ARRIVAL AT THE CHATS--INSTALLED AS BOURGEOIS--FIRST TRADING
EXCURSION--BIVOUAC IN THE WOODS--INDIAN BARBARITY.
I ARRIVED at the Chats on the 26th of August, 1822. As we approached
the establishment, the crew struck up a song which soon attracted the
notice of its only inmate; a tall gaunt figure, who was observed
moving toward the landing-place, where it remained stationary. With
the exception of this solitary being, no sign of animation was
perceptible. We landed, and found the recluse to be the gentleman whom
I was to succeed. The men belonging to the post were at the time
employed elsewhere; fire-arms were therefore discharged, to summon
them to return. An old interpreter and two men, constituting the force
at this station, soon made their appearance. Such an uncommon event as
an _arrival_ seemed to produce an exhilarating effect upon them.
Immediately after my landing the charge was made over to me; and on
the following day my predecessor, Mr. Macdonald, took his departure,
leaving me to the fellowship of my own musings, which for a time
assumed but sombre hues; but I was then young, and the hopes and
aspirations of an ardent mind threw a halo around the gloomy path that
lay before me, and resting upon the bright spots that glimmered in the
distant background, concealed from my view the toils and miseries I
had to experience in the intermediate passage.
On assuming the responsibility of this post, I found myself in a
position which gratified my vanity. I was Bourgeois of the Chats; had
an interpreter and two men subject to my orders; and could make such
arrangements as my own inclinations dictated, without the surveillance
of a superior. I was, in fact, master of my own time and of my own
actions; could fiddle when I pleased, and dance when I had a mind with
my own shadow; no person here dared to question my actions.
About the beginning of September the natives began to pass for the
interior, and to my great surprise appeared to be in want of further
supplies, although they had left the Lake amply provided with
everything necessary. Some of them took advances here again to a
considerable amount. I learned from them that a petty trader who had
just then sprung into existence, intended to establish a couple of
posts in the interior of the district--(this post being subject to the
Lake of Two Mountains.) This was rather an unpleasant piece of
intelligence, and quite unexpected by my superiors or myself. I
despatched a messenger to head-quarters to give the alarm, and was
soon joined by a reinforcement of men conducted by a junior clerk and
an interpreter. Preparations were then made to follow up this new
competitor the moment he appeared. He did not allow us to remain long
in suspense. A few days afterwards his party was observed passing in
two canoes; our people were immediately in their wake, and I remained
with but one man and the old interpreter during the winter. I had only
two Indian hunters to attend to; one in the immediate vicinity of the
post, the other about three days' journey distant. Late in autumn I
was gratified by a visit from the superintendent of the district, who
expressed himself perfectly satisfied with my arrangements. As soon as
the river _set fast_ with ice, I resolved on paying a visit to my more
remote customer, and assumed the snow-shoes for the first time. I set
out with my _only_ man, leaving the old interpreter sole occupier of
the post. My man had visited the Indian on several occasions during
the previous winter, and told me that he usually halted at a
Chantier,[1] on the way to his lodge. We arrived late in the evening at
the locality in question, and finding a quantity of timber collected
on the ice, concluded that the _shanty_ must be close at hand. We
accordingly followed the lumber-track until we reached the hut which
had formerly afforded such comfortable accommodation to my companion.
Great was our disappointment, however, to find it now tenantless, and
almost buried in snow. I had made an extraordinary effort to reach the
spot in the hope of procuring good quarters for the night, and was now
so completely exhausted by fatigue that I could proceed no further.
The night was dark, and to make our situation as cheerless as
possible, it was discovered that my companion had left his
"fire-works" behind--a proof of his inexperience. Under these
circumstances our preparations were necessarily few. Having laid a few
boughs of pine upon the snow, we wrapped ourselves up in our blankets,
and lay down together. I passed the night without much rest; but my
attendant--a hardy Canadian--kept the wild beasts at bay by his deep
snoring, until dawn. I found myself completely benumbed with cold; a
smart walk, however, soon put the blood in circulation, and ere long
we entered a shanty where we experienced the usual hospitality of
these generous folks. Here we borrowed a "smoking-bag," containing a
steel, flint, and tinder. With the aid of these desiderata in the
appointments of a voyageur, we had a comfortable encampment on the
following night.
[1] The hut used by the lumbermen, and the root of the
well-known "shanty."
The mode of constructing a winter encampment is simply this:--you
measure with your eye the extent of ground you require for your
purpose, then taking off your snow-shoes, use them as shovels to clear
away the snow. This operation over, the finer branches of the balsam
tree are laid upon the ground to a certain depth; then logs of dry
wood are placed at right angles to the feet at a proper distance, and
ignited by means of the "fire-works" alluded to. In such an encampment
as this, after a plentiful supper of half-cooked peas and Indian
corn--the inland travelling fare of the Montreal department--and a
day's hard walking, one enjoys a repose to which the voluptuary
reclining on his bed of down is a perfect stranger.
We reached our destination on the following day about noon, where we
found but little to recompense us for our journey. Both our own people
from the outpost and our opponents had already traded all the furs the
Indian had to dispose of, although his supplies at the Lake of Two
Mountains and at my post amounted to a sum that would have required
his utmost exertions to pay. We remained that night at his lodge, and
very early on the succeeding morning, started on our return. With the
exception of a couple of trips I made to the inland posts, nothing
disturbed the monotony of my avocations during the remaining part of
the winter. Petty traders swarmed all over the country; the posts
which were established in the interior to cope with them traded freely
with the natives, in order to secure their furs from competitors. Thus
the immense sacrifices which the Company had made to obtain a
monopoly, as they imagined, yielded them no advantage whatever; and
repeated defalcations on the part of the natives, induced them to
curtail their advances at their principal station. The natives,
however, found no difficulty in procuring their requisites in exchange
for their furs, either from the posts belonging to the Company in the
interior, or from the opposition; for they were, with few exceptions,
of the same character as the individual already alluded to.
The Indian whom I mentioned as residing in the neighbourhood of the
establishment arrived, late in autumn, from the Lake, where he could
not obtain a charge of ammunition on credit. I supplied all his wants
liberally, knowing him to be a good hunter, though a notorious rogue;
and he set out for his hunting grounds, to all appearance well
pleased.
In the course of the winter a Yankee adventurer opened a "grog shop,"
within a short distance of the depôt, who appeared to have no
objection to a beaver's skin in exchange for his commodities. My
Indian debtor returned in the month of March, with a tolerable "hunt,"
and pitched his tent midway between the post and my Yankee neighbour.
I called upon the Indian immediately for payment, which he told me I
should receive on the morrow. I went accordingly at the time
appointed, and was annoyed to find that he had already disposed of a
part of his furs for the Yankee's whiskey; and I therefore demanded
payment in a tone of voice which clearly indicated that I was in
earnest. To-morrow was mentioned again; but having come with the
determination of being satisfied on the spot, I seized, without
further ceremony, what furs remained, and throwing them out of the
wigwam to my man, who was placed there to receive them, I remained
within, to bear the brunt of the Indian's resentment, should he show
any, until my man had secured the prize. I was well prepared to defend
myself, in case of any violence being offered. Nothing of the kind was
attempted, however; and I took my leave, after sustaining a volley of
abuse, which did me no harm. The Indian paid me a visit next morning,
for the purpose of settling accounts, a small balance being due to
him, which, at his own request, was paid in rum. I soon after received
another visit, for nectar, on credit; this request I granted.
The visits, however, were repeated so often for the same purpose, that
I at length found it advisable to give a denial, by proxy, not wishing
to part on bad terms with him, if possible, on account of the spring
hunt. I absented myself from the house, having instructed my
interpreter how to act. I took my station in a small grove of pines,
close by, watching for the appointed signal to apprise me of the
departure of the Indian. My attention was suddenly arrested by most
doleful cries at the house; and presently the voice of my interpreter
was heard, calling me loudly by name. I ran at the top of my speed,
and arrived just in time to save the life of a poor old woman, who had
been making sugar in my neighbourhood. I found the father and two
sons, both approaching manhood, in a complete state of nudity, dancing
round the body of their victim (to all appearance dead), their bodies
besmeared with blood, and exulting in the barbarous deed they had
committed. My interpreter informed me, that as soon as they observed
the old woman approaching the house, the Christian father told his
sons that now was the time to take revenge for the death of their
brother, whose life had been destroyed by this woman's "bad medicine."
We drove the wretches away, and carried the miserable woman into the
house; and so dreadfully bruised and mangled were her head and face,
that not the least trace of her features could be distinguished. At
the end of a month she recovered sufficiently to crawl about. Her son
passed in the spring, with an excellent hunt. When I related to him
the manner his mother had been treated by the Indians, and the care I
had taken of her, he coolly replied that he was sure they were bad
Indians. "It was very charitable of you," said he, "to have taken so
much care of the old woman. Come to my wigwam next winter, and I shall
trade with you, and treat you well." In the meantime every skin he had
went to our opponents, although he was deeply indebted to the Company.