see--as
was said by the immortal Lord Nelson--an' I've made up my mind to follow
him to the end, through thick and thin. It's little right I would have
to claim to be a pioneer if I didn't hold them sentiments."
"Them sentiments," we need scarcely add, were heartily echoed by his
Indian friend and his son.
The appearance of deserted native encampments still further confirmed
Mackenzie in his belief that he had at length reached the land of the
Esquimaux. Round their fireplaces were found scattered pieces of
whalebone, and spots were observed where train-oil had been spilt. The
deserted huts also corresponded in construction with those which were
known to be built elsewhere by the denizens of the far north. Several
runners of sledges were also found, and the skulls of a large animal,
which was conjectured to be the walrus. Here the land was covered with
short grass and flowers, though the earth was not thawed above four
inches from the surface; beneath that all was frozen hard.
The pioneers had now at last reached the entrance of what appeared to be
a lake, which was in the neighbourhood of the Polar Sea, if not that sea
itself; but the variety of channels, the strength of currents, the
shallowness of the water and quantity of ice with which it was beset,
with the ignorance of their guide, rendered it impossible to make any
further advance that season. The object of the expedition, however, had
been accomplished. The largest northern river of America, estimated at
2000 miles in length, had been traced from its source to its outlet in
the Polar Sea; the nature of the country and its inhabitants had been
ascertained; coal and copper ore had been discovered; the region had
been wrenched from the realms of _terra incognita_, and the energetic
pioneer fixed the position of his most northerly discoveries in 69
degrees 7 minutes north latitude. Another fact which proved that they
were within the influence of the sea was the rise and fall of the water,
which could be nothing else than the tide.
They caught a fish, also, resembling a herring, which none of the party
had ever seen except English Chief who declared it to be of a kind that
abounds in Hudson's Bay, and finally they beheld what settled the
question, a shoal of white whales, which their Indian guide said was the
principal food of the Esquimaux.
It was no wonder that the discoverers found the navigation very
intricate, because that great river, now named the Mackenzie, is known
to empty its waters into the Polar Sea by innumerable mouths which form
a delta of about forty miles in width. Storms, rain, and fogs, threw
additional hindrances in their way. There was, therefore, nothing left
for it but to erect a post and take possession of the land in the name
of the King.
Homeward! after that, was the order of the day. But what a mighty
distance off that home was! And, after all, when reached it was but a
log-hut or two in a part of the vast wilderness which, regarded from a
civilised-land point of view, was itself the very confines of the known
world. Our space forbids us to follow Mackenzie and his men on their
arduous and interesting return voyage. Suffice it to say that they
dragged the canoes by means of lines against the strong current for a
large portion of the way; and, after incurring innumerable dangers from
natives, rapids, storms, and starvation, they reached the Lake of the
Hills and landed at Fort Chipewyan on the 12th of September 1789, having
been absent for the long period of one hundred and two days.
That our hero was not content to rest upon the laurels thus gathered in
the far north, but longed to act the part of pioneer over the Rocky
Mountains into the far west, shall be made plain in our next chapter.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY TO THE FAR WEST PLANNED AND BEGUN.
Three years passed away, during which period Mackenzie, being busily
occupied with his arduous duties as a fur-trader, could not carry out
the more noble purposes of discovery on which his heart was set. But a
time at length arrived when circumstances permitted him to turn his eyes
once more with a set purpose on the unknown wilderness of the West.
Seated one fine morning about the beginning of spring, in his wooden
residence at Fort Chipewyan, he observed Reuben Guff passing the window
with an axe on his shoulder, that worthy, with his son and Swiftarrow,
having engaged in the service of the fur-traders at the end of the late
expedition. Opening the door, Mackenzie called him in.
"Where are you bound for just now, Reuben?"
"To dinner, monsieur."
"Reuben," said Mackenzie, with a peculiar look, "has all your pioneering
enthusiasm oozed out at your finger ends?"
"No, monsieur," replied the man, with a slight smile, "but Lawrence and
I have bin thinkin' of late that as Monsieur Mackenzie seems to have
lost heart, we must undertake a v'yage o' diskivery on our own account!"
"Good. Then you are both ready, doubtless, to begin your discoveries
with a canoe journey of some extent on short notice?"
"At once, monsieur, if it please you."
"Nay, Reuben, not quite so fast as that," said Mackenzie, with a laugh;
"you may have your dinner first. But to-morrow you shall become a
genuine pioneer by preceding me towards the far west. You know the
position of our most distant settlements on the Peace River?"
"Perfectly," said Reuben, whose eye kindled as he began to see that his
master was in earnest.
"Well, I intend to visit these settlements this fall, and push on
towards the Rocky Mountains. It will take me to the end of the season
to accomplish this, so that our real voyage of discovery will not begin
until the following spring. Now, there is a certain locality beyond our
most distant outpost, which I shall describe to you afterwards, where I
intend to build a fort and spend next winter, so as to be on the spot
ready to begin the moment the ice breaks up. Preparations must be made
there for the building of the fort. Timber must be felled, cut, and
squared for the houses and palisades, and two able and willing, as well
as experienced men, must go there to begin this work without delay. It
occurs to me that the two best men I have for such work are Reuben Guff
and his son. Are they prepared for this duty, think you?"
"Say the word, monsieur," was Reuben's laconic but significant reply.
"Well, then, it is said. Come back here after dinner with Lawrence, and
I will give you instructions: you shall start to-morrow at daybreak."
Reuben bowed and left the hall with a light step. Next day he and his
son started on their journey in a small birch-bark canoe; on the 10th of
October Mackenzie followed in a canoe of larger dimensions. He visited
several establishments of the district of which he had charge; ascended
the Peace River towards its unknown sources, gave good advice to the
several bands of Indians whom he met with by the way, and generally
strengthened the hearts and hands of his agents. Passing the last
outpost on the river, he pushed on, until, finally, he reached his
intended winter-quarters on the 1st of November--not a day too soon, for
the river was already being covered with its winter coat of ice.
Here he found Reuben and Lawrence, bronzed and hardened with toil and
exposure. They had done good service during the previous summer, for
all the timber was prepared, a space marked out for the fort, and a deep
trench dug for the palisades. Here also were found a band of natives,
amounting to about seventy men, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the
Chief, as they styled Mackenzie, and thirsting especially for tobacco
and rum, both of which--unlike the natives of the far north--they were
particularly fond of.
To build a fort in a few weeks, consisting of a dwelling-house and
several stores, with palisades eighteen feet high, in the midst of frost
so intense that their axes sometimes became as brittle as glass, and
living in tents the while, exposed to the storms of wind and snow
peculiar to a hyperborean clime, was a feat which, if detailed, would
fill a volume. We are constrained to dismiss the subject in a line.
Thus curtly, also, must we treat the winter. Yet some points we cannot
forbear to touch on, illustrative as they are of some curious
experiences of the fur-traders.
The Indians there were unusually ignorant of medical science, and when
ill applied to Mackenzie, believing, with childlike simplicity, that he
certainly knew everything and could do anything!
One woman came to him with a swelled breast, which her friends had
lacerated with flints in order to cure it; this failing, they had blown
on it, but with similar want of success. Mackenzie knew not what to do,
but, bringing common sense to bear on the case, he made the poor
creature keep it clean (she was naturally dirty), poulticed it several
times, and anointed it with healing salve. In a short time a perfect
cure was effected. After that an Indian while at work in the woods was
attacked with a sudden pain near the first joint of his thumb, which
disabled him. He appealed to Mackenzie, who, to his surprise, found a
narrow red inflamed stripe about an inch wide, extending from the man's
thumb to his shoulder. The pain was very violent, and accompanied with
chilliness and shivering. Mackenzie admits that the case was quite
beyond his skill; but as it was necessary to relieve the Indian's mind,
he attempted a cure. He prepared a kind of volatile liniment of rum and
soap, with which he ordered the arm to be rubbed. The success of this
treatment was doubtful, because at first it drove the man mad, and the
red stripe not only increased but extended in the form of several
blotches on the body, and was accompanied by pains in the stomach.
Seeing this, our amateur doctor fell back on the old plan of bleeding,
an operation which he had never before performed. The result was
marvellous. The following night the man was much better, and ere long
was restored to his former health, and filled with gratitude.
Again, on another occasion, a young Indian's gun burst and maimed his
hand so that the thumb hung by a mere strip of flesh. When he came to
the fort his wound was in a very offensive state. His friends had done
their best for him, but as their panacea for everything consisted in
singing or howling, and blowing on the affected part, he was not
perceptibly the better for their exertions. The youth's life being in
danger, Mackenzie once more tried his skill. He applied to it a
poultice of bark stripped from the roots of the spruce fir, having first
washed the wound with the juice of the bark. This proved to be a very
painful dressing, but it cleaned the wound effectually. He then cut off
the pendent thumb, and applied a dressing of salve composed of Canadian
balsam, wax, and tallow dropped from a burning candle into the water.
As before, the treatment was successful, insomuch that the young
red-skin was soon in the hunting-field again, and brought an elk's
tongue as a fee to his benefactor.
During the winter he was visited by a few Rocky Mountain Indians, who
gave him some important information; namely, that the Peace River in the
mountain districts was interrupted by numerous bad rapids and falls, and
that, towards the mid-day sun, there was another great river whose
current _ran in an opposite direction_, the distance between the sources
of the two rivers being short.
The winter, with its dreary storms and bitter colds, at length passed
away, and genial spring returned. As soon as the ice broke up,
preparations were made for an immediate start. Their large birch-bark
canoe had been overhauled and repaired. Her dimensions were twenty-five
feet long inside, two feet two inches deep, and four feet nine inches
wide. She carried goods for presents, provisions, arms, ammunition,
baggage, etcetera, to the extent of three thousand pounds weight, with a
crew of ten men, including their chief; yet she was so light that two
men could carry her when empty for three or four miles without resting.
They had no small canoe on this voyage. Their hopes, and, it may be
truly said, their lives, were dependent on this solitary and frail
conveyance.
As we have said, Mackenzie took nine men with him on this occasion, our
friends Reuben, Lawrence, and Swiftarrow being among the number, and two
of them being young Indian hunters of that region, who were supposed to
be acquainted with at least part of the route they were about to pursue,
and who were to act as interpreters. English Chief had long before left
his former master, and no women were allowed to go with the party--even
Darkeye was left behind! There was one other member of the party whom
we must not omit to mention--namely, a large dog named Wolf.
On the 9th of May 1793, Mackenzie left the fort in charge of his
interpreter, pushed off into the waters of the Peace River, turned the
canoe's bow westward, and the voyage of discovery began.
A few days afterwards they passed through scenery which all confessed
was the most beautiful they had ever beheld.
"'Tis like a glimpse o' paradise," exclaimed Reuben, as the whole party
rested on their paddles for a few minutes to gaze upon it.
"Ho!" exclaimed Swiftarrow, with a nod to his friend, which evidently
was meant for assent.
"Betterer nor the Hudson," said Ducette, one of the Canadians, with a
look of admiration.
"Does it beat Scottisland, monsieur?" asked Lawrence, with a somewhat
sly expression.
"Well, ahem," replied Mackenzie with hesitation, "it's not exactly--that
is, it is vastly different and truly magnificent--they won't compare,
Lawrence; they won't compare!"
The region did indeed merit all that could be said in its praise. The
ground on the west side of the river--which was wide and full of lovely
wooded islets--rose at intervals to a considerable height, and stretched
inwards to a great distance; at the foot of every slope there was a
soft, grassy lawn, broken here and there by abrupt precipices, which
were fringed with exuberant verdure. Shrubs and trees of every kind, in
clumps and in groves, crested the heights or nestled in the hollows:
among them were groves of poplar, with the white spruce and soft birch,
and other trees; while the banks abounded with alders and willows.
Those that bore blossom were just opening their bright buds, and the
setting sun cast a rich golden light over all, as though the glory of
the beneficent Creator were shining on His gorgeous handiwork. But that
beautiful wilderness did not blossom and bloom in solitude. It was
tenanted and enjoyed by countless numbers of living creatures. Wherever
the travellers turned their eyes, vast herds of elk and buffaloes were
to be seen, the latter sporting with their young ones on the plains, the
former preferring to browse on the slopes and uplands; and innumerable
birds of all shapes and sizes enlivened the scene with their varied
gyrations, and filled the air with melody.
It seemed, indeed, a species of paradise; but not far from it the
travellers were painfully reminded of its terrestrial nature by the
sight of a wide-spread conflagration, which carried fierce destruction
over the whole plain, and left black ruin behind; and still further on
Mackenzie was robbed of the pleasurable feelings due to the influence of
sweet scenery, by the baleful influence of man in the shape of a chief
of the Beaver Indians with a hunting-party. He tried to push on past
these Indians, but they kept up with the canoe, running along shore, and
when night approached he was compelled to encamp with them. The
consequence was, as he had feared, that these people attempted to
terrify his young Indian interpreters with dreadful accounts of the land
beyond, and succeeded so far that it was with the utmost difficulty that
they could be persuaded to remain with the expedition.
Next night they encamped at a spot where a stream fell into the Peace
River from the north.
"Voila! w'at is dis?" exclaimed Ducette, as he leaped on shore.
"The fut-print of a grizzly bar," said Reuben, stooping to examine and
measure the mark; "an oncommon big 'un, too--full nine inches wide. I
wouldn't like to embrace that bar."
The den, or place where this monster or some of its kindred had spent
the winter, was also found not far-off. It was ten feet deep,
horizontally, five feet high, and six feet wide.
"I wish we could find him," said Lawrence as he kindled the camp-fire.
"Ha! Swiftarrow has found something better," said Mackenzie, as the
Indian strode into camp laden with the tongue, marrow-bones, and other
choice portions of an elk which he had killed a short distance down the
river.